Johnwag's "BUILD" thread
 

I've been on this forum for about a year and a half and have never really posted any pics of my car. My miata is a '94. It has 125,000 miles on it and has a very strong engine.

Since I got my car in December of 07, I knew that it would be a dedicated track car. The car is street legal, but I only ever drive it to and from the track. In the DFW area, we have Motorsport Ranch and Eagles Canyon. Both tracks are within an hour and a half from me. I go to Hallett at least once year and that's about 4 hours away. I've made alot of changes to the car in the last month.

This is where the car stands right now:

Exterior:
Matte Black 15x9 6uls w/ 225/45/15 NT01's
Moss Low Profile Headlights
R-package front lip
Rear bumper cut in half
Metro motorsports tow hook
Lexan vent windows from advanced autosports
Turn Signal Intakes
Interior:
Sparco Fighter seat in Red
Sparco 5 point harness
Sparco R345 steering wheel
Hard Dog Hard Core Double Diagonal w/harness bar
Hard Dog Door bars
Mazdaspeed Trap Timer
gutted interior with some herculiner
half dash
stripped down wiring harness
relocated ecu and wiring
Engine/Performance:
Monsterflow Carbon Fiber Intake
Gibb Header
FM single tip exhaust
FM high flow cat
Indigo Racing Underdrive pulley
TDR Dog Pack: 1.6 Spec 2+ clutch, aluminum pressure plate, aluminum flywheel
PWR Radiator w/ TDR silicone radiator hoses
TDR Radiator Panel
Magnecore Wires
Drivetrain/Brakes:
Tein Mono-Flex with 12/8kg springs
Racing beat Sways w/brace
TDR endlinks
Beatrush STB
Beatrush rear ladder brace
Carbing Transmission brace
Mazdaspeed motor mounts
TDR brakes lines
Hawk DTC-30 pads
4.3 torsen
All motul fluids in brakes, trans and diff

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Wheres the turbo? :giggle:

lol. It only took two minutes for one of you guys to ask. :P

I just recently picked up a '97 turbo miata for a daily. Pics to come in the future...

With all the mods you've made it's still a momentum car. You learn really good track habits driving something like that. When you get tired of putting around everything's in place to support some real power. Put another 100+ HP to the wheels and really tear up the track!

Its a new trend to own a turbo and an NA miata both with bullshit tan interior apparently. You'd think that between our 4 cars we could find a god damn black interior to swap in.

I'm in love with the Black 6ULs.

You gotta come down to Harris Hill and tear it up sometime. They're having a HPDE in July sometime.

Chris

I need to tune his car on Steve's dyno when he gets MS in.

half dash + spare tire = fail

I take it out once I get to the track.

My track car doesn't have any tan in it. The tan in the turbo is gross.

Tan makes me horney........
Except peanut butter tan.

John,
Have you weighed it recently?

Chris

No. I've been wanting to weigh it for a while.

John, its nice to finally see your car. Were both rockin the matt black 15x9s now.

Looking good.

Here's some video of my car from 2 weekends ago at Eagles Canyon. My first time at this track and I got the opportunity to instruct. Video is of the last instructor session of the day. Thomas Hiromoto is in the black MX5 in video 1 of 2.
All of my lap times were 2:12.xx with my fastest being a 2:12.40

those straights are ssssoooooo long and boooorrriiinngg. even with boost you want to just stab your eyes out.

Updates: I've been in the process of changing/upgrading alot of parts on the car for preference and TX miata challenge.
I had to sell parts off of the car to afford to purchase the new parts.

The parts that came off the car were:
Sparco Fighter seat in Red with custom seat bracket
Sparco R345 steering wheel
TDR Dog Pack
Monsterflow Carbon Fiber intake kit with heatshield and K&N filter
Flyin Miata single tip catback

Here's what the car has looked like for the last month:

Some simple part changes I've been wanting to do:

Oil Sandwich plate for oil temp, swap to a 2nd gen starter, and replace looped clutch line with straight, sleeved stainless steel line.

1st gen. starter = 10 pounds. 2nd gen. starter = 6 pounds

I'm swapping a 1.6 dash into the car because it's light and I like the way it looks compared to my "California half dash/dashpod". If competition in TXMC is so close that I need to lose some weight, I can remove it with 3 screws and a bolt. :)

I'm running the vital gauges for my car since it's n/a: Water temp, 02 and Oil Temp. I mounted the gauges in the panel and made a plug and play wiring harness for them to make installation/removal simpler.

Thanks to CSpence for the gauge panel. The quality, fit and price were perfect!

I'm still amazed at how much power your N/A NA makes. Jeebus. I promise to get the ball rolling on my FI project ASAP - starting with that goddamn '99 head I got from you, like, 2 years ago.

And, yes, the Vader Black 6ULs look positively dirty on a black car...

+1 for Cspence gauge panel! Lol mine's mounted the same.

You engine is a stocker, why do you need an oil temp gauge? Oil pressure will tell you all you need to know.
Nice job at the track... who ever designed that place sure likes double apex corners!! I only watched one lap but I think I counted 3 corners of that design; turn in hit apex, hold constant arc, wiff outside of track with right side tires, hit second apex, drift towards edge of track, unwind wheel. looks like a nice track, how long is it.

Looks like you are going to be using digital read out gauges, don't you think analog gauges would have been a better choice for track use? The reason I ask this, is that having a gauge with a needle tells you everything you need to know without having to read numbers. You learn very quickly where the needle lives when the engine is happy; a quick glance and all the needles are right where they should be. you can also orient the gauges so normal operation is indicated by the needle pointing straight up With digital readouts, you have to read the number, then comprehend what the number is telling you, not real hard to do but more difficult than just glancing at a gauge. There is a reason all the big boys use analog gauges (no digital gauges in a cup car). Indy and F1 use digital steering wheels but they also have telemetry and several engineers monitoring engine function. Just my .02

Thanks for the props guys! Still got one or two layin around if anyone else needs one.

Johnwag, nice car you got there!

If his gauges don't matter and shouldn't be there in the first place, who cares if he uses numerical gauges rather than analog?

It's not like he will be able to see them on the track anyways :jerkit:

You are gonna need to ake out those extra screws if you wanna run with me big boy. Looks good man. Hopefully I will have a diff like your for the next event.

I never questioned o2 and water temp, just oil temp, I personally don't care if he runs any gauges at all, I was merely pointing out the merits of analog vs digital gauges. Furthermore, I never said "they shouldn't be there". Engine is stock, there is no external oil cooler on the car, so oil temp is what it is.

I thought about running oil temp in my spec miata but decided against it because there is nothing you can do to lower oil temp even if you wanted to.

I could question the merits of o2 as well; egt tells you more about what is happening than o2 IMO.


But at the end of the day, it is his car and he is going to do what makes him happy...that is what we all do, and that is how it should be! I like his car, I like his build, I love the fact that he tracks it; it is where Miatas really shine. It's very cool when a well sorted and driven Miata runs faster lap times than the boy racers and their ricers.

I was never being critical just looking for a little clarification, maybe I should have expounded a little more in my first post.

Wasn't trolling.

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I'd like to hear how an EGT tells you more about air/fuel ratio than the AFR gauge. I use mine pretty frequently. John has an oil cooler in a box somewhere.

I'm not jacking with you. When I question your sexuality you'll know I'm jacking with your.

Are you boosted?? Are you running a stand alone or a piggy back.

The impression I got from the OP is that he is running stock computer. The only time AF is steady is at wide open throttle when the computer goes to a closed loop. If you are stock you can adjust that with a flash, but it is easiest to do this on a dyno. How much time do you have on a track to be watching a digital AF guage? Not much! on the track unless you are out there by yourself you need to be focused on what you are doing. This is the same reason I advocate the use of analog gauges clocked to indicate normal range with the needles pointing straight up.

For a stock system on a race track I prefer EGT. If you are lean you will see higher temps if you are rick lower temps, and again gauge is clocked to indicate normal range at 12:00 position.

I also don't care for gauge position that take your eyes so far away from the racing surface, but I left that one alone. I like function more than form when it comes to gauge placement. I have water temp and oil pressure located in the eyes of the radio surround with a little modification you can fit a 2 5/8 gauge in that location.

I need an oil temp gauge because I'm planning for the future and I want to know what oil temps are, hence the point of the gauge.
Thanks. It's a pretty simple track. That was my first time out there and it was 95* that day. Eagles Canyon Raceway

The water and oil temp are analog. Wideband is digital. They are tinted. They light up very bright once the car is on. We've installed a half dozen or more sets in cars now and they are great during day and night.

Elaborate on your EGT> 02 statement, please.


Look at hustler's build thread. He's boosted! The car is damn reliable now, too. He and I tracked it in Houston last weekend with zero mechanical issues, not counting the dieing brake master cylinder that made braking sketchy on the track.

I'm running the stock computer at the moment, but MSPNP has been sitting in my room since new years. Some of these changes are preparing for MSPNP, like the new intake and the LC1 gauge. The good thing about having the gauge, like any gauge, is that you can check it on straight away and make sure that everything looks safe under WOT. Hustler's car was a solid 11.5:1 A/F all the way through the top of 5th gear. He tuned his car damn near perfect.

Gauge position was a huge factor in my decision. I didn't want to run individual gauges to the eyeball vents AGAIN, nor did I want to make a gauge pod that mounts on the dash. Like you just stated, you don't have much time to view the gauges on the track and my eyes will be looking for "safe" marks at a glance. I've driven miatas on the track with the gauges low and it was not an issue.

Thanks Chris!

ooooooh, that's how those stupid gauge brackets work!

Why have I never heard about this lighter starter business?!? Does it only work switching between 94-97 1.8s and >99, or would it work in my 1.6? Cause I love the smaller packaging too.

I put one on when I switched to the 6 speed on my 1.6. The NA starters/trans have 2 bolts and the NBs are 3 bolt. Many people just leave out the third bolt when using the NB starter in an NA.

It will work on any year and it's worth it.

I completely forgot about this thread. I've done very little to the car this year due to layoffs, bills and bullshit.

Here's the current setup:

Exterior:
Matte Black 15x9 6uls w/ 225/45/15 NT01's
Moss Low Profile Headlights
R-package front lip
Rear bumper cut in half
Metro motorsports tow hook
Lexan vent windows from advanced autosports
Turn Signal Intakes
Interior:
Ultrashield Road Race VS 20* with Halo
Ultrashield 5 point Harness
Hard Dog Hard Core Double Diagonal w/harness bar
Hard Dog Door bars
MSPNP
interior removed
1.6 dash with nothing underneath
Some wiring harness removed
relocated ecu and wiring
Engine/Performance:
ARTech aluminum intake
Gibb Header
ARTech welded straight exit exhaust
FM high flow cat
Indigo Racing Underdrive pulley
PWR Radiator w/ TDR silicone radiator hoses
TDR Radiator Panel
Magnecore Wires
Drivetrain/Brakes:
949Racing Race Clutch
Racing beat Sways w/brace
TDR endlinks
Beatrush STB
Beatrush rear ladder brace
Carbing Transmission brace
Mazdaspeed motor mounts
TDR brakes lines
Hawk DTC-30 pads
4.3 Cusco RS diff

AST 5200s are built. I hope to be able to get them soon.

Here's two videos from September which was the last time I drove it.





Jeff_man blows by me in the 2nd video and has a sweet dorifto spin in Turn 2.

I've got lots of pics on my phone that I never added to this thread, so here's an update about 11 months too late.

These pics date back to February of 2010 when i swapped to a 1.6 dash, installed the gauge panel,(previous update)changed steering wheels, added the ebay quick release and installed the Ultrashield Road Race VS seat with Halo and rib protection.

Ultrashield, 949single disc organic clutch, 949clutch on scale, Abe@Artech welding my straight exit exhaust, ARTech intake

Note: The pic of the 949clutch on the scale includes the throwout bearing. The complete 949 single disc clutch only weighs 11.5lbs!!!!

Hustler setup and tuned the MSPNP in May of 2010. I used industrial strength velcro to attach the MSPNP to the firewall floorboard and bent a piece of aluminum to hold the ecu down, just in case.....

We put the car on the dyno in September, just before Miatas@Hallett.

I sold the Tein Monoflex setup back in October or November. I had a set of MS Bilsteins on the car just to be able to roll it while it sat at the workspace. In the few months that passed between Miatas@Hallett and Thanksgiving, I had a set of AST 5220's built. I just swapped the AST's onto the car last Sunday, 1/23/11, with lots of help from Hustler. He installed the rear dampers and mounted the reservoirs while I mounted the front reservoirs. We then set the ride.

The last three pics are before/after pics.

Nice video. Already looked good, but now...



These build threads will be the end of me!

How do you like the 949 organic single? Rev like a bike?

That's jeff_man. I finished building that car the day before the event and he drove straight to OKC. We never got a chance to shake it down. It was on Tein Flex with the 7/6 springs and handled awful. It was undersprung and diving onto the bumpstops when braking. We've since upgraded to AST 5100 on his car and it was fast as hell at TWS and HHR. Bigger brakes, door bars, and corner balancing would make it capable of a miata record at any TX/OK track.

It's great on the track. Throttle blips now show 4k with each rev and that's with crappy enrichments. :)
it's definitely not a street/DD clutch.

That clutch puts a smile on my face every time, I think the clutch is streetable but not in your only car.

That's what the twin is for. :)

I like his ghetto g-load meter.

Clean car! i like it