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The time has come for me to start a thread for our NC...
A little background: a little over ten years ago, we bought a '13 NC Club PRHT for my wife's DD. It was our second Miata, with our NA at the time, still being a street car that went to the track occasionally. We really liked the NC, and it took us on a few road trips, and even hit the track a couple of times.
As the NA became more of a track car, we eventually picked up an NB project.
Things escalate with Miatas, and it got a little out of hand...
Eventually, we sold the 2nd NB, and NC and picked up a Mustang GT. My wife's commute had changed from 16 miles round trip to 120 per day, on rural highways where passing power and comfort became more desired features. We still had the NB for our 'weekend roadster' car, as the NA became more track oriented. The only constant is change, so the Mustang became a ZL1 Camaro, and eventually we decided that the ZL1 was a stupid DD, and we had more fun on the track in the NA anyway, and her DD became a Jeep Grand Cherokee. We retired and moved, the NB progressed, and was just about ready for a turbo install... and I saw the NC turbo development cars at FM Summer Camp last year. I spent a lot of time talking with Brandon about the kit, and it got me interested because of the effort they'd gone to putting together a really complete kit. And it would be 50 state legal, and the calibration was done by an OEM level resource. No local tuner BS, no tuning by email... just a one and done kit with a reasonable power level (mid 200s) for a street driver.
When we got home from Summer Camp, we talked it over. As much effort as I had put in the NB at that point, we both still liked the NC PRHT better for a street driver. The turbo would be icing on the cake. So I put the NB up for sale, and started looking for an NC2-3 PRHT. In August we found the car, just 100 miles away in Tucson... 2011, 32k miles, Copper Red Mica, tan leather and GT trim. The only thing missing was a limited slip, but that's not that big a deal. So we brought it home!
Shortly thereafter, the NB sold to an out of state buyer, so I took an NA-B-C pic the morning it went on the transporter.
The NC's mission is 100% STREET car. It may get AutoX'd once in a while, and it may even hit the track, but it's not a track car and I don't want to make it into one. OEM+ is the goal. We already have a race car. The NC is for morning drives to breakfast, or to take out to dinner on a nice summer night.
I started off with a couple of minor cosmetic enhancements. The basic NC2 has always seemed a bit lacking to me compared to the NC3, so I added a rep of the factory appearance package front lip and a small trunk spoiler. I had both color matched at a local paint shop. eBay all the things...
Next was a Goodwin helmholtz mid-pipe and Super Q muffler to enhance the soundtrack, without reaching obnoxious levels. Street cruiser, remember?
Followed the exhaust with a brake system refresh. New fluids, caliper paint, Centric rotors and Hawk HPS pads. I'd used the HPS pads in the previous NC and was happy with their performance for our use case.
Next was suspension. IMHO there were two possibilities... FM Fox or Xida. I ordered Xida.
I have Xidas on the NA, and no complaints, and Fox were out of stock so it made the decision easy. I'm sure the Fox would have been just as good, but the Xida with GT spring rates are exactly what I was looking for. Better than stock in both comfort and control. I'm leaving the stock sway bars for now.
Wheels are always a tough choice... and it's rare that my wife and I agree on wheels...
After a lot of discussion, we settled on FM Kogeki in Bronze, 17x8. I chose 'Kook V12 Evo2s in 225/45-17 for the tires. The combination actually came in ~ .75lb lighter at each corner than the stock wheels with 205 Contis.
We made it into March, and the turbo kit was still "coming soon"... and I realized I would probably need to upgrade the clutch. Duh...
I ordered up an FM Happy Meal with a light flywheel, and a real transmission jack. When I had finished up my K swap on the NA, I had to pull the trans for a clutch issue. Having a lift is great, but I'm too old to be pressing transmissions overhead, so I used my low lift trans jack on top of my fabrication table. It worked but it wasn't ideal...
Once the jack arrived, I started by making a plywood 'cradle' to fit the transmission, which made it a lot easier to manipulate by myself. I think this was probably the easiest clutch job I've ever done...
Clutch in
With the Ford unicorn blood fluid in place, the job was done... except I think I don't like the light flywheel. LOTS of gear rattle in the lower gears, and funky clutch engagement. I liked the light flywheel in the NA with the BP 1.8, but I'm not really a fan in the NC. I'm thinking I might have the stocker re-surfaced and swap it back in.
Fast forward to two weeks ago... the FM turbo kit is finally available and ordered. Yesterday everything arrived.
This morning I inventoried all the parts, and this is a very complete kit. FM went the extra mile on a lot of details, which I'll try to point out when I get the install going.
Unfortunately, the NC is going to Summer Camp, and I don't have time with our other prep to get this installed and shaken down comfortably. So it will have to wait until we return... stay tuned.
Fantastic post! I will be following this thread closely.
Your first red NC Club is my dream NC. I have tried for years and years to find a red Club PRHT in great condition and it has been impossible. I always find automatics or beat to hell manuals with 100k on them.
Fantastic post! I will be following this thread closely.
Your first red NC Club is my dream NC. I have tried for years and years to find a red Club PRHT in great condition and it has been impossible. I always find automatics or beat to hell manuals with 100k on them.
Thanks!
I agree the NC3 Clubs are great looking cars. I also looked for another Club PRHT, but couldn't find a manual for a reasonable price. Low mile examples are going for big $$ on BAT.
We're home from FM Summer Camp, so it's time to get started on the NC, but first I need to deal with the clutch. Both my wife and I are unhappy with the light flywheel so it's coming out. Dropping the stock flywheel off to get surfaced today, and when I get it back I'll swap it back in. Then it will need a few miles on the clutch before I start the turbo install. I talked with the FM guys about the flywheel, and they were in agreement that 8lbs is too light for the NC unless it's a track car. They're working on a 12lb version, but no ETA, so it's back to stock for now.
In the paddock in Grand Junction
The NC did get on track for a session at Summer Camp. I took it out just for fun after it had gotten hot enough that the NA was slowing down. After the NA, it was quite 'boaty'... The Xidas kept things under control, but the GT spring rates and stock sway bars made for a lot of lean! Hawk HPS pads were not even up to what was possible on 340TW tires at GJMS, so I couldn't push too hard. It was still fun! I didn't move the transponder over, so no lap times.
Later, the NC performed it's designated mission as street cruiser, with a tour through the Colorado Monument.
With temps in the high 90s, most of our daytime driving around Grand Junction was top up/ AC on high. That's when a PRHT is really nice!
So, when I swapped in the FM clutch in anticipation of the turbo install I chose to use a light flywheel. That was a mistake... FM's NC current flywheel for the NC is 8.4 lbs, and it's just too light for a casual street car. On the track or at AutoX it's fine, but it's a PITA in everyday driving where you're not banging shifts, and it's hard to be consistent in non-aggressive starts. A nice bonus is the trans sounds like it's full of gravel at low rpm/speeds. I really liked the light flywheel with the 1.8 in our NA, but this flywheel in the NC is just unpleasant.
At Summer Camp I spoke with a couple of FM employees that acknowledged that this flywheel is too light for a mostly street car, and they hinted a 12lb version was being discussed. In the meantime, I decided the stock flywheel would be going back in before I started the turbo install.
I had the stocker resurfaced at a local machine shop, and this morning the NC went back on the lift. I pulled the transmission and clutch and reinstalled the stock flywheel. It got hot in the shop before I could get the trans back in, and I'm not in a hurry so I'll finish up later this week.
How did I miss this thread? Good stuff man, I can't wait to see the FM turbo kit go on and hear your thoughts on it.
I'm running the Supermiata 8.3lb flywheel in my car, but swapped it in at the same time as the 2.5L so I don't have any reference on how it pairs with the stock motor. It doesn't feel any harder to get the car moving than before, but I gotta imagine the bigger engine has more rotational inertia so changing both at the same time might've almost cancelled each other out lol. Strangely, my 5 speed didn't have any decel chatter at all with the lighter flywheel, but my 6 speed growls and chatters a lot decelerating in 2nd and 3rd. Anyways, for an "OEM+" car, I feel your decision to go back to the stock fly.
Excited to have another NC thread on here to geek on!
Going to be following this as I envision a street NC in my garage's future at some point for the wife to enjoy. Very nice looking starting point that you have on your build so far.
Thanks! For this project I was definitely willing to invest a little more to start with a clean, low mile car.
Finally got going on the turbo install this morning. While nothing is particularly difficult, this is definitely an involved install, so I'm taking my time and doing it by the numbers. The FM instructions are excellent... far beyond what you usually get with turbo parts! I did my usual OCD thing and printed out the manual and put it in a 3 ring binder.
I made some progress, and decided to call it for the day after getting fluids drained. By then it was hot in the shop anyway. The next step is for me to break away from the turbo install to install the new radiator. Then I'll get back to the turbo stuff.
My transmission jack made a nice platform for the drain pan...
NC2 street cruiser - FM turbo
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The Xidas kept things under control, but the GT spring rates and stock sway bars made for a lot of lean! Hawk HPS pads were not even up to what was possible on 340TW tires at GJMS, so I couldn't push too hard. It was still fun! I didn't move the transponder over, so no lap times.
