build diary

April 17, 2005: I've been doing a lot of thinking about future upgrades to the Seven.
It needs some work to fulfill its potential. The first step will be to fix the exhaust (whoops), but what's after that? I'm going to add some roll stiffness to the suspension through a combination of stiffer springs and a front sway bar. The actual sizes are still very much a mystery of course. I'm thinking 30-50% more spring rate would be a good start although it will be a shame to lose that supple ride. A bit too supple, though - I'm bottoming out the rear suspension on hard cornering. I'm pretty much going to have to just make a semi-educated guess on this one. Time for a little more research.

Another thought is to replace the Miata gauges with some new ones. The Miata speedometer isn't working due to the broken cable. The oil pressure and tachometer needles get blown around by the wind as the glass isn't completely sealed against the dash. Then again, it wouldn't be that hard to seal things up and I just might be able to put a 1999+ Miata speedometer in the gauge cluster. It's electrically driven. Hmm, that might be a possibility. Regardless, my LED strip tach is going to be added. New harnesses are coming so they can be adjusted once the seats are in - this isn't a problem for me, but currently my passengers are having to deal with ill-fitting belts and that's not safe.

Right now, I'm simply in the planning stages. I'm back in California (the Los Angeles area this time) to work on Miata things and spending all my spare time trying to wrap up the Seven book. Lots of time to think - this can be dangerous.

entry 844 of 1439
<< | random | >>
back to entry listing