Hey Gang,

I have been a lurker/member of this site for a while. My built thread was on another forum closer to where I live but since it is a drift forum composed of 95% Z cars, my car never gets attention. So I figured I would move it here since you guys obviously like miatas.

I guess I will throw in a little about me. I’ve been around miatas for a long time. My dad had one long before me. When I was 17 I got my first miata. I picked it up in 2004. It was a black 93 with 16k original miles on it. As a kid I played around with it adding untasteful mods (rice). In 2006 I went hard core on it and at 60k put in a full 99 drivetrain. It was wicked fast for a miata in our area. I tracked it heavily. Later I sold my dream car to start a family but that didn’t last long. I ended up scoring a 04 mazdaspeed in 2009 for a super deal. It had 24k on it at the time. I have gone through some terrible mods on it as well mostly just chep crap. I am finally to a point where I am starting to put tasteful parts on. I’ve learned a lot about heat and going with cheapo stuff.

I started the Northeast Arkansas Miata club in 2005. I have been a member since and have gone on many great drives with our and other groups. So if you are near Arkansas hit me up.

I am 27 and after 3 kids I am finally to a point where I can start to mod my car more. I take part in serveral racing hobbies from drifting to SCCA.

My First miata after I sold it:





When I first got the car in 2009



After a homemade intake was built





Updates 2011
Parts added:
Megan Racing EZ street coilovers
Exedy stage 1 clutch kit & all new seals, boots, and stainless line
Flyin miata downpipe
Boss frog frame rail guards (not on yet)
Ebay Special raidiator and fans
Sportmax 002 16x8 rocking tatered 205/50/16 ran out of money for tires
found a fender roller on amazon.com for $149!!

Reviews:
Megan Racing Coils---way way better than i thought, the ride is good and cornering is much better than i thought for $669 very pleased. However megan outlet was a pain to deal with.

Exedy--- I've used then lots before but this one came with a bad throwout bearing WTF can't get ahold of them for a replacement. I should have gone stage 3.

Downpipe---worth every penny fit great and def power adder

Frame guards---very solid, with these my frame is safe

The rest, typical. I was shocked to find a good roller on amazon lol

Fender rolling will be finish when I get new tires. I'm not sure if i want to stay meaty or use rubber bands.
















2012







Got some new stuff, roll bars, toyo t1-r, and a mazdaspeed lip.
I was running 205/50/16 and with an agressive pull, they still rubbed. So I got 195/45/16 and they fit much better. I even dropped the car more. Total I think I have taken 3-4" off the stock height. The car looks mean now. I plan on painting the lip this week. Its a little rough around the edges.

Now i just need to find some one to make me exhaust cheap.

Before lip


After

 

2014

I got some new wheels and tires. XXR 531 on some 205/50/16 Dunlop ZIIs I did it right this time and got an alignment since I changed the height to clear the new digs.








I also got some Hawk HPS Plus pads for some track time. So far they are loud and dusty but stop well. I'm not sure if I like the trade offs. They are awful on the street.



Well I have learned a good lesson: Don't buy cheap crap. I've had a ebay radiator in the car for a few years and have had some hot moments. Well I finally opted for the best radiator I could get married to some sweet spial fans. I'm not going to talk about price but this was some serious $. I am ready to test it in the summer. I found some boost leaks and fixed those temporarily while I save for the pluming to fix them. The sad part to this story I the day after the radiator install my clutch started slipping so it is parked while I save for a clutch happy meal from FM.

Before:




compared:







After:




Got my new clutch and flywheel installed. I went with a stage 1 FM Clutch happy meal rated for 318lb/ft of torque and a 10.30 lb flywheel. I also had to install a new front hub and some other maintenance stuff. Now I am working on the 500 mile break in that was suggested for this combo.









I'm on a pic rampage.

I did this in the fall. We ended up finding some boost leaks from this I am getting them fixed and going to redyno.



Up town with the Owner of my last Miata. Bob, you should post some pics since you've already started wrenching on it



I broke the tires in on a fast run on a hwy in Missouri about a week ago. The Dunlop's are shockingly good. They handle well and showed no limit on 90mph turns. Seem to be a good call. The thread wear rating is 200 so good thing I have a daily.






Its been a while, I am working on setting my car up for an endurance drive with several other car groups down some curvy roads.

I've had trouble with boost leaks due partly to me being an idiot and mazda using 1 ply tubing.

I still do not have everything installed, my intake system is still being made my BEGi but this is my progress thus far.

I have gone over every inch of the system. Using 4-8ply tubes and proper T-bolt claps.

 

I will be updating this more as my parts come in. I hope my new intake will be in this week.

 

Looks good so far! I've had my msm lip off the car for some time. You've made me decide to reinstall it.

 

Great start, and I like your car.
Hate the wheels. All 3 sets. Love everything else.

 

welcome! car looks good (not a HUGE fan of the wheels but they arent terrible)
Im looking forward to seeing what else you do!

 

sweet MSM!

 

Everyone hates the wheels....... So do I. I had limited funding and an event coming up so this is what I got. I wish I could have been able to buy something better than some CCW knock offs. Maybe later I can change them. The tires however were by choice. They cost more than the wheels.

The car could be lower, I got some hate on another forum for that. But the last time it was low I took it on a drive with some friends and took out a chunk of the road. Debris was thrown all over the car behind me. Both cars and drivers were ok. After that I raised the car since Arkansas roads are not always the best.

The car is not so pretty either. I botched the fender rolling then destroyed them at an SCCA event the following weekend. The # one thing to know about this car, is that it is a driven car. I have a DD so this is my weekend warrior. If I meant for it to be a show car or some hella flush car I would built it that way. I am on a tight budget so you may not see some complete turbo build out of me. I love to drive my car and will be focusing on that and not throwing money at the next part. I use to do that and ended up hating my cars. Now I add mods according to my budget but make sure there is always money to take it on a drive or got to a weekend race.

I have a BEGI msm intake kit coming and I am looking at ideas for brakes.

What do you guys think as far as brakes. I do a ton of track events. I am thinking about going with 4 pot willwoods. I can't decide if I want the 11" rotor or the 11.XX"

 

Sounds reasonable.

Tell the people on the "other" forum telling you to go lower to pound sand and die.

 

i can dig just wanting to run the car, im kinda in a similar boat with my MSM

 

I am working on making my car the best it can be with my limited funds and knowledge. I borrowed a set of scales and would like some input from you guys on how to get my car better balanced. I have coil overs, a friend of mine suggested I change the load on the springs a bit to try to balance the load.
Whats the verdict on this?

 

Use this to help: Corner Balance Calculator

1) Put weight on seat equal to you, if you plan to track the car alone; else whatever is equal to what you will be usually driving with (passenger added weight as well).
2) Weigh, as you did.
3) Plug the numbers into the calculator, and then it will tell you what each corner target is.
4) Goal is to get to the target weights while you also get the ride heights correct.
5) The target weights are such that LF + RR = RF + LR. Hence the term corner weight. This is for even handling whether turning L or R. If on an oval track, then you might want something different.
6) RR + LR is the rear total weight. RF + LF is the front total weight. Total front : Total rear is the F:R distribution. This cannot be changed without physically moving weight.

 

Agree with one addition... put the hood and front bumper cover on!

If any fluids were drained for maintenance re-fill them as well before doing your corner weighting.

Keith

 

Love the car, looks pretty clean. 2400lbs is also pretty fair for a MSM, makes me want one now.

But.. those wheels man. dear god, there are better looking and fitting wheels around there for the same cost. It's your car though, so as long as you enjoy her. Keep on wrenchin man.

 

FFD 15x8 wheels are a little more expensive then XXR's and are uch lighter and nicer. So are older gen 6uls. TR Motorsport wheels etc. All better "track" option wheels on a budget.

 

Guys for the 1000th time, read the thread. I don't like the wheels either. They are still lighter than 17" crap wheels that come on the msm these are 16x8 +20 16lbs on a bad fender roll.

 

Just what I needed. I will start working on this.

 

I left my camera at work but I am getting closer.

633 702
593 532

54% front
46% rear

52% cross

That's much better than it was. I am going to drive it a few days and test it again.

Its been 21 days since I ordered an intake from BEGi, I know the stuff is good but I hateeee waiting.

 

This is with the hood and front bumper in place, and a weight equal to your body weight in the drivers seat?

Keith

 

Hood and bumper are on as well as 3/4 tank of gas, all fluids and such.

I had my wife in the car, she is about the same weight as me.

I still have some more adjusting to do. I had to lower the front more than I wanted. I will more than likely tackle this a few more times. I've never done this before so last night was more of a learning process.