Speed Junkie's Car Thread (About time I did this)

[a112]

Nice car You've got there, with no unnecessary stuff around. I like it on Watanabes most. Also big respect for Momo Monte Carlo and not some deep dish wheel! 👍

 

[speed junkie]

Thanks! There's a few details I'd like to fix such as the boy work that I screwed up but there's still allot of things I want to do to it in terms of modifications.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Also big respect for Momo Monte Carlo and not some deep dish wheel! 👍

With an 80mm spacer behind it.

Deep dish wheels have their purpose.

 

[Keef]

Thanks! There's a few details I'd like to fix such as the boy work that I screwed up but there's still allot o things I want to do to it on terms of modifications.

You still didn't get that fender replaced?

 

[speed junkie]

They're expensive! like 150 on eBay for an aftermarket one! Plus painting. Also, remember the left quarter panel is damaged. That's like some snow tires!

 

[a112]

With an 80mm spacer behind it.

Deep dish wheels have their purpose.

Thank you really for clearing that out, I almost lived the whole rest of my life without knowing it.

Also, as I see you follow a Club Roadster style, Vitaloni Californians would look great on this car.

 

[speed junkie]

I think you might be a bit misled about the "Club Roadster style." All the nice Miatas in CR are either slammed and hellaflush or modified with all the "nostalgic" style parts (which I think is what you meant) from Japanese companies such as Zoom Engineering and Joy Fast. There are of course a few exceptions. My car, exterior-wise, is pretty much stock besides being functionally lowered with wheels and the mirrors.
I've posted allot of these "nostalgic" Miatas (mostly from Japan, not CR) in the imports thread. Love the style but it was just never my goal for the car.

 

[a112]

Don't be lead by a majority in the meaning of style. Pursue the details like you did already. That's why I said I ie. like the Momo that is somewhat classic but again not played out like Nardi etc.

 

[speed junkie]

Yup, totally agree. I mean, the whole purpose of the car was to serve as a tool for me to become a better driver but I definitely have tried to do everything properly, both in terms of performance as well as having a decent looking car.

 

[Keef]

Parts that are designed for performance will always be classic and desirable. Competition is innate in humans. Winning always has been cool, and always will be. That's why everybody wants the legit racing parts whether they use them or not.

 

[Perfect Balance]

Thank you really for clearing that out, I almost lived the whole rest of my life without knowing it.

You've cleared up what you meant now, but after your original post I was under the impression that you viewed deep dish wheels as some sort of "trendy" mod that was otherwise useless, unlike a Momo Montecarlo, which was obviously better. Or something.

 

[Keef]

You NEED this rear spoiler!

 

[speed junkie]

If you mean the KG Works trunk spoiler then yes. I've wanted it for a while...I seriously need to just get this body work out of the way already.

 

[a112]

You've cleared up what you meant now, but after your original post I was under the impression that you viewed deep dish wheels as some sort of "trendy" mod that was otherwise useless, unlike a Momo Montecarlo, which was obviously better. Or something.

I don't have anything against them, I use mildly dished Luisi in my 128. Can't find anything more classic that has some more dish so I could use a spacer right now.

 

[speed junkie]

So some two weeks ago I ran across some problems with the engine. This was actually rooted from the very first time I turned on the new engine where the temperature gauge began to creep after about 10 minutes. Long story short it turned out to be a faulty thermostat which was brand new at the time.
That was only part of the problem.

So two weeks ago the overheating problem got pretty bad where the gauge remained 3/4 of the way to "H" even while driving. So when we stopped to top off the radiator we noticed that there was oil in the coolant. Allot of it. I drove the car back home where it stayed until today.
On Friday we took the head off only to notice that the rear (closest to the fire wall) dowel pin was loose and barely on the block. The front dowel pin was missing. Ther's yur problem. At least the one associated with oil in the cooling system. When we looked at the bottom of the head we noticed the front dowel pin embedded in its bore with barely any of it protruding out of the head's surface. Without dowel pins the head can actually "walk" on the surface of the block at high rpms/vibrations. This explains why there was oil in the coolant but no coolant being burned.
I missed this the first time I installed the head simply due to inexperience. I actually remember seeing the dowel pin in the head and not giving it a second thought. it just looked like some oil passage feature Same goes for the rear dowel pin where I should've made sure that it was securely tapped into the bore.
So it appears that often the front dowel pins stay lodged in the head when they're removed for the first time. This explained why my 03 block didnt have one and why the 99 head I got had one lodged in its bore. Btw, I remember there not being a front dowel pin in the 03 block when I first removed the 03 head (I just didn't know there was supposed to be one there ) So we were pretty certain that that was the problem.

Another thing about the 99 head that I didn't really pay attention to when I got it was that whoever had it before me (either the guy I got it from or the guy who owned it before him) took a pneumatic sander to it in an attempt to clean all the gunk off of it. You can tell because of all the swirl marks on the head (the same swirl marks on the embedded dowel pin which proved that it belonged to the 99 head and not the 03 block) which also showed that he used too coarse of a grit. Sigh.
Sooo, we took the head to a motorsports machine shop and found that it was slightly "warped" at the #4 cylinder. The guy took off about 4000s and cleaned everything up. Great overall job. I installed the head yesterday only to find out that the temp gauge was STILL creeping after around 15 minutes of idle. I felt the upper hose and it was cold. This was the same thermostat that I bought when I first did the swap. It was one of those dual core ones and cost me like 24 bucks. POS. I bought a new one, installed it today, let the engine run. The upper hose got warm while the lower one stayed cool. Problem fixed.
Finaly.

I also got a proper overflow tank. Pretty much the only one available for the NA Miata.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Ah, the joys of owning a car that has character and soul..

 

[speed junkie]

I guess it's going through a phase. It seems to be nearly over this "character" thing

 

[speed junkie]

Some photos...

 

[CodeRedR51]

That catch tank actually made for the Miata? Looks like it...

 

[speed junkie]

Yup. As far as I know it's the only application-specific one for the NA.

 

[Keef]

Moroso? Dude I thought you hated NASCAR. Turns out the Americans make pretty good stuff, right?

 

[speed junkie]

Yeah for once.

 

[SpartanG]

Is it wrong that half the reason I can't wait to go to college is so that I can get a miata? This thread gets me excited!

 

[speed junkie]

I'm not really following you. Shouldn't you be broke when you start college?

 

[SpartanG]

I'm not really following you. Shouldn't you be broke when you start college?

I hardly spend a penny of what I make besides what goes to my current car. No girls (👎) or drugs (👍) to spend it on. I've got 3 grand saved up right now and should have at least double that by the time I enter college. My parents will help me with some expenses and I think I owe myself a little fun...

 

[speed junkie]

Ah, the joys of owning a car that has character and soul..

So apparently there's still more of that.

I finally got around to drilling and tapping the intake manifold to install the FM throttle body adapter in order to use the 1.6 throttle body. This, btw, would allow me to have a throttle positioning sensor and idle air control valve. None of which were hooked up to the 1.8 TB for obvious reasons

After installing the 1.6 TB I realized I still had to hook up the IAC breather to the intake. "Maybe that's why the IAC wasn't revving the engine high during cold starts."

So I went to Lowe's, got the only fitting that was large enough to fit the IAC valve's hose, a hole saw for the drill press, and got to work.
PB helped out with the work part.

After some trimming we got the fitting to JUST barely thread in. Even with a 12in wrench it was difficult to turn it, so we were confident that we got a good seal.

After hooking everything back up and starting the engine the IAC valve STILL wasn't working properly. Did the same thing as before just that we had to re-adjust the idle. No vacuum leaks either. Only thing left is to troubleshoot the IAC valve itself which should not be very difficult.

Other than that nothing new.



And for the lulz...

 

[speed junkie]

Me and a friend went for a drive today. Engine felt great. The IAC valve didn't.

I had to bring the camera along this time considering the road we were driving on. It's got some impressive elevation changes and is a blast to drive on.

And for scale...

 

[Keef]

What road is this? And why are your DZ101s bald already? And why did you let your friend get such weak offsets for his NB?

 

[speed junkie]

Rt. 250.
Theyre slightly over the wear indicators. Get it right bro.
And they're 15x8 and the lower offset ones are discontinued. He's getting spacers.

 

[Perfect Balance]

What road is this? And why are your DZ101s bald already? And why did you let your friend get such weak offsets for his NB?

It took a decent bit of convincing on my part for him to even go 15x8. He wanted 15x7 +35 RPF1. And I said no, no, noooo.

(see wat I did there)