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Thread: Modernbeat's '92 Special Edition black-on-black subtle is the name of the game build

  1. #31
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    Before I buttoned everything up, I took a look at the splash pan. Like most it was bent and deformed at the trailing edge. But it wasn’t torn or broken. I thought about swapping it out for a new one I had, but the damage wasn’t bad enough. I propped up the bent parts and put a weight on the center and hit it with a heat gun. It looks like it bent back pretty close to the right contour. It turned out really well. 90% of the deformation was gone and it went back in with no issues.



    You can see the differences between the original NA6 splash pan and the current pan that fits all models.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:18 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  2. #32
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    My valve stems finally showed up, so I mounted the new wheels and tires. The wheels are the new Enkei J-Speeds from Good-Win Racing in the most un-baller size, 15x7et38. I considered the other two sizes. I didn’t get the 15x8et25 because I didn’t want to roll the fender and wanted to run a mild performance alignment (not too much camber). I didn’t get the 15x7et25 because Enkei went cheap and just added pad material to get that size. The lug holes look like they are two inches deep and extended lug nuts would barely peep out of the holes. That sucks. I don’t want to use extended lugs (don’t like the look on a street car) and I’d like to see the lug nut. I thought that the 38mm offset is a little more than I wanted, even for this mild fitment, but I’ll run spacers if I decide the wheel needs to be pushed out more.




    For tires I wanted something meaty with a round corner between the tread and the sidewall and a decently soft sidewall. A lot of the new extreme-performance street tires have very sharp tread corners and stiff sidewalls. I also like the looks of the 195/60-14 that a lot of guys are running on their 14x7 Enkei RP-F1 wheels. But I’d like to stay with 15” wheels as I intend to install a set of Sport brakes that are waiting their turn in my garage. Well, this is about as close as I can come to the round and meaty 14” look and still have room for big brakes. It’s a Dunlop Dierezza Sport Z1 Star Spec. It’s got the extreme performance compound, a soft sidewall, and a nice round balloon curve between the tread and the sidewall when mounted on a 15x7. Here’s a few shots. I’ll post more in the fitment thread. The current alignment has too much rear camber and not quite enough up front. I'll be taking care of that next









    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:21 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  3. #33
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    Another detail from the build. I don’t like how the license plate fits flush against the finish panel. The sharp edges dig into the panel and the plate can vibrate and make noise. When I mounted my plate I used spacers under the top two bolts. The bottom two bolts are screwed into rubber bumpers that keep the bottom of the plate off the finish panel.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:21 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  4. #34
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    A large number of things I’ve done to this car are either involved with the interior swap or just plain restoration. The next two are restoration. Orwrx was parting out a ’96 M-edition. I bought this near-perfect window switch from that car. Although mine works, it was due for a cleaning and the labels had worn off the front. You have to make sure that you get the right switch. Automatics and standards got different switches. The mechanism is the same, but the pigtail is different lengths.

    Old and faded on the right. Like new crisp lettering on the left.



    And Installed.



    My right side front turn signal looked bad. The interior mirror was flaking off. I kept an eye out for a good one. “A domomo” offered a great set of turn signals, shipped from northern California! Amazing – a California seller that willingly ships. I swapped out my bad one and stuck the other one into my stash.

    2011-04-16191704.jpg
    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:25 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  5. #35
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    I bought a set of OEM foglights from “Martin…” on MX5Nuts back in early 2009. Yes, his name has ellipsis after it. They came off a JDM R-Limited, which means they had yellow lenses unlike the clear lenses available everywhere else. And I actually bought an entire setup from Martin including the wiring harness, relay, switch, light housings and small mounting parts. My ’92 came with a set of these lights already installed, but they were really worn. The brackets have some surface rust and the lenses looked like they were sandblasted. I had touched them up with a buffer, but the lenses really needed to be wet sanded or replaced. I chose to mix-and-match from the two sets I had to build the best set I could. Here’s the results. I used the original housings, painted the original brackets, used the yellow lenses from the JDM set and one outer lens from each set. Both outer lenses got wetsanded and buffed and the housings were cleaned up a bit.

    Yes, it’s a mess.



    The two finished pairs.



    What both pair used to look like.



    What the restored pair looks like now.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:28 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

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    Phatmiata (03-18-2021)

  7. #36
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    I also tracked down all the fidley bits to finish the RS Active Headlight restoration and installation. The shrouds are finally in. I still need to remove some yellow overspray from them, but now that I’ve got all the right parts it will be easy to pull them in and out.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:28 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

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    Phatmiata (03-18-2021)

  9. #37
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    One of the themes for this car was OEM+. To get there, I’ve been trying to remove as many exposed fasteners as possible. While I like the Nardi steering wheel and the black housing of the Sport horn button, the six screws holding the trim and horn button on kept galling me. I’d really like something like the M2 horn button, but they are pretty hard to come by. FWIW, they fit just like any regular Momo horn button.

    My current button.



    Here’s an M2 stuck in a Prototipo.



    Another alternative would be these custom buttons made for the Datsun 240Z. I could easily swap out the center portion for a custom button.







    I know a few cars came stock with big horn trims on Momo compatible wheels over the years. So I started looking for what other OEM buttons could I use. I came across four different buttons. One was sorta ugly, two were as rare as unicorn eggs, and the fourth was easy to find and looked like it would work.

    Here’s the 1975 VW Scirocco horn button I’ll be cutting up for a custom Mazda horn push.



    To erase the VW heritage of this part and make it look like something that would have come from Mazda, I wanted to adapt this RX7 steering wheel emblem to the VW bezel.



    The RX7 emblem is almost a perfect fit.



    And this is what I hope to end up with.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:34 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  10. #38
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    The Scirocco button is Momo sized and fits perfectly in a Momo wheel and adapter. But since I have a Nardi, I’ll have to use an adapter.



    The bolt pattern is the Momo 6x70mm, so I slotted it to use with the Nardi 6x74mm.



    So, after first disassembling the 35 year old horn button, I used some wet-dry sandpaper on a glass surface to start grinding down the face of the VW button and the back of the Mazda emblem.



    Sanded down.



    I used window adhesive to glue the two parts together. The windshield glue was also used to smooth over the seam and the button was done.





    I installed it along with the Momo horn adapter and another half-inch Nardi spacer and some longer 50mm steering wheel bolts.
    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:36 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  11. #39
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    Here's a photo of the new horn button installed. Here it is. It matches the profile of the Gara steering wheel very well. It hangs over the edges on a couple other wheels I’ve got (Momo Prototipo and Momo Racer).



    And a more fuzzy version in natural light. Sorry about the quality – a hailstorm is brewing and it’s already dark outside.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:37 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  12. #40
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    I bought a pair of the Mazda Tribute Fluidic windshield washer nozzles last year. I added some 90 degree bends, and new longer tubing pieces to make it all work correctly.





    I’ve been looking for a textured standard sized Voodoo knob for a while. When one popped up on the NW Connecticut Craigslist I emailed the seller, Alex, and he agreed to ship it. I’ve always liked the looks of this shift knob. I had trouble finding one, since Voodoo stopped making standard sized knobs and all new production is the Magnum size. As a bonus the knob came with a Brainstorm knob collar made specifically for the Voodoo knobs. It’s a nice piece, but I’ll save it for another project.

    Here’s the knob and collar.



    Installed.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:39 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  13. #41
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    I’ve been having issues with alternator whine from my iTouch. It turned out to be a power supply issue, which is common with iPods run off of noisy power. I tried a couple cheap fixes that didn’t really work and finally gave in and just threw money at the problem. I installed a David Navone power isolator in line with the existing power and ground and that solved the alternator whine coming through the iTouch. Normally I wouldn’t buy and expensive fix when an aftermarket deck could have easily solved the problem, but I’m dead-set on installing an Alpine 7909 that I bought just for this project and it will use the same iPod auxiliary input that the current OEM headunit is using.

    http://www.davidnavone.com/cart.asp?14&pid=178

    N-IP12A2a.jpg
    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:39 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

  14. #42
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    No earth shattering modifications this time. Instead I got ready for the All-Florida meet. Cleaned up the exterior, some light buffing, and gave the car it's first coat of wax since I've owned it. Finished installing the restored foglights, then found out one of the H3 bulbs was bad and changed it out. Did some maintenance: plugs, wires, oil change and air filter. Painted the front tow hooks, as they were as sandblasted as the foglight lenses.

    I’d be on the road the next day.



    And the foglights installed and working.



    Haven’t done much on the car since the Florida meet. I did some prep for a two-day SCCA Divisional autocross event. A few years ago I bought a slightly customized 2.5” Enthuza Turbo Exhaust from Dan Pedroza of the Austin, Texas Spokes Sports Car Club. It’s an NA exhaust, but it came with a Magnaflow NA8 cat and the cat currently on the car was an aftermarket unit that’s welded to the midpipe. I shopped around and ended up buying a NA6 Magnaflow bolt-on cat and Fel-Pro exhaust gaskets. Just for the record, the NA6 Fel-Pro gasket numbers are 60620 and 60831. I dug around the junk box for some good rubber hangers from a low mileage part out. A few new stainless bolts and nuts and it was installed. Sorry, no photos. This is the fourth Miata I’ve put an Enthuza exhaust on and every one has been great. The only issue I’ve ever had with them is that Jason at Enthuza doesn’t use one of the midpipe hangers. I’ve usually had the hanger added on the ones I buy, and Dan had one added on this exhaust.

    12228970920961155470334.jpeg

    http://shop.enthuzacar.com/product.s...6&categoryId=4

    The other addition is the driver’s seat. I bought a single Lotus Exige seat from Red92’. I bought a NA Driver’s side bracket from RyokoRob. He’s made some additional pieces to accommodate the seatbelt receiver. I bought a pair of ’96 seatbelt receivers and brackets from Soviet on Miataturbo. The install was a little tight, as the Exige seat is a little wider through the shoulders than the Elise seat, and the bracket tolerances were so tight that any variance required a little bending or prying to get everything lined up. The end result was a seat that gave me about one inch more headroom than my foamectomy seat. I was even able to wear a helmet under the hardtop, and I’m 6’3”.

    Installed.


    The tight shoulder. It blocks the hardtop latch. I ran the seatbelt through the harness hole.


    You can see the different heights between the ’96 receiver bolted to the Lotus seat and the original ’92 receiver.


    And the car at the recent Texas Region Divisional event.
    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:44 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

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  16. #43
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    One of the gems on my car, the RS Active headlights with their original piss-poor housings.


    I’ve voiced my displeasure about the performance of the RS Active headlights. I knew going in that they performed poorly and were valued for their cosmetic features. But, I wanted them anyway. They are the only really good looking low profile kit available due to the shroud around the lens and housing. But the performance issue always bothered me, so I had an idea of how to improve them. I was aware that the PIAA 960 housing was constructed very similarly to the cheap housing in the RS Active kit, both of them are combination fog and driving lights. They use the fog light as a low beam and the driving light as a high beam. This was verified by comparing the dimensions that PIAA publish. In fact, when placed side to side it’s pretty obvious that the housing that RS Active used was a knockoff of the PIAA 960.

    The internals of the PIAA with better wiring, silicone boots and heavy gauge stampings.


    The internals of the RS Active with cheap wiring, fiberglass boots and light gauge stampings.


    So, I tracked down a set of the PIAA 960 lights. They have been discontinued for years, but an ebay seller was closing out a truck accessory shop and had a few pair for sale, so I bought a few sets and set about modifying a set to work with the Miata wiring. Originally the RS Active headlights come with a wiring harness that adds another layer of relays in the system. The set of RS Active headlights I bought did not include the extra wiring, so they were spliced into male headlight plugs and plugged directly into the Miata headlight plugs. I spliced the same male headlight plugs into the PIAA wiring and slightly adjusted the RS Active bracket to receive the slightly deeper PIAA housing. The fiberglass shroud is slightly too tight to have the PIAA lens protrude through it as far as the original housings. But by moving the housing as far back in the bracket as possible, the shroud clears it without modification and when centered, it slightly sticks through the shroud like it was built for it. Luckily, there is a lot of adjustment in the parts, so it was easy to center the housing in the shroud.

    The excellent quality PIAA housings.


    The moment of truth, with the same wattage PIAA H3 bulbs that I had in the RS Active housings, the quality of the PIAA shown through. So much more light and in a better pattern. With the RS Active housings if I had the low beams aimed correctly, the high beams pointed in a cross-eyed pattern. With the PIAA housings, I was able to focus the high beams forward the slightly right and the low beams ended up perfectly usable without blinding oncoming traffic.

    Last edited by modernbeat; 10-06-2017 at 05:48 PM.
    Jason McDaniel

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    Agent☣Orange (03-08-2015),Phatmiata (03-18-2021)

  18. #44
    Supporting Member Dandy's Avatar
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    I like this build. Great attention to detail. That is a very sharp looking and functional car you have there Modernbeat.

  19. #45
    Admin / Pit Boss / Miataholic Phatmiata's Avatar
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    Agreed, the attention to the smallest of details is what is so great about this build, keep it up Jason!

    BTW we missed you at Miatapalooza this year!

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