Does this guy know what he's doing?
11-18-2019, 04:18 AM
#42
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?
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?
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11-18-2019, 04:21 AM
#43
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?
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?
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11-18-2019, 04:28 AM
#44
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
Light Battery $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
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
Light Battery $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
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01-23-2020, 05:08 PM
#46
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
Got to drive my NB at Barber in November, and Talladega Gran Prix Raceway in December. I definitely enjoyed it, of course. This was my first time at Barber, and I improved significantly over the day. My best time was a 1:52.12 and an optimal prediction of 1:51.84. Not a bad improvement from starting at 2:03.19. Plenty of time left for me to find there, especially at turn 5. An analysis of my speeds also shows that I tend to be a gear higher than optimal the majority of the time. A lesson for next time!
TGPR was a much lower pressure day, since it is a smaller track, and had less attendees. I went with a friend for his "bachelor party." (I may not have done a good job as best man and waited til too late for most folks to be able to attend.) My friend's car is extremely similar to mine but with 15x9s and 225 RS4s as opposed to X10s and 245 RS4s. He also has a less aggressive alignment, less aggressive brakes, and a bucket seat with harness. We swapped cars for a few laps and found that his was about 6 seconds slower per lap in my hands, and the margin grew when he was driving. I was surprised that the difference between the cars was that large.
With the supercharger off the car, it's at least under 2400lbs with a half tank of fuel. If I choose to keep the car (still can't decide on that front), I'll aim to get it under 2300.
I removed my fog lights that haven't ever worked and replaced them with factory fog light blockoff plates.I like the plates much better. They tie in the painted headlights nicely. Need to actually mount up the Mazdaspeed front lip too.
I drove the NB to work last week and was reminded that it's pretty dull to drive on the street. At least compared to how it was with the supercharger. Also, the roads I use to get to work suck. I bought a truck and trailer (came with a free Subaru too!), so once that is more roadworthy, I can afford to ruin the car for street use some more. Things like removal of A/C, swapping in the 6 speed with the 7lb flywheel, etc. I'm still weighing stocking out my NB, selling off all the parts, and doing stuff with the NC. We've got a baby coming in May, and I'd love to get something like a Mazdaspeed3 for family duty, so we could go places in something fun instead. And I struggle with leaving the NB sitting in the garage most of the time. Seems sort of pointless. No one told me having a second sports car would be so hard.
Le Beige Turd:
Anyone wanna buy MT.net's favorite supercharger?
TGPR was a much lower pressure day, since it is a smaller track, and had less attendees. I went with a friend for his "bachelor party." (I may not have done a good job as best man and waited til too late for most folks to be able to attend.) My friend's car is extremely similar to mine but with 15x9s and 225 RS4s as opposed to X10s and 245 RS4s. He also has a less aggressive alignment, less aggressive brakes, and a bucket seat with harness. We swapped cars for a few laps and found that his was about 6 seconds slower per lap in my hands, and the margin grew when he was driving. I was surprised that the difference between the cars was that large.
With the supercharger off the car, it's at least under 2400lbs with a half tank of fuel. If I choose to keep the car (still can't decide on that front), I'll aim to get it under 2300.
I removed my fog lights that haven't ever worked and replaced them with factory fog light blockoff plates.I like the plates much better. They tie in the painted headlights nicely. Need to actually mount up the Mazdaspeed front lip too.
I drove the NB to work last week and was reminded that it's pretty dull to drive on the street. At least compared to how it was with the supercharger. Also, the roads I use to get to work suck. I bought a truck and trailer (came with a free Subaru too!), so once that is more roadworthy, I can afford to ruin the car for street use some more. Things like removal of A/C, swapping in the 6 speed with the 7lb flywheel, etc. I'm still weighing stocking out my NB, selling off all the parts, and doing stuff with the NC. We've got a baby coming in May, and I'd love to get something like a Mazdaspeed3 for family duty, so we could go places in something fun instead. And I struggle with leaving the NB sitting in the garage most of the time. Seems sort of pointless. No one told me having a second sports car would be so hard.
Le Beige Turd:
Anyone wanna buy MT.net's favorite supercharger?
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02-24-2020, 09:11 AM
#47
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
Finished Installing my 6 speed, 7lb flywheel, and fresh 1.6 Exedy clutch last night. Very much in love with what that did for the car. Maybe it's from DD'ing my NC, but the 6 Speed and 4.30 doesn't bother me too much...yet. I did discover that the OEM 5 speed shifter will go into an early 6 Speed trans and shift just fine. Works out nicely since the MR shifter I had for the 6 spd was missing some bits (bought used), and I had a recently rebuilt shifter in my 5 spd. RPMs were between 3700 and 4000 on the interstate as I drove home. This car isn't a road-tripper any more, so that engine speed doesn't bother me. I suspect the farthest it will be street driven will be up to the Dragon, which is about 5 hours.
This has me back on board with keeping my NB, at least for another year. Need to get a harness bar and then I can install the Ultrashield seat and Schroth harness I've had sitting in the shop for a year. I also will be looking to remove some weight from the car where possible. Soft top has already been deleted, with the hard top bolted in place. P/S has been deleted as well, along with the washer fluid bottle and a few other small things under the hood. I don't currently plan to remove A/C, though I don't even have a belt on to run it currently. I'm thinking about putting in one of the NA6 dashes I've got at the shop, and deleting the center console. My car is a Bose car, so deleting that and moving to something like a bluetooth amp, or just a simpler head unit and speakers would help too, and probably also sound better.
First autocross event of the season is 3/8 at the proving Grounds at Barber Motorsports Park. Looking forward to seeing how the car performs there, and to getting more track time this year!
This has me back on board with keeping my NB, at least for another year. Need to get a harness bar and then I can install the Ultrashield seat and Schroth harness I've had sitting in the shop for a year. I also will be looking to remove some weight from the car where possible. Soft top has already been deleted, with the hard top bolted in place. P/S has been deleted as well, along with the washer fluid bottle and a few other small things under the hood. I don't currently plan to remove A/C, though I don't even have a belt on to run it currently. I'm thinking about putting in one of the NA6 dashes I've got at the shop, and deleting the center console. My car is a Bose car, so deleting that and moving to something like a bluetooth amp, or just a simpler head unit and speakers would help too, and probably also sound better.
First autocross event of the season is 3/8 at the proving Grounds at Barber Motorsports Park. Looking forward to seeing how the car performs there, and to getting more track time this year!
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04-10-2020, 11:53 AM
#48
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
First autocross of the season was very fun; had a friend co driving with me, which is always fun. The car performed remarkably well, and I had 8th top raw time out of 88 drivers. We should have left the slicks on the car as things warmed up enough that afternoon to get temp in them, but chose to hedge our bets and run back to the shop to put on my RS4s instead. Benefits of having a shop 10 minutes from Barber. The gearing in the car worked really well too - second gear was ideal for the majority of the course, with a single shift to third for the finish. Oh, and the MiataRoadster shifter is of course, wonderful.
Took the car to the hardware store. May have gotten in a bit over my head with purchases:
Man, do I love the way this thing looks with the 10s on it.
I bought a lift for the shop, which is incredibly exciting. Of course, I can't seem to get anyone to come and help me actually set it up, so it's just sitting in my shop making me sad and taking up space. Soon.
Our Spring in Alabama is unbelievably nice this year, so my wife and I took a drive through a national forest about an hour from the house and enjoyed the roads and weather. We took the NC because, as it turns out, women who are 7-1/2 months pregnant don't fit super well into NBs.
Last weekend was spent helping a friend put a fresh(er) BP4W into his NB1.5. We also deleted A/C and P/S, and cleaned up some emissions stuff. This whole removing excess stuff from the engine bay thing is fairly addicting. The engine bay looks so much better.
Obligatory test drive up the curvy road by the shop was a huge success.
Then we weighed his NB1.5. Did not expect it, but it only weighed 2,150. Hard top, no soft top, A/C and P/S deleted, raceland header with ISR midpipe/muffler (no cat), 3 gallons of fuel (filled up immediately after weighing to find that out), no roll bar. Given what my NB2 weighs, I'm extremely jealous. With 6 speed and 4.30 diff in my car, I couldn't gain on him at all when chasing on the twisties. His car has 5 speed 4.30s and he had a passenger with him. We're both now totally sold on cutting weight out of our cars. Probably going to encourage each other to do some excessive things. It'll be great.
I was inspired to work on some weight reduction of my own on my car, so worked on that yesterday.
Basline of 2296 (pumped out all of the fuel, hard top off, car has a Hard Dog Hard Core Double Diagonal without the harness bar):
Removed the spare, jack, and all tools from the trunk, which I'll do for autocross/track events. That was worth 30lbs.
Removed the tow hitch bar for a 15lb savings:
Switched from the Special Edition sill plates with metal inserts to base black plastic for another 2lbs:
Removed front shock tower bar, 5lbs:
Removed p/s delete tensioner in prep for deleting A/C as well, 4lbs:
Total of 56lbs removed from the car without any sacrifices of comfort (yet).
A/C delete, NA6 dash are planned next. I happen to have a few NB dashes hanging out, as well as the NA6 dash that's going into my car, so weighed them too, along with a Track Dog Rally Pro seat. I'll also be removing the front tie down points and rear hooks, and replace them with a single front and rear tow hook. My radio hasn't worked since the last time I took the dash out, and I haven't cared enough to figure out what I did wrong. As my car is a Bose car, I'll be removing the speakers, amp, and head unit. I'll also be removing the antenna from the rear of the car. I welcome input on what else can be removed to save weight. I want to get the car down to 2,1XX lbs with the weight of a half tank of fuel added in (36lbs).
For posterity, weights of dashes below.
NB dash as-removed from the car. That means no stereo, HVAC controls, stereo surround trim, gauge cluster, gauge hood, or glove box. Pass airbag is still in the dash. 41lbs
NA6 dash in the same condition. 24lbs
Also weighed an NB passenger airbag, to help see if it's really worth it to put in the NA6 dash for weight savings, it's 10lbs. No picture for that one.
Took the car to the hardware store. May have gotten in a bit over my head with purchases:
Man, do I love the way this thing looks with the 10s on it.
I bought a lift for the shop, which is incredibly exciting. Of course, I can't seem to get anyone to come and help me actually set it up, so it's just sitting in my shop making me sad and taking up space. Soon.
Our Spring in Alabama is unbelievably nice this year, so my wife and I took a drive through a national forest about an hour from the house and enjoyed the roads and weather. We took the NC because, as it turns out, women who are 7-1/2 months pregnant don't fit super well into NBs.
Last weekend was spent helping a friend put a fresh(er) BP4W into his NB1.5. We also deleted A/C and P/S, and cleaned up some emissions stuff. This whole removing excess stuff from the engine bay thing is fairly addicting. The engine bay looks so much better.
Obligatory test drive up the curvy road by the shop was a huge success.
Then we weighed his NB1.5. Did not expect it, but it only weighed 2,150. Hard top, no soft top, A/C and P/S deleted, raceland header with ISR midpipe/muffler (no cat), 3 gallons of fuel (filled up immediately after weighing to find that out), no roll bar. Given what my NB2 weighs, I'm extremely jealous. With 6 speed and 4.30 diff in my car, I couldn't gain on him at all when chasing on the twisties. His car has 5 speed 4.30s and he had a passenger with him. We're both now totally sold on cutting weight out of our cars. Probably going to encourage each other to do some excessive things. It'll be great.
I was inspired to work on some weight reduction of my own on my car, so worked on that yesterday.
Basline of 2296 (pumped out all of the fuel, hard top off, car has a Hard Dog Hard Core Double Diagonal without the harness bar):
Removed the spare, jack, and all tools from the trunk, which I'll do for autocross/track events. That was worth 30lbs.
Removed the tow hitch bar for a 15lb savings:
Switched from the Special Edition sill plates with metal inserts to base black plastic for another 2lbs:
Removed front shock tower bar, 5lbs:
Removed p/s delete tensioner in prep for deleting A/C as well, 4lbs:
Total of 56lbs removed from the car without any sacrifices of comfort (yet).
A/C delete, NA6 dash are planned next. I happen to have a few NB dashes hanging out, as well as the NA6 dash that's going into my car, so weighed them too, along with a Track Dog Rally Pro seat. I'll also be removing the front tie down points and rear hooks, and replace them with a single front and rear tow hook. My radio hasn't worked since the last time I took the dash out, and I haven't cared enough to figure out what I did wrong. As my car is a Bose car, I'll be removing the speakers, amp, and head unit. I'll also be removing the antenna from the rear of the car. I welcome input on what else can be removed to save weight. I want to get the car down to 2,1XX lbs with the weight of a half tank of fuel added in (36lbs).
For posterity, weights of dashes below.
NB dash as-removed from the car. That means no stereo, HVAC controls, stereo surround trim, gauge cluster, gauge hood, or glove box. Pass airbag is still in the dash. 41lbs
NA6 dash in the same condition. 24lbs
Also weighed an NB passenger airbag, to help see if it's really worth it to put in the NA6 dash for weight savings, it's 10lbs. No picture for that one.
Last edited by Uncle Hoonsalot; 04-16-2020 at 08:54 AM.
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04-10-2020, 12:31 PM
#49
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 1,149
Total Cats: 564
Nice seeing some concrete numbers on weights of items! Keep it up if you can! You'll be playing the fun compromise of figuring out what's worth it to truly remove for comforts on a street driven car. I learned my lesson by taking that too far on my previous NA6 lol.
I'm not entirely surprised by the NB1.5 weighs what it does. As memory serves me, a roll bar is worth 45lbs on its own. Every little detail starts adding up quickly if you really get into it. If you skim through my build thread, you'll see I've mildly gutted the doors (still retaining power windows) and added LRB door panels.. During that process, I swapped from an NB1 to an NA6 dash and completely replaced the Bose system with lighter single DIN headunit and aftermarket speakers.. There's a lot of dash wiring that can be removed if you really get into things, but its pretty high effort for minimal weight to be lost here..
3/4 tank on my car with large front splitter, large barge boards, NLR rear wing, hardtop (no softtop), no AC, no PS, BFW rollbar w/ harness bar, complete interior with sparco sprints and 6pt harnesses on both sides, xidas, and 15x10's I was sitting at 2278 last year.. There's a LOT of things I'm working on to improve that for this upcoming year without giving up any creature comforts.. Its an iterative process..
I'm not entirely surprised by the NB1.5 weighs what it does. As memory serves me, a roll bar is worth 45lbs on its own. Every little detail starts adding up quickly if you really get into it. If you skim through my build thread, you'll see I've mildly gutted the doors (still retaining power windows) and added LRB door panels.. During that process, I swapped from an NB1 to an NA6 dash and completely replaced the Bose system with lighter single DIN headunit and aftermarket speakers.. There's a lot of dash wiring that can be removed if you really get into things, but its pretty high effort for minimal weight to be lost here..
3/4 tank on my car with large front splitter, large barge boards, NLR rear wing, hardtop (no softtop), no AC, no PS, BFW rollbar w/ harness bar, complete interior with sparco sprints and 6pt harnesses on both sides, xidas, and 15x10's I was sitting at 2278 last year.. There's a LOT of things I'm working on to improve that for this upcoming year without giving up any creature comforts.. Its an iterative process..
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04-10-2020, 12:51 PM
#50
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
Nice seeing some concrete numbers on weights of items! Keep it up if you can! You'll be playing the fun compromise of figuring out what's worth it to truly remove for comforts on a street driven car. I learned my lesson by taking that too far on my previous NA6 lol.
I'm not entirely surprised by the NB1.5 weighs what it does. As memory serves me, a roll bar is worth 45lbs on its own. Every little detail starts adding up quickly if you really get into it. If you skim through my build thread, you'll see I've mildly gutted the doors (still retaining power windows) and added LRB door panels.. During that process, I swapped from an NB1 to an NA6 dash and completely replaced the Bose system with lighter single DIN headunit and aftermarket speakers.. There's a lot of dash wiring that can be removed if you really get into things, but its pretty high effort for minimal weight to be lost here..
3/4 tank on my car with large front splitter, large barge boards, NLR rear wing, hardtop (no softtop), no AC, no PS, BFW rollbar w/ harness bar, complete interior with sparco sprints and 6pt harnesses on both sides, xidas, and 15x10's I was sitting at 2278 last year.. There's a LOT of things I'm working on to improve that for this upcoming year without giving up any creature comforts.. Its an iterative process..
I'm not entirely surprised by the NB1.5 weighs what it does. As memory serves me, a roll bar is worth 45lbs on its own. Every little detail starts adding up quickly if you really get into it. If you skim through my build thread, you'll see I've mildly gutted the doors (still retaining power windows) and added LRB door panels.. During that process, I swapped from an NB1 to an NA6 dash and completely replaced the Bose system with lighter single DIN headunit and aftermarket speakers.. There's a lot of dash wiring that can be removed if you really get into things, but its pretty high effort for minimal weight to be lost here..
3/4 tank on my car with large front splitter, large barge boards, NLR rear wing, hardtop (no softtop), no AC, no PS, BFW rollbar w/ harness bar, complete interior with sparco sprints and 6pt harnesses on both sides, xidas, and 15x10's I was sitting at 2278 last year.. There's a LOT of things I'm working on to improve that for this upcoming year without giving up any creature comforts.. Its an iterative process..
45 is about right on a roll bar from my weight-obsessed friend's spreadsheet. Significant for sure. I've definitely been keeping up with your build! I am curious, where did you put the OBDII port when you swapped the dash?
From now on, I'm going to weigh my car without fuel in it, even though that's clearly not realistic. A fuel gauge just doesn't provide the resolution in data necessary to actually know what's in the tank. My 15x7 Koseis and my 15x10 6ULs are stated to weigh the same amount, so it's just the weight difference in tires (about 2lbs per tire) to be accounted for there. I still want to be able to street drive my car 3 or so hours without hating life, so that's the balance to be maintained with comfort. Mostly though, it's around town or I'll trailer it to other tracks.
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04-13-2020, 10:23 AM
#51
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 1,149
Total Cats: 564
The NB OBDII port I just left hang in the OEM location and simply tucked it up into place behind the NA dash skin. I no longer have that port now with the Kswap as its part of what I've deleted with my wiring harness pruning. The new OBDII for the K24 ECU is going to be located above the glovebox.
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06-29-2020, 11:37 AM
#54
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
Haven't really done much to the car other than drive it. Had a baby, 'Rona cancelled all events, here we are.
Local tracks are finally open again, there were about 12 cars at TGPR for this event, 6 of them were Miatas. We had a great time, but I think we bullied the rest of the cars off track. Driving my friend's silver/red NB1.5 was a ton of fun. His car should weigh close to 2100 lbs at this point, and was notably faster than the rest of the Miatas. AIM time showed that most aggressive/skilled of us who drove it did a 1:12.0.
After pulling the AC out of my NB, I came to a conclusion: I don't want to ruin this car. My wife is still mad at me for selling the saddle interior, and I must admit it looked better with that in it. I also had been wanting an NA to be the shop car, so bought a silver 90 that was $500. It turned out to be far more rough than I wanted to deal with bringing back, so it's likely destined to be parted out. A much nicer car popped up on Marketplace a few weeks later, and I snagged it. The pictures make it look nicer than it is, but it's just the right amount of rough. I can be proud of it and put the shop name on it, but not be precious with it. Say hello to the new "race car." A 91 with an NA 1.8 swapped into it, BeGI coolant reroute, GC coilovers using NA Bilsteins, Chapparals, Hard Dog roll bar, and some cool cosmetic stuff like mirrors you can't see out of.
As-purchased, with all of the extra parts in it still, it weighs a whole 40lbs more than my NB.
As is the only right thing to do, I immediately began buying parts I didn't really need yet.
First came the airdam a local ITA racer had bought for their NA and decided against using:
Then a Daikei hub that was too cheap to not buy:
Made the mistake of looking at Facebook one morning and there was an OEM Momo that looked cool, but will probably be too large:
A customer needed a control arm and had this prop valve they didn't want to use, so we did a partial trade for the arm+cash:
Did I mention the car hadn't run in like 7 years? Still didn't run while I was buying all of these parts. Anyway, we got it to run yesterday, and then I pulled out the engine and trans. There's this BP4W sitting in the shop that needs a home.
Autocross on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park was a really great time. I had a friend co-driving with me, and some other Miata buds there too. I trailed the top CSP drivers by .7 seconds. A good margin, but considering these guys are both actually good drivers in well prepped cars with races seats and harnesses, I'm not ashamed. Ready to get the NA going so that I can have a more competitive car to lose in though!
I told you guys up front I had no idea what I'm doing. But there is money in an account named K24Z3 for this car.
Local tracks are finally open again, there were about 12 cars at TGPR for this event, 6 of them were Miatas. We had a great time, but I think we bullied the rest of the cars off track. Driving my friend's silver/red NB1.5 was a ton of fun. His car should weigh close to 2100 lbs at this point, and was notably faster than the rest of the Miatas. AIM time showed that most aggressive/skilled of us who drove it did a 1:12.0.
After pulling the AC out of my NB, I came to a conclusion: I don't want to ruin this car. My wife is still mad at me for selling the saddle interior, and I must admit it looked better with that in it. I also had been wanting an NA to be the shop car, so bought a silver 90 that was $500. It turned out to be far more rough than I wanted to deal with bringing back, so it's likely destined to be parted out. A much nicer car popped up on Marketplace a few weeks later, and I snagged it. The pictures make it look nicer than it is, but it's just the right amount of rough. I can be proud of it and put the shop name on it, but not be precious with it. Say hello to the new "race car." A 91 with an NA 1.8 swapped into it, BeGI coolant reroute, GC coilovers using NA Bilsteins, Chapparals, Hard Dog roll bar, and some cool cosmetic stuff like mirrors you can't see out of.
As-purchased, with all of the extra parts in it still, it weighs a whole 40lbs more than my NB.
As is the only right thing to do, I immediately began buying parts I didn't really need yet.
First came the airdam a local ITA racer had bought for their NA and decided against using:
Then a Daikei hub that was too cheap to not buy:
Made the mistake of looking at Facebook one morning and there was an OEM Momo that looked cool, but will probably be too large:
A customer needed a control arm and had this prop valve they didn't want to use, so we did a partial trade for the arm+cash:
Did I mention the car hadn't run in like 7 years? Still didn't run while I was buying all of these parts. Anyway, we got it to run yesterday, and then I pulled out the engine and trans. There's this BP4W sitting in the shop that needs a home.
Autocross on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park was a really great time. I had a friend co-driving with me, and some other Miata buds there too. I trailed the top CSP drivers by .7 seconds. A good margin, but considering these guys are both actually good drivers in well prepped cars with races seats and harnesses, I'm not ashamed. Ready to get the NA going so that I can have a more competitive car to lose in though!
I told you guys up front I had no idea what I'm doing. But there is money in an account named K24Z3 for this car.
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07-22-2020, 11:42 AM
#55
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
Got the engine running a few weeks ago - it was mechanically out of time. Promptly yanked and sold it.
My dirty engine hole.
Put my BBFW wing on with a trunk that had already been drilled for said wing. Also scored a Pit Crew exhaust (supposedly it's the one off the Blue Potato) for mega-cheap. It seems light, so that's cool.
Pretty happy with how this thing is coming together. The back looks ridiculous in all the right ways.
Ok, this exhaust looks a tad like a peashooter.
1-10 how douchey does it make me if I like the car sans rear bumper? Asking for a friend...
BP4W is nearly ready to drop in. Realized I need to remove the front coolant neck, so pulling things apart and taking care of that tonight. Friction material for the Fidanza flywheel just arrived about 20 minutes ago, so have the 8lb flywheel ready to go on as well.
My dirty engine hole.
Put my BBFW wing on with a trunk that had already been drilled for said wing. Also scored a Pit Crew exhaust (supposedly it's the one off the Blue Potato) for mega-cheap. It seems light, so that's cool.
Pretty happy with how this thing is coming together. The back looks ridiculous in all the right ways.
Ok, this exhaust looks a tad like a peashooter.
1-10 how douchey does it make me if I like the car sans rear bumper? Asking for a friend...
BP4W is nearly ready to drop in. Realized I need to remove the front coolant neck, so pulling things apart and taking care of that tonight. Friction material for the Fidanza flywheel just arrived about 20 minutes ago, so have the 8lb flywheel ready to go on as well.
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08-21-2020, 09:20 AM
#56
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
Got the car together and running in time for MATG, but the engine felt weak. I knew this engine was a gamble, and it looks like I lost. 150-155 psi across all 4 cylinders on a hot test. I need to drop some oil in the cylinders and test again, along with a leakdown test, to be sure that the bottom end is the problem.
Now I'm looking for good compression BP4W or (preferably) BP6D bottom end. I'd prefer to have the BP6D for all the compression, but also want to get the car back together and drive it soon. Looking for 190+psi and little to no variance across all cylinders.
The plan is to shave the BP4W head .040 to .060, install the MS2 I've got for the car, delete the AFM for an IAT, and move to COPs. I've got a BP05 head on the shelf that was reported to me to be bad by the seller, which means I could do an exhintake cam swap as well. Attempting to keep this BP powerplant as affordable as possible so that funds can flow toward a K swap instead.
Now I'm looking for good compression BP4W or (preferably) BP6D bottom end. I'd prefer to have the BP6D for all the compression, but also want to get the car back together and drive it soon. Looking for 190+psi and little to no variance across all cylinders.
The plan is to shave the BP4W head .040 to .060, install the MS2 I've got for the car, delete the AFM for an IAT, and move to COPs. I've got a BP05 head on the shelf that was reported to me to be bad by the seller, which means I could do an exhintake cam swap as well. Attempting to keep this BP powerplant as affordable as possible so that funds can flow toward a K swap instead.
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02-01-2021, 12:32 PM
#57
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
I realized recently I haven't touched this thread in a while. Short summary:
I haven't driven the NA since I posted last. I'm putting it close to stock and selling it. Cash will be allocated toward other things that don't take up space in the shop and that make money. Hopefully I'll be able to pull out some proceeds from this at some point to buy a 4 door Dad car.
In the mean time, I've been using my NB for autocross/track events. Drove it at TGPR one evening last Fall on the dead RS4s. Couldn't run better than a :13, which is slower than my previous best, and pretty meh. I swapped the 3.90 rear end back into this car so I could put the 4.30 in my NA when I was putting it together, I have installed a BBFGW lexan wing, and race seats with harnesses on both sides. Other than that my NB is unchanged. I picked up a set of 15x10 Dekagrams with new RS4s on them, and also put new RS4s on the 6ULs in November.
I have driven the car at Barber for JZilla's Friendsgiving, where I beat my previous PB by a couple seconds: 1:49.21. I should be able to put together a lap that's several seconds quicker still. A bunch of us Alabama Miata nerds went to TGPR again a few weeks ago for their open lapping day, and I again beat my previous PB by a good margin. Ran a 1:10.1 on the first session. I had cranked the BBFW wing up to its max AOA, which I truly believe helped significantly.
I wish I'd gotten a chance to drive more that day, but...heard a lot of engine noise about halfway through session 2. I came off track and shut the engine off, coasting out of the way. Sure enough, the engine was knocking. I'm glad I caught it before things exited the block. Interested to tear it down and see what the cause seems to be. 104K miles on the car, regular oil changes, etc. Fresh oil and plenty of it in the engine when it started knocking. Trailered the car back to the shop and shoved it inside, it's currently sitting off to the side and only slightly in the way.
I've got a parts NB2 with a blown head gasket in right now, so will be using that bottom end. Plan is to take that bottom end to the machine shop and have it checked over/bored/cleaned, etc. A friend who's a drivetrain engineer for Honda found some titanium wrist pins on closeout for $70/ea and his math/smart guy stuff/simulations say they should make 8 herspewrs at 7500rpm. So I own a set of those to be used in this engine. Only potential modification other than that will be some H Beam rods with ARP hardware if the rods in this bottom end show fatigue (Honda friend is also concerned about that)/for insurance sake. I plan to have the head off my engine shaved .040 and some head work done (following the recommendation from Supermiata for the bowl blend, deshrouding, and port matching).
Hopefully I'll have the engine together in March and be able to enjoy the rest of the season of driving with no drama. The other plans I have for 2021 are to remove a bunch of weight from the car (2240 at last weigh-in with no gas in the tank and HT removed), improve the car aerodynamically, and revert to 5 speed 4.30.
I haven't driven the NA since I posted last. I'm putting it close to stock and selling it. Cash will be allocated toward other things that don't take up space in the shop and that make money. Hopefully I'll be able to pull out some proceeds from this at some point to buy a 4 door Dad car.
In the mean time, I've been using my NB for autocross/track events. Drove it at TGPR one evening last Fall on the dead RS4s. Couldn't run better than a :13, which is slower than my previous best, and pretty meh. I swapped the 3.90 rear end back into this car so I could put the 4.30 in my NA when I was putting it together, I have installed a BBFGW lexan wing, and race seats with harnesses on both sides. Other than that my NB is unchanged. I picked up a set of 15x10 Dekagrams with new RS4s on them, and also put new RS4s on the 6ULs in November.
I have driven the car at Barber for JZilla's Friendsgiving, where I beat my previous PB by a couple seconds: 1:49.21. I should be able to put together a lap that's several seconds quicker still. A bunch of us Alabama Miata nerds went to TGPR again a few weeks ago for their open lapping day, and I again beat my previous PB by a good margin. Ran a 1:10.1 on the first session. I had cranked the BBFW wing up to its max AOA, which I truly believe helped significantly.
I wish I'd gotten a chance to drive more that day, but...heard a lot of engine noise about halfway through session 2. I came off track and shut the engine off, coasting out of the way. Sure enough, the engine was knocking. I'm glad I caught it before things exited the block. Interested to tear it down and see what the cause seems to be. 104K miles on the car, regular oil changes, etc. Fresh oil and plenty of it in the engine when it started knocking. Trailered the car back to the shop and shoved it inside, it's currently sitting off to the side and only slightly in the way.
I've got a parts NB2 with a blown head gasket in right now, so will be using that bottom end. Plan is to take that bottom end to the machine shop and have it checked over/bored/cleaned, etc. A friend who's a drivetrain engineer for Honda found some titanium wrist pins on closeout for $70/ea and his math/smart guy stuff/simulations say they should make 8 herspewrs at 7500rpm. So I own a set of those to be used in this engine. Only potential modification other than that will be some H Beam rods with ARP hardware if the rods in this bottom end show fatigue (Honda friend is also concerned about that)/for insurance sake. I plan to have the head off my engine shaved .040 and some head work done (following the recommendation from Supermiata for the bowl blend, deshrouding, and port matching).
Hopefully I'll have the engine together in March and be able to enjoy the rest of the season of driving with no drama. The other plans I have for 2021 are to remove a bunch of weight from the car (2240 at last weigh-in with no gas in the tank and HT removed), improve the car aerodynamically, and revert to 5 speed 4.30.
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