What's the best way to go about sitting in a seat to try it out before buying? I don't know anyone with that seat, and I don't know of any local shops that would carry one to see in person.

This car isn't a DD either. So the only thing the seat would be used for is driving an hour to an event tops, and then keeping my butt in place during the event. If it's not comfortable that's not too big of a deal for me. But if it's uncomfortable (as in makes my back hurt or something after a few minutes or pokes me somewhere...idk) that may matter. But I can't see that being likely.

I know racing seats aren't made to be comfortable. So trying to buy one based on comfort seems backwards to me, imo.

 

I have that seat. It's not bad but it's also not good. I'm a 32 waist and fit a little loose. I think 34 or 36 waist would more snug in it. The padding on it is pretty thin and gets uncomfortable for long drives. The fixed back position is a little to upright for my taste. I'd like to upgrade mine if I get a little more serious into track driving. But it's hard to complain much since it's a very cheap FIA certified seat.

I'd recommend it based on your requirements but if you can afford a better seat then do it right the first time around rather than upgrading after a couple years like I probably will.

 

It's a sling seat. It holds you in place unbelievably well but more than an hour is a no-no.

My problem is my shorter legs and my messed up ankle. In order to heel-toe I have to have my legs straighter. This seat's metal frame comes around the front of the seat and hurts the back of my legs. With a normal ankle, or as a passenger, it's not a problem.

Comfort in my race seat is important to me because even though it's not my daily, I take it on long trips from time to time (like to Miatas at MRLS).

 

If you really want the FM Vmaxx Stage 2 package, I will pull it off my 01 and sell it to you. PM if you are interested.

 

What would you suggest over the FM VMaxx? I pretty much chose them because it seemed like a decent deal at that price point.

As far as the seat I choose I had them in order of which ones I wanted based on price, style, and ease of fitting in a Miata.
And it fell in this order:
1. Sparco Spring 5
2. Recaro SPG
3. Sparco Evo 2

But considering I just spent some serious cash (at least serious for me) on some brakes, I've got to start saving again before I make any big purchases. So itll be awhile before I actually commit on seats or suspension.



Side note, I havnt done too much digging yet as these tires have several more months left in them. But once I replace these tires I am probably going to look for some bigger tires. Most likely 245's, but I was talking to a guy at my last autocross that said lots of the top ssm guys run 275 hoosiers. Realistically I probably wont go that route, at least not now anyways, but how much work is required to make 245s or even 275s fit without rubbing or anything?

Right now on my 15x9 225's I am running 6mm spacers to clear the suspension in the front, no spacers in the rear. But the spacers are only for the wheels, the tires dont without spacers.

 

Installed my brakes over the weekend and it all went smoothly. Bled, or so I thought, all the air out of the system and put everything back together and lowered it onto the ground. Started it and brake pedal went all the way to the floor with no resistance. So I jacked it back up...and found brake fluid all over my driver side rear wheel.



Found this little issue. No clue how it happened. Stainless line broke where the line connects to the banjo bolt fitting, spraying brake fluid everywhere. Everything was fine when I bled it, and everything was fine when I put the wheel back on. I'm at a loss trying to figure out what happened.

Lame.

 

Great work so far! I am putting together a turbo setup(so I will start a build thread on here sooner than later) and Abe will be the one providing the hotside parts.

What brand are the brake lines? If you got them from a reputable seller then I see no reason why they wouldn't replace it because there is no apparent damage so it would seem faulty.

Also I just put on a set of GarageStar fender braces($250 plus s/h) and they did three things that I noticed:
1)increased steering response [steering input vs change, now it is almost immediate]

2)bumps are better distributed/absorbed by the chassis

3)cowl shake/65mph shimmy is GONE.

IMO the best brace(s) so far but then again the only others are the FM frame rails w/butterfly brace and also just added a 949 Racing rear subrame brace(also excellent, it helps the rear end stay planted).

 

Nice, I will have to check those out. They look well made.

As for the brake lines, I ordered them from 949. Worst case scenario, I just dump some more money to Emilio. I can't imagine a refund or replacement would be in the works. I hope so though. I didn't have any issues with install or anything and I was pretty frustrated at the end of the day with that being the issue to prevent me from driving it.

But it was a productive day, new wheel studs, new lines (almost), new rotors, new pads, and new calipers up front. And I just wanted to drive it and test out the new brakes! Lol oh well.

 

I have run into a rather large setback... Bad news - it will take a few months to sort itself out. Good news - its not car related.

I tore my ACL and had surgery. So I will not be driving for awhile. That sucks because the season just started. I have already missed two events.

But I got a new brake line in, ordered from Bil at Miataroadster. Bill has some of the best customer service of any small business I have ever dealt with. Very helpful and allowed me to only purchase the one brake line I needed at cost. It only cost me 20 bucks. So I feel like that is very reasonable.

But I seriously have the itch to get back in the car. I want to give the car a shakedown with the new brakes and I am just thinking of the list of minor things I need to do.

I am waiting on two things right now that I am pretty excited for. 1 is the group buy for 3.3:1 Ring and pinion set from Bill at Miataroadster - For those of you that do not know the details on that please check it out!!!!
MiataRoadster 3.3:1 ring and pinion gears - MiataRoadster - High-performance customer service...and parts for Roadsters

https://www.miataturbo.net/miataroad...eb-28th-82670/

as far as the ring and pinion group buy, if the 3.3:1 doesnt pan out, i am going to order a 3.636 from bill and use that instead. I feel that the 3.3 is perfect for what i need, but if it falls through then I feel that the 3.6 is a pretty damn good alternative.

2 I am waiting on a group buy of Bill's short shifter kit also. Hopefully Ill have that in right around the time Im able to start driving again.

3. I am waiting until March-ish for 949 to have some more radiators in stock. I feel like thats a great price for a much higher quality radiator than a mishimoto or something similar. Only thing Im not looking forward to is deleting AC with this radiator. But...i guess this is more of a racecar than i originally planned.

I am going to be in contact with trackspeed engineering soon and be putting the dp on a built longblock. So after this season, hopefully I will have a new motor for next season. I need to do some research and figure out what I want out of the build motor - vvt or no vvt ??

Once I put the downpayment down on the motor to get that ball rolling I am going to be looking into racing seats and roll bars. So by the time the motor gets in Ill be very ready for it.

I am very excited. I have a lot of plans for the car this year and I just cant wait until I can get out of the damn house to start working on it.
Word of advice - DONT TEAR YOUR ACL.

 

If your ECU will control VVT, there's no reason to not do it. Most of the motors I've built have been VVT-equipped.

 

I will have to get a VVT controller, but that wouldnt be an issue.
I want it to be a drop in motor. something I dont have to do anything to. The most I want to have to do is tap the pan for the oil return. ( i have not looked for this yet) but on non msm miatas where do the source the oil feel line from?

And with the new motor ill be looking at a few more misc parts - clutch kit, probably flywheel, exhaust manifold studs, boost controller or a new spring for higher psi for my wastegate. But all of that would be acquired while the motor is being sourced and built.

 

also, once i get the longblock rolling ill need to find someone relatively close to me that will tune it. i can trailer the car there and leave it with you for however long you need it to tune it but i want to find someone familiar with MS and high hp miatas.

 

We can either source a '94 block for the build, or you can tee into the oil pressure port on the far side of the block. With an MSM, the VVT motor will drop in using your stock coils, injectors, etc. The only thing you'll need to do is run two wires for the VVT solenoid.

Trailering the car to me would be kind of silly, and we don't do builds/services any longer. If you can't find anyone in Florida to tune it, call Ben at DIYAutotune and trailer it to GA.

 

I guess I'll probably end up with a VVT motor. Maybe sooner than I planned.

In the past two months life has been crazy! I ended up getting a promotion and I had to move out of state. All the deposits and cost of moving and everything has pretty much eaten my built motor fund. But, soon it will be back.

@savington you are definitely correct trailering the car to you wouldn't make sense. But I would think something in Atlanta could work. I don't know of anyone as of now but I havnt looked to far into it.
Do you know where ben is in ga? That could be the best plan.

Back to the first sentence, in my last autocross my bumper broke off. Both clips broke and the bumper has been off since almost October.
I put the bumper back on and started the car to go to the store and noticed a terrible noise.

I no longer have a garage so I havnt been able to get after it and figure out what is making the noise but there is a slight thought that makes me think it could be knock.
I really hope it's not knock, but if it is then I completely okay with a built motor. But my wallet is going to hate me.


Wilwood brakes definitely stop great. Love them.


Not my favorite way to put the bumper back on............rice......
But I didn't really see too many other options.


My new garage -_-


Barely taller than a mustang.


I hate my apt complex. That was 1 day.


My only friend in this stupid town.

Also, don't tear your acl.

 

If you're still in Gulf Breeze that's only two and a half hours away from me. Maybe my tuner could help you. It's a shorter drive then GA.

Edit : Also, if you haven't bought the Sparco Sprints yet I have them in my car. So if you decide to head this way you can see how you like them

 

Looks like hard times, bro. Come down here if you need a temporary change of scenery.

 

This past year did not go as planned at all. Lots of unexpected life events and setbacks.
However, according to the last post i still think the next step will be a built motor.

At the beginning of this build, this car was my only car. I currently have three vehicles now.
2004 MSM
2007 FJ Cruiser
2001 C320

My apartment life has not been helpful in doing anything productive outside, as they are ridiculously strict about people working on vehicles.
March 5, I am moving into a house. And i will have a garage!

So I am thinking that its time to get back on this. I am still thinking built motor obviously. I want to see this thing hit 400 whp, but I do not see myself replacing the turbo to make that happen. Realistically I am going to be very happy with it as long as its over 300 whp. Sitting at 220 now, i fee like that should be fairly realistic.

I also don't want to spend 8 grand on a motor alone. At first I was thinking I was going to try and outsource and find a vendor to build a long block for me. As i haven't completely ruled that out yet, i have started thinking of just building the motor myself. I will be able to keep the car in MY garage, and take my time with it. i won't have it in the back of my head that i have to get the car back on the road to get from a to b.

since the last post i think the only thing that changed was my hard top. i sold the silver one that was in 8/10 condition for a red one that is in 10/10 condition. i sold the silver one for $50 more than i bought it, and for $150 more than the red one!!!
this hard top had defroster and headliner. very very clean. will post pictures soon.

at the time of the rebuild, i will probably add in a few other parts.
Roll Bar
Xida's
Fuel Pump
Clutch
3.9/3.6 ring and pinion set
Possibly some 275 hoosiers........this is still debatable.
all motor build needs.

so literally once its all said and done, this car will hopefully be exactly want i wanted from the get go.

this past summer my grandfather passed away. he had a passion for cars and got me interested in them when i turned 16. i realized i got a late start learning about them but i feel like i think like he did a lot. i learned a lot with the turbo build but i was in a huge rush for the entire thing. i made several mistakes and was on a much tighter budget than i will be for the engine build.

anyways, i thinking having my own garage and no time restrictions will be good.

end goal - street car. consistent autocross. occasional track day events.
hopeful cost for engine build - 3000-3500. not sure if thats realistic or not yet.
hopeful cost for supporting parts - 3500-4500
hopeful power range - 350 whp
hopeful timeline - car running with built motor making 350 whp by early summer 2017.

The timeline is so long because i am not going to be starting this immediately. financially i won't be able to start until July of this year. in the mean time i will be doing research about parts and the actual process of building an engine.

 

Congrats on the move. Working outdoors on apartment parking pavement saps the life from you in several different ways.