Yellow Build

[Sharpie]

I may be having some more time on my hands since summer is coming, I enjoy helping out (I mean hanging out;-) with the engine swap if you need company. William has my digits.

[— Phatmiata —]

So this is how it's sitting right now. And the pictures requested.








I have been having a ton of fun cruising this thing around. It's so weird to be in a bone stock Miata. So things are going to start off slow here as I am leaving next week, bit as soon as I get back the changes will begin. Starting with a torsen swap and suspension.

I like the IL-Motorsports center console with the built in cup holders, did you add that or was it part of the deal? Looks great!!

[GMRlocal1]

Thanks Chris, motor swap is gonna be happening within the next few weeks here. I can always use an extra hand. I really need to get started installing parts, I have a pile of stuff sitting in the back of the shop and Gary is starting to get on me about taking up space. I just need to sort out my ecu and wiring for the cops and I'll be ready to go.

And yeah the center console was part of the deal. But I traded it to my boss for the oem one out of his car. I really didn't like it. The cup holders suck and they had holes in the bottoms so I couldn't even store change in them. He seems to love it though.

[GMRlocal1]

So I finally had some time to work on my car today. I was hoping to get more done but this damn heat is unbearable. All I was able to manage today was my rollbar install. I was thinking of doing a write up on it but I got super lazy. I took a lot of pictures though so if anyone needs any info just let me know. Here are a few if the install.

Got all my cuts nice and tight, and roll bar is now in!







Added these door whatever they’re called that I got for free.




And some LED’s to replace the dim interior lights. Man these things are bright!



I also got my friend to help me wire up the individual coil packs. He did such an awesome job! Im lucky to know dudes like him!





Also MORE PARTS!!







Picked up this shifter for 30 bucks the other day.



So if I can stop being lazy and overcome my addiction to black ops 2 I am hoping to have my suspension in this week. Also want to have my steering wheel and seat in. only problem I ran into is this.



I’m not sure how I want to go about fixing this. Its one of the mounting holes for the seat rail. Was done before my ownership by someone who had no idea what they were doing. I was thinking of doing a driver low seat rail but then again I am only 5’6’’ and I can barely see over the dash as is with my ultra-shield in place, and I also want to be able to go back and forth to a stock seat. Luckily we are in the middle of parting out an NB so I’ll probably just snag the mount out of it.

I also wanted to give this car a name but I have no idea what to call it. Any ideas? I was thinking butters like the south park character because my wife keeps calling this car little feller. But idk. What do you guys think?

[WASABI]

Awesome update! Looks like it's coming along nicely... and I personally like "Butters".

[GMRlocal1]

So I fixed my seat mount today. Luckily we were parting out another car so I was able to take the mount from it.
This is what mine looked like. Basically they broke off they top and then drilled into it but went way off center. Leaving half the stud inside.


So I drilled the old one out. Here it is next to the new one.



Then I used an old rail and took some measurements before I welded the new one in.



Then welded it in and painted it black just to try and prevent rust from happening. Also put some silicone one the bottom side to prevent water from coming in where I accidentally drilled through.





So that all for today but it's a three day weekend for me so i am going to try and get more done.
Happy 4th of July everyone!

[GMRlocal1]

I got around to installing my coilovers and sways this weekend. While I was in there I went ahead and installed my tow hooks and exhaust system! Progress! What do you guys think?










I love the way the RB cat back sounds. It is just loud enough to make you know it is aftermarket without sounding ricey and still plenty quiet for daily driving. Still not as loud as I would like it to be ,but it will get louder once I have the header and cat delete pipe in there so I am still looking forward to that. I am about a 1/4 of the way done so far. Miatas @ Hallet is here in a couple of months and I still have a bunch I want to do by then. I have a lot on my plate these next couple of months so I got my fingers crossed. Hopefully I do not get too busy so I can get this where I want it to be by then.

[WASABI]

Looks great! Man, the Miata in Yellow, just looks right. Nice work on all your upgrades too. Do you have plans on your windshield wiper? I ask, because stock ones always seem to rust, so look on eBay for powder coated pair... you won't be sorry.

[GMRlocal1]

I haven't actually even noticed until you pointed it out just now. Lol! Thanks for the tip I'll look into it. Looks like I'm doing the suspension again this weekend. I just got another set of the same coilovers with low low miles and custom top hats we had made just for these. So mine are going up for sale soon at super low price. I just need them gone and to free up some cash.

[GMRlocal1]

So not a huge update, but I got something done in the middle of the week! Hooray!
Got my hub and wheel on and installed my seat while I was in there. So the wheel I can only assume is not real. I gotta say though they could have charged me full price and I would have not known the difference. It's on eBay for like $120 shipped, so for the price I thought I'd check it out. I was expecting to hate it. Thought it would be pretty flimsy and all the cheap wheel stuff. Other than the quality of the "suede" it's actually pretty nice. I would say just as sturdy as my momo wheel. The horn button was actually pretty crappy. The power and ground connectors on the back just spin freely but a little bit of solder fixed that. Overall I would say, not so bad. And I probably should have got leather. But oh well. Seat is just a ultra shield rally seat with a TDR seat rail. I still have to install all the harness mounting hardware to get my harness in, either way I never drive in the street with the harness. Here is how it looks.









And a photo at the end of the day after William and I finished washing our cars to go to a meet.

[GMRlocal1]

I have been spending some quality time with Butters.

First I finally got around to mounting those 15X9 c3m’s on 225/45 rivals



And then I took a weekend off and installed the 99 engine I’ve been sitting on.








I got the engine in the last weekend. Took me all of three days to get it installed which was way longer than I expected while I was doing the swap I went ahead and installed some other parts as well like a 6 puck clutch and 7lb flywheel for a 1.6, mazdaspeed short shifter, mazdaspeed engine mounts and megasquirt because I was keeping the 1.8 iac and throttle body and I could control the vics with it. A cop set up that my buddy Gary help me put together. I also went ahead swapped the coilovers with a set I got from my boss. They are a set of yellow speeds but we installed different bump stops , NB top hats in the front and some custom top hats in the rear. The car rides really smooth now. I also went ahead and installed a 1.8 torsen diff and a tdr aluminum radiator along with a 99 silicone lower rad hose because I did the coolant re-route, just wanted all silicone hoses. That reminds me also did some silicone heater hoses. And a bunch of other little things I just cant remember right now.

Took me all week to get a good tune put on, but with the help of my friend Gary we got it dialed in today. The car feels great, makes great power, its very quick and the A/C works great! It is a completely different car than it was just a few months ago. So far I am so happy with it and I can’t wait to get to the track with it. I still have a few more parts I want to install like ball joints, tie rod ends and alignment bolts just to make the car safer. I don’t really want to chance taking a stock 307k suspension to the track. If I had time I would also swap all the suspension bushings but that will just have to wait. For now I am content with the progress I am making. Maitas @ Hallet is just over a month away and I am feeling more confident I will have the car ready by then. I mean I better, I already paid for it.

Rainy day pic.

[GMRlocal1]

So after I spent many days and hours with my buddy Gary tuning the car it is running great. So the main focus shifted to make it reliable enough to go to the track. The next event coming up was Miata’s @ Hallet so I went over the chassis and found tons of problems you would expect out of a car with 308k on the clock. I ended up replacing the steering rack, tie rods, tie rod ends, lower ball joints, upper ball joint boots, steering rack boots, alignment bolts, and put on a new set of rotors and a new set of Hawk DTC60s. Since I was already going to be in there I installed an RB sub frame support and some AWR end links to go with my RB sways. Not everything is in that picture.



I also went ahead and installed a new TDR radical splitter for the r package lips. I had a great time at M@H. Drove all the way up and back with only one small alternator issue. It went out on the first day but again, expected something to go wrong. It was probably the original alternator. Anyway a great first track day with the car and I was able to improve my best time at that track by 3 seconds with this car without ever tracking it previously!

[GMRlocal1]

A few days after I came back from M@H my gas tanks started to leak on me. If any of you have ever replaced on before , it is not fun. I went ahead and installed a 1.8 gas tank because it holds more fuel. Not a fun weekend project.



And had to make sure the alignment was still good.



I also was able to find a really good shape soft top. It came from a 2004 mazdaspeed. Its in perfect condition and it’s a glass window! Hell yes!

[GMRlocal1]

I love this car so much. Its still not there in my mind I have way more i still want to do with it, but for now I am very happy with it. Just going to enjoy it for a little while and then start throwing more parts and money at it.

[Ihatecars]

Very awesome build! You've done a lot to make your roadster really freaking awesome.

p.s. Do you have any more info on the green NB with the MX-5 RS banner in the side? It looks awesome.