Since all the parts came today I wanted to at least start doing this. Im not in a rush since the car isn't on the road yet so its being done in pieces. Before judging I have little or no mechanical skills haha. My friend came over and helped me out with it but after watching and doing some stuff I think i could do it on my own with no problems. ANYWAYS... we were moving along good until we got to the harmonic balancer. Every youtube video or write up I see skips this part. How do you remove it for a 2000 miata? My dad says you need a special tool my friend thinks its rusted on there and I dont know what im talking about ahahah. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Remove the large bolt in the center. Remove the four small bolts. Mine came right off with a little rubber mallet tapping from opposite sides. You can try to use a bolt and crossbar type puller and long bolts in two of the four little bolt holes to pull it (I think that is the factory method).

 

Yeahhh haha it was on there real tight i just didn't want to mess anything up by doing it the wrong way. Thanks though its all finished just have to put all the covers and radiator back in. Going to do that in a little bit

 

How did it run? That timing belt is a little tricky because the cams want to rotate and everything changes when you add the tensioner pulley.

 

It ran perfect I was super happy once it was all done. Found a new problem though I haven't really driven it other than around my drive way and the damn brake pedal goes to the floor now. So I filled it up with brake fluid and been checking it but it hasn't gone down now. I think because I ran it so low and pumped the brakes then put fluid in its got a lot of air in the system so i cant tell where its leaking from now. When the kid sold it to me he must have just kept topping it off so that it was perfect at the time.. annoying but whatever just something else to learn next. Oh, also the radiator leaks a little from the top cap which i did not see when i bought it. FML haha oh well its my own fault i guess. When it gets a little warmer my dad said well jack it up and look at the brakes and fix the leak. It still in the 20's here so Id rather wait then freeze my *** off

 

Brakes are pretty easy. It won't be hard to find the leak.

 

Just use 2 crescent wrenches on the cams and clamp them together with vise grips to keep the cams from moving. When you remove the harmonic damper, you'll see the Crankshaft position sensor trigger wheel. Make sure to note its orientation and put it back in the same place with the front side out.