Page 96 of 139 FirstFirst ... 46869495969798106 ... LastLast
Results 951 to 960 of 1381

Thread: Cuda's Cars, v2.0

  1. #951
    The global search begins.

    They're not too hard to find on eBay etc but I'd want a really really nice one. As close to like new as possible. There's one on eBay now that looked tempting but has some damage in the back where the plug clips in. Yeah, I'm really picky with this car. Nothing but the best!

  2. #952
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    'Trep
    Posts
    5,619
    Nothing wrong with that. It's how I approach the D, might as well wait a bit longer and do it right than just slapping together a solution with inferior bits.

  3. #953
    Relaxing and enjoying life MR2 Fan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Tampa Bay, Florida
    Posts
    5,392
    Quote Originally Posted by dodint View Post
    It wouldn't help you here, but I'm hoping 3D printing is the answer for some of the interior bits that are unlikely to be mass reproduced. There is some of that in the DMC community but it seems the plastics they use don't hold up well to sunlight.

    Sometime this spring I'm going to go to one of the bigger pull-it yards in this part of the state to look for an E46 air box. I'll ping you then and see if you're still missing odds and ends and have a look around.
    Plastics tech for consumer 3D printing is coming a LONG way...some nylon infused parts or CF reinforced parts hold up much better than PLA (the most commonly used plastic in 3D printers now).

  4. #954
    I visited my sister over the last couple days to help her with the clutch replacement and suspension bushing replacement in her '97 Miata. She works on vintage aircraft for fun, and has quite a collection of tools in her own garage. Neither of us had done a clutch before and we figured our skills and tools would be complimentary enough to get the job done and learn something.

    In a day and a bit of working in the garage, we got the front suspension off and the midpipe off. And a few tranny bolts loose. Nearly every nut and bolt fought to the death. The ball joints refused to separate even with a puller wound scary tight. The car isn't rusty. My theory is it used to go to a mechanic who railed on everything with air tools. Even my yuuuge breaker bar was flexing something fierce, and I nearly rounded off an impact-rated drive conversion. Copious amounts of PB Blaster and Freeze-Off were used.

    Oddly, most of my tools were not a good fit for the Mazda nuts/bolts. It seemed as if a 14mm head was more like 13.75mm. My sister's sockets were a much better fit. Strange, because I haven't had this problem on Toyotas or Nissans.

    Not sure when I'll make another trip to her place, but the tranny will come out eventually!

  5. #955
    mAdminstrator Random's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Davis, CA, USA
    Posts
    3,610
    My secret to the ball joints has been lots of hammering on the side of the a-arm. You keep hammering and hammering and suddenly the joint will pop loose.

    Wear ear plugs.
    Whoomah!

  6. #956
    Can't be good for the ball joint, can it?

    The A-arms didn't look that beefy to be whacking them with a hammer to me. I actually thought they were aluminum before the other day. The More You Know...

    The tie rods were separated and the knuckles remained attached to the upper arms. The ball joints will either stay, or get pressed out while the bushings are being serviced on the press at the airport shop hangar.

    The other fun part was the front sway bar megabracket (from Flyin' Miata or somesuch) got in the way of the looooong upper control arm bolt coming out on one side. That meant removing the rad mounts to get to the bracket bolts to drop the bracket down a bit. It sounds easy, in theory...

  7. #957
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6,265
    I strike the knuckle with a dead blow hammer.

  8. #958
    mAdminstrator Random's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Davis, CA, USA
    Posts
    3,610
    Inkeddamaged_miata_ball_joint_dust_boot_LI.jpg

    You smack at the arrow. Nice big, thick casting. Eventually the vibration makes the tapered part of the ball joint just drop out.
    Whoomah!

  9. #959
    Oh that one? I just separated the tie rods and left the ball joint on. The upper control arm ball joint I tried to pull and hammer free, but no dice.

  10. #960
    mAdminstrator Random's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Davis, CA, USA
    Posts
    3,610
    It can take a while, and I always had to hit it a lot harder than I wanted/expected to.
    Whoomah!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •