Lots of great progress!

 

You sure do love those MS1s dont you lol. Looks great great progress. this car is so lucky to have you as its owner.

 

Car came with an MSPNP9495 and I have no complaints. LOL. Especially on a car without AC/PS. Should be dead simple to get running perfectly.

 

No pictures . . . but . . . IT'S ALLLIIIIIVVVVEEEEE!!!

Just ran it for 30 minutes to break in the camshaft. Needs some tuning (starting with setting the timing). So far as I can tell, everything is working. I was running TS during the 30 minutes to keep an eye on things.

Need to re-bleed the brakes (they're soft), then I can drive. Put insurance on it today.

Aside from putting everything back together, only mod lately was a set of Mazdacomp sway bar brackets. Hustler and my friend Neal Bellamy (both instructors) made it abundantly clear that my stock brackets would not live long at the grip levels I should achieve. That install was much easier than expected -- having a PS delete helps.

Oh, and the driver's window is pretty crunchy. Was planning to take the door panel off to delete the speakers, so I get to fix the window too.

 

Loving it. Especially the "busy hole" comment - as miata owners we can all relate.

 

Getting some fresh gas and adding some fuel injector cleaner prior to heading out on it's first datalogging session. Car's actually running pretty well, although it's way rich. But I'll get that tuned out.






I've got it sitting pretty high for now until I can get an alignment. I think some aggressive camber will be all I'll need to clear these tires. PO already mildly rolled the fenders with his BFH.

I LOVE the Ultrashields. Super comfy.

While trying to get going today, I had a persistent soft pedal and a brake fluid leak at the rear junction block. I finally traced it down to the junction block itself on my new brake lines. This was after eliminating all other possibilities including reflaring the hard lines. Grrrr . . . .

I put the old line back on to get going. I think I'll just swap over the flexible part of the new line to the old junction block and call it a day. The old junction block is higher quality. Not sure who's building these junction blocks for 949, but they could do better.

 

Tune dialed in.

Registered/inspected/insured.

Aligned (quickie on the Konis, 12.5"/12.75" ride heights, 2.2 deg camber on front and 2 deg camber on rear). I'm keeping it kind of high because I essentially don't have bump stops on the front -- those FM mounts are there. Can't wait to get the Xidas.

Rear tires were rubbing a bit on bumps, so I took it in to have the rear fenders rolled. I believe in going to experts, so I hit up this guy:






$40 bucks later and I was rolled flat with an Eastwood. All set on the rear.

Hitting the track tomorrow. I'll keep an eye on the fronts.

Also, I was wrong about the oil consumption -- just didn't drive it enough before. This thing is drinking it. Especially bad while highway cruising. But, absolutely no blowby . . . breather filter is bone dry (no catch tank). Makes me think valve guide seals.

 

I've seen that car before, I can't place it though.

Hopefully track day went well, videos!

 

Working on the vids now. It drove great. Did get some driver's side front fender rubbing in toilet bowl due to the FM hat on the fronts (i.e., the bump stop is the car, grrrr . . . .). WHERE ARE MY XIDAS???

Hey, Justin, want to barter valve stem seals for some guest track time? Are they a bear to replace on the car? Based upon some observations today, I'm pretty certain that's the oil consumption issue.

 

Would require to pull the cams, nothing major but we'd need a valve spring compressor to get the valves off. Is this a 1.8 or 1.6? I HAD seals for a 1.8, unless I left them at Donnie's Machine shop.... which burnt down... I will have to check the few left over miata parts that I do have.

 

It's a '99 VICS head. I put a MSM cam in. Mechanical lifters with shims.

I went by Donnie's place the week after I hurt the Silver car on track to get him started on a motor. His shop had burned down 2 days before. Bummer. I need to call him and see if he's back up somewhere.

Video is rendering . . . . Uploads from the boonies (Granbury) takes forever.

 

Here's its first outing. I'm pretty rusty (haven't been out since March). Hustler would laugh/cry.

Car was trouble free other than oil consumption. Used about a quart over 4 sessions. Temps in mid-80s, water temp stayed at 190 and oil temp at 250 throughout.

Some points of interest:

9:55: Getting passed by a prototype. That thing is a rocket!
10:55-11:50: Got me a Viper!
18:35-19:01: Passing older M3
20:20: End of Session

 

Awesome Rick! Any ideas on the cause of the oil consumption? I guess it wasn't as easy of a fix as you thought (dipstick ordeal).

 

Yeah, I corrected the dipstick and fixed a bunch of leaks. I thought that would take care of it.

That basically leaves valve guide seals or rings. I'm going to do the valve guide seals first, because it's cheap and I can do it on the car. If that doesn't solve it, then it's time to re-ring. It's a manageable situation for now though.

 

Member days are interesting. They group by category -- Sports Cars, Motorcycles, Open Wheel Formula Cars. The Sports Car category is wide open, and you get a huge mix of cars/experience levels, from pro/semi-pro drivers in fully prepped race cars to the new guy cruising the track in a brand new off-the-shelf car. Heads up! Be polite and enjoy yourself!

Session 3 Video:


Points of interest:
4:00-4:40: Passing a nice looking, new BRZ. Later in this session, this car came together with a fully-prepped Mustang racecar. Again, category is wide open. It's a bummer when the cars get hurt, but everyone was OK.

5:20: Nice looking M3. Another newish driver.

7:20: Miatas excel on Ricochet, although I'm taking it rather slow because rust (haven't been on track since March), new-to-me car, guest, and -- now that I've run out of excuses -- lack of gonads. We do make a lot of passes on the straight out of Ricochet.

7:59: This guy with the new, red M3 is kind of scary. He likes to brake in the apexes! Electronics on that car must be working overtime.

11:15: Being a nice guy and letting a Laguna Seca Mustang pass. He has gobs of power. My reward? Getting to go slow in the turns. Sigh.

12:51: C'mon squirrels . . . we can pass this M3 going uphill!

14:05: There goes rocket Bob in his C5R with a prototype in tow. Maybe I'll tag along . . . .

14:30: Disabled stock car on right!

14:39: Tag along worked -- passed the Laguna Seca.

15:00: OK . . . I guess those guys have more power than I do. But their front brake pads probably cost more than $50. LOL.

16:50: Deja Vu. Which means I get to slam on the brakes going into Rattlesnake again.

17:30: End of session. That was fun.

Session 4 Video:


Points of interest:
1:13: Stock car. C'ya!

3:40: Noob off on right.

4:10: PO put FM tophats on the front. The fender rubbing in the dip at Toilet Bowl is really upsetting the car. WHERE ARE MY XIDAS??

4:50: Polite Caddy driver lets me by.

8:38: This red BMW is slow in the turns but has a lot of power. He really surprised me by hitting his brakes hard going into an Apex.

9:31: Stock car and Keith Verges (Apex Driving Academy owner) in his "Bumblebee" turbo Miata. C'ya!

11:13: Finally! That red BMW is scary.

11:54: This Caddy had 3.5" pipes. Apparently, it also had the same apex auto-brake system the red BMW had. At least he let me by quickly.

17:00: Spec Miata. I should be pretty even with him but he was driving better. He also didn't have a passenger (my excuse).

18:05: End of session. Fun!

 

Looks good, very smooth and consistent!

 

Where was your shifting point in the videos? In the video it seems that you are changing early. It may be just my impression

 

Yes, I was short-shifting. Car's first day on the track, you know.

There are some places where I always short-shift on purpose ahead of a long, accelerating turn because I know I'll run out of motor during the turn.

 

I totally understand. New car on track and you know about the engine oil consumption so itīs totally understandable that you donīt want to rape it. And thatīs the way to do it. Unfortunately I only short shift on a new car/engine for about 2 laps. Then itīs pedal to the metal... and sometimes i wonder why i **** up engines

 

Looks like you can swing a bit wider on some turns, a lot of the instructors will have you run close to the apex but it really scruffs off your speed. More seat time and you'll find out what I mean, specially at cresson! Very jealous of your new car