Function>Everything

[Pyr0monk3y]

After 2 years with my capsule of teenage freedom, I think it's time to start logging the triumphs and hardships I have experienced with my 1991 Miata.

In March of 2012, just a few minutes after handing over my "life savings" in exchange for a beat up miata, I took this picture:



That's what it looked like when I bought it. The hood is covered in rock chips, the paint is flaking everywhere, there's rust in front of the left rear wheel, and the weather stripping around the hard top is peeling up. The previous owner painted it in his back yard in what must have been a sand storm. He must have been in a hurry because there's over spray on all of the glass and you can see where the car had front mud flaps at the time it was painted.

Two years later, here is my progress:



Not a lot has changed. Appearance wise, the only changes you will notice are the wheels (these are my track wheels), a front lip, a tow hook, a race seat, and brake dust.

Every single time I point a wrench in this car's direction I have the intention of making it safer, more reliable, and when the budget allows, faster. This is nothing other than a track car. It's not worth my time and effort to make it into anything else. I don't have a goal for the car, all I have is a philosophy of use: I use the car to commute to work every day and I do track days every other month.

When I was shopping for cars I was told to buy something cheap and disposable, "because you're inexperienced. It will end up on fire, in a tire wall, probably drivers left after turn 10." This is an exact quote from an instructor I was talking with during lunch at VIR. I cannot argue with this, and I'm glad I followed this advice. Fortunately the car has not been wrecked yet but I can see why it was a good idea to buy something cheap and already beat up.

Over the coming weeks I will fill in the gaps between these two pictures. I have taken lots of pictures, some of them are even interesting or useful. Unfortunately, I cannot offer much in terms of step by step pictorial guides, mainly because I usually have no idea what I'm doing and I'm in a hurry to get the car on track. However, I will do my best to at least explain what's going on in the pictures. I hope, as this thread unfolds, the bond between me and my first car becomes visible. The car feels very special to me now, I must resist the erg to coddle it. It's about time for another track day...