I'm planning an overhaul of my 93s tired suspension over the winter. The car is primarily driven on NY roads - may see some occasional track use, but I don't plan on pushing this car given it's increasing rarity and difficulty in sourcing parts (as compared with my NA Miata).

• SakeBomb Long Stroke Ohlins
  • I'm on the fence between 10kg/8kg or 12kg/10kg. I'm leaning towards the lower spring rate; hopefully I can compensate to some extent with rebound at the track
• FUCA/FLCA, Inner/outer tie rods, rack boots
  • OEM replacements from Rock Auto - new ball joints, new rubber bushings
• Front sway bar
  • Seems like the only hallow bars on the market are Silky and Cusco - leaning towards a Silky Bar
• Rear pillow *****/seals
  • Replacements from J-Auto

Things I'm unsure about:

• Adjustable sway bar endlinks
  • Looks like all the adjustable end links that allow you to zero out preload at lower ride heights are Heim jointed - I'd prefer an adjustable style closer to OEM. Barring this I'll likely go with any of the current options on the market, probably Silky
• Rear sway bar
  • I'm inclined to only go up on bar in the front and retain the stock 93 rear bar, which I understand to already be stiffer than later years
• RUCA/RLCA, rear toe arm, rear trailing arm
  • This has been a difficult one to sort out - I can't readily find OEM replacements for these, and I don't want to replace rubber with poly or heim joints. Pillow ***** takes care of some of it.
  • RUCA Inner Competition bushing: F128-28-8C0
  • RLCA Inner Competition bushing: F128-28-460
  • Toe Control Inner Competition bushing: F128-28-42Y
  • Trailing Arm Competition bushing: F128-28-52Y
• Front/Rear Hub Bearings
  • Unsure if I'll tackle this yet, though I do want to install ARP studs

Anything I'm missing? Anyone else gone down this path that's not necessarily interested in poly and heim joints everywhere?

 

Sounds like a good plan overall.

Definitely get the lower spring rate option from sakebomb.
I'd probably do stock pillow ***** from Ray Crowe but J Auto has lots of satisfied customers.
The Comp bushings on the rear sound like a resonable alternative to poly or heim. Assuming you actually need to replace them. I'd be willing to use poly for the trailing arm.
Front hubs are easy but get OEM from Ray to ensure you get quality bearings. Rear bearings are harder to do but I would also get OEM bearings for those.

I did Mazda Comp bushings on my car when I did this ages ago. But I'm in CA and the roads are much better here than any area of NY that I've been in.

 

Try and get setup with mazda motorsports. you get a heavy discount.

 

10/8 setup for sure on the Ohlins. The regular 11/11 setup was nice a track however I always wanted to swap out to a softer spring for street usage.

Tie rods
Don't forget to order the lock washers for the inner tie rods. J auto has the correct ones in regards to thread pitch which changed at some point in time. Mazda outer tie rods are quality and fair priced.

I would suggest leaving the sway bars stock until doing some track events. This way you can push the car and see exactly what it needs. Many factors including tire sizes front/rear will change this. Some of the fastest FD's ran stock sway bars, especially the softer 94+ rear.

For the rear, a mix of poly and stock bushings is the best combination unless you spring for the mazda comp bushings.

Wheel bearings
NSK and BCA(NTN) are both quality made in Japan bearings. I vaguely recall NSK being OE to Mazda back in the day? The rear hubs are still available new which make it simple to drop in new bearings and fresh lug studs.

New camber adjustment bolts/nuts are a must front and rear.

 

You don't need a new front sway bar. Sway bars aren't an upgrade, they're an adjustment.
If anything, I'd get an adjustable rear bar.
You don't really need adjustable links.

Leave the hub bearings alone if they aren't loose.

 

Already have been for about a decade

Thanks! Would have forgotten about this - looks like its FD01-32-132

That makes things easier - I'm used to this just being a "thing to address" from experience with other chassis. The suspension on my FD is so worn out it's hard to establish a baseline for what it needs.

Also forgot about these, good point!

 

The FD already has a fairly beef front sway bar, and the car isn't going to roll very much with 8-10 kg springs unless you lower it excessively.
A thicker front bar would just reduce grip and make the car understeer.

 

the rear is Mazda J001-26-151, and if you look its probably a Koyo, NTN or NSK, so those would all be ok
the front hub is a similar story, if you look its going to be Koyo, NTN or NSK