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Post by batou on Oct 3, 2021 20:53:27 GMT
 Workwheels EQUIP03 - エクイップ・ゼロスリー by batousan, on Flickr Might need a touch more camber, but forgot I had a scissor jack in the boot which I could have used to take out the droop and see how it actually sits further up... might get away with what I have, we'll see.  If I get chance I'll mount the tyres this week all being well... Edit. Just ordered the N2Rs... 20% off on ebay at the moment. £220 for 4, what a deal  Got a link? I could do with some new dry semi-slick tyres for next season It ended on the 23rd just after I ordered them I'm afraid. |
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Post by Zed. on Oct 3, 2021 22:48:08 GMT
thats one way to get fake lows  Rich. |
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Post by batou on Oct 4, 2021 8:37:16 GMT
thats one way to get fake lows Rich. Hahaha  . Thankfully the most important thing is they clear the brakes both front and rear, for a few months now my brain has been saying "Custom order, no refunds. Custom order, no refunds. Custom order, NO REFUNDS" Now its just a case of getting the tyres mounted and getting the car to fit them... as Aristotle said "It is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is possible only in one way." to which I took literally as "If the wheels don't fit the car, make the car fit the wheels" ... well that and something about measuring a million times before ordering maybe |
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Post by batou on Oct 4, 2021 16:17:35 GMT
Okay so tyres mounted today, 195/50 NS2R's are some meaty bois for sure   Workwheels EQUIP03 - エクイップ・ゼロスリー by batousan, on Flickr  I couldn't resist a cheeky test fit, theres no way I'm going to be driving around with these on until the arches are rolled and the weather isn't anything other than perfect but I need to know how much work I'll need to do. My measurements were spot on, I was so happy when it came down off the jacks and all that meticulous measuring paid off. I clearly need to roll the lips of the arches but the idea was to not have to add/remove much camber, or to have to pull out the arches (I don't want no crispy bacon looking arches on this car) so the offset and tyre combo was chosen specifically for this cars setup with no spacers.  As you can see from the bottom left pic of the rear, I have some room to go a little lower and the natural camber clear that or roll the lip in and leave as is, but I think I'll do both a roll and small 5-10mm drop. Fronts need rolling as I'm catching on big lock movements and reversing. All of this was expected and gives me plenty of options to dial this in, I'm really pleased as a starting point. No decent side on pics yet as of course it started pissing it down the minute I parked it on the front. I'll probably fit the other side, wash the car and get the rolling done at some point later down the line, no rush. Oh, and the total weight of the 15x8.0J equip and 195/50 NS2R was 15.4 kg and the 14x6.0J OEM BBS, 28mm spacer and almost bald 185/60 Dunlop SP Blu was 11.8kg so I've added 14.4kg of unsprung all round but the looks and added tyre/options more than make up for it. So pleased with how it turned out  |
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Post by scottydugg on Oct 4, 2021 17:28:05 GMT
They look spot on, you've done well spec'ing them.
There's a surprising amount of weight in tyre tread so it's probably closer than that weight wise.
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Post by batou on Oct 4, 2021 19:31:23 GMT
They look spot on, you've done well spec'ing them. There's a surprising amount of weight in tyre tread so it's probably closer than that weight wise. Thanks man, I'm so pleased with the result after months of anxiety lol. Its funny, you see people on gram/facebook asking people their wheel specs and I've never fully understood it as whilst it may get you in the ball park its almost meaningless unless you know exactly what camber, ride height, body work etc is done to match them upto. No wonder you see so many cars with jankyass fitment . Well there's 17mm missing from the overall diameter of those Dunlops after about 3 years of use and a Llandow trackday chunking them this year, there were two that were close to the legal limit on the mot so I imagine a few grams extra there  . Gained a few mm ground clearance with the new wheels as a result haha. Also well happy with my new tool I got as a present, thing is an absolute beast. Should come in handy when I tackle refreshing subframes and wishbones down the line...  |
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Post by boggissimo on Oct 5, 2021 8:43:08 GMT
Got a link? I could do with some new dry semi-slick tyres for next season It ended on the 23rd just after I ordered them I'm afraid. No worries, I happened across someone on Facebook selling a brand new set of wheels with new R888R tyres on them, so got a whole new set to play with Every cloud... |
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Crumpets
Chats A Bit
Insert witty remark here...
Posts: 227 
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Post by Crumpets on Oct 14, 2021 18:49:56 GMT
Looks the mutts nutts mate. You've specc'd those very well. Loving the look!
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Post by batou on Oct 15, 2021 20:05:41 GMT
Booked in the arch roller guy (Arch Enemy, highly recommend his services) so fitted the new wings over the weekend, the drivers side seemed to have been dinged slightly but given I bought it last year and its been sat in the garage since so theres no way I could have sent it back so will have it sorted out when they are painted. The chap came round this morning and rear arch lips rolled back so smoothly, with no paint cracks or wobble/ripples. Very, very happy with this indeed, absolute best possible scenario. The folded lips have been seam sealed to prevent the weather getting in too. The fronts, being new original mazda items and unpainted were just as smooth. Two of the arch liner tabs have been removed as the plan is to trim the liners to only run the rear portion of them (to prevent some of the crap getting behind the wing of course).  Rolled arches & Work Equip 03 by batousan, on Flickr Obviously they need to be painted but couldn't help taking a few cheeky snaps of the new look...   Went for a drive round some local roads with mixed surfaces and there was absolutely no rubbing at all which is exactly what I wanted, I'm still considering taking the ride height down just a little more, maybe at least a bit more the at the front, and a little at the rear depending on what I feel I can get away with. Happy with how it looks as is, but can't help wanting that bit more (bcoz I'm an idiot). Next steps are of course paint, waiting on a quote for wings and bonnet, its looking a bit tired from stone chips and even though I don't mind a bit of patina here and there its worth tidying up where I can. Debating doing the bumper but there are a lot of spider cracks in it so might need to source a new one if I decide to do that. Looks the mutts nutts mate. You've specc'd those very well. Loving the look! Thanks mate, I glad I found my balls on the offset and dish specs in the end |
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Post by batou on Nov 8, 2021 14:08:00 GMT
SUSPENSION & CHASSIS# Tein 9Kgf/mm Front Coilover SpringsSo something thats been playing on my mind is the front damper's, the Tein Flex Z have been great so far, they really ride well on the road, performed reasonably well at Llandow and offer a reasonable amount of adjustment in terms of compression/rebound on the road at least. However, there are a couple of things I thought I could improve on, on track I had to turn the damping force up high, maxed out at one point especially at the front (and then of course the rears to match) which kind of rendered the adjustability redundant at that point. The main issue I had is under a lot of compression it lead to the loaded front coilover spring pretty much fully compressed and maybe hitting the stops as I encountered a little bump understeer which would transition to oversteer on occasion. You can see the level of compression due to roll forces here:  ユーノス ロードスタ S-SPECIAL NA6CE - Llandow Circuit by batousan, on Flickr Now obviously most people at this point just throw a couple of hundred quid at a bigger anti-roll bar up front but I don't believe thats the solution I'm looking for here, anti-roll bars only really have an effect in cornering and big anti-roll bars don't really convince me yet, maybe if I was running a car with big grip and big power on only smooth surfaces it would be a consideration. Really I want a change to weight transfer under all circumstances, both on road and on track, so thats road bumps, un-even surface, weight shift under braking and of course weight transfer when cornering. An anti-roll bar my help the cornering part, but won't stop me smashing up my arches on road bumps or through the kerbs on Jacks Curve at Llandow. Given I've added sticker tyres I've probably added more potential for compression under weight transfer, offset only slightly by the wider track of the new wheels. There is also the issue that I was running more pre-load thank I would like (which affected the ride height and the ride quality) and I'd run out of adjustment in terms if ride height on the front as a result (sadly I have an afflication when it comes to trying to balance looks vs. performance and being a tart, looks often win). So, I came to the conclusion that I need more spring. One of the reasons I chose the Flex Z was the price point, and the fact they are Japanese made (did not want chinese dampers, regardless of whoever puts them together) but also because they have been used extensively for quite a number of years previously by people who are quite well regarded in this space. Emilio of 949 Racing used to run a set of Flex's with custom spring rates which he referred to as an "Entry level race coilover" before they switched to the Xida's which got me thinking. After a bit of research and digging though posts over a decade old it seemed that there were a few options. The suggested rates that Emilio offerred was 9kgf/mm front and 6kgf/mm rear, or more aggressive still, a 10 or a 12kgf/mm up front. Given I wanted to stay in the valving range of my factory Flex's that meant the maximum is +/- 2kg so given my fronts are 7kgf/mm and rears 6kgf/mm upping the fronts to 9kgf/mm seemed to be the move. Now wanting to also remove excessive preload (especially with harder springs) to allow more height adjustment meant looking for a slightly shorter spring, it seemed that most of the guys in the states on this custom setup ran 150mm 9k springs in the front (the factory Tein are 175mm 7k). I called Tein UK up and a nice Japanese person checked they had a part, luckily they did and after sending across some credits I had them at my door the very next day. Excellent service After lots of measuring and faffing I took the front dampers out of the car, I've had them a year and they have done maybe 5-6k km or so, I make sure I clean the wheel wells, brakes and suspension quite frequently on this car so it's never really left with dirt stuck to it. They came apart so easily, such an easy job to do and everything was in good condition. As you can see from the pictures below, top centre shows I was running about 20-25mm of preload here, then after re-assembled with the new spring I am running zero pre-load (just enough to prevent loose springs at full droop) the spring length different is quite apparent in the top right picture too.  Tein 9Kgf/mm Springs by batousan, on Flickr After putting these back on the car and faffing with the ride heights (lots and lots of measuring) I was happy with where things are, I need to get some geo tweeks (more camber) as the front right tyre is getting a little but of arch contact with lock but is otherwise fine at this ride height. I moved the damping on the fronts down to 12-13 clicks from full hard (essentially 3-4 clicks from full soft) whereas previously I was running 4-6 clicks from full hard on these wheels at a slightly higher front ride height than it is now. First drive out and I was immediately both happy but also a little confused, it cornered sharper, rolled less, felt "firmer" yet it rode better and felt more compliant (even though it was fine before)... I was able to run a softer damper setting without it compressing too much but also, pre-load does some funky stuff huh. Can't wait to get it out on track next year now, it feels like an absolute weapon and certainly looks better too now I have the ride height where I want it...  ユーノス ロードスタ S-SPECIAL NA6CE by batousan, on Flickr  ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN# Mazdaspeed Competition Engine MountsThe other job I've been meaning to do is new engine mounts, I didn't really want to go with something properly solid as I don't want to have to match that solid mounting everywhere else in the drivetrain (you can't have solid engine mounts and keep gearbox and diffmounts rubber so whilst you might think the NVH increase from engine mounts isn't too bad on paper, it is when you have to match it through the whole chain to prevent you "breaking stuff". With this in mind I decided on the Mazdaspeed Rubber mounts which are supposedly 40% firmer, not really that worried if they aren't as stock would have been fine. I'd noticed over time the shifting was not as good, I could feel movement in the shifter when prodding the throttle in 5th and I'd been missing the odd shift which was odd given I'd rebuilt the shifter recently so I was sure the 27 year old engine mounts were more than likely to blame. Now I've had the Mazdaspeed mounts on back order for about a month and they came through the other week so I wasted no time at all as I wanted to try them out before I pack the car up for winter. It's an easy enough job if you know what your doing but when you managed to get the passenger mount off easy enough (just a bit of fandangling the brackets out of the space they are in) and two bolts out of the drivers side only to have your only 14mm impact socket come off your wobble extension and disappear into the shadow realm it becomes a bit of a swear fest... holy sh.it, I could not find it, under tray off the car, head in and touching every surface I could find, throwing sacrificial sockets up into the same space (we've all done this) only to watch them roll out perfectly as you expected... now the bas.tard is gone, fuc.ksake!!  So after a minor delay and luckily buying the last in stock 14mm impact socket we are back in business, and wow, I guess this guy was well overdue replacing... Yep, thats the passenger side completely split.  NA6CE Original Engine Mounts 211,000km by batousan, on Flickr I decided to give the brackets a good clean up and tidy them up with some paint (which later I slightly regretted) before bolting up the new mounts, lets just say they looked this good for at least an hour.   Mazdaspeed Competition Mounts - NAY1-39-040 by batousan, on Flickr The reason I regretted it was it was quite a ball ache to get them back through into where they need to be so probably well scuffed in the process and I had a bit less light to work with after waiting for them to dry. Urgh, is it just me or has anyone else who's done this job and trying to angle the brackets past the steering rack and the top hole under the starter bracket stopped for a second to think "How the f.uck did these come out??" To add insult to injury I must have moved the jack too as the holes didn't quite line up without a lot of faff, thankfully after using the correct swear words, destroying my wobble extension and lying on my back on the garage floor close to a man cry I finally got them bolted up and tight, getting the impact gun for my 40th was quite possibly the best present ever. Phew. All this pain was put to rest when I took it out for a run... m a s s i v e l y d i f f e r e n t Everything feels better, the drive out of corners, the up and down shifts, the rev matching the car just feels properly solid. There is a little bit more NVH than anticipated but I think thats the arc chamber contacting the pas reservoir or the loose brake hardline under the bonnet (the clips broke, anyone have a part #?) rattling and I think a rattle behind the dash somewhere but its not too much to worry about given how much better the car feels. Roll on next year, still need to get the front wings painted up, working on that though (everyone is mega busy!). 
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Post by howardb66 on Nov 8, 2021 15:29:48 GMT
I’ve done exactly the same with my BC DSs. 12kg/mm springs but am back to 12 from hard for the road. 👍🏻
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Simon
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Post by Simon on Dec 27, 2021 17:58:18 GMT
I've just picked up a 93 S-Special almost identical to this one, deffo lots of things to think about in this thread, once I'm finished going through the 'replace the broken OEM' prarrie canoe I'm going to start!
You have such a good looking car!
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Post by batou on Jan 18, 2022 12:24:15 GMT
So quick, short update. Nothing major new to report but some exicting progress (for me anyway), as this car has been properly used (200k+ kms) as it was my main car for 4 years its picked up a fair bit of patina on the front end, as well as the front wings which I've mentioned before, both bubbling on one side and at the bottom. As you know I picked up some new oem wings and had them rolled, these have now been in for paint and lined inside and the end results are fantastic... The raptor liner on the inside will allow me to run a minimal amount of plastic liners to aid wheel/tyre clearance a little. Dave at Deepcar has done cracking job, infact I was so pleased with them I drove up at the weekend and left my car there to have both the bonnet and front bumper refreshed too as they are both looking a bit tired in comparison. The rear has had paint in 2019 when the rear quarters were repaired, and the boot/spoiler were also refreshed after years of oxidation (I think the one previous owner had a carport so the back end got the sun) so its really finally going to be complete this year. Very excited to have this car looking absolutely minty for the coming year! I've just picked up a 93 S-Special almost identical to this one, deffo lots of things to think about in this thread, once I'm finished going through the 'replace the broken OEM' prarrie canoe I'm going to start! You have such a good looking car! Thanks for the kind words, get a thread up so we can keep you accountable and motivated to get it done. I've found this really helps keep the momentum up  |
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Post by batou on Feb 4, 2022 9:20:17 GMT
EXTERIOR# New front wings both sides, front end re-paintGot the car back from paint the other week, its been with Dave at Deepcar autobodies, as above basically a full front end repaint now, all bumper plate holes have been filled and smoothed and I couldn't be happier with the results it looks absolutely brand new .  Having had this car from 2014 is the longest I've owned a car for, I think its complete on the outside now. I don't really want to pursue a crazy exterior look on this car, besides the retro kits now are silly money. I'm quite happy I've got through most of my list I made in late 2020, theres been lots of other things I've added and tonnes of maintenance other than this (all on first post in thread) but these were the key things I wanted to do: # Coilovers - (Done 18/10/2020) # Full Geo Alignment (Camber, Caster and Toe) - (Done 12/11/2020) # Underbody Rust Prevention/Treatment - (Done 01/06/2021) # Recaro Profi SPG Seats & Tuckin99 Super Down Seat Rail - (Drivers side done 07/06/2021) # Uprated Pads - (Done 13/06/2021) # Rear Lip - (Done 12/07/2021) # Takata Race4 ASM Harnesses - (Drivers side done 01/08/2021) # Roll/Harness Bar - (Done 01/08/2021) # Second set of wheels - (Done 15/10/2021) # New front wings both sides - (Done 27/01/2022) Really doesn't sound like much, and I could probably do that in a hell of lot less than a year but money and time are always the limiting factor (which will only get worse now it will cost me the price a recaro seat every year in extra energy bills!) and I don't want to compromise or have too many temporary options.  Heres the rest of the list, I only really focus on the first one early this year as I've been meaning to sort it for a while even though it is just a very minor weep. I have all the bits to do it, theres only time and potential cost to think about as I might get carried away and fit a lightweight flywheel and another new clutch while I'm in there (clutch was done in 2018): # Gearbox Oil Weep - As described above. # Radiator & Cooling Panel - I need to quantify what cooling I need really so maybe gauges first as a panel is really only dress-up. # Manifold/Exhaust - Holding out for the right ones, I should have ordered the Fujitsubo manifold before the price hikes though, ouch. # Suspension component refresh - This is something I'm considering at the end of the year, I really want to use the car again this year but I know this needs doing. Space for me is the issue, hopefully a house move will help me accommodate this but weighing up the options. Will probably do superpro bushings in all the arms, but depending on space I'd want to strip and paint the arms and subframes... or replace them if needed (destroydie??) # 1.8 Carriers & Disks/Brake Ducts - Need to see how the car is on track this year, the NS2Rs will be a lot gripper than the Dunlops I had last year so will more than likely put more heat through them. # Hardtop - Always planned to get one but not sure how much it would get used, love the look but don't actually drive the car in winter much, on the other hand they aren't getting any cheaper so if I have the space it might be worth hanging onto one. Apart from that as my plastic rear window decided it no longer wanted to stay attached I decided to replace the roof so I have a mk2 black mohair and frame to fit at some point, in no immediate rush to work around that roll bar though. Of course there is also always going to be the lure of ITBs which I will probably never shake off, with the amount of miles on the motor I might as well wait for the need to rebuilt so I'll hold out as long as I can.  ユーノス ロードスタ S-SPECIAL NA6CE by batousan, on Flickr
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Post by boggissimo on Feb 4, 2022 14:12:37 GMT
Looks cracking! Surprised you have still got a basic fog light on the back end though...
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. Thankfully the most important thing is they clear the brakes both front and rear, for a few months now my brain has been saying "Custom order, no refunds. Custom order, no refunds. Custom order, NO REFUNDS" 
. Gained a few mm ground clearance with the new wheels as a result haha.
le sigh