Anyway, on to the actual work. NOT difficult at all. That is the take away from this project. If you are patient, anyone can do it! Second take away: If you are going to go to the trouble of replacing the shocks (Koni Yellow, Single adjustable, now) go ahead and replace the springs too. The stock spring rates are MUCH too soft.
Next take away: The Koni's come with three spring perch settings. "Stock height" is the middle one. That's where they are set when they arrive. LEAVE THEM THERE! This is especially true if your going to use the stock springs. With them at the lowest settings, the tires will rub in the fender wells HARD when you stuff it into a corner and you will end up putting those spring spacers in there to bolster the springs until you can get the time to do it right.
Another take away: If you are replacing the bushings, having a machine press is VERY helpful! You can do it without the press but, the job is time consuming enough, spend the money and get the press. I don't use it that often but when I do, it's indispensable! ONE trip to a machine shop is typically more expensive than a 12 ton bottle jack press.
You are also going to need an air compressor with a impact wrench and spring compressors. The spring compressors are down at your local auto parts store. Unless you plan on doing this a lot, just borrow theirs.
Next little tip: The Miata comes with eccentric bolts on the suspension mounts for caster, camber, toe adjustments. Before you loosen the first bolt, mark them ALL! It won't keep you from needing an alignment but, it will make your suspension guy's job alot easier than the way I did it (took the poor guy 2+ hours and I still had to take it back to my "regular" guy the next day. It could have been that the 1st guy was incompetent but, I don't normally have problems with this place and I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Last, when you are ordering all the parts, don't forget to order the dust covers for the shocks. They have the bump stops on them. PLEASE don't ask me how I know this is so important..... Also, the top stem on the Koni's is thicker than stocks so you will have to drill out the top of the spring mounts and the top of the dust cover / bump stops. When drilling through the top washer on the bump stop, remember to spray it with water or a cooling fluid frequently. Otherwise, it will melt whatever glue they fastened it to the top of the stop with.
The "complete" kit also comes with bushings for the rear diff. I didn't replace these (4). The reason is basically because it looks like a HUGE pain in the butt and I can't figure out what benefit there would be to replacing them on such a low horse power application anyway. If I was THAT concerned with getting every last pony to the pavement, there are LOTS of other places I would start! The only thing replacing those would have gained us in this application is alot of N.V.H. (Noise, Vibration & Harshness). Dad drives the car everywhere. I wanted to make sure it was pleasant as a daily driver.
The bushing part of the job is simply taking the pieces off, pushing out the old bushings out LUBING the new bushings, and pressing them back in. The only exception to this is the sway bar end links. Those are glued in. Still, no big deal. Simply press them out with a socket then, take a torch to the race to burn out the remaining rubber / adhesive. Again, don't forget the lube included in the kit or the bushings bind and squeak and basically, suck. I figured that part out the 1st time I did the bushings on the Mustang. Yea, the FIRST time. There is never enough time to do a job right but, there is always enough time to do it over.
Those are really the only things to look out for when rebuilding the suspension. The rest is simple unbolt and bolt back together. The axle bolts are a pain in the butt to get off but that's to be expected. There are LOTS of bolts and LOTS of bushings to press out / in but none of it is difficult. Don't let it scare you. Think about what your going to do, where your going to put parts / tools so that you don't spend alot of time looking for stuff that was JUST there a minute ago (probably the most frustrating part of any job you don't prepare properly) and be prepared to spend quite a bit of time on it, especially if your are doing it by yourself. I spent probably 5 days getting it done. If I were to do it again, I ll bet it would take me 3.
When we were done, we took it down to the local suspension place to have a performance alignment put on. As mentioned above, it took them two tries to get it right but it was worth it. The car still leans WAY too much in the corners but new springs and sway bars will handle that. It soaks up mid corner bumps much better and turns in quicker. Like any car (in our house) it is a work in progress. Dad LOVES driving it and that is most important!
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| My Dad at his 1st autocross. Took him 67 years but, I think he liked it! |
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| My wife driving Dad's car |
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| Due to space constraints, I chose to do one corner at a time. If I had the space, it might have gone qicker if I could have done all the bushings at once. |
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| Not as messy as it looks....seriously. |
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| Too late to turn back now. |
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| First corner |
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| Yea, the Mustang is going to have to come out while I'm working..... |
