SCCAForums.com

1.  Which bushings and what materal/brand of bushings should be used to replace existing  1991 Miata OEM bushings (street driven STS2 Miata)

OEM

Mazdaspeed

Polyurethane

DELRIN 

 

 2. Koni Sport shocks with GC coil overs, anyone add O-rings, Grommets or ?  Between the Koni shocks and CG sleeves?

Have seen photos on the Net that seem to add rubber O-rings & Grommets  and one solution that placed blue hose in the gap between the shock OD and the GC coil overs sleeves ID?

 

 

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Mike H
91 Miata #43 STS2
Digital Immigrant

1.  first, be sure the bushings need replacing.  it's a lot of work.  just b/c they're old doesn't mean they need to go.  i still have the original busings on my 238,000-mile street-driven '91.  but a lot of people have a lot of opinions on this subject.

that said, the mazdaspeed bushings are rubber like the OE bits (but stiffer than stock).  they won't need maintenance.  the poly bushings will need maintenance, as will the delrin.  Andy Hollis had a nice blog about his STS2 build floating around here, GRM, and miata.net.  one post specifically discussed delrin bushings.

 2.  is your heart set on GC sleeves?  you can pick up a set of Koni sleeves for ~$100, or buy a set of "ebay" sleeves (~$30) and source your own springs.  the latter is on my car, and it works perfectly.

what are you doing for top mounts?  adding more suspension travel back onto a lowered miata is important, IMO.  if you haven't already, consider either a set of modified NB mounts, the FatCat mounts, or the flyin' miata rear mounts.  they'll let you lower the car without constantly riding on the bumpstops.

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Mike - #44 STS2
'91 Miata - racer
'07 CX-7 - dog taxi
www.phillyscca.com
www.GreyhoundAngelsAdoption.com

 Ball Joints are worn. Replacing the upper control arm as well as the lower ball joints and Tie Rod ends (Le).

Since the upper control arms come with new OEM bushings was thinking about replacing at least the bushings in the lower control arm too.

Some bushings seem to also allow more Camber adjustment than the OEM

Will be a good weather street car too. Not sure of the lubing needed for Poly/Delrin. Tho I have lots of different types of lubes I could try

Have the GC sleeves with NB tophats including Fatcat kit for using NB on NA

Have you added anything to the space between the Konis and the GC sleeves?

Fatcat sleeves kit include  O-rings and a  grommet on each shock

 Read a few remarks about upperball joints coming out of the new upper control arms. Has anyone tacked the upper balljoints in?

 

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Mike H
91 Miata #43 STS2
Digital Immigrant

the sleeves i bought came w/ o-rings of various thicknesses.  you can probably pick up something suitable in a hardware store, or make something up.  even wrapping duct tape around the shock body will work; with weight on the springs, the sleeves aren't moving around much.

i haven't heard about ball joints coming out, but mine are still tight so i haven't looked into it too much.  there is a ton of camber adjustment available on the miata...you should look into replacing the camber bolts w/ the redesigned part.  mine were frozen to the arms.

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Mike - #44 STS2
'91 Miata - racer
'07 CX-7 - dog taxi
www.phillyscca.com
www.GreyhoundAngelsAdoption.com

On my ebay sleeves I used bicycle inner-tube as a bushing between the top of the sleeve and shock body.  Slid a section of inner-tubing over each shock tube, folded it over a few times to get the "thickness" just right so that the sleave could slide down with a little soapy water for lube.  Result was a nice snug fit that kept the sleeve concentric with the shock tube. 

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Once you go Mac, you never go back!

Grassroots article's by Andy:

 http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1992-sts-miata/updates/

 

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John
Utah Region, #23 CSP Miata

gary p:

On my ebay sleeves I used bicycle inner-tube as a bushing between the top of the sleeve and shock body.  Slid a section of inner-tubing over each shock tube, folded it over a few times to get the "thickness" just right so that the sleave could slide down with a little soapy water for lube.  Result was a nice snug fit that kept the sleeve concentric with the shock tube. 

 

Link with some photos: http://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.php?p=1813243&postcount=23

 

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Once you go Mac, you never go back!

mpharr2:

 Ball Joints are worn. Replacing the upper control arm as well as the lower ball joints and Tie Rod ends (Le).

BTW... the LE Tie Rod ends are only good (legal) on the year/trim of the LE Miata ('92 I think).

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Rick Cone
Atlanta Region Director

STS2 #98
1991 Mazda Miata - Aqua

conekiller:

mpharr2:

 Ball Joints are worn. Replacing the upper control arm as well as the lower ball joints and Tie Rod ends (Le).

BTW... the LE Tie Rod ends are only good (legal) on the year/trim of the LE Miata ('92 I think).

 

Which LE miata did they come on? There was the 92 LE (Yellow), and the 93 LE with the red interior. I think they just came on the 93 LE...

JustinHoMi:

conekiller:

mpharr2:

 Ball Joints are worn. Replacing the upper control arm as well as the lower ball joints and Tie Rod ends (Le).

BTW... the LE Tie Rod ends are only good (legal) on the year/trim of the LE Miata ('92 I think).

 

Which LE miata did they come on? There was the 92 LE (Yellow), and the 93 LE with the red interior. I think they just came on the 93 LE...

It was the 93 Black w/Red that came with them.

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Rick Cone
Atlanta Region Director

STS2 #98
1991 Mazda Miata - Aqua

 

Guess I won't need to purchase those Le tie rod ends.

 What about the hose, O-rings. and Bike tubes some are placing between the OD of the shock and the ID of the sleeves?

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Mike H
91 Miata #43 STS2
Digital Immigrant

mpharr2:

What about the hose, O-rings. and Bike tubes some are placing between the OD of the shock and the ID of the sleeves?

Pick what you have available or can get the cheapest.  They all do the job about the same.

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STS2 - 1990 Mazda Miata
Borrowing BS - RX-8