Nickt93's Eliminator (formerly Ghettocet) Build (Like I Need Another Project)
 

A few months ago - amidst a major lack of free time - I decided to take on yet another build. My addiction knows no end.

I've had it tucked in the back of my mind that I wanted to do a ghettocet type build for quite some time. I peruse craigslist daily, but never really came across anything inspiring enough to move on. In July I found the perfect donor - a well-maintained 1995 Miata that had some front end collision damage. The next day it was in my garage and we were off to a nice start.

My target car was one that already had some nice mods (suspension mainly), as I knew that would keep the total cost down. I was also targeting a car that either had light collision damage or was cosmetically undesirable, as I figured the asking price on these would be closer to my price range. The car I found was the perfect candidate – lovingly maintained, nice modifications, a pile of spares, and a reasonable asking price. We settled on $1500 for the car + spares. Some screen shots of the craigslist ad:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486


First Impressions - On first glance I could tell the car was in great overall condition. On closer inspection it only got better – the attention to detail was unbelievable. Other than the collision damage this is one of the cleanest cars I’ve ever owned.

Mega-clean engine bay
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486


All the suspension stuff looks new
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486


Racing Beat Header
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486


Clean fluids are never a bad sign
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486


Oil filter relocation kit with braided hoses
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880486

My initial plan was to do some sort of super low budget, super light weight (a "ghettocet" if you will). Something like these:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880985


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880985


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880985


As I started to do more and more research that became less appealing. Perhaps that would be different if I was willing to build the cage myself, but welding really isn't my "thing". Quotes for decent cages came in around $2,000-2,500, and even then I wasn't sure I was going to be happy with the results.

Eventually I linked up with Alan at SalvageWon. He educated me on his experience leading up to and building the Eliminator. I was sold from our first conversation. He has learned a considerable amount about how to build these cars right, and the incremental expense of building an Eliminator vs a Ghettocet is worth every penny. First, their design takes full advantage of the space made available by eliminating the body of the car - provides a ton more room inside so that you aren't cramped against the cage. Second, their design allows you to remove as much weight as possible while still maintaining/ improving rigidity. Third, the end product is much more aesthetically pleasing than something cobbled together using an off-the-shelf cage (to me at least; your opinion may vary :) ). All of these would have been major compromises in the ghettocet.

If you aren't familiar with Eliminators, here are a few pictures:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880985


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880985


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880985


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880985

Current status - car has been stripped, cut, and cage has been welded. Woohoo!

Here are a few "in progress" pics:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447881162


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447881112


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447881112


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447881226


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e94c24e723.jpg


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b6386405ab.jpg



https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...343f5807ad.jpg

your last two posts.... are they suppose to have images in them?


*They're showing now :dunno:

Pictures show fine for me.

Did you hire out the welding? You mentioned it wasn't your thing, but the welds look great!

My bad - posted two "placeholder" posts to add content to a few minutes later. You must have caught them during the window when they were blank!

Those aren't my welds! I've only owned one welder and it was a sh*tty Harbor Freight one. That probably didn't help.

While I'll agree the Eliminator kit seems better in every way then all of the ghettocet examples I've seen; the cost of the kit is pretty tough to swallow.

What is the cost of the salvagewon kit?

This. I looked on their site and did not see anything besides to email them.

I emailed them a few days ago- no answer.

Final pricing hasn't been determined yet, but think somewhere in the neighborhood of $5k. That includes the cage, a pair of seats, headlights/ taillights, a radiator and fan, and the front grille/ bodywork. I think it is a good value considering everything you get.

Speaking of cost, if you do this right you can build one on a tiny budget. I bought my donor for $1500 and have sold $4700 worth of parts off of it on eBay. The seats sold for $500, the top was another $500, the finish panel was $300, etc. Even after paying eBay/ PayPal/ UPS their share I'm still way positive on this car.

All in all I think I'll have about $2-3k in this build.

That's totally f-ing awesome. I have an '03 with dings and dents all over, but it runs great and isn't too terribly rusty. We're talking VVT and 6-speed. The perfect base for a turbo eliminator2. I'm sure I could make a decent buck selling off some of the parts I won't be needing anymore.

Sub'd.

How do you fill up gas at the end? What is the solution for this?

Most of the Ghettocet-like vehicles I've seen just stick the OEM filler neck up in the air, coupling it to the gas tank with a short length of hose.

Basically just like the stock design, only without the body around it.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447969226

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447969226

What the Eff is wrong with those wheels on that car? Most-extreme heat-wave distortion? Photo-chop failboat? Rota Quality?

they are ultra jdm

Movement when the photo was taken.

:dunno:

Specifically, vibration of a very low period.

Unlike frame-transfer CCDs, the CMOS image sensor in most cheap digital cameras scans the frame from top to bottom a line at a time, just like old analog video equipment.

Thus, side-to-side vibration present during the exposure will manifest itself as waviness in the image.

Give Alan a bit of time - he'll answer - otherwise I'll beat up on him.

Correct - this is Robert Russom's first build - i helped cut on it years ago. There's a build thread on it somewhere here. Since version one - I'd have to say the current V3 is much more stylish thanks to Alan's input.

I reached out to them as well.. hoping I can start :fael: soon

Thanks for the offer, but I work in NJ- plenty of people available to assist with a little knee-capping around here.

I need to start posting parts on eBay!

I'll post a full list later, but you wouldn't believe how much some parts sold for. This car was a goldmine.

I'm trying to figure out how the build actually works. (Also trying to figure out how to convince my wife we need to spend another $5K on Miatas. That just as an aside- any ideas?)

- Do they ship you the completed cage and you just weld the supports, or do the ship the bent pieces of steel and you weld the whole cage together?

- Decent instructions on where to apply the sawzall on the donor?

- Any differences between an NA and NB donor? I have an NB I may be willing to sacrifice....

- What's your estimate on how many hours the project will take you? I am a little hesitant to believe the "one weekend" timeline, considering that it took me almost a full day to install a harddog rollbar.

Nick, it's cool to see more supra owners with miatas. Post as much as info as you can, also like Stefan mentioned.. do they provide you with detailed instructions?

Stefan - great questions! A few ideas:

Re: your wife. This one is easy: do the math and show her how much of the $5k you'll be able to recover by selling off the unneeded parts. I'd expect you to be able to recoup at least half of the costs.

Re: the cage. It comes pre-welded for the most part. Here is a picture of what it looks like. The front section (shock tower plates and front bar) are added later. There is some additional welding in the back to clean up the rear, and it's a good idea to seam weld the chassis during the build for added rigidity.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1448061448


Re: instructions on cutting/ welding. Yes, this is in process. In fact my car is being used to document a lot of the prep that needs to be done for the conversion. If you ordered one now I would expect robust instructions to be available by the time you received your kit.

Re: NA vs NB. I don't think there is any difference between the two for purposes of this conversion.

Re: hours for the conversion. I'll tell you when its done :) It took me 2-3 months to strip the car and sell off all of the parts needed to fund the project.



Yeah man! I was going to note that our garages are quite similar! What color is your Sup'? Mine is Alpine Silver - had it since 1999.

Regarding cost, here is just a sneak peak at a few of the things I've sold on eBay; will post a more comprehensive list later. You can see how quickly some of this stuff adds up:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1448061729


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1448061729

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1448061729

WTF? Headlight motors for 50? Auction or Buy it now. I need to go on ebay. Springs too? I trashed those.

Nick you're cheating by having Alan do it! No sawzaw for you!
I will say, if you plan to do this yourself - it WILL take time. The cage comes pre-welded for the most part, but YOU have to prep and paint/seal it, prep the car with the instructions that will come with the kit, weld the cage to what's left of the car, then finish up with suspension (you'd better upgrade over oem), install seats and harnesses.... my rough guess that the diy guy (unlike me) will spend about 30hrs total - if/when on adderall :)

Wow. Just wow.
Some of the prices you got for these parts seem quite insane to me! Of course including shipping drives them up a little, but still....

will the car be street legal when done? I see some had turn signals, windshields, etc, but what about fenders or wipers? Not sure what is required state to state.

"Yes". Possibly. Depends.

Headlights/ brake lights/ turn signals are critical to being street legal. This car will have all of those.

In Georgia it's not totally clear if fenders/ windshield/ etc are required for street legality. I don't know of any of the current Eliminator owners having any issues with police, but I won't be totally surprised if I got pulled over even if just for questioning.

This very much depends on the state.
In PA for example you would likely title this as a "specially constructed vehicle". SCVs need the following that current Eliminators don't seem to have:
- Fenders
- Hood
- Windshield (minimum 12" tall)

So it looks like an Exocet with an additional windshield can get titled in PA, an eliminator needs a little bit extra work.

To follow up on the question about costs/budget, here is what I've sold so far off of the car. Grand total = $4758. Back out ebay/ paypal/ shipping and I'm still at $3900. I think I have about another $1200 worth of parts to sell, so I should come in right around $5k in parts sales.

So, I'll backing out the $1500 I paid for the donor I'll end up with $3500 in cash and a solid donor that has everything I need for the conversion (solid motor/ tranny, AGXs, RB Header, intake, RB sways, etc.

Spare Seats $560
Convertible Top $550
Finish panel $314
Trunk lid $239
Front left fender $239
Door panels (pair) $179
Spare transmission $150
Wheels and Tires $150
Bumper mask $100
Springs - OEM $89
Boot/ Tonneau $85
Lifters $79
Turn signal control with cruise #2 $65
Cockpit Brace $65
Altezza tails $55
Side Mirror - Driver (powered) $55
Side Mirror - Passenger (powered) $55
Headlight motor - right $45
Headlight motor - left $45
Floor Mats $45
Glovebox $35
Headlight - Driver $65
Leather steering wheel $112
Tombstone/ Bezel $45
Side Mirror - Driver (manual) $60
Center Console with shift boot $45
Side Mirror - Passenger (manual) $65
Window glass - driver $66
Window glass - passenger $49
Miata Trunk Carpet $85
Taillight - Left Side $68
Seats $400
Cabin cover $63
Taillight - Right Side $58
HVAC Heater core assembly/ box element case $70
HVAC Blower Housing Assembly Heater Air Conditioning AC Box $39
Seat belts & receivers $80
Body Kit - Rear Bumper, Side Skirts $100
Speaker Box/ Carpet $40
Windshield trim/ weather strip $29
Stock flywheel $20

Your results may vary. I think this car was a great deal and it included a stack of spares which I was able to turn into cash. Still, find the right donor and these things can basically pay for themselves.

Just out of curiosity: how did you ship the fender and trunk lid? And how much did it cost?

I am interested in this too.

I shipped them via UPS. I custom made boxes for them starting with a Home Depot box, then trimming and folding to get the desired size.

I've shipped out two trunk lids now - the first cost $24, the second was $29.

UPS charges a good deal less if you ship to a business address vs residential, so on the bigger items like seats I've asked the sellers to get them delivered to a business if possible.

Nick, I still haven't heard back from the company? Any advice on how to get started?

PM me. I can give you some insight.

I've shipped a few trunks through UPS with no problems. I've shipped fenders bundled together via Greyhound Express Package across the country for less than $50.

Windshields are completed.
We're working on a fender design but getting Nicks car out is a higher priority.
I can say for certainty that we will not be designing a hood, I wonder if there is not a work around for it?

I'll keep trying to answer questions as they arise, assuming Nick or Genesplicer doesn't answer them.

.

Talked to the "Specially Constructed Vehicle" inspector and he confirmed that PA requires fenders, windshield and hood. Also needs front bumper, but he thinks what's on the Eliminator is sufficient. Not sure if it actually needs a rear bumper.
The hood can just be a piece of plastic or dibond, but fixing the hood with zip-ties, as I had thought of doing, is apparently no sufficient :fael:

Nick: any progress pictures?

As a matter of fact!

Work has been crazy so I have been too busy to update, but lots and lots of progress has been made on the car.

First off - if any one of you decides to build one of these cars DO NOT start with a chassis that has been sprayed with truck bed liner. That stuff is very difficult to remove, and it at least needs to come off everywhere where the cage welds up. In my case it all needed to be removed so that the tub can be painted. If I ever get a time machine I'm going to go back to the night the PO sprayed this thing with rhino liner and be like "dude wtf stop!!!".

Here are some pictures of the chassis being soda blasted to remove the truck bed liner:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


Shaping up nicely:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


Engine out, almost ready for paint:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946

A few close ups; really beautiful work in my opinion:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450137946

Super excited about getting this thing out on the road and the track.

^ Spot on, Rob! Haaaa!

Come on man- I need my bi-weekly eliminator fix. Any news?
BTW: what is he difference between the v2 and the v3T?

Wish I had more news to share but the holler'days have slowed the progress. The tub is pretty much fully soda blasted and the car will be headed to the paint booth within the next week or two. After that the motor and wiring harness go back in, sort out a few final details and then drive, drive, drive!

The V3 is the latest evolution of the Eliminator - builds on the learnings from V1 (the prototype) and V2 (the first version of the Eliminator in its current format). The "T" designates that it has a turbo.

Very interesting build. Love the idea. With all that weight loss, what did you end up deciding for struts/springs company/model and spring rates? I'm assuming not typical Miata.

I would also be interested in seeing what you chose for the other "general Miata" bolt on upgrades and parts. If this is posted elsewhere, I apologize.

Will probably go with something like 450/300; should be a good starting point given the expected weight (~1750) and intended track/street usage.

As for other upgrades the car has an intake and header already, and fabbing an exhaust is a necessary part of the build as the factory exhaust will no longer work with the tub cut. I also have a Megasquirt PNP on the shelf waiting to be installed.

I'm going to drive the car NA for a while...but I have about 80% of a turbo kit pieced together already "just in case" :)

Thanks for the input. I'm doing a lot of research for components for my own "Eliminator" build.

Genesplicer did 450/250 or 500/300 as well. I see a pattern : D How streetable is 500/300? Haven't been in a Miata with that spec.

Also - you mentioned that the factory exhaust must be modified, due to the tub cuts - how so? I hadn't observed this in any photos / comments before (And I've tried to follow all ghettocet/eliminator threads there are in the world!)

Had this behind me today:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453904051

Reminded me of this:

A few updated pictures; final prep before heading off to the paint booth:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454953704

Awesome post! Thanks for the update!

Would love a bunch more shots of the engine bay before the engine goes back in. Generally, I can find views of the middle/rear of the car - but the front end not so much.

Sure thing man

keep posting and updating this please. I love these builds and hope to tackle one day. :bigtu:

Saw your Eliminator the other day when visiting Robert - holy crap on the bed spray liner! I can now see how it was such a pita to remove! That shit was like 1/4" thick!
Think the dynaliner in the tunnel will catch on fire when you add turbo? Or melt everywhere :)
Was looking real good - gotta jump back in mine now!

Thanks man! Yeah, guess the PO got a little carried away with that truck bed liner junk. Bleh! It's a meeeeeata not a truck bed mang!!!

Stacks of parts are arriving daily for this thing. Can't wait to get it on the road. More updates soon.