domsmiata

hi im dominic from orange county. my miata is a 2001 brg #2412 no major upgrades yet. I am planning on making this a DD, weekend track car.
This is where I'm at now after buying it 6 months ago stock to what you see here with the minor upgrades. the front end damage is from a dodge dully that didn't want to wait in line at a in-and-out drive threw...in progress...

Pinky

iTrader: (1)

Dude.

Can you explain a few things to me, please?

First off, why in the world would you slap that cone filter on there, where it pulls poorly filtered HOT air off the exhaust manifold?

Speaking of exhaust manifold, did you seriously ditch the heat shield on the stock manifold and then wrap it in heat-wrap? Why?? Because Racecar?

And what's the deal with the cam cover? If you don't have adjustable cam gears, why did you hack the front cover off? Again, Because Racecar?

And seriously, Hood Pins? Wait, let me guess: Because Racecar?

Why the remote oil filter?

I won't even go into the "body work" or tattered top.. OK, I will. Why would you spend money on the "upgrades" you've made instead of throwing a few bucks into a new top, or a can of primer to cover the rusting exposed metal on your Bondo And A Beltsander Bodywork??

domsmiata

cool thanks for the replay Pinky first you asked the cone filter? i bought slightly used for 50 with no pipe so i lost the box and bolted it on for now. more to come...

as for the exhaust manifold my heat shield was cracked and rattled so i ditched it and decided on wrapping it to save a little heat. i don't care for the stock stuff because of future 13b swap plans so again...

hood pins i had lying around so i lost the stock latches to save weight. i know those ones are stupid and thanks to a dully that hit me i get a new cf hood might i add only because its free...some new aerocatch locking latches a new turbine paint sprayer and enough cash left over to shoot the whole car over in new brg.

if you work on your miata then you should feel my pain with mazda's stock oil filter location. so i sought a new location plus i have a new oil cooler on the way im just waiting on a thermostat. i put it there because i had plenty of room i know it is not perfect but at least there isnt a mess and it is easy to get to.

im glad you brought up the body work. to cut a long miserable story short. originally, when i got hit i brought the car into the body shop right next to the shop my brother works at. well i had them start to fix the car because the guy who hit me wanted to pay a "professional shop" to fix it fast. plus i wasn't really looking forward to painting yet another vehicle in my garage especially when the H.O.A president lives across the street. well the old guy who hit me was cool and i was feeling lazy so i figured i would cut him a break...so i thought i would give him the "family" deal at the shop my brother worked next to. well needless to say jose the painter and manager could not hold up to his word and craftsman ship hence the shitty body work. now i have redo all of it....so i took my car back after a huge battle and told the old guy i would just take care of it myself and that was it...so here i am now.
the body shop is action detail and they do auto body. i have seen work they have done in the past and thought it looked good. well i was wrong but im glad because now its christmas in may


screw the shitty top its too heavy. i plan on going hardtop but first my ohlins coilovers, new bushings, front sway bar, not neccissarly in that order, and hopefully all in a couple of months. please dont ask me why ohlins its just what my heart desires

and lastly the valve cover again because i dont give a #$%@ ROTARY swap...

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Welcome, domsmiata!

supercooper

welcome...
Do you already have the motor and drivetrain for the rotary swap?

AlexL

Do you have sweet fabrication skills? Rotary swap

supercooper

Because Racecar???

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

You do know that swap is horrendously stupid, right?

supercooper

but... it goes "waaapapapapap"!!!!

domsmiata

the rotary swap is in the future after i dial in the suspension first.
i really believe the rotary swap is underestimated. the engine in the NA form with itb is in total: lighter, a smaller package, reeves higher, has more power, and lastly is easier to work...to me this swap is first choice especially when considering the limitations on the stock miata head.

the fab skills involved are almost nonexistent. look its not rocket science. its just some cutting and wielding, ie motor mounts, crossmember, and oil pan haha please. plus there are a ton of others who have done this swap with great success. i believe it is also less complicated then a STUPID V8 SWAP, which kills the miatas balance. i plan on improving this balance by lighting my miata to around 1900 lbs and with the na itb rotary setup this should prove be a nasty combo.


YES this will be a DD weekend track car so you hatters grow up

Pinky

iTrader: (1)

Hatters gonna hat.

supercooper

haters gonna hate... masters gonna bate....

thenuge26

iTrader: (2)

Oh boy a rotory swap dd track car. This will totally happen and this definitely won't be the last time we ever hear from it.

Also why the **** would you buy Ohlins? this is what you are looking for.

Pinky

iTrader: (1)

The all-aluminum LS1 weighs 80 pounds more than an iron block Miata motor, and in stock form (absolutely box stock) makes 350 horsepower. With a cam swap, headers and a decent tune they make well over 400 horsepower.

I've built several LS1 Miatas and can tell you from experience that the cars balance is not a problem. Indeed, once you swap out the tiny Miata rear end for a beefier Ford 8.8 chunk, the weight distribution of the car is very near that of a stock Miata. Admittedly, in a car that weighs a bit more more overall, but the additional 275+ horsepower more than compensates.

Also, as well designed as the LS1 conversion kits are these days, it's largely a bolt-in deal. I'm sure that's not a big consideration for someone with such obviously amazing fabrication skills as yours, as evidenced by the amazingly sanitary mods you've pulled off already, but it's sure as heck a lot easier than swapping a rotary into the car.

Speaking of sanitary mods, please tell me those aren't self-adhesive stick-on "hood pins". I've looked a few times at their location on the hood and don't see the corresponding pins in your underhood pics.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

I thought you guys were too harsh on this guy til I read this post:

Carry on

Pen2_the_penguin

iTrader: (4)

brrrrrRAAPRBAPBRABRPABRRPBRPBRBRRBRPRBRBPPRBPBRPRB PBRPRRPRRRRRRRRBABPBPRPBRPBRPABRPAPBPRPRPRBPPBPBRP PBPRPPBRPBRPBRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAGRBabrrba

FRT_Fun

iTrader: (19)

triple88a

iTrader: (2)

So i see you're making this car worse... not better? I sure hope your rotary swap is better than your current work.

The only thing i see on this car that isnt worse than stock is that coolant reroute but i'm told mazda fixed the flow issues in the vvt motors.

supercooper

i was gonna ask about the reroute... dont know much about the vvt's, i thought somewhere in my research on here, that i read that they fixed the cooling...

domsmiata

first i really like the xidas those are runner up for sure. a great coilover.

as for a v8 swap i also think those are cool and have there own benefits. however i would prefer the rotary over the v8 swap, even though there are kits available for v8 swaps. i actually don't mind the fabrication that comes with a rotary swap. as for the weight issue, i am going a different approach. i want the free revving, high rpm of the rotary. also the overall package is still lighter then stock and v8...plus i don't have to change the rear end with this swap.

haha stick on "hood pins" they actually make those?...no the shitty ones i threw on were some mr. gasket cheap-o's that sux and were free. they are the 1960's style. have metal backing washers on the hood and pins. anyway they are gone as soon as my hood gets here...aerocatch

as for the reroute- i haven't heard that Mazda had fixed the cooling problem on the vvt's. before deciding on the reroute i did some research and only saw that it had benefitted all na's and nb's. maybe they did but all i know is when i did the reroute my car did run cooler on the temp gauge...and still does