Project BRG: New Wheels and a Smoother Ride
11 November 2022
Although I was determined to not buy any after-market parts until my brief list of niggles on the wee 5 was completed, a set of some of my favorite wheels came up for a decent price and I could not resist. To help my point, it was also a long weekend, so I could swap the wheels over while doing a couple of other things that were already planned.
The wheels are a set of 3-piece Enkei Peaks Racing in 15x6.5-inch +32 wrapped in 195/55R15 Bridgestone Potenza RE710 and Hankook Ventus V2 Concept2 rubber. These aren't too aggressive but should give off the period-correct look I like.
While picking these gems up, we also visited Garage5 again to pick up some V-Special rear interior clips as mine were missing, along with a black gauge cluster so I can get rid of my hideous white-face one. My GReddy OX-04 oil filter also arrived from Auckland.
On the first day of the long weekend, we started off by transporting all the tools and parts in the Volvo to my grandparents as they have a flat driveway compared to my slopped one. Unfortunately, the first planned project of the day didn't go to plan. The first project was to do the brake rotors as they would shudder when used. Due to the age of the front rotors, the rotor was stuck on, and unwanting to damage the original rotors, we couldn't bash them as hard as we could and ended up leaving the brakes as is for today. Also for the nut trick used to take the rotors off, since we weren't at our own place, we didn't have the right size bolt available to use.
So now onto the next thing on the to do list, the wheels. After being fitted up using after-market black lug nuts, I can confirm that the new wheels fit a lot nicer than the original ones. The new wheels give the car a more aggressive look, and the fitment isn't too bad (not quite flush). Unfortunately, installing the new wheels made me want to put lowering springs in it even more.
We ended up putting the Bridgestone Potenza in the front, and the Hankook Ventus in the back.
While the car was jacked up, we decided to do an oil change. The parts we used consisted of 4 quarts of Royal Purple HPS 5W-30 full-synthetic motor oil used in conjunction with a GReddy OX-04 oil filter. Only the good stuff for the lil' 1.6.
Working on Miata's or MX-5's are so relaxing as everything goes in as it should and everything is so easy to work with. With the oil change quickly done, the car could now comfortably be driven and you have very cool purple oil on your dipstick every time you go to check. Also, yes, I know I need to clean my engine bay.
To follow up, we gave the interior some attention. Like everything else on the car, removing my old yucky gauge cluster, and installing my new original gauge cluster from Garage5 went smoothly. Just a tip for anyone changing their gauge cluster, pull straight when removing the gauge hood, and push the tab in when removing the speedo cable. Once everything was in and bolted up, the beautiful green cluster lights turned on, and everything worked as it should.
Last for the day, I installed the V-Special rear interior clips also from Garage5.
Although the rotors install failed, the day overall went successfully and it appears that the brakes shuddering magically disappeared.
Stay tuned, more to come!