More, please. Just for background, even with no shrouding there were no issues with overheating during the test. We're planning to shroud from the bodywork to the radiator and then route the exit. We've got more elaborate plans for the track-only car.

Wet weight is around 1,400lbs, give or take. There's over 100lbs of "fat" on the mule (stock seats, HEAVY exhaust, extra tubing, etc.), but that will be replaced with bodywork, lights, interior, aluminum panels, and extra odds n' ends. Pig.

There will be the same rain dance with race prep. Add some, take off some. Bottom line is that this is proving to be an awesome base for a performance car. The frame is light but rock solid. The bottom is flat. Best of all, you can transfer your go-fast goodies to this frame. I can't imagine it with more than 250hp...

 

i can imagine it with my 400whp driveline

 

You wont see overheating in the gauge. This motor was pulled from a FWD car so mazda decided to make it easy and reroute the coolant to the front of the motor for our miatas instead of at the back by the thermostat. The engine is fed cold coolant by the water pump from the front of the motor and then the heated up coolant goes out of the front of the motor instead of through the entire engine. The only circulation the rear of the engine sees is whatever can get through the heater lines. For stock street driving for the average chick this is just fine.. since ya know miatas are chick cars?

But for track driving the rear cylinders will overheat quickly especially in boosted application. Thats why its so common to do a rear coolant reroute.

Here is stock. Cold=top pic and Fully warmed up = bottom one


This is with the reroute. Fully warmed up.

 

Ahhhh. I've seen this discussed before, but not with this clarity. Thanks! I'll be sure to get this done when we pull the whole car apart. But then again, we removed the heater so it should be good to go, right?

 

No... the issue is that the rear of the engine gets shitty coolant flow because the inlet and outlet are very close to eachother. moving the outlet to the rear of the head solves this.

Do it.

 

Mule #1 has a 1.6 and Mule #2 has a 1999 1.8. Both will get the coolant upgrades. Mule #3 is getting a turbo and will definitely get the upgrade. #4 might just have a mystery motor that won't need this upgrade.

 

No to what?

 

please be a V8... please be a V8... please be a V8...

 

FWIW My coolant gauge will show the famous just less than half pretty much all the time.

Tuner studio on the other hand tells me the true story. My coolant gauge won't even start moving till about 240F. The computer does a much better job of telling me what exactly my coolant is at.

<-- Having overheating problems.

 

He did mention earlier in the thread he had a Hayabusa motor laying around.... and knew the weight on it.

 

Ah yes. I would also accept this as a reasonable substitution.

 

Comment from Youtube:

"I kept throwing money at my monitor. Why won't you take my money!"

Lolz, my feelings also (except I don't have any money for this sort of thing, but if I did...).

 

I'm going as fast as I can!!!

And yet again I'm showing pictures that I probably shouldn't upload. I really, REALLY should have held off showing this car until it was absolutely finished, but what the hell--that ship has sailed.

The two main body panels left missing are also the largest. And most important. Even so, I thought it would be fun to put the existing panels on car. My first thought was that this small cage of a car is getting bigger! It's a go cart with just the frame, but is taking on car proportions with the bodywork.

Also, it looks like there will be ample wind protection even with the small windscreens. While this car will no doubt see lots of track time, it looks like I won't need to wear a helmet on the way to Starbucks.

pic 1--One the floor--first article body panels

pic 2--A whole car fits in my Land Rover

pic 3--The view from the seat shows that there's plenty of protection

pic 4--Pieces in place, though not perfectly placed.

 

btw were u planning on making a roof too?

 

If I get enough requests I'll build a double-decker version.

 

damn that looks awesome how the body work hugs the frame.

I think im gonna take out a loan when this becomes available.

any potential business opportunities as an australian reseller available?

 

That's awesome, because it will only cost you ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

 

thats cool $1m isnt really a lot of money anymore.

could be worse it could be one Hundred billion dollars!

 

The issue with this car is that it's ALL custom. The headlights don't also fit on a 1972 Chevy truck, The exhaust needs to be custom made, the suspension is standard Miata but has new settings, and most stock items that are tossed need to be replaced with new, custom-made parts. Just today I was working on the headlight covers, fly screens and surrounds for the headlight unit--all custom U.S. made parts.

I'm trying to balance the cost of the kit with the contents. Do customers want to supply their own suspension? Wheels and tires? Are they expecting the full-blown interior, or raw race? And of course the frame and body are completely from scratch--and costs that I'll be amortizing for some time.

I don't want the end result to be expensive, but neither will I allow it to be anything but a quality vehicle. Based on weight alone, it will be faster than any Spec Miata--700lbs lost is like gaining 100 horsepower, not to mention the dynamic and braking performance gains that will be seen.

So how much would you pay for an exotic, exclusive, low volume, high performance car that's been designed and built in America?

 

$37,478.96



I mean, tree fiddy.