1 thing leads to another when your bored....56k no no
 

Well I started last week taking shit apart solely for a new IC and pipes. Just like with a girl, one thing led to another and now I've gone a little farther than I planned on. I figure I still have another 3-4 weeks home before I can go back to work....so this should keep me busy.

Painting is a slow progress but steady...should be done soon. I think the flat black will clean everything up very nice. I'm also going to get some black wire looms and try and re-route and hide some of them bitches. Charcoal canister is gone. The new CF hood is here and the AAC headlights will be here Monday.

I'm getting a ETD manifold and rebuilding the turbo. Same RMDP but this time no gaskets. I have the IC pipes, I just need the IC. Going to mock up what I want and have them all welded and I'm going to paint them black. Got a nice K&N filter to replace my shithole ebay one. Drill and tap the oil pan and run new oil lines. And if all goes well, a new exhaust setup.

Then I need to install the new soft-top and redo the stereo. Should be a fun couple of weeks. I'm busting out my 48 hours of community service now, so that puts a small damper in the plans. I'm pretty excited though, this is the first time I've really touched the car in 2 years.

I plan on taking pictures of all the progress and updating this thread. :)

Vash-

did you have to do something special to make that MAF fit? looks might nice :bigtu:

Have you test fit the hood? On my hood the front heat vent was too far down and hit the top of the valve cover when I tried to close...so I had to trim it:vash: Looks like fun...keep pics coming!!

Looks nice, that flat black will be alot easier to keep clean than the mariner. Nice hood- pics when installed!

mazda/nissan- The MAF is the RX7 one and I just got a 3" K&N to fit it.

Ugh....don't tell me that about the hood. :bang: I cant test fit it yet. I had a hell of a time opening the box with one hand, I'm not about to try and carry it outside...lol. I'll wait till this weekend for my bro to give me a hand.

I'm hoping the flat black just cleans up the engine bay. That it wont look so shitty I guess. I'm also swapping to all black hoses. I cant decide on either a crinkle red valve cover or a flat goldish valve cover. Whichever one it will be powder coated, not painted. And I plan on cutting it to expose the cam gears and get a set of HKS ones. I'm trying to bring a little color and cleanliness to the engine bay.

I got a good amount done tonight. Here's where I stand now on the progress.

Vash-

I like the flat blacK!! wish I had thought of that sooner...It's always the waiting time that makes little Ideas turn into full scale projects. I just posted a few new pics on my Begi s3 build...while I was waiting for parts..I started a few projects..clean up wires etc. but instead of removing parts I just painted around with Rustoleum (?spell check?) using a few different sized brushes and a steady hand :bang: yeah flat looks better than gloss... not bad for a one-armed-bandit:giggle:

Thanks man! Yea...I thought for about 5 minutes in the autopart store about gloss or flat, I'm glad I went with flat. Doing this shit with really only one arm is a fucking bitch....notice I stopped at the really hard part! lol :giggle:

I hope to not be a shithead and halfass the job. The firewall just looks like its going to be a nightmare, but I figure if I got this far.....:) The hardest thing tonight by far was un-wiring the pivot headlight controller, that'll be on ebay this weekend....along with the FM hood! :bigtu:

Vash-

It reall looks GREAT. The flat black background will really be nice when you get it all done, and yes, the firewall will be a PITA. I really like your hood, where did you get it? I have been considering making that change for some time but had not seen a hood as nice as that anywhere. Keep up the good work, it will be done in no time.

that really does look good, something i've thought about doing to mine, after seeing it, i probably will eventually

so are you nixing the FM hood? Details please.

Thanks guys! I'm doin my best with it. I forgot to mention before I sprayed any paint, I used the rust converter on any rust spots I could find. Let it sit for 24 hours and boom....black, sandable primer. Both sides now have about 4-5 coats of just flat black. I'm also doing any brackets along the way I run into.

The new hood is from autokonexion and was $480. Hood looks 100% awesome, but getting it here wasn't a cake walk. All and all....I am happy, that is assuming there are no fitment problems (knock on wood). :eek5:

Hustler, the FM hood will be ready to go as soon as I get this one on. I just want to make sure all is well before I sell it. I was planning on going to ebay, but if someone here is interested....I'm all for a mt.net sale. :) I will use the same shit they used to pack my new hood (corner covers, tons of bubble wrap, and a nice box). I paid $100 to have it shipped here, so I assume $100 is the going rate.

Vash-

I dont like flat black on cars, but for some reason it doesnt bother me on this one go figure.

I vote crinkle red for VC. the gold is to ricey

Yea I think I'm going crinkle red on the valve cover, 99% sure. I'm ordering the new manifold this this week, but I'm trying to find a nice high temp paint to coat it with. Do you guys have any specific product you have used and liked the results once in the car and hot? I'm looking at VHT stuff and some products on Eastwoodco.com.

The hardest thing I am trying to figure out right now is do I get the cheaper IC with a side inlet/outlet setup. Or the more expensive V-mount bottom inlet/outlet setup. I'm not going the V-mount route, I just like the idea of 90* silicone getting me under the radiator, rather than going around it.

I know some guys might think why, but I'm not looking to go super crazy as far as a complete new turbo setup. But I'm going to rebuild the TD04 and maybe upgrade to the 19g wheel. Also having it cleaned up and the compressor housing polished.

I'm hoping that the new manifold, rebuilt turbo, 2.5 IC pipes and new IC, and a 3" exhaust makes a noticeable difference. Right now the IC pipes go from 3" to 2" and in some spots 1", they are a fucking mess...lol. And the exhaust is the FM duals 2.25" from before the turbo went on. The EMB is tuned nice for where I'm at, so I don't think I will be switching to MS until I go back to work and have the money for it.

I just hope for the new changes I make, that I make a little more power than I previously was making without touching the boost control. :)

Vash-

You dont really need a high temp paint. This is mine. And its just primer black.

Attachment 213496

^ You said you removed your charcoal canister. What does that thing do anyways? (i just never looked into it)

From what others have said it's part of the evap/emissions system. Take it out and just connect the lines. I'm still not sure what to do with the other line. I just know when everything goes back together that the canister is staying out!

The valve cover I will be buying already powder coated. I was referring to the high temp paint for the new manifold. I want it black and hidden. :)

Vash-

^So the charcoal canister is not important then. And sorry for the misunderstanding of the paint usage. black would be nice

I love the crinkle red myself, but have no idea how to do it. You know? Would love to find out so I can paint mine! :)

In a modern fuel-injected car, the fuel system is a sealed system. the charcoal canister collects gas vapors from your gas tank. During startup, the solenoid (mounted on the bracket with your igniter on the passenger-side fender well) opens and allows the gas vapors to be released from the charcoal canister to the intake manifold. By doing this, unburned gas vapors never get released to the atmosphere.

Older cars used to have vented gas caps to alleviate the pressure caused by the gas vapors. This let a lot of vapor into the atmosphere, which is technically bad, as gas vapors do a lot of harm and blah blah blah.

Just put the hood on! Literally almost got in a all out fistfight with my brother in the process. I had to ask for help with my wrist being fucked and all. He was insulted because I asked him to be careful, from there it just blew up and I did everything I could to not lose control.....fuck me. :vash:

In any case, the hood looks great! I'm really glad I painted the sides of the fenders black, I think it would have looked like shit being blue. No clearance issues like someone said earlier. I cant decide whether I will add hood pins or not, I probably will to keep the hood from bouncing on the highway. Gaps seem even, CF looks awesome. All and all I am a very happy customer. Now I just need to add the black mesh, drill a hole for the hood prop, and decide on pins. Now I wait for the AAC CF healights to get here...:)

Vash-

how much does the new hood weigh?

I didn't weigh it, but about half the FM hood did. Maybe...8lbs if I had to guess.

Vash-

AWESOME, GEORGEOUS HOOD!!!! All of what you are doing is just GREAT!!!

I cant believe I was able to get from the downpipe all the way to the exhaust tips out from under the car. I was using my right hand to do the wrench work and my feet to hold the exhaust. :giggle: Got everything out in about 30 mins! I think I do better with one hand than two....lol.

Put the hood on ebay tonight. The FM exhaust goes on tomorrow so I can get my hands on the Enthuza duals. Found a crack at the top of my downpipe! :vash: Took out my radiator fan, motor is shot, I think I'm going to try something different than OEM this time.

Projects for this week include:

1. Finishing painting the engine bay and put everything back correctly!
2. Install the AAC headlights if they come this week.... :(
3. Try my fiberglass skills on the rear bumper 1st.
4. Then try my fiberglass skills on the front bumper.
5. Brake job on rear brakes
6. Decide on new wheels and tires. Probably OZ superleggeras in black

Things are going smooth so far. I hope to be looking good and running again by mid-end of May. I think I might bring the convertible top to a shop. I don't think I want to try and put it on with my feet. :bang:

Vash-

Looks great so far. Good luck with the fiberglass

Love it so far, you have pretty much everything i want. Big kudos to you for doing everything one handed, patience is key.

Looks wonderful. I'd love to see another angle of the car with that hood on. Is anyone still making the dual headlight popups or are you going another route?

Not a big fan of the flat black engine bay though - but that is an aesthetic/cultural thing. Old Chryslers (where I come from) painted the engine bay body color. When you saw an (Mopar) engine bay painted black it was usually a signal that the owner might be trying to cover up something or was a crossover from another make who might not know better. Like I said - cultural :)

To me though, body colored engine bays show craftsmanship. They are though hard as heck to maintain!

Thanks guys! Yea the fiberglass should be fun. Our shop is nextdoor to a bodyshop, so I've watched them fiberglass many a times.....just never tried myself. I'm trying to save money this time around, and learn a little bit more as well.

The doctor told me to sit tight and relax it, then that I could gradually use it through physical therapy. I want to be able to drive the car sooner than later, so I need to keep on it. And that's exactly what it is, patience. :)

The flat black is something I have always wanted to do. I originally asked the bodyshop guys to do it 4 years ago. I just feel it will visually clean up the engine bay and not look as sloppy as it always has.

I will take more pictures once the headlights are here and I get them in. :)

Vash-

is there info on this upgrade somewhere? i couldn't find anything about it. (is the 19 a typo? ;) )

why did you change hoods?

He didn't like the FM hood because it leaked water in places he didn't want water leaked.

The 19g/t wheel swap is just a compressor swap, he is basically throwing on a bigger wheel capable of more power.

well, i figured that, but i couldn't readily find any info on the swap itself and i've never actually heard of a 19g. was wondering if anyone could point me at any info about it. :-)

i.e. is it just a wheel swap, or the housing + wheel?

The flat black looks so much better. Good work

in any case, looks like it's going really well. I can't believe you're doing all that with the use of only one hand... i barely get shit done with two... lol

Glad to hear the hood fit well. I'm waiting to put mine on until after I get the front bumper repainted, to get rid of the silver stripe.

C

Yea that hood served its time, and I finally realized the vent locations make it not the best choice for a daily driver. I put a reserve of $400 on ebay and figured, if I don't get that....fuck it I'll have two hoods to choose from. lol :) I listed it at 10pm lastnight and this morning it had 1 bid and my reserve was met! I need money to keep going steady on my progress, but I'm not tryin to give the good stuff away. And I think it was time for a change in the look of the car. I've been rocking the blue body and black headlights look long enough now. :)

Yea I'm planning on swapping to the 19g, not a typo. I am also looking into a p&p on the turbo and a compressor housing polish. I was thinking about a whole new turbo/manifold/downpipe, seeing its all out of the car. But I like how the car performed at 8 psi with the half assed setup I had. So now if I do some things different and upgrade a bit, I think I'll be more than satisfied.

Thanks alot for the comments guys! I try to not take any pain killers for my wrist when I'm out there working. But when it starts to hurt real bad I have to take one or I wouldn't get as much done! This afternoons project is cleaning up the FM exhaust and getting that on ebay. :)

Vash-

Your going to want to have sex with the car when you put the hood on....I'm not lying man. :)

Vash-

Having the right tools and having full sets really do matter. Couldn't find a 10mm wrench tonight and lost about 30 minutes looking for it, and using lock pliers in its place. :bang:

Got the back of the car apart. Cleaned up and rough sanded the spot in the rear bumper. I never used fiberglass before, but I just went for it, I figured it really cant be that hard. I got 4 layers on the front, and 4 layers on the back. Its already just about rock hard. Tomorrow I'm going to sand it and get me some filler to finish it up with. I will get this bumper completely done, and ask my bodyshop guy how I did. Hopefully good enough that he can just paint it and I can save some money.

I also found I really need to clean up under the bumpers. I sprayed all the rust with converter. Hopefully I can paint it tomorrow. I'm just happy I got to fiberglass the bumper tonight! :)

Vash-

most likely you will start sanding into the fibers on the outer part of the bumper, once you finish sanding it you might want to wipe all the dust off and put a light coat of resin over it to make any fiber that break free to bond again

after that hardens you can do the final sanding on it

with the 4 layers on the back should stiffen it up enough plus what ever you have filling the damaged area

Thanks for the advice man! I'm gonna try and finish it up this afternoon and bring it to the bodyshop tomorrow for paint. I hope.... :)

Vash-

I worked on the bumper this afternoon and I'm pretty happy with my end result. The fiberglass area I fixed feels solid and strong, and I smoothed it out real nice. I got carried away and ended up sanding the entire bumper, I had to anyway so I got it done. Tomorrow morning I'm going to use a finer grit and do one more pass, as well as my trunk spoiler. Then I'm going to bring them to the bodyshop for paint.

This was the first time I have tried fiberglassing and I think I did it right and it was super easy. I'm gonna fly through the car now and one by one prep the parts and bring them down for paint. I'm going to wetsand the rest of the car (doors, fenders, trunk) and I'm gonna paint the windshield frame black as well.

Plans for tomorrow include above, and finishing the fucking engine bay. I've been putting off doing the firewall....lol. Headlights might be here tomorrow too, and if they come they're goin right in! :)

Vash-

that looks nice, i really like the flat black it gives it a serious look

Two things: 1) How much that hood cost you? 2) Don't put in hood pins, they look so gay, keep the sleek look

New hood was $480 plus shipping. I haven't decided on pins yet for sure. It will be one of the last things I do, if I even put them in. The FM hood needed them! The fucking thing would bounce up and down like crazy on the highway!

Vash-

Hey everything looks great!!! Better than some two-handed people that I know:giggle: Could you give me the link for the hood...I can't seem to get it to open for some reason:bang:
Thanks

Thanks man! I'm slowly starting to use my left hand again, I just cant do a whole lot and hurt the surgery.

The hood company said the website was having problems. Try www.mikeburlas.com. That's the dude that makes the hood's personal website. (Basically a copy of the other one)

Vash-

Well today was productive! I am 100% sunburnt! I've been outside pretty much all day, except quick moments to check my auctions.

Well with patience and the right ideas....I got the headlights almost ready to roll. I need to dremel the CF buckets a little to make them work, but not much. I mean, my car did hit a telephone pole head on, I cant really expect everything to line up without some work.

I'm not 100% sure what I think of the CF on CF.....but I'm gonna go with it for now. No matter what I'm keeping the hood, so I'll give the lights a try and if they don't work for me, I'll go back to pop-ups I guess!! :) What do you guys think? In the pictures nothing is even bolted down, its all just resting together so I could see what it looked like.

I was like....fuck finishing this engine bay, but realized it would probably look worse being half finished, rather than how it was before. So I did a quickie on it and got it done, not perfect....but good enough for me! Also got some time to start on sanding the spoiler. Taking the rear bumper and the spoiler down to the bodyshop Monday or Tuesday for paint. If he likes my work, I'll get to work on the front bumper right away.

The turbo gets sent out Monday for all the work on it. Rebuild, port and polish, polished compressor housing, clocked with a new waste gate and bracket, and depending on how my current auctions do....a 19G upgrade.

Taking my RMDP to the welder on Monday to fix my crack and the little hole by where it meets the turbo. Then I'll high temp paint it and wrap it with black insulator. Another good little project to keep me busy. :)

Still hoping to be done in about.....3 weeks.

Vash-

engine bay looks really nice. The carbon fiber lovefest on the top of your engine bay looks a little ricey.

Well I finally got my deadass outside to keep working on the engine bay. The past week I have been so caught up in selling and buying shit, that I haven't touched the car. So today I kept myself busy and got a good amount done.

The new powder coated valve cover came yesterday, so of course that had to go in right away. I didn't like the gray on the upper timing belt cover, so I cleaned it up and flat blacked that bitch. All and all I am very happy with the quality of the powder coating and the finished look. I think the red cover with the flat black goes really well together. Now I need to start replacing all my blue silicone with black!

I washed the car for the first time in a week or two and finally got all the fucking pollen off it. I also put the top down and let it air out, super nasty inside. I removed the intake manifold bracket and started cleaning the underneath of the motor. Getting everything prepped for the new turbo stuff.

Then I looked at the trunk and I was like WTF.....this looks so bad with this dynamat shit I did years ago. Then I remembered I had a can of undercoating on my toolbox, so I gave a test shot, then went a little overboard. I'm gonna see how it looks and feels tomorrow before I finish the entire trunk. Looks alot better in person than pictures could show. I really only use my trunk to carry around my skate decks and tools for when the miata breaks down. :giggle:

Let me know what you guys think! I hope to have the car running and back on the road soon, hopefully by next weekend! :noes:

Vash-

Looks great imo. I wish i could get my engine bay half as clean as yours...

how did you get the dynamat out easily previous owner put in and I want out but seems like a pain in the ass

I sprayed right over it. Once dynamat is on....forget about it, its on.

Vash-

Dynamite!

Last night I read the entire FMII turbo install on FM's website to get myself ready. So today was another prep day, and I was taking out the lower radiator hoses and the metal pipe that connects the two (I guess the purpose of that stupid setup is for people with P/S or A/C?). Anyways, while I was doing that I noticed how much easier it will be now to drill and tap my oil pan. So I decided to jack the car up and start cleaning around the oil pan, steering rack, and the sides of the block.

I've been under the car with a wire brush and simple green for an hour now and it got me thinking. What about the pressure washer? I have pressure washed our big trucks down at our shop, but never the Miata. Anyone else ever use a power washer to clean all the shit off under the car? I think I'm gonna give it a shot and see how well it works.

I feel like for everything I'm doing I should have pulled the motor. Would have been alot easier to do some of this stuff. :vash:

Vash-

Damn you car looks SICK. Any updates?

agreed, although I dont like those lights... Trunk looks good, flat black engine bay looks good. hood looks good. Updates needed.

Thanks guys!

Once the turbo stuff got here I started my build thread and that's where I've been updating everything. This thread was how everything started....and now I'm in pretty deep, but almost done.

The link to the build thread is in my sig. :)

Vash-

Ah crap 6 more pages to read, good thing its a fun read.

Looks sick... Nice color and I like the hood... even though it's a bit much, functional right?