My name is Zico, and this is my Chaste White NA8 build

[thatbluena6]

Absolutely loved the progress from IG. Reading through the forum posts was very enjoyable. Definitely a build I look up to. Keep up the good work.

[oldgrayleather]

Thank you KFJ, and wise words. Completely agree with you..

If I was to give some advice, it would be the following..

1. Determine a budget
2. Have a vision of what you want your car to be / look like
3. Create a list of all the parts needed for that vision to come to life, and suits that budget. Revise Step 2 if required.
4. Prioritise that list, grouping together things that can be installed at the same time to reduce time, labour costs, or purchased from the same supplier to combine shipping costs.
5. Research, research, research. Do all the possible reading, and plan for worst case scenario. Watch youtube tutorials, ask people on Forums/Instagram/Facebook.
6. Take your time. There is no rush. It is not a race, and your car isn't going anywhere. I spent a whole year collecting parts before I decided to install everything.
7. Try not to get sidetracked. I did a few times and ended up selling parts I bought on impulse.

If only I had step 1 sorted out... haha

Wise words indeed!!!

[dnaha]

Didn't even realize I've been following you on instagram this entire time. Love the meticulousness and details of this build. Its inspiring!

[LagBlu]

There is nothing more to say. Very nice build and documentation.

[BRGNA8]

S-A-T-I-S-F-Y-I-N-G

Really love seeing the whole documentation of this build. Meticulous and carefully thought out and complete OCD which I love and can fully appreciate!

[zco]

Amazing attention to detail when it comes to getting the car ready for paint correction. I am definitely taking notes You are setting a great example for the Miata community and providing some great content for the forum Zico, thank you. I have seen your build pictures and updates on Instagram but it is way more satisfying reading the entire story about the car. It adds another level of satisfaction (as if you didn't make us drool enough with all the nice new OEM parts) to the build It feels like I am reading through a Mazda Roadster Restoration manual when I read through this thread. Keep up the good work and I am excited to see what else you have planned for the car.

Absolutely loved the progress from IG. Reading through the forum posts was very enjoyable. Definitely a build I look up to. Keep up the good work.

Sometimes i wonder if its worth updating here since all my updates are on IG already.. but good to know people still spend time to read lol

Wise words indeed!!!

Didn't even realize I've been following you on instagram this entire time. Love the meticulousness and details of this build. Its inspiring!

There is nothing more to say. Very nice build and documentation.

S-A-T-I-S-F-Y-I-N-G

Really love seeing the whole documentation of this build. Meticulous and carefully thought out and complete OCD which I love and can fully appreciate!

Thanks fellas, really appreciate the kind words. Hopefully this thread helps others out there that are looking to restore their cars. Our cars are getting quite old and many of us aren't looking to let go of them for a new car. Next best thing is to just restore the cars we already have!

[zco]

Following on with the build updates.

Now that the car is ceramic coated, I felt much more at ease hitting the track and not having to worry about more stone chips on the front end. I booked a trackday at the nearest track to home, and began prepping my car for its first shakedown test, as it had never been tracked before. Ideally, the track I wanted to go to is Wakefield Park Raceway, about 2.5 hours away. However, being the first time the car has hit the track since pulling the entire car apart and putting it back together, it was a smarter decision to just attend a track that was closer to home. Breaking down at a track 2.5hours away would cost a pretty penny towing it home.

This is the track I've booked for, Luddenham Raceway.



Having sold my 14” TE37’s to Steve, I used the money to find a setup that was more suited for the track. Some 15x8 RPF1’s and 205/50R15 AD08R tyres. Would have loved to use RE71R’s but they just don’t come in that size in Australia. I contemplated 225/45 Hankook RS4’s but according to Keith Tanner, a 205 tyre is better suited to cars that are near stock in power. The wheels and tyres arrived about 2 weeks before for the trackday so I got them mounted first. Surprisingly, the 15x8 205/50 wheel and tyre combo worked out lighter than my 14x6.5" Watanabes + 185/60 tyres! Wider wheel and tyre for the increased traction, smaller profile for increased response, and I even saved some weight! Was not expecting that..



RPF1's are great, they're the same weight as TE37's so it didn't make sense to spend twice as much for track wheels. I dont think the RPF1's look that great on my car, but not too fussed for track wheels. Cheap and easy to replace if I crack them. I chose black to hide the dusty track pads.

Ideally, I wanted to rebuild the brakes and install all new bushings before hitting the track, but I just didn't have time. I'll get all that sorted after the trackday. I pulled out the brake setup that had been sitting in storage for the last 7 months and got to work installing them. Nothing too drastic, some DBA slotted rotors, Hawk HP+ pads, Goodridge Braided lines and Motul fluid.



Rotors before and after









What also surprised me was seeing OEM brake pads still on the car from 1995. Still decent amount of pad left! One of many testaments to the low mileage of the car.







Goodridge Phantom Series stainless steel braided lines and fittings, wrapped in black covering for a OEM like appearance.



After fitting the brakes on, I swapped in a new OEM clutch master cylinder. Nothing wrong with the old one, but they tend to fail and I didn’t want that to happen on the track. A new OEM clutch slave and SS braided clutch line were replaced already when I swapped in the 6 speed gearbox.
If you’ve got a RHD miata and want to run ITB’s, use an OEM master as the aftermarket ones are usually bigger, and ends up causing clearance issues with larger ITB funnels.



I also ordered a new pushrod to go with it, as they tend to rust out. Mine was still pretty good, not much rust found on the Master, but since it was all out, I replaced the rod anyway.



Adjusted the clutch pedal, and flushed out the brake and clutch system with Motul RBF600, it took less than 2 bottles of fluid to flush and bleed.

Mounted the wheels, and did a quick test drive to bed in the new pads and rotors. Everything turned out well, no issues, brakes felt nice and tight, definitely stops better than OEM pads. They weren’t noisy at all which was perfect. Also raised the seat positions in the car for a more practical height on the track. They look out a little out of place but it's all about being functional for the track.



I filled the car up to approx. 1/2 tank of fuel so I could measure the ride height properly. I spent the next day readjusting the height for the track, and gave it a few hours to settle before rocking up to the tyre shop for an alignment.



Alignment specs:
4.5” Pinch weld height
0.0” Rake
-2.3° Front Camber
-2.0° Rear Camber
+3.7° Caster
0.0” Toe Front & Rear

The car's suspension and steering setup is very minimal right now.
-Tein MonoRacing coilovers F12kg : R8kg (670/450 lb)
-Manual steering rack
-R Package Tie rod ends
-OEM NA8 front sway bar
-Supermiata Endlinks
-Rear sway bar removed
-Cabin Brace removed

I kept things nice and simple for now, to learn how the car behaves with my driving prior to doing anything else. I removed the rear sway bar and cabin brace as I've noticed the car oversteers very easily, didn't want to deal with that on the track. I have a brand new set of OEM Mazda N1 Spec control arm bushings, and Rigid collars to install, along with an OSGiken LSD but they’ll come at a later date. I don’t really want to throw a bunch of mods onto a car and rock up at the track and be that guy.. ‘all the gear and no idea’, so let’s just learn how to drive first haha

The trackday went relatively well, I'll post again shortly when I've got some more time to upload pics and document the day.

[—Martin—]

This is the track I've booked for, Luddenham Raceway.

Is the track the Mighty Car Mods guys use? It looks familiar.

[zco]

Is the track the Mighty Car Mods guys use? It looks familiar.

that’s the one! Well, there’s a few they have used, but it’s the same track they took Yaris Hilton to lol

[—tsingson—]

Love the progress. I also love the RPF1s but I may be a bit biased. Always looking forward to what your build will bring.

[zco]

Managed to find some time to do a small write up of the track day.

All in all, it was quite a smooth day. Tyres, and brakes held up very well. The alignment seemed to have matched my driving style, and I didn't really feel like I understeered or oversteered in any of the corners. The rear end did see a little more body roll than the front with the rear sway bar disconnected, so I will re-connect that next time out, and stiffen up the front dampers to cater for it. I drove the entire day with my dampers on the softest setting as well, as I didn't want to introduce any changes. I just focused on the car's 'health', and made sure it was set up properly. Car didn't seem to over heat, no strange rattles, sounds or smells, tyre temperatures were within 8 degrees celcius across the width of the tyre so it seems like it was all good.

Here are some photos from the day:

My cousin James, in the White EK K20A, myself in the middle, and my other cousin Tony in his MSM / NB SE.



The rest of the crew



Cooling down after our first session



Down the corkscrew



When I got beached lol



Heading out for the last session.



All in all, quite a successful day. Some small issues identified:
-Slight rattle now at approx. 2800-3200rpm, possibly from the lightened flywheel, or maybe collapsed muffler, not too sure at this stage.
-I got beached on a ripple strip once, the marshalls tried to tow me out using the front tow hook, but the eyelet was too small. Will have to get an aftermarket front tow hook.
-On tight/fast right handers, my exhaust was knocking the underbody bracing, so I'll get some stiffer polyurethane exhaust hangers.
-Should also get a fire extinguisher for safety purposes.
-Shoes: Need some shoes with better grip.. slipped on the accelerator twice.
-Brake dust: These brake pads are ridiculously dusty for the streets. I will be removing them for some street friendly pads as I dont want to be washing my car every drive.
-Temp monitoring: Need to look into gauges to monitor oil temp, oil pressure, and water temp. Most likely will end up with a new cluster with a built in lap timer.

After the track day, I pulled the car care products out from storage that I had ordered a few weeks earlier, didn't want to leave the brake dust on the newly polished paintwork for too long.

A bunch of Gyeon products along with two bucket + grit guard wash system.



Luckily I did, check out the iron deposits reaction with the de-ironiser!









Since the first track day, I ended up booking another two track days, scheduled for August 1st and August 11th.

August 1st is with a bunch of guys from Circuit Club who are regular Track day attendees. It will be a great opportunity to sit as passenger with some of the more experienced guys to see where I'm lacking. Will also be manually logging tyre temps, pressures and trying to understand if any alignment tweaks are required before the next track day.

August 11th is with a mob called Trackschool, run by a bunch of professional drivers/instructors. It is an Open pit lane day, capped to 40 cars. No sessions, and do as many laps as you want for the entire day. Goals for this day are to gain some knowledge, skills and techniques from professionals, and set a benchmark before I install a few mods and the OSGiken 1.5way LSD. Friends of mine that have attended these Open pit lane days before have clocked in excess of 120 laps, so I'll probably have to look into an Oil cooler and Coolant reroute kit shortly......this is getting expensive LOL

[zco]

Story time: My first real experience with cars dates back to 2004, in my senior school year and soon to get my drivers license. I had no interest in cars until my cousin picked me up one night in his EK4 Civic to go street racing with his friends. I got my first taste of the modified car scene that night, and over the years, ended up owning 18 Honda’s 🤷🏻

My username Daijuku means ‘The 19th’, and it represents my first non-Honda, the MX5. When we got our timing transponders at the trackday, I happened to be allocated no.19, seems like it was meant to be.

Cars have become a huge hobby of mine and I’m so thankful my cousin gave me a taste of racing some 15 years ago. For the first time, I got to really enjoy my car and go racing side by side with him, or in this video, trying to keep up! It’s funny how life comes full circle.

I spent the day after the track day thinking about how to go faster but then realised it was important to be grateful and thankful for what I achieved, reflect on where my interest in cars came from, and most importantly, to just have fun. I'm so glad he opened pandora’s box 15 years ago, and also showing me what MX5’s are all about

[— kung fu jesus —]

Awesome! We stage open track events that are only limited to advanced and licensed competition drivers. Basically 8 hours of track time with a full compliment of safety and corner workers. One of these will be on Friday and I’m thinking of spinning a few laps in an endurance-prepped Mazda 3 hatch.

I used to chase times, but now I experiment with advanced techniques while driving mine in the same prep as street driving (sans damper settings), it’s been helpful diagnosing flaws in my technique and style and very 1:1 track to street and vice versa.

[zco]

I caught up with a friend a few weekends ago, and we took a nice long drive down through some twisties and small towns, grabbed a few beers and some good food. He brought his camera along and snapped some photos. Aimed for an editorial /documentary style shoot with landscapes, something a little different.

Photos turned out great, quite moody.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Excellent!

That terrain looks similar to the mountains in the eastern US.