To kick off this build thread, some history on the car.

I purchased this 1993 Miata in the fall of 2005 for $5,000 with around 50K miles on it. I had just graduated High School and figured it would be a fun car to have. It had a JR supercharger kit on it when I bought it. Over the next few years I installed a laundry list of parts, most notably a Greddy kit, ETD manifold, Megasquirt. The car was street tuned at 10psi and has been absolutely reliable.

Fast forward 10 years and I have graduated collage, gotten married, and bought a house. The car now has 79K miles on it and the engine is feeling tired. The car was built in my parents driveway before I moved out. This means there are many, many things that I will do differently this time around. I have a nice 2 1/2 car garage to keep it in, it's a weekend fun car that I don't rely on, and I have the time and funds to do it right.

Oldest shot I have of the car. I had painted the daisy wheels black and added the roll bar.




My first autocross




As the car sits today.





And so, my project begins.

Plans are big, but just dreams at the moment. Not 100% sure where it will end up. Going to roll with it for a while and see what happens.

 

Step 1: Purchase 1.8 VVT engine

In my area the 94-97 or 99-00 1.8 engines are nowhere to be found, but 01+ VVT engines are everywhere. I found a Craigslist part out featuring an absolutely ruined 2003. Seriously think the driver was injured. At any rate, the 1.8 VVT was still available with 88K on the clock. When it was all said and done I drove home with a completely dressed long block with the harness still attached for $600. I asked about the trans and torsen rear end, but the rear end was sold and the trans was only a 5 speed.







Up on the stand and ready to get to work.





I have been tearing the engine down slowly, but so far it looks pretty solid. My assumption is that it was driven year round due to the rust on it, but the oil filter has a change date of a few months ago and the fasteners are all coming apart easily.

The bottom end will be getting forged rods and pistons, as well as a blueprinted billet oil pump set. Top end is yet undetermined.


When I moved out from my parents house into an apartment I left my tools and such behind as I had nowhere to store them. When I went to pick them back up last year my family members had basically lost or misplaced half of them, or had put them in their own sets. I decided to leave the drama and just purchase new tools. Now that Craftsman is Chinese I had to find a new brand. Did some research and ended up purchasing a bunch of new S-K tools. The build should be able to go forward now.

Thanks for reading.