New Miata, new user: 2001 Miata Base: trackday time

Hi all, I'm a second-time Miata owner, living in central NC. Purchased a roughed-up 2001 Miata base at the beginning of March to be used as a platform for a trackday-only car, and eventually a Spec Miata/ITA racer. It's currently sitting in my garage on jackstands with the soft top off, half the interior out, and an 4.1 Torsen waiting to be installed. My first HPDE event in this car is in 2 and a half week, so time is short.

https://imgur.com/bypozKG.jpg
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Is that an NC steering wheel?


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Originally Posted by RustRat

Is that an NC steering wheel?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I believe it is an ND steering wheel - silly PO stuff. I'll be replacing it with a hub and removable wheel when I get a racing seat for the driver's side.

Winlowe and I Welcome you to the forum! :welcome: Don't pay any attention to my Avatar, AO likes to play and he keeps changing it.

I like the new avatar AO lol

We all welcome you to the MR forum

This car looks familiar. Welcome! Its awesome that you finally joined.

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Originally Posted by tsingson

This car looks familiar. Welcome! Its awesome that you finally joined.

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I've nearly got the dash out - just a few electrical connectors around the fusebox and steering column and then, gonzo.

Sweet. Let me know if you need any help today.

Tub looks clean, nice candidate! Good luck and welcome!

Welcome. Track days and racing are addicting. It looks like you're looking at SCCA classes. I'd also recommend looking at NASA and WRL. WRL has liscensed the SuperMiata series rules and will be adding more events on the East Coast and Southeast in the coming years. It is a much cheaper class to get into competatively.

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Originally Posted by Midtenn86

Welcome. Track days and racing are addicting. It looks like you're looking at SCCA classes. I'd also recommend looking at NASA and WRL. WRL has liscensed the SuperMiata series rules and will be adding more events on the East Coast and Southeast in the coming years. It is a much cheaper class to get into competatively.

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I've been participating in SCCA, and now NASA, for over a decade. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to have a dedicated track car, but I've had plenty of seat time previously. Thank you for the suggestions, though.

I'll have to look into SuperMiata. It looks like it allows significantly more modification than Spec Miata does, though, so it seems like it'd be more expensive.

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Originally Posted by SigmaX

I'll have to look into SuperMiata. It looks like it allows significantly more modification than Spec Miata does, though, so it seems like it'd be more expensive.

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It's the opposite. A competitive SuperMiata S2 car costs about $15k to build. A competitive Spec Miata is about $25-30k. SuperMiata S2's are also faster than SM's because of the increased power, aero, and mechanical grip. SM's biggest cost is the "pro motors" and all the special low drag parts they run (bearings, transmission, diff, etc.)

Most of the POs' modifications have been dealt with. There is some slight surface rush on the passenger's side due to water ingress. I need to sand, paint and then seal the holes in the chassis from the previous rollbar, put the dash back in, cut the rear parcel shelf area to fit the new roll bar and install it, and then reinstall the seats. The Falkens have been mounted + balanced and are ready to go back on the car.

On another note, I have a Bethania Garage Deuce for NA or NB with fresh hardware available for anyone interested.

https://i.imgur.com/OTu0HH5.jpg
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Good Stuff & Welcome to MazdaRoadster.net!!!!!!

I like the progress, I know this thrash far too well.

If I may be so bold:

http://www.jzillatrackdays.com/schedule/

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Originally Posted by kung fu jesus

I like the progress, I know this thrash far too well.

If I may be so bold:

http://www.jzillatrackdays.com/schedule/

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I'm already a NASA member, so I'll be primarily sticking to their trackdays. If I come across the spare funds I might do an event or two with jzilla, I know they do the pre-MATG event and whatnot.

This past weekend was the shakedown run at VIR. The alternator died on session 1 and was replaced before session 3, and then I had one of the coilpacks let go. Parts are on the way, but I'm somewhat certain that I blew a hole in the downpipe or burnt the cat on the 1.5 hr drive home on 3 cyls. Shrug. Also need to get an alignment before HyperFest, pretty sure the home-grown alignment the PO gave it has some serious toe-out in the rear making it a little bit to tail-happy.

Good luck!

I can be the parts truck for the JZilla events if needed. :mrgreen:

I know it's a while later - but it turns out that I didn't damage the exhaust (too badly). I decided to replace both coils, all 4 spark plugs (again), and the lead wires while I was under the hood. That got it running just fine. I also had a stock alignment performed, since it really felt tail-happy in March. Turns out a total of .33 inches of toe-out at the rear is a bad thing on a Miata. I also replaced the stock shifter with a Miataroadster.com raised and angled short shifter. Replaced the trans fluid with Ford Motorcraft to smooth it out, and because it's likely the trans fluid hadn't been changed in all of the 170K on the odometer.

Picked up a decent condition non-defrost hardtop for $800 including side strikers and Frankenstein bolts. Have a permanent mounting kit on the way, since the plan is for this thing to never see a soft top again.

I went to another NASA event, Hyperfest, in May. I have a little clip if anyone's interested in why track pad are bad for your wheels. Car ran strong both days, on a weekend filled with mechanical failures. Had someone's engine catch on fire in my run group, and then later a Roush Mustang blew his engine. Plenty of issues in other rungroups and the race groups, too. At least 5 cars in my rungroup went off, partially helped by the wet conditions on Friday night/Saturday morning. I caught two on camera, one WRX with a little too much understeer and one Porsche who went a little wide at the top of the uphill esses.

I guess T9/T10 can be difficult when you're running hard from a Miata.

Last weekend, the ladyfriend had her first event. A novice autocross, just to get her feet wet - and it was raining hard for part of the day, she definitely did that. She had a blast and already has her next two events scheduled and paid for.

I've got fresh pads and rotors sitting in the garage, and am buying some used control arms front and rear this weekend to refurb and slap the poly bushings also out there into, hopefully before the MBTG event.

Did the Motorcraft make a difference?

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Originally Posted by tsingson

Did the Motorcraft make a difference?

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Yep, definitely cut down on the force required to get into gear.