Why, weep away my friend, for I has the nitro running. I like to get big IPA's and put them on nitro. Yumm.

I usually only have two of the four faucets running. It's a tough, first-world problem to have 20 gallons of beer in the beer fridge and not be able to drink it in a reasonable amount of time. So I pretend I'm second world and only keep 10 gallons in it. Obviously, I need more garage bishes!

This is what I did today:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1359426749

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1359426749

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1359426749

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1359426749

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1359426774

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1359426774

Someone had sent me a PM about rotrex components, but it has now disappeared. Whomever that was, please send it again and we'll discuss. Not sure what happened to the pm.

Progress!
 

Curly stopped by on Tuesday to lend a hand. We got the axles into the diff with a few love taps from a small sledge and a block of wood, then got the fronts mostly assembled before we ran out of time.

I couldn't get the ball joint for the right upper control arm to grab with hand tools. It sat and spun. So out came a couple of pieces of 2x6 and the jack to put some pressure on it and seat it to get the nut to tighten:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1360388248


All four corners are completely assembled now, with brakes. Woot! Yes, I know there's no rotor in the pic .... it's there now. New OEM hubs. I will rebuild the old hubs with the blessed grease and ebay super-balls. These will then be the spares. After this season assuming the rebuild experiment goes well I will rebuild these as well.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1360387547


While Curly was here he asked, "what's next for the car?" I didn't really have an answer. I mean, I've just done power (80mm nose pulley for the rotrex) and suspension (big grip kit). But obviously, the answer is aero. And look what's coming in the mail!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1360387862

This is the CoT wing. I have FM's trunk lip mounts on order as well. I already have a Touge Run front airdam in the basement to put on the nose.

Now, obviously the wing will be able to generate much more rear downforce than the airdam by itself can create in front. The initial plan is to just run the airdam to prevent high speed lift, then add the wing at a neutral or very slight downforce angle, then put a splitter on the front.

Radiator shrouding is done. I decided to follow Genespicer's example and used PVC tub/shower liner to seal the gap between the airflow straightener box thing and the radiator. It wraps up the radiator support brackets on each side. Aluminum HVAC tape seals it all.

I put weatherstripping on the side of the radiator, and that took care of that gap. There's still some space at the very top on each side, but I'll seal that later, it can be done with the rad in the car.

Filled it up and started it, ran until warmed up. No issues. I like that. Next up: put the bumper back on, then attach the Touge Run front airdam.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1360806218

Car is on the ground, washed and waxed. Alignment isn't until Tuesday, so ride heights etc will have to wait, and cornering will be sedate until then. I haven't gone through and double checked my Xede maps yet, so I didn't romp on it during limited test drives today.

Before, on cold startup, the car would squeak and chirp until everything was up to temperature. It was something in the rotrex assembly. Between replacing the bracket with one that appears identical, and replacing the autotensioner and manual adjustment idler pulleys, those noises are gone. Nice.

60 degrees and KAVU! What a gorgeous day.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1360974341

KAVU? Is that pilot talk?

So, did you go with their replacement manual adjustment idler pulley or the super double secret Miata OEM timing belt one? Glad to see she's on the ground and looking clean! I almost wish I had tan leather... almost.

Very clean!

2 (3?) sets of 6uls and you post up the stockers.

Two. But it's cold outside, man, cold! My precious RS3's are staying warm and snuggly in the basement. Besides, my shocks are powered by the glorious unicorn semen, it doesn't matter what wheels/tires I roll on.

Although, I did almost put the Nickels with the RS2's on. Almost. I had to put the fronts on anyway to tighten the axle bolt on the ground, and considered putting them the rest of the way on, but those RS2's have little traction and the car now has a mystery alignment until Tuesday. And my child was riding with me today. So the stockers with the Yoko all-seasons went on.

This morning I went to one of the local Cars and Coffees. Performance Race Engineering was there handing out flyers for donuts. Since my 7yo was with me, donuts got added to the agenda. They're mostly a Subie shop, but donuts are a universal language! And while we were there, they had a raffle for a dyno pull.

So after winning my dyno pull like a baus, I have to go out to the car and tighten the supercharger belt. I set the original pre-load on it to 6mm, but by now after about 20 miles it has stretched some. No big deal. But I have to admit, I am a little nervous about this dyno pull. I had my annual dumbass moment earlier today. On the way from Cars and Coffee to PRE, I decided to romp on it a little bit in 2nd gear. About 5k rpm I hear PSSHHHHHhhhhh and the engine dies. :vash:

Won't do a rolling restart. Coast into a parking lot. Car starts, then dies. Pop the hood, can't smell anything, belts are ok. Thinking about the noise, throttle body connection is fine, intercooler connections I know are tight, then I found it. The hose for the recirc bypass valve, as well as the actual compressor outlet, had popped loose. Tightened them up and all is well, car restarts on first try. T-bolt clamps are awesome when you tighten them!

Excellent! Car has been off the jackstands for less than 24 hours, no tuning has been done, one failure has been corrected, let's hit the dyno!



https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1361056374



189.8 HP, 172 ft/lbs. Couple of things to note:

• no tuning since pulley change
• runs stop at 6300 due to lean condition, so there's definitely a higher HP number there
• this dyno is a conservative one for the area. Reads about 10% lower than a popular Mustang dyno. It's a Dynojet, but I don't know if it's a newer fancy one or if it's old school inertial roller.

Overall I'm very pleased. Suspension feels awesome. Tuesday will show how much camber I've gained by running lower, whether replacing the right front LCA fixed my excessive caster issue, and I can finally start to explore it on the street.

KAVU is pilot talk, however I am not a pilot, but my father-in-law flew cargo in Nam. It's also an apparel company based in Seattle. For some reason us PacNW'ers have a fascination with days that can be described as clear above, visibility unlimited. Don't know why.

Edit: I used all the new Kraftwerks components - bracket, autotensioner, idler pulley. The new steel idler pulley looked to be of higher quality than the old one, and it has a bit larger diameter than the t-belt idler pulley, so will spin at slightly lower RPM. The t-belt idler is in the toolbag, however. I am very satisfied with the new Kraftwerks components. Previously, on every cold start, there would be a rather loud metallic chirp chirp chirp from something in the rotrex components until everything warmed up. Now it is completely silent except for the normal little high-pitched rotrex "burble" for lack of a better word.

I wonder what the exhaust would of gained you. Please tune with it on, it'll only get leaner if you tune on the stock and then add the enthuza for the track.

The enthuza muffler is definitely staying on.

Where's Fae? He could learn from this attitude :giggle:

Ungh! I don't want to buy another bracket & autotensioner, but I want a new bracket & autotensioner :vash:

This gives me so much hope, you have no idea. So glad to see these results :) I guess I need to put an 80mm pulley on my "list of things to acquire." No restrictor, right? No one wants to buy my setup, so I guess I'll stick it out and see what happens.

Serious congrats man!

I am lazy. Blurring my license plate photo in stills and vids from my events is tedious work I do not wish to do.

Therefore:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1362679572


The direct sunlight makes part of the plate harder to read. Which is working as intended, as it is supposed to be a bit more subtle:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1362679557

Are you still running a stock header/midpipe?

Exhaust is stock other than the muffler.

^any reason why you haven't upgraded?

I'm guessing lack of unlimited funds and installation time

If it currently does what he wants, why spend more money and upgrade?

Every mod has to pass the "book club" test, apparently Dr. Wife is part of a book club and loud exhaust would not cut it. More tan leather stitching!

Children, behave. My exhaust does what it needs to. I don't know that the Racing Beat header is going to gain me much over my current header. As for the rest of it, I am content to run it as is for now. It may not be 3", but it doesn't have any restrictive bends and it gets the job done. With the Enthuza muffler it's plenty loud enough to be heard in the cabin with the hardtop on at 100mph while wearing a helmet & earplugs. Good enough.

Edit - besides, in a few years when I go EFR and start showing C5 and C6 vette owners my tail lights, that will be the time to replace the whole thing anyway.

Comparison shots. First Autox is tomorrow with the Porsche club.

Early last summer, Tein Flex's, stock alloys with 205/45 Yoko Avid H4S, stock sport brakes

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...iler-large-jpg

Today - Xida CS, 8" Gen 1 6UL with 205/50 BFG Rivals, TSE BBK (requires 5mm spacer in front, so the fronts look meatier than they are)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1363390473

Looks beautiful

I hope you realize just how much I am going to copy you since we basically have the same car.:giggle:

As I did others before me! As the World's Most Interesting man said: "It's not often I copy the cars of others, but when I do, I copy Mobius. Stay driven, my friends."

I hate to be that guy, but where did you get the front lip?

Nice work on the car.

Unless I am very much mistaken: Flyin' Miata : Body : Body parts : Polyurethane front air dam

I want one so very much, but my car scrapes in and out of my driveway as is :cry:

Yes, that is the one, the Touge Run airdam via FM. Pro tip - it's cheaper to buy it from FM than Touge Run, at least for an NB.

Fitment is pretty good, but their mounting hardware consists of some double-sided tape on the inside of the lip and sheet metal screws to attach it to the bumper. The tape is fine, but the screws are completely unacceptable IMO. I went to my local hardware store and got a bunch of small stainless bolts, nuts, and washers.

You can't see in the picture (because I primered them flat black to blend) but I put a couple or three bolts on each side of the top of the lip between the fog light and the wheel well to a) pull that up tight flush against the bumper and b) give it some reasonable support up high other than just the tape.

I have a 99 and thought you had a 2000. Can't seem to find a lip to replace the Oem one the old owner ripped off the car. He even payed a shop $200 to pull it off.

Oh well.

TrackDog has some options:

NB1 1999-2000 Air Splitters

I looked there a while ago. Just like everything else they make, it's an add on. You need the sport lip already installed. I think rspeed has the sport lip, but I like your splitter better.
Thanks for looking though.

You could convert your front end to NB2. Bumper + headlights. I believe it all bolts right up.

Yup, it bolts right up as long as you get all the little pieces to make it happen, that's what I did with mine. The NB2 headlights are night and day better than the NB1. I need to get some paint squirted on my nose to match the rest of my car, my shame is currently hidden with a OEM NB2 mask.

+1000
I just recently sold my 2000 and I have a 2004 MSM and a 2001. The headlights are a MASSIVE improvement. Do it. If you do so, I have a out-of-production replica of the 00 style front lip that fits 2001+ that I will sell you.

Look at that. The threads of Mobius provide solutions for everyone!

I also haz 04 MSM headlights! :makeout:

I have a Mazda PN list for the conversion somewhere if you are interested. Its slightly more than just nose and headlights.

Is this the ILMotorsport/RSpeed one that I almost bought about eleventyjillion times but couldn't justify the cost + shipping? :crx:

That is exactly the one. I caught it on a sale and apparently I got the last one. Thats what they told me anyways.:jerkit:

No I was saying I have a 2004 MSM and a 2001 Miata. Two separate cars. Comparing either of their headlights to the 2000's was no contest. I actually think the 2001's are slightly better than the MSM's. Probably something to do with the darkened housings on the MSM's?

My car also looks the same, same colour and same wheels anyway! :)

DW300 fuel pump and a new fuel filter are in the car. Couple of quick onramp tests show 11.0 where before it was 12+, so win.

NB Fuel filter tip - you can't clamp the lines, they're plastic hard lines. I got under the, car, disconnected the first one (having properly depressurized everything, run the engine until it stopped,etc), and the gas started flowing out onto my rag. And it kept flowing, and flowing, and flowing. And flowing.

I reconnected the filter to seal everything back up. I believe it was siphoning from the tank. I pulled the fuel pump, and tried the filter again, and only about 3 oz of gas came out.

Next time I'll go ahead and disconnect the lines at the pump assembly, so there's no chance of siphonage.

I love a good gas bath!

After disconnecting the line, I just stick a golf tee that I pilfered from my friend in it. A Bic pen works ok, too, if I remember correctly. lol
Regardless, gas doesn't spill everywhere, and the job gets done quickly.

How loud is that DW? My Wally 190HP is has always been loud and I've always found it obnoxious. I think recently its started getting louder, so I've been preparing for the worst.

A friend just pulled the main fuel line out of his NB1, I may see if its worth trying to set up my car with a legit return system ;)

I cannot hear it over the exhaust. Maybe if I put the stock muffler back on.

Golf tees did not work for me. I had the long driving range tees and couldn't get a seal. Meanwhile there's a footwide puddle and it was soaking down my sleeves.

It's a 60k/48mo service item, it's not all that much extra work to disconnect the lines up top so that they will drain and empty at the filter. I'll just do that next time to ensure it will drain and empty. I hate wearing gasoline.

I made a topic about this fuel filter issue and I just got made fun of. What I ended up doing was having the new fuel filter ready with the other end with the plastic cap still on it. Snap the old one off, a little fuel spills and then snap the new one on and then you have all the time in the world to bolt everything back up and remove the other end cap and plug it all back in.

Yeah. In my garage, on jackstands, with limited clearance, I'm just going to open the other end of the lines so that I can simply undo that first connetion and let it all drain into a container. Maybe 4 oz. Then I've got all the time in the world, cuz there's no gas in the lines.

It takes maybe 5 minutes to pop the clips and roll the carpet up, another 5 to remove the cover and pop the fuel lines off the pump assembly. Longer, of course, the very first time you do it, but still worth it imo.

That was almost three months ago.


:(

Ah ok, the first time I failed it was because I was in the garage on jackstands as well. My second attempt was on a lift, so for my 01 Ill follow your advice and disconnect the pump lines.

Time is relative, all depends on one's point of reference. Just let me know when you are ready to start wrenching again, you know I'm down. BTW: I cleaned and sanitized both of your growers yesterday. I'm sure I can find a gallon of beer around here somewhere. Now we can drink while we rewire your car :party:

Got the wing mounted. Had to trim the trunk liners a bit to get access to the nuts. Rivnuts proved not feasible since the clearance is so tight. Wing is back off the car to get the Rustoleum applied to the mounts.

Also, got the RS3's/9"6UL's on, and put about 30 miles or so on them to scrub them and get some sort of initial heat cycle into them. On the freeway, compared to the 205 rivals, they are a bit louder, and they tramline a bit (compared to the Rivals tracking completely straight), but they don't tramline anything like what the 225 RS2's on the 8's did.

Lousy pic of the initial installation:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1365626293

Those is them fancy FM limited production COT mounts from the group buy, correct?

Yes. Much nicer than anything I could come up with. Totally worth a hundred bucks.

Where in the hell did you get that COT wing and where can I get one?

Edit: NVM, The googlemachine is full of win today LOL

Dood where have you been? Hanging in the CR.net FI forum?? It's been a COT-wing spoogefest on mt.net since February.

I don't visit the race prep section for a reason :loser:

you bringing both sets of tires to P club on monday?

What, I would go to a track day without my trailer and all of my rubber ??

Yes, bringing them. RS3's are on the car now. If it's wet I'll swap that morning. Have to bed the xp8's tomorrow (already broken in, but just put them on after a long nap, want to redo the bedding procedure), get gas, put gas in the 5gallon cans, and put the wing on.

If it's not wet I'll run sessions on both. Actually, I will probably run sessions on both regardless. Moar data! Which reminds me I want to up my tire pressure a bit in the Rivals.

And I should have gone NT01 instead of RS3. Next year.

should be fun, I'll be on fresh RS3s as well, I'll be running the galant in intermediate with you :D

Just get both, that's what I did. Now I just need a set of rims for my RS3s :burncash:

Have I not had enough coffee yet this morning, or are you using the Rivals as wets over the RS3?

That. Rivals for autox/wet. Should have gotten NT01 for dry. C'est la vie! Time to grind down some RS3's!