Dual purpose NA Miata

Well the front end is finally back together. It's too dark and rainy to get good pictures, but I'll get some soon. I managed to cross thread the bottom hinge bolt on the drivers side, so it's no longer present. The door is a bit stiff to open and close, but oh well. This week, when the rain subsides, lift the rear end up and take off the back bumper to get it ready. Then all that's left are body piece that don't come off the car. I might actually be ready to paint after next weekends autocross after all.

New door cards are made but not attached. Painted them flat black, and decided the smooth side will go facing the people. The car looks like total ass now with 2 colors of primer, flat black overspray, and some remnants of white paint, BUT people have actually been keeping their distance on the road. If I didn't already have the paint, I'd just keep it like this. I never thought other traffic could see me, but now that it appears IDGAF about them, they allow me some breathing room on the highway.

Might be due for an oil change, or may have a bigger issue. After sitting on jackstands for 2 weeks, I took it for a ride yesterday, and my oil pressure never went above 30psi, not even from cold. That's a little disconcerting because the oil was at the full line when I parked it, but it has been, and was, well over 80F and 80% humidity, maybe it thinned my winter oil (5w 20 full synthetic) a little more than expected. I'm due for summer oil anyway, 0w 20 synthetic with Lucas. On the other hand, this was one of very few trips that I didn't hear the constant lifter clatter, so at least it's quiet?

Some Pictures mmm primer Zip Ties, is there anything they can't do?

Left the important looking sticker, I still think All black looks much better in the jams.

Just the lowly passenger side.

So with the pictures out of the way, the time is coming. According to current weather, Sunday is going to be warm and dry, so for the first time I won't be the last person to leave Autocross. Come home, sand everything down, including the parts I haven't gotten to yet, windshield surround, rear bumper, and rear fenders. Spray down with Simple Green, rinse with water, hand dry with paper towels, and then shoot the whole whole car with primer.

Paint suggests a 48 hour sit after priming, but I've got a list of E36 M3 that needs done around the house as long as my arm while I wait. I still need to borrow the compressor, and pick up some lighitng as well. Something tells me painting a dark color will require a bit of light to make sure I don't screw up too bad.

Not gonna lie, pretty nervous about this whole endeavor now that the time is here. I really do need to bust my ass this week and get the rear bumper off, cleaned, and primed before the weekend.

Do people recommended running oil that light in miatas? It surprises me a bit but what do I know. As for the gauge, they vary widely, I just learn what normal is for a given car and go with that. 70k mile car = 30-90 working range. The other one with the same oil and filter? 5-30 psi. My 275k mile car would run from 0-20ish on the gauge and if I slammed on the brakes and saw the gauge dip to about -5 I knew it was time to refill the oil.

My 91 really liked it, but my 91 also had overheating issues. I just run it from habit honestly. I've been wanting to experiment with different weights to try to cull the lifter noise without actually cleaning them, but I'm not putting enough miles on to warrant changing the oil every month or two anymore. The other reason I've been wanting to experiment some is because it's about $80 a change, whether I buy the oil, filter, and lucas and do it at home, or go to a shop. And usually I can't get the filter off at home, so it winds up in a shop anyway.

That's just the thing though, my guage is usually centered or maybe at 11 oclock, the other day when I drove it around, and today when I took it out, it never even got close to midway up until redline, so it has me slightly concerned with autocross coming this weekend. I'll be going for a change probably friday.

The oil pressure senders start to gum up internally with time, I've had cars idling happily with 0 indicated pressure. You can also get corrosion on the connection on the end which will lower the reading, that's easy to fix with a bit of contact cleaner or sandpaper.

I run 10W30 in my car, which is the suggested oil for the engine. I think Mazda said 5W30 for winter use, but you've gotta get really cold before you get out of the suggested range for 10W30. Canadian cold, not Louisiana cold.

Lifter clatter can also happen on a car that gets stopped and started and stopped and started.

Keith Tanner wrote: The oil pressure senders start to gum up internally with time, I've had cars idling happily with 0 indicated pressure. You can also get corrosion on the connection on the end which will lower the reading, that's easy to fix with a bit of contact cleaner or sandpaper. Lifter clatter can also happen on a car that gets stopped and started and stopped and started.

I completely forgot that I have or had a leak at the pressure sender, this very well could be it. Once I traced the blue smoke on cold start to brake fluid, I stopped paying attention as much, which could be the issue. Sometime between getting the paint on and running out to get that seat from LogDog I'll have to check it out.

10w30 may become the weight this time. I was curious to your thoughts on the great oil debate, because your opinion means more to me than most of the people arguing about it on that other forum.

In other news, I was really excited to make a post showing off a cobalt I was supposed to get for a motor donor, but it turned out when they snapped the timing belt they broke lots of stuff trying to find the problem. I hate shadetree mechanics sometimes.

Running 10w30 in my old1.6 the pressure would get real low at idle when hot (ms autox in summer hot) and the lifters would start ticking after 2k so i changed to rotella t (15w40) and oil pressure was much better expecially after it got toasty hot. That and my oil changes cost $18. You said you have a hard time taking the filter off sometimes, have you removed the intake brace? That helped me a ton allowing my meaty hands to get in there

In reply to chiodos:

I have not removed the intake brace yet. I didn't even know it was an option until i saw a big debate about it like a month ago. I most likely will remove the brace, it looks much cheaper and easier than moving the oil filter location, especially when I'm shopping motors for a swap.

Just went down to take advantage of cool dry weather to do the rear bumper. Managed to round off 2 of the nuts because of some goofy ass resonator after my muffler that got in the way. So the whole bumper went back on and the shell came off. Still had to cut off 2 of the plastic holder tabs to get that off, but on the plus side, all the black soot is finally off where the tailpipe exits. Realized after I finished priming I forgot to sand it first, so I guess tomorrow I can sand it all down and reprime it. Yay extra work.

No debate on removing the intake brace as far as I can see. I'm two decades into an experiment to find out what goes wrong, and I still don't have an answer...

Finally put the rear bumper cover back on. Thank god for zipties, those little black plastic clips didn't want to cooperate at all. Did some speed runs on some back roads, and all my ziptie connections held up fine, so should be good for autocross tomorrow and sunday. The car wasn't very happy when I started it, possibly due to the angle it's been sitting at the past few days, at least that's what I'm blaming it on. Drove fine after an initial stumble.

Got the oil changed too, 5w30 Dino oil because "we haven't stocked 10w30 in a while, nothing takes it anymore". I just paid for it at a shop because this may well be the last oil change the current motor sees. I know the owner of the shop, which is the only reason I've gone there in the past, but in the 6 months since I've seen him, it looks like his drinking has really caught up to him, so I won't be going back.

And last night a friend on m.net who is doing the ecotec swap forwarded me the directions. Was supposed to have the pics in the word document, but they aren't showing up for me. It's 6 pages... I don't know how I feel about that. Seems too indepth and complicated for 6 pages, but without the pictures, it's hard to judge the hard parts. His instructions are also for using a miata transmission, but knowing the weakness of the 1.6 is the VLSD, I'm probably going to use an AR5 transmission and 1.8 Torsen, if I can source them. If I can't find them, I'll still have to get the Torsen, but the stock 5 speed should take the power. It would be nice to just upgrade it now though, so when I get bored with the power levels and decide to add boost, I don't grenade it on the dyno.

Yes, there are other options, but local parts cars are unicorns. Even blown motors and rusted shells are selling for almost 2 grand locally, and that's too much. Although there is the guy in Middletown PA, Mikes Miata Parts , advertising all the parts, I don't know how up to date the price list is. And really, I don't need a new motor or to do the swap, I just want to, so if I'm going to do it voluntarily, I'm going to take my time and source the best options that I can. Although what this will do to my classing in SCCA....I don't even want to think about. Luckily, I have a small region so I'll probably still be alone in my class.

Shaping up to be a busy week though. Sunday after autox come home and clean out my car port enough to work in, hang plastic sheeting and the lights I've found, and start sanding everything smooth. Shoot it monday with primer, then wednesday with paint, and be driving by next weekend. At least, that's the plan.

Went out to autocross today. Beautiful weather, big crowd, lots of cars, lots of spectators. Ran my first lap, missed the crossover and got an off course. Sat there and idles for 10 minutes or so before my next lap, got to the line, dumped the clutch, and it fell right on its face. Push starting and jumper cables wouldn't get it running again, so it's time for a new alternator. NAPA can't get me one till monday, so I get to miss tomorrow, and have no more autocross till August locally. berkeley.

Should I take the intake manifold off? Are there any easy ways to get it off and change it? Looking at it, my wrists need to become universal joints and my hands need to shrink.

Well, Rockauto to the rescue. New alternator, alt belt, and intake manifold gasket just in case I decide to go that way, shipped, for less than a Reman at NAPA, or anywhere else local. Good thing I was planning on the car being down for the week already, 3 different packages from 3 different warehouses, with 2 different estimated dates of delivery.

In reply to revrico:

I have done two alternators from below the car with no problem, I don't think the intake mani removal is necessary. Just the intake tract before the throttle body.

In reply to RedGT:

Cool. I made that post before looking, and to my surprise, it's the only thing NOT covered in extreme detail on m.net, seems easy enough from the bottom. I'll probably start spraying the bolts tonight, even though I'm not expecting parts till end of this week early next. Be a good time to get that intake brace out as well.

I'm just a little concerned with doing it right after I paint, my luck I'll get grease or scratches on the new paint somehow.

Making me think the belt rubbing noise and stumble I had the other day, after the car sat on rear Jack stands for a week, was the alternator dying and I've just been living on the battery, but there were no warning signs. Pulled up to the line, dumped it, and dead, no crazy lights, no sluggishness idling on grid, just dead.

Presently on break from working. Finally got started today on the paint job I'd been planning to start Monday. Just have the doors and front clip let to sand smooth, then track cloth and primer.

Pictures to come later today. It's painfully obvious I should have pot the Windows back in first, and that I've never papered a car before.

Painfully obvious that I've never papered a car before for paint.

And for the first time in Months, the car is all finally the same color. Primer is a color.

It definitely needs sanded before I put the paint on. I'm debating sanding and hitting it with primer again before painting. I already know this paint job is going to look like E36 M3, and I've kind of accepted that fact. Really thinking about just taking it to Maacco as it sits and letting them finish it with my paint, but I've put this much time money and energy into it already to call it quits now.

This would be SO much easier if I had a lift, or even something to use as cribbing under the wheels to lift the car up about 2 feet, just to get the side skirts. But those may go back to being flat black once it's all said and done.

Really really thinking about taking the bumpers and mirrors off again and painting them on a table.

So after much procrastination and ridiculous humidity, I'm back at work again. Wet sanded with 1000 grit today. Took all of 2 hours to do the whole car with a rubber sanding block. Does NOT feel like that was long enough, but it's looking wet instead of beading water. I'm probably going to wet sand it again tomorrow or Wednesday just to be sure. It may actually finally get paint this weekend!! maybe.

Once the paint is on, I have white lithium spray grease for the window guides, and I can put the windows back in. Then I have to finally replace the alternator that died at autocross, and it will be ready to go.

Guess I'll be getting in touch with LogDog soon.

Well, it's blue now.

That is two coats back to back. I may add another coat tomorrow, I might wait the week, wet sand it, and add another. I mostly want the spray stripes to go away, but I honestly don't know how. Maybe they'll fade as it dries. I finished spraying, cleaned the gun, and took the pics, so maybe dry time will help.

If not, I'm just going to tell people it's textured a textured paint job cause I'm starting a new trend, like those idiots intentionally rusting body panels on new cars, or doing stupid flat and high gloss panels on the same side.

Important thing is, it isn't that hideous peeling white anymore.

The can says 60 days before waxing or buffing, so I'm going to look for a detailer between now and the challenge, basically, and get it professionally done inside and out, so I only have to keep up on maintenance.

Wetsanding the primer, and painting, were by far the easiest pieces of this project. Do I think I could do a better job on another vehicle? Maybe. I'm keeping the tools at least, so I have the option in the future, but berkeley, for all the prep work and headache of that, I probably won't bother.

At least it's another skill for the resume.

Decided it definitely needed a heavier recoat, so I gave it one. Covered up a good bit of the spray lines, which was nice. Shopping for detailers sucks. I'm either going to wind up at a dealership or calling around to the body shops in the area. It's so nice living in such a backwoods place that shops you drive by on the main road aren't even on Yelp, let alone have their own websites.

But these pics are from a couple hours after the heavy 3rd coat I put on. I think it looks alright, definitely needs a wetsand and proper polish, but it's honestly better than I expected.

closeup of the hood. I tried to blend them, but didn't work very well. Oh well. The only really disappointing part, other than the wiper arms. I figure a razor blade or a black paint pen will fix this bit up. if not, oh well Window trim should cover this. Hopefully. Overall, I'm satisfied. Although I'm really looking at the blue paint I bought that is made for chrome/anodized metal for the silver lip on my rims. Maybe when I need to replace the tires I'll spray it and see how it looks.

Once I get the alternator installed tomorrow or friday, I'll be able to actually move it into sunlight and see how the whole thing looks. Think the shade the back half is under is making it look better than it does.

Looking good, DIY!

IT RUNS!!!! and SQUEALS like a banshee. Can't torque down the alt tensioner enough. I wanted to change the belt, but couldn't get the PS belt loose enough to take off to get the new alt belt on. Someone with smaller hands may get 50 bucks to fix this for me.

But it RUNS. and doesn't look terrible in the sunlight. I'll get some pictures later today or tomorrow, once I have a need to go somewhere.

Great job on the paint! It takes a bit of practice to apply paint without the luxury of a booth. Temperature and humidity will often play havoc on the finish but as long as the base is thick enough, the surface can be machine buffed.

Did you use any hardener with the paint?

Thanks, it's been an adventure.

Starfire Acrylic Enamel Hardener - Wet Look

That stuff. 16oz paint, 4 oz reducer, 1oz that per gun full, 2 gun fills per coat. I laid it on fairly thick once I saw how the first coat came out and I dialed in the gun a little more to match my speed. It was actually a great day outside, 70F and below 50% humidity for a change, a bit overcast, but not windy. Aside from a fly that decided to get in the way, well, the paint stayed cleaner than the primer did. It was dry to the touch within 45 minutes, and I was careful to tack cloth between coats.

The paint leaves instruction a little open. I know it won't look better between the cheap gun and my low skill, but I could still add more paint to it. within 48 hours, so tomorrow afternoon, or after a week.

I think I made it heavy enough that a good wet sand or harsh polishing compound will make it look good and not wear through. I hope anyway. 2 months before waxing or polishing, I'm taking to mean 2 months before I can wet sand as well.

I am noticing some spots I missed or couldn't get to. I'm debating the best plan of attack to fix them, whether getting a smaller detail gun would do it, spray painting them flat black or just leaving it. Or doing it the proper, and most dangerous to the body way of taking the parts off and painting them off car. It's Small stuff, like inside the mirror, and between the mirror and the door, and the bottom lip of both bumpers. The mirrors I can see, so I do want to do something about them, but the bottom lips of the bumpers, I don't see unless it's in the air, so it can stay that way.

The wiper arms will be coming off and getting properly painted black. I tried them out body color and it looks bad, so back to black. Bits of trim, like the windshield surround, I'm going to try to carefully scrape, or paint over with black paint of some brushable type. Properly reattaching the fenders is higher up on the priority list now as well, yippee.

A lot of the imperfections I left are shall we say highlighted now, and I'm actually ok with it. Adds character to the car. I also managed to match my cd players lighting to the blue accents inside the car. Looks really nice, but doesn't photograph well.

Although another coat with a bit more hardener could bring the shine out a bit more as well...

Not sure if you're still interested, but Flyin' Miata posted the other day that the Paco Motorsports lift kit is coming back. Been redesigned to be stronger and easier to install.