Koolmat is done, realized I never posted a “done” photo.

Shoutout to Supermiata for turning me on to this stuff. We did it Bullet and Vegas and it was such a nice quality of life upgrade.
https://supermiata.com/koolmat-miata.aspx


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e6dbea042.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...23b5a1eda.jpeg



Brake parts are nearly all here. Almost ready to tear that whole subsystem out of the car.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5b7ba0f6f.jpeg

KoolMat is amazing. It is worth every penny. I will find money to buy it to install in any car if I get the interior out that far. Street or track. Just the amount of heat that is cut down is amazing.

Trackspeed 11.75 DynaPro kit fits inside 15x8 +28 Enkei RPF1! I am surprised. If this was known, I missed it, but its pretty cool. I like the 8" RPF1 a lot. If I don't splurge on Hoosier H2O, then my wet setup will probably be 8"/205 RE71R.
I also tested the 7420 Superlite kit with spacers and it took 10mm of slip on to clear the Superlite.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...25b61cf4a0.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e760051443.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...897679ee17.jpg

Had some free time at the shop between customers today. Fiddled around with a couple ideas/plans I’ve had on the back burner for a while.

I’ve had the gutted headlights for years now and have been running with an HDPE blockoff plate in the drivers side. I cut it open to be a cold air intake and never got around to changing the intake with all the engine, uh, hiccups, I’ve had.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...685b5ccef.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a1311da8d.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6fb46314e.jpeg



The heat shield/“air box” can be cut and bench bent from a single piece. It is bent and kinda 3D to follow the louver separation. I plan to fasten that bend with a rivet or two.

More scene points, no major mechanical updates to share, but progress is being made.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...aa3a43f58.jpeg

Lots to update. oof.

Lets pick it up from the last post.

With all the logos printed and cut, I was able to finally lay everything out on the car. My first couple Tarmac 88 logos were only 24" long(the size of the hood logo), and far too small on the sides of the car, so I had a second pair printed at 36" so they'd stretch up onto the hardtop:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ddef4804d3.jpg

It looked a little busy with all the masking and backing paper mocked up, but I had 2020 ricer vision with the vertical stack on the fenders. GLTC/ST5 not applied yet, as at this time I was not sure i could make the upcoming NASA event, so Gridlife might have been the first showing. I held off on placing them until I had a better idea of timeline.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fd9093b0b5.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0a633412d2.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cf17e7f7b6.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ebb0ab6ba6.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cda3dc128d.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0ba2a360f2.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3fc4df1c31.jpg


That is the livery 90% done. I will be making a new front airdam once the radiator duct is finished, so the front will get cleaned up and re-lettered.

Car looks fucking dope man

Meanwhile, I received a very important package from Keegan Engineering.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a948357b4a.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e9a9eeeb46.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f091bdb726.jpg

Reinstallation of the many oranges:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...38cb7b9fec.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cd31a8c0ba.jpg

Thanks. It has been a fun journey from Forza and my imagination to real life. lol

It looks better with the weight of the engine in it and the fresh front airdam... give me a minute to catch the thread up.

I upgraded from a set of SPM/AWR mounts to Blackbird drop mounts with this engine install, this is about the only time they're visible:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...59c0488e74.jpg

The intake I have been running is this 21" J pipe. It is the ideal length for these engines, but that length doesn't let you put the filter anywhere ideal. If you go towards the headlight, you only get about 16" of pipe length between a 5-6" filter and the throttle blade.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...90340a7c1a.jpg

I bought the parts(spare headlights, 6" dia velocity stack and 6" AEM filter) for this project years ago, but it kept getting pushed to the back burner. This layout results in a 25" pipe length from the throttle to the opening in the stack, which is a couple inches longer than ideal. My hope is that the velocity stack and true ambient "cold" air more than make up the losses from pipe length. Yes, I have more gold foil insulation if this proves a beneficial setup on the dyno.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7911588ef0.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c2ceeb59a0.jpg

Fluids in before the first fire:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...366f44e793.jpg

I did the first fire and break in driving on the existing OEM ignition system in order to keep my variables low. Once everything checked out and I had a couple data logs for VEAnalyze, I swapped over to the Toyota COPs which made an immediate improvement in idle smoothness and general running/response feel. I hit a patch of OEM NB1 coilpack failures the last couple seasons, so this is both a quality of life improvement, and a minor potential performance upgrade.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4d442875bc.jpg


Post break-in miles/initial street tuning hard parking:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...83d24224ee.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4963138418.jpg

Easing into the higher rpm cells: It is asking for more fuel than the 158whp map, so its definitely a step in the horsepressures direction. I'll talk about power goals in the next post.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...928a671902.jpg

Sciences!

This thing is gonna be insane. It was already fun just putting around watching the laptop lol, even at 30% throttle it felt like my car at full throttle.

Loaded Button up for the first shakedown. I found an autocross hosted by the local Porsche Club of America chapter at my second home track: Circleville Raceway Park. I used to be the competition director for the Buckeye Miata Club and started running our autocrosses here in 2014.

I used the first two runs and the back straight for long 3rd gear sweeps up to 7800rpm to cover the top of my VE map, made a couple manual changes to smooth in some gaps and ripped it on run 3. That first flyer set and held FTD for the day. I loaded up and went home at the lunch break after working my course assignment.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...87d739e5c.jpeg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f7b0fc17b.jpeg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...53a2166c3.jpeg


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f5c1b1f5b.jpeg

Yesterday was a big day.

I got a last minute dyno appointment in time to run this weekend at Pitt Race with NASA Great Lakes.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4eb0c0ef86.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6dae0b7f34.png


My street tune made 165 on the first rip. Leaning that out and doing a couple timing sweeps got it to 173. Didn't spend too much time on the high power map, but it did make more power with less total timing advance than my previous 158whp hand-ported head engine did.
Most of the time was spent trying to detune, and it took quite a bit of fiddling to get it down to 159 average.

Keegan nailed the power goal. I wanted some gravy on top for fun days, HPDE and the occasional Gridlife GLTC for fun. 173whp is all that. Its just overbuilt enough that I was able to tune it down to my ~159 ST5 build plan. There is room here to play with deleting the splitter and/or running Toyos with even more power.
2453 @ 168 average would be able to run ST5 on my full power map with airdam/wing-only and 245/40/15 Toyos.
2497 @ 159 average with splitter on 225/45 Hoosier R7 is Plan A.

Keegan Engineering BP4W
CNC ported +1mm valve head
stock cams
84mm forged/balanced shortblock
Squaretop, ported to match Skunk2 TB
Racing Beat header-back
e85

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4dac5a22d5.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3d8a7a8f82.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...02e45e5040.jpg

Stopped by a friends place to buy more ballast on the way home from the dyno.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...56e85707a3.jpg

Incidentally, it'll pick up a few more hp once its got a few hours of track time on it and frees up.

Did you end up staying with the wrapped hotside intake?
Did you get a chance to A/B the coldside intake option?

Damn. That also look like enough to have a competitive amount of power for GLTC as well. I'm trying to make it to COTA 2021 if they are a support series for Super Lap Battle again. We could pit together. :party:

Car is amazing as usual

Left field question: What midpipe are you running? Is it still the goodwin racing one?

He said racing beat header back

Teaser
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d6bde375d2.png

Day one with NASA Great Lakes at Pittsburgh International Race Complex:

First time racing here, as last year I only Time Trialed.
I am equipped with one set of used scrubs on narrow wheels from a customer's 2019 NASA Champs attempt.
I havent raced in 11 months.

Before the race, I took a freind's freshly built ST6 car out for a TT6 data lap and reset my own TT6 record from last year with a 2:04.4. (It was a procedural DQ since we did not team entry, I just ran the data lap with consent from the TT director)

I qualified on pole, but it was a battle going into T1 after getting rolled by Thai and all his RX8 torks. I was able to get back by, and build a gap early in the race. However, he and his 245/40/17s would later catch me again into T1 and execute a perfect over-under up the hill and take the lead into the 3/4 complex and cruise to victory. He raw timed me by 8 tenths for fastest lap late in the race.

Good things:
-Podium in the debut of Button v3 with a P2 in race #1
-Dramatically improved front aero/front downforce.
-Racing with 161whp is fun.
-Local field is fast(entire podium from 2019 Champs is in-region)

Bad things:
-off pace
-New front aero is lacking brake cooling.
-Used tires are old and used.
-I made multiple uncharacteristic mistakes after 11 months out of the drivers seat.

Tomorrow we race earlier and shorter, so hopefully I can keep the tires and brakes happy for the duration.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d99713c2ef.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f17bdf7506.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bf5e3a63e0.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...305655b152.jpg

Day two NASA Great Lakes at Pittsburgh International Race Complex rundown:

The biggest tuning change yesterday was adding more and more wing every session. I didn’t make that many changes to the car since the last race 11 months ago, but I did convert the suspension to bronze impregnated sleeve bearings inside the urethane bushings. (Super Touring rules require the bushings to be “majority” non-metallic, so traditional racecar spherical bearings are not allowed)
I expected that change to be felt on the whole chassis, and it definitely feels more supple and takes curbs even better than before. The other change was the the new front airdam having a smaller opening and being 100% sealed to the radiator. That was a shockingly powerful front downforce upgrade. I added rear wing angle three times in small steps each session and the car was DIALED in race 2 this morning. 1:57.3 was a tenth off the ST record Thai set and within .3 of Samed the TT5 king. I’m pretty pumped on that with 1 day of testing(yesterday) and used tires.

Tire setup data and wing adjustments allowed me to close the gap to Thai. Race #2 was the battle we both wanted, and I crossed the finish line first, but wildly miscalculated the fuel burn with all my new Keegan Engineering horsepressures. Post race tech resulted in a DQ for being under weight. This will require more run time and data collection to reset my brain from mildly massaged oem fuel economy to 160-170whp fuel economy. Haha.

Race 3 was a standing start, hottest time of the weekend and pace dropped a couple seconds for all of us. My DQ in race 2 put me at the back, which would have made for great video. It turned into a battle between just two of the three starters, as three others were missing from grid, including race 1's winner: Thai. Cagri and I had a couple lead swaps and he got by me after some really poorly timed traffic which added some mid race excitement. I was able to generate enough of a run through the esses(presumably due to his non-aero car vs my aero car)to get by him leading onto the back straight and set up a really defensive T17 hairpin onto the front straight, which sprung me free for the win. He was destroying me on the brakes into T17 all weekend as I was tip toeing around my brake cooling issues. Thankfully the GLocs played nicely, didn’t glaze yesterday and were amazing today in a mechanical-empathy situation.

I also did some setup consulting on the Tarmac 88 side for the another ST6 car before race 3. He won that race and said “it helped big time the tires held strong the whole race! It was so fun out there it was not an easy win that is for sure i kept having to fight for it but man did it pay off”


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...588f0ec6a3.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d6d4275414.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...da496a811b.jpg

Race #2 video:

I miss a shift twice during lap 1 on the back straight, and fall to fourth. Fun game of catchup though with my setup changes after day 1's struggles.
Camera battery dies after I take the lead, but you don't miss anything other than my two ST5 lap record laps. Thai in my draft goes a tenth quicker second to last lap, so he gets that crown and the race win after I break minimum weight by ~2 gallons.

Backup unswitched camera system with loop recording. They're like $40 on amazonbay

just sayin

I watched this video from the rear POV of the RX8, amazing racing and super tight group. I'm glad the podium had some great diversity.

When you weight in pre race do you not use a full tank? I've been starting to study the rules for TT/ST so I'm not really keen on how the whole process goes, but I want to understand them now so I can map out my TT/ST build

Minimum Competition Weight is measured immediately post race, never pre. I was trying to ride the edge on my min weight to help close the .8 second gap to Thai. My new horsepower results in more fuel burn rate than i'm used to. Thats all.

Other rules related to comp weight are specific to TT/ST, but not how it is measured.

Prepaid for the boujee trackside photographer service. Couple absolute bangers.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cdb8fa7abc.jpg
Race 1 green flag formation, starting on Pole.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...492d22fb6d.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...216c8e844c.jpg
Race 2 or 3 win at the checkered flag.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0fdeadd924.jpg
Race 1 or 2 leading Thai up out of T6


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...64af32e944.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5800d90990.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5472ac72ac.jpg

That livery is so bangin.

Watching you live! Good luck

Gridlife GLTC was fun. Ran warm up, practice, qually and one practice race, but missed the practice race Friday night with a front hub swap, Points race #1 on Saturday afternoon with a new intermittent misfire and associated trip to town for parts. New plugs and a game of musical coilpack lead me to suspect the #3 coil was weak, so I called it a weekend and towed it home Saturday night. Pace-wise, I never matched my 1:37.9 from last august on a light-ish/158whp ST5 race lap. I was feeling really good with 8th in Practice until the top 10 all bolted on stickers for Qually. Saturday's rain played into my local knowledge though, and I was able to work from near the back up to finish 5th in Practice Race 2 that morning before the misfire issue popped up.

Also on Saturday, I put Tom O'Gorman in the car for a data lap. He put 3 tenths on my best lap, which is a moral victory for me. I had been feeling really rusty, but now I know I can just blame the 14 month old tires with 20 HCs. Anyways, here's some pictures...


Prep included spacing out my airdam so the splitter measured 3" instead of 4", pulling ~180lbs of ballast and finally moving the 225 R7s over to 9.5" wheels after I got my COVID delayed konig refill.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0447c7a0a1.jpg

Hub swap #2 saturday morning. I killed both front hubs this weekend. One survived since Sonoma 2018, the other from even longer. I guess taking multiple 6+ month long breaks from racing helps stuff last a while...
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...14759cb688.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...acf0e550ae.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b247011f9f.jpg

Swappng to borrowed ~12HC tires for race 2 Saturday afternoon: I came in from the formation lap when the new plugs didn't solve my misfire.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...efcd14e346.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7ce8d73f7f.jpg
Friday practice grid
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bb5133f258.jpg
Qually grid.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e4c291ec68.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dc147fe1e2.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6e96ae8635.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7cfe599959.jpg
TomO giving a point during data lap session.

how did you know the hubs went bad? noise? understeer?

One was found when the car simply went numb, with vague steering attributed to dynamic toe change on turn in. Budget Mercedes DAS.
The other was physical and audible growl when loaded in that direction.

Both minor characteristics, but noticeable.

Looks like I failed to talk about some of the front aero improvements.

So, looking at this photo, you can see a bunch of exposed front tire and the airdam meeting the bumper in a sort of curve:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b17dc3a344.jpg

I used some 1/8" aluminum angle and bolted in some 'bridges' to push the fender/bumper mounting location out. This worked wonderfully and covers the wider 225/9.5" setup really well. It also changed the angle at which the airdam meets the bumper, which keeps the airdam from bowing in. The airdam is now wider than my splitter, so there is even further optimization to be done with splitter #2, but this one has been rock solid since 2017 at this point and doesn't 'need' replaced. Alumalite FTW.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...695305ef55.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0aa5bebaa4.jpg



https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...831d227f33.jpg

Front aero update #2 was the rad ducting.
Pictures explain this best. It's really simple. Coroplast, duct tape, and gorilla tape with a 5 zipties mounting it. It's shockingly sturdy since it essentially press-fits into the ledge between the radiator core and end tanks.

Square tube replacement from fellow MT.netters:
I left some of the OEM bar because my splitter cables mount there. I'll change that when/if splitter #2 happens this offseason.
I also left the little stamped mounting brackets for the top of the bumper. My rad duct uses those as well. Super handy.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...60626eab43.jpg

Rough CAD template #1: This template is full width front to back, and purely 2D. Template #2 gained a bit if curve on the side pieces to narrow the inlet.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...992984d466.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7e79ef5cd7.jpg

Transfer template from cardboard to coroplast:
(The lighter blue is the coroplast packing material the Supermiata Crossflow radiators ship with, AND it is the perfect core dimensions. So they're thoughtful enough to include 1/2 the radiator ducting with every radiator purchased)
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0d081654b0.jpg

Template #2 pictured here:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...af6e596f7c.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3b53ace1cb.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...358f4e7774.jpg

Old airdam laid over the new inlet duct:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8e7e6cf76e.jpg

Required changes marked before I trace the old dam onto a new 4x8 sheet of plastic:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3f8997d465.jpg
Airdam #3: Wider, less inlet opening, way more front Df noted above in the race weekend recaps.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dec3ebf216.jpg

Not much happening this offseason. Excited to roll right into 2021 and just drive.

I would like to challenge the 1:35 range at Mid O and Gingerman, and log a sub 2:20 NCM,. To do that means entering TT4 alongside an ST5 race weekend. Plan would be to simply drop all 250lbs of ballast and potentially change tires for TT use.
S/TT4 Classing would look like:
2106lbs @ 180whp
The lightest I've been able to get the comp weight is ~2180 on 205/8" R7s.
So it shouldn't, and probably wont contest for records in 4, but i might sneak a regional win.

Last month I skinned the trunk, and I plan to attack the doors further. I also have a lawn mower battery from Turtle, since that buyer wanted an OEM one for street use. So maybe I can get down to 2150 comp weight?

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6ea60c336b.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...105bcccaf9.jpg

Really weighing some further ST5 optimization vs multi-use convenience/economics.

At my 159 avg, 163peak ST5 power level:
- 11.75" TSE Wilwood DP4 bbk: Costs ~32lbs
- 4" splitter: Costs ~62lbs

Tomo just drove Marcus' GLTC 188whp/2380lb z3 car to a 2:13 with airdam/wing, no splitter. I'll be 15whp down, but 130lbs lighter @ 2250lbs in GLTC trim.

Makes my car look like an absolute tank. heh.

Need to change thread title

Yeah I don't think the protruding splitter is worth the ~62lbs at that power:weight. We gotta live with the BBK hit though, IMO.

Another bit on the GLTC lap-times at NCM, TomO drove 2 Caymans, both in the 2:15s the same day he did 2:13s in Kmiatas(including mine). So a lighter extremely good handling car can get is done! I guess we aren't surprised though? :giggle:

Sport brakes with well sorted 3" ducts would get the job done. BTDT. Pads don't last as long but they work well enough.
If airdam is low enough and has undertray contacting it about 3" above lowest point, it generates some downforce. If its lbs/hp, I'd de-content it. Not as sexy, but possibly faster.

I think the rules state that the air dam has to be flush with the undertray.

Don't think that's the case, here's the rules specific to air dam.

"v) Full face air dams are allowed but must be vertical. Must be and sufficiently mounted/and supported so as to not deflect at speed."

And then there's the additional rule that doesn't allow you to sneak a splitter element in with just the air dam modifier thanks to Houghten lol. He was running air dam, but the TOP of the cutout for radiator was flush with the undertray.

"In instances where an allowed undertray shares a horizontal surface structure with an air or radiator intake (protruding as a splitter or NOT) with no vertical air dam-like portions on the forward facing exposed undertray, this will be deemed to be functioning as a splitter and given the corresponding modifier"


As far as splitter vs air dam, I'm guess the splitter could turn the same laptime in clean air, but for racing it's likely better to take the power. That's the route I'm going on top of our lil 6" chord wings that will likely prove to be futile :giggle:

.

If the 6" chord makes its way onto Button, I will definitely be deleting the splitter, but that will be GLTC-optimization. My 173whp peak just aint gonna get any GLTC-optimization until ive checked off a few more NASA boxes. Maybe 2022. The JGTC wing is more likely to go on the other car for clout. :P

2020/21 offseason:
Shocks rebuilt by Inertia Lab
Up to 1100/550lb
-Planning to play with a softer front bar setting with the bigger spring rates, but was pretty happy with it last year on 1.125"/14mm stiff/stiff
New Supermiata 36-2 trigger is amazing for e85 cold starts.
sticker 225/45/15 R7s on 15x10
Data last year said whole car wanted more camber(-3.5/-3.6F, -2.7/-2.8R) Need to try to get near -4 front/-3rear, rear will be easy, front will need to slam to 4" pinch probably.



https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e4a4c462c2.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c7425e2594.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ed8c7807c0.jpg

225/45/15 on 10 vs 9.5:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b2e149fe36.jpg

What did you attach the trunk skin with after? Quicklatches? Any provisions for sealing or just yoloswag vacuum that shit out after a heavy rain?

Aluminum hood pins.

Interior vacuuming is already the reality with no a pillar windows and open transport.

Do you do anything to seal up the window with the a pillar one missing? That a pillar window is a pain to push back in there for towing.

This was a big moment.

My own car finally on my own setup pad in my own 2 post lift in my own shop.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8c613d6d2.jpeg

Cheers brother. I remember that feeling well.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f419c02b53.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...600813624e.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d617c1638b.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...18ae1c3625.jpg

I don't have any reference point for those lap times but I love seeing this car at the track setting lap times.

+1. Love the wheel colors too.

Gremlins and unforeseen issues have wreaked havoc on this car for the last year. The car hasn't seen competition for a year now.
It has less than an hour on a partial rebuild and picked up a very weird, super intermittent tick/rattle at the last lapping day that went away on my street test drives just long enough for me to become confident enough to tow it back to a track.
I tried another local lapping day at Nelson Ledges last weekend after another round of fresh fluids, camera bore scoping, compression testing, leak down testing, valve lash checks, etc and made the call to park it during the outlap of session one.
Next step will be to get this motor on the stand and pull the pan off.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...40de958244.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...209e8ad977.jpg
I knew I was gambling so I had the wifey drive the newly prepped BRZ up alongside and I ended up driving it all day instead. Its gooood.


I am putting an OEM bottom end back in the car to finish the season out in at least some capacity.
I also bought a 97k mile vvt dropout from a local SpecMiata buddy as a Plan C backup backup.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...20bec22410.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c8d016ba6e.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8aee519326.jpg


Musical engine accesories:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...76edb5e568.jpg

The return of the MOARANGE:
This is a JDM NB2 bottom with my old SpecMiata 2014 'headgate' head, and the usual RB header/Squaretop/Skunk2 TB, etc.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2977f22be6.jpg

So not the thing to get impressed about in a build thread, but I've never seen anyone use a car lift as a pseudo fork lift. Nice Job working smarter & not harder!

Good Luck with the engine!

Anything in the oil filter?

Hey duder. Drop me a line if it would be helpful at all to have a hand for a day if you're in any sort of prep crunch. :)

Thanks. I found this deal locally and committed to buy it before I had a solid plan of how to retrieve it. Seller had tractor with a fork on it, and I told him I’d figure out a way to remove it later, even if I had to disassemble it to remove it haha. Then I remembered I had two stationary forklifts…

🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
one is in a bag for blackstone.
one is still on the engine.
nothing at all in the oil of either. I should order a filter cutter.

No rush. I would have had it fired up yesterday had I not been drinking when assembling this longblock 2 years ago after shipping it here during the move. I used NA8 cam gears, so obviously I had a crank-no start on Friday to fix yesterday. It fired up today and sounds happy.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0977fd829.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...862768b6c.jpeg


It needs a new dyno tune, a brake and clutch bleed, then some setup/alignment attention, but sounds and feels happy on a test drive.

Backup Motor finally off the stand, into the car and back from the dyno:

JDM NB2 bottom end. Unopened.
BP4W head, 2014 LagunaSeca SpecMiata SCCA Runoffs "Headgate" head (too deep of a plunge cut, too much short side radius work)
Squaretop throat ported to S2TB
Skunk2 Throtte Body
DW400 injectors
Racing Beat Header-back
MSPnP2
Midwest pump e85

146whp on my street tune.
149whp with some misfire/ignition breakup late in day after lots of runs.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1db6e83527.jpg


This exact cylinder head and bolt ons made 143whp(138 nasa avg) in California on Propel e85 on an OEM USDM NB1 bottom end.
Up ~3-6whp on 1pt of compression bump. 9.5 vs 10.5. I'll be classing at 150-151 and hoping for a compliance dyno with a fresh ignition system to confirm that 146-149whp number.