We got to RSpeed at 7 & Hector was there waiting for us. We pulled in & he started working. Some people take photos of the mountains they see on vacation, maybe animals they see on vacation...well...this year, I'm taking pictures of people in garages working on my car LOL Follow allong as change my clutch.

It was still dark out as we pulled in the

First the inside of the car must be prepared to begin the work. The stick shift knob must be removed, the center console removed, and a few other things.

With the inside removed, the work begins under the car.

Once we got it up in the air, I got a better look at the damage under the car. Here you can see where the rock rolled under the car and hit the frame.

Here is the dent from another angle.

Disconnecting the drive shaft.

Drive Shaft out, tranny next

With a huge extension, Hector get's the top tranny bolts.

Easing the tranny out.

It's out!

Swappin the throw out bearing.

Here is a small ding in the oil pan cooling fin.

The tranny is ready, now to the clutch.

Fresh throw out bearing installed

Taking the old clutch off.

There it goes!

Getting the new pressure plate ready

The new ACT clutch!

It's all ready to go in :)

My old clutch, check the wear bars. Some are gone, but it was still working. Not bad for 150,000 miles :)

The old pressure plate.

By now it was getting close to 10 am, which is when Hector had his first appointment. This person arrived a little early, but knew everyone at the shop and said he had no where to go for a while. So he did not mind if Hector went ahead and finished my car before starting his. So...Hector kept on until he finished.

The Miata's ready for new parts.

New clutch installed!

Tranny going back in.

Tightening it all down.

Hector had it done by 10:30 & we dropped it down to put the inside back together. Pat & I where all excited that we where going to get to leave early in the morning which would mean that we would be able to take small roads all the way home instead of interstate all the way.

As soon as it was together we fired it up to see how it sounded, and it did fire right up (no battery connection problems like a couple of days ago) but there was still a problem. It made one of the same noises that it made from before we brought it in. The metal rattle scraping sound was gone from the throw out bearing. BUT, there was still a rattling sound coming from the same area as before. We drove it around the block & it was definitely still one of the sounds it was making from before. So, we put it back up on the lift to see if we could tell where it was coming from. We listened and it sounded like it was coming from the back bearing in the tranny.

So far we had been lucky. When we did the breaks, RSpeed had THE pads that I wanted. Then when I needed the clutch, RSpeed had THE exact same clutch I had sitting at home in my garage. Even though I had to pay someone to put those items on my Miata, I paid them to put the items I wanted on it. With my luck dwindling, I asked if there was anything I could do for the tranny. Hector said there was not mutch I could do. I asked him if he thought it would make it home & he said it may, then again, it could leave us stranded somewhere between here and there. So I kept asking quesitons. I finally asked if he could swap the bearing & he said that wasn't really an option for us in our situation. I knew our luck was running out!

Hector had to get back to work as he had two jobs to finish before he could deal with us again. So we hung around the shop as he worked on the first one.

Once he got it done, he came and talked to us and said he still had to replace a top on a Miata. So again it could be Monday before he got to it. There was not much we could do as we had to have it fixed. It very well could make it all the way home, but it could also leave us stranded along side the road. So we waited to see what happened.

Hector had no problems with the top which ment he had time for my trans. He happened to have four used trannies in the shop & we checked them all out to see which was the best. We lined them up and spun the gears in each. We finally found the one that felt the best, and it was out of a 1.6L Miata. I didn't know they where interchangeable, but I do now :) So, hector took mine out.

We then put the two tranies next to each other, and when we did, we could feel the bearing grinding in mine, so he bolted the new one on and the problem was gone.

I took it for a test drive, came back, adjusted the the clutch pedal & we where good to go.

Packin' up the shop for the night as I paid.

They get them in tight. Good thing they don't take up much room :)

One final thing to do before we are off, and that is a potty stop. Happily they made sweet mods to the potty, because it got us out even quicker as we needed to save all the time we could!

Joe saying bye!

We thought we would have time to take a trip through Tha Gap on the way home with out much of a delay. It was a little out of the way, but doable if all went well. By the time we got to Robinsville, it was already dark out and just starting to drizzle.

We had ice cream at the ice cream shop that we had been stopping at & continued on. When we got to the gap it was raining and a little foggy. So there was not much fun to be had there, not to mention it was exactaly 1 week from when I found the rock on the gap. As a matter of fact it was 1 week from then right down to the hour.

About 1/3 the way through the gap we met with an older fellow drivng about 20mph at his fast points and maybe down to 10 or less the rest of the way. This really threw off our time schedule of getting to the place we where going to stop for the night.

Not only did we follow him through the gap, but we had to follow him for quite a while after the gap. We had to keep following because there where only a few passing zones & when we would enter them he would speed up. He didn't speed up much, but enough that I did not feel comfortable passing him in the rain when I did not know how long I had to pass. Once we got to four lane roads we went by, and I can see why he was going so slow. He could hardly see over the wheel, and his back window was full of stuff. He had to go slow around the corners so he didn't make it fall out of the window...not to mention move even slightly :) But, we finally made to the Motel for the night.