Summer - a 1991 Blazing Orange NA

[owm]

This is my first car and will have owned it coming to 3 years this April. 8th owner and took over the car when the mileage was 230,000km (of which I am not sure whether they are original mileages!). Been slowing modifying, building, repairing and maintaining the ride since I took ownership of it.

Current up-to-date list as follows.

1. Handling

Bracing
- Carbing front shock tower brace with brake stopper
- Harddog M2 rollbar
- Ultra Racing front lower brace
- Ultra Racing rear lower brace
- Ultra Racing rear torsion brace
- Ultra Racing 23mm front anti-roll bar, disconnected rear bar
- Boss Frog arms
- Rigid collars

Suspension
- FCM (Fat Cat Motorsports) top mounts
- FCM re-valved height adjustable Bilstein HD on 400F/300R lbf/in springs with 36mm MCU bump stops all round
- Mazdaspeed rubber+PU bushings, engine and differential mounts


2. Wheels
- SSR Type C semi solid forged in gun metallic 15x7.0J 4x100 PCD +35mm offset
- Silverstone EvolVIII 195/55/15 @29psi


3. Brakes
- NB8 Sports front on Centric rotors and PosiQuiet pads
- NA6 rear on Centric rotors and PosiQuiet pads with SS lines


1888


4. Drivetrain
- Exedy OE clutch
- Toda Racing 3.5kg chromoly flywheel
- 6spd gearbox with 3.909 final drive
- Stainless steel clutch hose
- Limited Slip Differential
- De-powered steering rack
- Rebuildable NB8 drive/prop shaft
- NB8 half shafts


5. B6 Engine over-bored to 1.7L
- Flyin Miata Wiseco forged 11:1 pistons + rings
- HKS 256 in/ex camshafts
- Toda Racing adjustable cam gears
- ACL race + thrust bearings
- Cometic MLS head gasket
- GTX 323 block
- COPS (Coil Over Plugs System)
- Ebay engine damper
- 13 row oil cooler
- Oil filter relocation kit
- 55mm Koyo radiator with 1.1bar radiator cap
- Hondata intake manifold gasket
- Maxim Works 4:2:1 OR OBX 4:2:1 header with TDR heat blanket
- Larini cat-back exhaust
- Coolant reroute
- Oil catch can
- Walbro 195lph fuel pump
- Hydra V2.5 standalone ECU
- garageStar Carbon fiber spark plug cover
- Capri valve cover + Maruha cam cover (to be installed)
- Jenvey Quad Throttle Bodies / Individual Runner Throttle Bodies (tuning soon)
- 265cc fuel injectors
- Tomei fuel pressure regulator


1889


6. Fluids used
- Engine: Schaeffers Supreme 9000 5w40
- Transmission: Redline MT-90 GL4
- Differential: Redline 75w90 GL5
- Coolant: Redline Waterwetter + distilled water
- Brake: LiquiMoly DOT4
- Clutch: Caltex DOT3
- Additives: Auto-RX maintenance dose in engine, FuelPower 60 in petrol tank


7. Exterior mods
- OEM front lip from Rspeed
- RS Active low profile headlights
- Zoom Engineering Autoblaze SS door mirror
- OEM 1990 hardtop (18kg; no headliner, no defroster)
- Project-G G-wing hardtop spoiler


1891


8. Interior mods
- RS Refine hand-turned SS gauge rings
- Ebay aluminium gauge center caps
- Nardi Classico 350mm steering wheel with HKB hub
- Nardi Evolution shift knob
- Ebay chrome-plated A/C vent rings, interior lights
- RS Products hazard/light combo switch copy
- ARC rear view mirror
- Sazaire ignition cover
- Isotta handbrake lever + Momo leather boot
- Aerodramatics door handles + lock buttons
- Insulated transmission tunnel and floorpan with aluminium double insulation barrier
- Soft top delete (16kg weight savings)
- Teflon window guide rollers (replace destroyed OEM at rear window guide channel)
- Stainless steel Torx bolts for all latches and striker plates
- Defi DIN gauge
- East Bear Sports Sigma driver seat + rail (6kg in total)
- OEM passenger seat in Alcantara/leather combo
- Green LEDs for instrument cluster
- White LEDs for A/C panel and interior lights
- Zoom Engineering pedals
- RS Products A/C panel

1890

[NAautoxer]

impressive list of mods! sweet color, too.

[owm]

Thanks! Taken me 2 plus years to get to this stage. Just waiting for my tuning date so I can finally enjoy the awesomeness of ITB :)

[The Driver]

AMAZING! I wish I had your checking account to build my car smilar to yours!

[stormin'norman]

More pictures. Bigger pictures. Tell us about the rigid collars. Thank you!

[I<3flippyheadlights]

Dude your car is amazing... I want ITB's so bad :gonk:

[owm]

Had lots of photos taken over the 2 yrs I have owned my Miata but lost all of them when my NAS was hit during a lightning storm and my HDDs were burnt through the LAN cable duh...

Will be slowly rebuilding my photo catalogue over time!


ITBs are cool but it is an expensive way to gain HP/torque! Also, they are not easy to tune and live with (noise especially at idle or during heavy start/stop traffic). However, I still love them! :)

[owm]

Spoon Rigid Collars:
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/299416_10150362285975850_568300849_9939079_7708184 _n.jpg

Some photos showing where the collars attach to between the subframe and body:
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/291891_10150362286060850_568300849_9939081_3075694 _n.jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/318518_10150362286150850_568300849_9939083_5048112 _n.jpg

These Collars have been fitted to some local NA and NCs here and the general consensus is that they help to stiffen up the chassis similar to what frame rails and bolt-ons do without the weight penalty. Here is a video from Spoon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zWyUD6UXfog

[owm]

Finally figured out how to attach actual-sized photos :P


The Jenvey kit out of the box:
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/310568_262826910434584_100001218329051_796484_1825 019834_n.jpg


Polished up Larini muffler:
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394843_300330626684212_100001218329051_900258_9147 1245_n.jpg


My driver seat, an East Bear Sigma:
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/395384_302341946483080_100001218329051_905085_1016 377290_n.jpg


Project-G G-wing hardtop spoiler:
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/321226_10150304246994500_539314499_7550005_1839444 977_n.jpg

[ThatWhiteNA]

I'm glad to see that the Spoon rigid collars work! It's a shame that they're so expensive.

That aside, you have a beautiful NA!

[Chops]

Maxim Works 4:2:1 OR OBX 4:2:1 header with TDR heat blanket

So do you swap these out from time to time? What are your thoughts on the OBX header and how does it compare to the Maxim?

I'm just curious because I too have the same OBX 4:2:1 header. On my bone stock motor, I've noticed the midrange power is much better. In 5th gear, it pulls very hard from about 3500rpm on up. It's a big improvement over stock. Of course, in the lower gears, it pulls real hard. Then again, I have a light weight 4kg flywheel as well.

BTW, I love your car and what you've done to it. Great work! That "Blazing Orange" color is amazing!

[owm]

^^the OBX I just bought and yet to swap it in :) reason for purchase is so I can see if I can restore the shine on my Maxim header which has a badly tarnished surface since I got it 2nd hand and was previously wrapped. Will likely do a comparison to see if there is a difference betw the two ceteris paribus!

Thanks for the comments and I have gotten accustomed to the paint color. Got to admit was not a fan when I first got it!

[owm]

My current dyno chart after tuning with the Jenvey ITBs in place:
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426652_315338815183393_100001218329051_938071_2041 6227_n.jpg

A bit disappointed in the HP gains I must say but in line with what others have gone through. Glad to see the improved torque figures and curve though! Now got to monitor the FC and see how badly will it drop from my previous 10lm/L figure!

[Maikeru]

Very nice build. It's good to see someone using the rigid collars on something other than a Honda. Seems most people don't want to because Spoon is associated with Honda, so they think it won't work on their cars. Looking foward to seeing you break the 200HP mark.

[owm]

The Rigid Collars helped in stiffening up my 20yr old chassis with minimal weight penalty and they are relatively inexpensive but are a pain to install without a car lift.

I don't think it is possible to break the 200bhp mark with a N/A 1.6 based on what I have read. If I can hit 170bhp I will be happy! Not planning to do any further internal engine work as I daily drive the car and would like to keep it streetable and reliable.

[NAautoxer]

wow. daily driving itb's. hahahaa..

really interesting on the spoon collars. i'm a super-honda-fan-boi and will be looking into getting them for a few of my cars. :D:D

uhm.. where to find???

[owm]

Is it that bad DD an ITB car? So far no complaints from me :P

The Rigid Collars can be bought online from rhdjapan, nengun or even from Yahoo! Japan Auction. I got mine from a local dealer where I am:
http://competitiontyres.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/spoon-rigid-collars/

[NAautoxer]

not BAD just rarely seen. that's all.

[owm]

Successfully re-installed my Carbing STB over the Jenvey ITB :D

Now trying to figure out how best to run my oil catch can since on the intake side of the valve cover, the PCV valve is no longer connected to the intake manifold. I remounted by oil catch can back on the exhaust side and venting to atmosphere but I think this is wrong. Comments? Ideas?

[owm]

Short clip showing the Jenvey ITB in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8eSwD8tF_QQ


How the engine bay currently looks:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/424382_316789595038315_100001218329051_941395_2059 953774_n.jpg


With the sausage filter in place:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/419497_316792265038048_100001218329051_941413_5018 84585_n.jpg

[Chops]

With the sausage filter in place:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/419497_316792265038048_100001218329051_941413_5018 84585_n.jpg

I want those headlights soooooo bad for the BRG! Where do you guys get them?

[owm]

^^I got mine used from Yahoo! Japan Auction. They pop up once in a while :)

Superior light throw compared to my OEM Koitos that had removable H4 bulbs but still sucked pretty badly when driving at night or in rainy conditions.

[owm]

A short clip of my engine running with the Jenvey ITB system:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=n8iIgao0PsI

[owm]

Took out my tired, worn out Maxim Works header that had badly oxidized and pitted surface due to exhaust wrapping applied by previous owner. This resulted in some pre-mature cracks which I am going to see if can be repaired and attempt to clean up the ratty surface:
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/409513_326345147416093_100001218329051_965365_9586 75186_n.jpg

Thus in the mean time, I put in the OBX SS 4:2:1 header:
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/430633_326345380749403_100001218329051_965378_1933 290159_n.jpg
Went in without a hitch and the surface is already turning out a nice goldish blue sheen.

This was on top of putting in my powdercoated Capri cover and Maruha cover:
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/425577_326345350749406_100001218329051_965377_1324 515624_n.jpg

I am happy with the way the engine bay resembles now, no more changes for immediate future :D

[Agent☣Orange]

I freakin love this ride!

[morr]

Wow, your engine bay looks gorgeous! It'd look even better with some of those wires tucked.

[Caoboy]

I am....how you say. Jelly.

[owm]

Thanks all, this is the cumulative effect of 3 yrs of ownership! :D

@morr - I was considering doing a wire tuck but it is too much effort and beyond my skills plus it will be tricky to do troubleshooting should anything goes wrong. It is mildly tuck in that I hide all the spaghetti wiring under the ITB filter :P

I am thinking of perhaps changing the cams from the mild HKS 256 in/ex to the more aggressive Toda 264 in/ex but this is just chasing numbers...

[owm]

Re-did the insulation on my coolant reroute and A/C piping using an aluminized foam-tubed hollow pipe bought from a discount store. Looks way better than the exhaust header wrap I was using:
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426883_326779480705993_100001218329051_966344_4341 13282_n.jpg