psulja's '99 Twilight Blue Mica

[psulja]

Since I made a thread for my NA I figured I'd make one for my NB too. The main purpose of this car right now is as a winter car while I'm in school. Hopefully when I finished university in the next couple years I'll be able to turn it into a more track/autox oriented car.

I bought this car off a friend of mine in November 2011 after talking about it for a couple months trying to decide if I wanted to have 2 cars or not while in school. I eventually decided to get it since I'd need something to get around during the winter.

Quick mod list:
Flyin' Miata Springs
KYB AGX Shocks
Flyin' Miata sways F&R
RacingBeat muffler
Harddog Hardcore Single Diagonal Rollbar
Custom Cold-side Short ram intake
330mm MOMO Monte Carlo

Onto pictures:

Installing the FM Springs w/ KYB AGX's:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/IMG_0365.jpg


http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/25.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/14.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/1.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/24.jpg

Taking care of winter duties:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20in%20snow/DSC_0056.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/DSC_0035.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/IMG_10751.jpg

Earlier in the season I went out with a group of guys to slide around in the snow in a big empty parking lot. Sure enough someone slid right into me hitting my rear quarter panel:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/E0155C71.jpg

Since I didn't want to shell out the $2400 I was quoted by a body shop to fix it I had a friend help me bang out most of the damage just to get the basic shape back for the rest of the winter until summertime when the car is parked when I can fill it and get it looking proper again.
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/3698848F.jpg

Recently put on a bunch of stickers I got on the bottom of the trunk lid:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/42D26FF9.jpg

That's pretty much it for now. I'm not sure exactly where I plan to go with this car right now but hopefully I can keep it running properly until I finish school at which time it'll start to see a lot more autox and track time (hopefully!).

Random videos from this winter, playing in the snow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG3kiE9vNoM&feature=colike

http://youtu.be/SwkadlnwePI
A video I found that had me in it from the very beginning of winter:

http://youtu.be/BcXrAiCMdJY

[psulja]

Got my summer wheels back on, they are Konig Heliums with dead Hankook RS-2 tires. Also plastidipped all the badges and the frankenstein bolts and waxed the car quickly.
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/chicken_frontcornerangled.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/chicken_frontcorner.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/Chicken_rear2.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/Chicken_rearquarter.jpg
My interior:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/chicken_interiorfromtop.jpg

Hopefully will be getting some OEM sideskirts soon to cover up the rust.

Also, my coilpacks are on there way out so I'm having some bad misfiring issues on any harder pulls or sometimes when just driving along. Went to my local dealership and with the local club discount the price still came to over $550 :shock: Hopefully I can find them somewhere else for much cheaper than that!

Would also like to polish my headlights in the next little bit and possibly paint the inside of the housings matte black, but that means I'd actually have to do some real work so I'm not sure about that yet. Not completely comfortable with baking the lights yet, but I think it would look really good with the rest of the black and blue that is going on right now.

[blackchicken]

Love it with the Heliums and black emblems! Chrome is kryptonite for miatas and must be painted black. :)

[psulja]

Decided to actually do some work tonight. We'll see what happens with this (2 broken bolts so far :()

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040176.jpg
Love how you can see the intake in that one ^
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040180.jpg

[morr]

Nice progress so far! Those snow videos look like a blast :) How'd the lights turn out?

[WASABI]

Decided to actually do some work tonight. We'll see what happens with this (2 broken bolts so far :()

So what are you doing to this? And, what are you going to do for the rusty rockers?

-Jim

[psulja]

Nice progress so far! Those snow videos look like a blast :) How'd the lights turn out?

Thanks! I'm about to go to the store and try to trade my brand new can of white paint that's been sitting on the shelf for a bit for a can of black. But right now the chrome surround is primered just waiting for paint and then bake it back together.


So what are you doing to this? And, what are you going to do for the rusty rockers?

-Jim

I'm blacking out the headlight surrounds to tie in with the rest of the dark accents of the car, plus I hate chrome on dark colored cars. As for the rusty rockers, unfortunately the sideskirts I was going to buy didn't work out. The seller couldn't get them off of the car without doing some damage so he refunded my money so I may just leave them as is because that's a bigger project than I want to get into right now.

Here are the headlights split up just before primer:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040216.jpg

I'm debating if I should keep the orange cover of the turn signal or not. Think it might look pretty good without amber in the lights and just all black with the reflector housings in the back but I'm not sure if I'll get hassled for not having amber turn signals.

[WASABI]

I'm blacking out the headlight surrounds to tie in with the rest of the dark accents of the car...I'm debating if I should keep the orange cover of the turn signal or not....I'm not sure if I'll get hassled for not having amber turn signals.

Looks good! That's what I thought you were doing. FYI: You can get amber bulbs that have a mirror finish. They are shinny silver, and don't look amber until you turn them on.

-Jim

[psulja]

Hmm, maybe I'll go look for some of those. I like the look of just the amber lights on while driving but hate the amber reflection in the headlights when they're off. I'll leave them out and run with clear turn signals until I find those you mentioned.

P.S - congrats on the 400th post :fab:

I was looking through my garage because I got the new can of white paint to go return but noticed the cap was cracked :( So while looking around I found a random can of black spray paint. :slayer: So this is pretty much a completely free mod now. First coat is done.

[The Phen]

Subbing!

[WASABI]

Hmm, maybe I'll go look for some of those. I like the look of just the amber lights on while driving but hate the amber reflection in the headlights when they're off. I'll leave them out and run with clear turn signals until I find those you mentioned.

They are mirror silver when off, only amber when lit.

http://www.beastpower.com/p/bmw/solaris-invisibulbs/BI-BE-SOL-FIL


P.S - congrats on the 400th post :fab:

Ha ha...watch out!

[psulja]

FFFUUU! You caught up to me in posts with your cheating For Sale thread posts! Not even fair, how can I possibly post whore enough to keep up? You know how many how-to's I'm going to have to write??

First Coat:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040219.jpg

Finished and baked back together:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040222.jpg

Now I'm going to polish the lenses again and reinstall, hopefully it turns out looking decent.

[psulja]

Done! I love it! Looks so much better now. Only a couple things I was bummed about, after polishing the lights again, rushed this time around, they didn't come out as well as they could have and one bolt on the passenger side that holds the headlight broke so it's a bit loose. Also, I need to fix my bumper sag on the driver's side, I think a couple of the mounting tabs were a bit stressed when the PO had an off in the snow once and then I did a bit more stressing to them this winter going through some deep snow at higher speeds so I think one of the tabs finally snapped and now the bumper is sagging on the driver's side.

But anyways, here are the pics! I used this stuff for paint/primer, scuffed the chrome really quickly before primer with some 400grit sand paper as well. Two coats of primer and about 3 of paint.
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040236.jpg

Finished result
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040227.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040232.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040234.jpg

Here you can see the light output without the amber cover for the turn signals. I think it is yellow enough that I won't need to get new bulbs and shouldn't get hassled for them
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1040235.jpg

Will get proper pictures in a week or so when my sister gets back and can take some pics with her DSLR.


Next on the list is to fix my front lip which is in about 4 pieces right now.

[blackchicken]

Nice work! Cool you stopped in today so I could see finished result. Especially because I didn't even see this thread so had no idea you were "baking" car parts today lol.

Looks good. Now let's get that sagging bumper fixed. :)

[psulja]

What sagging bumper? :ninja:

[morr]

Those turned out pretty good!

[psulja]

Thanks! I'm going to try to get some better pictures, those don't really do them justice. I'm really happy with how well they turned out, love how the front of the car looks now, if only I could get around to fixing my lip.

[psulja]

A couple weeks ago I did a full detailing job on the car with a buffer and went down to the riverfront to take some pictures

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7284285582_ba9fa2794a_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7284285582/)
IMG_2587 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7284285582/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7284197180_274f2ac09c_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7284197180/)
IMG_2609 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7284197180/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/7284332204_19741926ee_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7284332204/)
IMG_2575 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7284332204/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr

[psulja]

This weekend I decided it was time to say goodbye to my death trap Hankook RS-2's. Well they decided that for me, the pictures will tell the full story.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7071/7356938666_597b602a7b_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7356938666/)
IMG_4211 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7356938666/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7104/7171685889_e3bf2105b5_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171685889/)
IMG_4218 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171685889/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7090/7171623471_31cb274e90_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171623471/)
IMG_4229 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171623471/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7171573717_9b49d139fe_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171573717/)
IMG_4239 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171573717/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7075/7171547199_7e0b9ffa68_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171547199/)
IMG_4245 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171547199/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7214/7356691302_e372cda430_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7356691302/)
IMG_4254 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7356691302/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr

Couple more attempts:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7356462718_dd7658df4a_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7356462718/)
IMG_4286 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7356462718/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr

Lead to this, now keep in mind these RS-2's lasted at least 3-4 seasons of hard driving I believe (have to double check with the PO how long he used them before I finished them off)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7217/7171785971_9a97616937_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171785971/)
IMG_4474 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171785971/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/7171789779_5fd879c747_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171789779/)
IMG_4472 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171789779/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr

Now I'm rolling on the daisies from my NA. I think I may be ordering Star Specs in the next week or so.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8002/7171237711_87350f0932_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171237711/)
IMG_4531 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsulja/7171237711/) by SuljaM (http://www.flickr.com/people/martinsulja/), on Flickr

[I<3flippyheadlights]

Hey man, I don't think you can tell.... But you need new tires. Just saying :P

[psulja]

Wait, really? Racing slicks are so much better! :fab:

Probably ordering my star specs tomorrow when DiscountTire finally calls me back.

My brother backed into my car today :(

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/0F6DEAFD.jpg

[I<3flippyheadlights]

D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D:

[psulja]

x12! Hopefully I can find a used fender for cheap-ish. My entire driver's side is damaged now for the most part with the exception of the door, so half the car needs paint after I fix all the damage. I was not planning on spending that kind of money on this car.

[blackchicken]

I was there to witness the smoky send-off that you gave the ancient Kook RS2's... brilliant hooning and must be some kind of record for longest single skid mark lol. It was like a rooster tail of smoke following you man, just awesome to see! :)

Sucks about the front fender.

[psulja]

How many seasons were those RS2's used for, Mr. Previous Owner?

Today this happened:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/42948FD8.jpg

I weighed my car yesterday and it came in at 1100kg (2425lbs) with me in the car. So the car itself with a 1/4 tank of gas is 2275lbs. I want to see how low I can get the weight. Removed just shy of 100lbs so far and just trying to decide what I want to do next.

No pictures of the interior stripped yet because I finished just before it started getting dark and wanted to meet up with "blackchicken". It's still really dirty and needs to be cleaned up quite a bit.

The tentative goal is to have the same power:weight of an NC2, maybe a little better (no specific reason for this goal :teehee:)

I also saw this while stripping everything:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/3A2E4396.jpg

Time to order some parts and get that fixed.

Star Specs should be on the car sometime next week.

[I<3flippyheadlights]

I had the same thing in my car, except much worse. Get a rebuild kit and your shifter will thank you.

[psulja]

That's the plan. I'll probably order one in the next couple of weeks.

Here's a quick picture of the interior as it sits now. Still need to clean it up. A lot! Also have to decide what I want to do about the door panels.
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/IMG_4574.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/IMG_4589.jpg

Almost ordered a Corbeau Forza last night but decided it's probably better to wait until I've paid for my tires..

[psulja]

http://youtu.be/1IK4cNYLHiI

[psulja]

The car went in for an alignment today and I picked these up a couple hours ago. Will try to get them mounted on the car after work tonight:

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/5B13E3B0.jpg

Will be nice to have some sticky tires on the car for a change.

[I<3flippyheadlights]

Glad you have tires man. But, I don't know if I like the gutted look of your car. :/

[psulja]

I'm probably going to keep the stripped interior for a bit to see if I get sick of it. If I do I can easily just put everything back in; shouldn't be too much work. It feels great driving a stripped car, but we'll see how I feel in a few weeks.

Comparison
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken%20w%20Blackchicken%20and%20Smurf/chicken_interiorfromtop.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/IMG_4589.jpg

[I<3flippyheadlights]

Well see what happens. And get a new shift boot!

[psulja]

Well see what happens. And get a new shift boot!

I think it's only me and you in this thread lol! I'll probably look for a vendor that sells the shifter rebuild kit in the next little bit and after I get paid again I might order it next week. Have to make back some of that money I spent on the tires and the alignment.

But I'm absolutely loving the Star Specs! There is so much grip readily available now; much more than I'll need on the street. We got sent home from work an hour early tonight so I went for a little late night rip on some on and off ramps and couldn't believe how easily the car took them, even at higher speeds. I really want to get to a lapping day soon just because I don't want to keep trying to push the car on the street. I usually hold back on the street and don't want to start pushing too hard so now with these sticky tires it's getting boring lol.

Although before I do a lapping day I'll need to take care of my brakes; at least the fronts. I'm going to start looking around at all the different options and see what kind of pads/rotors I want to go with that will give me a good bite but will still be good on the street with not too much dusting/noise.

Edit: I also pushed out the dented front fender, will have to get some pics of that tomorrow. It was rubbing badly on the new tires so I needed to get it pushed out to clear the tire during cornering/braking as soon as possible.

[I<3flippyheadlights]

It seems that way with some peoples build threads honestly :P


But I'm glad you like the star specs. I have never driven on sticky tires so I can't really say much about them. I did see people perform with them and they seem to make one hell of a difference! If you go to my build thread, you can see I just rebuilt my shifter. Cost about 70 bucks with a short shifter, gear oil, and upper boot. It feels a million times better! GET ON IT!

[psulja]

Yea, I was about to order the boots last night but want to check with my local dealership for pricing first.. then I'll do it.

[Martin]

I bought a shifter rebuild from Planet Miata for my car a while back. I like dealing with that place.

http://www.planet-miata.com/index.php?section=search-item&idn=215

[psulja]

Thanks for the link. I'll probably order the rebuild kit from them..

[Doward]

Get one of these as well:
http://5xracing.com/i-8112553-5x-racing-mazda-miata-aluminum-shifter-bushing.html
4011
Amazing.

[psulja]

I was thinking of getting one of those but then I read this post by Kung Fu Jesus:


You're on the right track by replacing the boots, but I don't suggest the metal shifter bushing. They can cause more damage than help and depending on the year of your car, they can be a bit tricky to remove. I have had a few scary moments trying to remove metal shift bushing stuck in the bottom of the turret on racecars. Instead, I would replace ALL the bushings on the shifter with the OEM plastic ones. Look at planetmiata.net for their shifter rebuild kits.
(taken from here: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?2994-quot-New-quot-(to-me)-high-mileage-NA-Definitive-quot-to-do-quot-list)

Does the metal bushing make that big of a difference? Is it pretty well just for a cleaner shifting feel?

[blackchicken]

Metal bushing pro: all "slop" going into gate is eliminated. (I would assume that con is NVH goes up.)

A couple of NC guys who track did it and love it. But other guys say it's a step too far on a street car. Then again, you have a stripped interior, so this might be a good car for it. Lol

[Demon I Am]

If you are going to rock the stripped interior, I highly recommend pulling the dash, and sanding/painting the interior. If you remove the sound dead and a lot of the body caulk, it will look beautiful when you are done. ust make sure to tape/mask the entire outside of the car, and both sides of the a-pillar/windscreen. Overspray is a bish

[psulja]

If you are going to rock the stripped interior, I highly recommend pulling the dash, and sanding/painting the interior. If you remove the sound dead and a lot of the body caulk, it will look beautiful when you are done. ust make sure to tape/mask the entire outside of the car, and both sides of the a-pillar/windscreen. Overspray is a bish

Well I am trying out the stripped interior for now. I'm going to leave it like this for a couple weeks as the temps get hotter outside to see if it is bearable. So far the noise doesn't bother me, the only thing is the added heat. But after I fix the shifter the added heat should be fixed for the most part. If I do keep the stripped interior I will be respraying the inside, but that would have to wait until I have some extra time which could be a while from now with how work is going.

[Doward]

Self adhesive Coolmat or a similar product applied to the underside of the tub above the header is the way to go. Preventing the actual body tub from heating up is your only hope lol. I may not be as tolerant to heat as some but even with carpet my feet use to bake pretty bad in the summer and on track.

[psulja]

Looks like I will be going on the track sooner than expected. July 14th I plan to do a lapping day at Nelson Ledges in Ohio. The nice thing about Nelson Ledges is that even though it is more than 3 hours away from home it is only 20 minutes away from my sister's house in Newton Falls. The plan is to drive up Friday night after work, sleep at my sister's and wake up Saturday and go to the track. This means I need to get some things done to the car before going.

Front pads & Rotors
Rear pads & refinish rotors (this ones a maybe)
Bleed brakes - not sure if I need to but it doesn't hurt to do (need to learn how to do this)
Rebuild Shifter
Oil change
Transmission Fluid change

Can you guys think of anything else that might need to be done before going on the track? My driver's side wheel bearing is starting to tick a bit around some corners, do you guys think it should be okay, or if it's ticking I should definitely replace it before the lapping day?

For pads I am thinking of going with HP+ up front with blank rotors. Then in the back I have extra OEM pads laying around that I'll throw on. Would HPS pads be good enough for spirited driving and the rare track day/autox or should I spend the extra $30 on HP+?

If you guys can think of anything else I need to do beforehand post up so I can order the parts either this week or next week so I have time to install them all.

[Demon I Am]

I like the combo of axxis Ults in the front, and HP+ in the rear(daily/few autoxes). having a stronger rear pad is a cheaper way of adding some brake bias to the car.

[psulja]

Well the thing is, the PO ("blackchicken") had these OEM rear pads new in box when I bought the car off him so I don't want to spend the extra money on rears if I don't need to.

I had to cut my earlier post short because I realized I was late for an appointment and had to run out the door. But I need to have the car in good running condition because that weekend will be tough on the car. I'm driving 220 miles to my sister's Friday night, then lapping Saturday. Then on Sunday morning I'll be leaving before 6am to Harrisonburg, VA which will be another 300 miles. And then while I'm there the car will sit for the week most likely and be driven back over 500miles back home.

Aside from the brakes and fluid changes I don't think there are many issues I need to worry about, as long as I keep an eye on my oil levels since it does burn oil at a decent rate.

I will need to price out a wheel bearing as well, if it's not too expensive I may just do it to be safe.

[Demon I Am]

I'd give a good look at the tires, too. or at least have a budget set for some to get you back home, should they get too worn/damaged.

[psulja]

I have brand new StarSpecs on the car that were put on last week. They have less than 100km on them, I'm sure they'll be fine.

Was about to order the shifter rebuild kit but I have a Canadian billing address so it wouldn't work through the site. Waiting to get a PM back so hopefully I can get that ordered.

Thursday morning I think I will order my pads and rotors. Hawk HP+ with blank rotors. Then I just need to order 1 more bottle of Redline MT90 for the trans and price out the wheel bearings.

[XCLR8TN]

I loved my HP+ on all cars I put them on. The white 90 just went to Nelson with em :) Nelson is a pretty quick track but I really only use the brakes in a few key places. You won't be on them long before flying into the next turn. Especially with how light the miata is, you would PROBABLY be ok with OEM pads. I never had any issues in a 2700 lb neon with HPS going at it alllllll day at Nelson.

Oh and sticky tires are a sharp edged sword. It's why I'm sitting one ticket away from losing my license.... Well I mean... There's the whole restraint thing but I chose to blame the tires lol :/

The star specs were much more affected by pressure than the R1Rs. I had to lose a lot more air than normal until I felt comfortable on them.

[psulja]

Great! Thanks for the heads up, I might ask you to come along to show me around the first few laps before I get a hang of it.

Paid for the shifter rebuild this morning and then realized PlanetMiata also sells Hawk Hp+ pads and OEM rotors so I figured I'd order those from them as well since they support this site. And then I decided I may as well get Stainless Steel lines while I'm at it and tossed those in the order. Just waiting for him to confirm my order and send me my PayPal invoice. Hopefully they get here by next weekend when I plan to do all this work.

I'm also trying to decide if I want to use my Revlimiter certificate for the NA or NB. The NA will probably be a more long term project after I finish school and it'll stick around for a while but the NB is the daily right now and is slowly being turned into doing track duty, but I'm not sure how long it'll stick around because it is so rusty.

[psulja]

Unfortunately plans have changed a bit, the car will be getting parked Monday until the end of the summer and I will be Miata-less :gonk: I will be moving to Edmonton, AB for the rest of the summer after getting a job offer there. PlanetMiata didn't get back to me about the brake components so I didn't end up ordering them, but the shifter rebuild kit should be on its way but will have to wait until September to be installed.

But hopefully with this new job I can get both Miatas some nice toys when I get back :frantic:

Really bummed that I'll miss the lapping day at Nelson Ledges :cry2:

[I<3flippyheadlights]

Hmm don't know if this is a good update or not. Glad you are rebuilding that shifter, but not doing a track day sucks! Best of luck at the new, fancy job!

[psulja]

Thanks, I'm kind of bummed that I won't be able to play around with either of the Miata's for the rest of the summer but excited to move out west. But I am leaving the insurance on the car and letting my brother and "blackchicken" drive the car when they want..

[psulja]

Well I'm moved back home now and finally driving this car again. Picked up my shifter rebuild kit yesterday and that will hopefully go on this Tuesday. Then I might order some brakes if I don't spend too much money on my NA.

[psulja]

Shifter rebuild kit installed! Feels great. Only problem is I got the wrong bushings sent to me for around the big ball on the shifter. They only had one cut-out for the guide pins when the NB1 has two guide pins. Not sure how it is on other years if the NB1 is just different. I'll have to take a look at my NA sometime to see what it's like.

But anyways, I notched the top bushing to work with the 2 guide pins, but since the bottom bushing needs to get under those 2 guide pins I couldn't really find a way to get that in there. Right now I'm going without it but will likely try to get that in there at some point. Or just order a new bushing from PlanetMiata and when that gets here I'll install it.

Also filled the turret with Redline MT-90. Still need to change the trans fluid too.

[psulja]

Went up to a friend's cottage last weekend.. Spent the day riding dirtbikes and quads, then had a bit of fun with the miata. Here's a video of my buddy chasing me on his quad through the driveway of the cottage. Youtube kind of killed the quality though; oh well..

http://youtu.be/JOojcTvBqbk

On the second pull I had no grip at all; I'm surprised I even kept up with him on the first one.. Also didn't want to push it too hard sliding through the narrow twisties since there was a steep drop off on the one side and I had a passenger in the car so I was holding back quite a bit.

[treeafodo]

That looks really fun, I saw some little drifts going through the woods. :)

[psulja]

That looks really fun, I saw some little drifts going through the woods. :)

Just a little bit lol... When I went out on my own I pushed it quite a bit harder since I didn't have to worry about hurting anyone else and I knew there weren't any riders coming the other way.

Picked these up over the weekend.

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/IMG_0153.jpg

Have a couple G-Force 6pt harnesses on the way as well as the harness bar. Custom brackets should be made in the next little bit and hopefully I can get everything installed soon.

[treeafodo]

Ohhh, those will look great! you've been getting a lot of stuff done to both cars, its really impressive.

[psulja]

Ohhh, those will look great! you've been getting a lot of stuff done to both cars, its really impressive.

Thanks.. it is hurting my bank account pretty badly lol.. I wasn't expecting to get everything ready for the seat install right away, like the harnesses and harness bar since they are kind of pricey, especially with all the other parts I've ordered recently.

Getting a quote for the seat brackets at 2:30 today... if the price is reasonable I'll have him fab them up in the next couple days.

[psulja]

Well I've been doing a bit of thinking and I'm not sure if seats are the best investment right now. I still need to do the brakes on this car and would like to get some wheels and tires for the NA... So unfortunately, I've posted the seats for sale for now..

http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?3992-2x-Corbeau-Forza-seats&p=62351#post62351

[psulja]

Great... more things breaking.. My RacingBeat muffler has a bunch of holes in the pipe at the bend just before the muffler so I guess it's time to start shopping around for a new exhaust. Right now I'm leaning more toward the Enthuza XR light weight but will be listening to some video clips of other options as well.

I also took a look under the car for the first time in a few months today and the rust is getting really bad. I think it's about time to start thinking about saving money for a new daily with the NB sitting at 280,000km on it... I think after I hit 300,000km I'll start really looking for a new car since I would like this car to at least hit that milestone. I'll see how everything looks after the next winter though.

[WASABI]

Paul,

I know how you feel, when it comes to Miatas + Winter + Rust. I am going through my red 1991, that has taken me through 5 New England winters. There are some major issues, but only a few. Surprisingly, these little cars can take a fair amount of abuse. Compared to my Jeep Wrangler (2002) the Miata is in EXCELLENT condition. The Jeep has crazy rust issues. Good luck.

-Jim

[psulja]

http://youtu.be/NwNFNy8JZuk

[psulja]

Front carpet is back in for winter and hardtop is on. And dinosaurs are drawn in my interior thanks to my brother who thought that'd be the best way to help putting the interior in....

http://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws.com/364352f2245c11e2ad8422000a1fa8e9_7.jpg


Then this happened:
http://distilleryimage5.s3.amazonaws.com/d9076ffa25f611e2a47b22000a1f99e6_7.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/95593A6C.jpg

Should have video and pictures of it sliding around hopefully soon-ish from my friend.

Car goes for the emissions test tomorrow. Hoping it passes!

[treeafodo]

Is that a viper in the second pic?

[psulja]

Yea it is

[I<3flippyheadlights]

You drive your Miatas so hard, you crazy Canadian.

[psulja]

You drive your Miatas so hard, you crazy Canadian.

Is there any other way to drive them?

[I<3flippyheadlights]

I baby mine so much :P

[treeafodo]

Paul, you're the reason why the NB thought is still lingering in my head, I've seen what they can do with not too much money into them...otherwise I'd pick NA :lol:

[psulja]

I baby mine so much :P

I see it as a car to be driven hard, not babied.. It'll never be showroom condition, and I don't really care, I'm having a tonne of fun with it doing stupid things which is what I want this NB for, worry free hooning all the time lol


Paul, you're the reason why the NB thought is still lingering in my head, I've seen what they can do with not too much money into them...otherwise I'd pick NA :lol:

Well to be a fair, an NA8 could do pretty much the same things as my NB with the same mods, it's pretty much mostly just personal preference.


Traded cars tonight with my buddy and he'll be taking care of the etest in the morning.

[psulja]

Well unlike my NA, the NB actually passed emissions! Not sure how, but it did... Really thought it'd be the other way around with the NA passing and the NB failing.

[psulja]

Traded cars with a friend again for the past week and a bit so he could see what else the car might need that I'm overlooking. A couple nights ago the car died on him. Turns out whenever it would snow or rain the alt belt would slip so badly that it would stop charging the car. Put on new belts and it seems to be good now.

A few weeks ago the oil level got pretty low and the engine started ticking a bit. Filled it back up but the ticking stayed. It happens when the engine is right around 3000rpm. Put some Lucas in it last night but it didn't seem to help much. It hasn't gotten any worse in the past few weeks so I haven't been too worried about it.

Also did a compression test last night and Cylinder 3 is at about 50% of all the other cylinders...

[psulja]

So last week I finished up a bunch of maintenance:
Timing Belt & Water Pump
Thermostat
Acc. Belts
Fuel Filter
Plugs & Wires
Front & Rear pads and rotors and PAX rear caliper since it was broken
Diff & Trans fluid change
Oil change
+ more I'm forgetting

When I was ordering all those parts I was considering getting a rad for it as well since mine is pretty brown and ready to go. Decided not to. Sure enough, check over everything today, rad is leaking! FFFUUUU! Also, the shocks are pretty much completely blown since my ride has gotten very bumpy over the past few weeks. Things keeping breaking on this stupid car! Still hoping to get past my goal of 300,000km on it, 15,000 to go.

[psulja]

Put the new rad in last week. Nice to finally have heat. Everything was running well for the most part other than the ticking in the top end.

[psulja]

Then this happened:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Snapbucket/512D9133_zps2a142fc0.jpg

Car felt a little down on power. Was out for a drive, did a little top speed run except the car couldn't break 160kph (100mph). Thought that was odd so I let off. As I'm coasting I notice my revs dip down. As I come to a stop the car dies. Luckily my brother was behind me and gives me a jump start. Starts no problem. Drive off and almost immediately after run out of fuel. Put fuel in, starts up no problem. Now I've had this ticking in my engine for the past few months and it never really got too bad unless the oil level got low. Except yesterday I checked it before going out for a drive and it was alright and the ticking in my engine was very loud all through the rpm range after I put gas in and started it back up. As I got to the end of the street coming to a stop the car dies again. Had my friend following so he tried to jump start me this time. No start. Left it there overnight. Come back in the morning and try a new battery since the old one was on its last legs. Try the new battery, still no start. It tries to slowly crank, then the car shakes really bad and it just stops trying to crank. As it's slowly cranking my speedo goes to 50kph.

Tried push starting and nothing happens.

Any ideas?

[psulja]

Well, the hoons were great while they lasted but it's time for Chicken to retire. After checking it out tonight with my friend we've concluded it is a spun bearing. Complete partout of the car will be going on down to the bare shell. I'm sad it didn't make it to 300,000km but it got pretty damn close!

Complete partout thread to follow, so if anyone wants any NB parts just lmk.

:cry2:

[I<3flippyheadlights]

You're killing it!? Well... time to buy that MR2

[psulja]

You're killed it!?

Fixed! I would like to buy the MR2 but I need to find a new daily driver first, might do something like a cheap $200 corolla as a daily that way I have more money and time to spend on fun cars.

[I<3flippyheadlights]

The swapped miata could be your daily, then the MR2 is the fun car.

[psulja]

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/539975_10151547935089462_689636450_n_zps62ef1e72.j pg

[WASABI]

I feel for you Paul. It's far better to have driven an NB and lost, than never to have loved at all. I know your working on your NA. Does this change anything? What are your plans now?

[treeafodo]

Poor Chicken :(

[theothersawyer]

That is a sad sight to see! :(

[psulja]

Thanks guys, still really bummed about it. Miss driving it, especially with all the nice weather we're having.

Jim, I'm still trying to work on the NA but when the NB died I had to get rid of it as soon as possible which meant taking time to work on pulling it apart rather than working on the NA. Also, bought a new daily which took away some money from my budget for the build.

Really just want to finish my swap so I can start driving a Miata again, not worried about boost ATM.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Sorry to see it go. :(

http://images.wisegeek.com/small/motor-oil-being-poured-out.jpg

Hopefully you get your NA back up and going so you can enjoy the nicer weather on the horizon!

[psulja]

Well I need to get it running as soon as possible since I likely only have 4 weeks left in Windsor before going way up north for work for the summer. It would have been done already if FM made it simple to order with PayPal or responded to any emails. If I didn't have to go through them for the swap kit I wouldn't.

[RotorNutFD3S]

What all do you need?

[psulja]

Clutch and FM's 1.8 swap kit

thinking of going with 949 racing for the clutch just because they're easier to order from lol

[psulja]

Tore down the block today and found this:
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1080325_zps1a99cf5a.jpg
http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt194/paulsulja/Chicken/P1080321_zps0cf8cdf3.jpg

That was cylinder 4.