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I purchased my Miata in July '16 and it's taken me this long to put a build thread up. I am new to the Miata world, coming from a '07 350Z, but I always admired the small roadster at each track weekend. After seeing too many "Miata is always the answer" comments, I decided I'd heed the call and finally get one.
After months of searching, I finally found this 1999 Twilight Blue NB with 127K miles on Craigslist. It had a manual and a hardtop, DONE! I currently live in NY, but store my car with my parents in CA, so I only get to work on it every couple of months :( I end up flying back home for HPD events 5-6 times a year, each time with more and more parts showing up at their door prior to my arrival. Luckily, they haven't complained as it keeps me coming home a lot more frequently.
First Day of Miata Ownership:
Fast Forward...and here is where I am now and what initially started out as an optimistic smallish budget build as a daily driver/weekend track toy had spiraled into something that brings me pure joy every time I drive it. As is sits today:
Suspension
900/500 Xidas with NB Top Mounts
Racing Beat 1.125 Tubular Sway
SuperMiata 14mm Rear Bar
949 SuperMiata Adjustable Endlinks
Energy Suspension Polyurethane Bushings (Red)
OEM R-Package Outer Tie Rods
Interior
Blackbird Fabworx GT3 Roll Bar
Cobra Evolution Pro (Driver)
Sparco Sprint (Passenger)
PCI Adjustable Ver.2 Seat Mount
Schroth Profi II 6-HANs
Sparco R383 Steering Wheel (330mm)
NRG Short Hub
NRG Quick Release
LRB Speed Hybrid Door Panels
GarageStar Delrin Door Bushings
Exterior
Blackbird Fabworx Lexan Spoiler
RSpeed Front Sport Lip
I'm going to do my best to document the process and build I've done through now. Upon researching Miatas prior to owning one, I came across Supermiata and knew right there, that is where I was going to draw most of my inspiration and what parts/look I was going for. So I purchased it in July of 2016 and had signed up for my first track day with it on Sept. 24th, 2016 @ Thunderhill West. It was now time to get some parts ordered and installed!!!
Last edited by nandovina22; 09-19-2018 at 10:34 AM.
Reason: Title
So first order of business was some basic maintenance, it already had it's timing belt and water pump replaced within a couple thousand miles of purchasing so I went ahead and replaced the following:
- Oil (Redline 5W-30)
- Trans Oil (Redline MT-90)
- NGK Spark Plugs
Next thing was wheels!!! The car originally came with these Chrome 17x7 Kosei K1's which felt way too tall and heavy for the Miata (did I mention they were also Chrome?), so I ordered 15x8 6UL's in Bronze from 949 Racing and wrapped them in 205/50/15 Bridgestone Re-71R tires. These wheels are sweet
Where Miata is always the answer to cars, it seemed Xidas are always the answer to coilovers, so ordered a set of Xida Race coilovers with 700/400 springs using my NB top hats. While I was at it, ended up replacing the front hubs with Blueprinted ones from Treasure Coast Miata and ARP studs. Finished it up with G-Loc R10 pads up front and R8 pads in the rear with fresh Centric blank rotors all around. The orange contrast was really growing on me.
To complete the suspension, a Racing Beat front sway bar and Mazdaspeed Rear were installed with Supermiata end links, and finally lowered to a 4.5" pinch weld ride height. My girlfriend said it looked like a pimp car, but I'm a big fan of the bronze against the blue.
Another weekend before my first track day with the Miata and more goodies ordered and installed:
- Blackbird Fabworx GT3 Roll bar (this is still my favorite part of this car, Moti has really developed an amazing roll bar for the Miata)
- Supermiata Crossflow radiator (#staycool)
- M-Tuned Coolant Re-Route (#staycooler)
- New OEM Coolant reservoir tank (could have used the old one, but why not?)
- Garagestar Master Cylinder Brace
The roll bar definitely took two people to install and was lucky to have my Dad help. Hardest part was cutting the rear deck with enough room to drill through and tighten down the bolts. I definitely cut up too much, but still happy with how it turned out. After that it was just aligning and bolting down. It really is a piece of art!
Since the roll bar took most of the afternoon, I left the next day to begin installing the rest.
- Supermiata Crossflow radiator (#staycool)
- M-Tuned Coolant Re-Route (#staycooler)
- New OEM Coolant reservoir tank (could have used the old one, but why not?)
- Garagestar Master Cylinder Brace
It's Glorious and Shiny!!!
Laying it all out...
Way more space for activities now...
Master Cylinder Brace installed
Finally all put together!
The radiator, brace and coolant tank were a breeze to install. That reroute was another story! Getting my hands mangled and cut trying to add that adapter plate on the back of the head really made me think twice about doing this. Happy with the way things were turning out at this point and just wanted to get back on track. I had some little things left, like an alignment, but almost ready for Thunderhill.
Some stuff I'd rather pay to get done and motor mounts and diff bushings definitely fall into that category. Brought the Miata over to Elite Performance in Burlingame for the below:
- Mazdaspeed Motor Mounts
- Garagestar Delrin Diff Bushings
- Alignment + Corner Balance (-2.8 Front, -2.4 Rear sitting ~ 2400 lbs with me inside)
Brought the car home to install some last safety bits before intial track day: Driver Side
- Sparco Corsa (leftover from my 350Z w/ PCI adjustable seat mount)
- Schroth Profi Hans 6 point (black) Passenger Side
- Sparco Sprint (Passenger side w/ PCI fixed seat mount)
- Schroth Clubman 6 point (black)
New magnetic numbers from Black Flag decals...
...and here it is @ Thunderhill. First time in the Miata was great! Coming from a 350Z, I definitely missed the power but being able to turn in with so much confidence has put more smiles on this face than I have ever gotten with the Z. Got to hang out with friends, brought the girlfriend (now my wife). Was able turn a 1:38 at T-Hill West first time out with plenty of time left out there, but the car did well with no problems.
Flew back to CA from NYC 2 months after T-Hill West for back to back days @ Sonoma with SpeedSF. It's always tough not driving at all for a couple of months, especially when it's a new platform so Day 1 was half getting used to driving again and figuring Sonoma with the Miata. After talking with a couple of faster Miata drivers was able to get my times down to a 2:03 on Day 1 and 2:02 on Day 2. The improvement in Day 2 really came from learning how to carry more entry speed; Turn 2 and Turn 10 are still pretty scary for me at this point.
So fast forward a couple of months and I decided a Halo seat might be a good thing. Found a killer deal for a Sparco Ergo on topracingshop.com and pulled the trigger, little did I know that these seats don't really fit in Miatas :( Tried using it for one event at Thunderhill East, then sold it as it was way too tall of a seat without removing the rear humps and using custom mounts.
Luckily I found a guy on Craigslist selling a used Cobra Evo for $250!!! Yeah it's expired, but for HPDE, what a deal!
So while i was at it, added a couple of other goodies to the list:
- Cobra Evo Seat
- Blackbird Fabworx Lexan Spoiler
- NRG Hub
- NRG Quick Release (leftover from the Z)
- Personal Trophy Wheel 350mm (leftover from the Z)
*Sorry for the grainy pics, iPhone 6 + getting dark
First Private Track Day A group of 10 of us rented out Thunderhill West on a Friday before a SpeedSF track day on Saturday. I've spoiled myself now with 2 back to back days prior to this and I can't go back. Basically, 2 cars on track at any time, but we have it all to ourselves from 9AM - 5PM. This was one of the most productive days I've experienced being able to just feel the car and work on adjustments with the Xida suspension to see what worked and what didn't.
Last time I was here in fairly stock form, I had done a 1:37.6, and by Day 2 had widdled those times down to a 1.30.4. Big win for me here and the confidence I have in this Miata at this point is incredible. The BBFW Lexan wing really let me carry more speed in the sweepers and through the Turn 3 kink where before I always felt the back end moving around...I'm a believer!
Last edited by nandovina22; 09-19-2018 at 07:41 AM.
Looks great, I miss HPDE driving. How do you like the lexan spoiler? How is the visibility ? Does it upset the balance of the car without a front diffuser?
Looks great, I miss HPDE driving. How do you like the lexan spoiler? How is the visibility ? Does it upset the balance of the car without a front diffuser?
Thank you Visibility is perfect and balance is not a problem; I don't think it produces enough downforce to upset anything. It does really settle the light rear end of the car though, enough where I can tell a noticeable difference when driving my friend's NB without it and with a similar setup to mine.
So 8 track days on my RE-71R's and there isn't much tire left. What to do? It was an easy choice once Maxxis came out with their 20% off Summer Sale so I went a little crazy. Ordered a set of 205/50/15 VR-1's to replace the RE-71R's and because why not, I ordered a set of 225/45/15 RC-1's. I've been wanting to try these out for a while especially since they supposedly last while staying consistent.
Pulled the trigger on a set of Nickel 15x9 6UL's.
...Found a used Racing Beat Header on here + MBS Spec Miata Exhaust...this thing is LOUD, but I love it!
...gives you this. The car already feels more punchy with the header and exhaust so looking forward to taking it to a double day @ Sonoma with Speed Ventures.
Last edited by nandovina22; 09-19-2018 at 05:17 PM.
Nice setup. You may end up wanting a bit more front downforce to balance the duck tail. Touge run spoiler (GV copy) might be closer to ideal than OEM lip. Normally against copies but the Touge Run is made from a better material, repairable and probably 3x a sstrong and 1/3rd the price.
SPM style air dam would be even better but a bit too much for the street.
Nice setup. You may end up wanting a bit more front downforce to balance the duck tail. Touge run spoiler (GV copy) might be closer to ideal than OEM lip. Normally against copies but the Touge Run is made from a better material, repairable and probably 3x a sstrong and 1/3rd the price.
SPM style air dam would be even better but a bit too much for the street.
Ah, thanks Emilio for the advice, I'll look out for that Togue spoiler. I actually have been thinking of a way to run a SPM air dam that I could mount at the track or the night before since pretty much this car is just driven to the track and back, but little time to work on projects since I only get back to CA from NYC a day before a track day usually. Really loving all the Supermiata products so far though
(July, 2017) Double Day @ Sonoma with Speed Ventures. So second time at Sonoma with the Miata, but first time with these fresh RC-1s and was really curious how they would do. Overall, I thought the grip was awesome; they were my first "R" compound tire, so was only able to compare to 200 treadwear tires like RE-71R, Direzza ZII, RS3 and RS4. Coming from 200 street tires, they did not tend to like lots of slip angle and felt like they benefited from smoother driving. Easy to control and gave me a ton of confidence in the carousel, I am really happy with these. Smiles per dollar are still very high in the Miata.
Was also really looking forward to this one since Supermiata races were happening that weekend. Never seen so many Miatas as in one place during a track day before so it was pretty special to me. Was able to talk with some of the drivers and listen in on their download sessions for info on driving lines and where specific drivers could make up time. Really welcoming group thankful I was able to experience. Too bad only one Supermiata race in Norcal :(
After two days of watching/learning/driving, I was able to get my time down to a 1:59.
Me in the orange hat intently listening to Sonny describe the lines and how to run around Sonoma. I have to say these sessions were super helpful and I really appreciate the Supermiata guys for letting me listen and join in even though I wasn't racing.
Maybe one day...
Scrubbing rubber off the wheels after two days of running..not too bad
My HJC AR10-II was starting to look a little tired being around 7 years old at this point, so it was time to find a new one. I had been trying on several helmets (HJC AR10-III, Black Armor, Stilo ST5). Until I tried the Arai, the Stilo was the front runner, but the Arai was the most comfortable helmet I've ever tried on for my head shape; super light and didn't need to customize cheek padding. Being a blank canvas, I decided to order some carbon vinyl and try my hand at design work. SEVERAL tries later and finally mastering the use of my wife's heat gun (a.k.a. hair dryer) I came up with this.
Alex Zanardi was my childhood idol hence the pineapple.
Was also prepping for another double track day @ Sonoma in November and decided to do some installs
- Spa Techniques Dual Gauge - Oil/Water Temp (leftover from the 350Z)
- DDMWorks Stage 2 Intake (got it on sale, liked the fact that it came with the shroud completely covering the cone)
Ended up pulling out one of my eyeball vents to get the gauge in; ended up using two zip ties to tug the vent out. Little did I realize that I could have used a screwdriver to poke the tabs on the sides of the vent to loosen the clip which would have made this much easier. My next gauge will use this method making it WAY easier. In case you are wondering, that blue tape is covering the CEL from the RB header and the passenger side airbag light (Eventually pulled those bulbs out since it got really distracting).
Wasn't expecting much from this, but since I had a MS3 on the way wanted to make sure I took advantage with I/H/E mods. Bling factor achieved...
Nice looking build! Tell me more about this private track day. Would it be garish of me to ask what that cost? 2 cars on at a time sounds good until one if you spins around a blind corner. Did you use radios or how did you communicate without flag workers?
05-30-2018, 06:14 PM
An NB Miata named Toothless
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