|
|
Post by Zed. on Sept 23, 2022 21:12:33 GMT
In regards to the control arms I'll keep the rears and refurb them when I get round to that end, on fronts I've decided on a different route... having gone back and forth a few times I've decided to order both the upper and lower adjustable front control arms from Destroyordie are they heavy?  ok, the standard Mazda lower arms are not lightwieght but... standard lower front wishbones can be slotted to allow more balljoint movement - cheaper option? what hubs/bearings to go with. Looks like there is no OE non abs hub and bearing (and holy moly they are £185 for abs ones), other options are autolink £30 jobs or some Timkens for £100 a side..... Thoughts? Ta standard Mx5 front hubs are used on the rear of 323's iirc  there is the possibility of using Tailgate McNoIndicate E30 front hubs BUT theres a bit of conversion to undertake.... ~£25 a pair though Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by batou on Sept 24, 2022 8:53:12 GMT
In regards to the control arms I'll keep the rears and refurb them when I get round to that end, on fronts I've decided on a different route... having gone back and forth a few times I've decided to order both the upper and lower adjustable front control arms from Destroyordie are they heavy? ok, the standard Mazda lower arms are not lightwieght but... standard lower front wishbones can be slotted to allow more balljoint movement - cheaper option? what hubs/bearings to go with. Looks like there is no OE non abs hub and bearing (and holy moly they are £185 for abs ones), other options are autolink £30 jobs or some Timkens for £100 a side..... Thoughts? Ta standard Mx5 front hubs are used on the rear of 323's iirc there is the possibility of using Tailgate McNoIndicate E30 front hubs BUT theres a bit of conversion to undertake.... ~£25 a pair though Rich. Not entirely sure on weight of them in all honesty, I know their tubular rear arms are lighter than OE so I'm hoping I'm not adding a lot of additional unsprung kg's on the fronts. I'll weigh them when they arrive and report back. They sure look burly tho...  I don't really want to mess with the original arms, they are not too crusty as I cleaned them up a couple of years back but they are 29 years young so I'm happy with the decision to go with new arms. I was in two minds to go with their knuckles with the roll centre correction (don't really need the angle on this car tho) but its quite an additional expense. Is it any easier to find genuine OEM 323 rears?  I'll pass on the bimmer ones, one thing I've learnt from car a slathered in bimmer parts is you have to accept a certain mindset which is as follows.... |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Sept 24, 2022 9:37:09 GMT
They sure look HEAVY tho... edited & corrected for you Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by batou on Sept 27, 2022 14:43:06 GMT
They sure look HEAVY tho... edited & corrected for you Rich. Lol, they arrived today. Fast turnaround, heres the actual weights....  |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Sept 27, 2022 18:46:41 GMT
edited & corrected for you Rich. Lol, they arrived today. Fast turnaround, heres the actual weights.... all interesting stuff  I'm off tomorrow so will try to remember to weigh some standard arms for comparison  Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by batou on Sept 27, 2022 19:57:46 GMT
Would be good to know the difference, I think the DoD arms are probably a bit heavier, but I guess that's to be expected. I weighed them without bushes and just the ball joint in the upper as pictures.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Sept 29, 2022 18:57:35 GMT
okey, laziness controlled for a short time   scruffy but solid mk1 front lower wishbone (with standard bushes but no balljoint) 3248g or 3 1/4kg.  new genuine Mazda mk2/2.5 front upper wishbone (with standard bushes and balljoint) 1934g or 1.9kg. but different Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 7, 2023 20:38:49 GMT
Thread reserrection time..... also, previously posted in my cars thread but in the interests of sharing knowledge...... I've been looking at balljoint type bushings, basically oem type 'spherical' bearing bushings. these I've tripped over are front lower damper bushes from a Jaguar S-Type / XK or XF (genuine Jaguar, found 4 new for a great price on ebay)  these have a 14mm bore that suits lower rear / outer positions, also these bushings have a 40mm outside diameter -again suitable for the wishbone's tubes...  one issue is length.... the Jag bushes are ~10mm shorter so will need spacers to centralise in the wishbones.  tried in the 'test' wishbone, this one was in a joblot of spares I bought and had one of the sleeves cut - handy in development!  example of the slightly narrower Jag bush in Mazda wishbone.  compared to the Mazda bushing. so, I'll machine some spacers ~5mm wide to try these. I bought new Mazda lower rear wishbones and had to assess these Jag 'bushes'...  test fit.  next is to make press-tooling to position them in their 'tubes', will look into a tube-spacer between positions so I dont collapse them if I use the hydraulic press Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 7, 2023 20:54:39 GMT
Also..... I've found (I think ) similar metal balljoint type bushings that are (on paper) a sorta fit for the front & rear / Lower wishbone inner positions. from a Subaru (p/n SUBARU : 20257XA000 ) these have a 40mm outside diameter, 50mm length and 12mm bore so suitable for the subframe / adjuster bolts I'll be buying one to try  Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 18, 2023 20:22:27 GMT
Subaru bushing update...  these were the cheapest I could find - it's an experimental bushing so not buying expensive! these are from Autodoc and are a replacement for SUBARU 20257XA000 bushes. 40mm outside diameter. 50mm wide. 12.5mm bore (for a 12mm bolt).  these are a spherical / balljoint / pillowball type but have a rubber dust-boot so look a little like a conventional rubber bush (from a distance anyway)   boot removed, can see the 'ball'  against a wishbone, should have a 10mm spacer each sise for the subframe 'ears'  offered up to the wishbones tube.  inner & outer bushing positions hopefully finalised, just need time to machine some fitting tooling for pressing into tthe tubes as I dont want to damage the bushes or the wishbones  maybe on the weekend...... Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by wannabe on Apr 20, 2023 9:18:58 GMT
12.5mm bore for a 12mm bolt? Won't that mean a lot of play / movement?  |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 20, 2023 20:08:37 GMT
12.5mm bore for a 12mm bolt? Won't that mean a lot of play / movement? ever tried a 'size-on' pin in a hole? clearance makes life easier also, these bushes are clamped in place (in the subframe) into a clearance hole that allows adjusting the geometry. Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by dadbif on Apr 21, 2023 7:05:29 GMT
okey, laziness controlled for a short time scruffy but solid mk1 front lower wishbone (with standard bushes but no balljoint) 3248g or 3 1/4kg. new genuine Mazda mk2/2.5 front upper wishbone (with standard bushes and balljoint) 1934g or 1.9kg. but different Rich. The welding looks a bit rough |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 21, 2023 12:02:21 GMT
okey, laziness controlled for a short time scruffy but solid mk1 front lower wishbone (with standard bushes but no balljoint) 3248g or 3 1/4kg. new genuine Mazda mk2/2.5 front upper wishbone (with standard bushes and balljoint) 1934g or 1.9kg. but different Rich. The welding looks a bit rough as someone that has welded for a living I cannot possibly comment...... But I Might re-weld a few items during the cars assemly Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by dickie on Apr 21, 2023 19:18:57 GMT
You have to remember that the OEM rubber bushes also work as torsion bushes so the car will be more lively on pillow balls.
Great research and experimentation though.
|
|
le sigh