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1,680 Posts
Ok, this was a PITA- changing over to the progress technologies bar.
I work on cars, myself, and am mechanically inclined, but not as a full time job. This job is not a trivial operation, until you have done it once.
Issues: a lot of trim pieces and brackets need to come off; when the instructions say 'the steering rack needs to come out' they really mean it (not just partially out on one side to clear the motor/gearbox).
Fundamentally, the biggest issue is the hoses on the drivers side. I'm guessing the Miata doesn't have these hoses. There's a hose union which wraps around the steering rack which prevents it from pulling out horizontally ( I think it's an inter cooler hose). There's a bolt which you can see looking down in the engine bay which need removing so you can flex the hose out of the way to clear the rack.
There's another hose, though that also prevents the rack from coming out fully, that curves over the rack. It also has a bracket with a large rubber grommet which make sliding the sway bar around when you feed it through difficult as there's not enough/barely room between that hose union and the sub frame.
Maybe I missed the 'easy' button.
My biggest problem was missing the bolt holding the hose union that wraps around the steering rack, and foolishly thinking I should be able to wrestle the bar through without fully removing the rack. The other hose union at the same side is also a pain, but doable (there might be another bolt missed which makes that a non issue). In all I wasted about 2 hours trying to get the bar in without fully removing the rack. Don't make the same mistake, peeps!
At the moment, bar is in, and now everything needs bolting back together (with a million trim bolts that I hope I remember when they go).
As a side note, the rear sway bar, rear springs and front springs are straightforward. The front springs, I unbolted the wheel sensor and the brake line from the upper A arm to prevent stressing them, particularly when wrestling with the damned front sway bar.
I work on cars, myself, and am mechanically inclined, but not as a full time job. This job is not a trivial operation, until you have done it once.
Issues: a lot of trim pieces and brackets need to come off; when the instructions say 'the steering rack needs to come out' they really mean it (not just partially out on one side to clear the motor/gearbox).
Fundamentally, the biggest issue is the hoses on the drivers side. I'm guessing the Miata doesn't have these hoses. There's a hose union which wraps around the steering rack which prevents it from pulling out horizontally ( I think it's an inter cooler hose). There's a bolt which you can see looking down in the engine bay which need removing so you can flex the hose out of the way to clear the rack.
There's another hose, though that also prevents the rack from coming out fully, that curves over the rack. It also has a bracket with a large rubber grommet which make sliding the sway bar around when you feed it through difficult as there's not enough/barely room between that hose union and the sub frame.
Maybe I missed the 'easy' button.
My biggest problem was missing the bolt holding the hose union that wraps around the steering rack, and foolishly thinking I should be able to wrestle the bar through without fully removing the rack. The other hose union at the same side is also a pain, but doable (there might be another bolt missed which makes that a non issue). In all I wasted about 2 hours trying to get the bar in without fully removing the rack. Don't make the same mistake, peeps!
At the moment, bar is in, and now everything needs bolting back together (with a million trim bolts that I hope I remember when they go).
As a side note, the rear sway bar, rear springs and front springs are straightforward. The front springs, I unbolted the wheel sensor and the brake line from the upper A arm to prevent stressing them, particularly when wrestling with the damned front sway bar.
