Turning a probably-too-nice 2002 SE into a dual duty HPDE/weekend car
 

Long time listener, first time caller. I’m way overdue for a build thread.

Flashback to last year: I was finally in a position to purchase a “fun car” that I hoped to learn how to drive on the track. I considered buying something already track-prepped, but given I hadn’t actually driven on the track at that point, I decided it’d be more fun to start a project of my own. I'm sure my wallet will regret that decision later. I owned an NB2 in the past that I regrettably had to sell before a couple of cross-country moves, so why not get another one? My old car:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...984fae522.jpeg
15x8 RPF1s, VMaxx Coilovers, HD rollbar. I should've kept it.

After a few weeks of daily Craigslist + Facebook searches, an ad popped up a few hours south of me for a 2002 SE with a whopping 36k miles. There was very little information posted but the car looked clean in pictures... So I took a chance and booked a one-way rental to Ashland, KY to go see it.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...66b2a34e1.jpeg
somewhere outside of Ashland, KY. I drove windows down the whole way because my rental car REEKED of smoke.

Luckily the car checked out! The seller was an extremely nice guy and was upgrading to an ND. He had made a few small interior mods (headunit with CarPlay, 3rd Millenium speakers), but it was mechanically stock and cosmetically it was near perfect. Honestly it was probably a little *too* nice for my plans but given the deal I couldn’t say no. I timed it pretty well - prices went absolutely bonkers not long after.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...674eb187f.jpeg
Made it home with 0 issues. Car seemed solid!

As soon as I got home I ordered a Blackbird Fabworx GT3 rollbar and a variety of fluids to get a fresh start. My plans for the car:
1) get everything sorted maintenance-wise.
2) modify it with the essentials to get it on track
3) learn how to drive

Winter came quickly in Cleveland so the car was tucked away on a charger for a couple of months. That gave me plenty of time to research and accumulate a parts pile in the basement.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e5263d2b2.jpeg
Nori inspecting the rollbar

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...99a9c98b7.jpeg
Among the pile: LRB speed undertray, timing belt + water pump kit, fluids, OEM coolant hoses, Centric rotors, Stoptech Sport pads, and all sorts of other odds and ends


I started chipping away at maintenance items as the weather warmed up. I’d never done this level of work on a car before so it was quite a learning experience. I’m hugely thankful for forums and YouTube - eventually I got everything squared away and the car (miraculously) ran great.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f3d6f91d1.jpeg
"What have I gotten myself into?"


Next was to install the BBFW GT3. I’m not sure I’d ever want to do this again because holy cow is installing a rollbar in a Miata a PITA. A friend drove up to help me out but progress was slow as we kept hitting minor setbacks. As an example, I lost my lug key which led to us sacrificing a 3/4" 12pt socket to get my wheels off. Eventually the rollbar was in and the car was one step closer to the track.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c5494a2cb.jpeg
Rollbar install day

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9d929bab2.jpeg
Action shot

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...906d704be.jpeg
Shout out to a random guy on Reddit for the suggestion!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bc6e406a2.jpeg


The last piece of the puzzle was wheels and tires. After chatting with Dan @ Tarmac88 (thanks again, Dan), I settled on 15x8 Konig Hypergrams with 205/50/15 Yokohama Advan V701s. I didn’t want a super aggressive compound as this was going to primarily be a street car and he offered a good deal on the set that I couldn’t pass up. My wife and I made a day trip down to Columbus to grab the new wheels and check out his shop, and thus phase 1 was complete and the car was ready for its first track day!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...74c497e61.jpeg
4x4 status

You're going to fit in well around here.

My god, a mechanically sound car on street tires and rollover protection, what do you want to do, actually get seat time???

You're off to a hell of a good start! Welcome to MT :party:

Thanks, guys! I’ve lurked MT enough over the last couple years to hopefully learn from the mistakes of those before me :D

Prior to the car’s first track day I figured I should at least go get the alignment checked. It wasn’t too far out of whack but I still requested the shop get as close as they could to FM’s recommended specs for stock suspension.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0513b3079.jpeg
In good company. I've always had a soft spot for MKV R32s.

And then, finally, May 15th was the first track day at Nelson Ledges with a local group called AutoInterests. Extremely well-run event and I was lucky to have a great instructor who owned an ND himself.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f7d5e66c2.jpeg

I brought every tool and extra part I could fit in the car just in case something went wrong while I was there (again, I touched almost every inch of it and have no clue wtf I'm doing). I was pretty overwhelmed at first but finally settled in after a session or two and had a blast. The car ran great the whole time with 0 issues.

Here are a couple of laps from one of the later sessions. They're slow, obviously. Pointing by a full-blown stock car @ 1:30 in and hearing the glorious sound of freedom was pretty cool. Side note: I need to figure out a better method for sound as it's basically unusable with the top down.


The rest of the summer was spent just enjoying the car on the street. I registered for another AutoInterests event at Mid-Ohio in August but unfortunately I had to cancel at the last minute. I was able to make it out to one more Nelson Ledges event, though, which I'll talk about in my next post.

In other news, I bought a new daily driver. My criteria was something that was practical, fun to drive in the winter, and would complement a Miata well. Enter a Gen 1 Raptor:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2a7e1c27f.jpeg
I love it -- even if it's comically large and doesn't fit in my garage.

One more post before I'm caught up. Just in time for it to snow in Cleveland again...

Agreed.


Get as much seat time as you can and keep mods simple. There are plenty of idiots like me that have mega builds that snowballed out of control and haven't been to the track in years lmao.

Nice car, your situation essentially mirrors mine a few years back. Low mileage "too nice" NB, BBFW rollbar, dremel as your main metal work tool, etc. IMO you're doing it right, I've had a blast so far, concentrating on seat time/driving, and slowly doing upgrades only once I'm sure they'll actually be helpful. Do make sure to check on the radiator, it was an issue almost immediately on mine once I started thrashing it on the track, but I'm also in Phoenix.

Looks like you're setting yourself up to have a blast, enjoy it!

Like maplewood mentioned, reliability mods and seat time. Just posting again to say that Supermiata is having their black friday sale right now while supplies last. Might be the perfect time to pick up a crossflow radiator and a reroute so you will never have issues with cooling on track. The original radiator gets super brittle over time.

I have a feeling I'm going to be spending a lot of money at Supermiata this winter haha. I ended up pulling the trigger on their clutch and flywheel setup once I saw the sale - the clutch shudder from my OEM clutch has been driving me bonkers and makes me dislike driving the car on the street. I wish the original owner had taken advantage of the early NB2 recall to replace the flywheel. Cooling upgrades are definitely next in line, though.

If any mods read this: I made a new post in this thread a couple days ago that appears to still be "pending approval". I can resubmit it if needed. EDIT: Thanks! New post is now above.