Tailchaser's Garage

Looks like I'll be hiding out in the back of the house this week...

Tuesday night: Miata coolant flush/thermostat replacement (it had the decency to stick open instead of closed)

Wednesday night: Driver's side half-axle on the OTM ('97 Civic)
Thursday night: You guessed it! Passenger's side half-axle on the OTM

Friday night: Miata intake install/shock removal
Saturday: Miata FM springs install

If you're inclined to lend moral support or want to use the other side of the garage, shoot me a PM for directions or call me at 214-912-9261. Last I checked, I still have a great selection of beer in the garage fridge. Take-home beer available for anyone with prior experience popping an axle out of a *#$&#$* Civic.

If you need a hand Friday or Saturday night let me know!

What time do you plan to get started?

I should get started by around 5:30 or 6 tonight through Thursday, probably 7:30-8 ish on Friday, and early in the morning on Saturday.

So are you officially going TCSP this year? If I can get a pass from my wife, I'll stop by this weekend to help with the springs...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kestrel

So are you officially going TCSP this year? If I can get a pass from my wife, I'll stop by this weekend to help with the springs...

---

Actually, I'm unofficially going to TCSP. :-) I'm planning on running PCA and S2K primarily, so I may not get much use out of my any P's I may buy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tailchaser

"Actually, I'm unofficially going to TCSP. :-) I'm planning on running PCA and S2K primarily, so I may not get much use out of my any P's I may buy."

---

Or the T's, C's or S's you already have for that matter! :wink:

I'll be interested to see how your modifications effect your car, as they are the kind of mods I'd like to do to mine. Add a 4-1 header. And the timing bump. I'm assuming you'll have a "cold box" around your intake. I'm not leaning towards any kind of FI... yet.

Yup... Among other things, the cold boxes tend to tame some of the wild beasty noises made by the Monsterflow intakes...

I'll probably break down and stick in the uber-sexy Racing Beat 4:1 header shortly, but Mazdaspeed hasn't shown any signs of sending my motor mounts yet, and those are ever so much easier to do during the header swap.

8)

I really am very interested to watch your progress, and I'd like to help as much as I can with the build. Learnin', learnin', learnin'... :)

Update...

Flushed the radiator, changed the thermostat, got nothing but clear water on the second flush. Hooray! Refilled with a gallon and a half of Prestone and need a flashlight to see the level in the over-flow tank! I like clean fluids. Can you tell?

And then there was the Civic...

dave04 was kind enough to drop by and lend (im)morral support. Yuck. Grease everywhere is a serious understatement. With a little encouragement, the driver's side is almost dis-assembled - I just need to find out whether Marcucci told me to use a puller or pickle fork to separate the knuckle from the lower control arm... I don't feel like busting a ball joint this week...

After Dave left, I removed the pads and the rotor... The outside pads are at 50% of original thickness... Insides are 5% at the leading edge, 15% at the trailing edge... I'm guessing this is due to the grease blowing out onto the inside rotor.

The weekend outlook is good... I'll definitely have springs on Friday, and I should have an intake. Plus... It looks like the Civic should be back in one piece before I go to bed tomorrow night! Somehow, I'm guessing it's going to drive a bit better... Really nifty gritchy noises emanating from what's left of the original axle joints...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tailchaser

It looks like the Civic should be back in one piece before I go to bed tomorrow night! Somehow, I'm guessing it's going to drive a bit better... Really nifty gritchy noises emanating from what's left of the original axle joints...

---

:idea: Good, I'll give you a call when I get ready to switch out the ones in my 97' Civic! :wink:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sharpie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tailchaser

It looks like the Civic should be back in one piece before I go to bed tomorrow night! Somehow, I'm guessing it's going to drive a bit better... Really nifty gritchy noises emanating from what's left of the original axle joints...

---

:idea: Good, I'll give you a call when I get ready to switch out the ones in my 97' Civic! :wink:

---

Feel free to... I spent a long time looking at the oddity that is a front-wheel drive suspension...

Are you still working on this tonight?

Yup... may have to close the garage door, but I'd really like to kick the poor old Civic back out to the street at the end of the night... Then I'll have a day off before the springs show up for the Miata!

<sigh> Didn't quite get the Civic finished Wednesday night... Appears the EX models really did have different front brakes from the rest, and I discovered that about 5 minutes too late to make it to VatoZone to swap.

The good news, though, is that it's all back together and much more pleasant to drive than it was last week! Amazing what working CV joints and fresh brakes will do for a car...

Tonight I'll start the tear down of the Miata suspension about 7:30 if anyone cares to drop by and lend a hand with the old spring compressor...

Looks like the intake won't be in until next Tuesday, though.

Hey TC,

The VatoZone on Josey Lane, just north of Beltline, and the one in Lewisville on Main Street @ Valley Parkway are open 24 hours.

Raymond

Yup... But that's too far to drive when it doesn't have to be running tomorrow...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tailchaser

Tonight I'll start the tear down of the Miata suspension about 7:30 if anyone cares to drop by and lend a hand with the old spring compressor...

---

I'll give you a hand!!

Congrats! Glad you were able to get the job done. Nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you take on a project and finish it with great results...

And speaking of a job well done...

Thanks to the incredibly generous contribution of time and effort by 3bean, the Miata is low, mean and agile. And, no suprise to me, overall ride quality is markedly improved. No jittering over bumps and seams at highway speeds or in the neighborhood.

Plus... it looks good.

Darn good thing it's done, though, since I probably won't have a rent-car to replace the VW until Tuesday... Some kind young lady felt compelled to do other things than drive her car this afternoon and punted two cars off I-35E this afternoon, mine being one of them...