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After learning a little bit about 12v, the car finally ran after I re-wired the car with new wire, and a Cartek 16 channel PDM. It was an absolute handful at autox, 400 treadwear tires didn't help. Everyone that drove it loved it.
The car has been through quite a bit since I last posted. Picked up the modified valve cover from Kmiata, which required a different timing chain guide as I quickly learned. It's still running on the stock 5 speed and the torsen rear end, I haven't hard launched the car outside of Autox, and everything seems to be holding up nicely for now. It doesn't have any creature comforts, and aesthetically it's been a nightmare generally, so this winter the car is in the process of being torn down to the shell to re-work things I didn't do the first time around, as I was generally learning to wrench at the time.
For being a very amateur mechanic, I've been pleasantly surprised that I've no issues with the motor I rebuilt.
This winter we're doing general cleanup. Cleaning up the wiring, wiring in a small fuse/relay box for headlight motors, wipers, and fans, building in a gauge cluster... etc etc.
As you can see, the bay turned out very nicely. Just waiting for the clear to harden before we dump the motor back in.
Only problem I've had with my swap kit was something Kmiata had no hand in making. Torqued to spec, the ear broke off after one season of use. ******* pathetic. Skunk2 offered me a 15% discount on replacement parts, but I'm just going with the Kmiata manifold. The support I've gotten from Dave has been unreal to say the least, it's worth the extra couple bucks on their manifold for a quality part, and quality support.
Last edited by dickamusmaxamus; 12-14-2020 at 05:16 PM.
Motor out, bay painted, wiring tucked, motor in. 30 days to get this far.
The motor looks very sharp with a black valve cover. Glad I went this route. Waiting on the intake from Kmiata before I button up the rest of the bay.
Also no longer seen, the wiring harnesses from the front of the car. Those are now neatly tucked above the wheel well along the side of the fender. The wire is sleeved, and is cased in plastic where it travels along the fender as shown here.
Little tie down to keep everything from moving around.
Onto the interior. Pic is before the teardown. This mess is the result of a "can I do this" attitude, having never done anything like it before. The goal is to clean up the junction point that's currently just a mess of wires behind the PDM.
Built a gauge cluster. Just missing fuel... if anyone has a suggestion on how to monitor fuel without going to a digital dash I'm all ears.
With everything flocked, this should look much cleaner. Gauges stay in the gauge cluster, controls on the control panel.
Drawing up the wiring harnesses. This was all mostly the same, I only recut the front harnesses so I could tuck them.
Junctions will happen in this junction box. I'm really not sure if they're all gonna fit... but I'm gonna try..........
Car has a hood now too. Interior turned out pretty nice. Have a Sparco wheel and seat coming to complete the interior. Need to tear out the carpet again at some point and buy an actually nice kit. Cartek is no longer held in with a zip tie. Polycarb plate, with some ABS over top to match the look of the dash. Basically done for the year. Just missing one little piece and we should be good to go.
I think you could make a simple voltage comparator circuit to light an LED if the tank gets too low. Could even use a few with a RGB LED and set it so green is 3/4 or more, yellow is 1/2 or less, and red is 1/4 or less.
Moved to a set of 67mm 4piston/Kinsler ITBs. Way too big but they were incredibly cheap so I jumped on them. I'll likely be flipping them in the future for a more modest setup. Motor mods include intake/exhaust, and a 50 degree VTC cam gear. Made 236whp on 91 octane on a Dynojet.
Paco Strong arms. Made a huge difference. Vehicle shakes a lot less now, and I can feel the suspension work in ways I couldn't before. Finally got a replacement dash trim piece so I can wrap this project up. Epoxied the trim pieces into the dash so it's all one unit now, and flocked it. Turned out nice. Looking to add door pulls, and a molded carpet kit and I should be pretty much done on the interior side. As it sits today. Light output is 0/10. Those headlamps will be eventually replaced for Jass Pro Stealths. Bonus cat.
Not sure if I should keep bumping this thread, but I'll go until somebody stops me. Mixed news for the car this year. The ITBs had to get sold off due to a variety of issues, but the money is going towards making the car perform.
Previously I was on 15x7" Advanti Storm S1's. Great wheels but small for what I wanted. Replaced them with 15x10" Dekagrams wrapped in RT660's in the 245 width.
Godspeed coilovers are coming out, Feal 441 GWR spec coilovers are going in.
Extended lower ball joints are going in.
CarbonMiata 30mm flares are coming, along with canards because I can't help myself.
The APR GTC200 has arrived and has been installed.
Bushings are getting replaced with the energy suspension kit, so the suspension will be totally refreshed this year.
Later this spring I plan on putting together a splitter with the help of a Sturdy Boii.
These changes plus a healthy dose of **** talking should make for a fun year of autox.
Feel 441 GWR spec. Should be a great coilover to get me away from the Godspeed's that were originally on the car. 15x10 Konig Dekagrams. 245 RT660's M E A T GTC200 with the 2" Riser
2023 was the first year the car was effectively maintenance free. Burned out a fuel pump but that was my bad, ran the car dry a few too many times, need to wire up the fuel gauge. Looks mean with the aero package.
The car really didn't want to turn in on entry, just didn't have the mechanical front grip to do what I was asking it to do. Initially I thought I may be overdriving the car, but after putting some seasoned Miata drivers into the car we determined that I don't have enough front sway bar. I'm swapping the Flyin Miata front sway bar out for an RB Race tubular front bar, and I picked up the matching rear bar. Previously I ran no rear bar. I'm not sure if I'll use the rear bar but it will be nice to have the option.
I swapped the headlight kit from the Oracle kit to the Jass Pro Stealth kit, and holy hell I can finally see. I feel like the kit looks a lot nicer than the previous kit too. Fit an finish is nicer, even though I did have some fitment issues that we were able to sort out.
I don't really have a huge list of things I want to do this year, I just plan on continuing to refine what I have. The car has plenty of power for autox, even in it's current state.
The engine was down on power big time. The k24 only managed 200whp on the dyno this year. The ITBs leaked coolant into the cylinder closest to the firewall, and I'm almost sure there's some valve sealing issues as a result. I haven't given it the time to chase down issues, but we should have everything sorted by spring.
I picked up some 1000CC injectors, and am toying with the idea of building the head, but the kitchen remodel is eating my car budget for lunch.
Couple other odds and ends that happened this last year.
Full Brofab hub kit. Figured if I was going to do the aero thing I should upgrade the 30/yo hubs to something that would withstand the test of time. Installed AWR sway bar mounts. Insane how flimsy the old mounts are in comparison. Surprised at how not terrible the stock bushings really were. Most of them were in pretty decent shape all things considered. Got a little weird with the paint job on the suspension arms. Got a full set of bushings installed. 0 squeaks so far, and it the ride quality is much better with the Feal 441 GWR spec coilovers. Wishing I had pulled the trigger on the swift springs tho. Racoon kitty tax
Thanks for all the updates, this thread was a fun read. The car looks really mean with it's current aero/flare setup. Good work on that front end, somehow it actually looks really good. I would have thought that bumper cut you did would be pretty ugly, but it fits the car well.
This guy gave me the inspiration to move forward with the damless install. I really do like the way it turned out, though I will likely end up throwing the dam on at some point in the next year or two.
12-14-2020, 04:55 PM
It runs!
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