Project #4. "tiny giant" na miata journal

[1badg35]

So... little update, the car is back down on the ground and the big brakes are all physically installed... master cylinder seems to be the culprit here as to the fact that the setup wont bleed properly, so I'm waiting on the arrival of the wilwood MC to square it all away. The calipers function, just no pedal feel and power bleeding the setup ends in frustration with a slow drip out of the bleeders instead of normal flow. I believe the stock MC is 3/4" and I am going be going to a 1" Wilwood dual tank setup hoping that'll level it all out. Obviously going from stock 1 pots to 4 pots all around is a lot more piston area, but honestly these miata specific companies sell "bolt on" setups and so far the only thing that worked was the fact that they physically bolt up... apparently "bolt on kit" does not mean "will work" or "complete setup" in any way. The fact that the emergency brake isn't even discussed, the master cylinder is not said to need to be upgraded, and the rotors arent even included with the kit is basically just misleading. End of rant though.

Good thing the car is not a daily anymore.

in the meantime, here is some of it in a little of yesterdays snow





and brake clearance inside the 14" RPF1s
rears


fronts




kind of sucks I havent gotten to test the setup out, but it'll get plenty of seat time in spring to shake it down. really happy it all fits inside the RPF1s (took some work) and still have yet to solve the e brake situation- going to keep it in gear till i figure out a solution

[DER E30]

I **** dealing with aftermarket parts bs, pretty stupid sometimes... Set up looks good under the rpf1s though!

[1badg35]

well the master cylinder is here, the miata is under 30" of snow though as It didnt make the cut for garage space... so some time in july ill install haha

[imschwaggy]

dope

[1badg35]

sadly might be parting with the miata this spring possibly. haven't fully committed to selling her as the car is just spectacular for what it is, but i am considering doing so.

with that said, still moving forward with the work on it, bbk will be complete soon as will be the interior and any of the other loose ends that are in process. The seats are sold, but a new pair of fixed backs will be going in there soon and staying with the car. And i am going to have a little fun with the seats before they go in as well as the seat backs...

[1badg35]

So, to elaborate on the subject, I believe the miata might be for sale shortly. if anyone wants more info on the car before i officially put it up for sale, feel free to email over.

car includes the following
-oem hardtop painted white to match
-hardtop permanent mounting brackets
-soft top permanently removed - can put back if i have to
-full black interior swap- backdate to '90 e model with no power anything, no cruise, nothing fancy
-japanese eunos no airbag steering wheel
-japanese r floormats
-r spec exterior plastics
-tein suspension
-enkei rpf1 14x7+19
-falken azenis
-wilwood front and rear bbk 4 pot
-wilwood upgraded MC
-interior waterjet custom parts for door panels, complete stereo delete, shifter boot delete
-delrin shifter knob
-shifter extender
-oem shifter boot rebuild
-cup holder delete

currently has 50,xxx original miles on it. runs like a top. only synthetic oil, and no noise or issues with anything. car is 100% complete, nothing wrong with it, nothing missing, nothing broken. The purpose was to simplify the car to its essentials and thats where it was headed. doesnt have anything it doesnt need. super slow power windows that take a minute to roll up? no. -- stereo that sort of sounds eh? no ---cruise control? no --- abs? no ---airbags? no --- get in and drive it and enjoy it? yes

[1badg35]

7500$ or best offer takes it with the mods included.


will post up a for sale thread in the near future.

[nishy]

7500$ or best offer takes it with the mods included.


will post up a for sale thread in the near future.

idk, all I got right now is like $30 and some badass menthol gum. Deal??

[190Evan]

The black interior looks amazing but I still would have been so afraid to rip out all of the perfect beige/tan bits.

[1badg35]

eh, its not a particularly rare or unique car so it never really bothered me to make a drastic change like swapping interiors. much happier with the black interior too as it doesnt look dirty all the time.

i put back in the stock seats for the time being. the corbeaus sold, but took too long to sell and i missed the opportunity to buy the seats i was after.. So the stockers went back in.

[1badg35]

so after being out of commission for a few weeks with the complexities of "bolt on big brake kits" i can finally say its back on the road and after throwing it around a bunch, its a blast.
lets just say some "engineers" don't know left from right and as a result a lot of head scratching occurred. stupid would be an understatement.

Got the opportunity to really push the little car a bunch yesterday to see how its all working as a package and i am finally getting excited by driving it again. its now responsive in all respects and I can stay on the pedal far closer to a turn than before. pads are noisy almost to the point of downright annoying, but once they warm up the car does really well. non abs 2000lb car with 4 pots all around is completely overkill but its what makes this stupid thing fun. can be pushed a bit harder now knowing that it'll be able to come back down to a stop without holding on and hoping it will. Yes, the car probably makes 100hp on a good day, but its really not a problem if youre in the correct rev range and stay in it. what it doesnt have in power it makes up for in handling and now i can come to a stop when needed as well which is a huge plus in my book.

this whole brake endeavor happened by the way because of a particular instance of coming into a turn a little hot a few months ago at about 75mph and having almost immediate brake fade to the extent that i was worried it wasnt going to get down to speed to actually make it through the upcoming turn. the stock 23 year old brakes were just not up to the task. And while I likely wouldnt recommend the kits out there to anyone in the miata community, the wilwoods are a massive improvement. I may actually engineer some mounts that integrate the wilwood caliper location as well as a location for spot caliper in the future (for a functioning parking brake) since its yet to be done in a proper manner. once it warms up outside (was between 35-45deg yesterday) i assume it'll be much more consistent too. keeping the brakes warm did take a little bit last night. car never even came up to temperature after an hour long drive


on another note, stock seats are back in for preparation for a potential sale of the car, but i will have fun with it in the meantime

[cheaptalon]

I love what you have done with this thing. I seriously considered selling my 2g DSM to pick this up when you considered selling it.

[1badg35]

thanks yeah the car has grown on me quite a bit in the course of my ownership and i am certainly going to miss it when the time comes it does sell.

the part i love is that it is simple. nothing is rocket science, its all mechanical, everything responds exactly like you expect it to, and it has nothing in terms of comfort or luxuries. It just is what it is and nothing more. And its ridiculously reliable. more reliable in fact than my 2016 vw golf sportwagen which is 5 months old and has 4500 miles on it lol.

I have to say I havent needed to replace a single thing on it other than doing maintenance in the 16 months and approx 11k miles of owning it - sorry 1 headlight motor was replaced.. lol. Wouldnt have any issue daily driving it for the next 5 years if it wasnt so small. i constantly had issues needing to carry a set of wheels or picking up a random piece of furniture while out on a drive that obviously you just cant do with it, but again thats a personal problem not so much the car. it is just a ridiculous little car that is very satisfying.

[slwrthnu]

your car is what my miata wishes it could be lol.

[1badg35]

So, in the past 20 or so months of ownership, this car has taught me a lot. these things are really wonderful cars, super rewarding to drive.

Its new owner might be picking her up tonight possibly, seems like its going into good hands. going to try to focus back onto the more important projects for the time being. Doesnt mean the car wont get replaced with something interesting so stay tuned.. Parts may or may not already be accumulating for something new.