Brap-Brap's (Mis)adventures version 2.0

I did this to my last NA:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1963/...352cd8de_z.jpg

Not gonna do that again.

So I bought another one:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1958/...75ff0cbd_z.jpg

Meet Riley the 97' NA. 77,264 on the ODO when I bought it. 100% bone stock, right down to the factory soft top. AC/PC, power windows, power mirrors and a torsen. AC still works surprisingly. Not a spot of rust on her.

If y'all have seen my first build thread you know how I roll. If not, go read it. "Brap-Brap's Miata (Mis)adventutes"

Time to do it all over again, but better this time.

Christ Thank you god you're alive. and congrats on the beauty! I have a 97 too that just hit 90k.

Thanks man. Mechanically she is a beauty but the exterior leaves a little to be desired...

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1963/...0a2a29d0_z.jpg

I ordered this stuff from Summit on Saturday night and it arrived Monday afternoon. The perks of being in Ohio.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1918/...b09fe7ba_z.jpg

Mmmmmmmm Billies...

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1959/...11d73ea8_z.jpg

Can you figure out what i'm doing yet?

Also, funny thing is the "Summit Racing" branded springs on the website are just QA1 springs with the labels rubbed off.

Plenty more to come this week.

That's a solid suspension plan.

So as it turns out I ordered the wrong Bilsteins. I needed NB B8s, not NA B6s. I didn't realize until I tried to stack up the tophat bushings and the threaded shaft was no where near long enough.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1952/...82828a79_z.jpg

Advanced Autosport coil sleeves.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4913/...d4385b91_z.jpg

Orange tophats means I have Xidas right?

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1966/...0e1bbfca_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4841/...91b7c5dd_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4843/...70d69162_z.jpg

Fab9 COP kit installed. Seemed to fix my idle dip and issues I had with her breaking up in the higher RPMs.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1972/...4649c704_z.jpg

Sticker panel makes a return.

I saw someone on Miata DIY use a 90mm halo LED ring to turn the ring into a driving light. Figured I had a spare set of tails and I would give it a go.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4823/...98b1d28d_z.jpg

Foil keeps the heat indirect and prevents the coils from burning something.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1950/...d6ac693c_z.jpg

People complain about these Chinese LED rings breaking and cracking from vibration. So I used some clear silicone to glue them down into the ring. The ring in the lens fits the LED ring perfectly, almost so perfectly I would say you don't even need to glue it.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1962/...ffd5eb95_z.jpg

Running lights

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4886/...0264b446_z.jpg

Running lights + Brake lights.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4834/...8dba6164_z.jpg

Also put back in my LED headlights. This time I went with Cibie Housings instead of the Hellas. Cutoff and light throw seems a lot better.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1975/...d8cab842_z.jpg

And finally the old shell going away.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1920/...b04d312f_z.jpg

Moving on from the past.

For those wondering about the vanity plate, this is the meme is came from:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1929/...a8cd374c_z.jpg

Yes, NB B8's is what you need. Also consider extended top hats on the rear; Maruha makes some very nice quality stamped steel ones for quite cheap. And who actually machined pedal covers from billet?!

I had a set of the pedal covers on my old car, didn't feel like paying $70 again for some so I ripped the design off CAD Grab and used the schools CNC to whip some up real quick. I put the bend in them after the milling.

I have a set of FM rear tophats that I saved from my old car. I need to turn some spacers to adapt the 14mm pillowball ID to the billie 10mm shaft OD.

Took the time to get some quick mods done before I put her away for the winter. Just usual driving/comfort things.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1951/...cc5184d9_z.jpg

Did a massive foamectamy. I left a 1" piece of foam on the bottom for my tailbone, but otherwise this gets me VERY low. Also adds a ton of lateral support.

A friend gave me a set of headrest speakers so I transplanted them, but the plugs were different. A quick set of spade connectors fixed that. Also allows me to add rear speakers when I want to down the line.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1960/...8ed817c7_z.jpg

A friend also gave me this Whiteline shock tower brace. I heard they don't do much on these cars, but it looks nice and was free.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1941/...9734e4c3_z.jpg

Also installed a FM brake master brace. It fits with the Whiteline STB. The brake master brace got rid of my semi-squishy pedal on the street. Braking just feels better all around.

Also (not pictured) I installed Garage Star door bushings. Wow do they make a difference on a stock car. Bumps are more solid clunks and less rattles/shakes. Car just feels overall better.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1923/...95ab27af_z.jpg


Got rid of the Walmart special radio. Dropped in my Clarion M508 unit I saved from my old car.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/...114117c7_z.jpg

What wonders a new head unit does to the sound of a car.

Also ordered a new I.L. center console, polished the shifter like before, re-installed my Redline Leather shift boot, re-installed the trim ring and put back my flower shift knob.

Now I just have to find my damn wooden e-brake handle I made and the interior will be close to done.

I was sitting around on Sunday with no homework. So I said to myself "i'm gonna build my billies today"

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4806/...0baa9c9c_z.jpg

So I did.

NB B8 Billies, Advanced Autosport sleeves, FM rear tophats, NB fronts, QA1 550/350 springs. should work nicely.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4829/...f8886cfd_z.jpg

Interior is coming along nicely as well.

Also, the allure of Fashion keys caught me recently. Unfortunately my wallet hasn't caught up. So like usual I took matters into my own hands.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4873/...729659c5_z.jpg

Just a sneak peak into what I have in the pipeline.

Wood handle keys; me likey!

Can’t wait to see the end result with the keys.

Your coil-over setup looks so nice. I bet they'll feel great!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HarryB

Wood handle keys; me likey!

---

Should be fun. Time to get comfortable with my files...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Agent☣Orange

Can’t wait to see the end result with the keys.

---

I'm excited too. I think i'm the first to do this too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MaRcOp01o

Your coil-over setup looks so nice. I bet they'll feel great!

---

I hope so. I only wasted 3 weeks of my life reading every suspension thread on every forum I could find to determine a setup.

Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you: Fab Week.

I'm on spring break, and have committed myself to getting the car ready for track season.

Below is my to-do list. I have an alignment scheduled for Saturday. Lets see how much I can get done.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7861/...023a90f1_z.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7888/...fce62717_z.jpg

There was a puddle underneath her when I went out to the garage. Brake fluid. Clutch master reservoir was bone dry. Oh well, I have new ones anyway.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7889/...aa45efa7_z.jpg

P.O. Didn't use a washer. Yay, now I can add "Cleaning oil gunk" to my list.

CAS O-ring was also done for. Entire trans bellhousing is caked in oil. Good thing I bought one.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7885/...1495bf08_z.jpg

Original T-stat?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7867/...f87aa28d_z.jpg

Adam over at RevLimiter posted about making his own charcoal canister to cut down on gas fumes. If you remember I took my old car down to Atlanta in May of last year. I had serious gas fume issues then but chocked it up to just being an old car with less stringent emissions control.

But, seeing as there is a way to fix it I might as well. $20 Mishimoto Compact eBay special catch can, gutted then filled with activated charcoal pellets from the local aquarium store. 3/8 NPT to 5/16 Barb on the bottom is the EVAP in, and a breather filter on top keeps any ingested air clean and tidy. The plan is to mount this under the car and run a hose from the rollover valve to the can.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7834/...29281bd6_z.jpg

Belts, radiator, reroute, coolant hoses, etc. The usual for track-duty. The small coolant hoses are made by Vibrant, its this trick rubber lined silicone hose.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7834/...22f0d678_z.jpg

I re-did all the auxiliary coolant hoses with this stuff. Head to oil cooler, etc. 5/16 Fuel Injection hose clamps work great to keep it together.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7926/...569d9588_z.jpg

Managed to get this thing in there.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7819/...99b9265b_z.jpg

You can see EGR *barely* clears. Its a very tight, well designed piece of kit that works very well.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7816/...46bbe42c_z.jpg

Found these sick T-bolt clamps on amazon for my heater hoses. I hate gear clamps and spring clamps.

Lets see how far I get tomorrow.

Progress is a slow and cruel mistress. Life also caught me off guard.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4891/...f2b1851b_z.jpg

New evap can installed. Hose goes through the fuel pump wiring grommet, around, next to the trunk latch cable, down into the jack well and through the forward most body plug. Bolted behind the fender liner to avoid direct spray. Gas fumes should be eliminated for good.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7920/...fe840baa_z.jpg

These were a much larger pain to install than expected. New SuperPro bushings are nice, stock rubber ones crumbled in my hand when I removed them.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4848/...5176cb36_z.jpg

Crossflow rad installed. Also trimmed up the engine bay a bit. Real track-ready stuff.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7837/...2a4dd1f0_z.jpg

Centric Premium coated rotors, refreshed calipers, Hawk HPS pads, Techna-fit SS lines, stiff RB front bar, stock rear bar, FM endlinks, and built billies installed. Basically wrapped up the suspension and brakes. I still need to fill them with Motul DOT4 and bleed them. Numbers also came in, and I couldn't resist slapping them on.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7896/...52b41240_z.jpg

Testpipe came out nice. Since its right below the drivers seat I figured some heatwrap would be good. Too bad this pipe is for a 1.6L car... Stupid FB sellers.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7889/...6e8a126f_z.jpg

These were VERY easy to install. Line up, slap on with a rubber mallet, drill, screw and repeat. Also got the BBFW rollbar in but it was late so no photos.

Unfortunately due to life I couldn't get the car done. She'll be on jackstands for the time being until I can finish it up and tie all the loose ends.

Long time no update eh?

https://live.staticflickr.com/7811/3...157f377c_z.jpg[/url]

Prop valve in. This should be fun to play with.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7826/4...6bf442d3_z.jpg[/url]

This is the greatest invention every created. Took less than 10 minutes to bleed all 4 brakes. I also made an adapter for the clutch master out of an old master cyl cap.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7849/4...5d1dfb15_z.jpg

Nice pedal set, makes driving a lot easier IMHO.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7817/4...dbd83f6a_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/7860/3...c797dbfb_z.jpg

Seatbelt turned Rev icon. Why? I'm wiring in a Bee*R rev limiter box, and I want the icon to light up when its on to let me know I have the rev limit engaged. e-brake will engage a lower rev limit for launch control (4500 RPM or so) and the upper limit will be set however I feel.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7869/4...ec22ff79_z.jpg[/url]

https://live.staticflickr.com/7818/3...347162da_z.jpg

Sound mat cuts down on the noise from the rear of the car and the rattle trap that is the parcel shelf panel.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7847/3...23e0b05a_z.jpg

Hood vents in. I love seeing the heat rise out of them at stoplights.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7878/4...4eda649b_z.jpg

Got her back from the alignment shop. Went with a 949 Dual Duty at 4.00" Pinch height. I tried to set some rake but the springs settled in even. So I had -3* of rear camber with the eccentrics maxed. I jacked the rear back up to 4.5" and it brought my camber back into the -2 region where it should be.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...02ecb0db_z.jpg

Meeting up with some friends to cruise to Cars and Coffee. The S2K is from my buddy Tim, he's a bodyman at Autobody Specialists here in CBUS. He just finished respraying the car about a week before. There is not a single defect in it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3d1e7c14_z.jpg

At C&C Lennox. The MK7 GLI is owned by my friend Frankie. @iamsuperfrankie on insta. The thing puts down 400 to the front wheels.

I signed up for NWOR Auto-X @ TEA on April 28th. We'll see how she performs.

Auto-X was a huge success!

A Mutual friend co-drove my car in TSM (Street tire SSM class special to NWOR) and laid down consistent 62s runs in my car. my best was a 65.007 but I punted 2 cones unfortunately. Up to me to get my driver mod up there now.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ab713f2f_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0773a102_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8164c819_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6ff99884_z.jpg

All of us squadded up. All of us are in the Group Ohio Miata Owners. From left to right its Dave Birch (97' in STR), Steven Lynch (ES), Gabe Gretz (STS), Ryan Brown (ES, it was his first event as well), myself, then Bret Horn (He drove his MK6 GTI that day, he's turboing his 91' BRG). Kevin Luo brought his 350z (out of frame to the right) but co-drove Gabe's car that day.

It was an absolute blast. I can't wait until the next event.

I signed up for a Nelson Ledges track day August 10th, we'll see how she goes.

Wow, time flies.*

After Auto-X, I had a bit of an oopsie.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2214b985_z.jpg

Needed pretty much a new ass end of the car.*

Could have been worse, could have been this:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c0f6fa49_z.jpg

I took a trip to Colorado, visited the Pikes Peak Museum at the Penrose Heritage Center.*

Came back from Colorado to this:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b8bbd321_z.jpg

Couldn't afford a full paint at the time, left in in Harlequin form for a bit.*

Then I went to MATG with some friends.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...66a582ae_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b984c0e3_z.jpg

Then it was time for Nelson Ledges with the boys.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3b45b865_z.jpg

Here's a video comparison between my friend Dave and myself. Dave has several track days under his belt.*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDUSR9_QhLA

Here's my footage of the last session of the day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIV1xA5kMkY

Take note, the billies are BOUNCY. Like Anime fan service episode bouncy. Also doesn't help that I was so low it was rebounding off the bumpstops 24/7. This will be addressed later.*

Tracking was way better than punting cones or touge ricing lol.*

Then, my dad expressed in interest in going to Radwood Detroit. So we went.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c0e1a076_z.jpg

I touched up the back end, gave it a nice Mad Max vibe I guess.*

I decided I hated how it looked. So I put the car away for the winter, up on stands preparing for another spring break refresh.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7d4bde4c_z.jpg

Well as it turns out, Corona basically gave me infinite spring break lol. I decided to use the time to round out the car and improve the garage a fair amount. You'll see this later.*

I found a SCREAMING deal on my dream wheels.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5a1ce4a9_z.jpg

And then I went on a Clout Crusade.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...67704146_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4f5055d3_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...89cc4f6e_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e532ff68_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...65040b5a_z.jpg

Wheel woolie on a drill makes quick work of dusty mesh wheels.*

Back to actual car progress.

Step one was to make a space more conducive to actual work. That meant organized storage, lights, accessible power. Wrenching by candlelight was getting old fast.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...96e175d2_z.jpg

Step two was address suspension.

My front sway was much too stiff for what I was using the car for, so I stepped down one level from RB. My FM endlinks were also too long and I hated how the lower rubber bushing bound up. The billies also desperately needed a revalve and some tenders in the front.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7d4cc42f_z.jpg

Built my own end-links from stuff from QS components. Ended up at like $80 for all 4? Somewhere in that ballpark.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e790f5f9_z.jpg

Billies got revalved by RAM engineering in Michigan, and I got some Hyperco 25# tenders. I was checking clearances and such here, but the tenders and guides rattled on the sleeves. I flipped them next time around.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...42129b3e_z.jpg

I had to cut and modify the new links, but everything fit up nicely and worked through the active suspension travel range. It binds at full droop in the front, but I hope to never see that, and it frees up once you compress the suspension a bit.*

Step 3 was get the rear end sorted.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d984d5a9_z.jpg

Bumper cut, get the LED ring tails back together,and then off to paint to match.*

While the panels are getting painted, I needed to finish up some odds and ends on the car. Hopefully make a dent in my parts stash.

CAD Certified template

Then to metal

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...887c2a9e_z.jpg

Paint and then into the car.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cde26fea_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...80aa5ce1_z.jpg

Did one of these Auber gauge things for water temp. On the first test drive though she read 300 when OBD said 195... May need to adjust some things.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ae517fcc_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fc0e14c0_z.jpg

Nice clean look, amber LED color matches gauges and radio.*

I 3D printed the adapter from ABS Plastic.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...af38e4ee_z.jpg

The workhorse machine. If built billies are Miata Turbo "Zyduhs" Then I guess this you can call it the Miata Turbo "Proo-suh eye-tree mahk tree"

Moved to a Toyota COP setup. Made my own harness from the guide on Miata Turbo. Figured it would be better if I'm tracking to have easily accessed coils and plugs, unlike the Fab9 setup.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...11873d6e_z.jpg

I needed more interior lighting. So I went to LEDs in the visor plates and knee lights in the dash plates.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...58e0bc34_z.jpg

Next step was making the car a bit more plush. Vibration Dampening, MLV.*

If you remember I did this on the finish panel last year, but this time I did the rest of the interior, door skins, deck lid and trunk.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...82f85382_z.jpg

This is the trunk, but same idea applies to the rest of the car. Tap the panel to see how it rings, apply mat until you get a dead thump. Then lay down the MLV over the whole thing.*

I also added acoustic foam to the tunnels under the parcel panel just in front of the rear shock mounts. I swapped my jank Pioneer 4 way speakers for some nice Kicker 2 ways. This also let me take the spacers off my speaker grills and run them flush to the door card. I was tired of catching my shoes on them lol.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0b39cccc_z.jpg

Almost there.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6873dfa6_z.jpg

Polished and ceramic coated my glass. Makes a huge difference.*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6963d6fd_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...dfb98f1d_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...12452d77_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1decff3b_z.jpg

I'm happy with it. Also a good throwback to when I took similar photos with my first Miata.*

Coming Soon:*

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a5132877_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c074145e_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99f8d9d8_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c16f6418_z.jpg

VTEC Time.*

More quarantine means more progress, or not.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fe1722c3_z.jpg

Thanks phone mount!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1a0c3d7d_z.jpg

Roadtrip to a junkyard and 10 minutes later:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b83fe5fe_z.jpg

Clean 1.6 dash acquired.

Now to spend an inordinate amount of time and money refurbing and modding it to my liking.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...723419dc_z.jpg

CAD Template

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a7c2168f_z.jpg

To Metal

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...259b1714_z.jpg

Fits well

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cf73ec00_z.jpg

Tucks and slightly covers drivers front brake line.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...96dd0b6b_z.jpg

Gold ricer tape and some rubber trim later and its ready for use.

Got some real nice photos done by a friend:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d41ac59c_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...432b2c80_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2504c67f_z.jpg[/url]

I'm happy with it for now.

That heat shield turned out fantastic

I absolutely love those Glowstars! Good buy there!

TRACK TIME

TRACK TIME

Went to Mid Ohio with Autointerests for the weekend.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e7a06658_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4df9b03a_z.jpg

My boy Dave in the blue #74. We were trading places the whole session as each of us were faster in different spots. Stupid Subaru was holding us up.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...88565836_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4b5c10b5_z.jpg

For the weekend I put on a set of PFC 97 pads. The HPSs were not cutting it lol. It felt so nice to have a consistent and confident brake pedal turn after turn after turn. Especially diving into T7 at 100+mph

Brake caliper bolt fell off on Saturday and caused issues but I got it fixed up enough for Sunday. Only other casualties were super dusty wheels and a cap popped off one of my shocks.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4d097cee_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3267ee22_z.jpg

I ran a 2.00.93 as my PB that day, could have gone sub 2 but traffic in later sessions held me up.

Video of best lap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u70W5EOCzwI

Next up is Nelson Ledges in 2 weeks!

Been a while hasn't it?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5714cea3_z.jpg

Nelson Ledges was a success. Got down into the 1:25s, I would knock this down to a low 23 at a later track day in August.

Side note: The PFCs shed an insane amount of dust and demolish rotors. My poor Glowstars...

Next was NASA @ Pitt Race

Had to help a friend get their car together in time for race weekend...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...000f3701_z.jpg

COP Kit fixing the classic NB1 ignition issues.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...83959fd7_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cf29d41a_z.jpg

Nasa @ Pitt was fun, first weekend on Gloc R10/R8s. I couldn't stand the PFC dust. Lead-Follow instruction sucked, couldn't push at all.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d70bf28e_z.jpg

Was in the high 2:20s all weekend.

Took a break from tracking to go to MATG with my friends.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f66510dc_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7f7f9e43_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c52447ae_z.jpg


I had another Nelson Ledges event after, but no photos or data. Borrowed a friend's AIM, managed to get down into the 23s. Probably more out there, track is so sketchy I'm hesitant to push.

Lastly, Carfest @ Pitt Race.


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0f2502c7_z.jpg

Whole gang getting seat time.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8a900167_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...606a760a_z.jpg


PB was a 2:14! Whats crazy is I was stuck in the mid 2:16s all day, then I just went out in open session, track felt like it had decent grip so I decided to push a bit. Didn't expect to set a new PB by a fair margin lol.

Video:*f'k

​​​​​​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is7L...annel=BrapBrap

I have a decent amount of plans for the off-season. Should be fun coming up.

Ah where were we?*f'k

Offseason I decided to get into iRacing. I got a G27, but the 270mm wheel felt very unnatural. 3D printer to the rescue!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...71a21a0c_c.jpg

Picked these up from Tarmac88, figured it was time for more track focused wheels/ tires.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6fc7ecbe_c.jpg

Hit 90k driving it to/from work

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c5e2daf7_c.jpg

Then I put it away for the winter, then school started, then it started getting warm and I forgot how much fun the car was. I also procrastinated a ton of maintence lol.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b8cfed52_c.jpg

Fixed the circuit sports coolant tank and its shit design. Now I don't spill coolant in left turns.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1a5ce1e9_c.jpg

That should be one piece. Replaced it with a Mazdacomp on the drivers side, OEM on passenger.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ff310c04_c.jpg

Car Make Corns heatshield decided to just not hold together at the weld. Washer + hammer made it at least not rattle

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0a98e23c_c.jpg

VC Gasket, painted VC, new PCV, fresh coils, re-did the coil harness, new plugs and all driveline fluids.*f'k

While I had the VC off and plugs out I played with my Boroscope. Order of 1 to 4

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...302919fd_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...27170efa_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bacb6cdb_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...de7e796d_c.jpg

Dunno what I'm looking at to be honest. But I don't see chips or cracks or the usual signs of detonation on the edges of the piston though.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...282dba69_c.jpg

Stage one of this project.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4c887100_c.jpg

Finally getting some proper safety back in the car too.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0029ae64_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...05a44d7b_c.jpg

Cobra Monaco Pro 40th Anniversary editions, Schroth Enduro harnesses and I'll be wearing an SHR Flex HANS.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ac3b4c22_c.jpg

All just in time for Kmiata Day. I fit and clear broomstick, however my 6'6" instructor was never clearing broomstick unfortunately.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b1a2f2b9_c.jpg

Squadded up

I did go 4 off and blew off my front lip. New one was required.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d6091fbe_c.jpg

I gotta say this IKON MOTORSPORTS rep GV from Amazon is the best RepGV i've ever fitted. Actually perfect, no crease or short end like the others. Also seemed more flexible and smoother/ shinier than usual.*f'k

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...76644b49_c.jpg

And got these on after the track day. Definitely a difference, most noticeable in high frequency bumps and potholes. Front end rattles a lot less and theres more of a "thunk" than a rattle or shake when hitting bumps now.*f'k

Recently got into Drones too, so the Miata took a bit of a backseat to that as I started in the hobby and did my best to learn.*f'k

https://youtu.be/XnAVWsbHJz4

​​​​​​​https://youtu.be/dWe3YsCOA9w

Until next time.

Only 4 months since my last update? Seems longer but a lot happened.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6ca3da22_c.jpg

Was at a track day at Nelson Ledges and had some... issues.

Car was burning a lot of oil, but I assumed this was valve stem seals as it was intermittent and only on accelerating from a stop or at the bottom of a hill. I got everything to swap them, but wanted to "limp" it through the track day. I also got TB/WP and front end seals to do as they've probably never been changed before.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...550a1e12_c.jpg

Second session out I lost my oil cap. I chalked this up to BP vibrations and me just not tightening it. Was quite scary seeing oil spray on my windshield through the hood vents lol. Was pretty bummed as I've had that cap since 2016, bought it before I even got a Miata. Was signed by Mad Mike at FDATL 2016. Little did I know this was a precursor to some more serious issues.

Then, lap after a PB i'm backing off a bit. Coming out of carousel I floor it and there's nothing. Not the usual Miata 0 power, but genuinely no acceleration. Look behind me and see a massive cloud of smoke. Fuck.

Put it in neutral an coasted to the pits. Car died on track but was able to restart it and limp it to my spot. Was misfiring badly, and didn't get better after I swapped plugs. Friend had a compression tester...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...02c40418_c.jpg

Thats cylinder 3. Lmao. Full results were 120-60-0-120

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f3ca92d4_c.jpg

Definitely a different feeling than when my crunched first NA came off the flatbed. I was able to drive it into my garage though, albeit smoking up my entire neighborhood.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5b7fdd49_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d4bf7301_c.jpg

First signs from the teardown were... Interesting.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2a238ff3_c.jpg

F. Thats cylinder 2 lol, made 60psi with a hole in the piston.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9cc7c3e2_c.jpg

Gnarly.

My moneys on an injector clogging and the cylinder leaning out and exploding.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...06a792f2_c.jpg

Up and out.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99d4b301_c.jpg

Lined up a VVT dropout with equal miles to my chassis. So my ODO is correct... Perfect coincidence. But, I also scored a BP4W head and had a local head shop completely refresh it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b0e1e368_c.jpg

Luckily I had TB/WP and a bunch of seals ready to go already. Just needed a few odds and ends and I could re-seal the whole motor.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cf9ac489_c.jpg

Coming together.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cc7a98ec_c.jpg

Also pulled my diff to do poly bushings, come to find out i've been whipping an open diff this whole time. Theres another excuse for being slow lol.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...122d2483_c.jpg

Found a 4.3 Torsen locally rebuilt by Miata Boxes. Put it in my spare RX7 housing with poly bushings. Should make a good difference.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e1e4d24b_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...18f27835_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8cca76dd_c.jpg

Had the VC, Squaretop and header coated. Header was coated with Cerakote, should improve its durability and reduce how hot the bay gets.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5a7a7ab8_c.jpg

Wouldn't be a "me" project without some pointless personal touch items. Got these from Alethia Motorsports.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a8c3d6dd_c.jpg

No project is complete without a good wash and wax.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a8b3af43_c.jpg

And she's all buttoned up.

I'm still driving it around and finding/ solving little issues, but she's 99% there.

The 1% turned out to be the fact I forgot to tighten the lower alternator bolt:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...523195c9_c.jpg

Took it on a drone trip to a local park. Skip to 5:00

https://youtu.be/fMnfmRbwgsQ?t=300


I put about 2 gas tanks through it around town with 0 issues, put it away sometime in November.

Then, here in Ohio we had a weird singular warm Wednesday in February so I took her out for a good evening drive:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...111e6af3_c.jpg

Came home to a puddle of coolant right under the weep hole of the trans... Considering I run 70/30 and we had a couple really cold days I jumped to freeze plug at the back of the head. AKA engine out again.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9cd91dc7_c.jpg

I did diagnosis the right way though. Turns out the lower bolt on the reroute got loose and the reroute was leaking onto the trans. Fixed in an afternoon. Then took her back out for some photos

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c028f91a_c.jpg

iPhone photos hit different.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...668f84f7_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e97eb4bd_c.jpg

I had a week between the end of the semester and when I start another summer Co-op. So I did what I do best; grind away at a major project(s) for 10hrs a day for a week making an absolute mess along the way and testing how many cups of coffee I can consume without ill effect.

This time its FINALLY time to swap the dashboard. As simple as "swap" sounds, there's of course so much more to this.

Step 1: old dash out (the easiest part)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0da48974_c.jpg

Step 2: Dash in right?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b5acaa78_c.jpg

Wasn't that easy

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...43b4c8dd_c.jpg

After flocking I noticed some pegs were broken and made an effort to fix them

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...921b0586_c.jpg

Speaking of flock, they still look great even after a year of sitting in the garage

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3c3980af_c.jpg

Also had to fix a crack in the glovebox

Thats plastic weld I swear

The dash pull revealed that I was missing the HVAC clamps and I was probably losing a lot of air to it just blasting around the passenger footwell.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1d958c24_c.jpg

Nothing duct tape cant fix. I ordered some clamps and they arrived just in time to install before I put the dash in.

Stealing an idea from Adam/ Revlimiter I also wanted to use mesh to protect the defrost vents.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1953b130_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2a9286b5_c.jpg

Wonder how well this will stay in place when driving...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c051dcf4_c.jpg

Nice.

Since my original VIN tag says AIRBAG but I have no airbags, and I wanted to do something special.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8893e619_c.jpg

Hand-stamped vin plate. Thats all the internet will see of this though. You'll have to see it in person for the end results.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8a69b85f_c.jpg

I bought a used RevLimiter switch panel and sanded/polished the backing plate.

Also, since the NA8 glovebox lock mechanism is totally different to the NA6 version I had to manually re-pin the lock cylinder of the NA6 mech to work with my key. That was annoyingly tedious.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...67770e2c_c.jpg

Refurbed the knee panel, this thing was super crusty before. Wire wheel and paint go a long way.

I then decided to try my hand at Auto Upholstery. I bought pre-made leather pieces from RedLine leather about 5 years ago a month after I got my first Miata. Yes, I was planning this swap from day 1.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6e8d2a07_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a24350a3_c.jpg

Corner piece turned out quite nice I think.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a22c9b39_c.jpg

Trying to keep the seam straight across the pad, and level.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...13fd533b_c.jpg

The shakey midnight mockup pic lol.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7d966ca5_c.jpg

HVAC mockup

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5a892b8d_c.jpg

I bought this fancy Retrosound hideaway antenna about the same time I bought the leather bits for the first Miata. The mega plan. Funny, I wanted a Retrosound radio back then but changed my mind.

Its powered/ amplified? Basically its an active antenna and can get pretty good reception even inside a dash. I stuck it to the underside of the top.

Enough messing about with accessories, its real install time.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b5acaa78_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f78008c6_c.jpg

Aaaaand all buttoned up.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1559ee97_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...527c0f44_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c57c1510_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...72ff0786_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2fcf3689_c.jpg[/url]

I love my interior.

Until next time!

Your dash is incredible! You really hit the details. I like the garbage-can mesh screen.

+1 on the creative use of trash bin; and great looking updates!