With October came cooler weather and Scopecreepette made it back for 4 autocross events which were the 92 SBY’s swan song as we decided to retire it from AX competition.
We had seen a few people we know, each with considerably more experience than either of us, damage their cars in “drying” conditions and decided we like the yellow Miata too much to risk it going forward.
The goal was to find a 5 speed NB1 and get it ready to complete in E-Street at the Red Hills Tour event in March. The best laid plans of Mice and Men…
Like I said the “Plan” was to find a NB1 LS (LSD). The problem I encountered was I couldn’t find one that made sense financially for what I was wanting to do with it.
I ended up finding a 2002 LS locally and the plan changed (not for the last time). I could swap the engine, suspension and wheels/tires from the 01 SE onto it and make a dedicated AX car.
The reason the 02 LS was priced lower was the top and interior were trashed and it overheated in traffic. The car was totally stock and the body was straight so I decided to take a chance on it and brought it home.
The first order of business was to make the 02 LS watertight so I ordered a canvas / glass window top from https://www.autotopsdirect.com.
The rain rail drains were completely clogged on both sides – I used a pick to pull it out the top and they had about 4 inches of sediment blocking the top. Once I pulled that out, the rest went out the bottom easily.
The old top came off and the new top on so now I can store it outside when needed.
While waiting on the top, a local FB Marketplace post showed up selling NB2 door cards for $20. I messaged the seller and we agreed to meet the next day.
Once I got there, he had some leather seats he was selling as well since he was converting his Miata to a track car. They were a little worn on the driver side bolster and will need some re-dye work but a good value to me at $100 for the pair.
After I got the 02 LS watertight, I decided that I would remove the 5 speed transmission in preparation for the engine swap with 01 SE. SWMBO does not like to assist in pulling engines with the trans attached. She’s free help so I accommodate that (and just about every other) request.
The 01 SE had a bad motor when I bought it and it received a 97K mile LKQ engine that had all the belts/ gaskets replaced before I put it back in about 7K miles ago and I wanted to keep it since it was better than the one in the car.
Once I crawled under 02 LS, I starting re-thinking my original plan. Everything was covered in grease/oil and every wear part (ball joints, seals, etc) needed replacement.
I had forgotten all the small things I replaced and cleaned the first year I owned the 01 SE. I really didn’t want to do that again so I decided to consult the SCCA Solo rulebook and a 2001 Miata sales brochure.
After some research, I determined I could convert the 01 SE to a 01 LS by changing the following: 5 speed transmission, 4.3 differential, leather steering wheel, black plastic brake handle / boot and a standard fuel door.
Shopped on eBay and for a little over $100 I had everything for the conversion.
That solved, now I turned my attention back to getting the transmission and differential out of the 02 LS – just once I wish I would buy a Miata where the shifter did NOT look like this…
The transmission and differential came out without drama but they were really filthy – a lot of deferred maintenance I suspect.
I had read a post about using the PPF bolts to drive the top PPF to differential pins out and decided to give it a try. It took about 4 total whacks with a 2.5 lb dead blow mallet and they came right out.
I used a can of carb cleaner and got the worst of the grime off. I replaced the transmission front gasket and seal and the output shaft seal and both axle seals on the differential.
I’m not sure if the Mazda has upgraded their axle seals or if the one I took out is aftermarket but I really like the metal flange around the OEM seals.
I pushed the 02 LS out of the garage and drove the 01 SE in to repeat the process of removing the transmission and differential.
I tried using the bolts to remove the top pins from the PPF to differential it just didn’t work on this one. I pounded on it with a 2.5 and 5 lb dead blow mallets and neither moved at all. After I had worn myself out, I decided to take the PPF out attached to the differential. I used a jack stand to support the PPF while I lowered the differential and will use the same process to re-install. I suspect it will complicate the installation a little but shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Since this is the 4th time I’ve taken the 6 speed out of the 01 SE, everything came out without any problem.
Installation was the reverse of the removal. The only thing I had an issue with was getting the axles to seat back in the differential. I finally loosened the lower “hub” nut, worked the bolt with some WD-40 to reduce the friction, and after lining up the axle splines used the weight of the hub to get the axle to seat. It went really quickly after I tried that but everything I had tried previously (hitting the upper hub mount and axle, prybar on the subframe, and man-handling it) failed miserably.
I did a couple of maintenance / upgrades while everything was apart. I rebuilt the 5 speed shifter with new upper and lower boots and changed my brake pad strategy.
I’ve been running Hawk HPS pads front and rear and switched to Powerstop street pads for the front hoping to get a little more help from the rear brakes. I kept the HPS front pads in case I decide I want to go back but am going to try this for a couple of events and then decide.
I got everything completed / double checked and took the 01 SE for its first test drive this afternoon. After I got everything up to temperature and felt comfortable with it, I decided to check the new top speed in 2nd gear.
I suspect that the actual speed will be 57 / 58 MPH on the GoPro but it’s a lot better than the 52 MPH I got with the original trans/diff.
We pushed the 02 LS back into the garage and will be starting on it tomorrow. I’m going to put the differential / PPF combo back in first just to get it out of the way and then start on removing the head (which will be a first for me on a Miata).
