Since you're in there . . . question for you. Can the carpeting be pulled without pulling the dash?

Easily. Just remove the center console. The carpet on mine just slips under the center HVAC so no velcro.

I also cut the carpet in such a way that the door bar mounting point is under the carpet rather than bolted through the carpet. Just in case I ever want to remove the carpet and not have to remove the door bars.

Thanks. And agree with your mounting. You want those structural components in direct contact with the sheet metal.

I spent so much time reading through this thread today. Jealousy is an understatement. 10/10

... what are you jealous of? his endless hours of work? skillful and creative restoration methods? ....... having his car stolen?

No jealousy here. Straight props.

Blast. Double post.

He can be jealous that I have enough free time to do this amount of work in such a short period!:facepalm:

But don't be jealous of this build in general. It was more of a forced build thread than choice. I don't regret it, I've never had so much fun working on cars in my life. Yes, fun, oddly enough. Sometimes not so much when things won't piece together properly, or when I can't find that one. damn. picture. I need to put something together/understand how it goes together.(hence why I gave you guys that seat belt spacer picture).

I've had a couple people message me saying what a waste of a restoration on a Miata, you should be doing this to a Porsche so that when you sell it, you will get your money back....

I don't think those people understand why someone like me does this to a car. It isn't out of increasing the value of the car, it is only for my own personal gratification and enjoyment. I never plan to sell this car, I couldn't sell this car. When you put this amount of work and effort into something I could never imagine parting with it, let alone seeing someone else wrench on it/change what you did to it.

Besides, I'd rather learn how to work on a Miata before I decide to jump into the expensive world of Porsche. My brother just did a full Elephant racing bushing change on his old Porsche and the price of it nearly made me dry heave.

But you're not really using free time. You're mostly just sacrificing sleep! Obviously it's not out of increasing value. It's epic OCD, as the tag says. I hope you do keep it forever.

True, but being 26 I might as well sacrifice sleep while I still can. As you well know as you get older it gets harder to do so. Saying that, being a baker for the past 7 years makes it so that I don't really notice sleep deprivation anymore. That in conjunction with my already terrible insomnia makes it seem worse than it really is.

I'm just trying to finish it fast. My employees are awesome, and can manage fine without me, but I think their patience with me not being in my store as much as I used to is wearing a little on the thin side!:giggle:

Haha... as I well know? I've never been one who can function on little sleep.. and I'm only 27 :P

Can't wait to see this car at Miatas at MRLS. You registered, right??

I have not. Is there a cutoff for registration? I plan to, jsut haven't gotten around to it yet.

:( All the track sessions sold out within 36 hours.

You get some sort of free gift if you register online before August 23rd.

There will be some attrition of the run groups, but if you want in I'd suggest emailing Keith to see if you can get on some sort of waiting list or something.

I want to see your car on the track during more than the parade laps.

Also, if you run in D group, I'll be on track at the same time. If you don't end up getting to register, you're welcome to ride in my car for a session.

Awesome I'll see what I can do. I'll try everything short of blowjobs!:giggle:

I too want to see my car on the track. I just hope with that many people on the track nothing goes down.

The run groups aren't super crowded, I think there are only 20-25 at a time on the track which isn't bad. Just gotta leave people room.

/threadjack

in for track win

When's first start? You must be getting close...

Gonna start getting all the wiring hooked up and the engine components/hoses going this weekend. Then I need to fix all the wiring issues. So probably a couple weeks hopefully.

Restoring the Momo wheel

The steering wheel had been bugging me for quite a while but since I didn't want to spend $300 on a new one, or $100+ to rewrap it, I decided to restore it.

I followed Revlimiter's little DIY that he did on his Prototipo steering wheel and it worked excellent. Time consuming, but excellent. (Momo Prototipo Restoration — revlimiter.net)

The only caveat is that the leather on newer steering wheels is not nearly as good as the older wheels. So you can only make it so nice.

Some before shots to show the wear and discoloration of the wheel

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

After 2 hours of rubbing the glaze and old top coat/dye off the leather with acetone. You basically want to do this till you feel the wheel is nice and soft and all the shiny old coating is removed.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

the dye drying up. I divided the steering wheel up into three section when I did it. You want to apply it evenly to a section, then grab a clean rag, and quickly and lightly wipe off the excess to ensure even coverage. Do this for each section and touch up the spots that you missed. Apply another coat and do the same.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

Top coat applied. This stuff was a pain in the butt. It would foam as you'd apply it, so you had to be very light. If I had to do it again I'd just soak a clean microfiber towel and apply it with that to ensure that there were no bubbles.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

After some leather conditioner. It isn't fully cured. Takes about 20 minutes to cure before you can buff it off. I'm going to do several more coats of conditioner since I'm sure the leather is very dry after all that acetone.

Very happy with it though, any flaws can be fixed with another layer of top coat if I'm still not happy. Looks fairly close to brand new with a couple cracks here and there but nothing you wouldn't see in any older leather.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393585997

Very nice. I need to do that to mine. Props for the link.

Gorgeous restoration on that wheel. I wonder if that process would work on my ratty stocker?

As long as it is real leather it should!

Here is the project for today, I just need to take a break for now. So many different revisions I've tried, and I won't bored you with the stupid ideas and attempts I made to see what works.

This is gauge placement V.9.:facepalm:

Buy a quilting cutting pad and ruler. It makes measuring all this stuff SO much easier. I believe it is the only reason I got it absolutely perfect.

I am so glad I held on to all my old ABS scraps from my door panels. It is the only reason I have been able to not put this project to the side.

Measured about 90 times and then I used a linoleum cutter to cut the holes. Every damn time I rush cutting holes with a hole saw/dremmel they never align properly. Pain in the butt to cut them by hand but a linoleum cutter is ultra sharp and they only cost $3 or so. I have a couple from redoing the linoleum floors in my bakery, super handy for making straight cuts in plastic and anything else that would melt using a dremmel.

Rough measurements

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393607273

Cut to size. I have several vents left over from the CO car, so I popped the trim rings off of them and decided to use them as the rings for the gauges, rather than wait for someone to make me something custom. Also the nice thing about the trim rings is that they have clips built into them so the clip into the ABS plastic, I was so happy with that when I found out the locked into place!

The other panel is the backing plate.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393607273

And it goes without saying what I am headed towards here. The backing plate is going to make the flush mount sturdy, and give the gauge bodies a more secure mounting without having to make brackets.

After the mounting plate is on, I'm going to cover the front panel with more UltraSuede that I used on the door panels. After doing some measurements, with the suede on the front panel it is going to be pretty close to perfectly flush with the front of the tombstone.

Should turn out nice when all done. I need to go to a window place and have them cut a 2" circle of glass for the boost gauge. I some how broke the glass when I removed the trim ring. :crx:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393607273

Anyways, what do you guys think before I go to far with this? I think it is going to look really clean while still being visible.

Well done on the wheel restoration!!! I told ya you could do it.

Yup! Easy and super cheap. I think it was $20 shipped for the dye and the top coat.

OK, curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't wait.

Damn, sometimes, things just work out perfectly. So pleased with how this will look. The fitment is so tight you have to squeeze it in, I think I got lucky on this one!
:party:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393611364

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393611364

Every time I think I've got a handle on this project, you go and do something that looks like that.

Props.

:giggle:

Came out great! This whole thread hasn't let me down, the awesomeness torque curve is very flat with no dips. Props!

Where's the condom dispenser?

You know the red vine dispenser Garth had in his gremlin in Wayne's World? It'll be right there.

lol wut? You talking about Miatas or girls now? I, um, too easy.../8th grader giggle

Wow this is harder than I thought it would be.

Need to find a way to tension the gauges tight so they don't move around. Also need to buy some plexiglass to replace the glass with. But I think it should turn out pretty good once I can get those done.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393668378

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393668378

Or just do it right and get matching VDO gauges...I'll admit I'm not extremely happy with how it looks.

Finally finished reading this thread from beginning to end. Can honestly say I didn't expect it to turn into an all out restoration at the beginning of the thread. Must say I am truly impressed to the attention to detail and how quickly things got done here.

Keep it up! INB4 startup video

Thanks!

Hah, it didn't start as a full blown restoration but it slowly evolved to that due to Turbofan/Hornetball/Vlad and several others dictating the level of OCD I would go to.

Got the radiator cleaned up and slotted into the car. It took a lot of work to get it all cleaned up.

First started with some degreaser and a steam cleaner to clean all the dirt/bugs/grease out of the radiator fins. Glad I did, there were so many bugs in the radiator the water wouldn't penetrate the other side in some places. Overheating is no bueno!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

Dirt fans

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

Needed to put some epoxy on a broken fan leg

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

Cleaned the fans

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

There were a lot of hard water stains and other scuffs on the radiator. I know 90% is covered by the radiator shroud but I decided to give it a quick polish "while it was out of the car"

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

All polished up Also spent an hour and a half straightening all the radiator fins. I was amazed how many were bent. It isn't pretty since I don't have a radiator fin tool but I used a dentist pick to get them all straight.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

One of the fan brackets had a broken bolt stud in it so I needed to redrill & tap it

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

all assembled (yes I know the brackets are on upside down, I fixed that!)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

I had some clearance issues with the fan shrouds with the sway bar. So instead of messing with it for another hour I just drilled a new hole which gave me juuusssttt enough clearance of the sway bar.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

And all slotted in the car! Looks really good. Decided to leave the Miataturbo.net sticker on...you know...gotta represent the only reason the car has gotten this far this quickly!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393768581

Next is the intercooler.

No no, the only reason the car has gotten this far this quickly is you're a freak of nature. Don't forget that Jeffy.

Well that and the help you guys have given me along the way!;) I would have been stuck at several points without you guys.

Hi Jeff, when you put the dashboard back in did you put on new wheaterstriping on the dashboard (I am just about to re-assemble mine and want to make sure there are no creaks and nasty noises afterwards)
Thanks!

I haven't put the dashboard back in yet, gonna get the engine bay all tidied up before I do.

From what I have read most recommend replacing the weather stripping under the defrost vents near the edge of the dash. Also I would just place it wherever you notice a potential rubbing point. I like to tap various plastic pieces and see if there are any rattling/odd noises that come from the area I shake/tap.

OK so here is the problem I'm having with the intercooler. It looks like the old intercooler was attached to the hood latching bracket. But seeing as I will be running hood pins, the top bracket on the intercooler is now kinda useless, unless I can come up with a bracket that will attach it to the 2 M6x1.0 bolt holes that were meant for the hood bracket.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393772938

Also this side bracket is odd...it looks like the intercooler was mounted off center to the very right of the radiator.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393772938

The left side is blank. There are only 2 mounting points for the intercooler, which seem about 2 too few for how damn heavy the thing is.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1393772938

Anyone have any good ideas? I won't have access to a welder until next week, so hopefully a bolt & cut solution.

Stop while you're ahead and buy a fab9 intercooler. Pretty and perfectly new, bolt on to those diagonal threads on either side, and probably a better intercooler than that one.

This is exactly what I was thinking. With the lengths you've gone through to make this car what it is... a perfect fitting intercooler would definitely be beneficial

Thanks Curly. I'll check it out. This one is so damn heavy. Swear its made of iron.

that steering wheel restore friggen impressed me. I never knew you could "restore" leather wheels like that. props

Neither did I till I checked out Adam's restoration. Super easy too Vlad. You could easily do it.

On the Fab9 intercoolers. Are you referring to the stage 2 or stage 1? If the AC is deleted does one still need to modify the core support?

Yes, because it doesn't clear the frame rails by an inch or two. The stage2 is a big mother, 400+ whp capable. The 1 is 300-350 or so. Its what I have on my NB right now, fits perfectly.

Awesome thank you. Any problems with heat soak during the summer?

its an fmic. what heat soak lol?

I had to upgrade the intercooler on my Jetta to a euro S4 intercooler because of it. The ECU would go into a limp mode due to it. Wasn't sure if it was prevalent with these.

Not at your powerlevels I think. And certainly not with an upgraded intercooler :D

Well the deed is done...I hate you guys...

I was JUST about to post and give you shit when i saw that ghetto ass intercooler. I wouldn't ever run that thing on my car, let alone the amazing machine you are building.

Glad to hear it. +props. In for sexual glory when you install it :P

Putty in our hands . . . . BBWWWAAAAAAHHHHAAAAHHHHAAAAHHHHAAAA!!!

Seriously...I have no self control if that isn't obvious. And you guys mearly propagate that.

And agreed on the ghetto assness of the intercooler. It weighs 45 lbs +/-

45 pounds? Holy crap. That's reason enough to change it right there.

Are you sure it's not filled with like.... 5 gallons of oil?

I cleaned it out but maybe there is a sludge layer I didn't quite get. I'm being rough with my estimate but it feels about as heavy as a bag of brown sugar at the bakery, which is 40 lbs.

I got the diabeetus just reading that.

Dang, that seriously heavy.

That ain't nothin'. 50 lbs of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 65 gallon drums of honey($$$$) 75 lbs of cocoa(dear lord eat less chocolate so my price go down).

NOW you have the 'beetus.:rofl:

Looks like an old FM/BEGi intercooler, they are dang heavy and IMO not very efficient, especially compared to current offerings. Had one on my '95 and was surprised by the weight when I removed it.
Project is coming along awesomely. Love watching this thread.

Thanks Rotor, I dragged my feet the past 3-4 days that is for sure though. Anytime my sister and more to the point my niece is in town, I don't want to do anything but sit around and hang out with them.

I'd go out to the garage and stare at the engine bay looking at all the hoses/pipes/electrical connections to put together and I'd go sit back on the couch saying..."maybe later"...:facepalm:

So back on the gauges topic while I'm researching it. Any advantage to the analog AEM gauges over the VDO gauges? In terms of quality/accuracy etc etc?

You know...

Purely for research*cough*and not OCD/wants.

are you talking about the digital aem's with the analog needle? or what? link plz