Miata rally project
 

So I can't afford pro rally, and I can't afford a rwd mk II escort rally car. I love driving with the top down, so the best solution is a somewhat compromised miata rally car project. We are talking about SCCA rally cross and a few occasional Road rally's (Tsd) events, plus an occasional drive into work in the summer months or when the mood suits me. Starting point is a nice rust free 1990 miata......

Be prepared to replace parts on the suspension almost every weekend. It will be ok for a while but everything will break. I help a friend with his FWD SCCA rally focus and we are forever beefing up control arms and mounts and anything you could possibly think of. It is a lot of fun but I never know so much stuff could break on a car. Other than that have fun and wear a helmet.

Ha! I rally crossed a friends with studded snow tires. Possibly the most fun I've ever had. Cheap too. He was lowered with a lip and on bilsteins. If I was starting from scratch, I'd throw snow tires (you're not supposed to use studs) on and possibly wire in a toggle switch for the windshield washer fluid, with straight water for the muddy courses. And of cpurse gut the crap out of it. Use wheels you don't care about, like crappy daises or steelies. We dented our steelies and had trouble seeing without washer fluid. Had to purposely drive in the big puddles to "wash" our windshield.

Such a cheap sport to "mod" your car for, gotta watch those disposable parts like Sean said.

Oh, and don't roll you windows down when it's muddy, open the door to give the timers your ticket, we learned that the hard way...

Nice. I should be starting my BP powered 240 rallycross / rally thread soon.

So what are weak suspension points on a miata ?

Stock swaybar endlinks are really thin and can snap, control arms can bend...that might be all you need to worry about.

We break some of this stuff with grippy tires on a road course. Sliding sideways in some dirt puts a different kind of stress on the suspension.

I'd focus on protecting the radiator, intake, shocks (rubber boots?), and oil pan.

Thanks ! I already made a skid plate, so sump is protected....I have used wire mesh to protect the radiation on past Tsd cars, that seems to work quite well. I'll be on the lookout for some spare arms, is it fronts, or rears (or both) that trend to go ?

Rallycross coming up this weekend.....lets see how she goes...

Momo race seat installed, still a bit high and upright, will have to consider how to lower it further.....maybe removing the rear feet. I have kept the seat sliders, last resort would be to loose these also, but I'd like to be able to retain some easy adjustability....

Let's have some pics already.

What's your location?

Good luck with the race.

Here goes ! Pics from last September during Press on Regardless

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1360885438

Did you get a turbo in yet?

I see you are registered for the Great Lakes Championship in a couple weeks. I'll be there with my co-driver.

Nope, no turbo yet....just planning 1.8 rebuild now, progress has been very slow....what are you running in at the rallycross ?

Red turbo Miata with the white hardtop.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1373371928

Were you the one I was talking to at the winter event at I-96 Speedway?

my gawd that looks like so much fun

Swaybar mounting points at frame are weak on road course cars but would be even worse on yours. Heavy duty mounting brackets are available in the aftermarket. I would use strong springs and raise the ride height.

You're assuming that you want to run sway bars in this application.

I run no front or rear swaybar. Stock MSM springs 220fr/170rr with no increase in ride height.

Although the Detroit region events are usually on slightly smoother sites than I run on so a front swaybar might be good; I would have no concerns about the mounts being too weak.

Understatement of the year ! :rofl:

Ahah, yep, now I remember..... Funny, I can remember cars, no so good with names ! Should be fun ! Hopefully a bit more grip this time !!!!!

See ya there !

Hood venting...
 

So I've been getting a little warm at freeway speeds - the coolant, not me, so after some experimenting determined the skid plate is likely not letting the air entering the engine bay out sufficiently. So like many on this forum it's time for a hood vent. After much procrastinating, and inspired by midtenn (nice work by the way !) I've decided on a drop vent style.....

The 1st cut is always the hardest, somebody once said......probably

Nice, probably more effective than the vents I just haphazardly hacked into my hood. My project for this weekend is to cut another hole in the bumper to let more air in and install a skidplate. I am going to do some supports on the front like you have.

Cool beans ! I welded a thick plate near the front roll bar attachments with a couple of nuts welded to it for the rear mounting. The front support used the existing tow hook mounting points.....the welding wasn't pretty, but so far nothing broke....good luck !

A little more progress this evening on the hood venting, did as much as I could - trying to avoid annoying the neighbors to much with grinding sounds...looks like I could take the side slits a little more rearward, without too much trouble...here it is with some temporary 1.5" wood spacers and a 4" side cut.

Sticker time !

So the hood vent work continues, lots more hood reinforcement pieces removed, and a template made for the gurney flap and side panels. I'm going to see if I can make it in one piece, since I don't have alu welding capability....

And I stuck on my mazda contingency stickers, see if we can't pay for gas for the trip to the rallycross this coming weekend.

Press on Regardless 2013
 

Once again I had the great honour of being the course open car for this years 65th running of POR. Friday night saw us starting from Indian River, heading over the Macinac bridge and into the UP. Car ran great all night, but picked up a puncture...funny...last time I was in the UP doing this the same thing happened. The rally roads were awsome, fast, flowing for the most part, but the stones are pretty sharp ! Rain came and went, we must have put the top up and down 1/2 dozen times, and started to classify how hard it was raining buy the speed we could go without getting wet - 60mph rain was normally time to stop and put the top up. We managed to ride back over the big bridge about half past midnight with it down though, pretty unique experience ! Among other wildlife we also saw a big moose, followed it for maybe 1/4 mile, very cool. Picture is of us waiting for a control crew to show up near the beginning of leg #2

Press on Regardless day 2
 

Saturdays event was much longer, necessitating an earlier start. All in all it was about 350 miles of wonderful trails. These roads are generally a mix of sand and forest loam and can be quite slippery, but a whole bunch of fun. They then to be slower and with more twisters which is just a blast ! We had perfect rally weather, some light rain to keep the dust down and locals home, but dry enough to run top down until the end at about 4am. Picture was taken just before dark, I think somewhere over towards Glennie. Hood was up after a particularly sporty drive to the checkpoint ! Yes I'm still seeing high temps....

Oh deer !
 

We started to see quite a few deer, but at about 11ish we ran out of luck an one jumped out right in front of me. I was locked up as the deer hit the front of the car, turned its head and winked at me, bounced back onto all fours and ran off into the woods.....my passenger side driving light was now pointing at the stars, and the headlamp bent and no longer working, but, it could have been a lot worse....

Clean up time
 

Finally managed to spend some time cleaning up the car....and trying on my newly painted hard top...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/m7...c=w884-h775-no

Note the sand washed from the car...and it's still coming
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Xa...0=w754-h775-no

Hardtop union jack
 

So it turns out the British flag is actually quite difficult to make, lots of dimensions and ratios to figure out. after some time measuring up and then putting together a spreadsheet to scale the dimensions I was ready. My good friend Craig put down a coat or two of sealer and then we added our 1st base coat - this is Ford Flex Roof white... The red was an easy choice - signal red (Mazda SU CLASSIC RED 1989-2006 41350 941350), but finding a non metallic Blue proved a challenge, eventually ending up with something from Mitsubishi - bright blue - 5883 MIT color T10.

So here we are after taping up, ready for the Red
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...=w1330-h775-no

My daughter helped lay on the Blue and Red
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/gO...s=w880-h777-no

And then the pro stepped in...
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s...777-no/13+-+11

And then after untaping and adding a coat or three of clear coat...Violla !
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O...h777-no/13+-+8

That's... REALLLY good.

Dann

When I read that I was thinking - no way that car could navigate the course we saw the previous year! There were miles of slippery no-traction mud a foot deep that even the rally cars with good tires and AWD couldn't make it through. And the sideways rain, hail and sleet made it worse.

Then I remembered we did the LSPR, which is spiritually the POR, but not actually the POR.

Yes it was pretty bad last year on POR on the Friday night also ! at one point I was thinking a rudder would work better ! I can usually stay reasonably well over CAST, but not last year in those mud holes ! But the rally tires did their thing and we made it...

Engine work begins
 

At last i've started work on the engine. It's from a 94' I parted out and when i tore it down was pretty loose but no major scoring or bad stuff happening to the bearings. It's been at D&S in Troy to be get bores bored .25 over. crank polished and balanced. They do an awesome job of cleaning, I think they bake it and who knows what to get it super clean. Anyway after retrieval I decided not to let it rust so after a thorough masking job painted the outside with high temp engine paint.

I chose white just so any leaks show up really well

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Rt...M=w995-h771-no

After this I spent about 1.5 hours cleaning out all the threads...fun !

Detroit Pistons
 

Well not actually from detroit, decided to go with stock pistions and rings with new forged rods..., here they are before assembly

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-b...h815-no/13+-+2

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...h815-no/13+-+3

Gave everything a thorough clean and final wipe down, then time for plenty of redline assembly lube. Taking care to match the front of engine dimple on the pistons up with the correct orientation of the rods...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...h815-no/13+-+1

Mmm, that was easy !

Getting my bearings
 

So after copious amounts of measuring with a bore gauge and micrometer it was looking like my bearing clearances were a little tight if i stayed standard. My engine machinist recommended I go on the loose side of the specs so I ordered up some ACL's for my mains at 0.001" loose. These arrived and so I installed and plastigauged only to find my clearances were running up near 0.003" which is well outside of spec. After talking to FM it seems like they build nearer to 0.002", but of course were out of stock for this size.....After trying everywhere I came to the realization there were none in the USA. Since these things come from Austrailia I had to wait until the surf was down and they restocked everybody....Finally they arrived and I installed the crank...

Crank installed awaiting plastigauge
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/nK...=w1170-h775-no

Just a shade under 0.002"
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Z...h815-no/13+-+5

Lubrication city - this redline is nice stuff to use....
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...h815-no/13+-+2

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-h...h815-no/13+-+1

Installed the crank scraper and all torqued...done
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9...h815-no/13+-+3

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N...h815-no/13+-+4

New bearings for Sale
 

Of course I have a spare set of bearings, 0.001" loose for sale. I would think perfect for anybody with a new crank - follow the link to the classifeds section

https://www.miataturbo.net/miata-par...earings-75227/

What kind of power goals do you have in mind? The car is looking great.

Why, thank you much !

A modest 220-240 ish. Mostly looking for reliable, even power band, plenty of response.

Time for Pistons
 

Took longer than I thought, but the pistons and rods are now all in.....After reading several threads saying no oil, and then other say must have oil, I opted for the with oil on the rings and mostly applied to the ring compressor. Each rod was plastiguaged and came in loose end of in spec around 0.002" which to me is about perfect.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1382301327

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1382301327

What organization do you run with? Do you have any video?

Saw your car making the rounds on facebook.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1384473089

Not sure if this picture will embed or not. So badass.

Slow progress update
 

So after a few distractions, like my wife running the Detroit Marathon this year (She did great !) I managed to sneak a little time in the garage, not too much to report....

Planning the plumbing for the turbo drain - boy was it nice to mount this up, even if it was just for a short time...my GT2554r on a BEGI cast mani

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1385520864

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1385520864

Located the Oil drain, pretty much a straight shot down from the Turbo. I'm using -10an weld on fitting into the sump...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1385520864

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1385520864

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...o/IMG_0700.JPG

Lubrication and wet stuff
 

Installed the Oil and Water pumps, seal carriers and sump.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1385521350

Engine turns over soooo smoothly

Just prior to the head going on, last look at the shiny pistons...please tell me I didn't block the oil hole...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1385521350

November Rallycross
 

So here's Red White Blue in action 2 weeks ago. Started out really muddy then dried up. Great day - this was a Day/Night event. Running with Lights was pretty fun ! Managed to get 2nd in class behind a 911....pretty chuffed with that !

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lU...I=w582-h437-no

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/h4...k=w707-h405-no

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/o3...A=w821-h401-no

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/8J...U=w471-h209-no

SCCA
 

I run with the SCCA, I mostly do Rallycross but enjoy the odd road rally too, especially Press on Regardless just after Labor day in Michigan.

There are lots of regions who do rallycross across the US - check out their site
The Sports Car Club of America - RallyCross - find your local region and run the heck out of your car ! You will have a blast and learn some great car control in a (mostly) safe environment, not too spendy either, entry for this event was $45....

nice build!
inb4 your engine turns yellow

Nice to see you are getting the turbo set up. Should be fun next year!

Here is my current progress ('90 Mazdaspeed Miata Rallycross Project-Page 17: Builds and Project Cars forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine)

I've done rallyX, I want to know more about that road rally. Is there a forum for such a thing?

Awesome build here, loving the engine assembly shots. Inspiration for my engine build this spring.

Best thing to do would be to search TSD, time speed distance or Road rally on the web for general info. You should also checkout your local SCCA regions and see if they have a site and postings. If it's anything like Michigan now is a good time of year because we put on some novice orentation events in the early part of the year.

The Sports Car Club of America - Rally

This link has rule details and links to the regions etc.

If you don't feel like running a 1st event volunteer to work controls, you get the feel for the event without the pressure of competing and get to drive many of the same roads the competetitors do.

Good luck, you should try it, it's a lot of fun !

Why thank you !

Going a bit slower than I had hoped but it's getting there slowly....

Evan, you have some awsome pictures ! Nice ! Good luck with the cleaning project, so what r you doing with the engine out anyway ?

Head, water pump, oil pump and timing belt
 

A little more progress, put a new water pump and oil pump on, and the head is now back on where it should go....Also popped on the timing belt.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I...h552-no/14+-+4

I decided to use a core plug in the old water outlet and do the coolant re-route thing

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N...h552-no/14+-+2

and then given i run in dirty dusty enviroments I wanted to close off the holes this created in the covers - here's the backplate

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U...h552-no/14+-+3

and here is the front cover

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3...h552-no/14+-+1

I may throw a little paint on that one....

Get that VCTS outta there !
 

Took out the VCTS butterflies and welded up the holes.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f...h532-no/14+-+2

Couldn't resist some minor port matching.....

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/xX...8=w912-h433-no

I am installing a lightweight flywheel with new clutch as well as changing most of the gaskets as they are leaking. I would like a larger turbo but we will see how that goes.

I'm basically just going through the whole thing since I just dropped it in when I did the swap two years ago without checking anything to see how it ran. It ran well so I didn't mess with it and just topped off the oil that leaked out.

Slow progress, but back at it now...
 

Head and cam cover on, blank installed for the old CAS - using the core plug trick and a bit of goop....

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...h510-no/14+-+7

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...h510-no/14+-+4

Fuel Rail Fun
 

After trying to put my old 1994 fuel rail on I realized I needed something for a VVT head...I rushed out an bought a 2003 rail only to discover this also does not work because its a return-less system. Not wanting to go return-less, it seems you can use a 1999-2000 rail which has the port on the end for a damper, this can be swapped out for a FPR, problem solved....

2002+ rail not worky - FPR hits the head/manifold
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I...h510-no/14+-+1

All installed
still needed to do a little grinding on the front manifold through bolt that holds the two halves together to prevent contact/crushing the return line, but it all fits nice and snug now...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W...h510-no/14+-+2

Engine out
 

At last ! finally got to pull the engine, out came the engine, trans and rear diff and drive shafts...

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E...h553-no/14+-+2

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/vn...A=w754-h553-no

Tech tip - don't forget to undo the earth strap...

I'm so Biased
 

I've had this sitting on my shelf for sooo long, been dying to fit my new gizmo...Wilwood brake bias adjuster. Took a leaf out of Keith Tanners book to find a nice mounting location, felt awful cutting a hole in my tunnel, but once the drill started there was no turning back....

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9...h685-no/14+-+1

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-b...h685-no/14+-+2

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...h685-no/14+-+3

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f...h685-no/14+-+4

I like this project a lot. Subscribed.

So Cool
 

Here's my inexpensive reroute setup - Moss spacer, drilled and tapped for the Water temp sensor and inlet for the cabin heater, Kia thermostat cover and some decent length bolts. Will use the escalade hose also when this gets in the car.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...no/14%2B-%2B14

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...no/14%2B-%2B16

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...no/14%2B-%2B15