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Miata: Tires, Brakes, Wheel Bearings, Hubs, Federals

Rear driver-side is done. Remembered I had a wheel bearing puller from forever ago, so it made quick work of removing and installing the wheel bearings and hubs. The biggest issue was getting the C-clip out and back in. Coated everything in some high temp grease and re-installed. Had to refurbish the caliper, but it wasn't a big deal. Some rust remover, solvent, and a plastic wire brush made it easy. Cleaned, re-painted, and re-greased everything before putting it all back together. Noticed one of the infamous anti-rattle "M" springs fell out, so I'll probably order a replacement set before finishing the other side, even though I know they aren't necessary. The Supermiata braided SS brake line is installed and good to go. I rounded the compression fitting nut taking the old line off because I didn't have a line wrench, but a small pipe wrench got it off and all back together. I can put off buying a flare tool...for now. While I was at it I cleaned the wheel arch and suspension components. My buddy, Alec, also got the  Federals mounted! Finishing up the passenger side brakes and then I'll swap wheel spacers up front (going 0.25" wider) and get this thing road worthy again. I think my battery shit the bed, so add that to the list of things I need to waste money on.

 

 

Miata: Rear Brake Disassembly

Started working on the rear brakes after my Supermiata braided stainless steel lines came in only to realize that my rear wheel bearings are toast. Ordered some replacements that should be here soon as well as some 205/50/15 Federal 595 RS-RR's.Found some deer jerky remnants from an incident a few months ago, but Otis made quick work of it. Cleaning and refurbishing the calipers before putting it all back together.

Miata: Gutting, Front Brakes, Gram Lights, and Banner

I recently bought a truck (1998 GMC C1500) and no more than 2 days into owning it I started drunkenly tearing the Miata apart one night. I woke up the next day and kind of regretted it, but hey, thats why I bought the new toy-hauler and daily. After fully gutting the interior I trimmed the dash and painted it, re-loomed and simplified the chassis harness, painted the dash bar, and made a tombstone delete plate (it'll be color matched and house a few switches). Basically I'm removing weight, any unnecessary items, and simplifying wiring. Planning on color matching the interior sheet metal Montego Blue, getting a few gauges, getting a driverside bucket, and maybe a shift knob. That'll be it interior wise until I fully cage the thing.

 

 

 

Then my friend, Alec Shaddox (@lowstylestang), found a set of 15x8 Gramlights 57DRs for a price I couldn't refuse, so I picked them up to use as steer-ers and daily wheels with plans of repainting them silver or bronze, but the white is kind of growing on me. That and they're basically brand fucking new, so I'd feel bad about refinishing them.

 Soon after that I sarted cleaning up my suspension and wound up breaking a slider bolt in the front driverside caliper, so I sourced on from a local junkyard, painted it, and continued working. Cleaned and repainted or cleared the parts I would keep and then installed the new rotors, brake pads, upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, and brake lines. Not using my brake lines as a bungee cord anymore is pretty tight and now I can actually get full lock from the ArrowFab modified knuckles.

Made a radiator cooling plate that has since been color matched Montego Blue. The maitas paint is pretty rough. It's been hit total of 5 times so far since I've owned it and I've hit a handful of curbs streeting, so i'm not in a rush to fix it. I'll save that for when I get a new kit.

While waiting on some more parts such as tires for the Gramlights, rear brake lines, and other small items I decided to clean up and re-spray my OEM daisys aluminum silver since I hated the black/machine the previous owner did. Not perfect, but they look a LOT better and it's good enough for a drift car.

Also had my friend Seth Allen (@smithnosebar) make a handful of new VERMIN banners that I designed. Turned out pretty rad. These aren't for sale; I'm giving them to homies with cars I think are tight.