Ride Height

[pdsman53]

Guys,
I would like to raise my Ride Height, without going to the expense of changing my springs.
Has anyone had any experience with Coil Spring "Spacers".
like these:-
https://superpro.com.au/tradeview/index ... PF0122-19K
Cheers,
Jim

[PaulF]

What's your current spring/shock setup?

[Luke]

On a NA/NB there is a better way which will avoid changing shock and spring travel and less disassembly work.
Have spacers put between the top mounts and body.
It will require longer studs in the top mounts.

Supermiata/949 racing use to sell such a product for a totally different reason but it would achieve what you seem to be after.

[pdsman53]

Thanks Luke,
Are they similar to the 'Superpro' spring Spacers...in my initial query??

or like these from Flyin' Miata:-
https://www.flyinmiata.com/shock-spacer.html

I guess the Superpro type fit either above the spring perch or under the Top Hat.

...rather than above the top hat and under the bodywork.
(I looked at the 949 site...they don't seem to stock them anymore).

I should expand on my query:-
I have some Bilsteins with lowered springs, on my NA Clubman....which I want to migrate to my NB 10th.
But I want to maintain the standard ride height, without swapping out springs...hence the Spring Spacers.

I just checked the Superpro spacer and they don't seem to manufacture them specifically for MX5.
The inside diameter of the Superpro are 66mm, so they won't fit over the Bilstein 'perch'....however they should fit under the tophat.
The only problem I see...is that the design of the top hat means that spring is captured, but with the Superpro spacer fitted, the spring may no longer be captured if the spacer depth exceeds the height of the top hat spring capture design.
...so maybe the Flyin' Miata under body spacer may be the better option.

The other problem I have, is:-
The NA Top Hat is way different to the NB.
It looks to me like an NB tophat would fit onto an NA....but not the other way around.
The diameter of the upper part of the NA tophat doesn't fit through the NB, hole in the bodywork.

So, I thought....just fit the NB tophat onto the NA Bilsteins.
...but there's not enough threadlength on the NA Bilsteins, to fit all of the bits on the NB Bilsteins....see attached photo

top hats NA to NB.JPG

Any suggestions????

[Jeo]

Find someone with stock springs and offer them a six pack of their choosing in exchange?

Surely the amount of effort you're talking about going through to return to stock height via a convoluted band-aid solution could be solved correctly with a relatively small investment.

[PaulF]

Find someone with stock springs and offer them a six pack of their choosing in exchange?

Surely the amount of effort you're talking about going through to return to stock height via a convoluted band-aid solution could be solved correctly with a relatively small investment.

Exactly where my train of thought was going. In fact, a set of SE Bilsteins complete with top hats and springs that are appropriate for an NB can be picked up for peanuts. I paid $150 for a set a few months ago.

[bruce]

Yes, if you're going to be taking it all out you may as well do it properly.

[greenMachine]

For the ghetto engineers, buy a couple of 'plastic' chopping boards in the appropriate thickness, and cut a one-piece spacer to sit between the strut top and the underside of the mount. Zozzy (Chris W) used this technique on the Blue Rocket to adjust shock position for the dropped spindles he was using.

Once you have the template, it is an easy way to play with ride height. Yes, you will need longer bolts for the top mount.

[pdsman53]

Thanks for the tip G.M....that's a good'n.

I still want to fit my NA Bilsteins onto my NB...they're stiffer and will be close to stock thanks to a chopping board.

As discussed earlier, The thread on the NA Bilstein damper is too short for the NB Top mount and bushings.

Are these extended Top Mount nuts....what I need??
https://5xracing.com/n-11275-diy-miata- ... t-kit.html

Any thoughts??
Cheers.

[greenMachine]

Those things are not relevant for 'my' solution. With the delrin spacers you have just cut out of the chopping board, you undo the two nuts holding the complete shock assembly, drop the assembly far enough to get the delrin spacer over the top of the assembly, and bolt it up again.

In reality you will probably want to remove the assembly, remove the two studs and replace them with longer ones (or longer bolts, but IIRC bolts can be fiddly when reassembling the shocks to the car), and then reattach the shock assembly to the car.

Don't forget the multiplication factor - a 10mm spacer is about a 13mm(?) difference in ride height due to the positioning of the shock mount on the LCA.

[pdsman53]

Thank G.M.

Sorry, there are two parts to my query.

1....the spacer issue...which you have given me an option and I will probably follow.

part 2...I have an NB....but I want to fit my old NA Clubman Bilsteins on it.

ie...fit stock NB Top Mount and Bushes to the NA Bilstein dampers, but the thread is too short....to capture the bushes and top mount etc.

I have seen these extended Shoulder nuts (in the U.S.) which they say will reach down through the top bush etc to engage with the short NA thread.
https://5xracing.com/n-11275-diy-miata- ... t-kit.html

then use the "chopping board" spacers, to hopefully give me the ride height.

Have you heard anything about them??
Cheers.

[KevGoat]

A few years ago when I had my NA I purchased an NB top hat kit from FCM in USA that included the extended bolts. The kit was typically good quality, but after assembly to the NA shocks I just didn't feel comfortable with the way the extended nuts sat. After a bit more reading I did come across a few posts about extended nuts stripping threads, but for how many kits were out there it wasn't a big issue, I still wasn't convinced though. I ended up on selling the kit and buying new shocks & springs. TBH, I'd follow PauF's suggestion to search out some SE Bilsteins rather than "bodgy" the NA setup. As mentioned, can be found pretty cheap, It's a quality setup, sits slightly lower than stock (about 7mm) and fits straight in.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[greenMachine]

Sorry, can't help with Problem #2.

PM Trader on here, I sold him some coilovers for his SE, he may have the OEMs still. The swap of the NA shocks seems to be just making things more difficult than they need be, and a simple solution will be to just get some NB shocks - job done.