curly

iTrader: (25)

What's the vmaxx price? $1000? You could try Bilstiens, they're amazing.

$400 for the shocks, pick up someone's stock setup for all the hardware, then buy an ebay spring/collar setup for $50, and some rear 6" springs for $100. That's hopefully around $650 ($100 budget for the stock NB setup), and you'll have an awesome starter suspension.

After that you'll only need to buy or make some rear top hats for some added travel, and eventually some 6" front springs to get to the optimum ride height in the front. You'll ride a little high in the front until then.

Symyn

the vmax set up comes with the NB top hats and adjustable sway bars... So i get height adjust ability, proven damping and rebound rates that will work for both autocross and track use. Again i am not saying they are the end all be all. But it seems it might be worth a couple hundo more than the Bilstiens,,, I have never worked with the Bilstiens either however... I hear about them all the time, but just haven't used them.. Are they that much better than the Vmax?
My suspension experience has primarily been on my 24o's and i used K-Sport coils on all of them.. They worked with me and i got all my valving and spring rates done perfectly for each of the cars i used them on. I don't like what they have to offer for the Miata however..
Again I am always up for suggestions, but i am still not sold on changing directions.

Symyn

Updates - Minor really. The EStock LP3 Car is all complete and looks great. But the car was driving like ****. All over the road. So, it needs an alignment badly. I was going to swap over my suspension from my race car to this EStock car because it is legal in my class and a lot better than the stock stuff. So i figured i would finish the swap before the alignment.

Spent a few hours today and got everything swapped over. Still obviously needs an alignment but it is all ready SO MUCH better than it was.
On another note, my connecter on the positive side of the battery terminal seems to be passed its prime, it is tightened all the way yet still loose. I have a temporary solution in place but will address this later. It was a little odd driving on the freeway and having a complete lack of electric power.... It was still running, but really rough. I babied it to my destination and swapped the battery with a new spare one and made it home. If my temp solution doesn't work, ill check out the alternator and see if that is our issue.

Last thing i noticed was a missing lug nut. The stock car had these little lug covers on each wheel and under was hiding a stripped stud. So that is yet another issue for another day.

Over all I am very happy with the progress. I got some slightly bad news from my sponsor, asking me to hold off on some purchases. So I'll be delayed on the track car for a little, but it shouldn't be too long and I still have the E Stock to keep me sharp and still behind the wheel..

Thanks for checking out the build, I'll check back soon after the clutch gets here and I instal that.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Do you still have the felt thingys on the battery terminals? You can get a bit more life from the connector if you pull the felt and push it down as far as it can go.

z31maniac

At least go for the track pack springs, I just sold my VMaxx classics and am skipping this season so I can buy XIDA's with some real spring rates.

The classic's and FM sways make for a good starter suspension, but just not enough rate for Rcomps and serious track work.

Symyn

The fuzz on the terminals are gone, and that's OK. This loaner car is just that. a loaner, and it has some issues. My temp solution should suffice for the time I use the car, and if they want to buy new terminals, i would be happy to replace them.


I will go with the Track Pack for the springs, and I will be as of right now running V710's on the track car for autocross. So let's just hope the suspension will have enough umph!

Symyn

I am having an odd hesitation issue with the BRG at about 3800RPM, not sure why yet, but it looks like i will be replacing all the basic stuff. Plugs, wires, air filter, and fuel filter are first on the list. Hopefully that will help or resolve the issue. This care has become a lot of unexpected work... Nothing is free nothing is easy.
And this is just the easy stuff. let's hope things get more reliable as we move forward.

Symyn

So... updates! This is turning into more of a BRG focused thread,,, but i will turn it around asap. Had a fire at the house, so a weekend was spent trying to save the farm as to speak. All is well on that front but it did cost me a weekend.

Turns out that 3 of the 4 spark plugs are stripped,.,, and the valve cover gasket is leaking into the plug columns so i know that the old plugs should be replaced. I purchased new plugs but was unable to remove the stripped ones.. So ill need help with that... Ill be ordering a new gasket as well and hopefully be done with the prep on this car and just enjoy racing a stock car.

Our first race was this past Sunday, i advanced the timing a bit and i wasn't experiencing any of the hesitation issues. I changed the oil, put on the new tires and wheels and set the shocks to 8. Gave the car a wash and headed out.,

The car did great! I was going to run Estock Sunday but sense this was more of a shakedown period and my Girlfriend was there, i ran in X class so she could ride passenger (First Time). Over all it was a great decision that allowed me to focus on having fun and learning the car instead of getting distracted with the competition.

And even with the extra weight of the items i don't need in the car like AC and an extra passenger i was within half a second of the e stock victor and they were running slicks! So that was a great feeling and gave me the confidence in the car and myself after coming back after 2 years off...

So,,, I definitely have some work ahead of me but am in good spirits and my GF had a blast,,,

Symyn

Updates!! Still for the BRG but updates non the least.
We took part in the San Diego Extreme Auto Fest auto cross this past weekend. Had blast, non stop auto cross,,, Unlimited runs! .... or at least that was the plan... about 9 runs or so in, I lost power steering on the last corner.. Turns out i popped a belt. Both belts actually...
Easy fix though right!!!,,,, Well No,,, nothing on this car has been easy.. Turns out the reason I have been having issues with battery drain is due to the alternator not being hooked up to the pulley at all,, at least not in functioning order. The tension-er bolt was gone and the corrosion in the bolt hole indicated it had been gone for a while. So the alternator was there just in enough tension to keep the water pump going (Thank God) but not enough to actually do anything..
So at the track i attempted to rig up a solution and found that the long tension bolt was completely rusted. I scavenged the power steering tension-er set up to get us home and called it a night.
Spent the next day going over everything with a fine tooth comb, hoping to avoid (Not Likely) these issues in the future.
On the bright side though,,, I now know what was wrong with the power and got the 4th top time of the day with only the 9 runs. Most had dozens, non stop racing from 3 to 9pm.
Any way,, the next race is this coming weekend, WISH ME LUCK!

Symyn

Also, I have a vid from the last scca auto cross, I'll post it when I get home.

Symyn

Ordering Xida's today... Trying to determine spring rates,, I will most likely be getting a couple different sets to try out and play with. Starting with the standard 700/400. I will be running 225 V710's to start. Mostly because that's what i already have,. Thoughts on what other rates to try out??

Symyn

Spent significant time this weekend on the cars. Working on 3 Miata's right now. The E-Stock BRG is basically done, I just have to replace the end links on the Racing beat front sway bar. And I have to figure out how to get the spark plugs out... The PO stripped 3 out of the 4 and they are being very difficult.. I will most likely just replace the head with one of the spare i have around, We will likely have it freshened up first. But outside of that, this little car has been VERY competitive and fun to work on.. This car we be moved to "Demo" or "Employee Drive" status when i finish up new car #2.
So far on this car i have just replaced the shocks with KYB AGX's, replaced the front sway bar, lugs studs & lug nuts, and air filter. Oh and the radio/speakers.

Car number 2 will begin as an STS build while we put together the 1.6 turbo bits that will move it out of class.. But for now, this car will give us a chance to learn the XIDA'S and get into the speed ventures races i have been really wanting to attend. We will testing parts for our Main build (Car# 3) using this car.

The car wasn't firing up for some reason though,, At first i thought it was spark,there was some water (From when my dad washed it i think) in the spark tubes, and the plugs had some oil on them. The car had been sitting for a long while, and i knew this was going to be a challenge. After swapping out the plugs with a fresh set, I still wasn't getting the car to show any signs of life. So i thought it might be fuel,,, I pulled the rail and things didn't look all that great, i turned it over a couple times with the rail still connected, and found only one of the injectors gave any juice. So, i swapped the rail and injectors from my old car into this one and fired it up. The car turned over a couple times and then i heard a huge THUNK. Now the car feels like the crank is hitting a wall and just gives a thud each time i try and turn it over...

The motor only had 122K on the OD, so i had high hopes for this one,,, Oh well.
I pulled the motor from my car (Car#3) this past weekend and will be doing a full leak down and compression test and then a heavy cleaning before i settle it into car #2.

The XIDA'S should be here by the end of the week WOOT!

Now on to car #3!
As mentioned above, i removed the motor, I also stripped the entire front clip, removed the front sub frame and control arms/brakes. Pulled the wire harness and lines from the front to get ready for media blasting and some new paint! The front sub frame will also be tubular, same with the control arms, so for now, i will clean these stock parts up, paint them and swap them over to car #2 when i swap the motor in.

I also pulled the dash, steering column and the dash harness; these items will all be either replaced or redone, plus i want the interior to be completely free of everything so i can get it painted in its entirety. Having everything gone will also help get the cage designed and built the way i want it, and make it easier to seam/stitch weld if i choose to do that.

I still have the rear end to do, but the car is almost completely stripped and ready for blasting and new paint.

Going with a base of white to make it easier to spot any leaks or issues. and it will then have the graphics on the exterior.

Next on the order list is an oil cooler and a new rad set up in the hopes that i can avoid over heating issues when we move from AX to the big tracks.

Also on the list is a new street wheel solution, as both car#1 and #2 are driven frequently on the street, we want to step up the ascetics with something a little more aggressive that matches the flashy exterior. No idea really what we are looking for yet though,,, i need to get car# 2 on the road as a priority,, but we are trying to figure out exactly what we want.

Any way, I will post up some pics of the process,,, but they are just look like a car being torn apart,,, the pics will get better when goodies arrive

z31maniac

800/500 is what I ordered based on Emilio's recommendation.

My car will eventually be on 205 SM6s, with an E prod bumper/splitter and rear wing.

Unfortunately I probably won't get to drive on them until next season.

Symyn

i went with 700/450 i believe based on his suggestion. I can't wait.

Symyn

Updates!
We made some changes in car priorities and engine choices.
And we picked up another Miata that was recently a Spec Miata. This will save us some money in the long run as it came with several parts that were on our list.
Speaking of parts! We got several packages over the past couple of weeks!

Very excited to see all this coming together.
Also scored this killer steering wheel that I very excited about!

It is some vintage wheel from "Personal" and pays homage to Emerson Fittipaldi.
It was berried in the trunk of the new car we just picked up, and is in amazing condition considering.
The new car also came with brand new Koni Yellows with Ground control sleeves, and a Racing beet solid sway bar, so now we have 3 options for front sways (4 if you include the stock) and we will also be able to do some comparison between the Koni set up and the Xida's.
Car # 2 has been at the graphics shop for the past week so I haven't been able to focus on getting it running but that is the plan for this week now that it is back. Some of the colors were off so the car will be going back to the graphics shop, but I would like to get it running first. The original debut for car #2 was supposed to be this next weekends local autocross, but that we will just use car #1 for this event and debut car #2 at the next event.
Here are some pics of car #2 with some new skin.




The new car also came with 2 sets of Team Dynamics "Pro Race 2" rims so we will be using those instead of purchasing the Enkie RPF01 that I wanted, ,, but those will come later.
The motor was also recently replaced, and the car ran great. Good purchase! Woohoo!

Symyn

Here are some pics of the new car as I just picked it up.

Symyn

And a couple concept pics for the new car.

Symyn

At this point i think i will be putting our 1.8 spec Miata motor into car #2 instead of car#3, sense the motor in car #2 is bad, i am pulling it any way, and we decided that car #3, that was originally slotted to have the 1.8 will now have the LS1 instead of car #4.
Recap
Car #1 BRG built for E Stock autocross comp. 1.6
Car #2 1.8 swap then Turbo for SM Autocross and Super Miata comp.
Car #3 1.6 for Super Miata comp and SM comp. our Big track car.
Car #4 Ls1 Swap for SM and Super Miata comp. Scary car.
Car #5 NA Rotary swap Built for who knows what.