eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Thread title is deceiving as this car didn't require cash money to buy. The acquisition of this vehicle actually dates back to September 2015 when I decided to make a terrible decision involving a non-op e30. Long story short, after vomiting money at the e30 and getting her back on the road, it just didn't do it for me...So back to a Miata.


I found a 1997 M on Craigslist with a nicely installed FM Voodoo 2 turbo kit.

After chatting back and forth a bit we traded. 4 months in and we are still happy with our cars.


First step was to keep my 325ix mesh wheels. Didn't want the 15x8 cheap Chinese et0 wheels that were on the miata:


After that I ditched the ebay lowering springs in favor H&R Race springs & Bilsteins shocks absorbers.




This setup still had issues with the rear bottoming out (and shooting my head through the top) when going over big bumps or dips. so I opted for ISC race tophats to give the suspension more travel. The problem is this changed where the springs mounted to the car which slammed the car on the ground (by normal standards, not fuh raze stanceworks.com fanboi standards)


Doh! Fixed that with Ground Control adjustable coilovers using Eibach springs (350/275# rates)

To stiffen the tired chassis (280k miles) we installed some Flyin' Miata frame rails rails and polyurethane bushings everywhere in the suspension. This made a drastic difference in how solid and planted the car felt. I Also installed Garagestar door bushings (not pictured).

To physically fit in the car I had to change out the steering wheel to a smaller diameter substitute. Since the car had a Nardi shift **** I opted for a 330mm Nardi steering wheel. This thing is beautifully hand made in italy.


Out of boredom I added a R-package front lower lip and the smoked turn signals, which I'm not in love with. At least these don't fill up with water like the original turn signals.


The great thing about a Miata is how exposed to the elements you are when driving around.
The scary thing about a miata is how exposed to the elements you are when driving around.
The decision was made to opt for a roll bar. Not only for any scenario that would involve a roll over but also in case of being rear ended (especially by a big lifted truck!). I opted for a very nice, North Carolina made, Hard Dog "Hard Core, Hard Top" roll bar with padding. This was done as this bar sits about two inches back from the typical "Hard Core" models and gives me some more head room.


Winter? As long as I don't have a risk of cracking the rear plastic window due to the cold, the top is coming down when the sun is out!


At this point the car accelerated nicely thanks to the turbo putting out 10 PSI of boost and handled very well thanks to the tight and stiff suspension... but had god-awful brakes.

TIME FOR BIG BRAKES!!!


I chose the track speed engineering setup for a few reasons.
- It was cheaper to buy than other products
- Replacement parts are considerably cheaper
- Immense stopping power.
That all said, the only tricky aspect would be fitting the wheels over these monsterous brakes! After some quick napkin math, I figured I could probably get them to fit by pushing the wheels out 20 MM. This was the maximum distance I could push the wheels out without having to worry about tire to fender contact. The reasoning behind this is that wheels aren't just a cylinder, the inside of the wheel tapers towards the face of the wheel.

They fit with a 20mm spacer!!! The end result was a 15x7 et21 final offset fitment. I end up having to trim the original studs as they protruded past the spacer and hit the backside of the wheel (as seen in the picture)



This was paired with M-tuned rear brackets that pushed the rear calipers outward, allowing me to fit the larger sport rotor, a Wilwood proportioning valve to tweak brake bias, and Hawk Street/Race brake pads all the way around.

This is how she sits now.

A 6'6"guy inside a Miata!


Next mods, some already purchased
- H4 hellas, factory lighting is terrible
- Back to OE blinkers for that cleaner, oem look.
- Rear R-package bumper lip to match the front
- Miata competition motor mounts to anchor the motor
- aftermarket head unit for bluetooth, hd radio and better sound
- 15x9 6ul wheels w/ 225 rs3 tires
- Megasquirt ran in parallel with the dme.. i'm in an odb2 state
- ??

C&C welcome

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Couple small updates..
I swapped back from smoked to oem (jdm, brah) turn signals along with H4 Hellas. Really happy with both:


Swapped in new Miata Comp. Motor Mounts (driver side mount was split in two and compressed):


and finally I tossed in the rear ebay R-package valence:


I always considered the paint on the top of my trunk to be dead as it looked like the clearcoat was cracking:



Well a buddy of mine up in Asheville looked at it this weekend and said that it was just oxidation and that it would buff out. Low and behold it did!! So thrilled as the car has very nice condition original paint



Reflection:


This is motivating me to do the rest of the car and get the small dings addressed via PDR.

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Found a plug and play "Obiwan" Link standalone engine management system for a 1997 Miata on mt. This is my first time playing around with a standalone ems. After a relatively painless install it cranked right up! The next day I started by reading the manual over, adjusting for my injectors (320cc) and piping the wideband signal directly to the the Link. When all this was accomplished I was able to use the autotune feature on the system. After roughly 30 mins It got within the ballpark air/fuel range and the car was very driveable. It was significantly smoother and faster than on the voodoo + msd piggy back systems.


I re-flowed some of the solder joints on the display after this pic was taken.

(picture taken on a private road by my passenger bla bla bla)

Next step is larger injectors, a manual boost controller and a new tune

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Woke up this morning and found me a set of 6ul in 15x8 w/ rs3 on them on craiglist :haiguyths: exact setup i've been looking for!

205 vs 225










sorry for the pixelation.. had to lighten the photos a bit since they were taken at dusk.

Haven't had a chance to get any heat in them yet, but so far I'm a happy camper hillyb:

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Another quick update..

Raised my steering column by removing the spacers. I'm guessing that whole contraption was for the airbag, which is no longer there. Anyways, I can actually see my gauges now! Before the top of the steering wheel would cover the entirety of the oil pressure needle and most of the speedo/tach. I may spring for a real oil pressure gauge now that I can see it



Also got DLL working on a old laptop. Reading up on all of it's functionalities right now



Everybody repeat after me "Real Injectors, yay!"

These are the Bosch EV14 610cc injectors from Flowforce. Baller stuff!

Got the car tuned at ~ 13 psi and I must say it feels stout! Ribbon cable for the display started acting up, so I'll have to wait for it's replacement for fine tuning. Also found out that a buddy of mine that I know is a good tuner now has a dyno

In other news I stuck the Link Remote in the cup holder and hid the ribbon cable as I was annoyed of having it flop around in the passenger side seat:


I decided to also tackle my shifter and get a better shift ****. My lower bushing was almost completely gone. I replaced it with a delrin bushing from miata roadster.. and I must admit I'm one happy camper!


also found the best wood **** for my car. A mint, almost NOS, Nardi Teardrop **** in a similar shade of wood as my ebrake (2001 SE) and steering wheel. I absolutely love the shifting feel of the car now.



And a rare shot of my car with clean wheels:


Not pictured: got car running off GM boost pressure controller


Future mods/Repairs
- LOF
- Drop trans and replace neutral safety switch *sigh*
- Will more than likely install a FM Happy Meal once I'm in there
- Kirkey KIR41500 Seat floor mounted
- Dyno/Tune

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

...and today's update:
Took her to a buddies shop on saturday to see what she'd do on the dyno and have someone else look at my AFRs:

First results.. my afrs looked good - yay. Next timing, the combination of dyno (Dynapack) and Link keypad made it easy to fine tune timing. He set the car at a certain "zone" by limiting RPM on the dyno and would see live results in bumping my timing:


we found about 10whp - woot.

Some of the bumpiness in the curve was due to my Link-controlled boost pressure controller freaking out. He slowed down the run which helped it have enough time to react towards the end.

Anyways.. pretty happy overall. 230whp/238wtq at 13ish PSI

On the way home:


Future plans:
- go from 2.25 magnaflow cat to a 2.5" "race" cat.. will probably free up some HP up top
- M-tuned coolant reroute & those fancy hood louvers: she overheats with the A/C on (shroud is on)
- NB2 seat
- Trans neutral switch & new clutch (no more xtd 6 puck awesomeness)

x_25

My friend is in the process of getting his car to run on a Link (90-93 one though!) I will be curious to hear how it likes the Flow Force injectors, since he will be upgrading to those eventually.

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Tell him to check out post #4 of this thread:
https://www.miataturbo.net/link-93/b...an-link-88451/

x_25

pdexta

iTrader: (17)

Awesome progress, the car looks fantastic.

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

nice

tehzack

What part of Charlotte are you in? I haven't seen this one around.

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

I'm in plaza midwood

tehzack

Samesies. I live right by the old Eastland Mall.

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Blue miata?

tehzack

Apologies for the de-rail. I always get excited to see one that's not being abused by stanceholes. I'll say hello if I see you out and about.

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Totally stalled next to you at a light before. xtd 6 puck ftw

tehzack

You were likely just fainting from the smoke plume that follows me everywhere.

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

Long overdue update

Did some ghetto isht to my floorboards so that my tall a$$ would fit better:


Bought some NB2 seats and did a foamectomy on them

Didn't liked them so stuck them back on craigslist


with my floorboard mod the seat wouldn't go back all the way as the metal "hump" would bottom out. Fixed that:

This is now probably the lowest stock NA seat ever. I love it. Best part is you don't notice the mods at all, its got full range of motion and it secured in there with nice 4x4" plates.

Next up I redecorated my living room (3.90, 4.30 LSDs & a 6 speed)


Invited two Miata guys over to do some hoodrat isht and destroy my apartment's parking lot

4.10 -> 3.90 LSD & poly bushings

Detailed her as best as I could with a high speed buffer

eurojulien

iTrader: (1)

THIS HATEFUL ******* THING I SWEAR TO GOD I'VE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER IN MY LIFE TO GET RID OF IT. GEKBGEKGJEB


6 speed swap, clutchnet alu flywheel and new clutch


car feels great and now i'm le tired.