Uncle Hoonsalot

Registered for a track day at Barber on Nov 25th. Goal is to have the car n/a, coolant reroute, ELBJs, outer tie rods, corner balanced, and aligned by then.

Currently the plan is to buy outer tie rods from Supermiata (along with the ELBJs and reroute). Any others I should consider?

Also thinking I may try to snag an MS3 used in the next few months. I figure if I buy it used, my exposure to depreciation on the ECU will be little/nothing, and it'll be a decent place for me to park some cash until K Swap. $850-$900 is the number in my head - is that reasonable?

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Yes, if you can find one.

Midtenn

iTrader: (15)

The SuperMiata tie rod ends are not equal to R-package tie rod ends. Close. Better than stock NA/NB, but not the best for bump stop reduction. R-package are the best for reduction of bump stops.

Uncle Hoonsalot

Got an email last night that Supermiata has reroutes on sale, so I quit stalling and ordered a reroute, pair of ELBJs, and pair of their outer tie rods. Figure since their outer tie rods are better than stock, and mine could do with replacing, it's hard to go wrong. The fact that they're about 50% cost of any R PKG outer tie rods I could find didn't hurt anything either.

I've been dailying the car while I wait for brakes to come in the mail for my NC, so no progress other than driving it. Weighed the car fully dressed with a half tank of fuel, so now I have my starting point for weight reduction (bro): 2,430 lbs.

Work to be accomplished by 11/25:
-Unsupercharge (will start on this Sunday of this week, hopefully - need to clear space in the shop for the car to be worked on )
-Coolant reroute
-ELBJs + Outer Tie Rods
-Alignment
-Mount TDR Seat
-Acquire and install harness

You made it this far, so here is a picture of my shop doge, wishing I'd come and get her out of the car:





I know this is MiataTurbo, and would hate to anger Trubo Cat, so there is also a stray cat that seems to have adopted my shop. We named her Kevin. My wife is trying to convince me we should keep Kevin. I just wish she'd eat the mice who are too smart for the mouse traps I put out.



Bought a set of 15X8s off FB marketplace. 2 are cracked from the PO's MIL dropping 2 wheels off the side of the road and hitting a driveway - hoping at least one can be repaired. They were $200 and came with silver 949 lug nuts and the hub centering rings.



Lazy "test fit"



Car is pretty close to being corner balanced with me in it. Will get that perfected before alignment.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Broken wheels are broken

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

I have (2j 15x8 6UL in Tungsten that will be for sale in about 10 days.

Uncle Hoonsalot

I am ashamed for not seeing this coming.

Sounds like we should talk. Both of my brothers live near Greenville, so arrangements could be made.

Uncle Hoonsalot

I'm prepared for the jokes this question will bring. But I can't not ask:

Why don't I sell all of my NB stuff and 2.5 swap an NC? My math says that my NB plus the parts I have on the shelf for it would fund a pretty great 2.5 NC with Xidas, 17X10s, DG Hartop, TDR seats, etc. Should be able to get the car to a 12:1 power/weight, and 2.5s are stupidly cheap - like there are 13 at LKQ in Alabama and none of them cost more than $600. I daily an NC on Koni yellows and it is wonderful. Driving it after dailying the NB for a week is 50% of what bring this question to mind. Cheap NC1s with bad engines being the other half.

Roast me.

Roda

No roasting here...

If I were doing things from scratch now, I would definitely go NC1 and 2.5 swap it to start. Prices are dropping well into NB territory.

We had an NC PRHT Club, and with basic suspension mods and 17x9s it was damn near as fast on track as my VVT swapped NA with Xidas and big brakes. It's a great chassis, and with some weight reduction and a 2.5 should be pretty quick. And you can fit big tires with just a fender roll.

The only thing that bothered me was tuning, but I think folks have the NC ECU figured out a little better now.

Uncle Hoonsalot

Weighed my NC last night - even more bad news for the NB. The NC weighs 2490 with a full tank of fuel. My NB weighs 2430 with a half tank.

For anyone wondering, my NC is a 2007 Grand Touring with soft top. It has 7.5" wide RPF1s and a GWR Street Single muffler.

After talking to my older, more reasonable friends, they pointed out that I could really use a truck for the parts business. So I think the new idea is to build my current NC and buy a truck. This also provides a really comfortable vehicle I can daily, and something useful as a family car. I feel some guilt over leaving my NB behind. Especially since this year has really seen it move significantly farther toward what I wanted it to be. We'll see if something changes my mind in the next month or so.

Think Goodwin would cut me some sort of deal if I ordered like 8 grand of parts from them all at once?

Midtenn

iTrader: (15)

If I had the funds (and time), I'd be selling off all my NA/NB stuff and looking for a NC. It's a great platform that's really starting to shine in the track day market. It's not as heavy as people think. You can stuff more rubber under it. The growth of the 2.5L component market makes it on par with a K swapped NA/NB in terms of value. If you're planning on a cage, you can fine former MX5 Cup cars for around 10-15k depending on condition. I've seen a few for cheaper sans 2.0L, but not as common.

Padlock

If I was starting from scratch, I'd be building an NC right now... but I'm too invested in my NB to look back (and I still like it a lot) so here we are. NC is high on my "if I ever buy another miata" list

HarryB

I would say go for it. NCs are great for all the reasons already elaborated; not to mention they are also a better daily drive than any NA/NB.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

@vteckiller2000 Can tell you all the right stuff you need.

Nevertheless, PM me if you want the wheels.

vteckiller2000

iTrader: (4)

The NC is an incredible value and easily has potential with same mods to bury any NB on track. Mine is just an NC3 with FEAL coils, Progress sways, full exhaust and tune and it runs with similarly modded s2000s on track. A 2.5 swap with cams would put it on another level, something I am planning to do as soon as mine starts using oil. Thing is, I have no good reason to swap it since it used no appreciable oil and made 160 whp reliably all 2019 season.

I had a track prepped but full interior vvt swapped NB1 since 2015 (albeit in a few different iterations), and I am not only $5k ahead AFTER my part out and repurchasing NC things, I am running faster times with higher trap speeds while still learning the car.

Uncle Hoonsalot

Here's the list so far. Anything I'm missing? Pricing wrong?

Konig 17X10s $896.00

NC Xidas $2,400.00 (blind guess)

GWR Radiator $500.00

GWR Brakes $1,200.00

GWR Header $629.00

Muffler $399.00

Midpipe $329.00

Roll Bar $800.00

Sway Bars $320.00

GWR Motor Mounts $199.00

Whiteline Bushings $89.00

Diff Bushings $105.00

ACT Stage 1 Clutch $459.00

Light Battery Kit $59.00

$37.00

2.5 Engine $500.00

Xero Limits ECU Tune $199.00

Stage 1.5 Cams $650.00

MZR Oil Filter Relo Plate $49.00

255 VR1s $544.00 (SCCA Member pricing)

DG Street HT $1,750.00

TDR Seat+Pass Rail $487.00

TDR Driver Rail $89.00 (own driver seat already)

Harnesses X2 $378.00

Timken RX8 Front Hubs X2 $277.78

SPEND TOTAL $13,067.00

vteckiller2000

iTrader: (4)

You will likely need valve springs as well if you plan on sustained high revs. Skip the whiteline bushings and install the mazda motorsports offset spindle bushings. You will also want an oil cooler and filter mount/lines to add to that remote filter plate. Add your name to the BBFW GT3 group buy if you are removing the soft top, otherwise order up a BBFW RZ, both are more than $800. With a 200 whp engine, you will probably also want a better intake pipe and filter. Oh... also, I would consider using PCI brackets and side mount FIA seats instead of the bottom mount ones.

If you are willing to spend $texas on that top, you should buy my CCP top for significantly less

Uncle Hoonsalot

Failed to mention:

I have a Setrab 32 row cooler sitting on the shelf and an AEM intake on the car already.

Will look at those mazdacomp bushings. OE seems better than not though.

Any suggestions on springs?

If I move on this before that group buy goes through I’ll look at the BBFW bar. I live 20 minutes from Kirk Racing, so I may also take him money and ask him to make me a bar.

Does your CCP top seal? this would still be sort of a street car, so weatherproof is key. I’d pony up for oem if I had to. Just so heavy...


I have a set of Sparco sidemount fia mounts already. Guess I could just use those.

vteckiller2000

iTrader: (4)

Poly bushings are not something I would do on control arms unless with bronze inserts for less stiction.

I run 12k/7k spring rate on mine with the yuge Progress bars. It works really well for me, but YMMV.

The CCP top doesn't seal. The DG doesn't seal either. If you want a waterproof NC, an OEM HT is the only way to get there.

Uncle Hoonsalot

I should have been more specific: valve springs.