CS13B 1988 Convertible Progress Thread
05-05-13, 11:29 AM
#76
More done later in the day yesterday:
My steering rack boots had torn quite a while ago so I got replacements. Had to clean this crap out and regrease before the new boots go on. Simple enough task while the rest of the suspension is out.
And bolted up the rest of it, until the rest of my suspension shows up.
On the rear control arms I bolted up the new dogbone links, hammered in new Whiteline camber adjustment bushings, and regreased the spherical bearings with new seals. The Whiteline bushings should give me an extra +- .75* adjustment in the rear so that the single adjustment bar won't need to be maxed out just to get my camber right in the rear, especially with more lowering.
I'm having a bitch of a time getting the sleeves out from the front of the arms - already broke one punch
. So I just need to keep working on those and the rear arms will be done.
My steering rack boots had torn quite a while ago so I got replacements. Had to clean this crap out and regrease before the new boots go on. Simple enough task while the rest of the suspension is out.
And bolted up the rest of it, until the rest of my suspension shows up.
On the rear control arms I bolted up the new dogbone links, hammered in new Whiteline camber adjustment bushings, and regreased the spherical bearings with new seals. The Whiteline bushings should give me an extra +- .75* adjustment in the rear so that the single adjustment bar won't need to be maxed out just to get my camber right in the rear, especially with more lowering.
I'm having a bitch of a time getting the sleeves out from the front of the arms - already broke one punch
. So I just need to keep working on those and the rear arms will be done.
Last edited by CS13B; 05-05-13 at 11:36 AM.
05-08-13, 06:45 PM
#79
^ Yea I used a dremel and a cutting disc... cut spiral cuts all the way up and hey came out much easier. Got my KYB AGX's in... just waiting on a day that I'm not exhausted from work, and for the rest of my suspension to arrive! SO CLOSE!!
07-10-13, 03:32 PM
#80
Well, it's been a while. Summer has been much much busier than anticipated (which is a good thing!). Anyways, I got some time today after taking the day off for some school ****.
Got the Ground Control kit in finally, NartiaDogFight stickers just happened to come in on the same day.
For the KYB kit, it requires a little modification for the fronts. Just grind this lip down enough that the threaded collar fits snugly over.
Using stock front topmounts for now, until the camber plates are ready from Lucky-10.
Threw them on with the front hubs and took a break to clean the garage. Messes **** me off. Will get back at it when it cools down later.
I missed this!!!
Got the Ground Control kit in finally, NartiaDogFight stickers just happened to come in on the same day.
For the KYB kit, it requires a little modification for the fronts. Just grind this lip down enough that the threaded collar fits snugly over.
Using stock front topmounts for now, until the camber plates are ready from Lucky-10.
Threw them on with the front hubs and took a break to clean the garage. Messes **** me off. Will get back at it when it cools down later.
I missed this!!!
07-11-13, 10:10 PM
#82
^ I do plan on it. I end up photographing most track days I go to though! lol
Got some more done tonight. Got a full set of Racing Beat swaybar endlinks from Craiger on the forum here. Set them to stock for now and we'll see if I really want to adjust them at all.
Gave the diff cover a clean at work and then pressed in the new Mazda Comp bushings. Also did the rear subframe after work.
And bolted it back up, along with the new Mazda Comp front mount. I'm reusing one of the old stock vibration dampeners, even though it may not work with the stiffer rubber.
I need to buy some more POR-15 for the nose of the diff, or just some cheap stuff from crappy tire since they don't rust as bad as the subframes. We'll see - either way, that brown colour just won't do under the car! hahaha
Got some more done tonight. Got a full set of Racing Beat swaybar endlinks from Craiger on the forum here. Set them to stock for now and we'll see if I really want to adjust them at all.
Gave the diff cover a clean at work and then pressed in the new Mazda Comp bushings. Also did the rear subframe after work.
And bolted it back up, along with the new Mazda Comp front mount. I'm reusing one of the old stock vibration dampeners, even though it may not work with the stiffer rubber.
I need to buy some more POR-15 for the nose of the diff, or just some cheap stuff from crappy tire since they don't rust as bad as the subframes. We'll see - either way, that brown colour just won't do under the car! hahaha
07-25-13, 10:56 PM
#83
A few more things checked off:
Front suspension is all back together and ready to roll with OEM rotors and Hawk HPS pads
Diff was painted with some leftover caliper paint - rust converter first.
Bolted up and bolted up!
Trailing arms on - if I did this again I'd just put them on before putting the subframe and diff back up.
Aaaaand I had a friend come over to help put the trans. back up but we failed. I tweaked my shoulder in the process so the next project I tackled was heat control from the exhaust.
My original manifold heat shields didn't go back on the car when I swapped the engine so I wanted to do something to control the amount of heat reaching the intake manifold, seeing as they're practically touching. I bought a DEI wrap kit to planning to do the downpipe and y-pipe but decided just to do the downpipe - will just spray the y-pipe and mufflers with the hi-temp silicone paint. I've been debating whether or not I should unbolt the ex. manifold to put the new heat shields on that I've had for a couple of years. The only thing holding me back is how much of a PITA it is to get at the nuts without removing the entire... well, engine. But, I do have them just sitting there so I might as well get it done, right?
Front suspension is all back together and ready to roll with OEM rotors and Hawk HPS pads
Diff was painted with some leftover caliper paint - rust converter first.
Bolted up and bolted up!
Trailing arms on - if I did this again I'd just put them on before putting the subframe and diff back up.
Aaaaand I had a friend come over to help put the trans. back up but we failed. I tweaked my shoulder in the process so the next project I tackled was heat control from the exhaust.
My original manifold heat shields didn't go back on the car when I swapped the engine so I wanted to do something to control the amount of heat reaching the intake manifold, seeing as they're practically touching. I bought a DEI wrap kit to planning to do the downpipe and y-pipe but decided just to do the downpipe - will just spray the y-pipe and mufflers with the hi-temp silicone paint. I've been debating whether or not I should unbolt the ex. manifold to put the new heat shields on that I've had for a couple of years. The only thing holding me back is how much of a PITA it is to get at the nuts without removing the entire... well, engine. But, I do have them just sitting there so I might as well get it done, right?
Last edited by CS13B; 07-25-13 at 10:59 PM.
09-11-13, 07:45 PM
#87
So, after a busy last few months and a trip to Vancouver, school has started once again and that means in the first week of intro classes I have some time to wrench!
I've got the rear hubs on after what I thought would be a 15 minute job turned into a multiple hour ordeal. Let me explain:
**NOTE**: I don't know if this is how Whiteline would tell you to install these, and I couldn't find any threads or info online anywhere that explained how to install these, so I made it work. And yes this solution did work for me - the hubs bolt on just fine. I don't foresee any issues.
So these Whiteline camber adjusting bushings for the rear hubs are a great idea, but it seems as though they could use a bit of refining and some warning that they aren't just a press-in replacement for the stock bushings that go in there.
First off, the yellow polyurethane inserts are too long and butt up against each other in the trailing arm.
So I trimmed down the inside edge a touch
and then they sit flush. Good start.
Then the metal eccentric bushing gets tapped/pressed in with your desired camber settings. I want to get some positive camber out of these to account for me lowering the car and to take some of the camber adjustment away from that rear subframe adjuster, so they face towards the outside of the car.
I started it with a brass hammer and finished it off with some tongue and groove pliers to slowly squeeze it in. The pliers were needed because as you tap it in from one side the yellow insert on the other side starts to pop out, so you have to compensate with the pliers. You'll see what I mean if you ever do this.
And here is my issue. In this picture the eccentric bushing is more or less flush with the yellow inserts so the hub doesn't fit over. The sleeve in the hub arm sticks out and I don't have a torch to heat up the hub and tap it loose. You still need that sleeve in there, or else the bolt will just float in that opening. I sure as hell am not going to hammer that out with the hub being aluminum, so I found it would be easiest to grind it flush and see where that got me.
So first thing's first; I taped up the opening to the bearing since the last thing you want is a ton of metal dust flying in and clogging up your nice grease in there.
Then set your Dremel to "hurry the eff up" mode and grind away.
After your cheap bit flies off and skips across the workbench, thank yourself for buying that 500-piece bit set that was on sale at Canadian Tire. There's no way you're going through 75 of these grinding bits.
And after some patience you have it flush.
This is the oem plastic washer that normally goes over that sleeve that sticks out, which is fine if you were replacing the OEM bushing with OEM. Not needed for this Whiteline bushing though.
And as you can see by my freshly hammered hub (yes, I used a brass hammer) it's still a pain in the *** to get on. I'm going to guess that having this extremely snug fit is better than removing material from the hub, though, since you don't want that eccentric bushing rotating and throwing off your camber mid-corner.
And voila, I have a nice new-ish rear suspension!
All I need now is my CV shafts in, my swaybar bolted up, transmission & driveshaft in, exhaust heat shields up, exhaust bolted together, then all the fluids in and bled. Hopefully I can do this before it snows again...
I've got the rear hubs on after what I thought would be a 15 minute job turned into a multiple hour ordeal. Let me explain:
**NOTE**: I don't know if this is how Whiteline would tell you to install these, and I couldn't find any threads or info online anywhere that explained how to install these, so I made it work. And yes this solution did work for me - the hubs bolt on just fine. I don't foresee any issues.
So these Whiteline camber adjusting bushings for the rear hubs are a great idea, but it seems as though they could use a bit of refining and some warning that they aren't just a press-in replacement for the stock bushings that go in there.
First off, the yellow polyurethane inserts are too long and butt up against each other in the trailing arm.
So I trimmed down the inside edge a touch
and then they sit flush. Good start.
Then the metal eccentric bushing gets tapped/pressed in with your desired camber settings. I want to get some positive camber out of these to account for me lowering the car and to take some of the camber adjustment away from that rear subframe adjuster, so they face towards the outside of the car.
I started it with a brass hammer and finished it off with some tongue and groove pliers to slowly squeeze it in. The pliers were needed because as you tap it in from one side the yellow insert on the other side starts to pop out, so you have to compensate with the pliers. You'll see what I mean if you ever do this.
And here is my issue. In this picture the eccentric bushing is more or less flush with the yellow inserts so the hub doesn't fit over. The sleeve in the hub arm sticks out and I don't have a torch to heat up the hub and tap it loose. You still need that sleeve in there, or else the bolt will just float in that opening. I sure as hell am not going to hammer that out with the hub being aluminum, so I found it would be easiest to grind it flush and see where that got me.
So first thing's first; I taped up the opening to the bearing since the last thing you want is a ton of metal dust flying in and clogging up your nice grease in there.
Then set your Dremel to "hurry the eff up" mode and grind away.
After your cheap bit flies off and skips across the workbench, thank yourself for buying that 500-piece bit set that was on sale at Canadian Tire. There's no way you're going through 75 of these grinding bits.
And after some patience you have it flush.
This is the oem plastic washer that normally goes over that sleeve that sticks out, which is fine if you were replacing the OEM bushing with OEM. Not needed for this Whiteline bushing though.
And as you can see by my freshly hammered hub (yes, I used a brass hammer) it's still a pain in the *** to get on. I'm going to guess that having this extremely snug fit is better than removing material from the hub, though, since you don't want that eccentric bushing rotating and throwing off your camber mid-corner.
And voila, I have a nice new-ish rear suspension!
All I need now is my CV shafts in, my swaybar bolted up, transmission & driveshaft in, exhaust heat shields up, exhaust bolted together, then all the fluids in and bled. Hopefully I can do this before it snows again...
Last edited by CS13B; 09-11-13 at 07:48 PM.
11-06-13, 06:04 PM
#88
Alright. The last couple of days I've been working on the car quite a bit. It started after an "AHAA" moment.
Normally when I'm done working on the car I stuff as much crap under the car as I can to save room in the garage. I have an old office chair I was using and After I put the brakes back on the car it wouldn't fit in the wheel well space where I normally put it. It was JUST too high to fit under the car. So for some reason, as spontaneous as shower-thoughts normally are, I thought 'hey I bet it would work awesome as a transmission jack.' I went out later and took off the seat cushion and voila, it fit under the car, it rolled, and it lifted. I already tied the tail-end of the trans up with bungee cords through the shifter hole to support it at that end, and with the new jack I was able to slide it in place with only one person under the car. My brother pushed the engine back to get it lined up easier. Success!!!
Got everything else hooked up, so I bolted back on the heat shields and got the exhaust up. Didn't snap any undercar pictures but it looks WICKED in black and heat-wrapped. It makes the car look a lot cleaner underneath than having a rusty exhaust, or the pitted chrome RB Y-pipe.
And then I couldn't help myself. I haven't bled the brakes yet or refilled any of the fluids but I HAD to get it on the ground at this point. Just confirmed first that the wheels weren't going to slam into the fenders once it was down.
I have it set at the highest ride height since I wasn't sure how low it would go, but I'll let the springs settle a bit and lower it some more in a few weeks...
I think the next step is to take it to a bodyshop to get my floors fixed!
Normally when I'm done working on the car I stuff as much crap under the car as I can to save room in the garage. I have an old office chair I was using and After I put the brakes back on the car it wouldn't fit in the wheel well space where I normally put it. It was JUST too high to fit under the car. So for some reason, as spontaneous as shower-thoughts normally are, I thought 'hey I bet it would work awesome as a transmission jack.' I went out later and took off the seat cushion and voila, it fit under the car, it rolled, and it lifted. I already tied the tail-end of the trans up with bungee cords through the shifter hole to support it at that end, and with the new jack I was able to slide it in place with only one person under the car. My brother pushed the engine back to get it lined up easier. Success!!!
Got everything else hooked up, so I bolted back on the heat shields and got the exhaust up. Didn't snap any undercar pictures but it looks WICKED in black and heat-wrapped. It makes the car look a lot cleaner underneath than having a rusty exhaust, or the pitted chrome RB Y-pipe.
And then I couldn't help myself. I haven't bled the brakes yet or refilled any of the fluids but I HAD to get it on the ground at this point. Just confirmed first that the wheels weren't going to slam into the fenders once it was down.
I have it set at the highest ride height since I wasn't sure how low it would go, but I'll let the springs settle a bit and lower it some more in a few weeks...
I think the next step is to take it to a bodyshop to get my floors fixed!
! Have you done your first start up yet?
11-26-13, 07:57 PM
#90
Drama Queen is awake. Just in time for winter... 
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...26775293327267
I'm actually really pissed about that whining noise you can hear. I think it's my transmission input shaft bearing...
It was doing this after I rebuilt the transmission but I thought it was the throwout bearing since the old one was rather old and making some noise before I even rebuilt the trans.
I bought one of those "stronger" TII ones but it's still making that whining. Goes away when the clutch pedal is pressed.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...26775293327267
I'm actually really pissed about that whining noise you can hear. I think it's my transmission input shaft bearing...
It was doing this after I rebuilt the transmission but I thought it was the throwout bearing since the old one was rather old and making some noise before I even rebuilt the trans.
I bought one of those "stronger" TII ones but it's still making that whining. Goes away when the clutch pedal is pressed.
Last edited by CS13B; 11-26-13 at 08:02 PM.
02-28-14, 09:56 PM
#91
I picked up some Rx-8 seats back in December but have been so busy working with a race team and with school that I only just got around to modifying the seats tonight. Got all of the OEM Rx-8 brackets off of the bottom of the sliders tonight so I'll see how they fit in the FC tomorrow... then I should be able to get some tabs welded on to fit the stock FC bolt locations.
The non-leather Rx-8 seats are height adjustable with a manual mechanism so I'm just going to set it at the lowest position (if it's comfortable in the FC), weld the mechanism arms there and then remove a bunch of of the weight that isn't needed any more.... hopefully it's that simple.
The non-leather Rx-8 seats are height adjustable with a manual mechanism so I'm just going to set it at the lowest position (if it's comfortable in the FC), weld the mechanism arms there and then remove a bunch of of the weight that isn't needed any more.... hopefully it's that simple.
10-05-14, 05:16 PM
#94
I've been driving it around like this for a bout a month.
Decided I wanted to drive it for a while again since it had been a couple years since it was on the road. At least for a while before it goes back off the road for bodywork.
Now at least I have most of the interior installed, excluding a few trim pieces, a carpet, and a passenger seat... lol
Last night I finally got around to installing those RX-8 seats I bought.
My welding isn't the best but it should hold.
I put these risers on the front of the bottom cushion to add some more "bucket-ness" to the seat.
It sits VERY VERY slightly higher than the stock FC seats but it's really not noticeable. I'm hoping breaking in the seat a bit will sit me a bit lower when the cushion relaxes. The grey and black suits the interior really well. Next up is the passenger side... when I find the time...
Gotta get as much done as I can since pretty soon it'll be back to work on this thing!
Decided I wanted to drive it for a while again since it had been a couple years since it was on the road. At least for a while before it goes back off the road for bodywork.
Now at least I have most of the interior installed, excluding a few trim pieces, a carpet, and a passenger seat... lol
Last night I finally got around to installing those RX-8 seats I bought.
My welding isn't the best but it should hold.
I put these risers on the front of the bottom cushion to add some more "bucket-ness" to the seat.
It sits VERY VERY slightly higher than the stock FC seats but it's really not noticeable. I'm hoping breaking in the seat a bit will sit me a bit lower when the cushion relaxes. The grey and black suits the interior really well. Next up is the passenger side... when I find the time...
Gotta get as much done as I can since pretty soon it'll be back to work on this thing!
10-12-14, 12:40 PM
#97
Got the time to do the passenger side yesterday.
Here's where the stock rails sit... I forget how the seat mounts on them.
Had to notch a piece to fit the RX-8 seat as low as possible, without too much other work.
The passenger side ended up sitting a little further to the outside otherwise it sits too high on the exhaust bump in the body.
It does sit a little higher than the driver side.
Overall, really happy with the outcome and look but WAY too much work to get seats to fit in a car. Worth it overall, I guess. New seats just don't hug you the way the old worn-in ones do. Cost me $300 for the seats from a wrecker, some scrap metal, and about 2 days worth of fitting and fabrication. Thanks to RPM Joe for letting me use his shop and welder. The passenger side isn't that much higher, but someone taller than 6'2" might be uncomfortable with the roof up.
Here's where the stock rails sit... I forget how the seat mounts on them.
Had to notch a piece to fit the RX-8 seat as low as possible, without too much other work.
The passenger side ended up sitting a little further to the outside otherwise it sits too high on the exhaust bump in the body.
It does sit a little higher than the driver side.
Overall, really happy with the outcome and look but WAY too much work to get seats to fit in a car. Worth it overall, I guess. New seats just don't hug you the way the old worn-in ones do. Cost me $300 for the seats from a wrecker, some scrap metal, and about 2 days worth of fitting and fabrication. Thanks to RPM Joe for letting me use his shop and welder. The passenger side isn't that much higher, but someone taller than 6'2" might be uncomfortable with the roof up.
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