Scaxx

I'll have to keep that in mind, I like to get myself stressed out about the cost of this thing haha

Itty

If I had a bigger garage, I think I would already have a kart.

Scaxx

Worked on my headers for an hour or two, need to correct the second bend but they're coming along well. Oh and we cut the frame rails for our mars rover out of prepreg yesterday, kinda cool.

OGRacing

iTrader: (1)

pie cut pie cut pie cut.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

OGRacing

iTrader: (1)

i found this for wiring Racer's Inc | Custom Car Wiring | Enos BlackBox

Scaxx

-Braineack, as simple as that may be I'm having fun with my pie cuts. Plus I've got a pretty large radius bend and then a real short one after that so I'm not sure I'd be able to find a bend to get it right. It's also very good practice welding stainless exhaust!

-Johnny, that labeled wire looks extremely useful, I'll probably pick some up once things start coming together. Thanks for the link.

Just ordered my axles and ****! Need to go talk to my local dealer or order a diff from someone still. Hoping to get about an hour out in the garage today. This matlab class is time consuming to say the least. Also got a radiator figured out for the go kart. It's for an original mini! Similar dimensions to the motorcycle one. Need to relocate the filler on it since it won't be mounted upright. Also need to pick up an external thermostat, that way my cooling system is much cleaner and not a bunch of ******* lines running everywhere. Makes for a real pain to set up. Also found an oil cooler of similar dimensions that should work.

Scaxx

****'s really rough. Can't keep up with my schoolwork because of my job. May be putting in my two weeks today. No point in giving up an engineering degree for a **** job that's not gonna take me anywhere. I've been at ~20 credits for the last 6 months, and have to do it for another 6. Just can't do it with 30hr/week job. Just can't. If it was business degree I could, but not with the classes I'm taking. Gonna finish the go kart and pick up a second running 1.6 just in case I blow up brad's engine this summer and try to get as much seat time as possible. I'll just keep it in this thread.

Don't for one second think that this car isn't going to get done, just not right now. (wow three negatives in one sentence, congrats me) I'll continue to finish body work and do everything I can to get it set up for the expensive parts.

Itty

You're supposed to take 20 credits/semester when you're blowing through the easy ****, and then do like 12 as a senior. Much less stressful.

Scaxx

Well the main problem is that most people do wsu's program in 5 years and I'm not trying to do that. Pretty much everyone else in my cohort either did 3 years of community college or did 3 years at another college. If I take 20 credits this summer then I'll be done next may. I don't think I was gonna be ready for the car to run this season anyway. Sooner I have an actual decent income the sooner this car will get done. I guess I'll get more seat time this way too, I couldn't get many sundays off for autox, now I'll be able to I guess. I won't be totally jobless, I'll still be working for the family business.

Scaxx

I officially put in my two weeks today, I'm sure people think I won't finish this, but I started this project before I graduated high school, if I was going to turn back I already would have. I still have plenty of work to do on the miata that doesn't require money and new parts so I'll continue to do that and keep this thread updated. I'll also post all my go kart progress here and probably some autox vids once I get it running. I'll be posting some more stuff about ours mars rover. I'm designing a shock and machining a set of coilovers for it. That should be fun since I'll get to be able to explore the technical side of suspension and experiment with damping characteristics. Basically this thread will still have plenty of interesting content, and hopefully some more seat time. Oh and I'll also probably be working on some aero for the go kart towards the start of next year.

Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

No one is doubting you, and no one is rushing you (except yourself).

Think big picture.

College degree is way more important than V8 miata, or any other car bullsh*t, or any other part-time job bullsh*t.


Do what you need to do first

gesso

iTrader: (1)

I started my v8 Miata project in my senior year of my B.S. and still haven't finished it 3+ years later. But! The job I got with my degree has allowed me to buy/build an exocet/catfish in the mean time. Focus on what's important, the Miata will follow/wait

OGRacing

iTrader: (1)

I built my car while unemployed. I did the same thing. Bought everything before i started. Got laied off (chicago in 2007 nobody had a job). I would wake up, apply for work, then head out to the garage and work on the car. Having a ls1 miata race car is actually the thing that landed me a job @pfc.

stoves

iTrader: (1)

I'm out of work right now too. Partially by choice and partially by circumstances. I just picked up all my stuff and relocated to Atlanta with my girlfriend of 3+ years. She got a new job here, but I haven't found one yet. I've been applying for 8-10 jobs per day for a few weeks, though we did just get here last Wednesday. I can't work on the car because my tools are still in transit. Sucks because UPS delivered my extended lower ball joints yesterday.

Scaxx

I really appreciate all the support guys, pretty used to people telling me I won't finish.

Just got a shipping notification saying my axles and **** are coming in the mail mid week next week. That'll probably be the only shiny parts for the miata for a little while. Luckily I hadn't bought my diff yet so I have a bit of extra money. Probably gonna start building a computer for solidworks. I'll need a good desktop next quarter anyway but it'll come in handy for working on the suspension of the mars rover. I'm also thinking of machining a new water inlet for the go kart and it would be nice to design it in solidworks first. I may just cut the current one and weld it though, cheaper and less time consuming. Although cast aluminum is kinda a bitch to weld and I need to make sure it's actually aluminum and not magnesium like the rest of the head.

I have a couple of other ideas for my machining class, one is a shift **** (how original), then an extender to put the shifter right next to the steering wheel, also one to shorten the shifter. The t56 came with an actual short shifter kit, I'm only referring to the shaft since you can unbolt it and bolt a different one on.

Probably gonna buy the radiator and oil cooler for the go kart soon, I'd like to start getting that mocked up. One of my buddies owes me $40 still for some welding I did for him, I think I need like another 150-200 for a decent purge set up. Probably do some more welding side jobs so I can to make some extra cash. Then I can start the long process of welding a thousand pie cuts! Oh and I got the engine to fire last week! Wiring was giving me trouble and only giving me 8v at the coils but it was good to hear it fire for a second, forgot how awesome these bikes sound.

OGRacing

iTrader: (1)

the only thing i would add is hold on the go kart project. be a spinning tornado on the miata. the go kart is a fun project but you wont be able to use it as much as the miata. imo the miata will be more rewarding.

EErockMiata

kudo's for commitment to your project, but focus on school. Trust me on this. The car(s) will always be there when you get done. Getting through school is going to set you up for the next 40 years of your life. 20 credits is a huge load and summer classes are miserable because of the condensed schedule. There is no shame in putting a project on the back burner for a few months... life is going to be like that for you moving forward anyway.

cool build, thanks for sharing.

Scaxx

The problem with the miata is lack of money, even if I wanted to get it running without all the safety gear it would still cost enough that I'm not sure I can have it done this summer, it would be a stretch. For the price of a couple sensors and my throttle body I can have the go kart moving. The idea with the go kart was I could throw it in the back of the truck, drive to autox and have some seat time for cheap. (I have $90 into the go kart after I sold a bunch of stuff from the last one, probably have another 4-500 to go) If I blow it up, I put it back in the truck and bring it home. There's much less risk with it. I also need to build a computer still which is probably gonna cost about 1k.

So that's where I'm at money wise, I can work for the family business, but I can't do close to as many hours as I was at my other job. It'll provide some income but not much.

To get the miata running I currently need:
Tires
Throttle body
Couple of sensors for the engine
Exhaust set up (Obviously I'm building that, but it's still a bit of material)
Clutch
Rear diff
Master cylinder for clutch (that depends on whether I go with the tilton unit or not)
New hydraulic release bearing
Starter
Some wiring bits and pieces
Dash stuff
Probably some other small stuff that I'm forgetting

That's so the car will run with stock seats, 15x10's that are sticking out/hitting the fenders, and no safety equipment other than the stock 3 points. I'll be working on the car a bit this summer but I don't think I can get it finished this year just because of the money portion. That being said, I will be buying the essentials to get it running in order just in case I make enough money to get it on the road because you're right, it will be much more rewarding.

But I really do need some more seat time, I only have a couple track events under my belt and I know this car is gonna be a bit much at the start. My primary focus is school at this point but I'm hoping once I'm done with my job that I can get an hour or so out in the garage every night and maybe a couple on the weekends. Also luckily my summer classes aren't engineering classes, they're bullshit classes for transfer. Since they're only for transfer to WSU, the grades don't matter and it's just some English, History..etc bullshit. Lots of papers but not very hard.

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

I built my Miata during grad school. It was my therapy away from research and 30 hour experiments.

Having a job let me fix it within months of blowing it up. Focus on school, but definitely keep a balance.