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I just picked up my 99 white Miata last night and it's awesome so far. It's stock except for a Hard Dog roll bar. Cosmetically it's really good, but does need some work to bring it up to par. Alignment, tires, oil change, new coolant, brake/clutch bleed, clean/lube power windows. The timing belt is original and though the guy said in California the timing belt interval is 105k miles, I'll be changing it soon. Is it true that it's 105k miles? After that I'll be upgrading it and would like some help.. First things will be suspension, new wheels/tires, exhaust and intake. Suspension: What is a decent suspension setup for < $1000? I usually go with some decent lowering springs and a set of Bilstein Sports or something but there are so many options for this car I'd like to know what to look at. Even cheap coilovers would be fine for my purposes I think. How good are the stock swaybars? Wheels: I'm looking at these Enkeis: http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/21-1049.html Is there anything in a similar size that cheaper and just as light? Exhaust/Intake: I found these exhausts on Ebay that look like a good deal. Anyone heard of their build quality? I'm aware that it will not be great, but I have access to a welder and grinder and everything to make it fit right if needed. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volt...sQ5fAccessories Whats a decent intake? What's a decent cheap header? I'm looking to lose the pre-cat. Thanks--sorry about the noob questions 
aventari fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Nov 17, 2009 |
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Nov 17, 2009 19:24
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destructo posted:Wheels: Enkeis look nice. 949 Racing 6UL's are wider and cheaper. A ridiculous amount of people run them (me included), top notch wheels. Interesting. I'm wondering what the hell is the point of dual valve stems though?
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Nov 17, 2009 19:36
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for ten bux more I like the Enkei's look and they're lighter  Yeah they lose 1" of width but on the street not a big deal
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Nov 17, 2009 19:57
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I'm taking my 99 to a track day next month and I need to get a few things for it before I go. It's stock right now with a rollbar at 70k miles. I'm going to run DOT race tires I have on my VW rims(14" Ecsta V700) First of all the stock brakes on there as garbage. They're brand new but I can tell they're the cheap $14.99 autozone specials that have zero bite. I usually go with a nice set of Ferodo fast-road pads. What's a common upgrade for Miata pads? The alignment is off so I want to get a good set of springs and shocks. then get a good alignment. I usually go with something like a set of H&R race springs for a 1-2" drop and some Bilstein Sports. What's the equivalent in Miata-land. I'm so not used to the strength of the Miata aftermarket. When looking up parts for my VW or Porsche there's one or maybe 2 choices for a particular part. For the Miata there 6 or 8 different choices. It's completely paralysing
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Jan 8, 2010 03:08
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where can I get Miata service manuals? I decided the parts to get to upgrade for my stock 99's first track day: Porterfield R4S -STREET Front Racing Beat Rear Miata Sway Bar - Solid ALL years Racing Beat Sway Bar Brace Kit - Front Racing Beat Front Miata Sway Bar - Tubular 99-00 (the smaller one) H&R Race Springs Bilstein Sport shocks I think with that, some old DOT race tires and I'll weld a Magnaflo muffler in place of stock that it should be pretty fun and reliable. aventari fucked around with this message at 08:29 on Jan 14, 2010 |
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Jan 14, 2010 08:25
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Anyone seen or know anything about this ebay exhaust system? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p2759.l1259&item=360220949388&viewitem= looks like a racing beat rip off, but if it fits okay I'll buy it because the price is right.
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Jan 22, 2010 01:42
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I'm definitely interested in a cheap muffler. I don't give a poo poo about stainless or polished or stupid tips. Give me a mandrel bent system in mild steel with a straight through muffler and I'm happy. Can't find anything like that on my own for a 99 though. links?
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Jan 22, 2010 02:06
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Atomizer posted:Back when I thought my muffler was going bad (it was actually the cat) I was considering a Flowmaster 60 Series Delta Flow 2.25", #952462, for my NA. Not necessarily cheap, though. A simple muffler isn't the problem, I want the whole axle-back system with mandrel bends from the flange to the muffler and the exit piping. Plus the hangers. If I had easy access to a MIG welder again I'd just build it myself with a Magnaflow muffler (don't like Flowmasters myself) and some mandrel U-bends but I don't have access to one since my dad moved.
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Jan 22, 2010 03:27
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Yesterday I installed new springs, shocks and swaybars on my 99. I thought the Miata was a nice handling go-cart before, but now it's totally sweet. H&R Race springs, Bilstein Sports, Racing Beat front and rear sways with the front bracing kit. It took a friend and I about 6 hours and everything went straightforward except for a bolt that holds on the undertray was rusted and broke off. I got lucky in that of all the bolts we touched, that was the least important, it's not even that necessary. I was amazed when doing the shocks how little suspension travel the Miata actually has, it's crazy. I left the bumpstops alone on the rear and on the front I cut them down about an inch on the first rib. I didn't measure but it sits about an inch lower and looks sweet. The ride is hardly rougher at all, but it stays completely flat in the corners. A+++ would buy again Anyone want to buy stock '99 springs/shocks/swaybars with 69k miles? The stock shocks are in surprisingly good shape. I would guess they would last another 60k.
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Jan 25, 2010 23:07
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Dragon's-Maw posted:gently caress, I was thinking of going along this line too except maybe Bilstein HD's instead. Then I got a pretty good deal on a used set of Gaz coilovers in roughly the same spring rate. Now I'm debating selling one or the other... The spring rate is great, it's really not that harsh on the street. I'm used to race springs and such in my Scirocco though so if you're sensitive to harsh rides it may not be for you. After installing everything, drifting around corners is a lot more controllable even with bald all-seasons and a hosed alignment. I didn't cut the rears because I didn't think about it until we'd already finished one rear strut. And then I did the front because I still have this FWD mindset that the front suspension does all the work and the rear kind of just hangs out there so it doesn't compress much anyway Now that you mention it I'd like to cut the rear bumpstops as well, I should be able to jack the rear up and cut it with an exacto knife while it's on the car. I didn't go with coilovers because I'm more of a set-it-and-forget-it kind of person. Even if I got the coilovers with the best intentions of tuning them for the correct ride height and corner weight, I would probably just set them once where it looks good and get lazy and leave them there. I would definitely go with Bilstein sports though. Just from my experience with the sports in my VW's, they are really great shocks. Last forever and even though they're stiff it's never a jarring ride. What swaybars do you/are you running? edit: pics of suspension work for fun friend with front suspension + h&r's, bilsteins, RB sway  Click here for the full 1024x699 image. me putting tire back  Click here for the full 1024x768 image. aventari fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Jan 26, 2010 |
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Jan 26, 2010 04:17
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I just learned about the messed up cooling flow in the stock motor. It enters at the front of the motor at the bottom, goes up past the first cylinder and goes out the front again. what the gently caress. That sounds like a recipe for constant head gasket failures around the #4 cylinder and that's alarming. I'm taking my 99 to the track next month and other than exhaust+headers, the motor will be stock, including an old radiator that's turning brown on the top. Am I going to have cooling issues? I will leave the heater on as a precaution but I'm a bit worried. I'm thinking of running a 20/80 coolant/water mix + water wetter to help things out. I'm also seriously looking at the Mtuned cooling reroute. http://949racing.com/m-tunedmiatacoolantreroutesystem.aspx Since I'm going to have this car a while, proper cooling IMO is one of the keys to a long lasting motor. What are your thoughts? Does this cause a lot of problems in the Miata community?
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Feb 3, 2010 09:12
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DreamOn13 posted:I'm debating what to do for wheels/tires for this spring. Currently the car has some 15" steelies with 205/50/15 azenis on it, but the wheels are from a civic so the offset is probably too high. It doesn't have power steering, so the steering effort is a bit higher than I'd like due to the wheels. I'm considering getting some 15x7's and putting those tires on that I already have, or just buying some 14" azenis for dirt cheap (discounttiredirect.com will price match vulcantire.com and there's an $80 rebate on top of that, so 14's would be less than $200) and put them on my stock 94 wheels. I'm leaning towards getting the 14" tires but should probably get some 15's so I have a better tire selection the next time around. What would you cheapasses do? (I'm cheap too.) I would just get some nice 15s Weinertron posted:I've had coolant disappearing from my '99. It isn't leaving while it is parked, and the waterpump is new. Am I more likely to have a hose not clamped down enough, or where else would I be leaking coolant from? If the head gasket was bad I would be seeing white smoke, right? Does it leak anywhere?
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Feb 7, 2010 20:24
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today I mounted my race wheels/tires to make sure they fit and was driving around the neighborhood to make sure they worked okay when 3 20-something douchebags in an Accord yelled 'human being!' at me as i was making a turn. It actually bugged me more than I thought it would.. i got over it pretty quickly but does that happen to anyone else?
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Feb 7, 2010 22:53
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Slippy posted:420 spin snow tires on your miata errday I'm gonna get these wheels from my 99 this week: http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-315.html and some 205/45R16 Yokohama Parada Spec-2's Should be a good street combo I think
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Feb 11, 2010 06:00
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My brakes are total garbage too, but I'm sure it's just because the PO had a shop install the Autozone-type $14.99 pads. I'm going to order some Porterfield R4S pads for the front. I wavered between the Hawk HPS and the R4S but recently my friend put some Hawk HPS pads on his 924 and he hated them, so I'll give the R4S a try. If I could find Ferodo DS2500's I'd run those http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?p=2086792 edit: gently caress the Porterfields, I'm going to get the DS2500's. http://www.topbrakes.com/searchResults.php?car_id=14236 Gonna order from these guys. I've always loved my Scirocco on the track with DS2500's aventari fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Feb 11, 2010 |
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Feb 11, 2010 19:15
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nice looking cars. The NA's are really starting to grow on me. I changed my mind on wheels and I'm gonna get these in 16x7 http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-0187A.html
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Feb 12, 2010 00:08
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http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.275188/it.A/id.7834/.f 13.2 lbs in 16x7 
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Feb 12, 2010 00:47
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Well it depends, his 99 could have 2 cats and if he has the precat in the manifold and it went bad, then you can't just weld in a replacement. Do you know if you have CA emissions on it? I've read that plenty of 99's not in California got the 2 cat bullshit. Personally I'm in CA and I'm going to pull my precat manifold and downpipe and mount up the $100 Raceland headers. The main cat will be fine for emissions purposes and if the smog guy complains I'll just swap the manifold back for a day.
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Feb 12, 2010 09:05
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Got new 16x7 Konig Daylites (13.3lbs) with Yokohama Parada spec2 205/45-16 and installed them on friday. I wasn't really sold on black wheels, but I'm happy with how they came out. (sorry for cameraphone, I need better pics) (suspension is H&R race springs and Bilstein sports)  Click here for the full 1024x667 image.  Click here for the full 1280x868 image. aventari fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Feb 22, 2010 |
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Feb 22, 2010 08:24
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Blaise posted:Son of a gently caress. I just sold $500+ in misc parts from my wrecked Maxima yesterday. Today I went to order 2 sets of Azenis RT-615s for the miata. I dont know what size your wheels are but I just put Yokohama Parada Spec-2's on my Miata (16") and they are really great. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Yokohama&model=Parada+Spec-2 $75 a piece, great in the rain and for a 300 treadwear tire they were awesome at the race track 2 weekends ago as well.
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Mar 16, 2010 08:33
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What do you guys mean by the turret? I'd like to replace all the fluids in my 99, and i would just guess there is the tranny and diff to do after the oil. Am I wrong?
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Mar 22, 2010 06:02
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I just got H&R race springs and Bilstein Sports for my 99 and I love the setup. Very tolerable on the street and was awesome at the track a few weeks ago. $600 for the full set from shox.com I also get Racing beat front and rear sway bars at the same time which are great and about $250 for the set. Here's how it looks: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2651683&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=110#post372866159
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Mar 24, 2010 04:19
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I've been looking into forced induction for my 99 (CA 2-cats) and the only thing I've found that's CARB legal for super or turbo chargers are the Moss MP62 hot side supercharger and the FFS MP62 cold side 190 whp supercharger. Moss: http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-0018.html FFS: http://www.fastforwardsuperchargers.com/ Are these my only options for CARB legality? If so I'm definitely going with the FFS system, and I'd like to know what the consensus is on it's reliability, quality, and value? I'd install a wideband o2, but other than that I'd like to just bolt it on and go.
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Mar 25, 2010 18:39
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That would be nice, but CARB pending doesn't really mean a thing. It could be pending for 5+ years. If it becomes an option by the time I'm ready to buy in the next few months I'll look at it, but otherwise that's a non-starter for me 
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Mar 25, 2010 23:18
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Hog Obituary posted:http://www.bellengineering.net/product_info.php?cPath=140_141&products_id=245 According to m.net they don't have the manifolds that fit the 2-cat Cali cars any more so piecing together a CARB kit for my 99 wouldn't work I'll actually send them an email though
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Mar 26, 2010 00:18
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Weinertron posted:If one wanted to pursue these forced induction options and has a high mileage engine, would it be a better bet to swap in a lower-mileage junkyard engine or tackle rebuilding an engine myself? You should just boost what you have. Maybe throw a new set of rod bearings in if you're worried about that. The worst that happens is something breaks and then you just throw a jy motor in, and/or rebuild what you have. No big deal. A proper full rebuild is fairly pricey for machine work and everything though so keep that in mind.
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Mar 27, 2010 02:31
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Ebay axle-back install http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-0...sQ5fAccessories I installed this a few months ago, when I actually got it shipped for $97. There were a few issues, but for the price I'm happy. got it pretty quick from the seller  Oh whats this? The hanger must've gotten banged in shipping and the weld to the thin metal of the muffler case broke.  luckily I could bust out my trust MIG welder and weld it back up. The fitment was not great. the inlet lined up and the gasket supplied fit, but the hangers were not hanging straight and the tip was pushed up into the bumper cover. I pulled down quite hard on the tip and finally the whole thing bent enough to line up the tip properly in the exhaust cut out. I did have to pull so hard I was afraid I'd break the welds and bust the outlet pipe off of the muffler. But in the end it worked.  here's the only pic i have from the back that shows eventual fitment  I was disappointed with the sound, it's barely louder than stock. The tone itself is fine it's just way too quiet for my taste. I don't know if the muffler is straight through, but I assume it is. Of course there is no difference in power. That's not why I bought it. Maybe it will get a bit louder when I install the Raceland header tomorrow. Hopefully it gets even louder with the supercharger  aventari fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Mar 27, 2010 |
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Mar 27, 2010 03:00
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Well if your exhaust is truly stock the muffler should bolt to the midpipe with a 2 bolt flange. Here's how it looks. If yours is welded then someone did that later. 
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Mar 27, 2010 09:42
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pacheco posted:The antenna on my 2007 got stolen. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK I'm not sure but that looks quite similar to the Fuba antenna used on VW's since the first 16v scirocco in 1986. There's lots of knock-offs available, just google Fuba antenna. I have one on each of my roccos if you need measurements
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Apr 1, 2010 04:50
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willd58 posted:My Master Cylinder thingy has broken and it was sticking the clutch, car is on 75kish miles and has had a supercharger on it at some point in its life so im guessing it was due a new clutch some time soon anyway. It's not any easier to change the clutch when you're changing the master cylinder and/or slave. You should wait until it's actually slipping because you're not saving any money. Atomizer posted:Yeah, I tried kicking it too. A lot. Next time you can put the lug nuts on, but not completely torqued down, and lower the car onto the ground. let the weight of the car break the wheel free. Be careful of course, I would start first with the lugs pretty tight and let it down just touching the ground easy with the jack and kick it a bunch and get progressively more mean to it.
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Apr 6, 2010 04:35
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Ziploc posted:Lesson learned. Never-seize is your friend. Haven't had a stuck wheel since. this is the answer. super thin layer of grease or anti-seize on the hub mounting face. The lugs too. Hell I use anti-seize on just about every bolt I put on my car.
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Apr 8, 2010 02:17
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Ziploc posted:NAs are known to overheat in certain situations. But not always. Whether it be a license plate blocking the radiator, or the under tray missing. There are tons of threads on Miata.net about both scenarios. I'm not running the undertray on my NB, does it really effect cooling? I'll install it for future track days if so.
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Apr 14, 2010 07:41
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Another stupid one, what ratio does my 99 base model open diff have? Is there a taller LSD I can put in there? I'm tired of insane revs on the freeway. I'd really love a tall 5th gear.
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Apr 15, 2010 06:03
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I put on RB recommended bigger front and rear sways and it was awesomely balanced for my 99. I went with racing beat and what they recommended here: http://racingbeat.com/pdf/swaybarguide.pdf The rear is adjustable and I use the stiffer rear setting for some slower, tighter tracks (streets of willow) and the street, and the weaker rear setting for faster, bigger tracks(buttonwillow).
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Apr 22, 2010 03:41
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I'm in the middle of a timing belt/wp change on my 99 I'm stuck on removing the crank bolt. Right now it's soaking with penetrant waiting for me. The first thing I tried was put the car in 1st gear and rip the ebrake. Then I crank on the bolt with my breaker bar, but I can turn it 1/2 a turn and the drivetrain just torques up and takes out the slack and the bolt doesn't budge. I tried threading a bolt into one of the holes, putting a bar under it so when the crank turns it pushes the bar down into the ground, but that just raises the car up. What are the other ways to remove it? I know of the "make a tool out of metal" but I don't have any pieces of metal suitable and I can't drill a hole big enough for the crank bolt in the middle. I've heard of the starter bump, I might try that but seems pretty dangerous. Any other way?
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Jun 11, 2010 03:30
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 hurrr i'm an idiot, thanks i'll try that
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Jun 11, 2010 04:41
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^^ those specs look good to me, especially for spirited street/auto-x. For track I'd get more camber. IOwnCalculus posted:I did it with just a big loving HF breaker bar and a shallow Craftsman socket. Put it in fifth. This worked great for breaking the crank bolt (and reinstalling) Everything after that went smooth. Even though I have a new water pump and new cam seals sitting right here, I decided not to change them and the ones on the car are working fine. It really wasn't that hard to get down tot he timing belt so I'll just replace that stuff if it goes bad. I DID have a problem with the car not starting when I put it all back together. I was pretty pissed off. It was cranking over hard and misfiring and back firing. At first I got all worried that I had left a paper towel in the throttle body (I put it in there to keep from anything getting in while working on it) So I pulled the upper plenum off and searched in the runners for the paper towel, then I pulled the plugs and turned the motor so each cylinder's intake valves were open and blew compressed air through the spark plug holes hoping to shoot the paper towel back out. When I didn't find anything I thought maybe it was the wrong firing order because thats what it felt like (when you put the wires on wrong on a distributor car). So I took the crank trigger wheel off and it turns out I had it on backwards. It wasn't easy to tell but there's a fuzzy picture in the manual, and there's a paint spot on the side of the trigger wheel that's supposed to go forward. Put it all back together and it runs perfect. I'm a total idiot.
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Jun 16, 2010 04:19
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My 99 clutch is slipping on a full throttle 1->2 shift so I will need to replace it soon. I'm planning on getting the FFS supercharger soon so I want a 'stage 1' clutch. I will get a lightweight steel flywheel at the same time. I feel steel will be more durable than aluminum at the cost of a single pound or so So from what I see I have 2 options for the clutch and the flywheel Clutch: $349 FM Stage 1 http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4531&parentid=0&stocknumber=08-19010 or $379 ACT stage 1 http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/15-1020.html Flywheel: $295 10.3lbs FM lightweight flywheel http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4531&parentid=0&stocknumber=08-26500%20%2010.30 $338 9lbs ACT PROLite STEEL http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/60-1155.html For clutch I'm leaning towards FM and for the flywheel I'm leaning towards the ACT for lightweight. Any experiences with the stuff? Any other ones I'm missing? Do I need to have them balanced as a unit when I get them? I always have my flywheel/clutch balanced together for my VWs.
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Jun 19, 2010 07:35
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quick 1-2 shift at redline, like when drag racing. drop the clutch quick and the get on the throttle and the it doesn't chirp 2nd or anything like a healthy clutch would, it just slips
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Jun 21, 2010 00:28
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iscariot posted:Are you sure you want a lightweight flywheel? I put one in my SHO, and I've regretted it ever since. Clutch chatter, stalling in stop and go traffic, revving to the moon before letting out when going up a grade, and really no tangible benefit in performance I could feel. I'm sure I want a lightweight flywheel. I love them. I lightened the stock flyweels in both of my sciroccos and have never had problems with chatter or stalling or anything. I think as long as you have good modulation skills it really won't be a problem. I was thinking about the FM happy meal, but I like the looks of the ACT flywheel over the FM one.
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Jun 22, 2010 07:12
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