Project Miata: Build Thread
 

so i'm a long time lurker, but seeing as this is my first time posting i should introduce myself. my name is charlie brumfield and i run an automotive enthusiast show called burnout radio. but this project has nothing to with that so that's enough on that.

what you guys care about is the car.


It's a 1991 Mazda Miata sporting no options other that power steering and a/c. Still rocking the original 1.6L motor with 200K miles. The motor, trans, and body are solid. The rest of the car... not so much.

When we picked up Project Miata it was doing duty as the quintessential girls car ferrying a high school cheerleader to and from school. her daddy was tired of fixing the car every time she broke it so we got it for a cheep $2100.

Added bonus was that it came with the hard dog duce bar I was planning on buying anyway.

Penalty points for having one hell of an obnoxious exhaust

Even more penalty points for the heavy as hades 17x7 enkie rse's it came with (note these were already changed out to 15x7 oz superleggera's before the pics were taken)

So that's the car in a nutshell. Stay tuned for some very through step by step guides for everything we are doing to the car. First up will be new brakes.

you guys can see a whole bunch of pics at the link below.

http://www.carcare101.info/project-m...odern-classic/

so far i've dropped in an 8lbs aluminum flywheel (not so good for boost from what i hear), 6 puck clutch, complete refreshed the stock brakes with new rotors, hp+ pads, ss brake lines, and motul brake fluid.

next major mods are complete suspension upgrade. springs shocks, bushings, everything. followed by a head light upgrade. then i'll be diving in to the interior, shortly followed by dropping a turbo on to the 1.6L. looking to make a respectable but some what conservative 200 rwhp. from what i gather poking around here that should be very doable.

so let me know what you guys think. am i on the right track?

thanks in advance,

charlie

The video says your dropping in a 400 hp v8. So which is it, turbo or v8? Welcome by the way.

I may have parts for you if you're going turbo epending on how big, I have a starter kit of a begi fpr & beips acu and brand. New in box walbro 255. Love the roll bar & the red

both :) stage 2 is turbo. then once we exhaust what we can safely get out of the turbo. we'll start gathering parts and such for stage 3. in stage three we'll pull the drive train out and begin the v8 swap. the turbo driven train will be saved for another project.

thanks for the comments. the red paint is defiantly 20ft paint at best. previous owner had a cheep ass maco paint job done and maco even included orange peel that you can feel and no extra charge!

Wet sand and clear coat w/ blue Pearl flake would look sexy as fuxx

This reminds me I need to start build thread, I really recommend getting your ECU sorted out first. It really saves a lot of headache!

Cool, thanks for the info. When the time comes which v8 route will you be going, the ls series, 5.0, lexus...? I agree with getting your ecu figured out first. MS it now get familiar with it then boost. Have fun with it.

when i comes time for the v8, it will be a shocker. that's all i'm at liberty to say currently.

thanks for the heads up on the ecu. so is mega squirt the best way to go? what about hydra?

@1909miata i might be interested in the turbo parts.

so the first thing we did to the car (besides changing all the sensors that had gone out over the years) was to get start a complete brake overhaul by prepping a new set of oem rotors with a couple of coats of dupli - color ceramic caliper paint on the rotor hats and edges to help prevent rust. because there's nothing worse than looking behind a shiny new set of wheels and seeing rusty worn out brakes.

http://www.carcare101.info/wp-conten...03-300x201.jpg

you guys can see the step by step in the link below

http://www.carcare101.info/project-m...-brake-rotors/

lose the style bars

not a style bar it's the hard dog duce roll bar.

but that no longer matters since thursday night project miata caught fire on my way home and burnt to the ground when the gas tank exploded.

http://www.carcare101.info/wp-conten...02-300x179.jpg

you guys can read the full story at the link below. there's more pics of the carnage as well. suffice to say, i kind of want to stab the previous owner at the moment.

http://www.carcare101.info/project-m...laze-of-glory/

So what engine was going in it?

Dann

sorry still can't say dann. part of the agreement we have with the engine builder. just incase it doesn't fit. i can guarantee you it won't be a disappointment.

we'll be resurrecting project miata. a bunch of our fans have already donated or pledged to donate money, time, parts, and tools to helps us get this project back to where it was.

http://www.carcare101.info/wp-conten...02-300x201.jpg

here's the photos from the aftermath of the inferno. turns out we might have some savlageable parts after all. take take a look at the rest of the photos and tell me if you thinbk we might be able to use anything.

http://www.carcare101.info/project-m...f-the-inferno/

so this is how awesome out followers are. they've started donating all kinds of stuff to help us rebuild project miata. cash, time, parts, and even tools! we've got a couple of guys who are out looking for the perfect lipstick red na miata to replace the one that burnt. i didn't realize the project was so popular!

the guys over at www.motoramalive.com even started a fund raising program and had us guest host their show tonight! how cool is that!

http://www.carcare101.info/wp-conten...jectMiata1.png

holy crap dude that sucks

Sad face!!!!!!

Holy shit. I am now scared, my car threw a CEL today.

Thats so terrible hope everything works out with it. Best of luck!

Did I skim past the part where you say what exactly caused the fire, or is that even possible to discern?