MAINEly MX-5's

[MLambert19]

More rambling...

I wanted to keep this car as "stock" in outward appearance as possible. While I plan to eventually add "R" replica lower valances, and have a set of Runabout mirrors that I absolutely adore (there's a story for another day) I didn't want to run fenders, add downforce with a wing, or otherwise drastically change the appearance of the car. I like minimalist aesthetics.

Which leads me to one of my all-time favorite V8-Miata builds:https://www.flyinmiata.com/V8/Newton/index.php?UID=62

Laguna Blue.jpg

So clean. So simple. So OEM. Excuse me, I need a minute.

This car, ironically, came up for sale in New England (I think Rhode Island) last year. Had I known that were going to happen, I may have never commissioned the work on mine. The major difference between when Flyin' Miata built it and now... is that the 2nd owner installed a Corvette intake snorkel and hood pins. I struggled with this, for a long time. In many ways, I still wish I had a smooth hood and stock catch.

The bottom line is: there's not a lot of real-estate under the hood for an intake, and there is an awful lot of heat. The heat causes the engine to retard timing when it can't source cool air, which hurts performance and can degrade engine life. Combined with the fact that I was able to buy the appropriate C6 intake for considerably less than Al wanted to fabricate a box under the hood, and I came to the conclusion that I was going to give up my smooth hood in favor of function and efficiency.