We're doing things slightly different this time. Considering we now know that the model is accurate, and that I got the fitment pretty close last time (not talking about the horrendous fender gap, just the fitment around the windshield, trunk, etc), we decided to print the negative molds directly. We printed it 10mm thick using PETG, already with the flanges to be able to bag it. We are testing with how to best prep the molds, probably will be a mix of sanding, bondo and epoxy or gel coat. We also reinforced the big molds from the back with fiberglass. Hopefully this gives us nicer looking panels, without having the full cost of the fiberglass molds.

The idea is to infuse it, mostly for the convenience of being able to lay it up and bag things without rushing against the clock. The layup we're planning is: 200g carbon > 200g fiberglass > core mat > 200g fiberglass > 200g carbon. Probably not going to cover the whole piece in core mat, but have enough to add curvature and make the pieces much more rigid then they were last time. Specially the front clip, which is massive single piece.

 

That sounds awesome. Take a bunch of pictures and share when you do it!

 

I got the wheels mostly fitting! It was a fair amount of cutting... I started in the front, initially just cutting the minimum necessary. The idea is for the static ride height to be 120mm at the pinch welds, and aiming for 50mm of wheel travel in bump. I started with fairly rough cuts, as I'll want to cut some more later, then I can clean it up a bit.





For the most part it's not too bad. Gotta cut out the tub, but that's easy. The biggest issues are cutting the area behind the tire, and the clearance to the shock tower. The area near the firewall has several layers, and it's a massive pita to cut. I was trying to not remove more than necessary, but will eventually trim a little bit more for aero reasons. As for the shock towers, I'm test fitting with Konig Hypergrams 18x10.5 et25 and 280/650-18 Yokohama A005s. Even after cutting flush with the shock top hat it was still too tight, so I added 10mm spacers. Now it clears in bump, but still makes contact when turning. I destroyed my ball joints when swapping the uprights, so everything has been fairly loose, which is obviously not good for these measurements, so I ordered a front-end service kit from Supermiata, and while I wait for it to make its way across the pond I moved to the rear. When that gets here I can do the final trimming, then I'll plate it all back up as well as tie the shock towers to the roll cage.

The rear was a lot easier, unsurprisingly. With the same 10mm spacers the clearance to the shock tower was fine, but the tub has to go. I ended up getting a little carried away and cutting most of what I believe I can get away with. For now I'm leaving the "outer frame" if you will, both front and rear, but that's just in case I need to mount the old body panels. Once we're done with that, and I triple checked all the 37 rule books we care about, then it's all coming off.




The garage is absolutely chaotic, and that's because I just spent a full week adding more shelving and cleaning it up. I still want to optimize the space as much as possible, but there's no miracle that will make it pleasant to work on a single car garage, while trying to fit: a spare engine with stand, a gearbox, an engine hoist, all the tools, parts and metal stock, etc... oh, and the actual car lol

Tomorrow we cut some more! Time to drop the rear subframe, remove the OEM tank and make some room for the fuel cell.

 

@tadeuzagallo Any updates on this thing?

 

He posted on insta that he moved the car to the "new" garage yesterday.

 

Gotcha. I'm not on instagram and when I went to his page to see if there were updates there I couldn't see the dates on them.

 

Hey! Unfortunately this year didn't go according to plan... the TL;DR is that it was a mix of too ambitious and some bad luck, I had way too much to do and combined with parts delays (my brake discs still haven't arrived after 10 months &#129327 it became clear that I wasn't gonna be able to make it in time. That caused a lot of stress and I had mild burnout, but the plan was still to continue working on the car slowly, until I got a bit too excited, bought another car without thinking things through, and ended up without space to work on the Miata.

Anyhow, as Chilicharger665 mentioned above, I finally moved, took a couple weeks to cleanup and paint the new garage, and today started furnishing it and moved the Miata back in, just in time to start 2026 working on the car 🎉



The plan remains mostly unchanged though:
- I have 3D printed all the prototypes for the brake stuff, going to test everything soon
- We already printed the molds for the entire body, but I want to 3D scan the entire car once brakes, spacers and ride height are dialed in to make sure the fitment will be on point
- The engine is ready to drop in, it's mostly good, I had to trim the frame rails a bit to clear the turbo and the dry sump just touches the steering rack, so there's a little cleaning up to do
- On the fabrication side I need to finish welding the firewall and pedal box mount. Still need to move the radiator and alternator to the rear

All in all, a lot of work still left to do, but a fair amount of the planning, modeling and cutting is done, and now I have a better space to work on the car than ever before, so things are definitely in a better place for 2026!

Happy new year everyone!

 

I too had feared that was the end of this thread. Glad to see the project is still underway and you'll be continuing to make progress in 2026!

I won't judge any amount of burnout that occurred. That's a ton of work right you've got underway right there haha.

 

Thanks for the update man! There was another thread that someone started recently with a similar name. Whenever I see that thread pop up I'm always thinking it's this one instead.

I agree with what Z said, that's a huge undertaking so I can see how you'd get burnt out when the car isn't driving.

 

I'm glad to see you have a new spot and the project will continue! What other car did you buy?

In the end this thing is inspirational to a lot of us and I hope to see it back on the track in 2026!

 

Glad to see you haven't given up on the project. Nice garage although I would have gone for white walls and more lights. Shop can never be bright enough.

 

Thanks for the supports folks! I haven't considered giving on the project for a minute, but yeah, it was tough to make progress for a while. First mentally, then when I didn't have the space I just didn't have it in me to work on the car on the street, specially when I already wasn't very motivated to begin with.

For those interested, I started a little "instagram project" trying to post a small update every day. We'll see how long that lasts, but I feel like a big part of what made me burn out was the lack of progress in comparison to how much had to be done. I feel like this is a good way to force myself to make some progress every day, even if it's tiny (some days I only manage 1hr in the garage), and that keeps me going.

> What other car did you buy?
It's a Huracan Performante, in Supermiata Orange of course haha. The car is a lot of fun, and kept me busy most of the summer. Drove about 9000km (6000mi), did a few track days, drag raced it some, it was a good way to still do some car stuff while the Miata was down.



> Nice garage although I would have gone for white walls and more lights.
Yeah... the black looks nice for the pictures videos, but definitely has that downside. I'll get more lights for sure, but I'm still waiting for the cabinets I ordered so I can lay everything out and plan the proper lights, just didn't want to keep waiting before starting working on the car again.

I'm finally working on finalizing the brakes. I ordered the discs 10 months ago and nothing, until I finally gave up on the current supplier and reached out to Paragon in the US, I believe I should have the discs, custom hats and hardware here in the next couple weeks, then I can finally get the caliper brackets machined. I wonder if these are the biggest brakes ever fit in a Miata:

 

Damn! What diameter?

 

The front discs are 378x34mm, rears are 343x32mm. Just got the rear caliper mocked up today, but stupid me didn't get any good pictures, but here's a screenshot from a bad video lol: