Shin Kaeru 神カエル-My build(-ish?) thread

[— Dandy —]

Real nice score from the previous owner. That top boot is the proper finishing piece to use with the top down to achieve true gentleman's status. Those magazines are a great enthusiast item to have. The fact that they are some of the earliest issues is even better. Glad to hear that you talked to Shaikh. You are bound to have a great suspension setup now. It is worth the time doing the homework and then getting advice from one of the best in the business.

[etikoner]

Shin Kaeru is gonna be realllll dope man

[Ihatecars]

Real nice score from the previous owner. That top boot is the proper finishing piece to use with the top down to achieve true gentleman's status. Those magazines are a great enthusiast item to have. The fact that they are some of the earliest issues is even better. Glad to hear that you talked to Shaikh. You are bound to have a great suspension setup now. It is worth the time doing the homework and then getting advice from one of the best in the business.

Keeping in contact with my cars previous owner has definitely been beneficial for me. I still have a lot of research to do as far as my suspension, but getting the correct info from the start makes things a lot easier. I didn't realize how little I knew about suspension before I decided to tackle building my suspension though.

Shin Kaeru is gonna be realllll dope man

I sure do hope so.

[Ihatecars]

This came in the mail today.


Mazdaspeed A-Spec Type I Wing.

I think I might be a ricer now.

It's going to be some time before this wing gets mounted on Shin. I have some pretty hefty restoration work ahead of me. First, the "paint" is tacky and coming off in some spots. Second, ends of the wing are chipped. And last but definitely not least, there is a bit of a crack on one of the sides of the wing. It doesn't seem too major to me, but I'm not an expert on body work. Hopefully it won't be a headache to fix.

[Ihatecars]

Just want to update you guys on Shin's progress. Nothing too huge to report. Mostly maintenance and enjoying driving my Roadster.

Right now I'm in major save-money-mode. With school starting soon and part needing to be painted, any big new parts aren't so much part of the budget. So the past month or so has been mostly dedicated to maintenance. I changed Shin's oil, but I somehow lost the photos I took, but I'm sure most of you guys know what changing a Miata's oil is like. I also bought some spark plug wires. The previous owner told me that they were replaced recently when I bought my Miata, but he couldn't remember when "recent" was exactly.



I also got these recently



My front brakes started squeaking also so I bought some Stoptech brake pads. The current pads bit more life in them, but I'd rather not roll around with a squeaky car. After a bit of research I was told that these Stoptech pads should provide a decent boost in performance without making too much noise or spewing dust all of my wheels.



While cleaning out my room I rediscovered my JDM speaker grills. I was going to make new door cars to fit the grills, but I became slightly lazy and decided to temporally rig them to my oem speaker covers. I don't think the look amazing, but I like them better than the boring stock covers.

That same day I did a little test of the MS Wing I got a recently.





I also replaced my antenna. The rubber it was made of had hardened over time causing the antenna to develop a pretty severe crack near the base.



I'm not a huge fan of "stubby" antennas on NA Miatas. I feel they look too modern compared to the rest of the cars retro design. I was able to find another long antenna that more closely fit the retro style of the Miata.



The base had the ability to swivel so I gave the antenna a slight rake.



I then got Shin dyno'd.(for emissions testing)



I'm also getting a little bit closer to finishing my Bilstein/ Ground Control coilover setup.



And I got to hangout with the Mayday Garage guys.



They even gave me a sweet sticker.



And this month marked 3 years with my wonderful girlfriend.
This is her on our dinner date. (She doesn't like it when I take photos of her.)

[pacman 99]

Nice. Me and the gf hit up Miyakos or RA sushi when we feel fancy.

[Ihatecars]

Nice. Me and the gf hit up Miyakos or RA sushi when we feel fancy.

My gf loves RA Sushi.
This was our first time at Osaka. They gave us a free appetizer and dessert, but we probably won't be going back.

[Ihatecars]

How's MR.net doing? Long time no see.

Anwyays, lets skip the formalities. I left you guys hanging a bit when it came to the progress of my coilovers. Well, here's the info on my coilovers and my experiences with them.

I got these in the mail from FCM.



They're the comfortable version because I'm an old man.

I then got some stupid top hats because I need lot's of travel.



I put the parts together and got this!



Boom! Coil-y goodness.

I did a bunch of work getting them in and somehow only ended up taking a single picture. Luckily my dad snapped one of my buddy and I wrenching away.



Out with the old and in with the new.



I was expecting the install to take at least an entire weekend. Nope, took me about four hour in total.

I drove around at about stock ride height for a little bit, then I decided to go stupid.

This is me with what seemed like -50mm of preload.



I couldn't even get into my garage. I had less than 2 inches of frame-rail clearance.

Logic kicked in and a raised the car.



I then took Shin to a local shop called Gashead Motor Works. Absolutely amazing place. Clint is a very knowledgeable and honest man.

I got an alignment as well as a four-corner balance. I don't remember the specs exactly, but it was pretty damn close to 50/50 front and rear on the balance and 1.8 camber in the rear.



Anybody in the Houston area should check out Gashead Motor Works. Definitely a cool place.















The coils ride a lot more firmly than stock, but nothing too harsh. The performance upgrade is well worth the slight loss in comfort. The performance alignment and corner balance only made thins better. Steering is much more direct, and the car feel much more planted in the corners. Definitely a huge upgrade over stock.



Next on my list is to actually install my GV tails, as well as try and figure out which spoiler to put on my car since I sold my MS wing.

[—atank—]

Thats a good looking Bilstein, Ground Control, and Fat Cat shock setup!!!

[WASABI]

Thats a good looking Bilstein, Ground Control, and Fat Cat shock setup!!!

Yes it is! More pictures... and video! She must be like a brand new car!

[pacman 99]

Looking good. Clint at GHM is my guy for anything mechanical. I need a alignment so I'll probably be visiting him again soon.

[Nyaa]

That suspension setup looks so rad. I've been looking into it a lot for myself, so it's nice to see it on a car I admire so much!

[etikoner]

Glad you got the Billstein dampers set-up!!

Loving the car man

[atxsbigwalt]

nice setup. Which bilsteins and top hats did you get?? Im thinking of building a set of my NB as well

[— fwdtamiya —]

Those look pretty