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The Reemergence: Miatapasta's new beginnings

34K views 205 replies 39 participants last post by  miatapasta 
#1 · (Edited)
Parts list: Current as of 5/31/17 for those of you who are curious. The car's story is below the parts list.


Exterior
-Kirker single stage white paint (link)
-House of Grafx stripes & meatballs (custom dimensions) (link)
-Chaparral 15x7 +38 wheels (with 20mm H&R Trak+ spacers)
-OEM hardtop
-DIY fender winkers made from spare parts (link)
-Universal bullet mirrors on the fenders w/ convex lenses (link)
-Genuine Garage Vary panel w/ reverse light deleted (link)
-Corvette C3 lenses w/ JDM ASTAR brand LED bulbs retrofitted (link)
-S2 Racing front bumper (link)
-Rear bumper cutout
-Front & rear red tow hooks
-Complete LED conversion w/ modified OEM flasher (prevents hyperblink)
-Amber underglow wired to blinker circuit (total ricer move, don't care lol) (link)
-Center exit dual tip exhaust
-Antique Vehicle Ga. license plate (vehicles >25 years qualify)
-Dodge Challenger fuel cap (link)

Interior
-Custom upholstered tombstone, center console, & crash pads/upper door pads (link)
-Diamond stitched door panels
-Discontinued (?) Moss Motors teardrop speaker panels
-Pioneer Bluetooth head unit
-Kicker 6.5" door speakers
-DIY switch plate below radio (link)
-Customized IL Motorsports center console (link)
-Completely DIY gauges & cluster (link)
-Eclipse vents with retrofitted bezel chrome trim rings
-04 MSM seats (link)
-OEM EUNOS (JDM?) steering wheel
-Bandana used as shift boot
-Miata stitched floor mats

Motor/trans/cooling (including non performance parts)
-1995 OEM rebuilt 1.8 swap on 1990 1.6 chassis/wiring
-1990 1.6 5 speed OEM trans
-Race clutch (good up to 250 HP)
-Open diff (until it blows)
-1990 1.6 OEM ECU
-Minor shaved/tucked bay (link)
-LRB Speed upper radiator cooling panel
-Yonaka radiator & fan shroud combo (link)
-LRB Speed lower radiator cooling panel (link)
-DIY spark plug cover (link)
-Protege valve cover, powder coated wrinkle red/prismatic gold (link)
-Shaved intake manifold, powdercoated prismatic gold (not installed yet) (link)
-OBX header, new catalytic converter, Racing Beat muffler, center exit dual tip exhaust (link)
-Garage star windshield cowl cover, tucked/hidden clutch & brake booster lines (link)

Parts deleted / nominal weight savings
-AC system & belts
-Cruise control
-Spare tire
-Power steering (FM depowered rack)
-Windshield wipers/motor

Suspension & wheels
-Dunlop Direzza 205/50/15 tires
-Silver Chaparral wheels, 15x7 +38
-H&R 20mm spacers (effective wheel offset 18mm)
-Tien Basis coilovers
-Autocross alignment
-Poly bushings w/ zerk fittings
-OEM swaybars

And the "soon to come"...
-Coolant reroute (being installed currently)
-Flow Force 660 CC injectors (purchased, not installed)
-NB throttle body w/ TPS (soon to come)
-DIY PNP Megasquirt (purchased, not installed)
-BRP MP62 supercharger kit (purchased, not installed)
-DIY front splitter for S2 bumper, plus DIY side splitters & rear diffuser (have materials, need to make)
-Shaved intake manifold (being installed currently)


Prologue

A long time ago, there was a guy, fresh out of high school, working at a fast food joint, and driving a sweet 4.6l V6 powered Ford Aerostar in the classic 90’s faded red color which he hauled all his skateboard buddies around town in. He loved that van.



But bad times hit, the old horse had to go, and his folks handed him down the epitome of all soccer mom vans – their ‘97 Ford Windstar. Something like this, but imagine in baby blue.



Don’t get him wrong, he was thankful for the car. Never put down a gift horse, as his dad taught him. But he was getting older and it was getting to the point where he needed something of his own. He really wanted an older VW Bug, but all of the ones he found in his price range were either old rust buckets or half running paperweights. So the plans of a chopped-top, flat black, pinstriped and smoothie-wheeled Beetle went to the wayside as he kept working marginal hours at his fast food job to afford a car in the $3,000 range while still going to college. Two years of hard work and saving up brought him to “that day.”

“That day” was a normal day, browsing Craigslist, sadly contemplating the boring sedan on his screen. He remembered sitting in his dad’s old Triumph TR250, watching the road go by through the rust holes in the floor pans as an eight year old little kid.

This is him as a kid in the driver’s seat, with his little brother standing next to it.



Maybe it was nostalgia, as the car had been sold long ago, or maybe it was just how cool he thought that car was. Regardless, a switch flipped and he typed in ‘Miata’ into the search bar. The first result was a bunch of grainy pictures of a stock, two-owner, 1990 white model with 78,000 miles. He met up with the guy in the next town over and bought it the next day, not knowing a thing about Miatas…or stick shifts...or cars at all, for that matter.

That was five years ago, and that guy was me. Since then, it has gone a long way from the peeling 90’s paint and trashed soft top. Of course, since I bought it when I was young (19), it went through a bit of an immature stage…the remnants of which still reverberated for much, much longer than I’d like.



It seemed like for each ‘stage,’ I got it almost right and then went something went wrong. You know, it’s interesting, really – I’ve been influenced by old, old vehicles my entire life. Of course, there was the TR 250. My neighbor has a really nice older Charger and the roar of a V8 has always been a part of my childhood. My dad and I also worked on replica Whizzer motorbikes when I was younger, running them until the cheap motors popped and a new one came in the mail. Then he got into motorcycles, and eventually got a genuine 1947 Whizzer his friend sold to him as a rust bucket with a seized engine, so my dad did a complete nut and bolt restoration on it.



I’ll try to get more pics of the thing, it’s actually really neat.

So because of my background of older things, I had always pined to draw from their influences. I couldn’t let go of the founding fathers of automobiles; yet here I was, driving a Japanese import, the likes of which I swore to never drive when I was younger. I tried to mix new and old. I really did. Yet I was still young back then, and always managed to mash up new and old in some sort of terrible way - hence me almost getting it right, and then a few bad decisions would throw the whole thing off. Case in point…



I realized not too long ago that I just needed a blank canvas again. To start fresh. Although throughout the years I had always been thoroughly enjoying the car as it was meant to be...











It just wasn’t sitting well with me, knowing that it could be living out its true potential.
On a whim last year, I tore the whole car down to bare metal, stripping off ye olde paint and giving myself the blank canvas I’ve needed for so long. I thought it would be a weekend project – prep Friday, prime Saturday, paint Sunday…but what resulted was a nearly yearlong learning process in the world of rolling restorations.

Chapter 1 – a reboot

I wasn’t happy with the way the car had turned out before I started taking the paint off, nor was I happy with myself. Let me clarify. I was completely happy with how I was coming along as an emerging adult: 24 years old, starting my student teaching, finishing college, graduating in May 2015 with a degree in secondary English education (which means I’ll be teaching high school literature), a successful two-and-a-half-year long relationship with a wonderful woman (which is still going strong – she’s ahead of me and teaching middle school now), a strong interest in science and astronomy, and a steady job suitable for a college schedule (the job, mind you, is not the same fast food gig). I have two best friends, and of course, a car which I bought under my own financial power. I have a strong dislike for the typical younger attitude of today and much prefer quiet nights with my girlfriend and our cat, or hanging out with my two best friends and talking smack about each other while playing Tekken 3 on the arcade machine.

It was my online persona that was lacking, really. I know it sounds silly, but in today’s digital world, your online presence holds almost as much weight as your physical presence. As I said, I was young when I bought the car, and young when I joined CR. I was trolled left and right because let’s face it, I was kind of dumb. As I matured in reality, I still had ripples from the younger frame of mind from “those days” of sitting on hoods and it showed just a tad too much for my liking. I asked the mods to change my username and shed the tired old screen name that I’d used out of force of habit since 6th grade (I know right!).

I also took a bit of a break from forum posting as I worked on restoring the Miata. With that aside, I’d like to present the fruits of my labor. This experience has been one of the most fulfilling experiences outside of school that I’ve ever had – from trying my patience in the garage to looking back at the car every time I park it, I am glad I put myself through this.
 
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#132 ·
^^ Thanks man. I too am stoked to see how the SC will look. I have ordered a second intake mani and will be shaving that down (smoothing casting marks, filling unused vacuum ports, etc.). It will be painted the same gold color so things are symmetrical. I am curious to see if gold intercooler piping will be too much, but we'll see.

But as for the wiretuck, yes, it is slow but sure. Here is the progress on the passenger side. The DS will be cleaned up with the deletion of the oem airbox and HID ballasts.

I like the fuse box in the bay, but the wires leading to it were pretty bad looking, so I made a cover out of 4" PVC pipe. A few holes were blocked off with sheet metal cut pretty flush. I am going to use smooth head carriage bolts painted white to visually delete the random holes left open. Still a work in progress, obviously, but thanks for the kind words.



And I took the top off yesterday. Loving the top down feel.

 
#133 ·
More financially bad decisions!

I have an S2 Racing bumper coming in from a friend of mine. I will be selling the modded OEM bumper to another friend of ours.

Stock photo:


The bumper itself:


A pipe dream is to run H4 headlights and projectors where the amber turn signals currently go, and then add in some blinkers in the vents down below. This will allow me to delete the entire headlight assembly. I have my eyes set on this race hood on eBay, and it not only allows more room for the supercharger blower (which I think I actually will need...), but it will also have the headlight lids already bonded into the hood itself. Then the bay will be extra tucked and empty!


Also, ordered a set of Flow Force 610cc injectors. These are the last missing piece of the puzzle before I can go and get the MS 1.3 tuned.





Did I mention I was shaving an intake manifold? Well, I am. Looking to finish it today and it'll be painted a bronze color soon.






Ghetto fabulous blanking plates, lol. One hole has a bolt inserted and JB welded in. The other has a metal plate covering the two holes and it too is JB welded in place. Hey, if it works, it works. The fuel rail and injectors actually hide this area of the manifold, so it won't even be able to be seen anyways.




Little details: Installed some Eclipse vents and a Challenger fuel lid.

Installed the trim rings on to the vents by doing some grinding.


Challenger fuel lid needed some grinding as well. One day, when I get the car repainted...again...I will weld in the outer trim ring to the body and have it paint matched. This way it will fill in the gaps on the side. The actual flip-up door part will remain chrome.
 
#134 ·
Nothing special...we have been entangled in the nightmare of using Homestar Financial as our mortgage lender and consequently firing them for being entirely incompetent. It's resulted in us living out of boxes while we beg the seller of the house we have our eyes on not to put the house back on the market while we look for a new and more reliable lender. We have since then managaed to find a very professional and experienced lender and she's getting stuff done. That's another story, though.

I guess I've just been tinkering with the small things while we've been living in limbo...

Added a bandana to cover the missing plastic cover thing. I actually kind of like it.



Also finished my shaved intake manifold project. The badge is a bicycle head badge off eBay.







What's not pictured is the new 4 wire O2 sensor I need to install so it's not running so dang rich (18mpg :haiguyths:), the Flow Force 610CC injectors, and the variable TPS I need to install on the TB for the Megasquirt. I guess I'll update more once we finally get into this garage/house.

Re: O2 sensor -
If you ever install an OBX header and have a one wire O2 sensor, make sure you swap out the 1 wire for the 4 wire. The 4 wire has a built in heater to make sure it heats up to the necessary operating temp. Without doing this, your stock ECU won't get a good reading and will default to running way too rich. There are a multitude of guides online to help you swap over.
 
#135 ·
Wow the intake manifold turned out great! The engine bay is going to look fantastic when you get everything installed! :icon_cheers: Excited that you are getting the mp62 installed as you had hoped for. Plans are great but they are so much sweeter when they 'pan out'. :)
 
#136 ·
Something wicked this way comes...



What is it?



It's an S2 Racing bumper! Too coooooool!





This piece has seen three different countries, and at least three owners before seeing me. The person who had it last unfortunately wrecked his car the day before he was going to put it on, but he made out really well on his part out and he got a ~250 HP MR2. Good for everyone!

Here's a stock photo just to show what they look like in a lighter paint scheme...



It's gonna sit like this for quite a while. I want to get a bunch of new body panels and have it all repainted one day. I'm so happy on this piece though! So glad to have it.



Also, I managed to test fit my blower the other day. I'm happy to say it fits on the motor, but it needs a bit more clearance under the hood.



I can do one of two things: cut the bracing away or buy a new hood. I think I'm going to go with the latter option. There's a cool hood made for V6/V8 swaps on eBay, but it will do for my car too I think.



Since the headlight lids come pre-molded into the hood, that gives me an idea to retrofit some projector headlights into where the turn signals are on the S2 bumper, and then put some amber signals into the lower vents. Time will tell. I'm getting ahead of myself though...I'm nowhere near installing the blower yet.

I'm off to go close on our house! Woo! I'll have a garage of my own in 45 minutes!
 
#139 ·
Not any update per se, but the ol' boy's going back to the shop.

TMP is gonna swap out my busted old Megans for some Tiens, plus do a new bushing setup and upgrade to 1.8 sport brakes. Why aren't I doing this myself if I have the skills, tools, and garage?

Cause I'm also picking up this from the shop owner as a new daily! Can't wait to go off-roading. AWD 2001 Outback. Auto & AC; perfect for daily duties while I make the Miata a better racecar.

 
#140 · (Edited)
I ordered a set of Land Rover Defender (?) beehive style lights because I wanted to swap the bumper's amber light housings out for clear ones.

However, the ones I got were plastic (not glass), and also did not have the nice chrome trim ring. (This is a stock pic for reference.) What to do?



Well, I looked back on eBay and looked up the markings on the original bulb: Lucas L594. Lo and behold, a few clicks later, I found the exact same glass bulb, chrome trim and all, but in a clear color. It's in the mail.

Now what do we do with all this extra stuff?

Cut it up!

I started by pulling the chrome trim ring off of the original lights...



Then I cut down the plastic lenses I got in the mail...



Here's a shot of all the carnage:



And hopefully, this will explain the madness...

Fender winkers!



The only clear set of the JDM/OEM fender markers I could find were $45 + shipping from Europe. I made these for ~$10.

I need to add a base, and then order some sockets so I can install some T10 wedge LED lights. The chrome ring will be polished here shortly. I was also able to sell the original glass amber lenses for about $25 on eBay, so it's a win-win.

It will be quite some time before these get installed. However, if you'd like to make the same lights, here is your shopping list:
1. Lucas L594 (or other beehive style) clear lenses. They need to be plastic so you can cut them down. Lucas lenses stick out too far from the body so they need to be shortened, and other beehive style lenses are too big in circumference.
2. Lucas L594 chrome trim rings. They sell the rings separate.
3. Clear adhesive to mount the ring to the lens.
4. Some form of base. I'm gonna use scrap plastic.
4. T10 socket + associated wiring.
5. T10 LED bulb. I have always used JDM ASTAR bulbs on Amazon. They can be clearly seen in daylight and aren't washed out by the sun.

Note: When you cut your plastic lenses, if you have the Defender/Rover lenses, notice that they have rings that create the beehive effect. You'll want to cut around the perimeter of the outermost ring. This will leave enough material for your chrome trim piece to be affixed to.

That's it! Have fun.
 
#141 · (Edited)
So if anyone is interested in the finished product, here are the fender markers as of yesterday:

Backside. It's a piece of scrap plastic with the middle hole cut so that the T10 socket base can slide in and rotate/lock in place. The edges are then all sealed up and waterproofed with a product called Goop. (It's also the adhesive that holds the trim rings in place.) The inside was made reflective with some crumpled tin foil.



Front side






Holes cut in the fender. Not pretty, but doesn't need to be.



Backside of the fender



Installed! They sit 2" from the wheel well and 1.5" north of the belt line.





Total cost breakdown:

Scrap plastic, hardware, sealant, wiring bits, etc: Free
2x T10 sockets: $3, eBay
2x JDM ASTAR LED T10 bulbs: ~$10, Amazon
Lucas L594 chrome trim rings: Free (had them laying around, but you can find them for $10 on eBay)
Range Rover Defender beehive style lenses: ~$10, eBay

Like I said, the only other clear side markers I could find were from eBay UK for $45 or so plus shipping, but they're hard to find in a clear color (you usually find an aged/dirty OEM amber set). My cost was about $10 because I was able to sell some other related parts off, but for $20-30, you can make a set yourself. Hope somebody else is able to. They're a quick and fun little project.
 
#143 · (Edited)
Okay. So it's back from the dead. Holy text post with minimal images to follow:

It's in no shape to be photographed. The fenders are off (wiring up the side winkers), the bumper is off (still fussing with the S2 piece), it won't idle (TPS is dead, not going to replace it because I have a vTPS for the MSPNP), and it's dirty from sitting. Probably will need new paint soon for the 15th time in its life, but I'm replacing half the body panels anyways (trunk, hood, bumper, maybe adding fender flares, etc.)

The good? It runs. Yeah it won't idle, but it runs like a champ and doesn't leak anything. Also, we opted to replace the Megan coilovers with Tien pieces, put in all new poly bushings with zerk fittings, installed new Dunlop tires, replaced a ton of seals, and some more goodies that I can't remember.

I'm also looking to do this in the near future since I'll be simultaneously working on body, paint, and the supercharger.



To do:
-Fix body panels
-Wire blinkers
-Fender mirrors (yeah yeah yeah be quiet, I love them)
-Make front splitter, side splitters, rear diffuser
-Install the new intake manifold
-Clean the bay
-Install upper & lower rad covers (LRB speed)
-Install vTPS & 660 cc injectors
-Get it freakin' tuned
-Coolant reroute w/ new rad & fans
-Moar powah time
 
#145 ·
Pffft. Not like I want to. Man, this thing has never had good paint. It started with the 90s flaking OEM. The I spraypainted it. This current paint job would have been a good one, and it was for a while, but it's been neglected in the sun for so long, and the vinyl's fading...and and and...

But anyways, thanks man, glad to see you're still following along!
 
#146 · (Edited)
Alrighty, here we go! Fun stuff :)

So I laid all the body pieces together (nothing is bolted on in this pic) and can I say...I mean I just loooove how it's going to turn out!

Basically the hood, fenders, and bumper are just sitting there with no bolts so it's a quick mockup. But It provided me the inspiration I needed to get this thing put back together.



In that pic you can also see the new fender markers I made a few posts back, and also, the controversial fender mirrors! I know they're polarizing, but I love them, so whatevs.

---------------------

So after a couple of hours in the garage (my wife was out of town, so it was a me day), this is how it sits!



So new changes include:
-S2 bumper is Plastidipped. It will get painted when the car gets repainted for the 100th time.
-All lights are wired up, loomed, and plugged in. Lots of harnesses had to be made.
-Fender mirrors (universal eBay bullet style mirrors)
-Fender markers (DIY)
-Light rust proofing w/ POR15
-Ditched my windshield wipers: arms, links, & motor all removed (it's a good weather car now anyways, & RainX is a good backup plan)
-Also, all body panels are bolted back up.

So one of the things that I find utterly ridiculous are my blinkers.



I want you to look at that. It is so stupid how much of the car lights up, man. It's like a Christmas tree. And my inner ricer totally loves it. Let me break them down for you:
-S2 bumper's lights are 1157 switchback LEDs - white running, amber turn.
-Amber T10 bulb in the DIY fender markers
-Amber T10 bulb in the rear bumper's oval markers
-1157 switchback in the C3 taillights
-All bulbs are JDM ASTAR brand (so bright that you can see them clearly in the day time too)
-And...yes, look again. That is amber underglow wired to the blinker circuit. (Is underglow still lame if it's not on all the time, and used only as a turn signal? Whatever, don't care LOL)

What you can't see are all of the zip ties, looming, and taping that made it all a very clean install. I'm always meticulous about my wiring. I should take a pic sometimes (in fact Chris I owe you some photos still lol). Also treated some spots with POR15. It's been sitting in the sun sans fender and bumpers for 6 months, so it's seen better days.

Okay, so to finish up, here are just some random garage shots. This photo is kinda bad on a computer screen, but it looks really cool on mobile, so here it is anyways.



And just a few more.






So what's next in the short term? Obviously reinstall the hood. All it takes to be dependable again is just to raise the idle ~100 RPM and put some oil in it. I'm looking forward to a joyride soon. That big piece of material next to the car in the second photo is going to be turned into a myriad of parts (I'm working on a cowl area cover at the moment...planning on some aero later). I just ordered the LRB undertray, as the plastic OEM piece is long gone and my bay is pretty dirty now. Other than that...I just want to drive it, man. It's been too long.

Until next time!
 
#150 ·
Right on man, thanks!

WHAAAAAT? I love all of this.

Fender mirrors? Yes.

Switchback tail lights? I've never even heard of this but that's pretty sweet.

TURN SIGNAL. FREAKIN'. UNDERGLOW. You need to stick a camera on a tripod and get us some lighting videos because this stuff all sounds awesome.
Will do amigo!

Hopefully your state doesn't have a headlight height requirement. I know some states require them to be 24" from ground level. Illegal or not, love the look
Same in Georgia. I may just go with some Jass low-pros. The projectors seem to be kind of a PITA you know? Fabbing up the aiming brackets and all...

------------------

So here's a couple of vids I shot last night.

#1: This is without the taillight circuit on, so no halo ring on the taillight or white light up front. You can see how the switchback LEDs in the back serve as reverse lights and the blinker. There's also a little mini tour of the interior, heh



#2: The taillight circuit is on, but the halo ring in the taillight washes out the blinker on my phone's camera (in reality it's very very noticeable) but oh well! Here you can see how the switchback LEDs up front double as both DRLs and turn signals. The reverse lights are also on in this shot, but again the camera's exposure (?) can't handle all the brightness.

 
#148 ·
WHAAAAAT? I love all of this.

Fender mirrors? Yes.

Switchback tail lights? I've never even heard of this but that's pretty sweet.

TURN SIGNAL. FREAKIN'. UNDERGLOW. You need to stick a camera on a tripod and get us some lighting videos because this stuff all sounds awesome.
 
#152 · (Edited)
So kind of a stream-of-consciousness day out in the garage yesterday. We had bad weather and even a few tornadoes touch down yesterday, so the school district shut down and we had the day off.

I had this idea to build a small piece of aluminum to hang down off the firewall and cover up the clutch lines, throttle, brake booster, etc. Easier than bleeding everything and tucking the hard lines behind the firewall. However, the brake booster was the one line that wasn't cooperating, so I went ahead and tucked that one away.

Grommet


Cut the brackets off of the hard line, made sure both ends were 90 degrees, and flattened it out (yes, I almost always am barefoot and in PJs in the garage, lol)




All done - super easy to do. There's a slight bit of kinking where I had to bend the line more but nothing that stops the vacuum flow.






Okay, so with that out of the way, all of these other lines are pretty malleable and can be bent out of the way and held together with some zip ties.

The top black part is the Garage Star windshield cowl cover piece. Quality fitment too. The bottom white piece is my prototype cover to hide the lines on the firewall. It is just taped in place so fitment is pretty loose, but it will be held down with some hardware and given some nice paint. Although it's taped in place, I think it's looking pretty good. Maybe some of you would want to emulate this, as like I said, it's so much simpler than cutting, bending, and bleeding all of those lines.





Comparison


I'll post finished shots when I get done. Should I paint it black to match the GS piece, or white to match the bay?
 
#159 · (Edited)
Dude, check the first page. You see that white interior with the blue LEDs? I thought I was the coolest MF in the world when those lit up. The hilarious part was that I didn't even have them hardwired. I didn't know how at the time. I just kept them plugged into the "try me" battery/circuit that came with them. Hahaha!

But on to bigger and better things! The plastic undertray was missing from the Miata for the longest time and my clean white bay was taking quite the beating, so I splurged on something nice and got myself the LRB Speed aluminum under tray. Let me tell you, it's an A++ part. Completely CNC (?) cut so it's as precise as it gets.

Here is Greasemonkey's old post that got me interested in the part. Hopefully my post can do the same for somebody else. (link)

So I didn't take too many photos, but it comes in four pieces and all the hardware is included.



It's super easy to put together - pretty much common sense, but the instructions do help on some parts.

Here's another member's photo to show it all assembled. (DSHEP on m.net)


Sooo....here it is on my car!



It appears that this is an updated design, because while looking at Greasemonkey's piece, the sides slip into the bottom whereas mine are bolt on.

Here's GM's with the old design:


What I love the most is that the piece comes with a little flap that diverts air into the radiator. Between this panel and the top slam panel, my radiator gets all teh airz!

(GM's pic)


So as far as installation tips...really just use a jack to hold the panel up against the subframe while you work. Your arms will get tired as the blood drains out, so you know, there's that. Otherwise it's very simple.

The only concern I have is that it appears to contact the DS sway bar. We will see if the issue resolves itself once the car's off jack stands. Probably will be a non issue no matter what though. Do yourself a favor and buy it!

Until next time!
 
#160 ·
Took "the plunge" today. After this little period of heavy lifting, all this should be done:
-Intake manifold replacement (shaved/painted)
-Coolant reroute
-Oil catch can
-Shaved/painted fuel rail
-Cleaned up/shaved throttle body

So on to the pics!

Started by getting off the fuel rail, crossover pipe, and throttle body:


Then got some work done on the TB. I deleted the IACV, the shock absorber, the arm on the wheel, and enough material to be able to fit the 1.6 TB onto the 1.8 IM without the Flyin' Miata adapter plate.




And this is where it sits before I called it a night. The intake manifold is held on by four bolts. And even though it's not time yet, I had to bolt on the SC blower 'cause it's just good motivation.



One last pic of it being alive. Crooked Plastidip stripe and all, lol.

 
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