Checking in from Oklahoma
 

New member just checking in from Oklahoma.

My Miata is a 2000 SE that got a conversion to V8 power earlier this year.
The reason I am on here is that the bulk of any performance Miata is suspension setup and I am trying to learn options to set my car up to be a fun and well handling car.
My car is 99% factory original if you get beyond the LS1 engine and T56 manual transmission and Getrag rear differential.

It does have Flyin Miata Maxx coil overs but other than that is all factory stuff (sway bars, brakes, tires & wheels).

My goal is to beef up the handling to keep the package a well balanced car.
To that end I am on here because my feeling is that following the same setup as turbocharged and/or supercharged cars should work out well.

Hello to all.

Bruce Gordon

Welcome. You should definitely post some pictures!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d3ee28460b.jpg
The car presently looks completely stock till you raise the hood so pictures are pretty boring.
Interior does not give any clues since the shifter is in the stock location and I am keeping the factory wooden knob.
At some point in the future I intend to do a set of wider tires & wheels and a roll bar but don’t even have those at the moment.
Got to give the saving account some time to rebuild after spending $22,000 on the car and swap.

What's your location. If you are in the Tulsa area I'd like to check it out.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ebb6ae950f.jpg

I live in Sand Springs, just West of Tulsa.
You are welcome to check it out whenever you would like.
Sent you a PM.

lol, 99%

Well, maybe 99% is a bit off.
I do have aftermarket hood latches due to the cold air intake using the real estate that used to house the hood latch.

How about 48% factory original with the drive train counting for 50% and the rest counting for the other 50%?

You gotta admit it does look stock.

It does look very stock. Thanks for the pic. Do you ever intend to try it out at Hallett? They would rightfully want you to have a rollbar on it, though.

Been giving some thought on what to do with the car and have a couple of ideas but your question is similar to what has been rolling around in my head.

It seems the common denominator is wider wheels and tires. However, as soon as you do that, that means your brakes will fail even sooner lol. I agree with trying autocross and seeing where it goes from there. I put rollbars in all of my miatas, though. I do not feel safe with the complete lack of rollover protection in the case of NA/NB's and the flimsy aluminum hoops in the NC/ND's.

*heavy breathing*

Welcome :)

I decided to tear the car apart over the long weekend and work on it over the Winter.

The biggest two items to address while it is apart are that the rear of the engine leaks about 3 drops a day, presumably from the rear seal and the 4th gear syncro went out on the transmission.
Guess it is no surprise as the stupid CAGS thing that was on the 1998 to 2002 Camaro's forced a person to shift from 1st to 4th when just driving around normal. All in the name of fuel economy. My drive train was so stock that nobody ever bothered to spend 5 minutes and $20 to insert a CAGS eliminator when the car was new, which put a bunch of extra wear on the 4th gear syncro.

While it is apart I will go ahead and have the transmission rebuilt and upgraded to handle more HP in case I want to bump up the performance another 150 HP in the future.
As part of the stuff while it is down I will replace all the gaskets and seals just to make sure nothing leaks.

Originally I wanted to keep just enough patina on the engine to make it look like a well maintained 100k engine so the car would look as close to stock as possible.
After getting it all together that look does not work because so much of the under hood stuff is brand new.
Based on that I will go ahead and clean up the engine to match all the rest of the new stuff.
The exterior will still stay stock looking to maintain the sleeper look as much as possible.

Because I have an LS V8 engine under the hood 300 HP is the bottom end of the performance potential, unlike if I had done a supercharger install onto the original 4 cylinder.
One thing I am also considering is changing out the cam and intake to supposedly gain 80-90 HP, which would put me close to 400 at the rear wheels.
The car feels wicked fast to my seat of the pants there is no way the car needs it but it is one of those things that comes under the category of "Might as well while it is apart".

Well, you have now entered the spiral. Soon you will need wheels, tires, and brakes to turn and stop the 400 hp beast. Then you will want a rollbar to go on a real track. Then...