EErockMiata

The next event in the 2013 Miata Challenge series was spring mountain motorsports ranch. We ran the 3.4 mile config and the track was an absolute blast. This event was really the end of my aging 6 speed transmission. I spent most the day nursing 2-3 and 4-5 shifts. I had a few key money shifts and had a torque app data log that showed 8200 rpm. Yikes. Car made it all the way home some how. Now burning about 3/4 of a quart per 20 minute session.







anyone fancy a c7? oh yeah, what color?


Grilling and chilling. This is the best part of Miata Challenge.


Another event another first place

EErockMiata

Had another event at Auto Club Speedway. Didn't do very well and finished 5th. I just wasn't feeling it and was way off the pace for that day. Not a huge deal still had fun.

That brings us back to WSIR for the final event of the 2013 Miata Challenge Season. I came into the last event tied for first in Street Class with Joe Xie. This day was no where near as hot as the last time we were there and the lap times showed it.

I was having an epic battle with my nemsis Joe Xie all day. In the end he manage to edge my best time out by .6 seconds to take the win at the event and the win for the season. Overall it was a great first year of track days and I couldn't be happier with how the car performed and with how my driving progressed.

For the last event I had a new 6 speed transmission that I picked up off of UrbanSoot on these board and had installed a Blackbird Fabworx Supermiata spoiler. It seems like this would be the first step down the rabbit hole of aero mods.

Before the event my garage looked like a transmission bone yard. I got 99 problems and a 6 speed ain't one.


BFW Spoiler (dirty)




BFW Crew


good turnout for the last event


Not often that some one shows up for HPDE with a LM24 Running Pescarolo LMP1 car

EErockMiata

So that bring this car and thread current as of about 12/15/13. I've done a bunch of work since then that I am going to catch the thread up on later today.

As of the end of the 2013 Miata Challenge season the car sat with the following performance parts:

Stock 99 Motor (112k Miles)
-K/N Intake with K/N Crossover tube
-Blackbird Fabworx 2.5" SS Exhaust
-2001 Exhaust Header

Suspension:
-Racing Beat Front Sway
-949 End Links
-Flyin Miata Xtreme Track Pack Coilovers

Brakes:
-1.8 Rotors and Calipers
-XP10 front pads
-XP8 rear pads
-Willwood Prop Valve

Wheels/Tires:
-15x8 949 6ul
-205/50/15 BFG Rivals

Safety Setup by BFW

EErockMiata

After the final round of the 2013 Miata Challenge I put the car up on jack stands to remove the coilover and take all of the suspension arms off for a poly bushing install.

vmaxx coilovers ready to go to a new owner (not gonna miss these)


I ended up using the harbor freight bushing removal tool to pull the bushings. I found that a little pre-heating with a blow torch helped them come right out. While I was at it I installed zerk fittings per the 949 locations. It was a total pita but in the end it would be worth it.







I also swapped my 3.9 t2 torsen with chris for his 4.1 t2 torsen. I installed a set of poly diff bushings in the carrier before I put it in the car. Also a pita but worth it. The blow torch really helps with these.

Chilicharger665

iTrader: (2)

Props for an awesome and methodical build! I want a 6 point from Blackbird more than anything else for my car. I am sick of the lack of chassis stiffness. Too bad I live in NM!

EErockMiata

Thanks man. It's been a slow process but the car is really coming together the way I envisioned it. The 6 point roll bar has made a pretty awesome difference for chassis stiffness. I'll most likely be removing it soon to have moti do either a 3/4 cage or a full cage. The car is well on it's way to super miata wheel to wheel racing next year.

EErockMiata

I had purchased an ms3 basic from reverent in mid december. 45 days after the purchase date it shipped just as he promised. It was going to be a long while before i had the time to install it and get it running but at least I had it and was ready.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

I think you need 2 Miatas.

My 1st year track anniversary came and went this last weekend. Sat it out because I have 2 Miatas and the machine shop has 2 Miata engines. Sigh.

Miata Challenge sure looks fun. Wonder if there is something like that around here.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

What suspension is going on to replace the FM pieces? Xidas?

nitrodann

Excellent thread, props given, also agreed, Ryans car is sick.

Dann

EErockMiata

Haha Pusher!!! I actually considered doing that. I recently pulled the burner 99 motor from my car and was considering keeping it to rebuild it for an NA project. However, I got an offer to sell it as a core for a fairly decent hunk of cash and I went for it. Oh well… for the best, I need another car project like I need another hole in my head. The nice thing is my wife’s MS3 makes for a fun practical street car. Although I’d like to get rid of that soon and get a cayman s for fun stuff.

You’re beating me to the punch in my own build thread haha. I suppose I should have seen that coming when I posted the pic of the defunct vmaxx. I removed the vmaxx setup right when I got home from the final miata challenge event in December. It took me until 12/29/13 for me to recover from holiday spending and place my order for Gen 1 xida’s.

As luck wouldn’t (or would depending on how you look at it) I was within a few hours of getting the last set of Gen 1 xida’s. So my order went from a gen 1 order to one of the first orders for the gen 2 setup. The bad part of this whole deal is that I jumped the gun on selling my old stuff so I was left high and dry (literally on jack stands) for an event I was planning on going to with a friend in March.

Fortunately for me I was able to borrow a set of Gen 1 xida’s from a friend for that event. To say that switch from vmaxx to gen 1 xida’s was a revelation was an understatement. The car was transformed.

At any rate I got a call from Emilio some time a month or two ago telling me the gen 2’s had come in and he asked how badly I needed them. I was in the middle of an engine swap (which will be the be one of the next updates I make to bring this thing current) so I told him my set would best be served on some one else’s car.

Long story short… gen 2 xida’s. I should have them in hand in the next two weeks. It seems our cars will be NA/NB versions of each other.

Thanks man! Being friends with Ryan and Moti really causes you to up your game. You can’t show up to that tough crowd and show off some DIY work unless it’s actually legit. Oh well… good for me because it makes me step up and do real work.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Wow. Yeah, you ordered Xidas about 15 minutes before I ordered Xidas. Your shocks are literally on my Red car. What a coincidence.

They work well BTW. Even with just a quickie alignment and eyeballed height setting I was doing personal bests. As soon as I get my engine in, it's going to MER for a real setup.

EErockMiata

So to continue on with the 2014 catch up... I was working to get the car ready to head to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway with a friend. One of my good friends got an FR-S last year and had yet to take it to the track. We made the decision in January of 2014 to make this CWV event his inaugural event with his car and of course... I had to be there for it.

Chuckwalla is my favorite track in all of southern california. It has some great flow to it and really allows you to connect one section of the track to the other. I had only been there once and it was very early in my miata career, so I was stoked to go back.

Changes for this event included Gen 1 xida coilovers, sport front calipers/rotors/xp10's, and a 1" willwood master cylinder.

Overall the event wend splendidly. I managed to turn a 2:08.6 which is a 4 second improvement over the last time I was here. This was good enough for top step of the podium in miata challenge mod class by 2 seconds!

I didn't get many pictures from the event and I had some focus issues with my new gopro which lead to me sending it in for RMA which meant my videos were all ****.

I did get to take a session in the FRS that's pictured below and just had a blast. That is probably the best car I've ever driven in stock form. The balance was just amazing and I was able to drive the same lines in that car that I drive in my miata... I want one.

Made a new gopro mount out of a shaft collar, and a micro ball head. More info on this later... it's very choice.


getting a quick and dirty alignment for the gen 1 xida's before the event


Added some new Blackbird Fabworx Graphics before the event. Represent!




I love waking up at the track... I also love my REI tent.


Moti made me a Kimi sticker for my spoiler... love it.


All wrapped up and ready to head home

EErockMiata

Much like the spring mountain event... the chuckwalla event was a turning point for this project. I gave the tired 99 motor it's last 2 ever money shifts on track by my hand. On the way home the car reached it's peak oil consumption but still no knock and no smoke from the tail pipe. I got home and gave the motor a compression test. It showed 120 psi across all 4 cylinders.

Not quite sure how long the motor has been like that but it's time for a change. I managed to find a very low mileage 02 motor in arizona for 700 dollars. I lucked out because my parents lived there. So I borrowed a truck and headed towards Tuscon. 700 dollars later I was the owner of a 45k mile (verified on carfax) vvt motor. I loaded up the motor and headed back towards socal and got ready for the tear down and resulting build up.

02 vvt motor on the stand being torn down.


I also sourced a square top intake manifold that Moti @ BFW had sitting around. I got the motor refreshed with all new seals, a new timing belt, water pump, all new hoses etc. I tore everything down on the car and got everything ready for the swap. Once I got the new motor in I hooked it up to the oem 99 ecu and took the car for a drive around the block.

The car started up on the first turn of the key like a champ. TBH this motor without vvt running felt stronger than my old 99 motor. I was so happy that this thing started up right I cannot even describe it. That gave me the confidence I needed to move onto installing the megasquirt.

02 vvt motor installed... blurry picture because cellphone


I pushed forward with installing the ms labs ms3 basic into the car. I removed the dash so that I could route the vac lines and other wires to the spot under the pedals where the ms3 would live. On Reverent's advice I purchased an AEM Uego, so I also routed the wires for that. Reverent's instructions were very easy to follow and I got all the dots connected.

While I had the dash out I took the opportunity to install a longacre water temp and oil pressure gauge. I installed the two longacre gauges into the center eyeball vent holes. I then had to figure out a place to add the WB gauge and some switches I had in mind for the ms3 control. I had a mental picture of a radio delete gauge panel and I went to work putting my idea into reality.

I wanted to have 2 5v powerd usb ports so i could charge my phone and gopro remote without having stuff hanging off the cig lighter. I also wanted a spot for a data log start and stop button. Another thing I wanted to avoid was just having a female usb cable sitting in the glove box. So I ordered up a USB female socket from amazon. Late in the game I decided it was a good idea to have a voltage gauge installed as well and I sourced a cheap digital voltage gauge from amazon as well.

Longacre Gauges and Custom Gauge Panel


View from the driver seat. This is a bit lower than I end up sitting. I swapped the motorola atrix for a retired Samsung Galaxy S3 for trackmaster duties.


Here is that gopro mount I talked about earlier. This is really a much better solution than the roll bar mount that gopro sells. All you have to do is loosen the ball mount adjuster and the gopro goes limp and you can remove the SD card and remove the camera from the housing. Quite pleased with this.


A while back I made a fire extinguisher bracket that bolts into the oem front passenger seat rail mounting holes. This is just a simple ABC 2.5LB unit.


I got the car running on the basic base map that rev provided and through many emails got the car idling. I was on a pretty tight schedule so I enlisted the help of Chris Safranski on these boards to help me get the car running on a safe tune so that I could get the car to Church's to get tuned. Chris got me running on an overly rich tune so that the car would be safe. We spent about 3 hours and he worked absolute magic for me and did in 3 hours what would take me a month.

So this brings us to current. I've got an appointment tomorrow to get the car tuned by church's automotive tuning in Wilmington. I'm hopeful that the car will show some decent numbers. Either way I'm super happy with the way the car performs. I'm exstatic with the ECU I got from Rev. It honestly already runs so much better than the oem ecu even with just 2 basic hours of auto tuning. Good times!

P.S. Yes I know the pictures are huge... I want to show off my DIY work, I'm quite proud of it.

Ryephile

iTrader: (1)

Fantastic read! Thanks for sharing.

EErockMiata

Thanks Ryan. I appreciate the comments from you. I consider the only person to properly build an r53 mini. You may or may not remember my car from one of the michigan mini meets. I've since moved to the left part of the country. The work you did lowering the roll centers on your r53 was the only epic thing going on in that worthless community. Oh yeah... and the first legit turbo only r53 conversion wasn't bad either.

Past ride.

Ryephile

iTrader: (1)

Oh wow small world! Thanks for the compliments. The MINI project was definitely a trailblazer for me and the community. Funny enough, I still hang out with the MINI crowd, though it's ended up being a social/drinking club more than about the cars, which is fine. Your car definitely looks familiar. It still amazes me how many messages I get from MINI folk asking for suspension or turbo conversion advice.

It's cool we're kinda doing the same thing in a different place. I'm currently building up my Miata for fast-street/occasional HPDE, though I definitely give you props for taking yours to the Miata Challenge level, and doing great in it too.

Cheers

EErockMiata

Just got back from the dyno and Church's Automotive Tuning in Wilmington. Sean church is the pre-eminent megasquirt and aem tuner in our area here in socal. He's tuned roughly half of the super miata's that are running in the series at this time so he's quite accomplished. I left the DSLR at home as I had to head straight there from work... cell phone pictures are going to have to suffice again, sorry.

At any rate less talky more result posting. Final numbers were 161/141


I was nothing but a ball of nerves while they were getting my car ready to get tuned. A real moment of truth for all the work I had done leading up to this.


The man Shawn Church working his magic.


Overall I couldn't be more happy with the numbers and the way the car drives. This dyno of Church's read about 5-7% high so figure real numbers are around 150ish give or take. The car has been completely transformed.... the area under the curve of this vvt motor is mind blowing. I'll post some info on the tables and maps when I have a chance.

Can't wait to get this car out to buttonwillow this weekend.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Geez that's strong. And that's with an OEM exhaust header?!?

EErockMiata

That is correct. These results are with an 01+ oem header. Once I get bored of this setup. I'll fab up a cold side intake and put a racing beat header on it and go for that last 10 or so whp that's left in it. At the moment, it's making considerably more horse power than I have talent to use at the track.