Have you considered just painting it with no undercoat? Maybe just undercoat around the wheels.

Props for such an epic build!

Amazing amount of work going in the car!

Told you laguna seca blue was sick ;).

Great color, but promise me you will keep the black door sills. I can't stand repainted Miatas that don't keep that black strip. Makes the car look fat, round, and heavy.

There's rust on this car? Where?

That blue with bronze wheels will be sick! (<== See there you younguns', old guy using Millineal lingo -- I "almost" said groovy).

We'll need a group photo of you with Fire and Curly. LOL!

I agree on the bronze/blue looking sick. Good choice of words Rick.

I disagree on the rockers needing to stay black. When i repaint my car it will absolutely have color matched rockers, because i love how the car flows with them matched. As long as you paint your front lip to match it can look great.

Woot! Great color choice. You will not be disappointed.

Good choice.

Someone mspaint in black rockers so I can see the comparison.

Just look at the cars in Fireindc's and Curly's signatures.


Tangentially related: Does Curly's sig pic bother anyone else? It has that aliased edge look.

I turned off signatures a long time ago because I can't stand scrolling through them. I'll check their profiles.

That's just speed!

I do think the black rocker look is the way to go.

Full sized sig pic, along with some others for Jeff's viewing pleasure.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384273698
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384273698
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384273698
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384273698

No jagged edges:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384274094

Yeah, I'm not 100% sold either way. When I do my car, I'm going to paint the rockers body color, then I can plastidip the rockers black if i decide i want to go back.

Black rockers are nice from the standpoint of being able to fix deep gouges/scratches with a bit of flat black spray paint. I seem to do a bit of that after each track day. LOL.

Hey bro (This is Brad, hi).

I'm going to have to argue against the LS Blue. As a BMW Douchebag I vote for the estoril blue or Audi/Lambo grey. Single stage white is ez and cheap though. The single stage and 2-stage white on my two 325i's look very very similar in sheen and color. Making it more incognito may help unless you plan on having a garage/different place soon.

Bronze on grey, and this is a brighter bronzish color:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384278867
Those wheels would look great with the grey.
Send me a side shot of the wheels with tires and I can shop something up for you in diff colors if you'd like.

You're work is amazing man! Boy I tell ya as soon as I do everything my wife asks me around the house I'll reattach my ballz and go to work as well. And then...we drive!

Edit: I vote colored rockers as well, seeing grey/black rockers makes it look like a cheap trim option IMO.

Win either way. The gray looks great and would look great with bronze wheels too. But the blue is such a great Miata color.

That's my vote. LS blue... estoril blue is awesome too though.

I came in on page 5 and was going to suggest Jeffbucc search for a cheap/used rotisserrie. By the end of page 5 he was practically finished.

edit: double post, might as well include a different picture.

http://www.stenelson.co.uk/mx5/na8ce/garages_rear34.jpg

I'd never repaint my car any other color, because the mariner blue has grown on me more than I ever thought.

However.. something is right about a grey car. Another reason why the rockers should be body color, the only thing he missed was the chance to color match his front lip.

http://www.stenelson.co.uk/mx5/na8ce/garages_side.jpg

Oh thanks! You must have more skill than my mspaint stretch/skew skills.

Options options options, too many to consider.

Havent painted the underside yet. Dropped my phone while talking to my brother so in the process of getting my new one updated and all apps switched to the new one. I hate stock S4 software so rooting takes a little while for AOSP look! I never stop modding, even my phone!

Sorry man I like the look of painted door sills, flows really well imho

Would be awesome if we all could get together for a track day! Little bit of surface rust on the frame rails. It isn't too deep so I think I can grind it out.

Happy wife happy life brother, get the house in order and then you'll have her blessing on buck wild crazy nasty e30 turbo goodness. We'll see if we can wreck our cars on the first track day.

The door sills chipping is a non issue. I have a really good detailing friend who I'm going to have 3M wrap high impact areas of the car after I get it painted. Front bumper and 12 inches of the hood, A-pillars, door sills, bottom 6 inches of the rear bumper.

It is something I should have done on my VW but decided not to. Always regretted it.

I must say, I don't care for that gray Miata. Perhaps a darker gray, but that gray just looks very bland to me. I'm sure it hides dents well though...

Do blue. DO BLUE!!!!!

And for your phone... If you're into AOSP, why not just go Nexus? I used to rom my phones but it was a lot of work and they ended up buggy. Got the Nexus 4 shortly after it came out and absolutely love it. New Nexus 5 works on all carriers except VZW.

/threadjack

Am I the only one that really loves the Stormy Blue Metallic from the NC?

Electron Blue doesn't look half bad either, but, it has been done...
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384301727

Too bad Google can't get their shit together and offer the Nexus 5 with 64gb of storage and/or a removable sd card slot. I carry all my music on me since I live in a remote part of Utah where you don't get any reception OUT of the city. In the city I get LTE, but I often go mountain biking or driving in spots with no reception so I like having all my music/company files/documents on my phone, rather than the cloud.

Hence the Galaxy S4. Plus I'm weird and like the physical/haptic buttons rather than software buttons; easy to find in the dark.

I just think it is too dark, the lighter blues just look so fresh and so clean clean.

Taping off the car and cleaning the surface for the liner is taking forever. I have had to degrease several spots over and over to ensure a clean surface. Taking a break for some food then back to the grindstone.

Where in southern Utah are you?

Around Cedar City or St. George?

Car is in St. George. I live in Cedar. I see you are from there too, nice, didn't think there would be anyone from here.

1st coat done, I globbed it on thick in the fenders for extra protection so I'm going to let it cure over night.

Put some under the trunk area for a little more sound deadening and protection since the sheet metal is so thin.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384342889

rear fenders turned out super good.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384342889

tunnel looks perfect

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384342889

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384342889

Front Passenger fender

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384342889

Can't wait to peel the tape after the second coat

For the color debate, I was going to find pictures of ApexScalpel's car, but it appears they have all been taken down from Flickr. I did manage to find this one:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384355027

I can never tell how much of the color in photos is from post-processing, though.

I always love a gray/silver miata.

Yeah that is why it is so hard to get a good judge on colors online. They mess with the color balance even a little or the contrast and it looks completely different.

I do too but my VW is already Grey Metallic so I think it is time for a fun LOUDOMIGODLOOKATME color.

So seeing as the next "project" is paint removal to prep for paint...what grit sandpaper should I use on my orbital? I have 60 grit and 220 grit hook and loop discs for it, will 60 be too aggressive to remove the single stage paint he put on? I was thinking of picking up some more discs to make the reduction of scratches easier.
60
150
220
400(not sure if this is necessary before they primer)

Or should I just scuff the single stage really well. I don't want to do the initial prep and fuck it up chancing they won't correct some mistake I make.

Search for the material Emilio uses on the trans tunnel to keep the heat out. He posted in the Crusher build thread I believe. Now is the to do it while the trans tunnel is grease free. I would just scuff an paint the tub yourself then bring it all put together to Macco just scuffed and prepped.

How much do you trust the single stage to be a good base for your paintjob? That would determine whether to scuff it or do a more thorough removal.

BTW, whatever you paid for the car in Colorado, I'll give you double once you're done! ;)

60 is going to be way too rough. It'll leave scratches that you'll have to fill and sand out to get a decent finish. That's too much extra work.

If the existing paint is bonded well, you just need to scuff it up enough to get the new paint to adhere. That shouldn't take much coarser than the 220. You just need to hit it enough to lose the shine, not scratch the hell out of it.

Thanks for the heads up on where to search. Anyone recommend a good color for the inside if I do paint the tub myself? Guessing a matte/satin black?

I trust it up till the edge of the panels, anything close to the gaps didn't adhere properly

Hornet I love you but I am not going through this hell again unless I crash the car myself. You can send a shell my way and we can discuss pricing! :giggle:

Also the trim around the windsjield is chipping, so windshield removal may be a good plan since I need to replace it. Do I need to buy the trim myself or is that something windshield shops can source easier?

shops can easily source the trim

Tossing my hat into the color ring: Toyota/Scion Cement gray.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384365317

I do have plans of adding some black accents (KG works spoiler and some striping).

So a customer of mine came in to my store the other day, haven't seen him in a while so I forgot about him while doing all this work. He owns a powdercoating business and does phenomenal work(wheel companies from overseas and industrial machinery fabricators use him) and we get to shooting the shit as business owners do(see "bitch fest") and I tell him about my project and the crap I've been dealing with lately and he says he'll cut me a deal on anything I need done....wish I would have remembered him before I painted those parts...

saying that, I dropped off a box of parts for him to do for me.

Gas tank and rear shelf aluminum covers
Gas tank feed tube
Gas tank gasket metal bracket
Trunk mount brackets and springs
Battery brackets
other small parts
Door bars

Got 3 of them back today. I went with Solar Black. A perfect matte black imho. Only charged me $12.

The little wavy part in the top left is just the metal, not the paint.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384371258

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384371258

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384371258

DP

Had the windshield removed to get it ready for paint and a new windshield trim piece ordered to install as well.

The bad news is that it cracked as they were pulling it. I've used these guys before and they usually don't ever break them, but shit happens. They cut me a deal on some new glass that thankfully isn't safelite.

Finished up the undercoat. All done, no more, thank christ, never again.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384387629

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384387629

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384387629

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384387629

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384387629

It is really hard to get a good perspective of the quality through photos but trust me when I say it looks really good. The drivers fender I did 2 days ago is fully cured and is incredibly flexible and hard.

Don't do this unless you have to guys. It isn't worth it.

This thread would represent 10 years of work if I were the OP.

At some point I've read that it is almost impossible to remove the windshield without cracking it. The post I read was from Savington I think, but I could be wrong.

Time to start sanding!...oh god...I hate paint dust.

*edit* actually, I probably should let this second coat of undercoat fully cure so it isn't sticky, that would suck.

Had some problems with surface rust on a lot of parts, especially the metal motor mount steel. Sanded them all out and grinded the rust out followed by an etching primer and a combination of enamel black and black caliper spray paint. Headlight housings had some gouges and overspray on them so I sanded with a wet 400 grit with plastic filler primer, leveled with 800 wet grit, and followed by auto interior trim paint. Perfect!

Lets play a game, name those brackets!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384437631

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384437631

Looking good sir. Now don't burn out on this, you have done a TON of work but it will be so worth it in the end when you are driving a kickass sexy car that you built by hand.

Wow. Just wow.

Too bad about the windshield. Mazda used a windshield without tint at the top. Most replacement windshields are tinted at the top and this interferes with some people's line of sight. Watch for that and make sure you get a windshield you'll be happy with.

BSI racing takes out the windshield of every Miata they put a cage into. They had stacks on a shelf. With the right tools, it is no problem.

When they did my cage, they handed me back a perfectly good windshield.

Edit: I missed the part where you pulled the glass and it broke. Bummer. BSI said that they broke a percentage of the windshields they pulled, so don't sweat it too bad. You will be happy with the fact that you have a new one.

I love this build so far. It's like you took my attention to detail and neuroses and combined it with someone who actually gets shit done. Superb. I'm tossing out props left and right.

Just make sure to do whatever you need to do stay healthy given your sleep patterns. :) In a lot of ways, your "curse" is a "blessing" when you combine it with your work ethic.

I vote for Laguna Seca Blue.

I had a thread on this early last year.See: https://www.miataturbo.net/general-m...er-blue-63293/ STILL have not paitned my car, but i got other things to worry about (built engine and big turboz).

Oh, and i think i decided just to go back OEM mariner. It's such a good color.

Gives you an idea about how bad the paint was. Respray on top. OEM color on bottom. No primer, just sprayed directed on old paint.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384473215

Some new parts showed up today:
Rennemetal tow hooks
Rennemetal Crank holder
Radio Blanking plate(for gauges)
AC delete tube and plugs
Advance Autoparts window air scoops(since I deleted AC)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384485950

What did I to to the car today? Absolutely nothing, and it was glorious. Was getting some warning signs from my body that I was about to hit my limit when I didn't wake up until noon not hearing my phones alarm or phone calls, which never happens.

I did get an appointment setup for Monday to get the car to the paint shop, they said it would take about a week depending on the prep necessary. They recommended I not do the prep since most the time it makes it worse for them and they have to do a lot of leveling.

They wanted an extra $300 to paint the interior though. What do you guys think would be a good color for the inside? I'm thinking of doing it myself to save money. $300 isn't a whole lot in the grand scheme of things but that is $300 I could put else where; which I may need to put towards a new turbo exhaust housing.

After doing a compression test of the turbo assembled I was get leaking from the turbo housing IWG rod. I thought it was only the actuator but it was actually the housing flapper rod itself not sealing. New housings are around $230 for a T25 gt2680rs turbo. So I'd like to avoid going over budget by doing the interior myself. I still have a 1/3rd a can of truck bed liner left. Too over kill?

How to setup your entertainment for the weekend...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384585810

Probably going to spend most of tomorrow organizing piles of what to keep and what goes to the dump. Most the plastic from the new shell is worthless, as are the gaskets/bolts. Going to keep the bolts just in case I have a "where the hell did that bolt go" moment.

Then it is on to sanding the interior for painting before handing the car off to the shop.

Pulling the front window gaskets and glass is scary. Wasn't sure what was going to break first, the gasket, the frame, or the glass.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384598040

Door is all ready to be painted. Excuse the primer dust.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384598040

I can actually fit my D.D. in the garage now. Massive moving of shit was productive.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384598040

Leaning tower of wheels and seats. Wall hooks FTW. Totaled body should be ready to go to salvage after removing the wiring and gas tank.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384598040

Sleep time.

My color vote:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384630052

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/15/c...ontest-winner/