Got the car on axle stands this afternoon and removed the wheels in order to access the four corners for future major surgery. Apart from some surface rust on the rotors (normal as the car has not moved since early November, the rotors are worn with a large lip but no scoring. Plenty of meat on the pads too, but those will be dumped for new EPC's. The rear suspension arms are a bit rusty. I may pull them out to check, clean and paint
Some pictures:

You need to paint those calipers

Sure, the painting is planned.

Look what DHL delivered this morning....

So, some latest news...
Due to a mix up with ordered parts, my KW suspension has been delayed and will be arriving later. My calipers and supporting brackets have been cleaned and scrubbed with a wire brush and finished with a Dremel tool. I'll get some pictures later. I have ordered a complete set of rear suspension links and arms which should be arriving today or tomorrow

And a new episode of the "spring" show:
Cleaned, scrubbed and painted calipers (I choose silver to remain with the period and as the Monos cover up the brakes, there is nothing much to see, without peeping around)

The courier service delivered a nice box full of rear suspension arms, including new nuts and bolts
Check out the excentric bolts to adjust the toe-in

And to finish, I removed all the rear trunk lining to get to the top shock fixing nuts. All 4 shocks have been removed and they certainly look like they are the originals from 99'.
Quick question, is the rectangular box on the right with cooling fins the Bose amp? I never thought I would find it there

It is a 215 because the 215/45 outer diameter more closely matches that of the 245/40 on the rear. That is important on the rear in order to not overstress the rear diff when driving on the spare. On the front, it doesn't matter if the diameters are different since they are not driven wheels. And putting a 245 spare would be too wide to replace a front tire, so the 215 is the best compromise to fit both ends of the vehicle.

Now that is interesting and something I didn't think about or realise Also, with speed limited to 80kmh this would be another factor not to stress too much the diff. With 18" monos on the vehicle, I wonder if the spare will still be usable in case of a puncture without undue problems, Any ideas?

I dismantled all the rear suspension and found that it had the minimum 1 nib spacer under the spring.
Come next week, I'll probably start putting everything together again with refreshed or new parts. Jeez, it is early May and the car has not turned over since November I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms

DRB, thanks for posting your pic of the trunk. I'm in the process of cleaning my car and it looks like I may be missing a piece or two, which is not a good thing in a roadside emergency!

Yes that is the bose amp but it should be on the left trunk wall as the pump is on the right...

The amp is mounted on the left not the right as first mentioned in my post. Sorry 503 and thanks for pointing this out. Sh*it I can't make the difference between left and right

What size tires are you running on the 18's?

I use the following calculator to figure out differences in diameter between tire sizes. Realize that every manufacturer is a little different, so not 100% accurate. As far as a percentage to stay within, I really don't know where the line is. I would say get it as close as possible. Running a 245/45/17 instead of a 245/40/17 on my rears was enough to make the cruise control not work, so it doesn't take a lot to throw it off.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

The 18" will be as follows:
Front 225x40
Rear 255x35

Here's my reference link: http://www.alloywheels.com/Tyre_Calculator

Looks like the 255 would net you a difference of 1.58%. A 245/35 would get that down to 0.31%. However, if you replace your spare with a 225/45/17, then you only have a 0.30% difference to the 255/35/18. Just some food for thought. Again, I don't know at what point you have extra wear that would be a cause for concern and considering that you would only run on the spare for a short amount of time, it may not be worth the change.

[quote=ECTurboGSX;5178022]...the 215/45 outer diameter more closely matches that of the 245/40 on the rear...quote]
but only in theory... in real life the diameter can vary between +1.5% and -2.5% and unfortunately tire manufacturers feel free to use this range.

Don't count on any calculated values. You need to ask the tire manufacturer for the real values.

There is the same problem with tire width. You can have about 40mm (1.5'') difference with same tire format.

I am starting to be pissed off to say the least with the company in Germany (Siekmann Tuning) who is supposed to send my KW suspension kit. They promised an update and confirmation last Thursday and I'm still waiting I gave them 48h to follow up and give me a reply. Otherwise I'll pull the plug and cancel the order. Problem is I have already paid (common practice in Germany) so I have to get my money back too. So for the moment only option would be reinstall the original suspension or else go for a H&R and B8s which I can get locally.

I used the Klann type spring compressor this afternoon to remove the front springs. It took me 15mins the first side (left) and only 5 minutes on the other side. Very quick when you know how to use it. Wow, is it a fantastic tool but it needs careful use. I nearly swiped off my left thumb when removing the tension from the second spring when part of the tool slipped It is important to place the two cups as far up and down as possible and compress a max. Check the difference between a compressed and non compressed spring.
I'll get some pictures on here later

PS I received confirmation late this morning that the KW suspension is on the road to here

Installing my renovated/repainted and new front brakes today Picture is for one side
- OE cross drilled rotor 334x32
- EBC Yellowpads
- SS pipes
- Pad wear sensors

some peepol say ebc sux, better getting porterfield pads instead!

jankeee geprufte qualität

What discs did you use?

Ultimot as said previously

Sorry people, but my spring wake up will have to wait. While working on the front brakes, I suffered a heart attack:-S operated immediately upon arrival at the hospital and I have surfaced since. I AM writing this post from my hospital bed. Will be out of operations for a couple of weeks. DRBC43AMG signing out but will still be lurking around