All of the springs mounts are done.
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Cut 6.5" out of one of the half shafts. Fits well, now I need to slip the collar over it and weld it up.
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All of the springs mounts are done.
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Cut 6.5" out of one of the half shafts. Fits well, now I need to slip the collar over it and weld it up.
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With the weight of this car the Miata springs are way too stiff. Does anyone have a source for softer Miata springs or affordable direct fit coilovers?
The steering is coming together. I wound up using a center steer box from a sand rail with the steering arms from the gen 1 honda crx and the tie rod ends from the miata. Here is the original sand rail setup
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The new arrangement
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Had to open up the holes in the ends of the rack and rethread to fit the honda pieces.
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Assembled with the beginnings of a mounting bracket. I believe that shock boots from a golf cart shock will work on this unit.
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The joints are in the original miata location. With any luck, no bump steer. I will cycle the suspension thru its range before welding everything in
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Also machined some collars to splice the rear axles
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And welded in a couple of pieces of tubing for the cage
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Ben_Modified wrote: With the weight of this car the Miata springs are way too stiff. Does anyone have a source for softer Miata springs or affordable direct fit coilovers?
Look into motorcycle rear shocks. Bikers upgrade them all the time, so the stock ones are all over eBay for pretty cheap. Many of the factory ones are very adjustable like aftermarket coilovers. Spring rates for late model sport bikes like Hayabusa, GSXR, etc are in the 300 to 500 lbs/in range. I plan on using mid-2000's GSXR1000 (high 400's lb/in) shocks up front for the Rice Rod, and that will probably be a 2400 lb vehicle.
You might want to find some way to support the ends of that steering rack. From my FSAE days we found the center mount racks to be very flexible, and that was on a 350 lb car.
maschinenbau wrote:Ben_Modified wrote: With the weight of this car the Miata springs are way too stiff. Does anyone have a source for softer Miata springs or affordable direct fit coilovers?Look into motorcycle rear shocks. Bikers upgrade them all the time, so the stock ones are all over eBay for pretty cheap. Many of the factory ones are very adjustable like aftermarket coilovers. Spring rates for late model sport bikes like Hayabusa, GSXR, etc are in the 300 to 500 lbs/in range. I plan on using mid-2000's GSXR1000 (high 400's lb/in) shocks up front for the Rice Rod, and that will probably be a 2400 lb vehicle.
Thanks, I will look into that!
camaroz1985 wrote: You might want to find some way to support the ends of that steering rack. From my FSAE days we found the center mount racks to be very flexible, and that was on a 350 lb car.
Ok, thanks for the insight!
Took the body off again today to get to a few spots for welding and steering work.
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Added a few gussets to the uprights that support the front spring upper brace.
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Center steer mount
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I bolted in the rack system and ran the front suspension thru its travel range with no perceptible bump steer! Sorry, no photo
Temporarily installed the rack today. Still need to find some properly sized bellows.
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Also did some work on the braking setup. I am taking advantage of the extra room with the body off to locate and install the pedal assembly. I am using the originals from the car and adapting a 1970 VW Bug master cylinder. This mc is intended for four wheel drums, but I have used them before on 4 wheel discs with good results.
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It only required elongating the mc mounting holes and a little filing to open up the opening on the pedal assembly.
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I sandwiched a piece of 3/16" metal plate between the two to create a mounting system
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Only needed slightly longer mounting studs
Also cut a couple of strips of metal to sandwich the body sheet metal. The roll cage tubing is located beneath this strips. The holes are for welds to the tubing. The uprights that hold the upper strut mount come up thru these strips and will be welded together.
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So this will be single seat, center steer?
jimbob_racing wrote: So this will be single seat, center steer?
No, two seater. Right hand drive
Welded in the master cylinder brackets
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Finished the upper strut brace
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Started piecing together the steering column. Welded on some heim joint mounting bosses.
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I am using a piece of 3/4" shaft with a keyway temporarily. I left it very long and made up an adaptor to the steering wheel so that I can slide the wheel to different positions on the shaft for the best position
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Part 4 is on YouTube!
I put the body back on the chassis today and started welding the two together.
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The front braces are welded together with the cage tubes under the dash
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Working on connection on the rear of the car
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More body to cage connections
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There are enough connections now that I was able to remove most of the temporary bracing.
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First major tube is bent
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I went to the salvage yard yesterday and picked up a crank pulley which will be part of the electric reverse. I first had to remove one of the belt grooves.
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This will be sandwiched between the rear yoke and the diff. I needed 4.25" inside the pulley for the flange yoke so the inner portion had to go
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Cage progress
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View from the rear..tucked
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Still trying to wrap my head around the front shock mounting. Are you going to tie the cross bars into the body? Or is it going to stay that way with just the two bolts holding the top shock mount bracket?
On the springs for the car could you find some lower rated springs that would work on the miata struts. With the weight of the car I'd guess you'd only need something in the 125-150 for the front and rear maybe even less.
brad131a4 wrote: Still trying to wrap my head around the front shock mounting. Are you going to tie the cross bars into the body? Or is it going to stay that way with just the two bolts holding the top shock mount bracket? On the springs for the car could you find some lower rated springs that would work on the miata struts. With the weight of the car I'd guess you'd only need something in the 125-150 for the front and rear maybe even less.
Just the two bolts. They are 3/4" bolts with thick plates welded below the bolt head. I don't see these going anywhere on a car this light. At this stage, I can still pick up the front end by myself. Do you have a source for lower rated or custom springs? I have seen a few places on-line for custom, but the ones I have contacted have not bothered to reply. ssdd
Do you have the outside diameter of the front and rear springs? I know Eibach has some in the 2.5 inside diameter size and QA-1 on there site last time I looked had some as well.
brad131a4 wrote: Do you have the outside diameter of the front and rear springs? I know Eibach has some in the 2.5 inside diameter size and QA-1 on there site last time I looked had some as well.
Great, thanks. I will check them out
Just looked up bluecoilspring.com and they have some 5" o.d in 10 1/2 free length that goes down to 50lb rate. These are in the rear spring section.
brad131a4 wrote: Just looked up bluecoilspring.com and they have some 5" o.d in 10 1/2 free length that goes down to 50lb rate. These are in the rear spring section.
Thanks!
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