[cockerpunk]

WARNING: if you have delicate sensibilities, and/or inappropriately love miatas, this thread will piss you off. this car will piss off sports car purists, and/or 4wd enthusiasts.

CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK

Bought this car from Adam after he gutting the supercharger from it. since i already have two wonderful sports cars, this is actually going to be my winter drive sports car. the last two winters, i actually dailied my mr2 in the winter on all seasons, but its just getting to be too nice of car now with the suspension and engine swap to justify it. so, cheapo maita, + winter tires it is.

Picking her up:





step 1: start sanding:





only the finest in 3M abrasive technology:



Sanded:







Masked:





details details details folks!



an excellent assistant:



First Coat:





Shooting the second Coat:





Second Coat:






Needs:

currently leaks coolant pretty badly. after painting is complete, ill crack the hood and fix it. adam assures me its a simple fix. its right there on the passenger side front, somewhere in the throttle body coolant lines.

Plans:

winter tires (in the works already)
rally lights (anyone know how many headlights the stock alternator can power?)
shitty boat winch (?)
zebra stripes (?)
raised

 

[Grumbles]

You might have already seen this, but a similar idea that hasn't been updated in months:

http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/89-roadster-projects/133945-different-direction.html

I love rally-esque miatas. Good luck!

 

[cockerpunk]

thats actually an excellent link, i'd love to raise it about an inch and half. with a lift and winter tires, this this would be ideal!

 

[brontosaurus]

Glad you yolo'd instead of swagged

 

[cockerpunk]

i did a little dry sanding with 600 grit after autocross today, get all the dust and crap out of the second coat. looks really good actually. then i cleaned it with a wet microfiber to pick up the dust. gonna pick up another can or two of paint tomorrow after work, and put on a 3rd coat. this second coat was already getting glossy in a few places (which i roughed up with the paper again), so the third i think think will gloss up pretty well.

i think within 3 or 4 feet, youll be able to see the seams, but thats more than good enough for its task.

 

[cockerpunk]

Glad you yolo'd instead of swagged

go big or go home

 

[cockerpunk]

today's update:

over lunch i sprayed a 3rd coat. really is glossing up in several places. i also bought some 1500 grit, so i think 4 coats will really be enough!

no pics of that though, after letting the paint dry all afternoon, broke in through the masking tape and paper, and popped the hood:



adam assured me that the "coolant" line that was leaking is the less than 1/4 inch OD line buried here behind under the throttle body. its certain its leaking from one of these lines, as the whole area gets covered in coolant when you drive it, but i seriously had my doubts that one is even a coolant line. adam however assured me that he even saw coolant dripping from it.

maybe so.

anyway, crack that baby open:



replaced not only the small line, but both of the coolant lines going to the throttle body. when i pulled the small one, no coolant came out. but i also figured, while im in here, i might as well just replace that too. many year of classic porsche ownership has taught me its better to just replace things upfront when you work on them. saves you so many headaches later. also replaced most of those chincy plyers open clamps with worm gear ones. i hate those damn things.



the result:



FEEL THE POWER OF 116 BHP BABY!

 

[adam777]

So I was right or not?

Also, Blue RTV is the fastest and the most on hand-est!

 

[cockerpunk]

So I was right or not?

Also, Blue RTV is the fastest and the most on hand-est!

idk, no coolant came out and it smelled like fuel when i pulled that small line. i think it was just a vacuum line.

but as i said, i replaced it just the same. might as well.

i think the leak was one of the coolant lines to the throttle body. doesn't really matter at this point i changed them all.

 

[Tekel]

There are 2 coolant lines under the throttle body. Near the oil filter. They are a PIA to get to.

 

[cockerpunk]

There are 2 coolant lines under the throttle body. Near the oil filter. They are a PIA to get to.

if by PIA you mean 2 hose clamps, 2 electrical connectors, and 4 bolts to pull the throttle body off, then yes, i agree.

maybe its my time working on my mr2, or my 944 turbo, but if that is a PIA to get too in miata land ... i am going to like this car.

 

[drsourmonkey]

if by PIA you mean 2 hose clamps, 2 electrical connectors, and 4 bolts to pull the throttle body off, then yes, i agree.

maybe its my time working on my mr2, or my 944 turbo, but if that is a PIA to get too in miata land ... i am going to like this car.

This. I have an AW with a GZE and that thing is a royal pain to do anything. The Miata is super simple and so easy in comparison.

As for the lights, if you don't mind spending the dolla dolla billz, LED's would probably be the best if you're worried about the charging system being able to power them. If you want to go cheap budget mode:

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Categories/Off-Road-LED

or you could find something from here

http://www.dx.com/s/led?category=1399

 

[cockerpunk]

got a line on on some cheap winter tires via craigslist .... woot woot.

also calling to put insurance on it this afternoon because after tonight, i think it will be in pretty road worthy shape. like to start driving it in order to make sure it doesn't have any other issues.

 

[cockerpunk]

well put the last coat of paint on it this morning, and it was dry when i came home. tore all the tape off of it. which lead to several new places that need painting .... arg .... yeah, normal masking tape pulled up some more paint

however, i got some nice michelin ice-x tires on new steelies off a guy on CL for 250 bucks.

the tires:



the car (the old tires, it got too dark by the time i got back with the tires to take a decent pic):





the color match is actually pretty good. what the pic doesn't show is that it is of varying glossyness ....

all in all, im pleased with the look. it was never going to be a good looking car again. i am thinking stripes again though ....



car needed a jump after spending a week not running, thats minorly troubling. also, ever since then the battery charge light has been on, but it has also started and ran just fine. after mounting up the new winter tires, i took her for a 45 minute spin, mostly in civilization so that if the charging system cut out, i'd be easy to rescue. the battery light never went off, but the headlights were plenty bright and the car never missed a beat. hopefully she starts right up tomorrow morning. im going to start dailying her for a couple of days, make sure all is well. and then start putting away my other cars.

the parking brake also doesn't work, which means im carrying around my rubber chocks for when i need to leave it running, but trust it wont roll off. and speaking of the brakes, the petal is super soft. i never realized how natural and without even thinking about it, i heel toe down shift. but its really apparent driving this car, because the petal is so soft, it doesn't actually do any braking until the gas is already fully floored .... so the brakes need to be bled. have to get my handy dandy assistant here this weekend to bleed them, and adjust the parking brake.

 

[adam777]

Holy crap, it looks way better than when I handed it over. Nice work.

 

[cockerpunk]

im gonna ditch the front plate, and i need to put some air in the tires still, they are cartoonishly soft haha

 

[BestWheelDrive]

I want a Miata winter car, sounds like so much fun!

 

[cockerpunk]

well this morning, she started up fine, and no battery charging light, so i think we are in good shape!

the parking brake:



a little chilly this morning. but she will have to get used to that:



Troll 'em softly:

 

[brontosaurus]

You can only have a Track Dog Racing sticker after your engine blows up after 1000 miles

 

[cockerpunk]

went two days and 150 miles without a battery light, but it came back on. so something was clearly wrong. still drover fine, started fine, no symptoms of a failing alternator. so i got out my volt meter and tested it. turns out the alternator was overcharging the battery to the tune of about 17.4 volts! opps! voltage regulator must have failed.

so called up bront, picked up the alternator from scrat, and installed it today.

some folks don't think the 1/4 inch driver is terribly useful, i use mine all the time:



such as the top bolt on alternator:



old alternator, scrats alternator:



after installing, was charging around 14.2-14.5 volts, so perfect.

couple of notes:

1. feels better to have the stoly.co sticker knowing a little bit of scrat is keeping her running.

2. on that note, decided on a name for her, snow white.

3. old alternator looks a little green eh? probably shorted out because of all the coolant leaking onto her.

4. maybe this only comes up when talking about installing a used alternator, but just a mental note. one of the double arm mounts for it has a press fit bushing in it. when you install it, the nut/bolt that goes through it, pulls that whole assembly tight. now clearly this was designed as a way to allow for more open tolerances in parts, but when putting in a used alternator, what that means is you'll need to pound the press fit bushing back a bit, otherwise it might not fit your mounting flange.