Yes, but I won't do it. This is supposed to be a budget build. That said, I generally can't half-*** anything so I'm sure it will get worked over. When you see it with the good spare parts installed it will look much better. The doors and fenders took a rust beating. It spent it's running life on the east cost and 8-10 holes through the body work for each piece of trim will do that.

 

I've got a set of hex head screw drivers that work wonders for stubborn bolts- but your's are probably beyond anything I've ever come across.

 

I didn't think it was a realistic prospect, just that it would be a no-BS way to effectively clean it to the steel.

I think at worst you might need some wire wheeling in strategic locations but it did clean up pretty well. Forget for a moment that it started out white so every bit of dirt makes it look much worse.

Also, regarding the big head phillips, I feel your pain. An impact gun and big phillips drivers does amazing things.

Wikipedia tells me the phillips head is designed to F up the bit to prevent damage to the screw or work. That's probably why they used them--no way to properly torque the fasteners.

 

Lovely build.

So when your done with it you can swap V8 in it. Did it still have the gearlever next to steering wheel?

They'r much love'd in Finland and scandinavia, love'd child has many names as sex shuttle, kayak twins and so on.. They used to hot rod those with Ford Taunus 3.0 V6's, that way it became quite BMW killer for it's day...

Dont blink or you'll miss it..

 

That's like me disassembling my last miata. ------- bolts ------- break all the ------- time son of a bitch when will this end.

I can't even imagine phillips head bolts

 

Keeping it classy.

 

Top Gear's tribute last sunday made me even more glad you're doing this build.

 

Report for today. Everything that can be removed has been removed. As of tonight here is a very large hole in the firewall and the floor. I did not photograph it. It is a hole. Get over it. That is all.

 

great build!!! looking forward for this

 

Who is up for an east coast build?
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/cto/2868762690.html

 

That thing looks comparatively clean. Buy it for $800 and you can recoup some $ selling the drivetrain and end up with a better shell than me. Motor/trans will sell for about $400.

In my case I didn't heed my own advice which was to start with the nicest donor that you can find. A couple hundred bucks goes a long way with these cars. If mine hadn't been an hour away I wouldn't be doing this swap.

 

Bought some RX7 550's today, lol. Drivetrain isn't even in and the budget build has started. I'm excited because I get to try Megasquirt this time. Had Adaptronic on the 99 so this will be fun. Now I'll be able to post up my msq or whatever it's called and Hustler will be able to tell me that I'm not running crap for timing.

 

I neglected to report that I have made progress. Y'all know that I'm bad about taking pics. I'll shoot some tonight. I should have the Miata floor installed.

Why the floor?

Because the subframe bolts to the footwells in two places on each side. I need the floor roughly in place, bolt in the subframe, then I can position the subframe/floor combo forewards and aft which will position the center of the front hubs in the center of the wheel wells.

The existing firewall is at least 2" behind where I need it to end up so I will have no issues related to tying everything into the rest of the car.

An interesting tidbit:

When I cut out the floor from the Miata I cut it as large as I could. It ended up being 50" wide at the front footwells. 50" back was as far rearwards that I could cut it out before hitting the rear bulkhead. At that place it is 46.5" wide. When I measured the SAAB where the floor is going to drop in, it's 50" wide at the front and 46.5" wide 50" back. The floor pans are exactly the same size.

I wish I hadn't sectioned it. After measuring the door, I tack welded the floor and tunnel back together. It was a bit difficult for one person but I got the whole thing into the car in one piece. It dropped right in where I need it.

 

pics or die.

 

lol brain is getting antsy

 

Skipping right to death? Whatever happened to ban?

 

Steppingg up my game

 

OK, OK, I want to avoid certain death. Some pics of today's progress.

Very large hole where floor used to be.



Floor set in place where it will end up permanently.




I have since removed the floor, prepped the SAAB floor for welding and tack welded the firewall back onto the floor. The floor will still fit through the hole in the floor from the bottom up with the firewall in place. The nice thing is that I can finish weld it outside of the car where access is easier. In addition it really tightened up the floor so it doesn't splay out sitting over that large gap.

Picking up a roll of .025" wire and some tips for the MIG tomorrow. I have .035" in the welder now and it's no good for sheet metal.

 

holy crap this is brilliant.

my friend trying to miata swap a triumph spitfire NEEDS to see this.
sending link now lol

 

My dilema is how far to carry it. I've added the firewall to carry all of the pedals, plus grommets for wiring harnesses, etc and the HVAC system if I want. Then I was carrying through the front frame rails to pick up the front subframe mount. THEN I figured, why not keep the stock shock pockets in place? It now appears that I could keep the entire Miata fender UNDER the existing fender. We will see.

I also cut out the entire rear center section of the car that holds the rear subframe and the gas tank. I just have to watch weight. It's easy to add weight when grafting in other parts.