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Thread: Joel's Kyusha inspired Laguna Blue na8

  1. #1
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    Joel's "Laguna Blue and Tan work really well" build thread.

    Hi, I'm Joel and I drive a 1994 NA8. My goal for this car is a minimalist look with subtle touches and styling cues from Kyusha cars and old, classy English Roadsters.

    In looking for an MX5 I only had one requirement which was it had to be an NA8.

    April 4th 2013 is the day that I picked up my very first car, a New Zealand new MX5 in Laguna Blue. It had 179,000kms on the clock and was mechanically sound without anything that needed to be attended to urgently but many changed needed to be made for my personal satisfaction.
    4.5k was exchanged after

    Good Points:

    Healthy 1.8l and running gear
    No rust or any structural damage
    Factory leather Nardi steering wheel and shift knob
    Aftermarket exhaust
    Original Black Tonnaeu cover
    Ex nz MX5 club member car, old manuals, service history, tool kit included

    Bad Points:

    Roof leaked a bit around the parcel shelf
    Lowering springs fitted made the car bouncy
    Coupled with the balloon 195/60s on 14x6 made the car very rolley polley
    Paint was pretty good but there were a couple places touch up paint was used and looked pretty bad
    Tail Lights were ugly (for now)
    Style bars
    No Air conditioning, only heater.

    Dusty first day



    After a clean







    First de-modification was the remove the style bars and the tail lights, prefer the clean look



    Had to then remove the old suspension setup. I went with OZ Racing Coilovers, Identical to BC Golds apparently



    Before



    After



    They went lower but the tyre setup did it no favors.
    So the search for wheels and tyres began, I take a big influence in old japanese cars that take after 'Shakotan' (very low car) and Kaido (road racer) styles so I knew I wanted a wheel choice to reflect that. Big problem is that the 4x100 limits wheel selection so I got some quality hubcentric 4x114.3 15mm adapters and picked up these babies.

    Advan A3As 14x6 +6



    Had the paint removed and gave it an amateur polish then wrapped it in some 185/55 tyes



    After that some interior love was needed as my steering wheel and shift knob was in bad shape. I bought a second hand 325mm Nardi that was in great condition and coupled it with Garage5's Type 99 Shift knob and a 90mm shift extender. The gear and handbrake gaters were also replaced.



    I was always under the impression that all 1.8 NAs had a Torsen LSD, I learnt the hard way that it wasn't true when I power overed out of a slippery road and nearly smashed into the curb. So mine didn't have one. Luckily I found a cheap one from upgarage and had it shipped over for $130.

    Type 1 and It has definitely made a difference



    My next mechanical change came in the form of a clogged thermostat which made a leak in the original radiator, which is something I probably would have changed anyway because it's so displeasing to the eye.
    An alloy one twice the size went in



    A quarter of a year went by and I had gotten more and more influenced by old British roadsters and I lusted after some Runabout M2 mirrors but after speaking with Rod about bringing a pair over that dream was extinguished (I was lookin at 350 shipped). Instead I sourced some generic ones from a company in NZ, they warned me about the poor visibility they would provide given the MX5s door shape. I bought them anyway



    Not only were they ugly on the car but the visibility was indeed terrible, so I got rid of them and started saving for runabouts!



    Fog lights in check, R-Package installed.
    The Fog Lights were my favourite part of the car, I loved the menacing yellow PIAA bulbs that came factory. Unfortunately they both blew shortly after installing these and I had to settle for crap bulbs until I can muster the courage to spend $40 per bulb on genuine replacements.



    Shortly after my roof sprung a leak bigger than before basically forcing me to replace my soft top.
    A hard top was never an option for me for two reasons; 1. They go for at least $900 here 2. I wanted the ability to drop the top whenever and where ever without having to worry about sudden change of weather (New Zealand loves to do this.
    I tossed up between a tan top and a black one since I love Te look of Laguna blue with tan interior. I got the black and played it safe, biggest regret of the build so far.

    One piece HAARTZ soft top. Also sprayed my old Altezza tail lights red, looked great but I planned to move onto something better



    Having run the wheels for about a year now I need a new look and I have a gigantic list of Kyusha (old car - Japanese) wheels to collect I started hunting on Yahoo auctions.

    Found these wheels and mirrors



    Ultimately I went for S800s instead of M2s. A main reason being I didn't think the blue tinted mirror would compliment a blue car.
    Also went for Impul Hoshinos, a favourite, to run on the rear.

    The front pair of wheels would soon follow



    A subtle touch, Garage5 OEM Mazda sticker



    ----





    ---

    I had my pair of Hoshinos sitting in my shed for a couple months while I searched for the right pair to match them. It isn't an easy task since I'd need to go with something fairly plain, the plan was either SSR Mk1s or SSR Formula Mesh but in searching I didn't come up fruitful and instead I went with SSR Longchamps that I got for a steal.



    After the wheels were sorted I went ahead and finally bought my favourite MX5 aftermarket part





    A genuine Garage Vary nostalgic panel with all three lights! There is a bit of a back story to this piece that makes it a little more special. First of all it is second hand bought from a friend who had it fitted to his car, originally sourced from Japan through Rod the panel from Garage Vary and the lights from various part suppliers in Japan. It was then fitted to a BRG with so many different JDM parts it just needed to be pulled together with paint really, then this happened





    Thankfully he survived, ended up buying another MX5 but didn't fit the panel back. I told him to let me know if he ever wanted to sell it and after months and months we finally made the exchange (mostly on my part, I was first in line for the panel but never had the money).

    Given that it's been in a crash it has sustained some damage. There are very small chips missing from the top of the panel near where it meets with the boot and one of the lens has a couple small chips missing from it too but apart from that I'm happy with it.

    Even though the GV Tail is a unique item there are still a number of miatas with it so I wanted to do something a little different. The Kyusha, Kaido, Shakotan and Zokusha scenes of Japan use Porter Cab tail lights sometimes and I wanted to emulate the way they do it

    So..



    Last edited by Joelioooo; 09-17-2014 at 03:19 AM.

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  3. #2
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Ihatecars's Avatar
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    As I've said on CR, your car is awesome. I'm definitely looking forward to things to come!

  4. #3
    Super Moderator atank's Avatar
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    Looks good, kinda reminds me of another LB I know!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. #4
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    I wanted to post here as well as on CR. Your choice of wheels is fantastic.

    Also, tail lights.

  7. #5
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    Thanks guys.

    Picked up my wheels from the shop. I had asked them to remove only the bends and serious kerbing. A full restore including polish and paint would have cost me up to $1000, an amount of money I really don't have.

    Here's some before and after shots




    Terrible, over eager after shot



    I know they still look rough but I'm pretty happy with them! Will they actually suit the car? I hope so, Equip 02s look good on NAs so I'm hoping these do too!

    The Longchamps are 14x7 +1 and Hoshinos are 14x7.5 -1. With the 15mm adapters the new sizes are equivelant to 14x8 -2 and 14x8.5 -4. These will be going under factory guards and 185/55 ze912s wrapped around.

    Next is to work on the guards. Which I've discovered is not fun with a guard roller.



    I think I enjoyed our old method better. (Yes I really did use a scissor jack)



    Work shall continue tomorrow and I'm also picking up a new interior piece.

  8. #6
    Supporting Member fwdtamiya's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by revlimiter View Post
    I wanted to post here as well as on CR. Your choice of wheels is fantastic.

    Also, tail lights.
    Same.

    Also, how did you straighten your wheels?

  9. #7
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    A shop did it locally, I can't remember the process they talked me through though. :/

    Got the wheels all fitted up, pretty happy overall, they have a much more aggressive stance. They desperately need a clean up though.

    Went down to a friend's workplace today to pick up his old V Spec floor mats. These things are butter!



    The mats are a dark brown/chocolate colour (not faded as the picture appears) and I wasn't sure if it would match the black interior as they are off V Spec BRG cars(?), but happily they look great and are in really good condition, can't wait to start working on the interior more.

    Lovely gold plaque.



    Just before leaving I decided to snap up some pictures of our cars. (Sorry for potato pictures but it's either a camera or car parts and I choose the later)




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  11. #8
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Sean5294's Avatar
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    Nice car!!! Soooo, can I have your wheels lol,

  12. #9
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    They already have a buyer lined up, hehe. Yahoo Japan has plenty though.

    Today's mission was the clean up the new wheels, here's some before and after shots of the Hoshinos.



    As you can see they were absolutely filthy, grubby and pretty embarrassing to roll on so with a little 240 grit sandpaper, some alloy polishing solution, a can of $6 black paint and a polishing drill bit that is so used it looks like a dead rodent wrapped in a circle we came up with this.



    They also need the finishing touch, new bolts. Only wanted to heads painted.



    Quick snap of the new carpets fitted, these things are lush, love them.



    Some more potato phone photos




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  14. #10
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    It was an incredible day today, sunny and not too hot so why not do some work on the car today?

    First I decided to tackle something that has bothered me since I got my Hoshinos. The stickers aren't there!
    It's the little things that I really feel the need to tend to, I don't look at my wheels as complete until I get these.

    Luckily I actually had a spare pair of 14x6 Hoshinos sitting in the shed with their labels intact (these were originally going to be widened but upon arrival from Japan I realized they were 4x110).



    The plan was to peel the sticker off best I could and take it some where to be replicated; but then this happened



    Yes! They were actually thin metal tabs! After a quick clean to the backside I glued them on, I wanted to keep the face dirty and untouched to give them a slightly more vintage look.

    Before and after shots







    The next mod didn't turn out how I wanted it to but I blame it mostly on the wrong paint.



    The yellow center was an inspiration from Waruusagi-san's GZ10 Soarer. Big fan of this car.



    Finally I got sick of the white GV Panel so went down to SPRSTA's shop to have it painted and repaired of the damage it sustained in the roll of the previous car. He did work on this for reference http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/89-...powerwing.html

    Back to the old garnish


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  16. #11
    Super Moderator atank's Avatar
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    Those wheels look great!

  17. #12
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    Thanks atank!

    Took the car out and got some pictures, as much as I love the Hoshinos I'm not entirely happy with how they suit the car. It's a difficult wheel to match with another pair and Longchamps aren't one of them so I accidentally on purpose won some Hayashi Streets and SSR Mk1s from Yahoo Auctions, hope they will suit them better.




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  19. #13
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    I had neglected to buy new PIAA bulbs for my fog lights for a while, I couldn't really justify the 80USD price tag for them but of course no alternative would even be able to touch them in terms of performance so last week I ordered a pair of Amazon for $60! Crazy cheap.

    Look at the packaging these come in, no wonder they're so expensive ;)




    Here's the PIAA bulb with the crappy alternative I used



    Night time performance, I'm really happy with them but the pictures don't show the colour as much as I'd like



    After over 2 weeks of waiting and it being painted 'Winning Blue' instead of Laguna Blue then repainted Laguna again I finally have the panel in my possession!




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  21. #14
    Supporting Member fwdtamiya's Avatar
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    Nice!

  22. #15
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Joelioooo's Avatar
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    While waiting for some ducks and ducklings to get off of my driveway I hopped out and snapped some pictures.





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