Spring Maintenance and Repairs (Long-overdue post)

Warning: Ahead is a barrage of poorly-composed, blurry photos of my Miata Spring Break.

As mentioned previously, I placed a sizable order with Moss Miata and a few other places in order to gather all of the items needed for the services I planned for the week of March 15th through 22nd.

By March 15th, all of the necessary items I ordered had arrived, and I wasted no time getting things unwrapped. I carefully laid out the top in a clean, dry, storage room so that the creases from packing would smooth out some.

 

I wasted no time tearing into the old convertible top. I kept the hardware in a plastic tray (bin lid). Though I did remove the fasteners and such in a civilized fashion, the top began coming apart as I did so.

  

I couldn't help myself. Pictured is the tattered remains of the old roof, ready for the trash.

 

We removed the convertible top latches, cleaned off the corrosion, and sprayed them down with bedliner to give them a durable, textured finish.

The top installation was complete within four hours or so. It's been awhile since I've done one, and I made the mistake of doing it with the frame mounted to the car. I imagine this would have all been much easier if I had removed the frame from the vehicle and laid it out. 

  

 

 

 

   

 

  

 

(POST UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

My apologies for the lack of updates. My spring maintenance list became extensive, then the post was never completed. Expect it (finally) within the next 48 hours.

Quick No-Nonsense Update

I couldn't wait for the maintenance update, so I decided to share a couple little things I've done related to the car in the past few weeks.

1) Switched over the "ICANHAS" plates from my old Volvo to the Miata. What good are silly, personalized plates if they aren't on the car?

2) Purchased a secondhand trunk rack from a CL seller on Staten Island. The rack was in really nice shape, and saved me about $80 versus a new one. I now I have a place to stow the beer and extra baggage for our trip to PA next month!

3) Another CL find: Met up with a knowledgeable Miata enthusiast who was parting a '95 Chaste White, and picked up a good wiper cowl, and a power antenna assembly. My trim was broken at the base of the windshield, leaving a 3" gap that could let leaves and other debris in to clog the cowl drains.  The antenna that was equipped on my Miata was not original to the car, and not in working order. Time to swap in a power OEM unit and try to restore radio reception.


My aim is to complete the majority of my planned maintenance, which I discussed in a recent post, over my spring break next week. Although I will have work Monday through Friday as normal, I expect that by March 23rd, I'll be through with most of the repairs that the car will be undergoing for the upcoming season.

I have already procured the following in preparation:

-Ball Joint Separator Tool  AKA Pickle Fork
-Energy Suspension Ball Joint Boots (x4)(These will be for the tie rod ends, and upper ball joints.)
-Lower Ball Joints (x2) These were relatively inexpensive, and since the control arms will be off of the vehicle, I will replace them as a preventative measure. I am unsure of the age of the units that are currently on the car.
-Crankshaft Holding tool for timing belt service from MiataMecca (Check out his YouTube channel for tons of helpful hints and tips for working on Miatas.)
-Exhaust manifold gasket

I'm hoping to place an order for the remaining items I'll need for the service before Friday.

More to come soon.

Boots & Ball Joints

Thanks to a quick search on Miata.net forums, I found out that the upper ball joint boots are easily replaced with a readily available set from Energy Suspension for around $5!

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=9.13101

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=395477&highlight=repack+ball+joint

Credit to the OP & the photo goes to "cucamelsmd15"

Granted, I'd love to get some brand new Flyin Miata tubular arms and new ball joints:

$220/ea.

However, the boot has only just torn (no wear & grease is still clean & present, without debris) & I'd rather set the money towards more urgent repairs.

I placed an order for the boots & will update once I get these put on!

Please pardon the usage of copious amounts of low-quality cell phone photos in my posts. My Fuji camera has not been making the trip with me to the office & shop, so I had to do my best with what was available.

 It's getting close to the end of winter. At least, that's what I keep telling myself every time I lift the garage door to see the Miata in its slumber, covered up with various blankets, almost as if I hoped to keep it warm. I recently discovered that the battery had gone flat again, when I tried to bring the car out on one of the warmer days. Suffice to say, it started with a quick jump, so I took the car out on a Friday to work (80 mile roundtrip) and parked it inside the garage. Thankfully, the afternoon was good to me and allowed me a little time to take a look underneath and assess what work I should plan for the car in order to get it ready for some longer trips and even some autocross action, if time allows. 

I put the front of the car on stands, and pulled off the belly pan so that I could take a closer look around. I can't say that I'm entirely happy with what I found, but the results are pretty typical for a car that's 21 years old.

Under the front of the engine (pictured is the front of the oil pan along with the crank pulley area, from underneath) I found a significant amount of oil caked onto various components. This tells me that either there is a leak in one or more of the front main seals, or that (gasp) the oil pan is leaking. Honestly, it could be a combination of both, but I suspect the former is a likely cause. I had planned on replacing all of the oil seals on the front of the engine during my timing belt service, which I am putting on the list for next month. I guess oil residue on the accessory belt could account for why I have some belt squeal when the A/C compressor first kicks on. Or not. Either way, I plan on changing the accessory belt during the T-belt service, so I'll go over the particulars of that problem at that time as well.

Unfortunately, the front end steering and suspension components are really starting to show some age. I suppose I can't expect too much, but it's another area of concern that I'll need to address sometime this year. Thankfully, nothing is broken or exhibiting any play at this time. There is no loose-ness, shaking, clunking, or play in the ball joints (upper & lower) and the tie rod end (pictured, far left, with torn boot). I plan on replacing both the left and right tie rod ends before the car's first major outing in April, for the annual Subaru SVX Reading Meet. It's possible, but unlikely, that I'll get to the upper and lower ball joints, as there are other pressing matters to attend to first. 

Its extremely hard to tell from the photo, but what you are looking at is an extremely corroded mid pipe (down pipe). This is the intermediate exhaust pipe that extends from the exhaust manifold down to the catalytic converter. I've had an exhaust leak at the manifold that's led me to believe that it is cracking at the merge of the primary pipes. Originally, I thought of just replacing the manifold with OEM and taking the "cheap way out", but after seeing the condition of the mid pipe, I'm electing to purchase an exhaust header that will replace both components and offer some performance benefit as well. 

I've selected the header from Jackson Racing as my intended replacement, as their craftsmanship is highly acclaimed according to forum posts and reviews. In addition, Moss Miata is running a sale which includes this header, at a savings of nearly $70, bringing the price down to $390. 

There's really not much more to update on at this time, except for one trivial item. Since my weekend trip to Morgantown, PA in April will require luggage for the weekend, and room for beer, I've considered the addition of an accessory luggage rack, at least to stow a small cooler and one overnight bag on, for the weekend. I am of course concerned about quality of the rack, and what effect it might have on the paint. I think that using the rack sparingly, and only installing it on rare occasions would not cause a problem. I'll update if I manage to scrounge one of these racks up. Otherwise, my next update will likely be after I place a sizable order for parts sometime early next month. Stay tuned!