Hi everyone,

This is my first build thread, so it may be full of fail, but bear with me.

The car started out life as a JDM NB8C but was shipped over to Australia for "race only" use, so it can never be registered. In other words perfect for a dedicated track pig!

It came with tan interior, BOSE stereo and woodgrain wheel/shifter. It made the car feel like a luxurious cruiser which is funny as that's the last thing it will be used for. More importantly it came with a 6 speed box and TorSen diff.

I've spent evenings over the last few weeks stripping out the interior, removing the sound deadening, removing power steering and A/C:



Here are a few pics of the now minimalistic interior with a test fit of the seat and harness (before you ask; it is a 6 point but other belts are still in box):





The car will be run 100% stock engine-wise until I'm consistent enough to throw in some more power.

Still to do:

• Finish removing sound deadening on floor
• Fit MSM swaybars
• Fit MSM front brakes
• Install braided brake lines
• Install Carbotech XP10/XP8 pads
• Install TEIN coilovers
• Swap in depowered steering rack
• Install cage
• Install mounting plates for harness
• Change all fluids
• Do skids
• Thrash the life out of it at the track

 

MOAR WEIGHT REDUCTION!!!

I'd be interested to see a half dash done up in an NB. It would get rid of that tan plastic too.

 

Looks like you are off to a great start, make sure you install the sub-strap for the harness, super important!

 

A bit more progress today!

Started fitting MX-5 Plus rollbar, swapping out the rear swaybar and fitting a different rear muffler:



Also changed the oil and coolant.

 

Today I converted the power steering rack to manual:



The rack was leaking, so it was a good candidate for this conversion. The rack pictured at the top is the original rack from the car which will go to a new home.

 

Post pics of that depower job. I've never seen the guts on an NB.

 

It's just like the Flyin' Miata guide but you skip photos 3 to 6 as they don't apply. I have a couple more pics on my phone, PM me your e-mail addy and I'll send them through.

 

Not much progress due to lack of time. I cleaned up the MSM brakes ready to be fitted, waiting on some braided lines though:

 

Lots of updates!

Lokiel was kind enough to donate his stock MSM shock tower brace, which includes a catch can I'm going to plumb in. Here's the filthy engine bay with added bling:



I spoke to John Kirk from GP Cars and he gave me the run down on how to mod a Sparco Sprint to suit a 5 or 6 point harness. There's no cutting involved, just a bit of thread unpicking. Here's a picture including my daughter's finger in her role as a future hand model:



Here's the car sitting out the front of my patriotic neighbour's house. You can also see the brake upgrade:



First event should hopefully be on the 24th of this month out at Queensland Raceway. Just a shakedown to make sure everything is in order. I'll be running on the 5 year old Yokohama S Drive tyres, so don't expect any broken lap records!

Cheers

 

Nice build.

 

The MSM catch can is junk for the track, don't use it.

 

The barbie, put another shrimp on it.

 

I wasn't going to hook up the sump drain, just block it off. Isn't the issue with these where oil spews back up from the sump under high forces?

Cheers

 

The car had it's first outing yesterday and it was awesome!

Here are a couple of iPhone pics:





The only issue I had all day was the car sometimes dropping a cylinder, but this was due to a plug lead not being pushed in properly.

I also swapped the steering hub to a slim NRG one to bring the dished wheel back to roughly where the stock wheel would be. It felt much more natural after the change.

I had a few offs I think mostly due to the limited grip available from the old/hard street tyres I was using. Here's one example where I got into a slide around turn 2, I decided to bail & let off the opposite lock as I didn't want the car to snap back into the Porsche GT3 behind me:



Also here is a video of a lap of the Clubman configuration after we slapped on some 6ULs with 595RS-R tyres:



All in all it was an awesome day and the car has a great dollar to fun ratio!!!

 

Looks like fun. Thanks for uploading the video of the off- glad it went aok.

 

Went out to QR again with the MX-5 club, managed a 67 on the Clubman:



Zoomzoom was also driving my car on the day and cracked out a few 65s!

We played with the shock stiffness and found with all 4 set to the 'middle of the road' setting the car would get crazy oversteer on rebound. After dialling up the rear shocks a bit (very minor adjustment) the car seemed to have shittier turn in but it was more stable and faster.

Tyre pressures were 35psi front & 34psi rear hot.

 

too bad in that "off" video you didnt keep your man pants on and hold the pedal to the floor. you would have kept the car on the asphalt (and maybe some rubber too)

If you think twice, you end up in a wall.

 

I'm just glad I didn't end up in the GT3 behind me!

 

Took the car out to Lakeside on the 20th of September and cracked out some 67.4s. The car was about half a second quicker after fiddling with the front suspension mainly because I had more confidence. I always felt the front was 'not planted enough' for lack of a better description. I cranked the fronts up 4 clicks and it was night and day difference, the car appears to not float or push as much and this was proven in lap times. Tyre pressures were left alone (35psi front & 34psi rear hot).

I wasn't able to go flat under the bridge or through the turn coming onto the straight but the kink was fine (Kumho KU36 street tyres).

No mechanical issues at all!

Only complaint is the diving under brakes seems excessive, I think I'll order some 8kg/mm springs for the fronts and have a play. It will only get worse/more exaggerated with stickier tyres.

http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/re...9/2011.LAKE.P1

 

If you're concerned with understeer, why are your front tire pressures higher than your rear?