hedz0r

This will be a shortened and abbreviated story, as most of the back story of this build is long, tedious and undocumented.

In August of 2014 I bought a 63k mile 1991 Miata in Crystal White. The car was a base model that was optioned out for VLSD and A/C, sometime later some homebrew stereo was installed. The car was supposed to be a cheap fun weekend car. The car came with NB1 14" 5 spokes with some spent Falken Azenis. They were pretty grippy still, but could break away easily if pushed too hard. This was obviously unacceptable so I figured I would buy some tires, while looking at tires to fit the 14s I thought I may as well just buy wheels and tires from TireRack to get the free mount and balance. I also decided I want a little more roll control so at the same time I purchased FM VMaxx XXXXXXxxxxXXXXXTREMESSSS with sport springs and their sway bars. Obviously, this was the tipping point from being a cheap weekend car, to being a project car that would see mountain passes and racing as well as taking over summer daily duty.

I've taken the car from Milwaukee to Deals gap in both 2015 and 2016.


I even was featured on the weekly Killboy.com highlights

hedz0r

Here is a somewhat current list of mods going into 2018

Flyin Miata VMAXX XXTremes with Sport Springs
Flyin Miata Sway Bars, Front and rear
949 Racing Swaybar end links
Advanti S1 15x8 +25
205/50/15 Bridgestone RE-71R
Type II Torsen 4.1:1
Hawk HPS Brake pads, Front and rear
Energy Suspension Poly Control arm Bushings
-- Zerk fittings
-- SadFab Bronze Bearing Retrofit
Energy Suspension Poly Diff Bushings
DIYAutoTune MSPNP2
Innovate MTX-L
Momo Steering Hub
--Ebay Steering wheel spacer
Momo Prototipo 350mm
RevLimiter Customer Porsche styled gauge faces
VooDoo Shift **** - wrinkle black
Bauer Extended Lower Balljoints
Mazda R-Package Tie rod ends
HardDog M1 Single Diagonal

hedz0r

As with all 90s era white Miata's the paint starting falling off the car, literally falling off in sheets. I had a buddy co-driving my car at Autocross, he places a piece of blue painters tape on the top side of the quarter panel by the soft top, at the end of the run, he removed the painters tape and an entire sheet of Crystal white paint had came along with it. This is when I knew it was time for a re-spray. I debated quite a bit over the paint color for the respray, I figured this would a great time to change the color up since the entire car was needing paint anyways. I did not want a custom color, I wanted something OEM so that touch ups and bodywork were easy in the future. I dont think modern metallics (heavy flake) work really well on the NA body, I also wanted something that could pass as an OE color from Mazda. I looked at Lotus, Porsche, Mazda, BMW colors from the 80s and 90s to kind of help fit the era of the NA. Ultimately I settled on 1987 Porsche Granite Green Metallic, and I think its stunning. It feels the desire I had to choose an OE Color that looked like it could have came on a special edition Miata right from Mazda in the 90s.




The only things that did not get paint were the trunk floor, the floor boards, and engine bay. Door jambs, underside of trunk and hood got paint.

hedz0r

So I guess that brings us to today;



I wanted to build the tiny 1.6 into a high compression, high rpm, ITB motor. I had spare motors and parts all over the garage and house, but ultimately I decided the effort was futile and broke down and bought a 1.8. I found a 2001 NB2 1.8 Engine that logged 103k miles and had it shipped home. While waiting on the BP6D, a couple buddies came over and we pulled the B6




The swaggy Raceland header bling came out really nicely attached to the motor.

Blurry pics inbound:
Started stripping all the crap out of the bay


And started masking; my painter buddy told me Aluminum foil works really well to easily cover and mask all the crap that needed to stay in the bay during paint. He was right.




annndddd after 2 coats of color and 2 coats of clear, we have this:

hedz0r

Motor showed up; looks alright for the most part, need to dig into it to see where we are at.

Missing an exhaust stud, those things come out so easily when the exhaust manifold nut rusts onto the stud



ewwwwwwwwwww all that nasty oil stained all the internals. People; stop using **** oil and change your oil more often. this is nasty.


Parts are starting to pile up

The pistons cleaned up really nicely however, no knicks or obvious hot spots. thats good.

Cylinders still have cross-hatching, hopefully the rings are still good

that nasty oil was evident in the pan as well, the pan and windtage tray needed some good douching

a little acetone and a rag really helped break down all the gunk

Taking breaks from cleaning to work on wiring and other engine bay assembly. THATS how bad it was inside the motor. so... much... cleaning...

but the results are worth it. Pan surface all cleaned up and ready for more high temp glue

Had the engine shop remove that bung on the backside of the head to open up some room for the coolant reroute hose, and my sanity

changed out all the valve seals for Supermiata valve seals (which are just CarQuest parts) based on threads here showing their similar strength to worn out OEM seals for a fraction of the money, hopefully no SuperTech results with these.

hedz0r

Replaced the head bolts with some ARP hardware, its one of those "might as well" kind of things. While I was in there anyways, might as well throw an upgrade at it and not worry about it


a 94-00 head gasket was used so I can use the coolant reroute without blocking coolant flow to cylinder 1

Resurface with a 0.020 shave

reunited and it feels so good

Block off all the bullshit we dont need anymore

Skou spacer (yes its been sitting on a shelf for 2 years..) extra RTV mayo to ensure I see no coolant leaks that will drive me mad

hedz0r

Some helpful part numbers:

Oil Dip Stick BPE8-10-450
Head Alignment Dowel B630-10-306
Exhaust Manifold Studs MR-EMFK-G8
Oil Control Valve Gasket BP6D-10-663
Blind Cover Gasket ZL09-10-607
Oil pump o-ring FE1H-14-122B
Oil Strainer/Pickup Gasket B6BF-14-248
NA6 oil filter pipe 8630-10-319

Padlock

Following for the sake of following... Maybe you'll keep up at AutoX this season

hedz0r

yeah hopefully 50 more whorespower will help with that. stupid 1.6s.

Marioshi

I love the color you picked for it. GL on your swap, looks like it's coming along nicely.

Roda

Looking good!

I've been driving my VVT swapped NA for just over a year now, and I can say you're going to like the results!

hedz0r

Thanks! I feel like this particular project has been 40% cleaning, 40% wiring and 20% mechanical.

thats great to hear, it seems like a great choice to help wake the car up a bit. I've very excited to drive it for the first time