I guess you could say I brought it back from the dead... Pic intensive!
 

My name is Kyle, I'm an ASE certified tech that loves to wrench on something in my spare time. I'v been lurking here and there and figured it was time to man up. This will be the condensed version I'll try and make a full build thread when I get a chance. I got into Miatas by receiving a very run down '91 as payment for some work I did. If I recall he bought the car for $100 for a parts car and let it sit for around 5 years. He said it ran when he parked it, but somewhere down the line he pulled the fuel pump and the tank was full of rust so I had to take his word. I saw potential so I took it. After I got her home:



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First order of business was to swap tanks and see if it runs.




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Threw in some gas and it fired right up after a quick prime... I was amazed. So... out came the motor, all the suspension and most of the interior.




http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...a/100_2511.jpg

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Motor was cleaned, semi tore down, and resealed. Suspension was blasted, powdercoated and urethane bushings installed. Engine bay painted, and suspension reinstalled with 1.8 brakes, '94 torsen, and GC/Koni combo.




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FM Happy Meal goes in then the motor. Its all reinstalled as stock for now. Streetable wheels and tires are sourced and I make it to a local miata meet.



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Source new front fenders. Install "new" dash and cage. Fix front bumper. Lots 'o body work. Roll fenders and prep for paint.



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Get it painted. Make some door panels to delete the door handles. Install Personal Neo Grinta with Quick release. And finaly receive 6ul's and mount some 225/45 rubber.



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Sourced a Hartop and a authentic GV lip. Deleted Softtop perm-mounted hardtop and painted rear deck.



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Now the fun begins.... Nabbed a Greddy "kit", MSPNP, and RC550 injectors. Prepped the car by doing a DIY Reroute. Bought a CX Racing FMIC kit (No that's a real Greddy Type-S) ;) . And had Fifteen52 fab a 3" stainless turboback for me. That's where the car sits now...




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:drool:

I dunno why but a roll cage/bar with thick padding on it gives me a hard one. Amazing revival work, great looking car, enjoy the powah.

Cannot get over the amount of detail work, especially with the suspension, good job, very good job.

Wow dude, you've been busy, that's a helluva transformation!

Yeah, I'm a tad ---- about the finer details. LOL But I could have gone way crazier.

It's been just over a year since I turned the first wrench. Money held me back or it would have been sooner. So yeah I was busy but not busy enough...

Always nice to see a miata near the edge of death be brought back to a beast of a car. Nice job everything looks good! Got me motivated to keep collecting parts for this falls complete tear down! Love the cage... I want.

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impressive, I ain't got none of dem skillz

I like the powdercoated suspension pieces, nice knowing that crap wont rust anymore. Welcome to the site, your car seems well put together.

where in florida?

So much work put in. Awesome.

Sarasota/Bradenton

fawk...That's awsome!! Almost reminded me my car when I first got it (in bad shape). I never thought about powdercoat suspension parts. I love the transformation from ugly duckling to Fresh Prince!!! Who made the roll bar/cage ??

also..love your choice on the steering wheel! 350mm??

The cage is a bolt in Harddog I got second hand and then powdercoated.

No, I went with the 330mm.

I've been inspired! Hallelujah.

Great work. Put a heat shield around that brake reservoir :)

Great work! Would not believe it was the same car once upon a time!

I agree, you need a heat shield. Little advice from a fellow greddy owner though, don't get the FM/Bowser heat shield, it won't fit well with anything but the stock down pipe. Mine popped a spot weld or two, and you have to extend the lower bracket over. Simple, but if you have some fabrication skills, I'd go ahead and make your own, just copy the basic design.

wow, you seriously brought it back from the dead. phenomenal job

Amazing job. Going to get it on the dyno after the install?

Wow, that car has come a LOOOONG way...

Awesome work, and more importantly, great results.

You, sir, are my hero!

At first I was like :giggle:

Then I was like :cry::bowdown::cry:

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=NFW

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Son, is that you?! I knew I'd find you one day. Daddy's proud!

Thanks everyone, all the praise defiantly makes all the hard work seem worth while.

Yeah I plan to fab up some form of heatshield. The exhaust was literally just finished Tuesday night. I didn't have much problem when I had the Racing Mazda downpipe on. Of course I never did an event with it boosted yet.

I'm going to try and hit the dyno here in the next week or so. I tell you the power feels on par with my Mazdaspeed6. But its hard to tell, they are two totally different cars. I'd be happy to break 200whp at this point.

Defiantly more to come so stay tuned.

Wow, awesome build and attention to details. I'm loving the final product.

Amazing transformation

Car looks great, that downpipe is sexy, Mandrel bends are for pussies

Is said that for every action there's a reaction, an opposite that counters that initial input. Your thread is my nemesis. Im depressed :cry:


Nicely done

Simply Filthy.

LOL I was surprised he got it to fit as well as he did. When I went to show him what I wanted I was like a 2.5" DP into a 3" will be fine. He was like I can get 3" to fit no problem. I was like DO IT!!!. I'm totally happy with the results. He did my Speed6 exhaust too.

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Another local! It's good to have somebody else in the area.

How much did he charge you for the exhaust work? It's nice...

Awesome shit dude. This is what everyone should be doing with Miatas. One day I'll clean up the daily driver.

Mine started like this:
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today:
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Looks good!

Change the brake fluid...EWWWW

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it's something along the lines of Super Blue.

How do you like the cage with top down driving? Still feel like a convertible, or does it feel much less open? I've been contemplating a bolt in add on to my roll-bar. More for safety in case of an accident than track use.

My nomination for best build thread of 2010. Awesome work man!
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Awesome. Man I wish I could do that...http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/imag.../sadbanana.gif

This isn't even a build thread. I left so many details out in this thread its not funny. I plan to make a real build thread eventually. Basically I was just trying to introduce myself and show you all I aint kidding around. :giggle:

On a side note you were all right. I was out street tuning getting the new exhaust dialed in and after about of hour I smelt something burning. To my dismay I melted the brake fluid reservoir. So... while it's down some other goodies are in the works...

Oh and yeah that's Ate Super Blue. I thought I was the newb. :laugh:

Almost missed this one.

It still feels pretty open. Basically the same visibility as say a roll bar but now you have a bar in close proximity to your head. It makes blind lanes changes a bit difficult but no worse then top up. Having everything above your head open gives a good feeling of freedom. Now that I have a hardtop bolted down it defiantly feels pretty tight. But I love it.

Looks great! Wish I had the time and space to do the same overhaul/revival of my car. It's not anywhere near where your was but definitely got some rust growing underneath.

Awesome work! A+

Superb!!!! This is great! I though my rebuild was tough but, damn, I don't have near the work to do that you did.

Thanks for the inspiration and keep up the work!

Oh and thanks for closing the deal on the street cage for me, I am for sure getting one now:giggle:

Like everyone already said, great job..amazing work...blah blah blah. You have me somewhat speechless. a couple of questions. Did you run into any problems when you powder coated the front upper a-arm? (upper ball joint the pressed in fitting?) The rubber seal and grease would melt in the process. did you just repack with grease and replace the boot after it was done? When you bought the car was the the soft top on it? In the first pictures it looks like there was plenty of leaves and weather getting inside the car... if so, you really did an amazing job breathing new life into her....so for a "free" car, what do you think was your finished build cost was?
Kudos!

-Cheers,

Jim

not only did you bring it back from the dead, you made it BADASS.

Very nice work man

Good work.

Kyle likes ---- :fawk:




:giggle:


I kid, I kid. I can say that this is a man of extreme attention to detail on his build, being a good friend of mine. I can't believe it's been a year since you started on that basketcase Kyle, time flies. There's a few pieces from my car in there too :bigtu:

I pressed the balljoint out and and back it after the process.

Very nicely done. The car and the thread. If I send you my Miata, can you make it look like yours?:giggle:

Seriously, job weel done.:bigtu:

Sorry was in Orlando all weekend, I got like 5 minutes on the computer and quick replied.

The car didn't have a top at all. I got the soft top second hand off a friend who totaled a car. The stock seats were rotted out as was most of the interior. So I got seats from a wrecked '99.

Oh and Andrew,
Thanks for the kind words... LOL

I believe the proper response to this thread is simply

APPLICATION FOR BALLER STATUS APPROVED.

+1 for cost analysis. And, job well done!

Definitely got me even more excited about shopping for an NA. I hope to find me a good deal on a white one just like this and work from the ground up on it.

Basic cost rundown? Thanks for all the replies and answers to questions so far. This kind of stuff truly is the bread and butter of car forums :bigtu:

I never kept tally. I would have to venture a guess of around $8k thus far.

Can I ask where you had it painted?

yeah, where? I want to know how, especially if it was DIY too.

Bringing this back from the dead again..... Really debating the switch to white.

Sorry bout missing all this. No I traded some labor for a friend of mine and had him paint it. I just did all the prep work myself.



So a little update... More to come when I get good pics and get some other odds and ends done.

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The front roll bar points added in are SWEET. I assume it all comes out so you can still pull the dash?

Nice intake manifold.