“My Girlfriend’s” Miata: Part 7 – LRB Speed Aero Cooling Panels

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LRB's NA Miata undertray mimics the factory undertray, in a good way, but out of .080” aluminum and with a 4-piece, Ikea-esque design that allows for easy install. LRB Speed adds an additional piece of aluminum, missing from most other undertrays I saw, that seals off the radiator and does not allow air to go anywhere unless it’s going through the radiator. In addition to their undertray, I went with their air diversion cooling panel that serves the same purpose of sealing off areas where air can bypass the radiator, but this time on the top side.

 

Starting up top, installing the air diversion panel is a relatively painless procedure. Here you can see how there are some large gaps that could allow air to escape over the top of the radiator.
First up is an easy problem for us to solve, but may be more difficult for those that retain their SRS system. We unsafed the car long ago by removing the airbag and replacing the steering wheel and therefore this airbag sensor could be tossed without concern.
It's as simple as taking off the plastic cover, removing a few bolts and disconnecting the wiring. Luckily, due to early 90s technology, the SRS light didn't turn on in the dash. One less warning light to ignore!
With the SRS sensor gone and two additional bolts removed, we're basically ready to install the panel. LRB supplies Delrin spacers for proper panel mounting.
The mounting locations are slotted for adjustment, but we ran into some clearance issues with the Koyo radiator. My fault for not informing LRB speed what radiator I had in advance. This required some minor clearancing with a file around the top radiator and the hood latch. If I spaced the radiator back a little, I wouldn't have had to clearance anything, but this was the better and easier solution.
With the air diversion panel installed, it was time to head under the car for some fun removing the factory splash shield. With a few of the tabs already broken and the panel hanging off, it was a simple task to get everything off and ready for the LRB panel.
None of the bolts are that hard to reach, but you may have to reach behind the tetanus covered sway bar to remove one. There are three bolts per side, plus the main three attaching the splash shield to the bottom of the front bumper.

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