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Some minor progress. There was a Superlap Challenge event on the 5th I was planning on making it to, but my alternator gave out two days before.. Couldnt get it replaced before the event.
Next event is on September 9th, I think I can make it!
Brushes were worn out and one of the bearings was on its way out.. Got a new one for $106 on amazon and its working perfect so far. "Premier Gear PG-13559".
Also put in some FM adjustable sway bar endlinks and relubed the inner bar bushings. I was getting some loud clunking when hitting bumps while turning. These fixed it, feels a lot better.
I have now replaced every single suspension bushing on this car
Also turned the CEL into a shift light. Honestly its kind of a novelty since the CEL is so dim, but was a fun little project.
Added a wire from the 1E CEL pin to the WLED output pin.
Set the light to come on at 5800 rpm, this seems like when the HP and TQ drops off on the dyno plot above. Cant rev it too high with this tiny turbo.
Then wrapped the front bumper. More sanding:
Wrapped the bottom half and mouth first. The bumper went easier than I imagined but it would be a lot easier with two people to lay it flat in one go.
Wrapping the top half.
Front end done! Always wanted one of those oem stickers on the front too.
Really enjoyed reading through this build thread! Car looks great nice job with the wrap. Nice to see you taking the time to replace/update what you see is in need.
Thinks it's been about a year since the last update, but nothing major done to the miata. Haven't been able to drive it much, about 600 miles this year so far
I had an issue pop up where the oil pressure read 10-15psi lower than normal on the oem gauge. It actually showed 0psi at idle and nearly gave me a heart attack. But I hooked up a mechanical gauge to where the oem oil pressure sender unit is and everything checked out.
Cleaned up all the wire connections on the circuit but didnt fix it. So likely the sender or the gauge is going bad.
Ran in the ABQ Superlap challenge late last year. Think my times were ~1:45 so not really any improvement but it was still a blast and met some great people. Would definitely feel better with a roll bar though.
Think my tires were worn out too. There's this weird blue strip on some of the edges after.
I installed a revlimiter gauge light panel to change the CEL to an upshift light and to move the airbag and headlight lights out from behind the speedometer.
And an HVAC panel to clean up the center console.
Close up
My cluster was from an 91 miata, so found I had to add some additional wires (three right red arrows) to get all the lights to illuminate.
All lit up
New HVAC panel
Installed
And put in some clear turn signals in the front at some point. Kept the rears as red since it matched the red taillights better.
Also my airbag module died again. Took it apart and found a few bad caps and the thermal fuse had to be replaced as well (waited too long and it got the code 10). I replaced the fuse since I couldnt find a cheap airbag module online or in the local junkyards, saved a few hundred dollars.
The fuse was a pain though. Had to desolder then unroll the heating element from the original fuse and transfer to the new one.
Arrows point to leaking capacitors. I ended up replacing all 5 of them for less than $10.
Another view
Capacitors removed. The large black one in the top right was a new one.
Unrolling the heating element from the original fuse. Very slowly to not tear the element on the 30 year old adhesive.
flattened out
Measuring resistance so I could verify it didnt get damaged during reinstallation.
Wrapped around the new fuse and solder back on using low temp solder. Didn't cut the long fuse leads yet. Checked the fuse continuity and the heating element resistance after.
Low temp solder and the 141C thermal fuse I used. Bought two incase I over heated the first one, but didnt have any issues.
Went through a few car changes as well, but not by choice...
Upgraded my wifes Chevy Cobalt to a 2015 Subaru Legacy 3.6.
Had it about a month before someone ran a red light and t-boned it on the driver's door. Everyone was ok. Multiple witnesses and other driver was found 100% at fault.
Car was totaled, bent the body enough we couldn't get the hood open.
Ended up replacing it with a 2015 Forester. Was a down grade from the Legacy unfortunately but we needed another car. The Legacies with the 3.6 engines are hard to find, didnt sell too many.
Then about a month later my 2011 Outback 3.6 was totaled too. Someone turned left it front of us when we had a green light going the speed limit.
Everyone was ok thankfully. Multiple witnesses and other driver was found 100% at fault again.
Got tired of buying high mileage cars and fixing them, so replaced it with another 2015 Outback 3.6. Only 86k miles, my first car I ever had with less than 150k miles.
Almost had all of Subaru's 2015 lineup now
So yea havent driven the miata much recently. Not feeling confident driving it with the other drivers around here. There's trucks I see where their bumper is right at head height in my miata...
Been thinking about selling it (and the forester) and getting a sporty sedan. Something I can put a car seat into and have fun driving it daily. Looking at B8.5 S4s
Damn! Drivers in ABQ are crazy man, I don't blame you. I still drive mine to work and whatnot, but in Taos the driving is super chill. I'm always on my toes when driving through ABQ to go to the track, it's kinda fun actually, but I don't blame you for considering getting rid of it.
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