'99 workshop manual for $55

Hey, I just got the official Mazda workshop manual for my '99 from Med
Center Mazda:

http://www.mazdaparts.org/shopmanuals.html

on sale for $55.00. Not a bad price compared to $100+ like I've seen
before, and I got free shipping by spending over $100 (I also got plugs
and wires and a fuel filter.)

I should have got brake pads too. When I changed the plugs this weekend
I also rotated the tires, and while the wheels were off I noticed my
brake pads are getting pretty thin. Anybody got tips on how to spread
apart the calipers on a Miata? Whenever I've replaced brake pads before
that was always the trickiest part.

The old plugs looked pretty good, considering that I've put 57,000 miles
on the car since I bought it used and I never changed them before. I
was pretty nervous about messing up that aluminum head so I bought a
torque wrench and actually torqued them to spec instead of just leaning
into the ratchet like I used to on cars with steel cylinder heads.

yrs jp

In article >,
"johnny p." > wrote:

> Hey, I just got the official Mazda workshop manual for my '99 from Med
> Center Mazda:
>
> http://www.mazdaparts.org/shopmanuals.html
>
> on sale for $55.00. Not a bad price compared to $100+ like I've seen
> before, and I got free shipping by spending over $100 (I also got plugs
> and wires and a fuel filter.)
>
> I should have got brake pads too. When I changed the plugs this weekend
> I also rotated the tires, and while the wheels were off I noticed my
> brake pads are getting pretty thin. Anybody got tips on how to spread
> apart the calipers on a Miata? Whenever I've replaced brake pads before
> that was always the trickiest part.

Don't think in terms of "spread 'em apart" - Think in terms of "mash the
piston back into the cylinder". Same end result, but the mechanism is a
whole bunch simpler to implement and requires much less effort.

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info

"Don Bruder" > wrote
> "johnny p." > wrote:
>
>> ......Anybody got tips on how to spread
>> apart the calipers on a Miata? Whenever I've replaced brake pads before
>> that was always the trickiest part.
>
> Don't think in terms of "spread 'em apart" - Think in terms of "mash the
> piston back into the cylinder". Same end result, but the mechanism is a
> whole bunch simpler to implement and requires much less effort.
>

See http://www.miata.net/garage/brakepad.html
--
Ken Lyons '97 Brilliant Black/'90 Classic Red
Inside the Beltway

$55 is a great price! I never could even find them used for that cheap! Keep
in mind the small book (the $55 version) is very small print and if your
vision is like mine (not the greatest), it's a bit frustrating. The workshop
manual IMHO is not nearly as user friendly as the Haynes / Chilton's type of
manuals. There's more of a wealth of info but it's not at all what I call
used friendly.

Chris
99BBB

"johnny p." > wrote in message
...
> Hey, I just got the official Mazda workshop manual for my '99 from Med
> Center Mazda:
>
> http://www.mazdaparts.org/shopmanuals.html
>
> on sale for $55.00. Not a bad price compared to $100+ like I've seen
> before, and I got free shipping by spending over $100 (I also got plugs
> and wires and a fuel filter.)
>
> I should have got brake pads too. When I changed the plugs this weekend
> I also rotated the tires, and while the wheels were off I noticed my
> brake pads are getting pretty thin. Anybody got tips on how to spread
> apart the calipers on a Miata? Whenever I've replaced brake pads before
> that was always the trickiest part.
>
> The old plugs looked pretty good, considering that I've put 57,000 miles
> on the car since I bought it used and I never changed them before. I
> was pretty nervous about messing up that aluminum head so I bought a
> torque wrench and actually torqued them to spec instead of just leaning
> into the ratchet like I used to on cars with steel cylinder heads.
>
> yrs jp