Quest for More Power and More Traction! BP+T + AWD Build Thread

[Nerd Racing]

actually MX-3

[Nerd Racing]

Got my coilovers today:



Installed them with some minor tweaks... had to grind down some of the bushing and drill out the bushing because the miata strut bolt is an M12 not an M10...

Now I have wheel gap again:





Had to adjust them all the way up though... I may get some longer springs later on in case I want to jack it up some more for fun...

Man these struts have a long stud on them!



Test fit the front struts to see how close the hole will be on the ZX2 front knuckles:





Either a light reaming or I may not even have to touch them with my camber bolts in place... I'll know soon enough!

[Basement_Modder]

Wish I had the time/ money to do an AWD conversion.

Looks sweet.

[zoom zoom]

Coilovers look NICE dude.. what brand are they? Do you know the spring rates? Haha, not trying to bombard you with questions, but is the do you know if an aspire shares the same M10 bolt as the Festy?

[Nerd Racing]

m10 yes, rates are 385 and 285

[thered56]

Very very nice. Looking forward to seeing that front suspension setup as well! Your car is gonna grip and handle real nice when it's all set up right. It'll be worth it no doubt.

[tls_zx3]

very cool project but i have a question for you. im sure you are moving the rack to teh front to make room for the drive shaft and you will have switch knuckles sides to put the tie rod mounts in the front. well i just wanted to make sure you know that doing this changes from standard ackerman to reverse ackerman and when your are turning your outside wheel will be turned much much less than your inside wheel. in order to prevent this you have to make an adaptor to move your tie rod connection inward. like this...



just wanted to make sure you know about this. didnt want you to build your whole set up assuming it would work with stock stuff and it just won't.

tim

[Rocketman]

I did not have to move my rack for my conversion, I don't think he'll need to either. I thought for a bit I might have to move it up the firewall 1/2" or so but it ended up having enough clearance. there's no room to move the rack up front, the AWD is based on a FWD setup

[tls_zx3]

wow so it clears the rear mount rack.. thats sweet.

[Nerd Racing]

^^ what he said. Good to know you didn't have to move it Matt.

Tore down the stock suspension and installed my MX-3 Arms and ZX2 ball joints:



Knuckles installed with struts:



Looks like I'll need longer rod ends or longer tie rods:



Gotta make something to hold the back end of the control arm. I have a few ideas for that...



Tire is on:



Looks like I'll need camber plates...



Looking mean though!



I did the other side too, but ran into the infamous spinning free captive nut when removing my LCA. So I'm hunting down bolts today.... I also have some camber bolts I'm going to try. I am trying to drum up a set of protege or ZX2 control arms because they are a little narrower. Maybe the combo of the two will get me close enough to not need camber plates for now and maybe get away with just longer tie rod ends.

[Rocketman]

Don't the MX3 and BF 323 arms have the same inboard mount points, but the BF 323 arms are narrower? They might fix your camber issue. RockAuto has some dirt cheap replacements from Dorman that might be worth investigating

[zoom zoom]

lol, want to put some A arms in my Aspire when your done?1?!?!?

I may just be missing it, but how are you mounting the sway bar to the lca?

[FastOrBust]

wow man amazing update, cant wait to see it

[Nerd Racing]

The BF arms are too narrow, I will be using BG shafts right out of the box so I want the wheel base wider to match the miata rear end. should be just about the same with protege arms.

Pulled out the stock trans, shifter, axles, flywheel...etc.
only managed to spin free one of the crossmember nuts in the front. gotta address that...

Out with the old!



And in with this monster!



I have to remove the diff lock motor, it was interfering with me getting it lined up with the B3. I am making the mounts with the engine in the stock location for now. If i have to I can adjust them later on.

[Damkid]

Personally i would have pulled the B3 as well, mounted the tranny where it needs to be, since it may need to be further forward in the engine bay, and having the B3 in the way might become a PITA to work around

Why are you choosing to use BG axles in the front over BF axles? i would think it would be more hassle then it's worth getting the BG axles to fit properly