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First thing is first, I got the headlights finished up. The Morimoto LED projectors are phenomenal as there isn't bulb warm up time, HID ballasts to deal with, or relay harnesses to route. Instant on and instant off. Simply plug the projector into the small LED driver and connect it to the OEM H4 bulb connector. The output of higher end LED projector tech has also finally caught up the HID projectors, so the only sacrifice you really are making by going to these is the additional cost. Top it all off with the red LED demon eye chipset that I added to the lights and your left with this for a look. I love it.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...49076cae4d.jpg Personal life has gotten in the way from finishing up much more on the car from a front aero standpoint for the time being, so i tossed the rest of it together using the same birch splitter I had on last year. Gave it a quick new coat of paint to keep it looking pretty and here we are. More updates to come in the coming weeks. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6f88b8d40b.jpg |
You should buy that super charger.
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Car has been lacking proper safety equipment basically since I have owned it which limited me to doing AutoX instead of big track stuff. (I never passed broomstick test). I can finally say that I have that put behind me.
Snagged a set of basically new (lightly farted in) sparco sprints from an MT member. Tried using GS rails I had laying around initially and as my luck would have it, the rails wouldn't allow the seat to sit low enough, so I sold the GS rails locally, went to PCI and ordered a matching pair of the 1.6" set back 1 piece rails from them. Got one set of 6 pt sparco harnesses from David at Kmiata for dealz pricing, and lucked out and found a matching set on Amazon closeout from a UK dealer at an even crazier deal. After much swearing and sweating with a cramped install, I'm happy with my tight budget results. Everything is matching sparco product which I wasn't expecting to do. My OCD is very pleased. This car hasn't had a full interior in it since I've owned it, so it's awesome seeing it all tie together. I have a few more odds and ends to button up before gingerman but for now I'm getting some miles on it to make sure i don't have any surprise leaks or issues. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...597a17e171.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9386ad5bd1.jpg |
Yay! :party:
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I am really liking the suede.
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Got the car back on the rack for the first time since first installing all of the suspension almost 2 years ago now. It was 2240 without me in it back in 2017. This realignment was much overdue.
You can look back at my build thread but since the last corner balance the high level summary is that I added 6pt harnesses, hardtop, barge boards, splitter, and wing. Removed soft top. Swapped from OEM nb1 stuff to lrb door panels, na6 dash, sparco seats w/ PCI brackets, and minimalist center console. The car still retains HVAC and radio. Still has OEM crash beams and bumper supports, so there's still low hanging fruit to take some pounds off in the future while still keeping the car comfy and relatively safe for the street. Overall, I'm extremely happy with only adding on 38 pounds. 2278 without driver and 5/8 tank. 2464 with driver and 5/8 tank. (51%/49% F/R balance in this config) -3.3 / -2.9 F/R camber specs 1/16" toe out F 1/16" toe in R Yes, it was a giant mess of 2x4's to get the car on the rack with 2.5" of ground clearance to the splitter, but after a 15 min struggle it went off and on. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...02cf5cb5bd.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2445d62e31.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...43ae641267.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5fcbefa71.jpeg |
Made it to the Kmiata Meetup at Gingerman this last Saturday. Appreciate everyone stopping in, checking out the car, and saying hi. It was my first HPDE event after about 7 years of autocross and 2 years of building this car to where I felt it was safe enough for track duty. Between worn sloppy OEM bushings, brake updates, having to add safety items to the car and myself, and taking care of routine maintenance it's been quite the process to get to this stage.
Seeing as I was running novice class, I took this as an opportunity to absorb all I can from my instructor who has ran Gingerman for 3+ years. Like in AutoX, I realize that having an ego can limit you, so many questions were asked (regardless how stupid I felt they were). I didn't take lap times as I really had nothing to prove. I just wanted to focus on running the proper lines, nailing down braking/shifting zones, learning the car/track, and have fun. I've admittedly ALWAYS lacked in using brakes to the car's potential, so that coupled with the fact it was my first time running a track pad, made for a great learning experience of steadily going deeper and deeper into the braking zones. Brakes were probably what I gained most confidence in during this event as I started the event touching brakes just after the first marker in many corners, and left the event hitting them right around or just after the 3rd marker. There are a lot of good driving habits learned in AutoX carry over very well to HPDE, so by the end of the first couple sessions I could see my instructor start to relax, gain confidence in me and the car, and let me know where there was time to make up. By the end of the day, we were both laughing with how much lateral grip the car had on street tires (and at how pitifully slow it was in a straight line). No off's or issues, unlike many of the others in the novice group. The car, for lack of better term, was handling perfect (minus the very obvious lack of straight line speed). It was a "point and shoot" car. Wherever you wanted it to go, it went. I didn't change damper settings, measure or change the AOA on the NLR wing from my initial "this looks about right" eyeball, adjust sways, or even change tire pressure from the moment it got unloaded from the trailer. It was about 50-55 degrees all day and overcast. The NLR wing completely got rid of the exit oversteer issues that I was having with my previous BFW lexan wing all last year, which was awesome to finally fix. The RS4's continue to wear like rocks. I now have somewhere in the neighborhood of 6000+ street driven miles, 200+ AutoX runs, and 1.5 hrs of track time on these 2 year old tires and they keep on ticking. They've lost a bit of traction from being cycled so much and they have some toe and camber wear from the alignment I need to run, but I can’t say enough good things about the bang for the buck you get on them. In addition, I used this event to test out my prototype barge boards that I’m sure you have seen earlier in this build thread. The only issue was a small piece of optional edge trimming came off the back on the driver side rear which I’ll attribute to just not being clamped on tight enough. No issues with barge board rubbing or flexing at speed, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Now that the barge boards are track-proven, keep your eyes peeled for another Left Lane Designs product release in the next few weeks. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c53a3c0879.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a4a83fa0d9.jpg |
Great looking build! Can't wait to see what you do with the K-series (as I am also in the process of getting Honda power)
Keep up the great work! |
Very nice! Glad to hear the car performed flawlessly for you.
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Thanks! I'm excited to see where it goes!
In other news, the Miata finally found its new permanent home for the foreseeable future. Closed on my first place at the end of April and have been doing substantial improvements throughout the property prior to finally moving in this last weekend. it has been nice taking a break from car projects and changing it up a bit on homeowner projects. Feels good to have a place that I can finally call my own. Once most of the big home improvements are tackled, it'll be the Miata's turn for an overhaul. For now, I can enjoy the summer with a fun car that needs nothing other than a full tank of gas. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6421ab9349.jpg |
Was cool to see you made it to the Miata event at Gman. I was out there with my brother and some other friends he has a battleship gray NA K24 miata (we were by the tower.) Wish I would have know this was you I would have introduced myself. I was trying to make it this year with a car but to many other projects to focus on. I plan on being there next year with my newest project maybe David will make it more than a one day event.
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Originally Posted by natedawg
(Post 1536193)
Was cool to see you made it to the Miata event at Gman. I was out there with my brother and some other friends he has a battleship gray NA K24 miata (we were by the tower.) Wish I would have know this was you I would have introduced myself. I was trying to make it this year with a car but to many other projects to focus on. I plan on being there next year with my newest project maybe David will make it more than a one day event.
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Originally Posted by natedawg
(Post 1536193)
Was cool to see you made it to the Miata event at Gman. I was out there with my brother and some other friends he has a battleship gray NA K24 miata (we were by the tower.) Wish I would have know this was you I would have introduced myself. I was trying to make it this year with a car but to many other projects to focus on. I plan on being there next year with my newest project maybe David will make it more than a one day event.
Originally Posted by KMiata
(Post 1536212)
One of my favorite parts of this event is seeing so many good people get to know each other. And yeah, it's 100% going to be a full weekend next year. I'm confident we'll sell it out again, and we have some really cool stuff in mind for next year.
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Bought some photos from the Gingerman event. Figured it was only right to share them here. Absolutely in love with how this car looks!
more to come on the build in time...... (currently spending car mod money on home furnishings) :jerkit: https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3f48f72292.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e399e2afc9.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dcc1b6678a.jpg |
That is one sinister looking Miata. Love it!
Now get that K24 in there :) |
Hell yeah. I need to find you at an event to see this thing on the track.
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Had a break between home projects to hit the car with a quick wash, clay bar, and wax this weekend. There were so many metal deposits in the clear coat with all the aero cutting done over this past winter. Glad to have them all removed. Amazing how much shine the paint still has in it for a beaten and abused 20 year old car. Doesn't even require a filter to appreciate this last phone photo!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5e99499820.jpg |
I haven't washed my car in two years and it's been covered in grinder/metal dust. Pretty sure my paint is fuuuuucked.
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I thought the same. It's been 2 years for this car as well. Don't get me wrong, its far from perfect and the clay was gross by time I was done, but its still a directional improvement haha
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Finally had some time this weekend to brush the cobwebs off and start prepping the K24A2 for Kmiata things. The plan is to keep the car as-is for MATG coming up in a month. I've got a few basic maintenance and electrical items I'd like to get sorted before the trip. After MATG, the plan is to teardown the car sometime in late August or September to sell off the items I won't be using any longer, which include the engine, front subframe, transmission, ECU, engine harness, driveshaft, rear end, and half shafts.
I degreased the engine and started prepping it for paint. While I understand it isn't really necessary to paint an aluminum block/head, I think it will look a lot nicer in the engine bay as a finished product as anything doing is worth overdoing. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a2b3bc13f3.jpg Promptly after taking the first photo, I began cutting off the boss for the OEM tensioner to make room for where the coolant lines will be running. During this process, I managed to kill my angle grinder, so this project is starting off as good as I could possibly expect. I bought another angle grinder and plan on smoothing out the cut a bit more before I hit everything with a mineral spirits cleaner. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...15eeb97be1.jpg |
i'd suggest using toluol or toluene rather than mineral spirits. when i was working on my airplane years ago i'd clean parts with mineral spirits and when painted i'd have these little "pits" in the paint job. an old aviation mechanic steered me to toluene and by golly it worked. no more pits. i was using zinc chromate primer (that's where the pits would first appear and sometimes they'd not be completely covered up by the color coat. looking forward to seeing you at matg.
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Got the block/head all painted with a high temp ceramic flat black. Definitely looks better as one matching color from what was a corroded up Midwestern engine. I'm hoping I did good enough with the prep work that it lasts. Ended up having my brother and me cleaning it for an additional hour tonight before paint to really get it contamination free. The paint laid down wonderfully. Lots of details to nail down from here, but it's a start.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8f10ac104e.jpg |
Took off the valve cover last night for paint. The valvetrain looks nice and marinated. Nothing more than typical wear and tear you'd expect on a 94k longblock, so I am just going to leave this well enough alone.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...60041eba11.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...54e5142d3f.jpg |
Another simple project out of the way; painted the valve cover. Trying to get an idea for paint theme in the engine bay and so far like where this is going.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...074ba78d7b.jpg |
It looks like someone has upgraded the upper timing chain guide to the superior (wider) K20Z3 version.
I like the paint, suits the car well. |
Pos cat given for the sharp eye. I figured there would be some benefit to posting the valvetrain photo. There always seems to be someone that knows more than you on here.... :)
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Might be my OCD coming out, but bought a wire wheel and bench grinder today for the sole purpose of polishing up all of the corroded hardware from the engine. Did a few test pieces today with promising results. Before's on the right. After's on the left
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...70147498a7.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1a868abf3c.jpg |
Need to replace the grinder wheel with a buffing wheel so you have a wire wheel on one side and a polisher on the other, haha.
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It crossed my mind as I was in the abrasive wheel isle at the store, but then my mind flashed to the jeffbucc path of PPF polishing detail. After cringing at that thought, I promptly said to myself that wire wheel was good enough.
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Haha, good point. I purposely don't begin detailing projects for similar reasons.
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well, if you're going down the jeffbuc path, when do you get your steam cleaner?
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Originally Posted by portabull
(Post 1541699)
well, if you're going down the jeffbuc path, when do you get your steam cleaner?
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Have been waiting on a friend to swing over with his cordless impact to zip the crank bolt off before I can make a ton more progress on the K. In the meantime, cleaned up all of the timing cover hardware. I hate to actually think about the time it took to do seemingly so little, but I'm happy with results. Should be making more noteworthy progress with the K24 soon
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...eca427bffc.jpg Tire Rack dropped me off new rubber after an agonizingly long wait, so I'll have to get that mounted up before MATG. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...07cb6ae1f0.jpg Started working on another headlight build for Left Lane Designs. This one is kind of unique. Buddy of mine has a 5th gen Camaro. Made a tickle over 1000whp and wanted a ducted headlight to help with some intake temps. Give me a Dremel and some PVC pipe and say no more! https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...eec9e73aae.jpg Cutting a 3.5" od hole in a complex curvature clear lense by hand is a fun one. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e1d54d1fe6.jpg I'll be sure to post up completed results when it's done. |
Time elapsed vs visual progress is the reason my cars so rarely gets things done as nicely as I'd like. Stuff on other people's cars? All the nice detail work in the world. Le sigh. Good on you for taking the time to do things nicely on your car!
Originally Posted by Padlock
(Post 1542126)
Have been waiting on a friend to swing over with his cordless impact to zip the crank bolt off before I can make a ton more progress on the K. In the meantime, cleaned up all of the timing cover hardware. I hate to actually think about the time it took to do seemingly so little, but I'm happy with results. Should be making more noteworthy progress with the K24 soon
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...eca427bffc.jpg |
Originally Posted by Uncle Hoonsalot
(Post 1542313)
Time elapsed vs visual progress is the reason my cars so rarely gets things done as nicely as I'd like. Stuff on other people's cars? All the nice detail work in the world. Le sigh. Good on you for taking the time to do things nicely on your car!
I am slightly better now. |
If I had the budget to buy a pile of new shiny parts, I'm sure I would not take as much time to focus on the small details. I have more time than I do money however, so this is the end result.
Slow and steady will win the race :party: |
Slow and steady won't be ready for race day, haha!
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Cant be late to race day if you never sign up! This summer has been nuts, only have made it to one event so far and its already mid-July :facepalm:
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Even though it's not Miata related I know you guys like seeing random projects, so MT gets to see it first! Vented 5th gen Camaro headlight is all sealed up and ready to drop those big turbski inlet temps.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d2a72a920a.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a4defdb9ec.jpg |
Seems like a trivial part, but the first step in making any k series look clean in an engine bay is a coil pack cover. Found a wrinkle black powdercoated piece without any branding on it on good ole eBay for $40 shipped. Not pictured well, but got the timing cover and oil pan off as well as all the old Hondabond sealant.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...86283e3b1b.jpg Also got the new RS4's installed, and greased all of the bushings in prep for MATG-2019. I had an odd intermittent low speed creak noise from the rear end and it appears the grease was the solution. Took the car out to the beach with the girlfriend for a 50 mile cruise to ensure its ready for the trip. No major issues to report! This is so much more relaxing than last year when I was in the midst of a head gasket job, interior swap, and aero updates a week out from MATG-2018 https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6aa2282945.jpg |
Got this fancy little piece from 2nrs as a future "just in case I find it convenient" item. It's a billet timing chain tensioner cover plate with integrated o-ring that eliminates the need for Hondabond. It also has a -10 ORB port. The port could be used for a catch can or turbo drain is the thought depending on which direction the build heads down. Worst case, I just cap the port and it still looks really nice.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fd9e669253.png |
Hopefully you don't have to grind it down if you have the larger crank pulley! That's a nice piece. Innovative use of that plate, love the function.
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I don't have to worry about it as I have the standard crank pulley on the USDM spec K24A2. Good note however!
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The morimoto MLED projectors installed on the car are fantastic in terms of output, so to date I haven't even needed the high beams, but full disclosure, one of the issues I've had that I've just been too lazy to diagnose was the fact that I couldn't get the high beams to work on the car. However, they work great on my power supply. Something was fishy!
After reviewing schematics and contacting TheRetrofitSource on the issues, they informed me that the LED driver that runs the projector needs a common ground and switched power (high side switch) to function properly. The NB Miata utilizes a switched ground (low side switch) which explains my issues. Ughh. Solution #1 was to by the standard TRS relay harness, but I didn't want that as it is quite bulky, needs to be connected to a main 12v source, and frankly just not needed for the miniscule amperage levels that the LED driver pulls. Next idea... Solution #2 was to figure out how to switch the Miata's high side switch to a low side switch with a plug and play adapter. I'm admittedly not an electrical genius, but I have friends who are. In a classic case of "it's not what you know, it's who you know", I got this diagram sent to me that uses a standard 5 pin automotive relay to do exactly what I wanted. I tested it out last night and now hi/low beams function exactly as they should. You need one PNP adapter for each headlight. For anyone that may find it helpful, here is the solution: 87A: low beam input to LED driver 87: high beam input to LED driver Common Ground: Pick chassis bolt within reach and use that. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7cbd2e0ad0.jpg Note: the high beam indicator still does not function with the above schematic. It's quite obvious if you have your high beams on with these lights though as its like opening the gates of heaven in terms of light output. I'll save that fix for another day when I have nothing better to do. |
Spent last week heading down to MATG. Unlike last year, I committed full on to driving the car down as I'm not about the trailer queen lifestyle. This photo from the first gas fill-up of the trip is the last known photo of my car actually being clean and not a dirty mess like it was the rest of the trip.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...81364c6f4c.jpg The car ended up being quite comfortable to cruise down in as long as you ignore the one massive dip in I-65 in Indiana that bottoms out every conceivable square inch of aero you have bolted to the bottom of your car. On the bright side, I now have zero concerns with my mounting methods of the aero after that 80mph impact test. Even the other miatas in the convoy had some issues with that dip. My car was getting 28mpg on the cruise down with #alltheaerodrag which was exactly the same as the bone stock NB1 with same gearing that was cruising down with us. I was surprised by that. This trip also further proves out how street-able an 800/500 rate on Xida's can be. If you are on the fence, just buy them. Other than that one stretch of road that made my butthole pucker greatly, no issues on the way down = happy face! https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4594d788a0.jpg I got to Fontana to find this ugly PURPL car. He seemed to have equally horrible taste as me in automotive modifications, so it warranted a photo for science purposes https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8b076a53b7.jpg Had many questions about the car as it was parked near the vendor area throughout Friday and Saturday. Got to put a face to the name of many of you on here. Nice meeting you all! https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0c54845d50.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fb964690d6.jpg Marcus couldn't lead the A&W cruise, so I took the reigns on that one and led the spirited run. Had about 25 cars show up. Fun times. #longestdriveforamilkshakeever https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7eb4309859.jpg Had to of course take a damn photo! https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3cd37e2d29.jpg Killboy getting great shots per usual. Here's one of many. The woman can be seen here being completely unamused by borderline reckless corner speeds the car is capable of here. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7ab7e81923.png ...and off back home we went on Sunday morning https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0f04660b58.jpg Ended up putting a tickle over 2000 miles on the car in 5 days without a hiccup. Can't wait to do it again next year. |
I require WAY more butt touching next year. I will step up my aero game again so we can be the most brotastic of bros.
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Maybe I'll actually meet you next year. I saw your car a few times and I'd turn to say something and you'd be gone.
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Decided to keep the car together for a bit longer than expected this fall to hit up some events in September and October, so no progress on the car itself recently other than washing 2000 miles worth of bugs off of it.
BUT I did forgot to mention how beneficial MATG 2019 proved to be in regards to the build direction. Since day 1, I knew the car was going to get swapped. I looked down many avenues to make more power. The LFX and K swaps were the standout options for a multitude of reasons. After deciding that the K was the right choice over a year ago, I have been on the fence of whether I should stay n/a K24 or head down the boosted K24 path from day 1. What it really boiled down to was: "is the car fast enough with mid-200whp n/a or will I want more?" AND "Am I willing to have the car on jack-stands for more than a year to afford all the components and double my total swap costs (missing MATG2020 with it) if I go down the boosted path?". After owning some absurdly fast 700+hp Cadillac's, I had fair reason to believe that a modest ~250whp would be boring. The kicker? I never drove a car like a Kmiata, nor is there really much out there to compare them to that I can simply go find at a dealer lot to test drive... I needed to drive one to make up my mind This is where the customers at the Kmiata booth at MATG came in clutch. Got talking with quite a few of them over the weekend (explaining my dilemma) and had not ONE, but TWO owners toss me the keys to their cars to take for a brief spirited run down US28. THANK YOU TO BOTH OF YOU! Both of them n/a k24 NB1's, one making 230whp with 5spd/4.10 gearing and the other making 240whp with 5spd/4.30. I have 5spd/4.30 in my car and we had nearly identical builds otherwise so I'll reference the 240whp NB1 test drive in my sequence of text following. Full disclosure, the initial first impressions while modestly driving around the first few corners were "...hey this drives pretty much like my BP with a little more torque down low to help come out of the corner." It was nice, but it wasn't ~$9k in costs nice. Then I started to lay into the throttle more, and THAT was where the opinion began changing. A K24 swapped Miata is sneaky fast. It doesn't have neck snapping v8 torque like I've been used to, but the torque that it does have keeps building and does NOT taper off (very much unlike my v8 or BP powered cars). It reminded me more-so of my old cbr600rr sport bike. It just begs to be revved, and even though my BP-brain was ready to shift by 7200 RPM, the K24 was still freight training the tach until the needle was buried 500 rpm past where the OEM Mazda tach registers (8500rpm) and you're nearing triple digit speeds without breaking a sweat. Many smiles followed once I got used to this new found top-end powerband. It was a blast to drive. While I can still see some desire to push past the 240whp range long-term, that 10 minute test drive showed that I could have a couple years of fun with an n/a k24. Being able to afford the n/a path over winter is another added bonus to being happy with this power level. Win-win situation given the circumstances really. ...and so it was decided. n/a K24A2 mated to the 5spd/4.30 it will be. Knowing now where the build is headed. I got back to business on the engine for what will likely be the slowest, most photo heavy engine swap in MT forum history. Nothing much more than my standard documentation following here. Flipped the engine over and removed the K24A2 oil pump / balance shaft assembly. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4525ae7169.jpg Good riddance! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...660263739f.jpg Waiting on shiny Kmiata parts now https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...06a36052fd.jpg |
Waiting on Kmiata parts led to some free time at the house this weekend. It all started off with my coworker finally taking his project truck to work. The cab is sitting on a modern F350 frame with the OEM 7.3L powerstroke 4x4 powertrain. Like trucks or not, its a cool rig.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c6fb972d75.jpg Went out for dinner with the woman later Friday night and had to triple take what I was seeing in the parking lot. It was a 70th anniversary La Ferrari Aperta. 1 of 9 in the world in the trim it's in, and it was just chilling in a standard parking stall at an average restaurant. I applaud the guy for driving the car, but I just find it funny that his car is worth more than the combined value of the parking lot, all the restaurants, all the cars, and the property that the car is parked near. Absolutely gorgeous car from every angle. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...df72fb4bfa.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a47e9a054c.jpg Saturday I decided to be productive. I had some Left Lane projects on my mind for a while and finally had the time to pull the trigger. I designed up some NA fender vents which was long overdue given the interest from people I have had. The body lines vary between NA and NB quite a bit so I needed to start fresh even though the design intent is the same. I took the more complex, but more visually pleasing route of making the NA vent design a 2 piece design that goes on either side of the OEM body line through the fender. This will open up some possibilities for people to order the upper, lower, or both vents depending on their preference and vehicle setup. Shown below are the blank templates to give an idea on size and location. Hoping to have a run of NA and NB vents complete in a couple weeks. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cf1d251981.jpg And another Left Lane project beginning... Had a lot of interest in making my NB1 retrofit lights, but (unsurprisingly) many people don't know that you cant run NB1 lights on an NB2 and have them fit properly due to the bumper cover variances. This led me to start exploring what could be done to make my NB2 people happy. I ended up finding a really cool customer who is giving me the reigns to do as I please (within reason) after giving him a brief summary on what I had in mind. There's been some new parts released by TheRetrofitSource that I've been eager to try. This should be a game-changer in terms of bang for the buck lighting performance and visual improvement for the NB2 guys given it all goes to plan. For the time being though, I just picked up this clean set of lights to molest off of eBay. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f88688f615.jpg |
First batch of Kmiata goodies came in. Rather uneventful unpacking a bunch of boring OEM Honda parts, but it'll be nice peace of mind to have all the basic maintenance items taken care of. Need to get the water pump painted to match the rest of the block, then polish more bolt heads before continuing on.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...30a89a4c55.jpg I told David in my order comments that "any surprises found in the box would be posted to the build thread". In some sick twisted humor, he gave me 2 flywheel bolts. Only 6 more to go! Its almost like he expects me to order more or something :party: https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...721222d36f.jpg |
How did you only get two bolts?!! I'll get six more on the way shortly. I will also try to find some actual goodies, we were scrambling to get it shipped out.
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Originally Posted by KMiata
(Post 1547395)
How did you only get two bolts?!! I'll get six more on the way shortly. I will also try to find some actual goodies, we were scrambling to get it shipped out.
It's all good. I was laughing at this as I thought it was some teasing means of getting me to spend more money this month. I'll keep my eyes on the lookout for another mystery goodie box. |
This next post can be summarized by one simple meme
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ab751e391c.jpg David came in clutch with some ultimate sticker swag and the other 6 flywheel bolts for the swap. Thank you for that! Not much for progress on the K24 since the last update for reasons you will soon read about. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0abbdd6149.jpg One of the neat products I've been working on the last couple weeks was some NA fender vents that are similar in concept to the NB ones on my car. Found a friend that wanted a set done for his car and he provided me donor fenders to use. I got cutting templates designed up. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8bbc82f0b0.jpg Then here's a mockup with the first set of production vents in place. Note that they are not riveted in yet, so they aren't sitting perfectly square in place, but you get the idea. You could choose to run the upper, lower, or both! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...155e1e552b.jpg The upper NA vent template also would look pretty slick on an NB as it turns out (if you don't like my large one piece NB design) https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...954febc9ba.jpg So I decided to put my money where my mouth is and get a big run of parts made as I've had quite a few people ask me "where can I buy those?". If you are reading this and want a set, toss me a PM. They should be available next week when I get them back from powder coating. They will all be done medium gloss black. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...90139803d8.jpg At the same time that NA vent design was happening, I started on the NB2 "baller on a budget" retrofit setup and installed some Profile Hi-Lens LED pods into the high beam location of the headlight. These things kick butt in terms of output. The car will be wired to have low beams stay on with the high beams. The OEM low beams will toss light out wide into the ditch, while the high beam pods will toss light down the road further than nearly any miata will need. Total high beam output should be killer. Also added a simple switchback halo to the setup per customer request. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...33f028a3c1.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dc3e3b1e44.png https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e89c233973.jpg Then last but not least, we added another family member to the house. I could've went another year or so before this, but the GF wanted one and I was out of excuses on reasons to say no, so we "compromised". Meet Tucker the new Left Lane Design's project supervisor. 13 week old border collie. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...98ea9d8892.jpg |
Your cat has a weird fucking nose. Other than that it's pretty cute.
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Cute doggo is cute. Your vents make me strongly consider ditching my fender liners. May have to anyway, with the addition of the 15x10s.
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Originally Posted by Scaxx
(Post 1549587)
Your cat has a weird fucking nose. Other than that it's pretty cute.
Originally Posted by Uncle Hoonsalot
(Post 1549589)
Cute doggo is cute. Your vents make me strongly consider ditching my fender liners. May have to anyway, with the addition of the 15x10s.
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Can you please expand on the headlights setup (where to get etc..)? Looks sick.
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Originally Posted by yossi126
(Post 1549701)
Can you please expand on the headlights setup (where to get etc..)? Looks sick.
Thanks Google: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bi...high-beam.html I'm guessing the Bi-xenon's are Mini D2s 5.0's (https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bi...rojectors.html) They look sweet, now I want to find something to stick those LED high's into :party: |
Originally Posted by Padlock
(Post 1549602)
Based on my experiences with 15x10's, liners will need to be removed.
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Originally Posted by MetalMuffins
(Post 1549720)
Thanks Google: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bi...high-beam.html
I'm guessing the Bi-xenon's are Mini D2s 5.0's (https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bi...rojectors.html) They look sweet, now I want to find something to stick those LED high's into :party: Thanks for grabbing the links. The NB2 headlights shown above use OEM low beam projectors to keep costs down. The MD2S would be a solid upgrade if you had the coin to pay for it though. All parts came from TRS |
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