20 year old from Australia here,

Had my nb for about a year, bought it for 8k AUD (Auto, no AC), did a manual swap with my friend, coilovers, 2way lsd install by myself.

Went to 1 track day, then 4 wetpan drift days. Recently been planning to turbo the car, but maybe with all the research and the amount of information, my mind is unconsciously getting overloaded and no longer motivated.

Just these days I feel like the car isnt enjoyable, and was just wondering if this was a phase for anyone and what they did hahaha

Don't want to sell the car as of now, don't think I've given the car a fair chance and I still enjoy when i go on drives with the top down.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

It happens. My advice is to build the car in stages and keep it on the road as much as possible. Planning upgrades is fine, but try to do it in a way that isn't overwhelming.

 

Have you thought about why you bought it in the first place? What has changed regarding those purchase reasons?

I wouldn't over-think it, maybe you have got what you wanted from it, and now it is time to move on? As Pat says, it happens, and nobody said that buying one was a lifetime commitment.

OTOH, you still enjoy taking it for a drive - maybe just drive it, enjoy it for what it is, and let the mechanicing go for now - especially now that summer is here!

 

Yea, I understand it isn't a lifetime commitment, but its really sad to see, that before i bought the car I would imagine possibilities with the car and stuff, but now that I've accomplished what is to be considered the tip of the iceberg for an mx5, feels weird hahaha. Will be taking it out for drives, although idk how this aussie summer with no ac will do to me hahahaha

 

Going in stages is the way to do it, like Pat says. Avoid lengthy down times, and drive it as frequently as you can. No AC in summer in Australia (now) is no fun while the sun is up! But go for top down drives at dusk or dawn and you'll have a great time. Consider what's going to make those drives more fun for you, will adding a turbo at near the cost of the whole car be worth it to you?

Add you location to your profile, meet up with others in your area, someone will have a turbo who can take you for a spin and give you a feel for it. That might help you decide if you want to pursue it further.

 

thanks for the insight; will do in regard to the meetups.

I want to turbo my nb, did alot of research and kinda stuck on the ecu and turbo manifold side....

Time to do more research.

I also ordered the quarter panel vents, so ill take that out for a spin when the sun is out (a short spin) and see if its any better. Otherwise, ill suck it up ahahaha

 

My suggestion - if possible - is:
Go for a drive in a well sorted turbo Miata and you'll get your motivation back.

When your mind is overwhelmed from all the information and what to buy AND you have the money, then just go for a complete turbo kit and don't worry about manifolds, ecus and what not.
They can be installed in a week without any special knowledge, just common diy-wrenching skills.
Only thing you need to do is look out for a tuner in your area, who tunes the ecu your kit comes with.

I drive my car only ~1000 miles per year, but when I do, I really enjoy it and selling is absolutely no option to me

 

I get this feeling very strongly whenever i see a clean, red T2 FC...
like everyone else says, build in stages/one part at a time. Feeling stock compared to a fresh part back to back is very helpful to feel like you're making progress. Try not to have it down for more than a couple weekends and maintain that as a goal or challenge. The more turnkey you keep it at all times, the happier you'll be with it

If you have The Box of Parts to be Installed like I do, i found putting a damn lid on it and putting one part on the top is a lot easier than looking at the whole thing.

 

If you want to modify your car, go for it. That's why sites like this exist.

On the other hand, if you have no desire to spend time and money on your car, don't. Drive it, enjoy it. Mission accomplished. It's not like modifying a car is a worthwhile pursuit from an economic perspective.

What little modification my car has was mostly done in the first two seasons I've owned it, and I've owned it for twelve. Still enjoy driving it and doing whatever maintenance that occasionally comes up. There are worse things than being satisfied with what you have. One day I may still turbo, but at the moment I have other things to prioritize my time and money on, and I question how much happiness having a car that's faster than I can reasonably use on the street will ultimately bring me. Been there, done that with sport bikes already.

 

Pretty much hit the nail on the head with this statement...

Another thing to keep in mind is, most of us here that have silly amounts of money in our cars (me admittedly being very guilty of this ) do not do this overnight or instantly. It is financially not possible for most to do. It can become easy to become excited about building a car that replicates a build thread you read through in 2 hours, but the reality is, most of the involved builds here take years and tens of thousands of dollars and hours to build. It's taken me 6 years to get from a bone stock car from where I am now. I enjoy the build process almost as much (if not more) than I do driving it. No matter what, you've got to enjoy it and there's no shame in keeping it relatively stock if that's what you are enjoying.

 

I think I got burnt out after doing mod after mod after mod, not that its any comparable in terms of difficulty/money wise, but for someone that's started wrenching as soon as I got my nb beginning of 2022, i think it has overwhelmed me in a way.

Will try to drive more, as I'm on holidays now

 

Well said. Projects take time and money.

I'm in year 9 of my BMW E30 restomod, and still have a long list of things I want to get done. I do try to have the car on the road every summer to keep the motivation up, but missed a year when I had the colour changed. Like you I enjoy the build almost as much as driving the car!
The thing now makes twice the stock power and this winter I'm having to revisit my original choice of OEM rubber suspension bushings to get it to hook properly. But I digress.

If possible it does help to have another sporty/fun car to drive while your main project is down. (This is where my Miata fits in for me during the summer). But then if I have a big job on the Miata I'm driving something else. You can see how this quickly spirals until you have no driveway space left. If I could only keep a car stock

 

Happened when I'm building the MR2, tried to do the full suspension overhaul from the ground up at the very start, burned out pretty fast, will definitely upgrade in stages in the future

 

I planned a winter long turbo build. A bad case of "while I'm in here" happened and scale creep got real. I was really afraid that I actually wouldn't finish it. I decided mid summer (18 months after starting) that I'd finally do it, I called up a friend, we worked our asses off and finally got it back on the road. But when you get deep into a project and feel like there's too much to do, focus on one thing and finish it, no matter what. That win will keep you going.

 

If I can throw my two cents in:

It's also really helpful from a burnout perspective to do all your other main mods before going big and starting the turbo'ing process. By getting the other aspects of your car dialed in, you'll both gain momentum with your build and get the car ready to deal with all the extra power it's gonna have. You'll also be making noticeable improvements to the way the car performs and that gratification feels damn good. When you start the turbo'ing process, you can expect to be doing mods for an extended period of time with no real performance gains (ecu, injectors, fuel pump) until the project is finished and the turbo is completely on. For me, I didn't start researching power adders until I already had done all the other basic upgrades (coilovers, sway bar, mild brake upgrades, tires, etc) and basic maintenance done. The turbo'ing process took me about 7 months of research and execution, and I'm super glad I didn't go down that rabbit hole right when I got the car.

There's plenty of ways to go about it but I wouldn't change a thing. The ****-eating smile you'll have on your face when you get on the gas in your newly-turbo'd miata will make it all beyond worth it.

 

I'm sort of at the same stage. I have a NA and really wanted to buy / build a NB with a system that would support 325 rwhp. I bought most of the stuff to support it other than the car and it's just sat around for the last three years.

 

I will suggest you take a break and set some goals and yes, also explore new terrains. It's not uncommon for car enthusiasts to go through phases where their motivation and enthusiasm wane, especially after a series of modifications and projects. If you can't concentrate because of your pending assignments then why not try here to find an essay writing service according to your requirements? I always take help from online essay writers so that I can concentrate on my mind on other projects.

 

Drive it. I would get bored with my NB after it sat undriveable for a while but every time I drove it, it kind of reminded why I loved it and what I was actually working towards as a project.