Aren't you a little concerned about all the extra added pounds?

I'm ridiculous I know. With this stupid dry cough I sleep even less so I just go out and work on the car for a little bit.

Started out as such and evolved from there. I think it will be more of a weekend/auto-x/track day car rather than a full blown track toy. I just wanted a little refinement on the days I drive it to work or go for a spin.

Bad thing about being in Southern Utah, there are not a lot of auto-x events nearby, so you have to drive quite a bit to get to them.

The car had about 280 hp on a conservative tune before it was wrecked so I'm not too concerned about adding 10-20 lbs of noise cancellation.

I have removed more than that in undercoating/front hood support bracket/ac components/wiring alone, so it'll cancel out.

I bought 100sq/ft of Dynomat sound deadening for my miata. Ended up using only like half of it, but covered EVERYTHING inside. Literally, every orifice. Check my thread.

You know what the total weight of all 100sq/ft was? 15lb

That is nothing. And the reduced nvh, noise, and overall solid "feel" of the car on the road is SOOO worth it. I'd recommend to everyone that daily drives their miata

I did nothing but add weight to my miata. didn't bother me. you wanna know the best way to combat added weight? up the boost.

LOL. In my case, go on diet.

Jeff, in addition to meme, I nominate you to be the official mt.net chemical engineer.

Why the chemical engineer? I think that would be a bad idea...lets just say if you fumigate yourself you may not take legal action against Jeffbucc incorporated.

You always seem to come up with the right witch's brew to reverse 25 years of aging and wear/tear.

Did the manufacturer of that mat recommend 100% coverage? That's a bit odd.

this is a GREAT idea, and will make your miata a treat to daily drive

Seriously - people don't realize how big the difference is unless they drive two miata's back to back one with one without. I was impressed
its probably not necessary, but why not?

Many of these "sound deadening" mats are not actually sound inhibitors in the way we think of them. Many of them are really just designed to reduce the vibrations of the metal to which it is attached. Most manufacturers recommend strategically placed mats so that you can use the minimum amount of mat for maximum effect. I presume this is why Concealer asks his question. Of course, usually when manufacturers recommend placement like that they're trying to stabilize a door panel or something instead of a floor pan.

Although I think Jeff has the right idea. The "heavy" dynamat type stuff will stabilize the metal and keep it from vibrating and resonating. The closed-cell foam will actually act as a genuine sound barrier. I'm not familiar with the vinyl part though.

Well, 100% coverage CAN result in more vibrations than a lesser percentage, depending on how it's applied. There's no way it's not going to be a huge improvement either way, was just curious what the instructions specified, if there was any.


Ah, i got ninja'd. That explanation makes sense.

Yeah... if he had even more time and even more science and research, he could probably do a little better by placing it strategically rather than putting it everywhere. But not even Jeff has time for that. Much easier to just do full coverage rather than try to put it here and there. This is going to be amazing when it's finished, the closed-cell foam will make a huge difference.

Luck!;)

USually you want to since it is a vibration layer rather than a noise deadener, this makes it so panel flex is minimized and less noise as a result of that.

I'm hoping it works as well as I researched it to. Stuff is HEAVY though. Noise cancellation was big on my to do list after driving both the cars over long distance. I literally couldnt drive both the highly modified and the "stock" car without noise isolating headphones on. It was ridiculous

It may be overboard going with 100% coverage like that but the Miata has a lot of panel flex points from what I've seen. Many areas that can transmit and produce sound, or let sound into the car.

The vinyl stuff is the creme' de la creme' on the sound "deadening". The foam helps kill a certain frequency range while the thick vinyl help take care of the other spectrum or noise "range". It is the heaviest part of the noise deadening equation but you get the biggest result from it.

I wish I did have more time, I'll be buying a couple more dynamat sheets for the inside of the doors, not sure what I'll do in the trunk area since I wont have any more closed cell foam or vinyl for it.

Spray and pray was my goal on this....no I wish I could go into this completely without research. The full coverage helps the noise not have a path to get through.

Most the times you see the spot applications is when they are trying to isolate high stress areas for speaker systems where they see enhanced vibrations in certain zones in the car depending on what music they are playing

Here is the completed closed cell foam installation. It honestly looks terrible in the photos only due to the fact that the glue hasn't dried and "cleared" yet. It looks pro in person...or as well as I could get trying to stretch 36 yards of foam for the cabin area.

Super 77 3M spray and High strength 90 is your friend.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1389913612

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1389913612

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1389913612

This is really really tedious work.

Looks like it's gonna be quiet in there, lol.

In case anyone wants a good reference on sound deadening in a car:

Welcome to Sound Deadener Showdown | Sound Deadener Showdown

Yup that is a great site but you need to build your base information/knowledge before you can understand it. Lots of upper level audio guru nerdifying.

Found out that the Mass loaded vinyl needs to be a little "loosey goosey" for it to absorb properly. If pulled taught then it is less likely to absorb the higher frequency sound waves.

The hard thing about MLV is that you need to minimize breaks in the material as much as possible. Obviously on the firewall you are going to have a hard time minimizing that while still being able to fit the firewall rubber gaskets in their associated holes.

So I plan on seam taping the segments together with aluminum tape or, if I have enough, gluing spare MLV scraps together to further isolate chance of sound escaping. We'll see if I care enough by that point, ready for this "project" to be over

Measure 20 times cut once.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390037429

Slap it on.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390037429

damn dude. I'm curious to hear if this was all worth it in the end.

Probably will depend on the person and the use of the car, but i've always removed weight from my car in the past. However, at this point my car is too loud, going with a nice quiet 3" to see if I can get it to acceptable levels, but I guess this would be the next step

Haha we'll see. I'm saving the trunk for another day. I have a whole vinyl mat left over that I'll save for that when I figure out what I want to do in that area.

It is such a small amount of weight that I really don't care. Its sixes at this point. I've removed so much weight that I think I'm still in the negatives vs weight added. I have a loud 3" exhaust too so this'll help I hope.

After this I'm putting the hard lines and gas tank/filler/breather tube in.

As always, top notch Jeff. Fun to watch your progress. It gives the impression that it took just a few minutes, but we all know that's not true.

Props, again.

Little more done today.

Assembled the steering rack after I stripped off all the rust and painted it a while back.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390090696

All the sound deadening is done!!!! Thank christ. Turned out really really good after I found out how MLV likes to bend and how it doesn't like to bend.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390090696

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390090696

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390090696

Brake, clutch, gas pedal installed and associated master cylinders

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390090696

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390090696

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390090696

Waiting on a couple parts to dry from painting them before I can put the steering rack on and the hard lines.

Little bit more progress from last night.

Cleaning the gasket for the gas tank....lots of degreaser and a plastic razor blade and Super VRT
-Before

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

-After

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

Hard lines mounted

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

Gas tank mounted

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

Gas tank hoses/fuel pump/fuel filter finished up

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

Filler tube/breather tube/vent tube installed

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390132434

Not quite sure what to do next...maybe get some of the interior trim pieces put in, or the wiring harness, not sure.

Astonishing work, as usual... I would vote for the harness, as this should be easier
with the trim pieces of.

Inspiring work for sure. I wish I'd had the time and patience to do all this when I painted my car last year.

I would definitely get the harness out of the way first! It will motivate you even more to install the things that plug in at the other end :party:

I must stop checking this thread

Wow man, good show. As usual.

I am checking this bloody thread every hour or so, just to keep the little devil on my shoulder happy... :vash:

so how much did the sound deadening stuff cost total? just curious

About 250ish I believe. Give or take a little for the adhesive spray.

Not bad. Props to you, for a while I thought I had the quietest most rattle free miata on here but you beat me hands down.

Hornetball's Sound Deadening Mod
 

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1390244993

I wanna' go fast! (Forgive me, just coming off a track weekend, adrenaline still there)

I do as well, but earplugs are uncomfortable after a while!

Vlad, only time will tell if my car is quieter than yours. We'll find out just how good of a job I did.

Big update I'll break it up into parts

Emergency brake installed

Deep cleaned the cables and protected them with Super VRT. Not sure if I routed the rear brake connections correctly but in my minds eye they work out ok. I put the spare or "slack line above the gas tank.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

For the life of me I can't remember what bracket goes right here

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

Also cleaned up the "dust shield" for the steering rack

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267810

double post

Started installing the wiring harness.

A lot of the electrical tape was starting to rot so I decided to re-wrap allofit. Luckily electrical tape is cheap so I didn't feel guilty doing so.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268132

Dash harness in. I broke a lot of the plastic holder tabs so I just used several zipties.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268132

I honestly have no clue/can't remember how the wiring is routed to the trunk. Any clues?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268132

Just need to install the PPF/battery harness and then the COP Harness and try to chase down those cut wires.

I just did my ebrake cables 2 nights ago. Don't forget the springclips to hold the cables into this mount
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390267825

Also, the missing bracket has a tab on one side, a hole on the other, and a semicircle in the middle to hold the cable. I can snap a pic tomorrow if I remember

Had to overhaul my window wiper motor and wiper linkage arms

Problem I had was that the newer car's window wiper motor was fried so I had to replace the 90' with the 93' motor. The problem, is that in the 1993 model they changed to a 4-bolt bracket and the 1990 shell has a 3-bolt triangular bracket.

I had to install the motor upside down and trim some of the edge of the bracket off to get the 93' motor to work. Hopefully I don't have issues with it but it installed just fine so I'm guessing not.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

Also degreased and cleaned all the wiper arm linkages.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

the boots

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

greasing them up to get them ready to slip over the plastic retaining tabs

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

Used C-clip pliers to stretch it enough to pull back over the ball joint

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

All brand new and spiffy

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390268515

I saw a speck of dust in one of the pictures.

You better stop slacking



:giggle:

You're taking steps I never would of thought of.
I'm gonna go drink and cry myself to sleep in the passenger seat of my Miata.

Have you applied some power to that motor? Sure you're not going to wipe your hood?

Is there an easy way to jump it via my jetta battery? I double checked to make sure that it wouldn't pull the wipers down but you bring up a good point to test it.

No idea, you'd have to have the whole harness and controls plugged in I'm guessing. As long as you double checked, you should be fine, should be able to just rotate the wipers accordingly on the spline.

I am always surprised, what a clean base this was. Nearly no rust on all the parts... so nice.
Maybe someone want's to have a look at my project-blog (maybe you enjoy reading some German) - you can see what a bloody pile of rust this was...
Trisha's Blog (MX-5 Resurrection) | How to resurrect a rotten MX-5

I really enjoy your eye to the detail Jeff (is there a maximum props/thread count?) - keep up the good work - and keep us entertained :bigtu:

In the Southern and Western US, even the worst Miata clunkers are pretty much rust-free.

That was on the camera lens.

:bowrofl:

Clean project.

Just out of curiosity, are you documenting this anywhere else? I'd like to share the build with a few people, but I'm not sure if I want to expose them to the full mt.net experience. :giggle:

Whenever it comes time to sell this car I will be the first in line with a bag full of money to buy it...

You do some super clean work yourself Zaphod, or at least as well as I can understand with Google Translate. :rofl:

You are more than welcome to share this wherever you want to, doesn't bother me at all.

And a bag of cash you'll need Efini! Nah, I don't know if I could let myself part with this thing after the amount of work I have poured into it...

$2,500 obo

You could probably be shot for even suggesting that. No jury in the world would convict.

I bet if you found the right (affluent) buyer, you could get in the neighborhood of $25k for this thing. Maybe more. Who knows.

I've actually been wondering about that -- could you turn this into an ICON-style business? How much would some of those m.net wine-and-cheesers pay to have a freshly restored, better-than-showroom condition NA Miata?

I think to do an ICON style business you'd have to wait another 10-15 years, maybe more.

Highly doubt 25k or anything close to that. I bet the wine & cheeses wouldn't go for it since don't those folk bleed OEM and god forbid you put anything aftermarket in a Miata that was "perfect",in its stock form!...

Who knows. If someone wanted to pay me to restore their car I wouldn't turn it down, it would b a pricy labor bill though.

I really do enjoy doing this strangely enough, I have no idea on the logistics of turning this into a business though. The car restoration business seems very sink or swim these days. And there are shops that do way more reputable work than I could think about doing with my current garage/tools.

I'm just making this up as I go, which from this thread, should be obvious.

I think you could turn it into a genuine business. You have the skills. I'm not sure the Miata is the right platform though, people are still all about them for the cheap factor. Like I said -- give it another 10-15 years though and I'm sure you could get that kind of money for a perfectly restored NA. For now, you could pick up, oh, old Z cars or maybe early (or even late) supras. Import R32 Skylines and clean them up and sell them.

I still think you could get solid money for your car from the RIGHT buyer.

Not from where I sit. I've seen the Foose show, those guys are hacks compared to you.

Do not lead this guy to financial ruin. There is no way he could make a living out of restoring Miatas to this level for other people. He might do 2-3. Ever.

Give him his props and spread the love, but let's leave it at that.