I'm sure I'll get a few more miles on it this year. Working from home, I don't put a ton of miles of my cars. The ST only has 3k on it in 8 months, and the Miata saw 1k this year. Next year, my job goes to 100% work from home, so the miles may be even less. They'll all be "pleasure" miles.

Found this picture on online. Might tweak it a little bit and hang it up in the garage. I'd prefer the 3/4 angle cutaway, but I haven't been as lucky finding that.

That's cool. I really like the 3/4 cut away you found for me of the S2000.

I wish there was a 3/4 cut for my car as well.

Huzer wrote:I'm sure I'll get a few more miles on it this year. Working from home, I don't put a ton of miles of my cars. The ST only has 3k on it in 8 months, and the Miata saw 1k this year. Next year, my job goes to 100% work from home, so the miles may be even less. They'll all be "pleasure" miles.

This is how it's been for me the past 3 years too. Last year I put 1500 miles on my Mustang and 1000 on the Miata. I haven't gotten gas in the Miata since October and still have 3/4 of a tank in it. I definitely miss driving more, but I don't miss having to do it in traffic on a commute.

I'm thinking of swapping seats to some Ultra Shield Rally Sports. Apparently the shoulder wing design is different from the Corbeaus and allows the seat to sit further back without interference from the rollbar. Right now my seat back is probably 3" or so off the rear bulkhead.

I'm still waiting to hear from FM on the control arms. I'm not in a rush, and would prefer they arrive after my trips I have coming up the next couple of weeks.

My goal at this point is to have the car trackable by open lapping on 4/17 at HPR.

Fun stuff ordered. Timing belt water pump kit, various gaskets and seals, extended clutch line from 949, ACT LW Flywheel, Exedy Clutch. Not sure when I'll be doing the actual work.

I'll need to rent a hoist, pick up an engine stand. I'm not in a huge hurry to get everything back in, as I want to get the engine cleaned up, and do some inspection to see what else I might need before it goes back in the car. Should be fun. I'll post up when I plan on doing the work in case anyone is interested in lending a hand.

Hands available pending schedule. That is a pretty sizeable order. I suggest we test fit the corbeaus in my car before you get rid of them.

I'll work around a schedule people can be available, for either the removal or installation. It won't be going back together the same weekend I take it out. I also want to pull the airbag wiring. Primarily because, well, 1, I don't have an airbag anymore, and 2, I rub on the protruding humps in the fender well where the wiring lives. Once I get that fixed, no more rubbing. And while the car is outta commission, I'll just check and see what else I might want to play with.

I'm excited to get the work done though, as that should fix up all of the leaks. I may have someone else test drive and let me know what they think of the brakes in the car, if I need to bleed any further, or something else is weird. I'm not a good judge as I've never driven another Miata, and the brakes in the ST are so touchy, that when i get in the Miata, they are starkly different.

Hopefully I'll be on target for an April track day. Next purchase, barring more maintenance Miata items, will be a helmet.

I really don't think you want touchy brakes for the track. As long as they grab firmly and don't overheat, you should be good to go.

I would test drive it for you as a camparo to my car, but your seat is mounted solidly and I can't reach the pedals.

Shadowden wrote:I would test drive it for you as a camparo to my car, but your seat is mounted solidly and I can't reach the pedals.

I should have everything next weekend, and other than a hockey tournament on the 15th, I may get started on Saturday the 14th. That said, with a nice weekend, I might even start disconnecting odds and ends this weekend. I won't guarantee I'll start next weekend, but it's a strong possibility.

So the to do list:

• Pull engine
• Clean empty engine bay, engine, transmission
• Replace: Water Pump, Timing Belt, tensioner pulleys, accessory belts, gaskets associated with all of the aforementioned items
• Replace valve cover gasket, CAS o ring, remaining coolant lines,
• Replace Clutch, Flywheel, Rear Main, Slave, Clutch line
  thermostat
• Remove airbag wiring. Cut front fender linings, rivet in flat piece to eliminate protrusion in the fender lining.

Anyone think of anything else (reasonable) to do while I'm in there. I'll check the plugs, but I have record of new plugs/wires, although the mechanic was a hack, so he may have charged and never did them. Engine has 218k on it.

Check the freeze plugs.

RX-7 Chris wrote:Check the freeze plugs.

Freeze plugs...people actually use them on engines?

All the parts that I've ordered so far have arrived, so everything on the list above is here. Depending on whether or not I end up with plans on Valentine's Day will determine if the engine comes out on Saturday, or I have Monday off. I'll probably at least get the fluids drained and start puttering around in the garage tomorrow.

Hopefully, I won't have too much to add to the list once I get the engine out, but I'm sure there will be some brittle hose or broken connector to deal with. The back of the engine has massive sludge from leaks all over it, so it'll be nice to get things cleaned up to make it nicer to do further work in the future.

My first Miata engine pull. Wee! Probably unnecessary given the work I'm doing, but why not.