Doward's 94

[Doward]

I havent updated my build thread on the "other" site, so im going to copy whats over there and update it here
This car has kinda gone through phases with me. So here is a quick breakdown to catch up to where its at today:

In the beginning....
I had a Tornado Red 95 Jetta GLX that i drove in highschool, got involved in some occasional auto/rallyX. Eventually wanted a more capable car.
Bought miata, put H&R springs on stock shocks with jetta wheels on it(rota slips.)

Bought myself some sweet, brand new at the time SM501s and a fresh buff/wax:



Bought a catback, randall intake, nardi, etc.
It was really starting to come together, a nice clean dual purpose car... untill:


This started me on path of trackcar, so i bought a wagon for dailying:





Blew those stock shocks out quick, bought some konis, and introduced CR to isc tophats. OMGZZ




And i buy a Sparco EVO, rollbar, FM framerails, Roadstersport race exhaust, and other fun stuff alongs the lines:



All the while staying true to CR form



It kinda gets blurry, i stop caring what it looks like and drive the shit out of it for a year or two. I stopped following the "scene" and, honestly, kinda stop having fun with it. The car comes out like this(dont hate me):



BUT, Then i get to drive this bad boy around the track a few laps and it wakes me back up:




...

[Doward]

So i get back on the horse, get some new wheels, Stance GR+, 99 head swap, Sport brakes, prop valve, sways/links and do some track days/drift events:

















I start following the 949 "formula", 15x9, 225, 750/500, msm rear sway, yada yada...




And i end up spinning #4 rod. So I have this built:

9:1 CP pistons
Eagle rods
Cometic gaskets
ARP everywhere
New OEM water/oil pumps
New OEM timing belt
AEM EMS w/GM 3bar map, AIT sensor in monsterflow intake pipe, MAF delete








Dyno of build: Mods include bottom end listed above with a bone stock 99 head, stock cam timing, miataroadster intake mani gasket, custom throttlebody gasket, monsterflow intake, maf delete, aem dryflow filter, obx header ceramiced and wrapped, used high-flow cat, roadstersport race exhaust:


At this point i have gathered some turbo parts, and am dead set on boosting this thing. So i have the shop throw a honda mani on:




You may notice my headlight popped up a bit here^?
Not on purpose. My oil fill cap unscrewed and wedged itself under the headlight bracket. I thought i lost it on track. I started noticing severe smoke going into turn 7 at Mid Ohio, which is a 120-70 right hander. Oil was sloshing forward and left, out of the fill hole and onto the header. I never lost pressure, and it only took about a half quart when i pitted. Grabbed a spare and finished the weekend.

So the car is Fun. Fast. Loud. What more car you ask for? Oh, yea, more rod knock... yay...
And the car sits for 9 months, i literally put the car cover on it dont touch it. For 9 months.

[Doward]

Rod knock video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBH9u...7xL-m5UPowE3lW

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______


For 2011 I took my coils, sways and wheels off and my friend and i built this:





which turned into this little monster. I actually ended up winning our local csp class in this. Ive now won 5/6 in the last 6 years with one second place in 2010 codriving other cars. LOL!:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMqZu...7xL-m5UPowE3lW

My car is still in the garage on jacks stands tonight. It hasnt moved under its own power since septemberish of 2010
Looking kinda like this:


BUT, that doesnt mean i'm not making progress!
ive pulled my "professionally built" motor out:


I picked up a full 00 drivetrain off the craigslist and am just gonna drop the stock motor in, selling the 4.3 torsen and trans to flip a profit on the deal!


I also finally buttoned up my reroute:


And tonight i started the beginnings of my 1.6 dash swap, wrapping some door toppers in suede.
My plan is to keep my black and tan theme going, problem is, the tan split on a 1.8 dash is below the crashpad, 1.6 crashpads are tan. They dont line up and look goofy. So im going to do what a few have already and cover the dashpad/door tops in suede.






Its kind of funny, looking back.
I started with a 94 M, loaded, leather, abs, cruise, ac, power steering, power antenna, mirrors, windows, whale tail wing, cd changer.
Now all that remains of that is power mirrors/windows.

[JSanker]

I remember your car! Cool build man, I look forward to seeing what else you have in store

[Caoboy]

Glad to see this car isn't dead.

[Doward]

So. Am. I!

Picking up my dash and polishing my spare hood Wednesday.
Should have some dash disassembly pics and stuff then . Might even snap a pic of it for the "what does your miata look like right now" thread

Anyone ever wrap a gauge hood? I have some spare material and am gonna give it a go.

I'm thinking of putting together something of a "build post" on our black autoX car too. It's life began as a 92 black and tan locost donor. But it's all 1.8 now with a torsen.

[WASABI]

...Anyone ever wrap a gauge hood? I have some spare material and am gonna give it a go.

Nice build so far. looks like you are really enjoying her again. Here are pdf instructions on how to wrap a gauge hood ( www.fagerquist.com/miata/MiataHoodInstall.pdf ). Hope it helps.

-Jim

[stormin'norman]

Makes me happy that you are still working on this car. Neat stuff going on in here.

[Doward]

I have to update this again.
I'm posting from my phone so no photos at the moment.

I made a black suede shift boot to match the doors and eventually the dash. Reinstalled the finished door panel tops and also repainted and rewrapped my header.

Had to make another trip to the parts store to buy another freeze plug. I am deleting the front water neck for my reroute. The info I gathered from the web was incorrect on which size plug I needed. Once I've got it installed I will post which size plug I ended up using.

[Doward]

Freeze plug in the front, all accessories swapped over. Cam timing reset. Reroute done, hoses ready. I'm using the GM truck hose from the begi spacer and kia water neck out back. Protege valve cover painted and baked(red wrinkle, mazdaspeed style. Header repainted an rewrapped.

It's getting close!

Just need to gather a few loose ends like plugs and a thermostat and source some longer studs for the Intake manifold. The shop that did the fab work on the Honda manifold for me used some really cheap hardware. They pulled all the factory studs out and bolted on the mani. Two of the bolts had broken and one backed out, missing upon removal of engine. Fantastic work, Slomotion Motorsports...

But anyways, it should be runnin again soon!!!

[JSanker]

May I ask what kind of green paint did you use on your sportmaxx 501 wheels?

[Doward]

I probably used some grabber green engine enamel. Or some other obnoxious green I had laying around. I only painted two of them. Had green for money on the drivers side and gold for the honeys on the passenger side...

Ended up trading them for a set of Falken Hanabis. I love Hanabis.

[XCLR8TN]

Its kind of funny, looking back.
I started with a 94 M, loaded, leather, abs, cruise, ac, power steering, power antenna, mirrors, windows, whale tail wing, cd changer.
Now all that remains of that is power mirrors/windows.

That day you swapped at random was awesome. I still remember to this day! And oddly enough, that guy had hanabis!

[Doward]

YES! That was a crazy meet. Tylers car fresh on his works, first time i met all the Cincy people, maybe the last time i saw some of them too The trunk swapage in the parking lot of a tire store where we borrowed tools...


My Hanabis and Hoosiers some morning at Mid Ohio, loved this setup:

[Doward]

Little things here and there getting finished up. Feels good. New motor is ready to go as of tonight! I simply need to load the chassis up and tow it across town and drop it in.

Valve cover turned out pretty good. It's a protege cover, rattle canned wrinkle red. I polished the lettering and stripes by hand.






I may be trading the bbombs for a set of gold axis og-sans. I would like to get away from the et0 stuff. I want to set the suspension at one height and have it look good on either set of wheels. Which I can't do going from x9 6uls to 7.5" bbombs. I usually have to spin the coils down a few threads on the Konigs so it looks right. Plus I've always wanted some reverse mesh and a straight trade, some reps for what I've already got, is about as close as I'm gonna get I think.