5cm spacer? Christ your car is going to have a high looking ride height!

It'll still be lower than standard. Should look similar to how it looked originally (see first page of this thread). The 50mm spacers are simply so I can run a relatively standard ride height without adding loads of preload to the Xidas and consequently losing the function of the helper springs. It's going to require a lot of testing and adjusting. The ride height will be fixed at a point that allows the front subframe to be 100mm clear of the road, and the damper preload and spacer height will be adjusted until the helper springs are working optimally.

Going over to check on progress tomorrow. The car has now been sitting in this shop for over a year.

Well, it's still far from running.
I didn't speak to Quent (shop owner), but I did have a good look around the car as usual.


Things that have been done include:

Some of the hose routing;
Fitting the intake manifold;
Fitting the plugs and plug cover;
Fitting 50mm spacers (actually 2x25mm on each corner, as it was much cheaper than 1x50mm and gives me the option of easily dropping down to a single 25mm if the correct functioning of the Xida's helper springs require it);
Completing the exhaust;
Some more ECU wiring.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

This is what 50mm of spacing looks like. Not exactly pretty, but I think the benefit will be worth the 2kg/4.5lb total weight penalty.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

Ew. Note that the dampers are still wound all the way up, so once again, this is not a final, tractor-spec ride height.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

Interior out, again. The ECU and Dastek Unichip are located in the passenger footwell.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

The wiper mechanism clears this cut out by a few millimetres. A common packaging theme in this car seems to be one of having loads of space in the engine bay, yet an incredible lack of space between everything around the area that's been cut and shut. It works, but my God it's tight.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

Not something you see every day in Miata-world:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

Pedals extended 3". I can't remember why these weren't extended 4" in line with the gearstick and steering wheel position, but it must just have been due to where the new seat puts my feet. I think it's reasonably likely that these come out and get extended a bit more.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

Not much clearance between the steering column and the rollcage brace bar. If I ever want to move the steering wheel down a bit I'll be stuck.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1342885491

wow the only thing i can see missing is a seat. you'll be driving it this month :naughty:

order yourself a gopro or equiv so we can see video of first drive. one small suggestion: take care when positioning the seat so that you have plenty of room to operate the shifter. try all the positions. i had a problem where my arm would hit the seat in certain gears and i managed to misshift one time as a result.

…funny. Bitch :P

I actually asked Quent to stop quoting me a completion date last week. So you won't be hearing any more "O mi gawd it's gonna be done in 37 minutes time!!1!". This project has gone from 6 weeks to nearly 60.


And the seat to gearstick positioning is tight, but fine. The gearstick sits up higher than the original Mazda unit, which helps a tad. But yes, it's certainly something I'll keep an eye on. Modifying the top of the gearstick itself to position the knob higher and closer to the wheel might be an option if it becomes an issue.

wot? i'm serious. i drove my car for a year with dangly wires like that - just zip tie them. thats 60 seconds tops. your hood has quite good venting as-is - leave that alone. stick a cone filter and MAF on that TB. fan? - your in uk lol just drive fast. radiator hoses and fluids - thats couple of hours.

you'll want a seat i think though.

i was wondering about what you are doing for speedo. i think tach, oil, and water temps are pretty easy to adapt using stock honda sensors.

I just don't want to assume it's nearly done, because I've been doing that for a year now! I am so freaking desperate to get this car on the road you would not believe.

Not sure exactly what the shop are doing regarding adapting the loom for the tach and speedo etc. I'll have to remember to ask next time I'm there :)

There's still plenty to do, but none of what's remaining should take very long. Again though, I just daren't start thinking it's almost done, because the shop seem to take quite a long time to do things. However, if I was paying them their usual rate, instead of a mates-rate discounted rate that they don't make any money from whatsoever, I think this build would have been complete a long time ago. Basically though, this is the reason I've tried not to make a big deal about a quoted 6 week project turning into a 60 week project.

PS, no MAF - it uses a MAP sensor. It's the wee black block on top of the throttle body.

mine is a different beast obviously, but i can tell you that oil press and tach worked for me without any work at all. temp sensor should be a matter of some resisters to match miata to honda.

closest data I found for honda:
Honda-Tech - View Single Post - coolant temperature sensor question

in this thread discussing water temps joe lets the cat out of the bag that he knows temp circuits as well as the gas lamp girls:
https://www.miataturbo.net/engine-pe...u-using-48204/

edit: you could try this: http://www.miataforumz.com/how-40/ho...emp-gauge-245/


i don't know about speedo. NA's use mechanical speedo which i assume gets converted to a voltage at some point in the cluster itself. i guess the approach depends on what the honda gearbox has. idk but your motor is characterful so i'm sure its no problem.

NA speed is 100% mechanical, no electrical conversion. The cable goes from box to cluster and directly drives the speedo.

NB Speedo is electronic, though the fitment gearbox end is identical.

Is this to compensate for the 2" subframe spacing and keep the shocks centered in their stroke?

Yes, although the similarity between the two dimensions is just coincidence. The 50mm spacing comes from looking at the recommended pinch weld ride height Emilio specified, and working out how much higher the car needed to be for this lowered subframe to clear the road by 100mm/4". Bit of a bodge, but I can't think of a better way to do it.

Quantas V-TAKS?

Absolutely not.

Quick update: I'm away for the next three weeks. If the shop haven't completed the car by the time I get back, it'll be put on a trailer and carted down to tdi-plc.com to finish the job. So, for better or worse, there'll be big news on this car in three weeks.

These automotive-project-builds need contracts with fabricator just like they do in construction. It keeps the business focused on the project and scheduling since they would otherwise be penalized financial for falling behind.

re: shock mount spacers- I know they don't load up like a macpherson (single arm) suspension where the shock is actually a control component, but I wonder what the loads are going to be like on those two bolts and the spacers. IF I were to do the job w/o any engineering analysis, I would likely either A) weld in an upside "cup" to the chassis with gussets so that the shock mount used shorter (normal) length bolts or B) fabricated up a new shock mount with a similar type "upside down cup" so that the bolts were again shorter and it mounted to the stock location. Think something opposite of the ISC upper perches/tops that increase shock travel.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the lateral load on these components is minimal. If a bolt shears, I will be sure to let you know!
And totally agreed re. contracts. One job the company I work for is approaching the point where damages are incurred - £2500 per day for being late. I heard of a project they did years ago where they had to shut a london underground station in the middle of the night while they completed some work, and were penalised thousands of pounds per minute. Per freaking minute. So yeah, I really wish i'd had a contracted deadline with a proportional penalty, because it would have sped the process up hugely. Whether the shop would have taken the work on if such a contract had been suggested is a different matter!

Any updates?

The shop just need the doors from me so they can get it MOTd. Sounds like it's all up and running. I went over there today basically as soon as I got back from abroad, but unfortunately got there just too late - the shop was all locked up. Probably should have called ahead :noob:
I'm not sure how I'm going to see it this week. Tempted to take an accidentally-on-purpose long lunch break from work...