building the "WAR MACHINE"

[SpeedWorks]

hey everyone, so I know some of you are on the other miata forums and may have been following my build, but I thought that since I just joined in on this site that I'd post a build thread on here from the beginning.

Before I show you my current project, you can all check out my last miata and feel for my style. You can see my last project here:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/133319...zda-miata-mx-5

Now, enough of my old ride and on to the new project. I've had the project for some time now and progress has been a bit on the slow side, but I want to make sure everything gets done right the first time and I want to build the car completely from bottom to top once and not have to go back later and change stuff. Some of you might think i'm crazy for building my project like this, but I wouldn't do it any other way.

So now on to some pics.

Here is the shell when I first got it:









And here is what the interior looked like when the car was delivered to me:





Got the car with no doors, but a buddy had a set of doors in decent shape, so put those on right away:



Then on to the first few freebies for the project thanks to some of my fellow miata brothers:

[SpeedWorks]

stage 2 was to start tearing down the chassis and cleaning things up a bit.











and here is a pile of stuff removed from the shell:



and then as I was acquiring some parts for the project.

[SpeedWorks]

further teardown and preparation for my wire tuck:









also prepping front end for some paint:













and after some paint applied:

[SpeedWorks]

then some wire tuck progress:

[SpeedWorks]

got the shell up on jack stands to remove the subframes and get under the car for more teardown and cleanup:





front subframe out:



rear subframe out:



ppf out:



and a sneak peak at my front big brake custom kit:

[SpeedWorks]

from there, a slew of parts arrived:

steering wheel:





front rotors, as seen in sneak pic above:



new front hubs:



inner and outer tie rods as well as lower control arm bushings:



some nice JDM gauge rings:





super rare Rod Millen rear mudflaps:



you should all know what these are:



red throttle pulley

[SpeedWorks]

and some more painting on the chassis:







and a flying miata

[SpeedWorks]

and this is the engine for the project..... don't worry, it'll be torn down and completely rebuilt with a fine tooth comb:



these will be a nice addition to the rear:



the good stuff:



thought these might do good up front as well:



and picked these up from getting sandblasted and painted:









closeup for color reference on the subframes:



got this back from powdercoating.... oh and its been extrude honed too:



and this is always a good site to see:





without:



with:



valve cover:







mounting points for COPS





and the dash was cleaned and painted:

[SpeedWorks]

subframe assembly:





nice addition for the interior:



removed, sandblasted, prepped and painted the pedal assemblies:





had a -10 fitting welded onto the oil pan:



and had the pan tapped........



for this:







coolant mixing manifold, with a little trick pulled from Hyper's holy grail coolant reroute:



extended wheel studs installed:



new brake master cylinder:



gates racing accesory belts:

[The Platypus]

Wow! That's quite a build! Really impressed.

[SpeedWorks]

custom fenders i am in the process of finishing up:



an awkward shot of the subwoofer/style bar box i'll be running:



and my front calipers after coming back from the powder coater. new seals and they will be good to go:



size reference of stock wheel studs with new wheel studs:



a full set of the ever elusize vs855 valve springs:





brake rotor centering rings:



these will work nicely with the bride seats:



i've got a little more info on the build, but i'll save that for later.

stay tuned for further progress and sorry for the massive picture assault all in one day.

[SpeedWorks]

Wow! That's quite a build! Really impressed.

thanks man. its been alot of hard work and i still have alot more to go

[psulja]

Nice looking build so far. I love your subframe!!

[eaeaerick]

I love rags to riches stories! But your thread name and avatar have me feeling that if this car does not look like the "War Machine" in the end, I may be disappointed. :-)

[SpeedWorks]

Nice looking build so far. I love your subframe!!

thanks alot. as for the subframes, i wanted them to be as nice as the rest of the car will be so i had them sandblasted and then shot with Awlgrip paint. For those that haven't heard of the stuff, its a two part epoxy paint that is mainly used in the yacht industry for painting engine components and components that live underwater. Its high solvent resistant and when applied right, it really shines. My subframes came out extremely clean and shiny so i'm super happy about that. just imagaine, if i put this much attention into subframes that will never be seen, how will the rest of the car turn out?

I love rags to riches stories! But your thread name and avatar have me feeling that if this car does not look like the "War Machine" in the end, I may be disappointed. :-)

don't worry, you won't be dissappointed. When the car is done and with all the trick features I plan on incorporating, you will see why i called it the war machine.