Calebbel
05-25-2012, 10:19 AM
So here we go, time to start a build thread on my first car. This is pretty much a copy of my build over on Clubroadster.
Just before my sixteenth birthday I found out my grandpa was going to get me a car so of course to say I was excited was an understatement.
This is the only picture I have when she was completely stock, a one owner 2002 LS with 76,000 miles on the clock and a hardtop. The only downside was that it was an automatic :fp: but I sure wasn't going to complain about a free car like this.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/Stock.jpg
The first thing I did to the car was add the red strips on the drivers fender, and one of my friends started calling her Candy which stuck.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/hardtop.jpg
She stayed like this for quite a while and I was happy with the car. I saved up some money and swapped my stock muffler for a Flyin' Miata one and started looking for other parts.
Next was cleaning up the engine. I got a Racing Beat intake off ebay sprayed it black and painted the valve cover, along with a few other things. At the end of the day it looked like this
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/210412_219797338033706_100000103254296_971450_1590 039_o.jpg
Around this time she also got some stickers
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/005.jpg
I was also getting tired of how the auto shift lever looked and since a transmission swap was out of the question I looked for a solution. I soon stumbled upon the Zoom Engineering dress up kit for auto Miatas and after some work getting one from Japan. My interior looked like this http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/771.jpg
I was very happy with how it looked and since I had also spent quite a bit of money gutting the Bose stuff from my car, I was broke so it was time to start saving for the next thing a rollbar.
After a few months of saving and looking I had decided on a silver Boss Frog Clearview.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/192871_270027783010661_100000103254296_1226790_228 4217_o.jpg
and once on the car
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/324941_274163432597096_100000103254296_1246490_108 6940_o.jpg
Not only did this stiffen up the car a bit but I also loved how it looked.
I know you guys are screaming "Needs more low!":x but we'll get to that. Next was my first real DIY project and I started very simple. I found out that the turn signal stalks were aluminum and could be sanded down and polished so that's what I did. I was happy with how it turned out.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_20110612_190828-1.jpg
After a few months of not doing anything to the car I decided I was going to get a new steering wheel which came in the form of a wooden Nardi 330
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/nardi.jpg
I polished it up and put it in the car.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/004.jpg
The car now looked like this
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/Southside.jpg
...But I knew it needed something and its what you guys have been waiting on. I picked up some Racelands (I know, I know :fp:) and this is how the car sits right now 12" hub to fender
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/lowered.jpg
After much consideration I finally decided on wheels.
http://whatmonstersdo.com/blog2/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/enkei_apache2_silver_wheel.jpg
Enkei Apache 2 15X8 +25
They showed up wrapped in 205 50 S Drives
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/wheels.jpg
After a just a few hours I got my new wheels on the car and honestly I couldn't be happier. I feel like these go very well with my idea of a "Vintage inspired NB"
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_0290.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_0291.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_0293.jpg
I know I've left some stuff out but this takes care of most of the big stuff that's happened in my two years of ownership of this beautiful little car. This will be a slow project since I'm not out of high school yet, but I'll try to keep it updated with whatever I do with this car.
Just before my sixteenth birthday I found out my grandpa was going to get me a car so of course to say I was excited was an understatement.
This is the only picture I have when she was completely stock, a one owner 2002 LS with 76,000 miles on the clock and a hardtop. The only downside was that it was an automatic :fp: but I sure wasn't going to complain about a free car like this.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/Stock.jpg
The first thing I did to the car was add the red strips on the drivers fender, and one of my friends started calling her Candy which stuck.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/hardtop.jpg
She stayed like this for quite a while and I was happy with the car. I saved up some money and swapped my stock muffler for a Flyin' Miata one and started looking for other parts.
Next was cleaning up the engine. I got a Racing Beat intake off ebay sprayed it black and painted the valve cover, along with a few other things. At the end of the day it looked like this
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/210412_219797338033706_100000103254296_971450_1590 039_o.jpg
Around this time she also got some stickers
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/005.jpg
I was also getting tired of how the auto shift lever looked and since a transmission swap was out of the question I looked for a solution. I soon stumbled upon the Zoom Engineering dress up kit for auto Miatas and after some work getting one from Japan. My interior looked like this http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/771.jpg
I was very happy with how it looked and since I had also spent quite a bit of money gutting the Bose stuff from my car, I was broke so it was time to start saving for the next thing a rollbar.
After a few months of saving and looking I had decided on a silver Boss Frog Clearview.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/192871_270027783010661_100000103254296_1226790_228 4217_o.jpg
and once on the car
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/324941_274163432597096_100000103254296_1246490_108 6940_o.jpg
Not only did this stiffen up the car a bit but I also loved how it looked.
I know you guys are screaming "Needs more low!":x but we'll get to that. Next was my first real DIY project and I started very simple. I found out that the turn signal stalks were aluminum and could be sanded down and polished so that's what I did. I was happy with how it turned out.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_20110612_190828-1.jpg
After a few months of not doing anything to the car I decided I was going to get a new steering wheel which came in the form of a wooden Nardi 330
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/nardi.jpg
I polished it up and put it in the car.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/004.jpg
The car now looked like this
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/Southside.jpg
...But I knew it needed something and its what you guys have been waiting on. I picked up some Racelands (I know, I know :fp:) and this is how the car sits right now 12" hub to fender
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/lowered.jpg
After much consideration I finally decided on wheels.
http://whatmonstersdo.com/blog2/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/enkei_apache2_silver_wheel.jpg
Enkei Apache 2 15X8 +25
They showed up wrapped in 205 50 S Drives
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/wheels.jpg
After a just a few hours I got my new wheels on the car and honestly I couldn't be happier. I feel like these go very well with my idea of a "Vintage inspired NB"
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_0290.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_0291.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/calebbel/IMG_0293.jpg
I know I've left some stuff out but this takes care of most of the big stuff that's happened in my two years of ownership of this beautiful little car. This will be a slow project since I'm not out of high school yet, but I'll try to keep it updated with whatever I do with this car.