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Started to build a Miata and so I figured I'd log the build here. Long story short an 18 year old kid bought a 1994 miata with the intent of turning it into an electric exocet and was probably way in over his head...he had to leave for Colorado for college and was told to get rid of the car. So he posted it on Craigslist and 30 minutes later it was mine. He didn't get far in the tear down and everything that was pulled off basically went back in place without any problems. Whoever had it before him pulled the motor, trans, and diff. The front bumper was missing, hood gone, all the under hood fuses missing, and no lights. The compressor and power steering pump were left in place and plumbed. So that's the state I got it in. Oh and it has a title...
I had a 97 motor I bought for a another project which I've decided to leave with it's original motor. So that motor is going in the free car.
Bought another parts 1993 car for $300. It had the differential I was missing and slotted rotors, koni adjustables, and racing beat springs. Rotors are going on the ghettocet. I'm going to try to get the windshield out of the donor car as well.
Got the motor in...new seals, timing belt...etc. cleaned the transmission and installed a stage 2 clutch with ss clutch line. Put the radiator in (may go ahead and upgrade)...installed new coolant hoses. Removed the windshield. And a few other odds and ends. The motor will turn over and the electronics all seem to work once I replaced the fuses. So here's where I am at today:
I will admit after building a some what nice turbo miata over the last 2 years, it's nice to buy a $500 beater miata and not really give a **** about how clean things are.
So if anyone reading this wants the 1993 shell and can pick it up from near Atlanta it's yours free. My tow guy will deliver it pretty much anywhere in Atlanta for $100. It also has a title.
Last edited by jonbmet; 05-24-2017 at 11:55 AM.
Reason: Typo
Got the calipers cleaned up and mounted. Used hawk brake pads and cheap rotors. Just got flyin miata SS lines in the mail today. Hoping this will be a good budget brake setup.
Purchased a pair of fans and a shroud and new door panels on craigslist...hoping to get them installed tonight.
Got a few things done since my last post. Finished installing the flying miata SS lines and then bled them. This was the first time I've used a vacuum bleeder to bleed the brakes. It was very painless. Also bled the clutch slave cylinder.
The next day I installed the accessory belts and a few other small things under the hood. Tried to tighten the main crank bolt with only the emergency brake keeping the motor from spinning. Couldn't get near the required torque before the axles started to spin. Will try again once it's on the ground. Pretty sure the last things I need to do under the car are to refill the transmission with fluid and install an exhaust. Going to wait on the exhaust, but went ahead with filling the trans. Ending up plumbing a hose out the hood and filling the trans that way. Worked ok. So now the car can go on the ground and hopefully I can torque the main bolt. Also filled the oil.
Had to splice the inner door harnesses from the 1993 parts car and the 1994 build car to get the wiring to work in the door. Previous owner cut through the wiring right outside of the door. Got the dash switch/toggle in the mail and now the power mirrors work. Don't believe I have a photo of this. Really happy the mirror motors work.
Got a pair of fans for a miata on craigslist for $10. Don't know how I want to wire the fans. Toggle switch or to the car's harness. Wired the fans directly to the battery to see if they spin. They do and I think I got a deal.
Purchased some hack job door panels on craigslist, but I just need them for the bolster/top plastic piece. Right now the bolsters are wrapped in a white faux carbon fiber wrap. Luckily I think it's going to come off pretty easily. Planning to have the bolsters upholstered in a leather and then attach them to new panels. Can't decide if I want aluminum or abs plastic panels. Still focusing on the drive train, but starting to work on the interior too.
Biggest hurdle I have left is to figure out what to do with the ignition coils. Putting a 3 pin motor (1997) into a 4 pin (1994) car. Have another thread just on this topic. Figured I'd bring it up here in the hopes someone who's dealt with this might chime in.
4th pin is just for tach. 90-95 was coil driven (well ignitor on 90-93), 95.5 and above is ecu driven. So the plugs are identical, just missing the tach pin. Stock engines will start and die since they don't see rpms (I think), and aftermarket ecu setups wont have a tach, but should have an option to give a tach signal to the dash.
These are the connectors that I have. With a dremel I might be able to get them to fit together. Maybe I'm attempting to connect the wrong plugs? Figure I need to go ahead and buy the proper coils, but I still won't be able to use the connectors.
Larger connector is the chassis plug. Smaller is coming from the coils.
Oh yeah that's the subharness. The black one pictured is the injectors I think, but that yellow plug im not sure. Is it just 4 pin vs 5? That'll just be the tach wire then, and yeah you'll want a 95.5+ harness.
4th pin is just for tach. 90-95 was coil driven (well ignitor on 90-93), 95.5 and above is ecu driven. So the plugs are identical, just missing the tach pin. Stock engines will start and die since they don't see rpms (I think), and aftermarket ecu setups wont have a tach, but should have an option to give a tach signal to the dash.
I know I have ran my 94 with the 3pin coil packs before. I think I was running MS1 in parallel with my stock ecu and I don't remember there being any issues besides the tach not working. I don't think I ever tried a 3 pin coil pack on a completely stock 94/95.
Oh yeah that's the subharness. The black one pictured is the injectors I think, but that yellow plug im not sure. Is it just 4 pin vs 5? That'll just be the tach wire then, and yeah you'll want a 95.5+ harness.
That's correct...the chassis plug has 5 pins and the plug coming from the coils has 4. I'll have to look at the wiring schematics when I get home (I'll post these later) but I'm pretty sure the 5th "extra" pin in the plug is for the tach. So if I want to purchase the coil harness for my car where I can I get it? I can find the correct coils, but cannot find the coil harness with a 5 pin plug. Would anyone have a part number I can search for? Maybe I'm better off buying the coils and universal 5 pin plugs and do away with the factory coil plugs altogether?
Thought I'd post a better shot of the connectors. The top connector is from the 1994 car harness and the lower connector is from the 1997 coils (expertly labeled). Also put some photos of a shop manual schematics for each years ignition wiring.
I'm tempted to cut both of the factory connectors and use something like these amazon connectors to run the coils. If I do this and it works how can I drive the tach?
05-23-2017, 10:10 PM
Building the free miata
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