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noobtube mandatory introduction in your sphincters

Hey guys

I've been hanging and posting here for a few months and never really made one of those.
So, in order to be officially noobified (or denoobified) I decided to make a post on here. (Nothing to do with the fact that I can't fall asleep and have to go to work in an hour).

My story's pretty simple :
22 years old
I'm a student, trying to become an automotive technician with an 1800 hours course I'm taking up here in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Thinking of doing a second one in machining techniques when I'm done with this one. I currently work in the garage at Canadian Tire, mostly doing tires and oil changes.
I lack motivation in many fields. I like vaginas and glitter.
this winter, a 1999 nb miata came into my life.
It is a base model, forest green with 85500km.
Handbrake wasn't working.. Fixed that
Radio wasn't working.. fixed that
I took the old motor out, switched the block to a 94-97 JDM block because I read somewhere it was better for forced induction. (block has less than 60 000miles on it)
New headgasket, water pump, timing belt, ect sensor, spark plugs, plug wires, strap, timing cover gaskets, pretty much all the gaskets.
New fluids everywhere. Bodily fluids that is.
It's rusty, as all the cars up here. PO said it had never been in the snow but after I took it all apart, I determined that was a lie.
both rockers have to be fixed, welded in.
But mecanically, now, it is sound.
Depowered rack (which I hate)
I got new shifter insulators and insulated the tranny tunnel as it was getting so hot in the car without carpet.
New tie rod ins and ends on both sides, new lower balljoints, new upper driver side table.
it's got poly bushings all over the place, I've ground down all these parts and sandblasted them and coated them with engine enamel to stop the rust.
Brakes in the front are carbotech xp6 I believe.>
Fm happy meal with a wrongly installed clutch release which makes a shit ton of noise when I'm stopped.
I'ts on FM track pack coilovers with supermiata endlinks on all fours with a RB 1/4'' front sway and FM frame rails.
I'm in the process of installing my new economy top from miatatopsource, as the old one was torn to shit.

Currently on winter tires but I got some used pilots that are coming on, on the stock daisies.
Pretty boring set up, I've got a cxracing intercooler, sr20det turbo in desesperate need of a rebuild, artech manifold and a bunch of gauges/blowoff waiting to go on the car but I've ran out of funds for the moment.
I'm considering selling it, as it is a source of anxiety for my little weak anxious brain, but I can't get myself to do it because I love it so much.
But at the same time, I hate it.

Now it needs a new rain rail and the cables that attach to the skeleton of the soft top. More money.
I named it Alice, because that's my ex girlfriend's best friend's name, yep.

Anecdotes so far?
Took it out the garage and didn't double check anything. Decided it would be a good idea to bring a first date in the miata for a ride after dinner.
Waterpump pulley fell off, fixed that on the side of the road - all proud of meself.
Went to start the car (I had left the lights on to see what I was doing) and the battery went dead on me. Had to call my dad to boost me.
Reinstall all the things, got going and then as we were riding around, the police started following me as I was in a lowered car and these are now illegal here.
Smoke started coming out of the engine bay, police still on my tail, I'm freaking out and so is my date.
They go away, I stop and open the hood : My pod filter was rubbing on my exhaust manifold and was burning away.
Had to fix that too. Dropped the girl off, didn't say bye as I was too pissed/embarassed.
Didn't get a call back. Thanks Alice.

My plans for it :

short term?
Throw the oldnew tires on,
align it
get a new battery
ride it a bit.

If I get the courage and the funds to do it ? Probably fix all the rust, wrap it in a nice black, get a rollcage, some konigs and tires
Then, turbo it. A nice conservative 205-210 at the wheels would be nice.
that a ways though.

anyhow, I get carried away when talking about this car.
Just working on it though has thought me a lot of things (which I still have to learn a bunch) about cars in general and working on them.
I sometimes don't find the patience to read about stuff but I've learned that it is a mandatory step if you want to do things the right way, the first time. (And save a bunch of money)

That's it for today kids

My name is Alex btw, nice to meet yall

Decent intro, but it doesn't count without pictures.

If the rack has been depowered, reduce the caster to around 3.5 to 4 degrees if you want to decrease steering effort. Less caster is less effort. Stock is around 5.5 degrees, roughly. Avoid zero offset wheels because they increase effort.

Welcome again, Alex.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixshooter (Post 1151511)

Thanks I'll definately take that into consideration when I get the courage to do the alignment myself, it,s pretty scary

Quote:

Originally Posted by rleete (Post 1151510)

Decent intro, but it doesn't count without pictures.

Nice. You've been busy. Props.

I cringed when I saw the salt/rust pics.

I like where this is headed, nice work so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rleete (Post 1151654)

I cringed when I saw the salt/rust pics.

Yes, but I smiled when I saw the removal and repaint. My subframes want that kind of love.

Welcome, Cheekanuble!

Quote:

Originally Posted by petrolmed (Post 1151663)

I like where this is headed, nice work so far.

Yes, but I smiled when I saw the removal and repaint. My subframes want that kind of love.

the worst part is : I've spent hours sandblasting all my hardware and 2 days sitting outside in the rain and it's already rusty.
Same with the frames or tables, if i missed a LITTLE spot it turned into rust mania after some rain.
Jesssuuuuusssssss

Quote:

Originally Posted by Braineack (Post 1151665)

Welcome, Cheekanuble!

thanks boss!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rleete (Post 1151654)

Nice. You've been busy. Props.

I cringed when I saw the salt/rust pics.

the worst are the rockers, they make me sad.

Hi guys again!

I don't have a build thread and kinda need somewhere to post everything I got so far to keep track on the progress of the car. ...and myself at that too.
So I put on my 6 hours early 2000's hip hop playlist and I get to work.

Hope you're all doing well.

So next week, I'm finishing my apprenticeship at Ford and getting my diploma to officially be an apprentice automotive tech.
Not even sure I wanna be one, I found out that even after studying for a year and a half I still have to do oil changes and tire changes for a year or 2 before I start touching on stuff that's remotely a bit interesting. (I've been doing tires and oil changes since may... so I've been there done that)

Also, seeing how quickly and illogical some repairs are made on customers' vehicles made me question if I wanted to be that type of person.
I'll just work with one of my friends for now and maybe I'll go do another trade this fall or winter. Wherever the road takes me.

A few pics of an interesting repair I did last week ; a seeping halfblock on a 3.0 v6 2011 escape.
Attachment 238357
Attachment 238358

That was cool. Aside from that, this car has been a source of a lot of anxiety and questions. Adding to the fact I don't know where I'm headed career wise, I'm lost with what I wanna do with the car.
I look back to the to-do list I had made for it almost a year ago and things have changed.
The car is sitting outside now, and the body is in very rough shape. To the point where I am just thinking of letting it as is and reshelling it eventually because the rust is so extensive.

(Let it be known, my car is staying at my brother in law's place an hour away from where I currently reside. The deal with him was if the car stayed there, he was gonna help me turbo it, fabrication and stuff. But it had to be done, that was the deal I made with him.)

The roof I purchased from miatatopsource is still not fitting, I gave up on that. It sat outside for most of the summer not being fitted to the car and now it just won't close.
Sent pictures such as this to miatatopsource and they said they saw flaws in my installation but wouldn't tell me what.
Attachment 238359

I changed the front left fender on the car, PO had smashed it in a truck and deformed the brackets holding it too, so I took a black, paint chipped one I found on the webz and threw it on there. Broke one of the lower and rusted fasteners in the unibody, it's still in there to this day.
Attachment 238360

There was a bunch of anti theft bullshit in the car which I had to remove because it was not working nor had I the remote for it. Soldered and cleaned that up.

There was a broken balljoint boot on the left side as well, I bought some ES boots for it and changed that.

That was all last fall, after that I had to take a break from the car. The soft top story really let me down as I couldn't ride the car the whole summer and now it wouldn't even close for the winter.
Took the opportunity to work crazy hours and stack up some money, make some new friends and gather myself.
Attachment 238361
I'm leaning against the tires on the right (hi)

Winter came and so did the winter tire rush at work and the hours that came with it. Some money and the stress of putting a turbo in that rusty turd before next summer. So I bought some things :
Attachment 238362

Then I got ahold of artech to make me a turbo elbow...
Attachment 238363
Attachment 238364
That order is still underway, I ordered all the lines, vbands, bungs... stuff like that. Should hear from him next week to finalize that.

Bought a supposed ms cable for data logging from someone on a local miata group and that turned out well.
Attachment 238365

I still need to buy the steel for the exhaust, a mild steel v band, a wide band, 4 ev1 pigtails for my rx7 injectors,a muffler and probably a bunch of stuff to hook up my gauges which I bought used and didn't come with any of the wiring.

My brother in law hooked me up with one of his friends who was trying to get rid of his old tire setup he had on his b16 turbo ek civic and I just had to take it.
4 kumho ecstas xs with 4 amateur lapping sessions on them on fast hayasomething wheels + 2 wheels spare (that are pink and green..lol) without tires for 500$ these tires go for 170$ each around here.
Attachment 238366
Attachment 238367

Now come the big questions. My BIL just recently acknowledged the fact that I am broke and he told me I shouldn't put it turbo and just have it rolling to have something reliable to drive this summer ( I drive a 95 corolla ) and enjoy it. Financially that would make sense, but I'm scared if I keep it N-A for this summer i'll just want to keep it that way and put the money I should be saving for the move in other useful stuff.

Things like a cage, racing seat and decent steering wheel. Not to mention other fun stuff like spacers, good rear brakes, braided brake lines and extended studs.
I've been reading a few build threads on here and it seems like a common trend that people build a few turbo yatas then get sick of them breaking all the time and get NA and track all the time. Which is what I like. I like driving... and financial stability to some extent.

There's still so much more to do. Ultimately I'd like the car to look like this :
Attachment 238368

I know it's an NA and it's hella jdm wangan swag but I like it.

So I got a week to think about all that and then I'll take my decision. Your opinion would be appreciated!

Dear diary hahaha

Congrats on finishing your apprenticeship.
It seems like you just need to focus.
It's easy to get discouraged with something and give up and move to the next thing, but that is almost always fruitless. Don't be that guy.
My advice is to stop buying parts until you have the top sorted out and the megasquirt installed and tuned.
As far as your career; most careers suck in the beginning. What you are doing may legitimately not be for you, but you should stick with it for at least a year.
Employers don't like to see lots of short-term jobs on resumes. Bust your ass, and be the best noob in the shop, and at least you'll have a good recommendation if you decide to leave.
Good luck, and don't give up on your project.

If the rust really is that bad, dump the car and buy one that isn't. It seems like you don't drive it in the wintertime so it'll be worth it. You may have to travel. Is it real expensive to import a car from the US? A shame after all the work you put into it though.

Wait... what's better about the early block for boost?

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbofan (Post 1202118)

That bad? That's nothing around here. "Normal" rust on a 18-20 year old car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by concealer404 (Post 1202147)

Wait... what's better about the early block for boost?

IIRC the earlier block has an oil feed port on the block that is missing on the NB (other than MSM of course)

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbofan (Post 1202183)

IIRC the earlier block has an oil feed port on the block that is missing on the NB (other than MSM of course)

Seems like a pretty trivial thing to go through the trouble for.

I actually already knew the answer to my question. :giggle: Was just trying to be nice about it.

:party:

I sire wouldn't have done it. But he is confused you know? At least he appears to be a hard worker and able to get stuff done. I'm a hard worker but not much good at getting stuff done :hahano:

The earlier block to me, made absolutely no difference. Back then, I didn't even know about the oil port feeds or compression ratings.
I had the opportunity to do it, so I did. Why? Because I wanted to find out how to do it the hard way I guess.
It's not seeping, although when I tested the block to see which port was what I left them finger tight and rode like that for 500kms. Needless to say I had an oil leak that almost made its way to ym brand new fm happy meal. scary.

thank you all for your answers and guidance, it really helps to hear from people who've been in my position in the past and pushed through.
I'll start looking for a job in a garage when I've gathered a bit of money, at least to finish the project. I maybe have a grand tops to put into it before I can call it ''turbo'ed''.

that doesn't include the dyno tune and whatnot, just installed.`

For the tuning of the MS, I have a turbo basemap on there which is interesting but since hte car is so far away from me and I can't drive it, I really can't find the motivation to read about how to tune and deal with the ECU until I get my hands on the car and physically touch it. And maybe hug it.
Or burn it.

Rleete, I know this rust isn't REALLY bad. Compared to other mazda's around especially. But it is bad enough to put a 1300$ dent in my budget.
The rockers are chewed through which is a paiiin to deal with.
Wiper cowls broke cause some kid beat on it and my hood has a decent dent on it.
There's left over duck tape glue all over the car from the old top that I tried and failed to seal and the spoiler on it is so rusted I can't get the bolts off.

But there is hope. I hope.
The floorboards and frame is immaculate, and has been like I showed in the picture wirebrushed, thoroughly cleaned and bed lined to prevent further rustturdness.

I'll get you more pics soon enough.

thank you all for acknowledging my presence, means the world to me