'99 Miata

[95neoner]

When I got sent to SC I didn't have a car so I picked up a '99 Miata from the middle of GA. It and the black Neon are the two cars that were nice when I got them. The Miata is rust-free as well, and was stock, so I've pretty well kept it that way. Dropped in a K&N filter when I got it, switched it over to Royal Purple oil and filter, put the black neon's old Konig Holes & 205/40/17 Yokohama parada spec 2s on it, and threw in a stuffed pedobear for the irony. Took it autocrossing once and ran it in C stock. Put the '01 front bumper on it, and have the '01 headlights on the way. Removed the pinstripes, de-hazed the headlights, removed the baby teeth, Sylvainia silverstar headlight bulbs, and PIAA super sporza wiper blades. I want to get Tein basics for it next.
When i got it:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3615099970_773ee464af.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3613/3615107136_d83a3853fc.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3615113156_cca96e441b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3615111414_28cfe8306e.jpg
After the autocross:
http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs085.snc1/5045_1160421296672_1411980090_30436513_2272857_n.j pg
http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs105.snc1/5045_1160421336673_1411980090_30436514_4543230_n.j pg
Now:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2558/4226074745_ddfd3b53fa.jpg

[95neoner]

Also got my '01 headlights for it. Need to dig up sockets w/ pigtails for an '01 and do a bit of wiring one weekend to get them in.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2684/4329322684_9c6ffdbcb7.jpg

[daveb91]

Nice so is this what you drive most of the time??

[95neoner]

Yeah. The ACR's fun, just a bit inconvenient. There's too many little things wrong with it to use it as a daily. This car's just a lot of fun while still being pretty civil.

Took a few pics with a couple friends tonight. Also in the picture is Scott's '87 Supra and Matt's '09 Mazdaspeed 3.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4344506717_efd5f483cc.jpg

[InterceptorXR7]

ill keep my flip up headlights :wink:

[95neoner]

The '01s just looked a lot better than the '99s... too bad the headlights are rediculously expensive and the front bumpers are damn hard to find. :banghead:

I'm keeping pop-ups on the 240 whenever I finally get around to it.

[95neoner]

Got sockets, bulbs, and connectors tonight, headlights should be going in tomorrow. Got a couple more pics too.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4364104288_bb3758466a.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4364495174_4b5b266183.jpg

[Racerx300zx]

I'm not a huge Miata fan, but, that's a nice looking car man.

[daveb91]

You were a fan when thats all you had to drive.

[95neoner]

Thanks for the comment. Finally got my headlights in 3 days ago. If anyone needs info on how to wire a set of these up, ask. Also got my HKS intake filter I ordered for the Neon in the other day and put it on the Miata for the time being. The little bit of added volume to the engine is nice. Washed the car and managed to clay bar and wax back to the fenders. Detailed the engine bay a bit today. I'm liking the warmer weather. Just had a t-shirt on today. Hopefully there's gonna be a decent turn out for our saturday meet down here due to the warmer weather tonight.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/4374034922_a4b625d21f.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4373281843_1f124f23d4.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4374036018_967ee04ef7.jpg

[95neoner]

Just realized we have one of these, and this thread needs one.

:ymca:

[95neoner]

Also just signed up for the Mazda motorsports program. Just for future clarification for anyone trying to sign up, the application says you have to send race results and I figure that's cool, I'll send a link to them of the time I went last year. I get to the final page after the application has been sent, then it says send 2 results within the next 30 days. I hope our local event on March 20th doesn't get cancelled...

[stingray098]

Do the headlights have HIDs in them???

[95neoner]

No. Everyone has HIDs now. F@ck 'em.

[95neoner]

Finished a clay bar and wax today. Also ordered a Marhua shift knob.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2772/4385698291_8ae2c05b83.jpg

[daveb91]

Looks good all cleaned up.

[Racerx300zx]

Very nice, good luck on the next race.

[95neoner]

Thanks. Due to a schedule change, I'm gonna be staying down here and going to one on the 20th of next month, provided they find a site in time. I'm not looking to be very competitive since I've bumped myself up into STR. My car's not prepared for the class, and the driver still needs a lot of improvement as well.

[95neoner]

I've been claimed by the locals.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/4395900204_8e6f18cd9a.jpg

[95neoner]

Well, I'm getting a hard top this weekend now. This is why:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4424082460_9b508b88d4.jpg

It goes all the way through.

Got my shift knob in today.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4424082802_8eb4ed1459.jpg

Maruha's a Japaneese company that specializes in the Roadster, so they build lots of good parts specific for this car.

Also got Royal purple oil in the transmission and diff last night. Re-filling the transmission is a pita. can't refill from underneath cause the bottle won't fit, and can't fill through the shifter cause it has it's own compartment. Had to rig up a contraption with a bottle adapter, hose, and funnel to run from inside the car, down through the hole where the shifter used to be, and forward a foot and a half to the fill plug. It was interesting. A lot of it ended up on the floor. The aftermath:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4423317539_5cd0f8fc9f.jpg

[daveb91]

My Hillbilly WV mind says duct Tape will fix the top!!!!

[InterceptorXR7]

A buddy of mine has a 70's jaguar and its top consists of duct tape. You could get some vinyl fix-it stuff and do it that way. Or buy my hardtop if they total mine

[95neoner]

Heh, there's packing tape on it now. Won't stick as well, but shouldn't leave residue either.

Pending that you still have it on my next trip up there, if the top's for sale, shoot me a price. Sucks to hear about the car though.

[InterceptorXR7]

The top is painted to match my car now, but I was going to flat black it to make it more sellable. let me research the price because honestly I dont know how much one is worth. Im think maybe like $500?

[95neoner]

The top is painted to match my car now, but I was going to flat black it to make it more sellable. let me research the price because honestly I dont know how much one is worth. Im think maybe like $500?

You could get quite a bit more out of it. $600 is about as cheap as I ever hear of them going for. I was happy to find one close by in the $800-900 range.

Ended up finding a BRG hardtop and buying it the next day instead of making the same mistake and waiting. Looks odd, but it'll do until I get a chance to paint it. Just got done autocrossing yesterday. Lets just say I got my ass handed to me trying to run STR... fastest touring class of the day. I need to work on my driver mod... a lot. Still enjoyed it and made pretty consistant improvments despite the car getting tail happy after a couple runs. I can only imagine what I'd have run if I would have kept the rear under the car more.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4452897444_6fb2d56f0a_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2747/4452090457_08342ecfc5.jpg

[daveb91]

I see a camera......any vids?

[carsonthebrain64]

oh boy,autocross! That makes me want to get back to states more than anything. Where was this event at...Cedar Point?

[95neoner]

vids? of course not... damn batteries can't hold a charge for more than 5 min... :raspberry:

Nah, it was in Myrtle. Freedom Music Park.

[Racerx300zx]

Hell, even un matched the new top looks good man, congrats on picking it up.

[daveb91]

Sweet two tone.

[95neoner]

Thanks guys, still can't wait to paint it. It'll look better, be easier to maintain, and raise the value of the car, not to mention, the pita of having to track one down is over. I hate buying used parts... Working on something right now, being a cheater. I really hope no one takes autocross too seriously. I'd hate to be bumped up due to a port and polish on the intake manifold, pics later. Wish I'd have thought about that before I started, my non-racer instincts are still there and I occasionally forget to think about classing. Might just have to find another manifold. It's a real pita to get to though, so switching just before races seems wasteful to me. I really don't think the car's gonna gain much from it, just had the spare time and was bored. Never thought I'd say that word and myself in the same sentence again.

[95neoner]

Took the car out for about a week to port and polish the intake manifold. Also polished where the runners meet the head, but forgot to take pics. Made a noticable difference in power. There's still visible scratches, but my fingers were messed up and I couldn't sand anymore. You can't really feel them though. After that was done I installed Hawk HP Plus pads and Goodridge stainless steel brake lines. Followed that up by removing all the old DOT 3 fluid and put in new DOT 4. I like the changes...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2680/4487020921_197d059195.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4487673500_846afe0522.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4487675052_9563c9d938.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2721/4487024855_dffbd0aa0b.jpg

[daveb91]

Did you use a dremel with a sand barrel?

[95neoner]

Yeah, in the middle of the project. Started out with one of the metal bits made for removing material... I forget what they're called atm... then went to polishing stones, then to 220 grit sandpaper, then 1000 grit.

[m pwrd 3]

You are doing a really nice job on this.

Are you just smoothing out the ports, or are you actually making them bigger?

[95neoner]

I ported them as well.I'm trying to build all my cars with quality rather than quantity. This particular car I'm more concerned with maintaining right now rather than just jumping into modding. I'm doing a few small things as I go. The intake manifold port and polish started out as a throttle body clean. I guess I took that a little far...

[95neoner]

Went to another autocross yesterday and decided to just run in seat time only. Turns out those results don't get posted online, so I won't be running there again because I can't send my results to Mazdaspeed Motorsports Developement... speaking of which, I don't think I've mentioned yet, but my sponsorship with them went through. I have no clue how I did compared to my friends though. The time slip printer wasn't working as I was running (1st group) until my last run, and since there's no results online, I only know my last run was a 47.744.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2285/4511117319_bc1029ac12.jpg

I really liked the look of the back end of this car. The front was the same as mine, just with yellow fog lights. I can't wait to get done with the maintainence on mine and to start some modding that's not partly due to necessity.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4511739648_e33870eaf0.jpg

[95neoner]

Got to another autocross this past weekend. Managed to get 2 seconds closer to the S2000s on a faster track than I was last time I ran STR. I like the improvement. I'm really hoping the ACR is gonna be ready for the next round though.

[95neoner]

Not only did I claim another hard top for the second gens, but now also for the silver part of the NB population. Pretty exclusive club last I checked. I haven't seen many silver NBs with a hard top on them.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1156/4594010182_c4ca8aa28a.jpg

[daveb91]

Nice.

[95neoner]

Got the top and bumper emblem on today.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/4597535848_3802a52a6b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/4597536676_9963edda4e.jpg

[daveb91]

Looks good man alot better than the two tone.

[95neoner]

Yup, just trying to get the little stuff taken care of for now.

[95neoner]

A friend just offered me the chance to basically have a MSM motor. He's switching out everything motor related, including ECU and injectors, and gave me 1st dibbs. He said he's still a couple months from doing it, but I can't wait to get my hands on it all. I drove his car and it felt great in a straight line, so those are the plans for the near future.

[95neoner]

Got wheel polish and polished the Miata's wheels and exhaust a bit.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4850983758_fa26af8e84_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4850984434_9162b2bef3_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4850985230_b2aeb3c727_z.jpg

Car was gonna be for sale after I finished getting aperfect, stock, white SRT-4 ACR from ebay but the guy sold it from under me, now I'm fighting for that thing but I'm not getting my hopes up...

[95neoner]

Decided it was time to be nice to the Miata for a change for always taking me everywhere and not leaving me stuck on the side of the road. Got Carbing front and rear strut tower bars, a Garage Vary carbon fiber radiator cooling panel (I'm still getting a bit of surging on long trips, and I think it's just the fuel vaporizing), and 4 new Yokohama Parada Spec-2s in 205/40ZR17 as before, since an inspection of the tires while changing the oil at 94524 mi (for my reference. I still need to write that down in my maintainence log) showed that I'm getting camber wear on the insides of the tires, and I have no tread left there now.
front bar, except mine will be silver:

http://www.rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1//5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/k/k/kkslmkq1r47scnbm3603ks3kskxl00.jpg

rear bar:

http://www.rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1//5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/2/7/276_1.jpg

cooling panel:

http://www.vary.co.jp/wd/nb_other/13b.jpg

Believe it or not, this is going to set the Neon's next round of parts back a bit...

[daveb91]

Those are some nice pieces there.

[95neoner]

And expensive... those three peices alone cost me more than a set of Tein coilovers. Not the ones I want, but basics nonetheless. I figured it was time for the Miata to get something though. The Neons have been getting all of the attention.

[95neoner]

Carbing and Garage Vary parts are sitting at the post office, gonna go pick them up Friday and should be installing them this weekend. Got a ARC intake chamber on the way now too since they got discontinued. Figured I'd better get one while I can.

Raised the hood a bit in the rear to try and help with cooling.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4911940302_292625cd8c_z.jpg

Also realized I never got a pic of how nice the Sylvania Silverstar headlight bulbs look.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4911335947_594dd48707_z.jpg

Stuck the black Neon's front splitter under the car just to see what it would look like.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4911336445_d7f8224a16_z.jpg

Had fun disabling emissions equipment yesterday too. :D No more charcoal canister. I need to clean the bay again though :/

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4917994200_3aa1eee24e_b.jpg

[Racerx300zx]

Not bad, and if you think that's dirty for an engine bay, I'll have to get a pic of the dodge for you. Probably make bay neat freaks have a coronary.

[95neoner]

Yeah... minor update. Should have a nicer one this weekend. I really wanna get a set of sway bars for this thing too. Don't think I'll be doing it soon though. I wanna get the next round of the black Neon's parts on the way first.

[95neoner]

Got the rear bar in this morning and the valve cover gasket in this evening. Still gotta finish up installing the firewall support bracket for the front bar. Also got a guy to trade my '99 tail lights for '01 style, so I was able to get harnesses and all this time.

'01-'05 tail lights that I traded my stockers for

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4935629037_d67640579b_b.jpg

Carbing front tower brace

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4936218698_2d0c2f1750_b.jpg

Had to get a pic while I had the valve cover off replacing the gasket.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4936218940_6493e0d029_b.jpg

Belt looked almost brand new.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/4936219098_788922753c_b.jpg

Old gasket took some of my oil with it...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4936219526_523b30378a_b.jpg

Rear Carbing strut tower bar

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4935630387_f223d6c976_b.jpg

[daveb91]

Nice pieces there!!

[Kurt_W]

Sharp looking car! I love em but man I don't fit in them. I put about 50 miles on my mother's '99 last weekend and my back is still telling me about it :uhoh:

[95neoner]

Thanks guys.

Kurt, I was just talking to my dad about that earlier. They're certainly not for everyone. He seems pretty set on a Jag XJR now. Seats aren't particularly comfortable, I'll agree with that. Come to think of it though, I never really owned a car that was aimed toward comfort. Guess it's just business as usual...

Finally getting the Saturday night cruises back together.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4943239095_d740523559_b.jpg

Speaking of a vacuum leak... Fixed.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4943825550_0e70e91679_b.jpg

Remember that big peice of plastic sticking up on the far right of the picture? It's gone and the two power supply type things that were bolted to it are now bolted directly to the chassis.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4943825882_9615ea981f_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4943239977_ec8ccd1078_b.jpg

[95neoner]

Picked up my ARC intake chamber and Garage Vary radiator cooling panel before work yesterday and got right to installing it afterwards. End results were as follows:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4975904494_8845e1d9cf_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/4975328689_ee5f6afbb6_b.jpg

Decided to be a douchebag and go drive around with the hood off.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/4975291685_d39bcefe41_b.jpg

Light got low so I had a hard time getting clear pics...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4975292651_0e3ce4b7f9_b.jpg

[daveb91]

Ooooooohhhh shiny!

[95neoner]

and lots of it lol... definitely a nice change for the engine bay.

[95neoner]

Put brake ducts on the Miata today. Took them out and road tested afterward. Worked out pretty well, they stay in place and no rubbing unless I hit the steering lock. Finally got to put those fog light holes to good use.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5000347516_1a3ba1a095_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5000347388_d681a9da8c_b.jpg

[daveb91]

Hey put those back in my laundry room!

[95neoner]

Don't you judge me...

:lol:

[95neoner]

Left a bit before daylight today and headed out to drive and take a few pictures. A couple of them turned out pretty good.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5059921528_1c10dfeabc_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5059309819_831e789561_b.jpg

There was a lot of noise in this last pic due to the low light, and again, I didn't do the best job focusing. My auto focus only works when it wants to. Anyway, this one is best viewed small.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5059310667_3f2465289c.jpg

Car is dirty, but I've basically worked 16 straight 15 hour days, 9 of those requiring me to go to work at 8pm, right when all the bugs are out. Finally getting around to cleaning it today, and the failed brake ducts are coming out too. It was something to learn from though. Apparently some race shops sell pre-modified dust shields made for brake ducts, luckily I hadn't gotten around to cutting mine up yet, because 2 1/2" ducts are about as big as you're going to fit in the shield. Not to mention it looks rather hideous in the front bumper. I'll try something different next time I have to do brake maintainence.