July 2015

Beginnings

I've been interested in cars and motorcycles all my life.  I remember first seeing Miatas on the road back in 1990 when I was stationed in South Carolina.  I liked the classic roadster look, but as a service member with a baby on the way it wasn't exactly a practical choice and so, for the next 19 years, the Miata just kind of vanished into the blur of hundreds of other models on the road.

In late 2008 I decided to sell my motorcycle and get a car for my daily driver. The main factors that pushed me to a car were several close calls with inattentive drivers and the Pacific Northwest weather. Yea, I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to being cold and wet.

In the spring of 2009 I bought a 2002 NB Miata with a hard top and a little less than 70K miles.  I immediately fell in love with the car.  I also discovered an amazing community of Miata enthusiast owners and vendors online.  I held on to my motorcycle for quite a while before finally giving in and selling it.

I had designs on getting involved with autocross or track driving at the time, but with two daughters in high school and numerous other distractions, the car became exactly what I bought it for, a daily driver. I remained an active lurker on the Miata boards.

In the fall of 2014 with the girls out of school the itch became severe enough that I decided to get out and get involved. I installed some Koni Sports and big front swaybar. I bought dedicated wheels, and tires, signed up for the SCCA Starting Line School, and headed into the season.  I was immediately hooked.  The short high intensity runs with zero room for mistakes was just what I was looking for. I soon began searching for the perfect base car for a fully prepared setup.

A Novice Mechanic

This build will be a major undertaking for me. I plan to be complete and ready to run some autocross events by the spring of 2017. I'm not what you'd call an expert mechanic. I do have a wide array of experience that I hope to pull from to help me in this endeavor.
Strengths:

• With the new car that I just bought for my build, we now have three Miatas in the household.  I do have a pretty good understanding of the physical aspects of the car.  I've changed shocks, fuel filters, and all the usual maintenance stuff.
• I've successfully rebuilt an engine top and bottom end, a Ford V8, but I did that when I was 15. It's been a while.....a long while.
• I replaced an engine in my pickup a few years back with zero issues.
• I'm an ex-Navy Nuclear Machinist Mate. I have a strong non-automotive mechanical background and a reasonable electrical background.  I know how to use all kinds of tools.
• I was a fair welder back in my youth.  I took a full year of vocational welding in high school.  My parents had a shit fit over it since I was in college prep. Gotta rebel a bit. With a good welder and some practice I should be able to get back to doing some of my own fabrication.  My cage will be done by a professional to SCCA club guidelines. 

Weaknesses:

• I know virtually nothing about modern engine management and tuning.  To be honest, all that wiring spaghetti in there scares the crap out of me.  Beer for courage.
• I know very little about setting up a race car.  Yea, I know camber, caster, toe, thrust angle.  I just don't know the impacts on performance.  I'm going to learn to do a complete alignment at home and I'll need to leverage some folks with experience to get it set up.
• I know nothing about real race tires.......ok they're slick, I know something.
• I suck at body work.  I rebuilt the rusted out trunk in my daughters Miata. It's solid, but UGLY.

The Car 96 M Edition Miata

M Editions were a limited run.  Only 2968 were produced for 1996.  The car has a unique paint color not available on any other Miata, "Starlight Blue Mica". Before any M Edition collectors jump on me, let me just say it's in bad shape. Specifically, it looks like two tigers did the humpty dance all over inside and out.  Scratch Scratch, Claw Claw.
These cars came fully loaded, power everything, so they are extra heavy.  No concern there since it will be completely stripped and lightened to the max.  I may keep power steering since we're shoeing this thing with 275 Hoosiers.

The car meets my requirement in the following ways:

• 5 speed 1.8 liter
• Torsen differential
• Absolutely zero rust
• ABS

The mileage is high at +175K.
Another bonus, it has a hard top and a bunch of interior bits that my daughters 97 needs to really clean it up.  Free spare parts!

The first order of business will be to get her, emissions tested, titled and registered for a few months of road legal driving until the windshield comes off and the cage goes in.

Minor Preliminary Work

I took the car through emissions this morning.  It passed just fine.  It'll be the last time for that.  Title is applied for and the tags are on.

We degreased and washed the engine bay and ended up with a bunch of water in the electricals.  After 20 minutes of blowing out plugs with compressed air, it's back to running normally. I'm going to run through 2 tanks worth of injector cleaner right off the bat.  The car hasn't been very well cared for.

I scored a set of 275/35-15s Hoosier A6s off Craigslist with only 6 runs on them for $200.  Hopefully they were properly heat cycled when new.  We'll move them inside to keep them warm when autumn rolls around. Now I'm waiting for the new 6UL 15x10s to hit the street.

The Ultra-Shield Rally Sport seat is on order.  We'll test fit it to all the likely drivers and possibly order a 2nd.  I haven't settled on whether I want the ability to have two seats in the car.

I decided to go with red and white for the interior colors.

I've got autocross at Packwood WA Saturday and Sunday.  I'll get the 02 set up and ready to roll out tonight Since I'm working 12hr shifts the rest of the weak.