No problem.

If you need a BMW gearbox, they are pretty cheap over here, maybe i can help somewhere.

A short 1-2 run. The GF has never een in my car before and chickened out on the recording as soon as I hit third


Today was dead at work so I decided to learn how to use the waterjet cutter

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2398321411.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...903763a7dd.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a999e80bb8.jpg



the weekend will go into detail work and getting her 100% daily ready

Borrowed a DA polisher from a friend because I've been meaning to learn to polish for a looong time. Had a practice run on the Honda and then went to work on the miata. Got her mirror smooth and applied a film of Fusso soft 99 on the paint and then Glaco on the windows. Now flies need nothing more than a light spray of water to get off and water literally bounces off. Both products super simple to use

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...635af163f6.jpg


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f9852716d1.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...188bab29cd.jpg


Now I'm just waiting on some minor parts, but she's on daily duty and driving almost like stock. I really like the feel of the AWR 60 durometer mounts and supermiata sport clutch. feels perfect to me.

Sixshooter invited me to join him and Ryan_G at the MATG. So of course I hopped on a plane and got my ass over to the US. They picked me up in Atlanta and then we headed to the Gap.

Complete album with more pictures
https://imgur.com/a/c1Q5Qct

Here we can see Shuiend checking out sixshooters and Ryans cars
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6ee1468d02.jpg

Me having a blast in the Evora
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f3ef780ce0.jpg

Now remember that there are total 35 miatas in Iceland and not all of them roadworthy. So seeing all these miatas at the same place and the variety was so much fun for me.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...08e1d563fb.jpg

This one was rocking a cammed LS3 and nitrous.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e70830dfb8.jpg


It was super interesting to see the K swap in person because it's a likely "next step" in my cars life. When/if my engine dies
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b577d7fa7c.jpg

I was bombarded with new names all weekend so you have to forgive me for not all of them sticking.

Here we have a father/son duo. The son driving the Gray LS3 NA
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2ca3da5216.jpg

The bay was really neat and it hauled ass when he took me for a drive
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5a437866ce.jpg

The dad's ride. LFX NA. The character of this engine suits the miata pretty well.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ec0f79cce5.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4511177683.jpg

This Merlot NA was impressive because it was so nice, inside and out. Super clean and I just now realized I forgot to snap a pic of the exterior
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0ac5fd3dbc.jpg

nine lives racing sponsored vehicle
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9a663a5bae.jpg

The group headed out for the dragons tail
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1858bda63d.jpg

Mid cruise breather.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c232499e17.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...91e8feddf5.jpg

An older couple were rocking this 1.5 miata
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4b00d0c509.jpg

The plasti dip may be gaudy. I still like it
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7955ff70e4.jpg

I had a great time, putting faces to the screen names. seeing all the cars I've only seen online. witnessing the whole spectrum of miatas from slammed to lifted

To everyone I met out there, thank you :)

Your car looks really clean an your build is coming together nicely! Good talking with you at MATG.

Thanks man. my pictures really don't show how clean your car is.

But I've been driving so much haven't really given myself any time to tinker. Tonight I mounted the fuse box in the glove box and cleaned up the wiring. simple but needs to be done.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c556e19604.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3b0ed5b351.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c37f2a7334.jpg

next friday I'll be hosting the yearly owners club gathering. We'll park in front of this church downtown. A popular tourist spot and a good backdrop

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e531b5bb64.jpg

Unfortunately the turnout was not great due to unforeseen circumstances but the few that showed up had a great time.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...59e0337cd6.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...68120984c1.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1ef9a25e1f.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7bf82a3eb9.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e5bb7f2d4b.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...19c37f4de4.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a2ba507137.jpg

A hen party showed up and the bride to be wanted to pose with my car but didn't dare for a "scare drive"

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d07db55fde.jpg

Midnight run with the gang

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1eaf4d3028.jpg

The 280z is a friends car, it has an RB20 and was bought off Snoop Dogg's producer last summer and imported. He's going all in this winter with a 2JZ and a BMW transmission.

The black NA has just been imported, RHD and will be turbo'd with my help this winter. I'll do it faster the second time around lol

I got about a week turn around time on setups right now. I can get it mailed up to the airport in New York again.

Sweet. I told him about your setups and he liked the idea. We'll see what he ends up doing when it comes to it

A friend came for a visit and we took a spirited last drive before winter hibernation.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...73203a4172.jpg

Since the beginning of July I've driven it 4000km without any trouble and been able to just enjoy it. I've written down a list of things to do this winter, what to add and what to do better. I don't really want to stop driving it but I'll have plenty of time next summer.

I finally got into working on the car.

I had been planning on redoing my piping from the heater core to the water inlet. I have the inlet from Hawley performance which only has one inlet on the back. But a friend was throwing a car away and This piece caught my eye.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a695105906.jpg
Fits perfect to make the water inlet accept the oil heat exchanger and heater core return lines. But then I started asking myself if the heat exchanger was really needed since I live in a pretty cold climate. I am aware of slower oil warmup times but I'm fine with that. I was just wondering what the consensus was on removing it.

I added a small sub for a tiny kick along with the door speakers since this is my daily in the summers.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ddb7ee9dc4.jpg

Redid the headlight with newer lenses and got new rubber trim around the lenses. Makes a lot of difference in the overall look of it

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8d8bd74666.jpg

Decided that I didn't want my wireless charger just glued under the storage cubby so I used it as a chance to practice in Fusion and made a holder for it that I can mount under the cubby.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...15c25eb6ff.jpghttps://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...92a4880dda.jpg

Wanted a secure place to store the extinguisher and didn't exactly want it on the shelf behind me even if the location is pretty convenient. So I drew this up and had the waterjet at work cut it out for me

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1630a4ea8d.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0ca4abebcc.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9ade9ba019.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4edad731e2.jpg

Just gotta make some neat straps with convenient clasps and I'd call that done.

I have the Hawley performance water neck but didn't really like how restricted the rear inlet of it was considering the hose diameter coming in to it, while I like the rest of the unit. So I decided to weld on a 16mm barb. But finding an aluminum 16mm barb over here was proving almost impossible and shipping to Iceland has come to a crawl. So an AN-10 fitting got sacrificed for the task

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b3b4bb11bd.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1f52b3232b.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...90761cad85.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dbb3314f78.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2f25e1d713.jpg

Happy with how that turned out, I can find new gaskets tomorrow and start driving. Summer is here!

I have sacrificed fittings like that I had laying around several times. Car is looking good. You should comeback to the States sometime and hang out.

Thank you! I just always feel weird hacking things up like that because in aviation work it is so absolutely forbidden lol.

And yeah. Let's see how this year will turn out but I know I'll visit you guys again and that I'll definitely attend the MATG again.

She's back on the streets and feels so damn solid. I trust her on a road trip and that's what she'll be doing soon. a round trip on Route 1 in Iceland with some deviations from the pictured route to check waterfalls and scenic places

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...580ff5d2bd.jpg


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dda2cbc947.jpg


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...738482e8c0.jpg


what I need now is an exhaust tip because I don't like the bare pipe look

I would LOVE to travel the perimeter of Iceland in a well sorted Miata. Can't imagine the views.

I can only begin to imagine how much fun it would be to take a top-down drive around Iceland in a Miata. I drove from Akureyri to Reykjavik about eight years ago in a tiny Hyundai, it was a blast (and so far the only rental car I've driven that had a manual, and thank god for that). I think some of the most beautiful driving was on my detour into Westfjords and Western region. I left the Ring road just north of Staður and crossed to the western side just north of Hólmavík. I stayed at the Heydalur guesthouse in that area - wonderful hosts, absolutely stunning area. Absolutely stunning. I'd recommend it if you have time.

It is absolutely great to do the "Ring road" I've done it a few times. The GF and I had a 4 day trip through just the Westfjords last summer

A few images from the trip if you want a reason to want to come back ;) https://imgur.com/a/3LITJtj

And the landscapes here can be breathtaking, This is the south coast. Drove that route across the country when I imported the car from Germany
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0aeb388c5c.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...59b663d586.jpg



But it flew through inspection and then met up with it's brothers.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...898d49cf7e.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c2f3f99bd1.jpg

Lost oil pressure as I rolled into the parking lot at work this morning. I had postponed putting the new gauge in there because the sending unit interfered with the oil/water heat exchanger. Now I guess I have to find a way to plug it in and install it in the parking lot at work.

Trying to troubleshoot it in my head, Thinking where to look for a blockage in the system because everything sounds good and seems by a quick glance to still be moving the oil (cams still getting lubrication). Any ideas appreciated

if I rev the engine pressure builds a little and drops. Meaning that both, sensor and pump work but I'm losing pressure somewhere in the system