sounds perfect then. I don't feel like the car is lazy at all, and it's still on the basemap. i can see how the 4.3/6spd combo would have you working overtime on the shifter. Maybe the 4.1/5speed will feel lazy to you as well? Guess we'll find out.

I think David recommends something like a 3.60 rear, but the way the gearing sits now i don't think there's a need. It has excellent highway manners and torque pretty much whenever i want it.

Wanted to drop a line and publically say thanks for letting me take your car for a brief drive at MATG. Rode passenger in a few Kswap cars prior to this but never got the chance to actually drive one until yours. Car felt very well sorted given how quickly it was thrown together to make it to the event. You have a fun car on your hands. Look forward to seeing what's next

No problem! I hope you got some good info.

Thanks also for exchanging the keys, your car lived up to the hype. I think xidas will be in my future, after i take care of some safety items.

Thanks for the compliment!
Dan

Nice looking build here sir. I'd love to check it out some time, i'm not too far from you in NN.

Absolutely! I grew up in NN.

This thread needs an update too, but since MATG i've been adulting working on the house.
Drop me a PM in october sometime. Schedule should slow down by then. I also frequent the C&C in Williamsburg.

Dan

Wow i can't believe i didn't see this thread before MATG! I'll have to catch you there next year. Hopefully I'll have my Kswap done by then.

Nice work on all the troubleshooting, hopefully I can learn from your experiences.

Thanks for being so detailed with your wiring. Made it a breeze while doing my swap

Glad to hear it! The car is currently down for the winter, plus i've been up to several house projects in the last couple months.

A sneak peek:

1. Kmiata intake upgrade
2. Coolant leak fixes
3. Headlight retrofit (padlock inspired)
4. Rollbar
5. Evaluate options for a seat

That is an ambitious list given the way life can be with kids during the holidays!

Dan

Been a while since i updated this thread, so i'll add some background as to what i've been up to.

MATG:
Towed the car 8 hrs to the event. The previous evening i spent in Richmond getting dyno tuned (shout out to Matt at Shue Tuning!) where the car put down 215 hp and 170 torks, which is admittedly underwhelming for a cammed 2.4. As we all know though, every dyno is different, and the seat of the pants tell me that it's significantly stronger than a stock k24. Torque curve is nice, the power feels great! A lot smoother than before for sure. Perhaps a dyno expert will chime in on SuperFlow dynos vs. others.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...985b317763.jpg

Once we got down to MATG, i could finally see the scale of the event. WOW! Never seen so many Miatas in one place. The car performed well, despite the fuel gauge issue that's been present since the build was finished. Sixshooter was kind enough to lend me some aluminum tape to shield vital wiring from the headers, thanks to you kind sir!

Only casualty to my car over the weekend was losing some header bolts, probably due to vibration (the ones going to the downpipe). David Calzada pointed me to his trailer for a jack, and i replaced them in the parking lot. Since then, i've purchased some nordlocks as extra insurance. Those will go on next time she's on the lift.
As Padlock mentioned, we traded keys at MATG. He's looking for data points on the direction to take his swap, and i was keen to see what Xidas, big tires, and aero could do. I must say that i'm very impressed with that car! The street manners were amazing! Thanks again for the drive, and the advice.

My phone is being dumb at the moment, i'll make another post with some photos.

Life stuff after MATG:
I had several home projects to handle after MATG, so i took a much needed break from the car. I'll touch on the highlights, since this is a car forum after all :) I had to install a drainage solution for my sloped yard, which involved catch basins, buried drainage pipe, and integrating the downspouts into the whole thing. I also had to solve a water leak issue in my shower, which turned into an entire shower overhaul. Not looking forward to wall tile anytime soon, but the result was great!

I also broke down and bought an adult car. 2018 Accord Touring. Not as boring as you might think, and a nice place to spend some time! Flew out to Ohio and drove it home. Fantastic cruiser. Adaptive cruise is the bees knees also!
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...054ef14f30.jpg

Next post will be back to Miata stuff.
Cheers!

MATG Pics:
Before i go any further, i forgot in the last post to publicly thank DMakinson for the generous offer to share accomodations with my Fiance and i over that weekend. Without that offer, i'm not sure we would have been able to make it. Thanks!

on to the photos.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...57b62b7818.jpg
On the dyno. Their facility was top notch! The dyno room was basically a wind tunnel, closed door and all.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3d6db2021f.jpg
First morning right before breakfast. Crisp mountain views.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b84d03fdae.jpg
The Dam and power station.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2c0196732f.jpg
The view of pretty much any area of the resort during the weekend. Miata Invasion!
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...533d283697.jpg
Lunch at Tapoco Lodge. Very nice atmosphere, good food too!
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...82cb4fd40c.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ddf6e30aee.jpg
This is where the car spent most of it's downtime. This was the largest gathering of Kmiatas at the time.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f1dd6b2ef0.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ffb0a5b051.jpg
The cleanliness of this swap was amazing. Looked almost factory installed.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...913c0d5b7f.jpg
And, if i ever stuff the miata, there is a good chance i will build one of these with what is leftover. What a unique project!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3b924fa03a.jpg
And this is on our way home, somewhere near a starbucks in NC. The truck was rock solid for the entire trip, as it should be! That's the biggest workout she's ever had for sure.

Next up, current progress.
Dan

Current progress and state of things:

I swapped to the new Kmiata intake manifold, hoping to get better fitment for the intake, radiator hoses and wiring, as well as the integrated IAC provision. It's nice not having to use a throttle body adapter as well.
I went with the K20 style manifold and elected to keep my water adapter. The reason is that if i ever need to remove the intake, i won't have to open the cooling system to do so. That is pretty significant to me, as a lot of stuff runs under the intake.
I did have to take a roloc disc and sand down the rear side of the flange to make it fit nicely with the water adapter. No big deal.

What i have not been able to accomplish is getting the IAC to work properly. It's enabled, and i can feel the IAC port pulling air, but it does not respond to idle commands from the laptop. It also doesn't raise the idle on a cold start. Might be a defective part for all i know- more testing needed.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...41a29d5fa.jpeg
A good friend of mine is lending me his hardtop to aid me in my rollbar decision. It also allows me to drive the car in the winter some more. So far, so good!

Next up is the headlight retrofit. I removed the bumper, and got the old lights out. Took them to work for a good polishing before disassembly. This is the 3m polishing solution.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...30f9cd542a.jpg
This is the first step, 500 grit on the DA.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c91c399c5e.jpg
Next was 800 dry

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...69226912e7.jpg
1000 Wet
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...357fad84de.jpg
Next up was 3000 grit wet sand

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...608d3a0758.jpg
This is how it looked after a wipedown, before polishing.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...35c86642c7.jpg
first stage of polish

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5df7268a07.jpg
and this is just before the final stage of polish.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3d76b9510d.jpg
Done! Next up is the oven. Might try to do that before Monday- but let's be real here. It's almost Christmas, and i have children....

Merry Christmas to everyone, i hope you see many new parts for the Holiday!
Dan

Hey Dan. I suggest Lamin-X film to help preserve the clarity. Still does not last forever, but way longer than anything else I've seen.

I also highly recommend that you take out the yellow lens while you have the unit apart. Makes switchbacks possible; looks cleaner; looks clear when lights are off, even with yellow bulbs.

DNM

I second both of these recommendations. When I did my retrofit and cleaned up the lenses, I just did a heavy coat (several light to medium coats, but heavy once done) of Rustoleum 2X Ultra Cover Clear Spray instead of the Lamin-X. It is UV resistant as well, and I read good things about it. It's held up OK, but there are some dings in it from road debris. The Lamin-X is self healing, so it will deal with that better then the clear coat alone.

If I were doing it again, I'd likely sand the lenses down to 1000 grit, paint with the clear, sand that "flat", polish, and then Lamin-X on top of that. Might be overkill, but having the clear will give you a well bonded coating to protect the plastic from yellowing better then the Lamin-X alone (in my opinion, no real data to back that up), and the Lamin-X to protect from rocks and other crap beating them up. And when the Lamin-X get's beat up, you can simply peal it off and but some new stuff on instead of having to respray (like I now have to do).

Also, car's looking good :bigtu:

Hi Guys,

My name is Evan and I had the pleasure of purchasing Dan's miata sometimes in early 2021. I want to continue and document the progress of the car here to keep everything aligned. (Dan let me know if you don't want me to clutter in this thread)

After reading through the build and Dan's goal with the car, it was exactly how I would have envisioned my kmiata build would be. couple msg later without looking at the car I wired Dan the money and arranged the transportation from VA to CA. He was very pleasant to deal with and a straight shooter!
Car arrived in one piece and its exactly as how Dan had outlined in the build thread.

I purchased the car with the intention of just tracking it with our local group of S2000 friends. Our local track is Laguna Seca :loser: we'll see how she does once I clean up the car a bit and take care some maintenance.

here is a picture of the car as is when it first arrived.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...484e7b785c.jpg

Evan, no worries keeping this here. I think the thread should preserve the life of the build. Glad you're enjoying the car!

Nice purchase! Keep us posted on your track adventures.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a830a859af.jpg

took the car out for a shakedown drive after some basic maintenance was done and the car felt very solid. suspension is spot on and very neutral , steering was responsive. the exhaust had some play and the hanger would fall out of place during some hard corner with combo of rough road. I did end up adjusting the height a little and the exhaust issue will be addressed later.

as with every car i purchase, I always swap the seats and interior per my driving style and position. So off to Moss miata and bunch of interior parts were ordered. One thing that I wanted to address right away was replacing the torn old miata seats! the original plan was to purchase a set of recaro rz seats that came on the limited edition miata and rx7, but sourcing one without paying 6-7k for is getting a bit difficult.

I was lucky enough to purchase a set of suede jdm optional nb seat off a good friend.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8af414fad3.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e36671412.jpeg

The Kosei K5r 15x8 that came with the car is super tight, however I wanted something a bit more aggressive , jongbloed is local to me so I went over to their shop and picked up a set of their signature wheel for the miata in 15x9 +36 offset.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b8e4b144b3.jpg

here is another picture after the wheels were installed followed by test drive to the beach.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2a0e32438d.jpg

Those suede red seats are fuckin' perfecto my man! Love it.

Also, your FD and NB combo is great. Dream combo. Perfect trackday car with the miata, and the FD is just dream car status (for me and many others like me).

nice to see this car still out hammering miles like it should be!