"The Mazda" zoomzoom's NA Track toy

[zoomzoom]

Thanks Mark, the splitter is made from a material I got from Lavender Composites called Monopan. It has a polypropolene honeycomb core and the skins are polypropolene with fibreglass weave, it is quite light and very stiff for its weight and cost compared to other composite materials. I believe it is used for truck bodies and comes in huge sheets but when I got mine they had a heap of offcuts of suitable size for the splitter. The aluminium frame is bonded to the splitter with a special adhesive I got from the same place as the panel and then for a bit of extra security and to act as a wear plate I have the alloy strips on the underside with screws through the panel to the mounting frame.

I am aiming for a substantially softer swaybar than even the softest setting on the whiteline to counter the stiffness of the springs. I was previously using the middle hole with some "custom" link that I had made up myself which did a bit of a dog leg around the adjuster on the canister. I am hoping when everything is installed the link is in a little safer position with the NB lower arm and swaybar. The swaybar is more of a tuning tool anyways, the heavy swaybar is more suited to compromised situations like a road car where you want increased roll stiffness but without having heavy uncomfortable springs.

I'm pretty keen to see how the NB front end compares and whether there is any noticeable difference with the geometry, even on paper with the camber and caster when I get the alignment done.

The NB is supposed to have some of the bump steer corrected with the mounting of the tie rod end moved slightly on the upright so I don't really want to mess with that at this point. This might however be something I look into further at a later date if I ever get around to refining the package.

Cheers,

Tim

[MattR]

Hmmm, interesting Tim. Any chance you could find an offcut about 200mm wider than a S14 and about 1000mm wide if you are around Lavender Composites in the next month or so.

Just leave it at Justin's, I'm sure he would love to have his shop be a drop off point for car parts......

Front Splitter will probably become a project for April/May when hopefully the coilovers will be installed so the race shell is a proper roller so I can start on the simple aero waiting for dollars for the motor.

[zoomzoom]

Hey Matt,

When I was there they had piles of offcuts around that size, the hardest part is moving them in a sedan! I just managed to get the piece I used into the subaru and that was only about 800 x 1700 and that scratched the interior a little too, so I don't think I'll be doing that again . If I had a way to transport it I would definitely grab you some since I work just around the corner.

When I got mine I dealt with Simon and he was very helpful and interested in what I was using it for too. As a supplier of materials and tooling and not an end user they seemed quite keen to see what was being made with their products.

Cheers,

Tim

[MattR]

Well it's a good thing I have a ute then......

Now I just need the time to get around there.....

[Apu]

Monopan...interesting! I've got a ply splitter on my Integra and have been thinking about what to replace it with.

[zoomzoom]

With the NB front end going in I also need to replace the steering rack with one that will bolt to the new mounts. Thankfully I got an NB one when I picked up the front end but I will need to go through the process of depowering it similar to the last one. To do this the rack has to be disassembled and the piston on the rack shaft removed. The process is pretty well the same for the NB as the NA, a how to for depowering the NA rack is available on the Flyin Miata site.

I got through most of the process tonight, I just need to grab a new rack boot before it goes into the car to replace one which is cracked. I got a couple of very poor photos while I was chipping away in the dark!

Firstly I got the main components pulled down and extracted the rack with the offending piston and seal:




Then using a grinder the piston is cut as deep as possible without the grinding wheel touching the shaft:


Then just tap a cold chisel into the cut from each side to finish it and pop it off the shaft.


Then all the components can be cleaned up and reassembled into the housing with a generous coating of grease on all the moving parts.

Cheers,

Tim

[lightyear]

Do you think there is much difference to the lazy method of depowering the rack?

[zoomzoom]

Do you think there is much difference to the lazy method of depowering the rack?

Hi,

I did it the lazy way initially with the old rack until I got around to taking the piston out and did notice a fair difference. Basically if you do the lazy method and loop the lines it still works fine but you are pushing the fluid from side to side though an orifice tube which will provide some restriction that you will feel as extra steering effort. Alternatively you empty the fluid completely but then you would be risking internal damage as the fluid also acts as the lubricant for the internal bearings.

I have got a little more done through the last week. I have gone through and tightened all the suspension bolts so it is ready to drop into the ground when I get the brakes and hubs on. I got the rack back together and installed too.



I made a start on some brake backing plates to attach the brake ducts to. Once complete they will bolt on where the OEM backing plates fit and direct air from hoses on the brake ducts in the front of the car directly into the centre of the rotor.







I also knocked up some swaybar links to suit the NB swaybar and lower arm, with a bit of a dog leg in them for clearance on the ER coilovers.



It's slowly getting closer to being able to drop back down to the ground and get a bit of a clean. Hopefully it will be rolling again in the next week or two if time permits.

Cheers,

Tim