Padlock

I'll throw this out there as well, but the BBFW lexan wing likes to crack at the mounting locations to the support rods. Happened on mine and saw it on multiple other cars over the years. Spending $300+ on that chunk of plastic seems silly when about twice the money gets you a more functional piece from NLR.

electroCrunch

@Padlock Thanks man, that's good to know. I bought an aluminum duckbill from ebay (I think the shop who makes them is Galvez Customs?), which is smaller than the BBFW lexan wing-thing, mostly to just add a bit of spoiler to the back and maybe a slight aero benefit for the air rolling off the back.... but no measurable downforce from it is expected. I always thought the BBFW looked like a compromise between streetability and track, which often means it does not perform optimally in either condition. It works for some folks but I think if I want downforce I'm going all in with a big wing. Plus, it looks damn cool

electroCrunch

@Roda I finally made it all the way through your build thread at GRM. Thanks for sharing! Not only is your NA awesome and inspiring, but you have some pretty neat other toys you share in that thread as well. Impressive fabrication skills too. You inspired me to replace my welder (mine was stolen out of my garage about a year and a half ago) and get back to making my own stuff again.

I didn't even know cars and coffee was a real thing for regular folks. I'm going to make a point to attend some here in the valley the next few months.

Roda

Thanks!

I was actually about to PM you, as we've had a change of plans and won't be at the 12/11 event at AMP.

Looking forward to seeing you at the track sometime in the new year.

electroCrunch

I had a big chunk of time off and worked on the Miata during that time to get ready for 2022 track day season starting this month. I will be updating with a couple of posts of what was done.

I registered for the January NASAAZ trackday weekend (both days yay), in addition to 2022 UMS Tuning Time Attack series. I won't be able to attend all of the out of town events this year due to no longer having a trailer, but will try hard to attend local events for the TA series as I dip my toes into caring about lap times and TA competition. I can't wait to get back to track and focusing on my seat time again. Looking forward to driving this thing on a track.

First, I never liked the Bell Engineering intake solution for my setup (MAF and power steering delete). Now that the power steering reservoir is gone, I was able to make a heat shield to fit my needs. I used ABS plastic, aluminum angle to make some brackets & a corner bracket/shield thing, as well as some DEI gold heat tape. The shield seems to work, intake temps are definitely down now based on my unscientific testing comparing with and without.





Installed...









I also finally got my LRB "full" aero under tray installed. Overall I like it a lot. I wish it didn't have logos cut into the bottom, but that's a minor criticism.

electroCrunch

Update 2:

In preparation for upcoming track days, I finalized my ride height and got it aligned.



In doing some inspecting, I noticed oil was dripping from the front driver-side of the engine. After cursing it, I discovered luckily it seemed to be leaking from the valve cover. The backstory here: years ago I bought a TB/WP kit from FM. The included non-OEM gasket sat for years on the part shelf with the rest of the kit. I'm guessing it didn't store well and caused leaking or it was crap to begin with. Regardless, the new OEM VC gasket seems to be leak-free.

I also was curious to see the new BP5A camshaft in there, and check for wear. Looks good to me.



I've also decided to permanently ditch the TrackDog Racing heat shield blanket. I discovered the header-side material had been compromised, causing the inner material (no idea what it's made of) to burn and release an awful smell whenever driving. Maybe I'll pull the header during summer break to get it ceramic coated, but for now it's off and I don't plan on reinstalling the blanket.

I just have a couple of things I need to do to the miata to be 100% track ready, but I'm mostly there and will tackle that this weekend. That's it for now!

Gee Emm

Sealing of the radiator on the worklist?

electroCrunch

Fair question. It is. I wanted to get the LRB tray installed first to see what I have to work with. Fortunately I have not had issues with overheating, even during a June trackday here in the desert (edit: maybe that's because I'm slow lol). Because of this, it's been a low priority for me, but one I know I need to get to soon.

Since we're talking cooling, I also have oil cooler on that worklist as another item that was waiting on the LRB tray install. Other items related to front end ducting I need to figure out at the same time are inlets for brake ducts (I think I know what I'm going to do here and will relate to the overall radiator/front ducting work), and a better way to feed fresh air to my heat shield for the air intake (I have a couple of options and ideas here too). I like working with this ABS plastic, so I may try that instead of aluminum for ducting because it's easier for me to work with.

Praise be I am fortunate enough to worry about intercooler ducting some day.

bimmerboy

Nice to see an NB in it's natural state with "original" body and engine! I fell in love with my NB in this state of modifications. Sometimes I wonder whether gutting my car and swapping engines will put the same smile on my face... guess I'll find out this coming season.

Roda

How'd the NASA event go?

electroCrunch

I'm certain it would. And if it didn't put a smile on the face, then time to buy another miata but keep it stock.

Thanks for asking! The car was excellent. All 8 sessions plus a time attack run went smooth. The miata never complained once and stayed consistent with power, handling and cooling.

I made a rookie mistake in my time attack session. I went too slow on my out lap, thinking it was supposed to be a slower paced warm up lap, causing an LS swapped E46 to catch right up to me on his last hot lap, messing up his time. I apologized afterwards to the driver and TA director for my mistake. Lessons learned, I'll apply it to the next time out. My actual hot laps were not my best, I was almost 2 seconds slower than my PB that day but it was a lot of fun regardless. I placed 3rd, but there were not many cars in TA-A for fairness, 4 or 5 maybe (didn't see full results and transponders were not hitting for a few cars consistently including mine). Drivers who got 1st and 2nd were much quicker than me. I think one is a spec miata racer and the other a seasoned local TA driver for a performance shop. Stiff but good competition.

I went out for the weekend with some friends who usually work the nasa admin/corners duties but they were just there to chill with me, and had them come for some rides to give feedback. I think my main points of focus need to be on getting used to these new Wilwood brakes and pushing deeper with them and try to carry more momentum at the same time. The brakes are powerful. I also generally need to get more confident with carrying more speed and trusting the car to grip. But taking a step back, the car was fast and handled really well. I'm very satisfied with all of the work I've done to get to this point.

Overall I showed about 8 seconds improvement (using Harry's lap timer) from the best of my first session to my personal best that weekend, on my used 6 year old NT01's.

I'll get some pics up from the weekend soon.

Roda

Sounds like a great first outing for the car!

We'll be at AMP with ProAuto on the 29th if you're wanting to get it out again this month.

electroCrunch

I'll take a look, thank you!

electroCrunch

Well, my first run at the track went well with NASAAZ at WHP East track. I went with some track junkie friends both days who provided support because both of theirs cars are down right now. Felt good to be back after about a 5 year break. Last time I was on track was HPDE3, so I ran in this group again to start off and stayed with group 3 for both days.

As mentioned earlier, the miata held strong all 8 sessions. There are still some smaller items to get ironed out, but the car itself handled and performed great and consistent. I was personally very rusty my first session out. That theme was pretty consistent for day 1, where it took me a few laps each session before I would build confidence. Day 2 was overall a bit better and I was more confident that day. I only used Harry's lap timer for watching times. My PB all weekend was 1:10.x (doing this with 126 hp I later learned). I noticed Harry's was off almost 2 seconds (slower) from the transponder I rented for TA, but I'll call it a PB of 1:10 until I get a transponder of my own for greater accuracy.

My GoPro videos all turned out to have terrible shake, so I ordered a different mounting setup and things should be much more stable for the next track weekend. I also had an ongoing issue with my rear view mirror not staying in place, it was mega annoying. I have a new 17" mirror on the way from Joe's that I'll get mounted solid to hopefully solve for that. I am also going to do some USB hardwiring for the GoPro camera so I don't have to worry about batteries any longer. Heater also doesn't really blow warm so it was cold each morning. Oh, my wiper blades barely move so I oiled them. They're a bit better but still stiff.

Now that I've had a full weekend without power steering, I can give some feedback. At 4.5 degree caster, it wasn't bad at all. My arms and shoulders were definitely tired at the end of the weekend, but it was more than manageable. I did have one incident where the rear end came out and I was a bit slow to countersteer, but I couldn't tell if it was due to me being tired at nearly the end of day 2, the wheel being harder to turn, or just a good old unexpected pucker moment that took me a second to respond to. There's no way I would depower for any kind of endurance racing, but for 20ish minute sessions I'm not looking back.

Some pictures, since that's why we're all here:



Spec Miata crew








Those are the best pics we got from the weekend. I'm looking to get back to track in March. It's clear I need to find a set of dedicated track wheels & tires I'd like to pick up before the next event, plus a couple of smaller items to address to make the next event that much easier.

I'm also back to considering an enclosed trailer and a V8 truck. But OMG the market for those things are terrible right now from what I've found.

Roda

Looks like a great day!

Gotta love East... pits in the dirt. LOL.

In July, our enclosed trailer got blasted by a nasty hailstorm up here... ended up totaled, even though the damage was all cosmetic. Payout was nearly what I paid for it new in 2015! I bought it back salvage because new trailers were a 9 month wait, and a replacement trailer was ~40% more expensive. Crazy. Truck prices are nuts as well.

electroCrunch

Yeah, WHP needs a makeover, but I don't think that'll ever happen. There was chance of rain that weekend also but luckily that never came. I can't imagine hanging out in the mud all weekend in the pits there, just awful.

I've seen some footage of folks driving Atessa. I'm looking forward to a track day there soon.

Roda

I'm hoping both NASA and ProAuto will eventually have events at both Apex and Atessa.

electroCrunch

I went self-tuned to my trackday weekend. I didn't have any issues, car started and engine performed consistently each session, I data-logged some sessions too and updated the VE table accordingly based on those logs. Still some more adjustment to do though apparently. I thought I was putting down good power based on how I was slightly pulling on some other stock NBs in straightaways, but apparently my butt-dyno is off a bit....

Although I'm not a serious competitor, I am trying out Time Attack this year so I went last weekend for UMS Tuning TA Dyno Day to get officially classed, and take advantage of a $65 dyno multi-pull session. It was fun seeing the shop and hanging with other enthusiasts. I unfortunately didn't get to log my dyno pulls due to the people standing around and not wanting to get in the way of the professionals, but I did grab a screenshot from the pull. I was surprised on the results...

2,389 lbs (with driver ~180lbs, ~1/2 tank fuel)
117 tq, 126 whp




I got a quote from UMS for a proper tune, but their rates have gone up quite a bit since the last time I asked for a quote (and they only do the power pull tuning, not any configuration of any sort is what they said). I'm looking into another shop that's familiar with Miatas and MegaSquirt before I make any decisions on where to get it tuned.

The other factors for me are that I know this engine is on the older side. Debating if I just run it as is for a while and keep tweaking the tune myself, or do I spend the money to chase those last horsepowers with a professional tune. This is only a question because I'm at a point where I can now afford to build an engine and potentially go forced induction (hate to say it here on this forum, but bRotrex might be my upgrade path). So not sure if I want to invest in getting it tuned now, only to have plans change down the road relatively soon. These are not bad problems to have.

Open to any input as always.

yossi126

iTrader: (6)

Tuning pulls of a naturally aspirated 1.8, especially one without vvt is really a piece of cake. MBT is at about 29-32 degrees advanced, fueling should be a taper from 13.0 to 12.5 at redline.
If your maps look about like what I described, there's not much more you can get out of a "professional tune".

electroCrunch

Thank you for the info. My timing is about in that range, but I am running leaner than that in WOT to redline. I will go back and do some further research based on what you shared, as well as take a step back and generally reevaluate my current tuning, tables, etc. as it's been a while since I set those up and I've learned a lot since setting it up.