Hey all, been a while since I've posted here. But emilio suggested I share my build here b/c on m.net nobody cares It's going to be a lot of pics... but I'll slow dump the pics over the next week or so.
This project has been going on for almost two years now. What started out as just an K-swap and auto to manual swap, has become almost a bolt-off restoration. Started with a mariner blue NA, but that car just had too much rust in the rockers for me to get it where I wanted. So I sold that car and picked up this 03 NB from Florida where I was told it has zero rust. (lie). Will be swapping the tan interior with black, and will be replacing almost every bolt with new JIS flange head bolts.

[edit] So for those who care... the purpose behind this build is nothing more than just a passion project. I used to track my cars, and once I realized how expensive that was, I moved to kart racing. Now being older, I am still very much a "function over form" guy, but no longer willing to dump cash into the most expensive hobby in the world (racing). So I chose the 2nd most expensive (car modding) ! I'm also a big fan of being understated and underestimated. (which is why i love the miata platform) So my goal is to have a very nice looking car, but can outperform it's looks. I also want some creature comforts, ac, nice(ish) ride, etc.. The goal of this build is to have a car that performs really well, is super reliable, looks good and is fun to drive. It will likely go in two major phases. Phase 1 being what i'm showing here... KSwap and restoration, making the car I wanted out of the gate. Phase 2 (if I decide to go further) will be taking it to the next level. Built engine, turbo, widebody, etc... Not sure I'll ever get there though. [/edit]


Here is the car as it was delivered. 03 NB2 with 98K miles, auto transmission


The engine is a K24a2 built by a local builder (strictly to oem specs)


Here is the parts list

• Destroy or Die - Mazda MX5 Miata NA NB Rear Super Knuckle
• Destroy or Die - Mazda MX5 Miata NA NB Front Super Knuckle
• Destroy or Die - Mazda MX5 Miata NA NB Adjustable Front Lower Control Arms
• Destroy or Die - Mazda MX5 Miata NA NB Adjustable Front Upper Camber Arm
• Destroy or Die - Mazda MX5 Miata NA NB Rear Upper Camber Arm
• Destroy or Die - Mazda MX5 Miata NA NB Shortened Tubular Rear Lower Control Arm
• Used OEM 6 Speed Transmission
• Used OEM 3.9 Toki Fuji Limited Slip Diff
• Used OEM Driveshaft
• Used OEM Clutch Pedal
• Used Manual PPF
• Used Rear Axels
• Fluidampr - Fluidampr Balanced Pulley
• Haltech - Elite ECU 1500
• Kmod - Rebuilt Long Block
• KPower - Ultimate K24a2 Swap Kit
• KPower - OEM Swap Parts Package
• Kpower - Stainless Racing Exhaust
• Kpower - ACT Clutch
• Kpower - Hydraulic Release Bearing
• KPower - Midpipe with Flex
• Kpower - Wilwood Clutch Master Cylinder
• Ktuned - Fuel Rail + Gauge
• PLM - Thermostat Housing
• Flyin Miata - Super Pro Bushing Kit
• BroFab- Hubs with race studs
• Acura - Cam Position Sensor 37510-RAA-A01
• Acura - Crank Position Sensor 37500-RAA-A01
• Acura - Coolant Temperature Sensor
• Acura - Intake Air Temperature Sensor 37880-PLC-004
• Acura - Oil Pressure Switch 37240-PT0-014
• Deatschwerks - 255 lph Fuel Pump
• Denso - Alternator
• Honda - Engine Starter
• Honda - Idle Air Control Valve 16022-RAA-A01
• Deatschwerks - 550cc Inectors
• Kpower - All-In-One Engine Harness
• Ktuned - Tensioner w/ Ep3 Pulley
• KTuned - 4 Bar MAP Sensor
• Ktuned - Knock Sensor
• Ktuned - Accessory Belt
• Ktuned - IAT Weldable bung
• Mazda - White Speed Sensor NTK VB0192
• Honda - Ignition Coils
• Koyo - 36mm hypercore radiator
• Blackbird - Rollbar
• Tein Basis Coilovers (temp option for now)
• AutoPlumb - Coolant Radiator Fittings
• Flyin Miata - Big Mama Brake Kit (Wilwood 6 piston up front / 4 piston rear) with e-brake
• ChaseBays - Dual Piston Brake Master (booster delete)
• Snail Fab - Custom Catch Can
• KPower - AC Kit (not really using much of it, as I dont like the routing)
• Advan TC4 Wheels 16x8
• Flyin Miata - Frame rails and butterfly brace
• Flyin Miata - DEI Insulation kit
• Flyin Miata - DEI vibration damping kit

Some pics of the initial tear down
Engine Removal




Interior being removed

 

Man, where is that rust hiding? It's a Florida car and those parcel shelf tins look impeccable.

Subbed. I love me a good long ongoing project but delayed build thread photo dump.

 

TRUNK !! LOL
I had the dealer send me pics of the underside of the car, subframes, frame rails before I bought it... and it looked great. Then when the car showed up. Trunk obviously has a leak and the battery compartment was completely rusted through, with other areas also seeing some rust. Had to take it to a guy to cut and weld in clean sheet metal and then coat the area. Really not sure where the leak was. I know we had a little water come through the rear of the tail light. But will check it again, once it up and running.

Here are some pics of the rust and repair.




Some pics after the repair

 

Car looks super clean! The battery tray rust is super common, typically from people running cheaper non-sealed batteries at some point in the cars life.

Sub'd for updates on this one!

 

So the goal of this build was to build an oem(ish) quality car, which means trying to do as much "bolt on" as possible. So very little custom fab, and mostly working around what KPower offered. Here is what my work office looked like after the first barrage of deliveries.


Here are some pics of the cleanup effort:

Exterior
The cars paint was ok. Lots of oxidation (can't really tell in the original photos). Also the car, while it had an accident free history on record, it was hit on the passenger side, as it had an aftermarket fender and the pinch weld was bent (I'm guessing a curb). I found an OEM fender in a darker blue (wasn't a color match) and straightened the pinch weld using vice grips and angle iron. The hardtop that came with the car had some damage, the front right passenger edge was broken. I had to rebuild that edge with fiber glass, and then used U-POL 7061 as the top filler that I could shape to match the other side. It came out ok.

It was time for paint. The original color was Midnight Blue Mica, and I wanted a very dark blue (almost black). I wavered between BMW Carbon Black and Tanzanite Blue. I went with Tanzanite being I didn't want it black. However after actually seeing a Carbon Black car in person.. I chose wrong. Maybe in phase 2, I can go to that color. That color is awesome!
Here are pics of the car after paint. Exterior color is the BMW Tanzanite Blue, and engine is BMW Pure Metal Silver.









Drivetrain
I did some cleanup on the drivetrain parts as well. Using purple power, power washer, and a bunch of elbow grease, got the parts as clean as possible then through some paint on them. Also, in one of the pics, you can that I powdercoated the subframes in a Honda Yellow. Once I got those back, I was NOT a fan. First the powdercoated did a crap job at prep, I could see rust through the powder coating. Also, the color was just too "out there" for me. So I found a different powder coater and had them done again. (I've attached a video of the powder coated subframe in Prismatic Illusions Spanish Fly)
don't have pics of the before condition but you've seen ugly transmissions and diffs before.

Differential and subframe


Transmission and Drive Axle


And then here is a video of the updated subframe powder coat
http://naroadster.com/SharedImages/CleanUp/subframeSpanishFly.mp4

 

As shown in some of the pics above. I de-powered the steering rack and refreshed that as well. Here are some pics of the steering rack.

Rack Before Depower


Disassembled


Pinion Welded (this was a nightmare.. my welder had the hardest time getting things to stick b/c of the grease. So if you do this.. make sure you clean clean clean and get as much grease off as you can)


Completed Rack w/ Paint and cleaning.
NOTE: That long bung on top needs to be ground down. (found out the hard way). Ended up grinding down that bung with the plug inside using a flap disc. Worked great and took about 20 seconds.

 

You are a madman, these parts look so nice. Good work. And great choice on the paint, I bet that is gonna look killer in the sunlight!

That subframe hurts my eyes, probably a good call to re-coat it, though I would be interested to see it in there.

 

I imagine you have a bathtub full of purple power in your garage to soak these parts in. I'm surprised the PS gave you issues given how pristine everything else seems to be. Granted being coating in PS Fluid I guess that makes sense regardless of how much you cleaned it.

 

LOL I went through 2 bottles of purple power

 

OK so here is the beginnings of the eye candy of this build. As I mentioned, I'm using the full destroy or die control arms and super knuckles. These knuckles drop car about 1 inch all by themselves. This will allow me to run more travel and still be low. Plus the added angle for drifting (but I don't suspect I'll drift all that much.
Also purchased was the big mama jama brake kit kit with the wilwood 6 pistons up front and 4 pistons plus e-brake in back. I was not happy with the brake caliper color options, but what can you do (I actually did something, but i'll show that later)

Note the change in color for the subframes. My new coater did an awesome job and I really love this color. I bit more subtle.

Full View of the new suspension components


Passenger side Front Components


Passenger side Rear Components


Components assembled (sans brakes)
BroFab hubs pressed in by a local shop

 

Start of the Build Process

Before








After





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Engine & Transmission w/ KPower hydraulic bearing
Intial hydraulic bearing had a machining fault. The seal would not fit within the housing. Also the bearing sleeve was tight on the housing, it would stay on without any help if I tipped it upside down. Kpower sent a new one and this one was built with more room for the bearing to slide. The bearing sleeve would now just fall off. Not sure if that's good or bad







Had to rework the coolant neck b/c I forgo to plug a port and my initial clearance cut for the starter had to be enlarged or we wouldn't have been able to get the engine in the car.
Also made a little plate from some stainless sheet metal I had from another project to block off where the clutch fork would go

 

I've been following over on M.net... welcome to the dark side!

 

Here is the engine in the car





Here are some pics of the dash swap progress. Took the old dash frame and had it powder coated. Amazing how rusty these things get.



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Old Rusty Dash Frame


Newly Powder Coated


Black Dash Assembled

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Some other updates...

Fuel pump upgraded to the DW200 (sufficient for an NA implementation for now)







Upgraded the phillips bolts to torx stainless so I don't have to worry about stripping the bolts.

 

Added Flyin Miata's DEI vibration damping kit and DIE insulation. Trying to reduce NVH as much as possible







Insulation






Close up Pick of the blackbird fabworx bar installed (Powdercoated in that same Illusions Spanish Fly)
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this is relevant of my interests.... keep going

 

The DEI kits rock! I noticed an improvement in my NA. I got their door kit as well. They only have an NC tunnel kit, but you can just get the 2x4 sheets or etc. Well done on everything else!

 

Regarding the insulation, I'll note that the stick on variety of butyl rubber or other sound deadening (I used Noico) is meant mostly to dampen panel vibration to prevent it from acting like a massive drum head, not block sound directly. The "knuckle test" of rapping your knuckles on the sheet metal to hear how loud and deep the sound it makes is a good way to decide what needs sound deadening. The small strips you used are right in line with that! Places like the rear bulkhead behind the seats and the pedal box area are heavily reinforced with multiple pieces of sheet metal welded together don't really need any of the sound deadening - I've removed most or all of what I had initially put there and have noticed no change.

The transmission tunnel, floorpan (not near the frame rail), and parcel shelf are good places to apply this stuff to cut noise. I've also noticed that pressing on the hardtop interior skin noticeably quiets the cabin, so I've debated putting some sound deadening on that and covering it with one of the common quilted headliners out there. I was disappointed in how little improvement I got from adding butyl rubber to the door. It's pretty much always sounded the same when closing.

My biggest source of noise now on the highway is an engine spinning at 4k RPM, and wind noise from air gaps around the hardtop. A little foam rubber to fill any gaps at the front windshield corners and where the hardtop/chassis/door all meet up can really quiet this down, but I removed all that prior to getting my hardtop painted. With it gone I was again amazed by how a small gap can make a big racket.

 

Thanks all... maybe I'll pick up some more and find some additional spots. Right now all of the sound deadening is where the FM instructions stated to put it. But more couldn't hurt.

 

Here are some pics of additional cleanup I did to the car. One of the first things I did long ago, but didn't post it was the evap system reduction. The NB has multiple purge solenoids, a charcoal canister in the rear passenger footwell and then a vapor canister in the engine bay (no charcoal). Essentially the system, while running routes gas vapors into vapor canister and then a purge solenoid opens sporadically to let the fumes into the the intake. When the car is off, the rear purge solenoid opens and allows the vaports to exit to atmosphere. So I just simplified it to only use the rear filter (vent to atmosphere) keeping the charcoal canister in place.

A pic of most of the stuff that was removed (only kept the box and small filter attached)


A pic of the final setup. (you can kind of see the L-Bracket I purchased to mount that filter so it will fit behind the plastic liners)