Street legal is the goal. The original goal is to build the best car I can to MY requirements, and then offer my idea to other like-minded people.

This car won't be for everyone, but then again I don't think it will cost $20k to build a good example.

 

awesome build... thanks for the inspiration... im trying to do the same thing but putting a 73 triumph spitfire body on it(cause i dont have to smog it)... probably not going to be as boner inspiring though.

 

'73 Spitfire is a great looking car--one of my favorites. After having to adjust the hood a couple of times for engine clearance, I'd think you'd have that same issue with the Spitfire.

 

im not looking forward to the body work. im going be using an FE3N instead of a BP or a B6 so i may have to add a hood scoop. and the miata is around 10 inches wider so fender flares are a must. i cant wait to see how your body work turns out.

 

Have I shown these already?

 

How close is the front left wheel to the header at full-left lock?

 

You'll end up with an exocet. http://www.mevltd.co.uk/exocet_gallery.htm

 

This is just brilliant. Reminds me a lot of the Lotus 340R (in a good way).

 

I'd love one of those if i can afford it.

 

About a mile and a half apart.

 

I think the nature of these cars based on the stock Miata subframes is a high front end. Which is probably Stein's reference to the Z4. It's hard to avoid when you're trying to produce low/sleek profile but are stuck with the OE engine position in the cradle. IMO this design does a far better job than the exocet which to me just looks incredible front heavy.

 

I was working on the Catfish frame when Stuart came out with the Exocet. We even talked about having me offer it in the States for him (I own a Sonic7), but I decided that I wanted to tackle this build using the resources I have here in Southern California. There really is a wealth of automotive talent out here.

 

Wow, that Sonic7 isn't that bad, looks great compared to the Exocet. Is that thing street legal?

 

The Sonic7 is supposed to street legal, and I plan on registering mine--just as soon as I can get the damn thing started. The build with the Sonic7 was the reason to make the Catfish, as much by applying what works and what doesn't to this car.

The Sonic7 is based on the ko7 by Ken Okuyama, designer of the Enzo and a few other cars. It comes in at around $175,000 per car, which is one main reason why I opted for the copy.

 

this looks awesome. I would love to swap all, most of the miata parts from a totaled miata to a tube frame and then skin it to look like a miata and have it come out 1000 lbs lighter. I wonder how much such a frame would cost? I would totally pull the trigger on something like that as a winter project.

 

The Catfish could be made from a salvaged car--mule #2 is a 1999 that was written off with only very light front end damage. the 100k service had been done just the week before. I think someone who has a dedicated performance setup and wants to take it to the next step will also be a good candidate.

 

That has been my plan all along however unfortinately living in an apartment has its negatives.. i can of course start building it in the apartment but then i'll end up like this guy.

http://www.geekologie.com/2008/10/ma...ni-countac.php

 

I live in Chicago, live in an apartment and rent a small garage about 10 miles away. I build all kinds of things in the apartment and I have a heavy duty dolly cart to move stuff. it is not ideal, and waste time with tools left at the other location but planing goes a long way and it works fine. I would need to take it up a notch to build a car but not by much.

a miata tube frame would be the perfect solution to a crashed track car. you could buy pieces of a miata body for pretty cheap if you look around. buy a parted tub, stick a palate on it and call AAA for a tow. sawsall and done.

 

I've been building this car at AWR Racing for the past 1 1/2 years, which is a 45 minute drive each way. PITA. Tony and his main welder Johnny are more than happy to share tools and such--to a fault--but I really prefer to not have to keep asking for "stuff". So I bring a huge 50lb Makita rtool bag, which probably helped with my ruptured disc. And I still don't have all the tools I need. So yes, I absolutely understand.

Having said that, I stripped the first Miata body in less than 3 hours. About the same amount of time was taken labeling and removing the wiring. It's a good idea to push wires through instead of pulling. The unibody can come off in the first day.

From there everything is easy to remove, fix, clean or replace. Unless you want to make this a winter project, it should go much more quickly.

 

Although the MX-5 is longer and wider, it looks very similar under the skin.

When the car is free of the unibody, it's pretty easy to remove the rear sub-assembly for cleaning and upgrades. We take the bushings out and replace them with the AWR Delrin kit. The a-arms and sub-assembly goes for powder coating. There's no real need to heavily clean the metal as they all get sand blasted prior to powder coating.

The NA subs did not have rear bracing or even allowance for it, so we welded on a bracket to allow for installation. They also include Tony's upper a-arms that are adjustable for camber.