Driven-Daily NA

[drummingpariah]

This week, I picked up a 93 Miata to replace my 2010 Yaris as my daily driver. For $3k I drove home with a rust free (really rust free, not the 'rust free' we normally see here in New Hampshire, which just means there's more car than rust) little soft top with 109k miles on it. I'm trying hard to just treat this like a less horrible Yaris, and have no plans for it to replace my 'proper fast car' - a 75 Datsun 280z with a 2.8liter turbo motor. For now, I'm sticking with maintenance and baslineing the car.

I flushed the engine oil, transmission oil, and differential oil. I couldn't reach the oil filter with any of the tools I have on hand, so I'm just going to get to that the next time I change the oil. I checked the pads (fronts are dead, rears look fresh), and just picked up some generic replacements for them so I can pass State Inspection.

I'm still hunting down a 'wobbly feeling' in the rear end. Whenever I go over a rough patch of road, it feels like the rear end is trying to decide which way to run away toward. After seeing what the eccentric control arm bolt settings look like, I'm not surprised it's a little squirrely (I think a couple of those bolts are upside-down). Much-needed new tires (decided on Kumho XS') are coming in this week, so I'll get an alignment when I have them mounted/balanced.

I really hate that this car has power steering. One of the headlights had a lot of wobble when they were up, so I started poking around trying to find what was loose/broken. It turned out that the rear-most headlight bracket mounting bolt was loose, which happens to be directly under the headlight motor. No problem, I'll just go at it from the side ... but the power steering filler is directly in the way. It's like Mazda intentionally placed it in such a way that 11 years later, I'd come along and they'd finally get to have their laughs. I ended up having to remove the motor altogether to get at that loose bolt. #firstgenproblems

This weekend I'm planning to take this up to Mt Ascutney in Vermont for a hillclimb event, and spend the weekend racing up a mountain road in a gorgeous state park. I have a few 1080p cameras (6, the last time I counted) and am curious as to how other people have mounted cameras on their NA's. The goal here is to give myself as much footage as possible, in the hopes of gaining some insight into what I'm doing right/wrong.

I'm basically starting this thread here (instead of continuing my introduction or specific-question threads) to document my progress.

[drummingpariah]

The lol bar has evolved to a roll bar.
I still need to drill a couple fastener holes for the rear plates, but I feel much better about this bar now.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7424/14175731251_41892e0cae_c.jpg

I'd also like to clean up the cuts I had to made to provide clearance for the bracing
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5155/14199162053_512bb777c7_c.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/13992384998_d3067df036_c.jpg

I'm really impressed with the quality of Laurie's welds, and the final fitment we ended up with.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7459/13992363089_36dda07352_c.jpg

I also found the source of the rear-end clunk. I had assumed that the PO had actually mounted the battery. Silly me, thinking people care about securing batteries that are right next to gas tanks.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7333/14176379542_a4aa53ae63_c.jpg

I'm still waiting on my extinguisher and my sa2010 helmet (crossing my fingers that it'll arrive on time) so I can climb Mt Ascutney this weekend.

[WASABI]

Nice work so far! Please post pictures/video of the hill climb.

[atank]

That hill climb is going to be fun!!!!!!

[drummingpariah]

Nice work so far! Please post pictures/video of the hill climb.

I've been meaning to ask where other Miata drivers mount their cameras. I have 6 1080p action cameras, a video-rigged DSLR, and a couple of dedicated audio devices. The goal is to document the entire season and put it together into a web series at the end of the season. There are a bunch of awesome people in our hillclimb group, and I'd love to share some of their awesomeness along with the challenges of joining a motorsport from 0, without having friends/family who are already involved.


That hill climb is going to be fun!!!!!!

I'm incredibly anxious about it, but as long as I pass tech I think I'm going to have a blast. I still have a lot to do, and have had some issues sourcing an sa2010 helmet locally (and I don't know when to expect the delivery from saferacer). I'm taking Friday off to make sure I have all my hammock camping gear together, and can focus all my efforts on preparing for Saturday and Sunday. The weather looks perfect wet on Saturday (slow & smooth to get used to the hill) then dry and sunny on Sunday (so I'll be able to pick up the pace a bit on my timed runs). I think there's a novice orientation 'thing' on Fridays, but I'm not sure what the details are for that so I'm waiting to hear back from the organizer.

Rankings
It looks like I'm going to be the 'slowest' car on the hill, based on classification. That's good, because it means I'll probably be able to win U6 class. Based on the results from last year http://www.hillclimb.org/events/results_ascutney/2013_ascutney_1_saturday.pdf, I think 4:45.0 is a pretty good time to aim for. We may have a couple other Miatas on the hill, and I'm excited to pick their brains during the post-race fireside chats. Right now, the car that's ranked the most closely to me is a stock Saab 900 - https://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.status/uidEvent/76925D13-9EEB-017B-BE65E77DE7E454A2 ... and I'm two classes below him.

Steering Wheel
I am not a tall man. I'm 5'6" - which seems to be about the right size for the NA's design. However, it seems to be very badly laid out for heel-toe braking. It's not an issue on the hill, because a stock 100k-mile NA 1.6 isn't exactly a speed demon on a ~19-degree grade, and I'll rarely (if ever) use the brakes going up, but it's pretty annoying to smack my knee against the steering wheel whenever I slow down on the street. I think this car would actually benefit from a quick-release hub and a dished wheel, but I'm wondering how others have solved this problem.

Local Sighting
I drove over to my Mom's house on Mother's Day, which seemed like the thing to do. I was lucky enough to follow another little blue Miata for most of the drive on Route 27/43, which was perfect for me because it gave me a chance to study his roll bar bracing a bit, and allowed me to flesh out exactly how I wanted to accomplish my goals. He also waved when we parted, which surprised me a bit. My car doesn't look like something any enthusiast would own, with paint literally falling off of it and a very sad lol bar at the time.

Reinforcement
I still have some DOM left over, and after this event might add some diagonal bracing or even bolt-in door bars with it. I still need to put a cage in the Datsun, but I don't think the NA is the safest car to get t-boned in and it's going to be my daily driver from here on out. I don't like the hydra-effect of making 'one more modification' because every time I do, I see 2 more things I should do.

Now that I have a roll bar, I should add door bars.
Well, I have door bars, I may as well connect them to the firewall.
Well, I have all this upper reinforcement, I may as well tie that in to subframe connectors under the car.
Everything's already connected, I may as well cage this.
Well, that's all pretty good, I may as well add a turbo.

At some point, I need to stop myself and say 'this is just a daily driver' ... but that's a very fuzzy line to draw.

LOL bar to Roll bar
Do you think there's any interest in putting together a howto and some measurements on turning a 'lol bar' into a proper roll bar? I documented the whole process, but it's certainly not for the feint of heart. The right solution is absolutely to buy a braced Hard Dog bar, they're a great value for the price. It would have a fairly limited audience, only people who already have a Hard Dog Hard Bar would be able to use my measurements, and to put it together you would need some trustworthy welding skills (I wonder how many hobbyist welders would really trust their life to their welds?). There was a lot of time dedicated to fitment and re-fitment, and I'd hate to make others go through that same work if I could just send them measurements that would work as starting points.

TONS of this:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2930/14199115983_5c1f80418e_c.jpg
and this:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2897/13992318419_72bbe0cac8_b.jpg
and this:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/13992339050_af3d5cfaf2_b.jpg
then making sure that worked with this:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/13992339740_59c7b00e62_b.jpg
and then finally this:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7442/13992356167_f2e4afdc96_b.jpg
which resulted in this:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7427/13992384290_de354fea25_b.jpg

I'm just realizing now that I don't have photos of the final product. I threw it in the car at 11pm and spent around a half hour wrestling the soft top closed (I HATE soft tops, for the record),. and don't want to go through that ordeal again. If you really want to know what it looks like, try to imagine a roll bar that looks like every other Miata roll bar without a harness bar and without diagonal supports (yet). Then imagine it with paint in some places and not in others, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what this looks like. I need to order some POR15 or similar to cover it - or maybe I'll go with rubberized underbody coating or truck bed liner to soften that hard surface a little bit.

[Martin]

My solution to the steering wheel issue was a 75mm Techno Toy Tuning spacer I bought from the classifieds here (thanks, tanakapz!). Not the best pic, but you can kinda see how far the wheel is away from the turn signal lever:

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh514/MartVerd/Italia/BE1BD3E9-C1F2-494E-8924-ACD01FBA0098_zps7ve7y0pv.jpg

I'm 6' tall and I can touch my knees together under the wheel now.

[drummingpariah]

My solution to the steering wheel issue was a 75mm Techno Toy Tuning spacer I bought from the classifieds here (thanks, tanakapz!). Not the best pic, but you can kinda see how far the wheel is away from the turn signal lever:

I'm 6' tall and I can touch my knees together under the wheel now.

There must be a way to relocate the turn signal lever at the same time. I suppose it isn't a dealbreaker, but having all my controls 'right there' is pretty convenient.

I snapped a few more photos of the current roll bar bracing while I grabbed lunch. There's an odd black mark that Laurie and I couldn't identify the source of (the metal was well cleaned before we started, so it's unlikely that it was contaminated).

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/14183139252_21e904a1ee_b.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/14183140112_c4d034dffb_b.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5317/13999100488_c2f340834c_b.jpg

Still trying to decide on paint, but I'm not looking forward to removing it and re-installing it before this weekend. Getting those seat belt bolts to line up was a serious challenge.

[drummingpariah]

I didn't spend any time working on the roll bar, but I did start digging for rust today. I already knew that the package tray had gotten wet at some point, and the removable panels had some surface rust along with a few pinholes.

Popped them out:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2927/14230590651_2e9a9437b8_b.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/14231605162_b22a32d97e_b.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5316/14047281080_c3184ee2a3_b.jpg
Spent some quality time with an angle grinder:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2918/14231605052_758065e760_b.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5114/14233638664_7a80c3bbd6_b.jpg
Blasted them with some primer:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5503/14047234258_a790a7aef3_b.jpg
Blasted them with some rattlecan flat black:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2928/14210747606_0b84d632bd_b.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/14231603982_3cf8ef94e3_b.jpg
And finally reinstalled them, without replacing any of the crusty old bolts or trying to repair the rust holes. I don't really care about rust damage, as long as it isn't spreading. I may even put carpet back on top of that, possibly.

While I was waiting for the primer to dry, I remembered that the battery had leaked at some point and started some surface rust. I got aggressive with a wire wheel on an angle grinder and cleaned it, did the same for the battery mounting hardware, and rattlecan'd all that as well.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7333/14176379542_a4aa53ae63_b.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/14231604342_71150fef5a_b.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5596/14231603902_79ac7b0f62_b.jpg

For a temporary quick-fix, I think it came out reasonably well, and I'm happy with the hour I spent doing it. Rust tends to spread quickly, and I'd much rather nip it in the bud and have an incomplete-looking car than to put it off until I can 'do it right'.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5318/14233882065_a2105d6978_b.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5077/14047304957_d056cfb6fa_b.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2913/14210747186_365a3c7c85_b.jpg

[atank]

Good work !!!!!

[WASABI]

Good job "getting to know" your car. Have you cleared your drains, and have you looked at the condition of your rain rail? The rust that you are fixing can be the result of a crack in your rain rail letting water onto your parcel shelf, and then leaking down into the trunk (around your battery). The battery can also rust in that area, if you have a leak with your antenna seal.

Keep up the good work.

[drummingpariah]

Thanks guys, tonight is rain rail/drain inspection night. It seems to be a common complaint among all Miata owners, so I suppose I should at least inspect it. I hope to have my hardtop-budget together next week, which will (hopefully) allow me to sell the soft top in short order. If my big bin of stainless fasteners has something that'll fit these threads (they look like they're all m6), I'll replace them before too long as well.

[RuckkehrMiata]

I am actually in an almost identical boat as you right now, both with the rear bolts to my bar not being drilled yet and the rust / degloved trunk/parcel.

I think I am going to be following in your footsteps for paint/cleaning.

They make brush wheels for angle grinders, right?

[drummingpariah]

I am actually in an almost identical boat as you right now, both with the rear bolts to my bar not being drilled yet and the rust / degloved trunk/parcel.

I think I am going to be following in your footsteps for paint/cleaning.

They make brush wheels for angle grinders, right?

They do indeed, a standard 4.5" wire wheel from Harbor Freight (http://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-half-inch-crimped-wire-bevel-brush-96191.html) is what I used this time. I often use a knotted wheel (http://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-half-inch-stainless-steel-knotted-wire-wheel-91282.html) instead - it's a bit more aggressive, and when it comes to rust removal I'd rather remove material too quickly and lose a little metal than to spend more time and miss more of the rust.

I have 4 inexpensive 4.5" angle grinders so I can swap from disk/wheel to disk/wheel without having to find tools. If one dies, I'm only out $15 and always have a backup (or three) so it never stops me in my tracks.

I'm borrowing a 90-degree drill again later this week to drill out those rear bolts and snug everything up. Hopefully the hard top happens at roughly the same time.

[RuckkehrMiata]

When I tried to do my rear bolts on my roll bar (harddog ace I believe) the tolerances were off/bent and they weren't coming through the wheel well area properly. I have to re-address that soonish.
I really want to spruce up my trunk/parcel shelf, they both look terribad.
The trunk is the worst, years of neglect and slow leaks

[drummingpariah]

Last night didn't happen, Laurie got a flat tire south of Boston, so I went down to have AAA tow her car home and give her a ride. Tonight should be more promising.

[drummingpariah]

This happened last night:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2919/14254946195_927743201a_b.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5114/14254946325_81b0ecac62_b.jpg

No side latches, so I'll have to make/buy some (suggestions very welcome). No defrost, despite the car having the defrost pigtail. Hopefully I'll be able to get the roll cage bolted in completely this weekend. I also spent a few hours working on the datsun, and started making my new seat rails (that car is VERY narrow, so fixed-back race seats with shoulder bolsters are extremely difficult to fit).

[drummingpariah]

It looked/smelled like I had a small valve cover oil leak onto the exhaust manifold, so I addressed that this morning with a new valve cover gasket. I didn't look at the FSM or anything for this small job, and everything seemed to go well. However, after a few miles of test driving I've developed a sub-2k rpm stumble, which leads me to believe the spark plug galleys aren't completely sealed, or perhaps I didn't fully secure one of the plug boots. Above 2,000-2,500rpm the engine comes to life, but below that there's definitely something wrong. I'll spend a little time investigating, and may just replace the plugs while I'm in there, depending upon what they look like.

For what it's worth, the old gasket looked just fine when I pulled it out, no cracks/dryrot/stiffness - just a valve cover gasket. The oil-burning smell appears to be coming from somewhere else. It may be time to dig out the compression tester, but I assume EDIS requires a special process to avoid burning up the coilpacks. I'll do a bit more reading, but if anyone has a link or advice handy, I'd appreciate if you save me the time of searching.

*EDIT* - The water pump belt looked awful. It's in dire need of replacement. It looks like a real pain to get to though, so I might just limp along for another week before I dig into that project - one thing at a time. If I see the temp start to spike, I know enough to crank the heat, pull over, and call AAA (I love that company) so it's not life-or-death.

[drummingpariah]

One of the plug wires wasn't as snug against the EDIS coilpack as it could have been, which explains the low-rpm high-load miss. One more problem solved. I do still have a randomly-high idle to diagnose, but things are looking pretty good for this little daily driver.

[drummingpariah]

I grabbed a few old parts I had lying around last night and started putting together a prototype for the adjustable hardtop side latch. So far it's going well, except that the coupling nuts I ordered were 7/16-14 and I needed 7/16-20 to interface with the rod ends I ordered from Summit. Too bad I didn't check all the details, but the same eBay seller has the correct coupling joints at the same price, so I ordered a lot of those. Hopefully they'll be in next week, and hopefully I'll be able to finish up the mounting brackets for the ends this weekend.

The basic dimensions are there, but I want to reinforce both sides of the rod end. I had some problems bending the aluminum stock I have available, and I'm no TIG expert, so I think I'm just going to put together metal brackets and powdercoat them for now. If anyone's interested in buying some of these after they've been through a proper shakedown test, I may do a run in aluminum or possibly composites. I'm assuming that if composite plastic is strong enough for a hard top to last 20+ years, composite mounting brackets could be made similarly strongly. As of right now, my estimated costs to produce these are around $40 for materials (using steel sheet). The typical 'spec miata' formed sheet metal side latches are a better price and have been around longer, but there's no tension adjustment available. The OEM latches are prohibitively expensive, and really aren't strong enough for me to trust my life to in a race scenario.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2901/14303693762_bfb444e950_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

Now I have a lower adjustable bracket:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5587/14139278280_b08c51535e_b.jpg
along with a couple of upper bracket designs:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5581/14138978797_066068b9b1_b.jpg

I think I went through 8 different iterations before settling on these, and they don't even have the additional bracing or countersunk fastener holes I plan to add.

Design Notes
These are the little things that make me appreciate the price of subframe connectors and stuff - they look simple, but took a lot of effort to get to a useful level. I just hope 'real' engineers/designers/fabricators don't have to go through as many iterations as I do for this kind of thing.

Roll Bar Clearance
I can't speak for others' bars, but the Hard Dog Hard Bar that's installed in my Miata is actually touching the hard top. This design has that section ground down to avoid interference, and the mounts actually pull the top out slightly so it doesn't rub/rattle against the top any more.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5496/14139369547_9fbc71213b_b.jpg

Mounting Offset
I think I'm going to have to move the lower turnbuckle mount further inboard (toward the differential) to have it directly inline with the top's mounting point. That will prevent rotational force when tightening it, which would put unnecessary stress on the top (the whole point of this it to allow it to fit any top on any NA equally well). As soon as I'm happy with the fitment, I'll powder coat them and possibly laser engrave them or something similar.

Accessibility
One of the fasteners that attaches the bracket to the chassis is covered by the heim joint, making installation/removal extremely cumbersome. Once I know what my overall dimensions look like, I'll adjust the turnbuckle placement accordingly, along with the mounting offset.

Non-Commercial Product
I'm not developing this with the intent to sell. I'm not a fabricator, and these are actually my first TIG welds (my VERY first TIG welds can be found here (https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5155/14139248097_c1591754fd_z.jpg)). This is not how I make my living. I'll put together technical sketches so other people can make these, along with product numbers for FREE when I'm finished. I don't have the time or capacity to make these for people.

With that being said, if anyone's interested, I may make a single run of these for the community. If that's the case, I would set them up to be cut on our CNC plasma cutter and make them look somewhat presentable (maybe just have a local fabricator make them out of aluminum, if that's more economical). The only way I could do that is if a fair amount of people are interested (no fewer than 10). Once I've finalized my design, I'll start a thread for that. In the meantime, send me a PM if you're interested. I think I could make a set for around $50-$100 (depending upon how things actually turn out) plus shipping, but only if 10+ people are interested.

The only reason I mention it is because compared to some of the other mounts I've looked at (such as http://www.gomiata.com/hardtopmounts.html), I see it as a pretty good deal. However, the rules for spec miata are somewhat ambiguous and open for interpretation:

8.1.2.

Hardtop may be used, and if used, must be securely bolted in place. Aftermarket hard
tops are allowed provided they meet the exact original equipment specifications for both
design and weight

[drummingpariah]

I had some cooling system issues during the Mt Ascutney hillclimb, and the plastic caps on the OEM radiator had lasted long enough (20 years is a long life for a radiator) so I picked up a new radiator for the Mt Okemo hillclimb. I'm really impressed with the weld quality that CXracing is putting out, especially at the prices they're offering them for (I think I paid $130 including shipping). Really happy, except that I couldn't get the bottom mounts to line up properly, for some reason.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2897/14338022535_92d533c104_b.jpg

I also tore out all the AC components and (obviously) flushed and replaced the coolant. Throughout the course of the event, an issue I've been fighting with an intermittent race condition grew worse. Now the engine randomly races up to ~4000rpm and refuses to come back down. I replaced the IACV (under the throttle body) last night, hoping that was the cause, then removed several other components that could have caused it, but couldn't solve the root cause. I suppose it could still be an ignition control issue (if the ignition advances too much, it could raise the idle significantly) or a bad check valve on the brake booster. It's pretty infuriating and dangerous, as the car tries to run away with no input to the throttle pedal.

I don't know enough about EDIS yet to know if that could be the cause, but I'm not crazy enough about the stock engine management software to want to learn/diagnose it and ordered a new standalone ECU today. Hopefully it'll show up by this weekend. Tonight I'd like to get my wideband o2 sensor installed so I can at least see if the engine is racing because of a lean condition or something else, and that sensor will come in handy when I start tuning the new ECU as well. More photos to come, along with some video from the Mt Okemo event.

[drummingpariah]

The problem was my air valve (a funky little valve that lets air into the intake plenum directly), which was leaking and intermittently stuck open. I blocked it off entirely, and have to manually modulate the throttle for cold-start, but that works fine for me. I'm in the process of fine-tuning my idle, which looks like it'll end up around 900 +/-50 rpm warm.

I also installed the radiator and some extra supports for it (still needs good ductwork to maximize its effectiveness) as well as securing the roll bar supports properly (a pair of grade-8 bolts on each side should be sufficient).

I also installed megasquirt with an LC-1 wideband, and am working on getting a few more sensors installed to support it. So far, I can say that it's an incredible value, even though I'm still running a mostly-base-tune. Power delivery is MUCH smoother.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3890/14429502566_3f14a898ed_b.jpg

I still need to make some modifications to enable the potentiality throttle position sensor I snagged off of a ka24de, and wire in my GM intake air temperature sensor. Before I start adding more power, I need to sort out a couple clunking noises in the suspension

[WASABI]

Nice work!

[drummingpariah]

Lots has happened since my last update. I finished installing the radiator, tuning Megasquirt, securing the roll bar, tightening up various little squeaks and rattles (but there are plenty more to be taken care of!). I also attended a few events, most importantly Climb to the Clouds (http://driven-daily.com/climb-clouds-2014/) - a hillclimb race up Mt Washington. I also raced at Mt Okemo and Mt Burke, and I feel like I'm starting to get comfortable with them.

I'd say the radiator looks pretty nice in there, personally. I don't have any cooling issues at the moment, but I've been looking at creating some ducting to get cooler air in the engine bay and hopefully bring my in-cabin temps down. I'll also have to check my heater controls while I'm at it.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2938/14479746149_f7b91dea02_c.jpg

I ordered a few NRG parts and was pretty disappointed to find that the radiator blockoff panel was stainless instead of aluminum, and really didn't fit well.

The turnbuckle hardtop latches are on hold for the time being, as I needed an immediate solution but don't have a lot of fabrication time right now. I ordered a set of spec miata mounting plates, but The Hard Dog Hard Bar interferes with pretty much any hard top side-plates. A little massaging with an angle grinder, and they fit nicely. As an added bonus, the hard top doesn't rattle/bang against the body when I go over bumps at hillclimbs. You can see how tight the fitment is though, so anyone with a Hard Bar: beware.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3888/14663877944_6faa08dff3_c.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2939/14479517959_f80deceefe_c.jpg

Some of the other rattles were fixed with good old reliable gaffer's tape. I suppose some people would feel shame with a fix like this because it isn't 'pretty'. I'm not one of those people. I spent 5 minutes fixing a problem, and now that problem is fixed as well as could be expected from something like a bondo repair. The fact that other people won't find it aesthetically pleasing has no bearing on my satisfaction.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5538/14479706237_9a9c752075_c.jpg

Finally, I did some more experimenting with plastidip for race numbers. Overall, I'm relatively satisfied, but I really need to print magnetic stencils for this. The flexible acrylic I'm using doesn't stick to the body well, resulting in fuzzy edges. Nobody likes 'em fuzzy, but I don't want to spend hours with a razor either (see what I did there, with the double entendre?) so magnetic stencils should solve that problem. Even fuzzy, they look good as they're whizzing by.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/14479753969_81308891d5_c.jpg

I have a few action cams, and have been getting some race footage at each event. I'd really like to put it all together with a bit of commentary and hopefully interviews with other drivers/organizers and make a nice race wrap-up video at the end of the season. It's going to require a modest budget though, so I'll probably fire up a kickstarter campaign to create a short after the Aug 1-3 race event (at Mt Okemo).
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/14346879482_dc5a551a1e_c.jpg

The intermittent race condition is still present but a bit less persistent than it used to be. I can't definitively point my finger at a single cause, so my plan is to go a little overboard with my solution. More on that later.

I'm still pushing along with my Datsun as well, but I won't bore you with the turbocharged details. We're all just here for miatas ... right?:frantic:

[drummingpariah]

Solving idle issues by using ITB's
I'll be that's the first time you've ever heard those words in THAT order

I'm sick and tired of trying to figure out what's going on with my idle. I feel like I've replaced every vacuum line on the car, replaced the ECU, deleted both idle valves, and nothing seems to have worked. I'm ready to take drastic steps, and have started assembling a small parts pile.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3854/14741180301_2846fb1df2_c.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3906/14557901587_b80dea38ee_c.jpg
Admittedly, it took a little hunting to come up with these at a decent price, but in total I paid $24.00 for the ITB's and $6.99 for the airbox plus $27.03 in shipping for a grand total of $54.06. I function-tested all the injectors to make sure they fire (I don't have a flow bench, and am not that picky at this point), and all 8 (4 primary injectors and 4 idle injectors) appear to work. One of the coolest things about modern sportbike injectors is this dual-stage injection system, which allows for very fine fuel control at idle/low-load and significantly increased capacity under heavy load. I still need to make a manifold for them, and ordered a manifold that I can use as a flange (possibly re-using a portion of the runners) for $55 including shipping. I'll still need some new injector boots, airbox mounting supports, silicon couplers, fuel fittings, and potentially a throttle cable (we'll see how it lays out).

The new intake manifold should be here Tuesday, and I'm strongly considering popping the head off to shave it and deshroud the valves a bit. I may just wait 'till the end of the race season and pick up a spare head though.

Current Plans
In the meantime, I've got to do some reading on Megasquirt and dual-stage injection, and I'll have to modify my Megasquirt PNP to accept a TPS signal to toss that barn-door air sensor. The next event is next weekend (starting the 1st) at Mt Okemo, and this will be my first hillclimb that I'm not a rookie for. I dialed down my camber a bit to 1-degree on each corner and increased front caster (hopefully that'll solve some of the skittishness of unloading the suspension halfway through hairpins) and pulled the carpets out (it looks and smells MUCH better now).

I'm trying to do as much as possible WITHOUT resorting to forced induction, as forced induction would put me in a much more challenging class. If I can manage to make power from 3500rpm up, I'll be in relatively good shape racing. Some of the most critical turns on the hills require an exit speed that puts me around 3750rpm in 2nd gear at the exit, and it takes a LONG time for me to get back into the powerband (around 4250rpm or so). Extending my powerband down a bit will have a big impact on my times, and remove one of the biggest frustrations I have during these races. The quickest, easiest way to do that for this next weekend is to turn my ignition timing up a little and run something better than 87 octane. Changing gearing/tires won't likely have much of an impact, since it's such a wide gap in gearing, and at such low speed. The optimal solution is to increase low-end power without forced induction (and drop weight wherever I can, like carpets).

[drummingpariah]

Apparently the shipping estimate was a little bit off, and so it begins!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5589/14749017931_df2426c093_b.jpg

[atank]

Nice job Jesse, can't wait to see more!!!!!!!!

[drummingpariah]

I suppose I won't make you wait, then.

I just welded up the antenna hole. One of the other Miata guys who races in our hillclimbs is planning to use the antenna hole as his kill switch (brilliant, if you ask me), but I decided to just forego that location altogether and weld it a bit. That location is a bit difficult to weld in, because accessing the underside was difficult and the sheet metal is rather thin. To top it off, I couldn't cart the TIG over to the lift, so I had to MIG it. I don't think I'm going to bother putting any filler over it, I'll just seal it up with some paint so it doesn't rust and call it good.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3875/14566009717_8cd1f83fc9_c.jpg

I also finally cleaned off the grossness left over from the fender vents, and will seal that up today or tomorrow as well. I don't know if I'll be able to weld on the fenders, they're even thinner than the body sheet metal. I might just have to live with a few holes there.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/14750138454_61053befe7_c.jpg
The paint on this car was never anything to write home about, and I'm certainly not improving that situation. I am improving the car though, so that counts for something ... right?

[drummingpariah]

Rather than spending time fighting a last-minute ITB install before an event, I addressed a few problems that have been bothering me for awhile.

Splitter
The first is the damaged plastic undertray, which literally fell off on its own during my radiator installation. I had spent a few days working on a design, and finally plama cut it out of .080 aluminum last night. I still have to mount it then figure out how I want to seal the gap between the bottom of the bumper cover and the splitter, but it's off to a decent start. The first step in the process was to get rough dimensions, which I did with cardboard and tape.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3867/14791509845_6c0f250eb2_c.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3883/14778669334_7bd1b2b217_c.jpg

I wasn't too worried about the space behind the curve of the front bumper, the only concern there is wheel/tire clearance. I took the rough measurements and threw the design on our laser printer, and cut it out of an old dry-erase board (which is MDF-backed). I had originally planned to bend the mounting tabs up and mount to the radiator, but saw a few flaws with that approach during this prototyping phase.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5563/14594526327_890556ebdb_c.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/14594554957_9cb33b533d_c.jpg


Heat Issues
Since installing the radiator, I haven't had any overheating issues with the engine, but when I started pulling out my interior, I uncovered a design flaw in the Miata. My shifter boots were completely destroyed, completely cracked apart from the years of heat. I pulled out the chunks that were still attached, and over the course of the next week, realized that all the heat from the engine and exhaust were building up inside the transmission tunnel, and shooting straight up through the shifter opening. After a spirited drive, the shift knob measured at 108 degrees Fahrenheit.

Again, I started with some rough measurements, laser cut some prototypes to test fit, and ended up plasma cutting some .080 aluminum to try to solve this problem. It's not quite finished, but I successfully reduced my shift knob temps from 108F to 94F with an ambient temp of 92F.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/14597104538_bd7045898c_c.jpg

Some of you may notice that I left a little room around the shifter tower. I'm still using stock mounts for both the transmission and engine, so there's a fair amount of movement under load. I'm working on a design for a flexible boot that would bolt to the top of the shifter tower and seal the rest of the gap, but this will work for now.

If anyone's interested in solving your heat issues once and for all, let me know. I may be willing to put together a group buy to make a bunch of these if there's any interest (estimated cost would be around $50 shipped). Nothing about this configuration interferes with any of the stock components other than the rubber lower boot. I could certainly make these out of other materials now (carbon fiber has good insulating properties, powder coated steel would theoretically work as well as aluminum, and MDF would significantly decrease the cost).

Okemo II
The next race event is this weekend. I'm reasonably well prepared for it, but will feel a lot better if I can get the splitter mounted up. I think I'm out of time to get that done, though. As it stands, I already have a lot left to do on Thursday to pack and get ready to drive out there on Friday. I still have a bit of a rear-end clunk going over cracks in the road, and haven't been able to hunt that down yet, still have my randomly-high idle problems, and have developed a new rubbing-noise on hard left turns. I'll update you guys on how the event goes once we're done!

[Martin]

I might try this (http://doctormx5.com/shop/article_87/Upper-Gearshift-Boot-Mazda-MX5%2C-Eunos%2C-Miata-1989-2005.html?sessid=EEpZl9dCPquVJeJkCmGXBrlB10QNdryMA ObcDZb7Lf6uFqKaYdHvJZqkMST1kScp&shop_param=cid%3D2%26aid%3D87%26) when I need a new upper shifter boot.

[drummingpariah]

I might try this (http://doctormx5.com/shop/article_87/Upper-Gearshift-Boot-Mazda-MX5%2C-Eunos%2C-Miata-1989-2005.html?sessid=EEpZl9dCPquVJeJkCmGXBrlB10QNdryMA ObcDZb7Lf6uFqKaYdHvJZqkMST1kScp&shop_param=cid%3D2%26aid%3D87%26) when I need a new upper shifter boot.

I wish I had known that existed before I spent all this time developing mine! After shipping and exchange, it comes to roughly $50 though.

I'm running into some shifter tower interference issues under heavy load. I'll offset the center-hole to the right a little to prevent that. I'll try plasma cutting it out of slightly thinner alu as well, and see what kind of temps I have for less money.

[drummingpariah]

Okemo II went great. We only got two runs on Saturday (practice day) because several people went off (two were fairly serious, but the drivers are OK). With four runs, Sunday (race day) was great, and I thrashed my previous best time of 3:09.65 with a 3:04.68. The weather was forecast to be rainy with thunderstorms, but we had nothing but beating sun and occasional cloud cover. I even got a sunburn.

I didn't get the splitter panel on in time, and my shifter plate needs a little more relief on the right-hand side to allow for full-throttle engine movement. A little more adjustment and some slightly longer bolts, and I'll also be able to run the OEM lower boot, which should make the interior much more comfortable.

Todo for Burke II
I picked up a Sparco Sprint, which seems like it'll fit the Miata much better than my Cobra Imola (which is quite wide). The Sparco is significantly heavier and is only FIA instead of SFI rated, but the fact that it fits and has side bolsters completely sells it for me. I still need to install that seat and my splitter, which I'd like to wrap up this week.

I'm also looking at putting together a harbor freight trailer, which will open up better tire options and give me a dedicated place to keep tools and camping gear. I'd much rather buy one that's already put together, but they're difficult to come by. I might even invest in an ezup (or similar, open to suggestions).

Finally, I'm pushing the limits of my suspension, and it's still pretty floppy. I'd like to start with anti-sway bars and some fresh dampers, which will keep me in SP6 class. I'm trying to stay in that class for the season, so I keep my speeds reasonable and so when I step up to SP5 I can be reasonably competitive (I'll have to be around 12% faster up the hill to be in the middle of the pack in SP5).

I still have to dig through a lot of video, so I don't have anything prepared at the moment. Expect something soon, though.

[drummingpariah]

After a bit of back-and-forth with Brian Goodwin (who was extremely responsive and helpful, I highly recommend http://good-win-racing.com/ based on this experience), I think I've nailed down the next steps in suspension for me and put in an order. With any luck, I'll have it all next week and can get it installed next weekend (Aug 15-17) so I can shake it down throughout the week. I'd still like to get some MSM springs, but don't really know where to look for a decent price.



Quan
Item No.
Description
Price
Extension







2
20-1104
KONI Adjustable Sport Miata Shock--8041-1203 FRONT SPECIAL

$129.00
$258.00


2
29-1104B
Koni Adjustable Sport Miata Shock--8041-1204 SPORT REAR--SPECIAL!

$129.00
$258.00


1
20-1011RACE
Racing Beat Front Miata Sway Bar - Tubular RACE BAR

$166.95
$166.95


1
20-1003
Racing Beat Sway Bar Endlinks - Front or Rear

$65.00
$65.00


1
61-1473
FCM Spec Miata Bump Stop Kit

$299.00
$299.00





SUBTOTAL
$1,046.95


SALES TAX
$0.00


SHIPPING
$55.80


ORDER TOTAL
$1,102.75



I'm also working on a few major upgrades to my website and its infrastructure. I'd love to start putting together a canonical repository of useful howto's for daily drivers, so if you have any ideas feel free to contact me directly.

[drummingpariah]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3841/14841003676_3deac13fae_c.jpg

That was quick, good-win!

[drummingpariah]

After spending a couple hours on the dyno, we greatly improved the driveability of the car and squeezed out a little more power. I am now officially at 9 hamsterpower, up from the previous 7. We found that my ignition cut was set to 6500rpm, which explained a lot of things and could improve my run times a bit. There are certainly still some dips to flatten out, but this is so much better than it was before, it's hard to even compare the two. I'm confident in saying that what little power I have is delivered very predictably now. I couldn't say that last week, at all.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3892/14889340623_c7477f160a_c.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5576/14682564410_4b4c2bba7f_c.jpg

I also started the process of installing the seat I picked up fat Okemo II. The seat itself fits beautifully, but the brackets I made don't clear an extra hump from the transmission tunnel, so I need to make a new inboard-mount. I hope to make time for that today, but it might get pushed off to tomorrow.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/14826046986_fed6ee9c56_z.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/14662967099_36fd0d1f35_z.jpg

I'm sill trying to drop my under-hood pressures. I worked together a plausible prototype for a splitter that would accomplish that, but haven't had time to put together a mounting solution for it. I want to have better control over where air goes in the car, and how it gets there. Again, hopefully this weekend. Filling the gap between the splitter and the bumper is going to be a bit of a challenge.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/14817825803_7d81580979_z.jpg

As for next weekend, I'm making a concerted effort to reduce my body roll. It's too easy to upset the car during transitions, and I don't really have a reason to stay with the OEM dampers I have (all of them are in sad condition). I just received my dampers, and am waiting on some bump stops and a front anti-roll bar, all of which should come together to get more predictable handling.

Once that's all done, I think I will have maxed out what I can get from the car in SP6 class. I'll try not to change too much else during this season, and just focus on keeping the remaining events clean.

[drummingpariah]

More parts, but we have a flood warning so I'm not sure how much I can realistically get done today. Still waiting on my bump stops, so I can assemble the shocks and swap my springs over to the Koni Races.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3895/14724150628_822f085e7f_c.jpg

[drummingpariah]

I spent most of yesterday wrestling with suspension components, then most of last night carrying a torque wrench around the car, but now I have Koni Sport dampers and a nice big anti-roll bar in the front. With any luck, this may flatten out my turns and give me a little more sure-footedness for this weekend's event.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3877/14767885290_0f2987ee88_c.jpg
(you can just make out the Datsun hiding out behind the Miata, patiently waiting for its surgery.)

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3920/14770626839_b75ccb0192_c.jpg

[drummingpariah]

I finally got around to picking up and assembling a little trailer. I'm a little disappointed that my local Harbor Freight doesn't seem to be able to order the 12"-wheeled version, and hasn't had any in stock for the past month, so I went with the 8"-wheeled version. My drives out to hillclimb events doesn't go over 50mph, so it should be adequate.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5588/14953526396_de169c535b_c.jpg

I had Bill handle all the wiring, as I find it to be tedious, boring, hateful work. I pumped out the cosmoline-like goop that comes on the wheel bearings and packed them with some Mobil1, then installed a heavy-duty plywood deck, and coated all the mating surfaces with rubberized underbody coating. The top will get some kind of sealant and a tool box (or two?) for camping/tools/etc, then once I source some dedicated race wheels and tires, they'll live on this trailer as well.

I also found that an old razr scooter is roughly ideal as a wheeled jackstand for it, but I don't think I'll have time to mount it permanently before this weekend. By inverting the head bearing, I got the spacing I'd really like, and this wheel could easily be replaced with a locking caster wheel.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3852/14789952407_628934b375_c.jpg

Overall, I'd call this thing an incredibly good value, if you're looking for a basic trailer you can haul small stuff around on. Those autocross guys seem to have gotten it right, for sure.

[drummingpariah]

I finished up the trailer install before our Burke 2 2014 hillclimb, and was super happy with the outcome. It meant that I could pack everything up between runs during the event without stuffing the car full. I ended up taking 2nd in class to a 99 Golf GTI (less than a second between us, so it was a close event), and am preparing for the next event. I'm trying to source a second set of these wheels to put r-comps on, now that I have a trailer.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/15013920856_0d09428ddd_c.jpg

[drummingpariah]

I think I'm going to end up going with some 13x8 steel wheels. They're inexpensive, less heavy than I was expecting (~14lbs or less), and I can slap some 225-45R13 r888's on them to gain more grip AND shorter gearing. I might even be able get some push coming out of turns.

Right now, my corner exit speed is typically between 30-35mph on the tight corners if I really nail it just right, which puts me around 4000rpm. The engine is pretty lethargic at that point, so the ~9% shorter gears would put me around 4350rpm at the same place, which means I'd have an additional 5-10hp to work with. There's a torque bump right in that range as well, so it should be an ideal way to gain a little car control through the turns.

Additionally, r-comps that are 20mm wider (contact patch is closer to 30mm wider per corner) will give me quite a bit more grip, allowing me to carry more speed through the turns, and allowing me to exit the same turns a bit faster, and a little higher in the rev range. That's kind of a force multiplier, pushing my revs even higher into the already-raised exit rpm. If I play my cards right, I could plant my exit rpm around 5000rpm with a higher speed and more grunt to chase down the next turn.

The wider sweeping turns aren't an issue at all, I generally don't need to lift for them. The real problem is when my revs drop during the really tight turns, and it's a big challenge to pull the car back into the powerband without downshifting to 1st.

[drummingpariah]

This weekend, I wanted to try getting some better audio than my action cams are able of producing. They tend to pick up a lot of wind noise, very little engine/tire noise, and they generally have no idea of how much sound will actually be recorded.

I have a bit of a background in audio engineering, so I decided to try some drum mics, since they're designed for relatively harsh environments with a relatively wide dynamic range. After a little trial and error, I was happiest with a tom mic near the intake stream. It's a completely stock 1.6liter, and I just took the raw audio and sync'd it to the video from the action cam. Here's the result.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJUyspOUI_A

Compared to the previous method of using the onboard mic, I'd consider the new setup (above) to be much much better.

http://youtu.be/BDmcKtcKb8I

I'll mount the mic a little bit more securely for the next race, but I think I'll stick with this setup (maybe with a second mic for exhaust noise). Overall, I'm pleased.

More to come. If anyone would like the completely list of equipment I used, I'm working on a detailed write-up about how I got these results right now.

[drummingpariah]

2014 Wrapup
Well, I finished out the season on the Ecsta XS' and that was good enough for first in class. After the Mt Philo event, I tossed some winter tires on my BBS Mahala wheels, and despite the lack of any kind of idle air control it's been a good winter. We just got a fair amount of snow, so there's been a lot of shoveling for me over the past few weeks, but the Miata has consistently treated me well. I have the warm idle set at ~1050rpm, and it's JUST enough to keep the first-start idle from stalling, around 300rpm.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7294/16307125130_59ee370510_b.jpg

The Datsun is coming along consistently as well.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3938/15692615631_30e3633b01_c.jpg

2015 Season
I don't expect it to be finished and have the shakedown complete in time for the first event of 2015 though. I have a few hard-to-address problems with the Miata as it sits. One is the lack of meaningful power. Without forced induction (which would change my classification) I don't have a lot of options to make good power, and power is definitely a consideration for hillclimbs. Further, even if I do make more power, I still need a limited slip differential. The tired viscous lsd I have now (which is the best drop-in option available) doesn't cut it now, so forget about more power. Upgrading to the 1.8 diff is a pain, since it essentially requires the complete rear end of a 1.8 donor car ... and at that point, I may as well just buy a 1.8 Miata outright. Lastly, caging a Miata and keeping it daily driveable is difficult. There isn't much headroom and there won't be a lot of space for door X-bars.

After a lot of consideration and weighing my options, I made the decision to look for a new temporary solution for 2015. It didn't take long for a suitable car to come up. You can see it in the first photo, but it's an 87 n/a RX-7 that has seen the past few years as a rally and hillclimb car, and I'm in the process of getting it back to street-legal.

I know. I know. It's not a roadster.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7342/16367269172_2894dba550_c.jpg

... I don't really care, I still think it's cool, and you should too.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8643/16307944529_ca385e31fa_c.jpg

To address the first problem, I ordered an FB series3 rx-7 clutched differential. It's the same 26-spline 7" that came in the 1.8+ Miatas, and should (at least in theory) fit in the n/a FC carrier. I won't know for sure until I pull the current open diff though. I'm looking forward to it.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8635/16502458301_f6f3d49a44_c.jpg

[drummingpariah]

It's been awhile since I updated this thread, so I figured it's time to revisit it. Now that it's not as winter as it had been, I invested a little time into the NA. All my roll cage measurements are complete for the rx-7, so

I had a minor off at Philo that dented the passenger's fender in, and rather than spending the time to try to bend it back, I just picked up a new one for $65 (including shipping). Swapping that was a painful, nightmarish learning experience. I'm going to have to be more careful with my fenders, so I don't have to do that ever again.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7619/16786529667_303dde9f58_b.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7605/16373810793_0f568391b3_b.jpg

There was still a little bit of daylight left, so I decided to pull the winter tires off and put the race wheels on to test fitment. The winter tires have been REALLY noisy lately, apparently 185 series winter tires don't provide much grip at higher temps). Here are the 14x4.5's next to the 15x8's.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8710/16807884579_331154e178_b.jpg

They ended up fitting surprisingly well on stock springs, but there's a little bit of fender lip rubbing while going over bumps so I'm going to have to roll the fenders in so I don't have any problems at race events. I may end up going with slightly stiffer springs, since these wheels alone will bump me up a class. There will be no lowering of this car, nor will I put tires any narrower than 225 on these wheels. I did a lot of research on which tires would provide me with the best all-around grip under various conditions, and the RA-1 seems like the best compromise between everything I'm looking for.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8736/16806575368_fafd79dfe0_b.jpg

(before the suspension settled)
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8724/16994279145_53ddd621da_b.jpg

My 'summer tires' should be in later this week, and I'll take the race wheels off and bag them until this car's first event of the season. I like to think I got a good deal on some last-gen G-Force Rivals that should be good replacements for the Kumho Ecsta XS' that I ran all season last year (racing and daily driving).

[drummingpariah]

This past weekend, we had our first hillclimb of the 2015 season at Mt Ascutney. All things considered, it went very well.
If you're interested in the raw footage from the event, this was my best run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsY9gl4XB34

As part of prep, I fabricated a new (much lighter) seat bracket that drops the seat down almost 7". Unfortunately, it's around 3" too far back now. I'll sort that out shortly, but it'll require a new bracket altogether.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8883/17643444785_a8b54d7be7_b.jpg

I also added some stiffer springs, but they dropped the ride height down too low, so I couldn't race on my wide sticky tires. Again, expect that to be sorted out shortly.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8773/17455848650_fc06aa68a2_b.jpg

I outfitted a new clutch because the old one was starting to fail, and opted to replace the flywheel with a newer lightweight version to get a little better throttle response. There was no discernible difference.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7630/17031335546_64b6bb40a3_b.jpg

Finally, I had some flanges cut on a waterjet to move the ITB project along a bit.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5321/17905566671_ff5d918d71_b.jpg

The plan is to run dual fuel through the cbr1000rr's two sets of throttle bodies. It may be as simple as e85 through the secondaries and 87 octane through the primaries, or I may go a little more exotic.

[Phatmiata]

This will be a cool setup!! Can't wait to see it ready

[drummingpariah]

I'm currently waiting on a few things to come in, before proper progress can happen.

Roll cage tubing
2.5" vbands (3" is a bit overkill, and has packaging issues)
Water pump kit
Urethane bushing kit
Motor mounts (you can hear my whole drivetrain slapping around on my launch and shifts in the video)
Raceland header clone (clone of a clone of a clone)
Wheel studs
Alu lug nuts
Wiring connectors for some built-in work lights on the car and canopy


I like alu lug nuts a lot, because they're so soft and malleable. The more frequently you swap wheels, the more chances you have to strip the threads on wheel studs. I'd MUCH rather strip lug nuts, which are very easy to replace, than to strip wheel studs, which require a little more digging.

[drummingpariah]

I spent some time last night installing the new Raceland-clone exhaust manifold and (surprise, surprise) it doesn't fit. It touches the transmission and puts the catalytic converter at a funky angle that isn't physically possible to use. Unfortunately, most of the stock exhaust fell apart enough during disassembly that I'm not willing to put it back together, and I couldn't get ahold of any new tube because apparently it's a holiday weekend. I ended up having to drive the thing home with just the exhaust manifold on it, and it was painful, even with ear protection for the whole drive.

This morning, I put together my shopping list and ordered some parts. The manifold terminates with a 2" OD, and terminates in a silly bolted flange that I've found often causes leaks. I'll replace that flange with a 2" vband clamp.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251658897178

All the components I already have are 2.5" stainless, so i decided to continue that trend and step up to 2.5 immediately after the vband clamp. It allows me to easily remove the entire exhaust system, without having to pop the hood.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261398696140

That feeds into a 2.5" braided flex pipe (I can't tell if it's ribbed or smoothish inside, but it's cheap and flexy enough).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390435944892

The flex pipe is the last rubber-mounted component of the exhaust. From here on in, everything is fixed to the frame. It's not a decision I made lightly, as there are several downsides to solid-mounted exhausts, but that's currently the plan. Up next is a high-flow catalytic converter. I could get away with not running a cat here in NH pretty easily, or just running a test pipe. We have no emissions testing for vehicles this old ... but other than the fact that it costs some money, I don't understand why anyone would forego a cat on a street vehicle. The performance costs are negligible, and the environmental benefits are substantial. I paid $55 for an inexpensive 2.5" stainless model on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161006272046

After that, I'll just have a straight run back to the differential, and have a few leftover 409 stainless mandrel bends that I can cut and weld to keep ground clearance without disrupting exhaust flow too much. 409 isn't as pretty as 304, and will eventually rust (where 304 is far less likely) but I'm going to end up with some alu sheeting (or similar) under the car before too long, so it should protect it from corrosive road salt before winter even arrives.

I had to look at the bends and the bandsaw for awhile before I really figured out how to position the piece to get a nice clean cut, but everything went according to plan from there.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8865/18052709732_a3f2c0c728_b.jpg

For the very end, I have a few spare sportbike cans lying around. I tend to like the OEM models, since they're more likely to be stainless (aluminum can soften/fail in some cars' exhaust temps), have really efficient designs, and are generally quite good at muffling. I was given three of these, since sportbike owners have a tendency of upgrading things just to upgrade them.

The f4 is a pretty good fit for this application, with a 2.5" inlet, great baffling, and a relatively subtle 3" outlet. It's slip-fit by default, so I chopped that section off.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7673/17435491423_5257d37110_b.jpg

The baffling goes all the way to the vey end on these. You can see where I went through some of the insulation here.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7746/17435496313_a12ef62c7f_b.jpg

It's essentially a glasspack with a chambered muffler on the rear. I certainly flows well enough for the 90-ish whp I'm currently making, and allows me to remove several of the excessive bends in the OEM Mazda exhaust.

Because I don't have all the components I need yet, I'm just cutting and tack welding parts together with my little Miller TIG. These things are just awesome. The duty cycle is limited, and they can't run very long over 80a or so, but that works fine for everything I've come across. I love these little things.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7526/15175634234_a77a1d47f8_b.jpg

Finally, the current state of my tack welds. No hangers, and the straight center bit is waiting for supplies, but the tough parts are mostly done. I really wish I had a lift for this.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7788/17870602790_08fff2be83_b.jpg

TOTAL EXHAUST COST: $352

Almost $200 of that is the exhaust manifold that didn't fit properly, and I have enough supplies to run a dual exhaust on both the RX7 and Datsun after this.

[drummingpariah]

Because today's a holiday, I can't source any 2.5" stainless for a temporary exhaust. I'm effectively stranded. Hopefully I can sort it out for tomorrow.

While I was waiting, I worked on a project for the other end of the car.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8863/17469898004_3935a5fd3f_b.jpg

No results yet, just lots and lots of measurements. I may forego the aluminum and use stainless for the intake manifold, since it's so much easier to weld without warping the flange. It'll be really nice to have intake that doesn't flow through a tiny (useless, in my case) MAF, directly past my exhaust manifold, then right behind the radiator, collecting as much heat as possible before going into the engine. I hope to be able to fit the airbox under the hood, since it's a great design and allows me to use the secondary injectors for meth/water injection to keep temps/detonation down, but packaging with sufficiently long runners will be difficult. I did some light physics, and determined that 40cm long runners should be close to ideal for this engine at ~6500rpm, which is where I care about making power. It should also be good for ~3250rpm, which is where most street acceleration happens.

[drummingpariah]

Progress continued until late last night on the exhaust, but there wasn't quite as much progress as I had hoped for. I'm stuck working from home again today until I get all these welds completed and add a few more hangers.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8774/17956580010_5d4d539100_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

Finally got it all welded in, with some nice solid hangers, and it seems pretty stable. I love the sound of a big motorcycle can on a car, too.

In the end, I got the can pretty close to the body, but would've liked to add another small bend inside the transmission tunnel. That would've allowed me to place it slightly deeper into the car, and the vband clamps wouldn't have as much chance of scraping during race events. Right now, they're around 1/8" lower than the frame rails. It's awfully tight against the differential, and one kink in the transmission tunnel, but after some testing yesterday, I'm confident that I don't have any interference with the body.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8781/17651777353_35b04285e5_b.jpg

Motor mounts, urethane bushings all around, wheel studs, lug nuts, water pump, timing belt, and front main seal coming soon!

[drummingpariah]

Now that that's done, and I know I won't have my roll cage components 'till next week (nothing I can do about that now), I'm focused on getting prepared for the race at Mt Burke this weekend. My few cameras need charging.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8824/18207930050_b4e41fd9ff_b.jpg

[Demon I Am]

That's a lot of work!

[Greasemonkey2000]

Great work so far! Very excited to see your budget irtb setup develop!! I have been considering this type of induction setup. Look forward to what is to come! :drinkto:

[drummingpariah]

That's a lot of work!
It hasn't been so bad. My 280z and fc3s are where most of the work have gone. The Miata is great because it really hasn't required anything yet. It's just the plucky little uglycar that's been really good to me.


Great work so far! Very excited to see your budget irtb setup develop!! I have been considering this type of induction setup. Look forward to what is to come! :drinkto:

No guarantees on any kind of timeframe, packaging these so that I have appropriate runner lengths has been a challenge. The 1.6 really isn't worth modifying, but staying in my class requires it. The 1.8 is a pretty significant displacement bump, which changes all my modifiers, and has the same effect as running A7's or similar instead of street tires. I can modify the 1.6 for free, as far as classing is concerned. I'll be extremely happy if I crest 125whp after increasing compression and installing the ITB's.

By my math, this doesn't work at all.
http://garagestar.com/media/products/t3_itb_20v_na_02.jpg

One of my biggest problems with the Miata is the ridiculous intake routing scheme. Air is expected to be sucked in from exhaust side of the engine bay (which is warm), then runs right past the exhaust manifold (hot) though a tiny restriction we call the MAF, then it runs directly behind the radiator. I'm not sure it could've been made any worse. To top that off, there's really no good routing scheme on the 1.6. ITB's allow me to section off the intake stream and keep it on the other side of the engine, at least. Essentially, I'm doing these partially because the packaging is so advantageous.

[drummingpariah]

Last night ended badly. While replacing the wheel studs, the hubs needed to come off. The fronts were a breeze, but the rear-right might as well have had the axle welded in to the spindle. The 20 ton press started making some noises I've never head when we put it in, then the spindle broke. Now I'm scrambling to get a new spindle and axle so I can get to the event.

[Tkblazer]

Damn that was my.fear when I swapped the rear hubs out on my car.

[drummingpariah]

Mangled axle:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/468/17869644983_ca6ac1e046_b.jpg

Locally-sourced parts from a local Miata shop:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/281/18467149686_5d08b2414c_b.jpg

Race car that's now ready to go conquer Mt Burke:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/531/18490744512_99fb6d32fe_b.jpg

Wish me luck, fellas. It should be a pretty exciting event.

[drummingpariah]

Here's a brief recap of the Mt Burke 2015 event (our video series is currently under heavy editing, but expect that sometime early next month).

After getting all the 'essentials' on the car taken care of, I loaded up the trailer and set out.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8833/17877479104_74f3257815_b.jpg

There was a pretty confusing detour on the way out there, so by the time I arrived it was dark, raining, and around 40F. Not the most pleasant way to set up camp, but we made it happen.

Saturday
We woke up early on Saturday, made some oatmeal with my tiny wood-burning gasifier stove, and started up the hill. It was SUPER foggy, and around halfway up the hill, visibility was only ~20ft or so. Terrifying way to re-familiarize myself with the mountain.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/303/19006530466_8fe95ded11_b.jpg

We had our first crash directly after the familiarization run (the first run of each day, taken at an 'easy non-racing' pace), with the first car going off the road a bit after the first checkpoint. Apparently the car automatically called the cops when it happened, and all 23 billion air-pillows came out to say hi to the driver.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/435/17993328214_d567b039f3_b.jpg

... yes, that's the ST.

Luckily, the rest of Saturday was pretty clean, and the weather cleared up after another run or two. It was largely uneventful, but I was determined to find more time than the car was allowing for. My friend had packed my new fenders (which I hadn't had time to install previously) into the back of his Mini, so we hauled them out and started fitting them up. Fenders on the NA are a real pain, btw.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/331/18687984261_ce77752ddd_b.jpg

That went extremely well, and I can't recommend Autokonexion highly enough. They got these fenders out quickly, communicated perfectly, and despite lining everything up ahead of time, I could have just drilled holes in their dimple spots and everything would've fit perfectly. These fenders are kind of brilliant, strong, and a little over a pound lighter than OEM fenders. After I had them securely installed, I tossed the race wheels that I hadn't been able to use on, and headed to the summit where some of our friends from Vermont SportsCar (the folks who engineer and fabricate the Subaru rally and rallycross cars) were grilling up fantastic unhealthy foods. I stayed for food and sunset, but it was pretty chilly and windy, and all I had brought with me was a tshirt ... so I went and hunt out by the campfire for the rest of the night, looking forward to trying the new tires in the morning.
http://shop.autokonexion.com/Miata-NA-89-97-NA-30mm-New-Style-Aero-Fenders-BLISTRFENDR3002.htm
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8880/18499476549_e0846dd0e4_b.jpg

Sunday
Sunday went great, with some VERY close competition between a mk3 GTI and me leading to a 0:00.19 win in my car (last year, the same car/driver beat me by 0:00.14 on the same hill). We both found a lot of time since last season, but I still had a risk-free event. There was no time where I thought "whew, that was a little too fast" ... but plenty of moments where I reminded myself that I don't have a cage in this car, so I should go easy on this next turn.

Speaking of cages...
I hope to have my cage installed for Mt Okemo 1 2015, coming up in early July.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3842/18866669762_7b7183eb60_b.jpg
I've cleaned up most of the steel, and now it's just a matter of making time to pull the car in to the garage, pulling the dash/seats/roof, and filling up the Argon tanks to get ready to install.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/18269734513_245e502f11_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

I laid out and labeled my roll cage tubing today, now that it's all cleaned up.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/415/18882358210_bc487dd6e7_b.jpg

The t3 turbo manifold I thought I had ordered was mislabeled. I'll either have to find a new one to order, or I'll need to make one. I really like the t3 as a platform, especially since that would allow me to share spare turbo parts between the Datsun and Miata. Suggestions are very welcome.

[JBsC6]

Congrats on the win..great read.

[drummingpariah]

Well, I started installing my jungle gym tonight. I pulled the car into the garage (for the first time ever), popped the top off (for the first time since putting it on), pulled the dash, and got to work with the prepped tubes.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3864/19002834020_66fac31cf6_b.jpg

Out with the old reinforced lolbar, and in with the new tubes.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/459/18571017574_9a25c6f461_b.jpg

Unfortunately, the a pillar bars don't look like they'll fit. No matter how I arrange them, the vertical portion is too short.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3688/19005825850_c8f5a9f15a_b.jpg

Ideally, this is what the feet in the front should line up like.
http://www.izzyscustomcages.com/images/CustCars/Nissan/Drift240/SR_S1356.JPG

[drummingpariah]

After a bit of cutting dash supports out, I might have just enough space to fit it in. It isn't running all the way to the floor like I want, so it won't be overkill but it'll be safe.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/463/19210862445_4ee115eb5c_b.jpg

While I had everything out, I decided to ditch some extra weight I had been hauling around for awhile. I can't see why anyone would need air conditioning here in New Hampshire.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3803/19026269349_5c50f1ecfa_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

After a whole lot of angle grinding with a cutoff wheel, I think I've made it work. I'll still have to build feet to tie the cage in, but this looks fairly solid.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/515/19206717022_3f2f351670_b.jpg

I also weighed the OEM passenger seat, and it came in just a hair under 35lbs with slider hardware. My spare Imola weighs in at 11.5lbs including my alu brackets, so it looks like that's going to become my driver's seat and the Sparco Sprint (steel frame, 16lbs including brackest, pretty comfortable, fits the car very nicely) will become my passenger's seat. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/368/19029008870_163be0f189_b.jpg

Tomorrow the cage gets welded in, now that test fitment is complete. I had hoped to tack most of it together tonight, but my neighbors are having a party and I'd rather not ruin relations with them.

[drummingpariah]

At 9pm last night, I stopped the roll cage prep and started reassembling so I could drive in to work today. There's definitely a lot more prep to do, and footings to fabricate. One weekend is not enough time.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/335/19051949639_a5c652ce0d_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

It was a rough weekend, but we made some serious progress. I still need to add rear braces and harness mounts, and I'll have to finish the welds on the sill bars. I'm not quite sure if I need an overhead diagonal or not, but I'm hoping I can put that off until the next event.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/383/19284620590_feabe23e8f_b.jpg

If all goes according to plan, I won't be driving an X-car for Mt Okemo 1 (meaning I'm allowed to go faster than the breakout time). That requires my fire suit, hans device, gloves, boots, and harnesses.

[kung fu jesus]

Big job, tough work. Good luck, it looks good so far!

[drummingpariah]

The main hoop footings were the biggest challenge for me. I ended up with the main hoop laid back around 12 degrees, and I plated the footings first.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/288/18801487123_184e04eaf3_b.jpg
Then bent a 90 degree angle and cut a plate to serve as a 'riser' on that.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/500/19234515700_4147c6f262_b.jpg

The front footings are slightly simpler, since I wanted to leave a small channel for wiring to go through.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/453/19426305461_685e58a821_b.jpg

I reconnected my wiring wrong, SOMEHOW. My windows no longer go up (oops!)

I'd love to source some manual windows and get rid of the electric window messiness altogether, but haven't really had time to go looking for them.

[drummingpariah]

Well this past weekend was a success. I worked down to the wire (left at 7pm Friday night, and started setting up camp around 9:30pm) but at 6am on Saturday, I added some high-density padding and passed tech.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/485/19575776622_a63f19caf9_b.jpg
My measurements were pretty dead-on (I worked hard for them), so the final fit of the cage is pretty tight.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/309/19581948491_ac345af18a_b.jpg

I ended up taking another first-in-class award home, which is pretty fantastic. More importantly, my times improved substantially.

Okemo 1 2014 3:09.65
Okemo 2 2014 3:04.65
Okemo 1 2015 2:54.70

I'm pretty satisfied with where the car is right now, and there's plenty of time I'm leaving on the table. I might make some minor tweaks here and there, but there won't be any major thrashing on it for the next event. I'll just add a dash and a nice cool blower fan (race pajamas are no fun in a Miata-shaped-oven on a hot day), and focus on my trailer setup. Previously, I had just tossed a bunch of 'stuff' in bind, ratchet strapped everything down with some tires, and hoped I wasn't forgetting anything. I really want to have a 'home' for everything instead, so I'm revisiting my packing plan so I only need one ratchet strap.

First up is the tire mounting solution. I really like Nicholas Earwood's trailer solution, and wanted to follow that as a guideline. He has the same Harbor Freight trailer behind his 280z.
http://i1351.photobucket.com/albums/p789/nearwood/Trailer%20Build/20150328_130919_zps9dzar1ck.jpg
The first issue I ran into is how much rubber I'm putting in contact with the ground. Right now, I'm running 15x8 wheels right now, and there's no way they'll fit in the same amount of space as Nicholas' do. These are a little tall, so I think I'll switch to 13x8's later this season, or possibly next season.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/381/19681417901_4c735da469_b.jpg

Furthermore, I'd like this trailer to be just as useful on my 280z, which means 15x10 or 15x12 wheels. I need a better solution, obviously. I might end up just doing a pair of stripper poles, but I'm kind of attached to the look of a set of race tires that are as wide as the car, mounted on the little trailer behind it. I'm hoping to spend a little more time on it this week, and hopefully I can come up with a better plan than having tires overflowing over the sides of the trailer (but that's not such a bad thing either).

[drummingpariah]

Sean Goss got a fun shot of the NA starting to lift the wheels at the last race event. Sharing time!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/406/19901603421_2db7a0d299_k.jpg

I don't have any major plans for this event, maybe just add the belly pan and fender caps, and call it done. I'm still considering going to 13x8 wheels for racing (with some inexpensive 225-45-13 DOT slicks, most likely) and using these tall heavy 15x8's for daily driving. The stock 15x6's look slightly silly under the big Autokonexion fenders (still super impressed with those guys, highly recommended).

[kung fu jesus]

Fantastic project! I wish hillclimbs were more popular in the US, though they are regaining some of their lustre.

[drummingpariah]

They've been running every year since the 20's here in New England. We have a couple brothers who have been at it for 45 years. One of them owns a 4age powered Midget with DCOE's, and he tows it with his Fit (the Fit is also his home for the weekend).
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/391/19038121154_5bc67cf021_b.jpg

There's also Chasing the Dragon down closer to you (NC). It's not quite what our hillclimbs are here in New England, but it's similar enough to be a ton of fun. We do have people come from all over the place to race with us. Let me know if you have any local clubs who would be interested in starting a hillclimb event, and I'll be happy to get details to you for a safe, enjoyable event.

I'm already prepping for Pike's Peak next year, and Mt Washington in 2017 ... but I don't think either will be in the Miata. I'm prepping a pair of small block Ford v8's as next season's daily driven 280z race car motors, but it looks like I'm going to need a different transmission. The input shaft on the t5 I have exploded.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/255/19221600833_35bc4a2b51_b.jpg

Speaking of transmissions, the whining in my Miata transmission hasn't gone away. I'm not sure what's causing it yet, but the whine goes away when I press the clutch pedal down, and is audible through all the gears. The pitch is related to transmission gear rpm, so I imagine it's a bearing on the input shaft. I won't know until I tear it down.

I'm not a fan of working on a car that isn't driveable, so I picked up a spare transmission last night. It seems to be in good condition (shifts through all the gears, and rotates appropriately through all of them), so I hope I can just swap the transmissions this weekend, then start pulling the whining transmission apart.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/285/19877394636_d5f9e59724_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

Just put the fender caps and bumper lip back on, so I can line up the splitter and mount it at a sane height. Hopefully I'll have some time to work on that this weekend.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/530/19764508148_68bc6ff781_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

External clips from Mt Okemo. Definitely need more power.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0514xIimig

[drummingpariah]

When I picked up the transmission, I also got a spare head with it. Nobody loves the 1.6, but that means used parts are super cheap. I rebuilt the lifters and just finished pulling the valvetrain, so I could get a good look at the entire head. This is the result of a can of brake cleaner (non-chlorinated, so relatively safe for aluminum) and some time with soft (brass and nylon) wire brushes.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/261/20161129936_55001e36a8_b.jpg

There's a lot left to do. I also noticed that one of the lifter pistons' keeper rings was missing, so that lifter had a little cupping wear. The cam lobe appears fine, so I just ordered a new lifter assembly for it.

I'm strongly considering having the head decked a bit to get some more compression. It looks like we have plenty of valve clearance before anything but timing is affected, so I'm looking at a mild n/a build with the CBR ITB's I fitted earlier. I still need to make runners, and figure out exactly what kind of compression ratios I can manage.

I love the idea of being able to go from high compression ITB n/a to mild compression forced induction with nothing more than a head assembly swap. I'm not looking for crazy power, so I'll leave the bottom end alone unless I see reasons to open it up when I swap heads.

[drummingpariah]

I worked my way through some more cleaning today, but it's still not at the point where I can even start porting. Lots of work left to do.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/498/20211999455_d31e34f033_b.jpg

I ran some numbers on decking the head as well, and I really can't go any more than .030 before I start cutting valve reliefs. That's worth ~.5:1 compression ratio (no exact numbers, just rough ballpark based on speculation and a few coarse measurements), or <10hp. I would just as soon leave it alone than deck the head and have to degree the cams for such a small power gain. Hopefully I'll have a more substantial update tomorrow!

[drummingpariah]

A little more cleaning, and it's starting to look pretty good. I've felt like crap this week, and have been sleeping a lot so I haven't made anywhere near as much progress as I'd like. I was planning to have this ported and polished by tonight, but that's not going to happen. Instead, I think I'll just reassemble it and swap the heads so I have a 'clean, healthy oem spec' head on the current engine. Based on my compression test, that should reduce my fuel consumption and give me a bit more power. Three cylinders on my currently running have at least one valve that isn't closing completely, and that could certainly be a factor on why I'm only making 87whp right now. With a healthy head, I believe I should be closer to 105whp. A good port and polish could potentially get me closer to 110whp, after another tuning session.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/388/20374862845_081d529a7e_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/294/20186801540_d55080d819_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

As I mentioned previously, I had an unknown-condition transmission that could be swapped in for the known-bad transmission. First, I got the old transmission out (easier typed than done, lots of other things should come out to give adequate clearance).
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/492/19783288994_b8bdacd1d2_b.jpg

... but then I realized that I hadn't drained it beforehand.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/324/20410215991_86df1e59c8_b.jpg

During reinstall, nothing was lining up right, and I couldn't quite figure out why. Eventually I pulled the trans back out and put it side-by-side with the old one. I realized that the PO had left one of the locating dowel pins in the transmission, and I still had that pin in the block. It took two hours to work that thing out of the transmission. Then everything went together like it was designed to.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/311/20392025786_d007f0671e_b.jpg

I'm happy to say that the straight-cut whining sound is gone now, but the shifter has a lot of slop in this transmission. The plan is to rebuild the whining one (it's most likely a bad bearing somewhere in it) and swap that back in a little later. Then I can rebuild this one while using the rebuilt original, and have it sitting around as a spare.

[drummingpariah]

I was just looking through some photos, and it's a little surprising that in a little over a year (11,000 miles), I've made this many changes:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7374/13939806880_228b79f835_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/509/19461096659_4c49264100_b.jpg


Standalone EFI
Suspension all-around
15x9 wheels, sticky tires
+30mm front fenders, rolled rears
Hardtop
Roll cage
Race seat
Race harness
NRG quick-release wheel hub/wheel
Custom 2.5" exhaust/header
Thousands of bugs splattered.
Trailer hitch
Front anti-roll bar
Urethane bushings
Alu 3-core radiator
Replacement transmission


... and the only maintenance the car demanded was a pair of headlight bulbs, fluid changes, and brake pads. I'm still not in love with it, but I can't help but respect it. I'm trying hard not to tear into any new projects this week. I'd much rather just leave the thing alone and have it ready for Okemo 2, rather than trying to thrash something else together (like a dashboard). Instead, I'm reorganizing the garage and getting ready to get the RX7 ready to race again.

[drummingpariah]

Today is just a minor update, since I have a race coming up this weekend. I'm at 'code freeze' now, where I'm not starting any high-risk projects on the Miata.
The ecu location wasn't ideal, so I fabricated a few mounting tabs
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/20282566880_9b7ba4fd7e_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/366/20284021239_088395f947_b.jpg
And bent up some aluminum to make a standoff on the firewall.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/265/19848038854_44461cfe0a_b.jpg

I'll have to do some creative ducting to get heat/defrost with a fan again, but I'm not afraid of a bit of fabrication. This work took very little time, about $30 worth of tools, and left the car just as ready to daily/race as before.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/428/19851679744_3162e0b2d9_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

Another successful hillclimb race, at Mt Okemo again. I ended up with 1st in clas, and was a second faster than last time. I hadn't changed anything that would affect performance on the car, just made logistics more bearable. It was still extremely hot in the car, and I washed about 5lbs of dust off myself when I got home from the weekend, but I had a great time anyway. Here's some very raw footage of one of my more fun runs.

https://youtu.be/l93-LKAEYeM?t=216

The only real downside to the event is that one of the race tires half-fell-off the trailer on the way home and machined a big chunk out of itself. Now I need to decide if I'm going to get the much better suited 13x8 wheels I've been considering, or if I'm going to replace the one tire that chewed itself apart.

Now I need to start preparing for Ascutney 2. There are some minor things I still want to address with the car, I want to finish up the trailer 'rack' that I made the night before the race, and I want to finalize my video capture setup so I can get better footage overall.

[tsingson]

Nice. That tranny shower reminds me of the fuel pump shower I got recently.

[drummingpariah]

They really aren't much fun at all, no matter what fluids are coming out of car parts.

[drummingpariah]

Tire carnage:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/771/20494878709_3c81bc6ab3_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

And here's the 'tire rack' I built Friday morning for the little trailer. Other than the ratchet strap failure, it worked beautifully. The hauling box sits in front of the axle, my quik-shade canopy sits in the middle, and the tires sit on the rear. That way, when I get to an event, I can take the tires and canopy off and have all the weight directly on the yoke (which is where I'll add a trailer jack).
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5732/20093504244_03b5414f39_b.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5699/20716011925_6af9c8b1e4_b.jpg

I had limited time, so I didn't go crazy creating fancy mounting tabs. I just cut some square tube at a 45-degree angle on my mini horizontal bandsaw, welded them onto the 'cage', and drilled holes for fasteners. They held up great with some basic countersunk stainless m8 hardware.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5783/20528079840_9034543086_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

It's been nearly a month, but I haven't been lazy. My neighbor on the third floor moved out, and the landlord offered the workspace he had been using. For free. I have a pretty awesome landlord, I must say. That has turned into the 'engine room', and I now have shelves of engine (two 302's, two t5's, a pair of gsxr1000 engines, and a spare Miata engine ... no spare 13b's yet) and a little workbench set up in there. I'm still establishing my workflow in there, but this has given me much-needed space to reorganize the actual garage bay, and I think it'll allow for a much more productive winter. For my landlord, the bonus is that I can justify putting off buying a place of my own, and he gets to keep the tenant who always pays early.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/644/21166541765_f6fba9a446_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/777/20576263573_8e43cdab65_b.jpg

With my favorite hillclimb race coming up next weekend, I'm continuing work on the splitter mount and the dashboard, but I started with a few simpler things that were really bothering me. The hardtop was missing its rear mounts, and was thumping and bumping whenever I twisted the chassis a bit. I replaced those today, just using some basic m8 stainless and a little bit of threadlocker.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/735/20741322584_4a16f29ea1_b.jpg

I pulled the bumper to figure out what I'm doing with this splitter
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/610/21333669795_2dfbc560b0_b.jpg

Some of you may not know about this, but the NA Miata is just full of character. Aside from its permanently happy, smiling face, there are little bits of character thrown in all over the place. On the back of the bumper cover, for example:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5778/21177870839_4623206b7a_b.jpg

It reads,

1990-93 Mazda Miata
Made by the colonels in the good old USA

Someone took pride in the fact that this is what they were doing for a job. Unfortunately, this was some of the worst plastic the Miata ever received, and my bumper cover is as wavy as all the other early ones.

Behind the bumper cover, everything's a mess. There is reinforcement in all the worst places. I started cutting, then cut some more, then did some chopping, then cut more off the front. If I had a mandrel bender available, I would get a lot more aggressive and tube frame the whole front, but that's not an option for this weekend. Instead, I'm just trying to clean things up a bit, mount my splitter, and add some radiator ductwork.


DISCLAIMER
I do not recommend cutting a car like this, even on a race car. I've managed to take 32.5lbs off the front, but I'm not convinced that I can make a lighter front end that's as effective as their design is. The OEM bumper is mostly great.

However, my support was a little tweaked, and was in the way of where I want my ducting to go. I have to open that area up a bit. I started mocking up a few different designs with cardboard, and decided I'd mount everything to one central piece of reinforcement. I'm a big fan of square tube, since it's so ridiculously easy to work with, so that's where it started.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/661/21179758890_83744931df_b.jpg

Now I have enough structure to add some removable component mounts, and to attach an energy-absorbing bumper to. I'm going to try to keep the plastic bumper insert if I can, but it looks like I'll end up using some tube steel because it's so much easier to work around.

I'm going to have to be really careful with the splitter, and ensure that it doesn't protrude too far. Partly because I need all the clearance I get, but also to keep it from being too effective. Without any rear aero developed, I need to use caution when adding downforce anywhere on the car. It's currently a very well-balanced setup, but is already on the loose side. Without a wing and/or diffuser, I could upset the car's handling pretty quickly (and that's a really really bad idea when we're discussing hillclimbs).

Whatever I do, I'd like to be able to continue using the OEM bumper cover. It's full of character, and is reasonably difficult to reproduce with another material.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5786/20741242543_1679251658_b.jpg

Electronics Maintenance
I make it a habit to look at wiring whenever I have a lot of it exposed, and found that one of my turn signals has been shorting for what looks like awhile.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/706/21149224609_1330ae4b9e_b.jpg

It hasn't caused any problems, but I'm going to address them before they do. I'm considering gutting these housings and stuffing some LEDs in there with a resistor instead.

[drummingpariah]

Another race event, come and gone. This time we're back to Mt Ascutney, in Windsor VT. It's a gorgeous State Park, and they're always really accommodating to us. The top section of the road (after the small bridge, turn 23) gets pretty bumpy, and the short stroke of the Miata suspension design is a definite disadvantage up there. This hill offers everything, with high-speed turns, variable-radius turns, hairpins in both directions, and the most aggressive crest of any road I've ever been on.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFyWrmN12LQ

My HLA noise is getting worse and worse with each event, so I'm going to have to finish up the spare head soon. Maybe someday I'll even paint this thing. Maybe.

[drummingpariah]

To address the HLA noise, I've purchased a spare engine off a friend, and we'll assemble that next week. Until then, it's just getting stripped and cleaned, and I'm ordering all the parts we'll need to build it nice and fresh. I'm not looking to make anything that anyone would consider 'big power' with this. 100 reliable wheel horsepower would have me pretty satisfied, 110whp would be astounding.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/695/21528111899_c52a5e63a6_b.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/671/21093815063_f9ec285ef2_b.jpg

Once the current engine is out and this engine is in, I can start tearing down the original engine, either for boost or for a rack of ITBs. Or, I may just build it and leave it on a shelf so I have a hot spare in case I explode the new engine.

[AmazeBallz]

Why not think about a Ford 302?

[drummingpariah]

Why not think about a Ford 302?

Good question. Mostly, it comes down to classification. Classes for hillclimbs are calculated by displacement (with multipliers, like a 30% increase for a turbocharger, 15% increase for dohc, etc) and divided by the weight of the vehicle. The 302's just have too much displacement, and I'd end up in a class that I wouldn't be able to compete in. It would take a lot more work to get it as fast as the other cars in faster classes, without ruining how easy and forgiving it is to drive right now.

[Slipstreem]

Love your racing videos. Great driving. What about going with a supercharger? Seems like that would be best for hill climbs.

[drummingpariah]

Love your racing videos. Great driving. What about going with a supercharger? Seems like that would be best for hill climbs.

Thanks very much, I still see so many things I'm doing wrong, and so much room for improvement, it's kind of refreshing to know that it doesn't look bad to people who aren't me. A supercharger would be ideal for hillclimbs, but they tend to be quite a bit more expensive than turbochargers. I definitely like this humble little racecar, but I'm not in love with it. I'm not willing to invest that kind of money into something that'll harm mileage and reliability (no matter how you slice it, more power makes an engine less reliable).

A turbo, on the other hand, is laughably inexpensive. I already have most of the components, I'd just have to fabricate an exhaust manifold.

Once I have a good clean fresh engine in the car, I'll look at ways to start making more power. Once I do that, I'll have to start looking at the entire driveline, and probably do a 1.8 diff/carrier/axles/driveline swap. I'm really not looking forward to that. Going beyond the current build is going to require a very real investment, and I'm not entirely convinced that I want to in this car. The rx7 and Datsun are both less expensive to build up to a faster standard.

I don't know if I'd be able to get half of what I put into this Miata back out though, if I were to sell it. Probably not.

[drummingpariah]

A real update is coming soon, but I have my 'maintenance mode' down to a 10-minute process. The next race is Oct 16th, and I'm leaving on the 14th ... so I need to wrap up all the little things that need to be done before then ... while using it as my daily.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/621/21297392564_aa2fb6ce15_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

HVAC

Our State Safety Inspection, along with our Street Prepared hillclimb rules, require a working defrost system. The OEM HVAC system was a bit of a mess to begin with, and I had to remove most of the fan mounts while installing the roll cage A pillars. As winter approaches, I've been planning out a new HVAC system using off-the-shelf parts, and no proprietary mounting solutions. Simple m6 bolts for me, thanks!

Step 1: Remove the OEM system

The first step was to remove the OEM HVAC system, so I could see what I have to work with and start planning. All I want to re-use is the heater core, and create all new ductwork for it.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/717/21299053603_8d4eab66ff_b.jpg

The next step was to decide on a fan, and determine where I wanted to place it. For the first iteration, I went with a simple (4" duct fan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006K8GROE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B006K8GROE&linkCode=as2&tag=prcr-20&linkId=M53CSX4BSQGILUEM)). It runs on 12-14v so it's well suited to automotive use, but will have to be set up before the heater core, otherwise the motor will quickly overheat and burn itself out.

A toggle switch and relay will power it.

Chassis Update

The front end of the car needed a bit of cleanup as well, so I started teardown on it. I've been meaning to finish up my splitter mounting solution, and complete the front bumper for awhile.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/621/21297392564_aa2fb6ce15_b.jpg

The remaining airbag wiring and sensors also came out, which were surprisingly heavy!

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5755/21733264739_88d23c73b6_b.jpg

PAINT

$25 worth of rattlecan white apparently goes a long way.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5831/21356125073_61b8531292_b.jpg)

[Stealth97]

Are you going to run without a bumper reinforcement?

[drummingpariah]

Nice catch, but no. I welded together a new bumper support and what drift kids refer to as a 'bash bar'. The OEM bumpers are great for most typical driving, where the vast majority of crashes are under 15mph.

My 'typical use' scenario is a bit skewed: I spend a considerable amount of time doing 50mph+ a few inches from trees. Bumpers designed for 'fender benders' are not the same as those designed for 'tree hugging' ... so while I didn't get any photos of it, I stole most of the design from circle track cars that have been trained to turn in both directions. When we say someone had a 'hard impact' we really mean it.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/705/21806431290_9c833efe81_b.jpg

So I built that up a little bit to absorb more energy than the OEM solution was designed for, at the expense of low-speed damage reduction. I can bend a 5mph crash out pretty easily, but there isn't much I can do for an 80mph off-road excursion after-the-fact.

[drummingpariah]

Here's the week-before-the-last-race update:

Powertrain Update

Ian started to assemble one of my spare heads, but we found that some HLA shims were missing and decided to hold off on that effort. The new valve cover came in though, so I stripped the peeling paint from that.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/748/21912726550_016ce176b2_b.jpg

Front End Update

I painted the front bumper cover, fenders, and fender caps, then mounted them all semi-securely. The fender caps will require a bit more work to get them spot-on, but that will need to wait until the splitter is available, for extra reinforcement.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5693/22085054651_dd64abf0e3_b.jpg

Interior Update

I added *some* paint to the interior. I wasn't quite willing to pull the top off yet, and didn't have enough paint for everything, so I'm just doing a quick rust-prevention run with some rattlecan white. The results are a bit inspiring, despite overspray.

I also re-mounted the fire extinguisher. The fasteners on the floor required using blind fasteners, and I dislike rivets because they're such a pain to remove. Instead, I used riv-nuts.

The hood release cable had been flopping around and/or zip tied for too long, so I cut a replacement bracket for it and welded it in. That's really what started the whole 'spraypaint initiative'.

The plan is to complete the dashboard, package tray cover, and ECU mount this weekend. Finally, I'd like to reinforce the driver's seat mounts and move the seat slightly farther forward and inboard.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5624/21474880714_e16cfcea14_b.jpg

Dashboard

I pulled the gauge cluster apart so I could make a good mounting solution for it, using the OEM plastic mounting tabs. I haven't figured out how I'm going to scan them yet, but for now, all I need is a hand cut template.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/623/22098984822_b80b043336_b.jpg

Drawing up the design is always the hardest part.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/580/21926516518_35d4e6ebec_b.jpg

A set of electric shears would've made this a quick job. Instead, I found myself using hand tin snips and a rasp.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5633/22085338016_cf147d3c12_b.jpg

The steering column relief cut was made with a hole saw, but as I got farther into the project I realized that I probably wouldn't even need it.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/751/21488688854_f9cf0cc38e_b.jpg

The final base design is pretty simple, and still needs to be bent to fit. At this point, I have all the measurements I need to put this into a DXF drawing and have it laser cut or waterjet cut out of virtually any material.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/756/22111536245_5a85aeaf19_b.jpg

[Greasemonkey2000]

Wow very cool project(dash)! :drinkto: Can't wait to see the results.

[drummingpariah]

I wanted to get a bit ahead of packing, so I didn't really accomplish anything on the cars last night. It looks like we're in for rain/snow Friday and Saturday nights, with a low of around 28F ... so I want to make sure I'm well equipped to get a good night's sleep. Racing on no sleep is awful.

General camp supplies
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5644/22138733232_9283b890b5_b.jpg

Food (minus meats)
Includes a few lb of rice, plenty of oatmeal with peanut butter packets. I'll add a chicken or two, some bacon, and some eggs. Lunches are always provided by the hillclimb association, and Philo always has the best BBQ.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/659/21963325708_c272e0ba31_b.jpg

Misc hygiene stuff:
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5685/22151206125_ee1bae9e49_b.jpg

Shelter
Hammock, tarp, sleeping bag, teeny inflatable pillow, and plenty of cordage.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/745/22151231595_c697027119_b.jpg

Clothing
I don't actually need this much for clothes, since I'll be in a race suit for most of the weekend. I don't mind bringing a little extra though, just in case.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/668/22138660062_bb463ee84a_b.jpg

Race Clothing
Finally, I have all my nomex. I just updated the shoes to some Simpsons, and am really happy with them after a brief test.

The Alpinestars gloves have been a little frustrating, as the fingertips are so tight that they're difficult to remove after a run. I'm looking for something different for next year.

The suit is from RaceImage (https://www.raceimage.com/), which sells NASCAR suits (often used). It's pretty important to get measurements correct, and I made the mistake of ordering a successful team's memorabilia suit. It was more worn than I had expected, so I contacted RaceImage and just ordered a new suit for next season. It's pretty close to impossible to beat these prices, but I can't stress how important it is to get the correct sizes.

The helmet and HANS are both from SafeRacer, and again, I couldn't be happier. At this point, I would still recommend getting the same SA2010 ZAMP helmet to anyone in the market. It's inexpensive, is still good for another 5 years (after 5 years of use, you really don't want to keep sticking your head in that orb of interesting smells anyway), and comes pre-drilled for HANS clips. I thought I'd really like the HANS quick-release clips, but in reality I just leave the HANS and helmet attached at all times, and just put them both on/off at once. That way I never have to mess about with any clips, just my chin strap.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/718/21528490774_538d32449f_b.jpg

Tires
Finally, we get to tires. These covers certainly aren't necessary, but they offer some basic protection from road debris and I like the way they look. There, I said it.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5775/22138725032_f66b0bca40_b.jpg

Toolbox
The toolbox still needs to be packed, but not 'till I'm done working on the car. This one's right down to the wire.

[Demon I Am]

Camping done light! Love it!!

[drummingpariah]

I can say that I'm really really disappointed with the dash ... but that I'm really happy to finally have a solid gauge cluster mount. I had a lot of issues getting clearance for the speedo cable, with my dash bar placement. It's inconveniently located between the dash bar and steering column, and doesn't allow the gauge cluster to be centered over the steering column. It's not necessarily a bad thing, since it centers the tach closer to the main field of vision.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5633/22213452301_b44260c214_b.jpg

This is just the v1 prototype, the next one will be cut on a waterjet with some bends to increase rigidity.

Speaking of rigidity, I've added a few more fixed camera mounts to the car. One in front of the grille (now that the OEM bumper support is gone, I had to sort out a new solution).
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/688/21578829543_eb08d8d46a_b.jpg

Then a few more mounts for the other on-car cameras:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/774/22008380138_825d55a88a_b.jpg

I packed up the off-car cameras (for safety workers to use at checkpoints):
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/778/21573629494_32ec6b5882_b.jpg

... then reformatted all the spare cards and verified that all of the batteries were charged on everything.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5706/22196376515_77fff508ab_b.jpg

Now I'm just welding some mounting tabs in for the dashboard, and hopefully I'll have a little time to finish wiring up the CB and completing my new HVAC system in the morning, before we leave for the race. I think we have a caravan of 6 vehicles, and I believe we all have CB's, so it should be a reasonably fun trip.

[drummingpariah]

Well, the 2016 season started this week ... because we finished the 2015 season on Sunday. It's a little bittersweet. This is the part where I wrap up the last few things to do on the Miata to prep it for winter daily driving, and focus my attention on the 2016 car.

Philo was a logistical mess for me. I invited another driver that I haven't seen this season to alternate driving with me, and that proved to be quite a lot of work. I was a bit unprepared to begin with, and the weather was extremely uncooprative. We had hail, snow, sleet, rain, and sun ... at the same time. Temps dropped down to 26F during the night, and almost got up to 50F during the day, when the road started to dry out on Sunday.

This even was a major milestone for me, as I successfully completed my first sub-breakout time (faster than is permitted in an uncaged car). Breakout time at Mt Philo is 80 seconds, and I was very consistently within 0.10 seconds of it. There's still a little bit of time left on these runs, but I'm pretty satisfied with where I am in this car right now. It's time to find someone new to take it over, and for them to use it as their learning car next season.

Without further ado, here's footage from one of the runs.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcNsOAMnEcM

After all is said and done, I not only won my class, but won the Killington Sports Car Club points overall (against significantly faster cars). Points are allocated by winning the best-populated class consistently, and I had the most competition at every event.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/738/22359864492_8589ac7072_b.jpg (https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/738/22359864492_8589ac7072_b.jpg)

[Stealth97]

The sharp edges on that dash give me the heeby-jeebys. Looking forward to see what you come up with for V2.0

[drummingpariah]

The sharp edges on that dash give me the heeby-jeebys. Looking forward to see what you come up with for V2.0

Don't sit in the passenger's seat, then. Roll cage in front of your eyebrows (because the OEM seat is WAY too tall), dash where your legs are, and wiring where your feet belong. I didn't really put this car together for passengers, if I'm honest.

Other than adding heat and building the better dash, I don't know how much more I'm going to put into it. I'll take care of maintenance on it, but it should just be the backup car through 2016.

[Vegard]

This is a great read, and your videos are very good!

Is there a thread on the datsun build?

[drummingpariah]

This is a great read, and your videos are very good!

Is there a thread on the datsun build?

Thanks, and all my builds will be going up on the driven-daily website as soon as I finish the new layout. That should all go live by Dec, just in time to secure sponsors for 2016.

[drummingpariah]

Finished up the paint on one of the spare valve covers. Although these were raw aluminum from the factory, I've always thought wrinkle black is the 'proper' OEM style finish for an engine bay. At some point, I'll probably add more coats, but this is good enough to sit on a shelf for awhile.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5821/22264336679_dfa72b3e09_b.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5726/22263191070_44a5dd2995_b.jpg

I finally re-adjusted my seat and harnesses as well. It's considerably more comfy now.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5696/22450982955_27258edd79_b.jpg

Interesting fact worth noting: Of the four different styles of aftermarket seats I have, the Sparco Sprint is the only one that's narrow enough to clear both the sill bars of the roll cage and the transmission tunnel. It's also very comfy for daily driving, and is inexpensive. It's a steel framed seat, so it's definitely heavier than other carbon/kevlar or even fiberglass options, but I'd still highly recommend it for the NA chassis.

Most of my Saturday has been re-organizing the shop and getting rid of the old propane heater. Unfortunately, it isn't going to work in this shop because there's no working chimney. With that out, I can go with a much smaller heater. While I was cleaning up, I figured I'd finally wrap up teardown on a spare gsxr1100 block I had lying around. I knew it had been damaged, I just didn't know how bad it was.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5734/22264458349_77e99f4be6_b.jpg

I love these old oil-cooled engines, but when they die, they really go out with a bang ... then lots of clattering ... then valvetrain parts end up in the oil pan. For anyone who hasn't worked on a motorbike engine before, you're seriously missing out. The cylinder jugs are a separate component from the head and block, and the block can be split in half to remove the crank and transmission. It's kind of a fantastic design, not entirely unlike the air-cooled Porsche 911 engines (but much easier to work on).

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/708/21828545654_4ec0dcb645_b.jpg

A couple of valves punched a hole right through the #2 piston.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/767/21830122543_6a22f387cf_b.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5637/21828561424_c0179658c0_b.jpg

Then they stopped in the oil pan.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/742/22451259585_b9c03de527_b.jpg

With all the abuse that engine appears to have seen, I don't expect it to be good for anything other than spare casings/covers and accessories. Too bad, but at least now I can box up what's worth keeping and scrap the rest.

[drummingpariah]

I spent the whole day today going from this:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/676/22263270030_252407505f_b.jpg

... to this:
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5707/21858936193_f398026dc8_b.jpg

It required disassembling the shelf in the engine room (it was shaped like a workbench, but particle board with a bunch of screws in it is just a shelf), and moving one of the benches in its place. Right now, the engine room is an absolute disaster, but I hope to get back to it after work a few days this week.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5812/21858438673_1ba9dcb92e_b.jpg

The second steel workbench will also go in there, freeing up even more space in the garage bay. Ideally, I want the garage bay to be for welding and car assembly/disassembly. To support that effort, the workbenches are coming out, and I'm building some metal stock storage:
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5824/22479588515_4dc080f5ab_b.jpg

Once I finish that up, I'll build a cart for the welders, and add some shelves in the closet and on the walls, so I can actually WORK in this space. I'll also need to finally get a bottle for the MIG welder, since TIG isn't always appropriate and flux-core is just too messy.

Preparing to start work is a lot of work.

[drummingpariah]

Anyone who is interested in getting the 'inside scoop' on the Datsun build (or the rx7, for that matter) before they go live on the website is encouraged to follow on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/drivendaily.official/

[drummingpariah]

No real news, other than renewing my registration and passing the annual state safety inspection. The Datsun is off getting its cage installed
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5642/22589554808_5ac07bb39c_b.jpg

and the rx7 is in the garage now, so I can hopefully turn that into another backup daily driver for next season (maybe sooner?)
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/570/22476338714_a502d4dd36_b.jpg

[drummingpariah]

Well folks, it's been a lot of fun, but it's time for me to say goodbye. I'm handing the Driven Daily NA Miata off to a new owner, who will hillclimb it next season. I'm scrambling to complete a new daily driver by the end of Dec, but will deliver the Miata to its new owner on the 13th. Be sure to Like Driven-Daily on Facebook if you're interested in getting updates in the future!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5662/23364248231_dfe3b38261_b.jpg

If anyone's interested in the spare motors, transmission, interior pieces, intake manifold, OEM ECU, etc, send me an offer at jesse@driven-daily.com and I'll do my best to get it out to you. I won't have any of it for long, so stake your claim now. If it isn't already bolted to a car, it's up for grabs. I'll try to assemble a list of everything I have in the near future, but no promises.

[Martin]

:(

[drummingpariah]

Goodbye, old friend. I'll see you at the next hillclimb.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5825/23648321731_79c02de2f0_b.jpg

In its place ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E0akBrYlm4

[drummingpariah]

I just put together a video from the 2015 race season, just a series of slow-motion startline launches of the various cars that were racing during that run. I got most of them, along with a couple Miatas. I was surprised to see that my launch was pretty much perfect (car 365, right around 55 seconds). What you're looking for is a ratcheting movement, where the tires are right on the verge of losing grip, but aren't free-spinning. The other Miata (5x, ~40 seconds in) had the same ratcheting with a fancy torsen differential, but the black wheels make it difficult to distinguish exactly what's going on. I also found it really interesting to see how the different Subarus are front-bias or rear-bias, even those with identical gearboxes and differentials.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYPC94goA7Q

[Martin]

Cool video.

What is that contraption at 1:56?

[drummingpariah]

Cool video.

What is that contraption at 1:56?

A thing called the "Super Chicken" ... Subaru turbos on an AWD Audi v6 running methanol. I believe he holds more than half of our hill records right now.

[drummingpariah]

A lot has happened since I was last on here, and the Datsun is coming along really nicely.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2810/33567582734_e249165567_b.jpg

... but I couldn't stay away from Miatas for long. I should be back in one on Monday. Who's selling a roll bar for a hard top NA?

[drummingpariah]

For those who are interested, I've started a new NA build. Head over to the new thread to follow it.

http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?14851-Driven-Daily-NA-(take-2)