Tweet
Introduction
Some of you might have seen my other build thread on my 1973 BMW 2002. That project has gotten out of control, and while I will finish that car and make it perfect, I've come to accept that's a year or two out minimum. It's my dream car, and I want to take my time and get everything right. In the mean time, I've been itching to drive something fun. I've been tossing around the idea of getting a dedicated drift car for years now, but I've never been able to commit.
A friend of mine sent me a link to the video above. I had written off Miatas as an option, because the short wheel base makes them twitchy. I had set my sights on an E36 or 240sx, because they are good at what they do. But I reconsidered after watching a bunch of Miatas hot lapping a track over and over, and then leaving with full tire tread and still running cool. I've had one Miata in the past, and it was a bit of a pile, but I figured I could give it another shot. The same day I found this car on Craigslist.
It's a 1990 Miata, which at some point received a long nose crank 1.6 swap. The main draw to this car was the hard top. Effectively for the price I paid, I bought a hard top and got a free Miata with it. The story goes, and we'll see if that's true, is the owner before me started to do the timing belt, got stuck at the crank bolt, and gave up. He just bought a new Mustang and just decided to cut ties with the Miata. It's bone stock minus some LRB door cards (which he sticker bombed), and weirdly enough an HKS intake.
Normally I wouldn't pick up a non-running car for a project like this, but his story checked out. We were able to turn over the engine, he had every single part to do the timing belt job, and that crank bolt is notoriously tough to remove. On top of that, I happen to be friends with something of a Miata expert. My friend (@nhammon) is in the middle of a nut and bolt restoration of his own NA. He came with me to check the car and gave it a clean bill of health. He's also helped a ton in selling me his spare parts and answering any and all questions I have.
So here's the plan. Basic track mods such as seats, steering wheel, cooling etc. Welded diff, coilovers and angle kit to follow. I'll be fixing the AC, and adding in a new headunit to keep it semi-streetable for the AZ summer. All in, I'll have a very low buck drift car. My total cost in this car will be less than one totaled out 240sx. I just want as much seat time as I can possibly manage this year, and have a fun car to play with while the 2002 enters the boring parts of restoration.
Starting Point
The first thing I did was take inventory of what the car came with. As mentioned, all the new parts were included, timing belt, thermostat housing, bearings etc. There were a few seals missing, so a quick order later and everything will be in. The front main seal has clearly been puking for a while, so I also took the time to scrub everything clean to make working on it a little easier.
I also picked up some parts off of my friend. New Mishimoto rad hoses, Advanti Storm S1 wheels, his old 1.6 open diff (to be welded) and driveshaft, as well as some other misc. bits. These were just sitting on his shelf, and will go a long way to getting this car on the road. I'm on the fence about the wheel choice long term. For now they're absolutely perfect, they weigh ~11lbs a piece and will be great for drifting. But I can't help but want some SSR Mk2s some day. I'm a wheel nerd deep down, I want all my cars to be on three piece, OG wheels. Something to look forward to I suppose
I could only test fit as it turns out I need new lug nuts. No biggie, it looks goofy at stock ride height anyways. With a drop, they'll look fantastic and the unsprung weight drop is definitely a bonus as well. I've noticed these are a fairly common Miata wheel choice, so I'm not expecting any clearance issues. Especially with stock angle right now.
If you've gone through my 2002 build thread, you'll know I bought some Car Make Corn's seats for that project. Since I've decided to take the restoration even further, I've borrowed those seats for this Miata project. Saves me some cash, and they're not doing me any good in a rolling shell. Technically speaking the Corn's seats were designed specifically for Miatas, so this is their proper home anyawy. I just plopped the seat in to get an idea of fitment. I'll definitely need a quick release steering wheel to get in and out. I'll be putting both seats in as well, drift missile or no I'd like the car to look nice.
Side note, I think I'm going to de-stickerbomb those door cards. I'm just not feeling it.
Since I'm basically just sitting around waiting for parts to come in, I decided to do some cleaning. I was just going to paint the valve cover black, but it was so disgusting I had to take a wire wheel to it. An hour later, I ended up with this. I don't know how I feel about it, but I've spent too much time on it to actually bother doing anything else. So brushed valve cover it is.
So that's where we sit now. I've put a weekend worth of work into the car so far. This weekend we're aiming to have it running and driving. Once I know it's mechanically sound, I'll order some coilovers, buff out the paint, and get ready for some drift events. This is a change of pace for me, I'm very much a BMW guy. But I'm looking forward to having some fun with this little Miata at the track. I can't promise anything crazy in this build thread, the whole point is to keep this project budget so I don't detract too much from 2002 progress. But I'll be doing the basic bolt ons to get this thing sliding properly.
. This weekend I'll be tying up some loose ends, cleaning the car up and making a final parts list to get ready for it's first drift event. Seeing the power I'm working with, this is going to be an steep learning curve.
Comment