P90Puma's Build Thread: 1994 Miata Garrett T3. -reup 56k Death.

Call has been made, car is being towed over to the bodyshop tomorrow morning. Kinda happy, kinda disappointed, but it will look sweet when finished. I will be reassembling it to save some $$$.

I was considering black top/a-pillar but if I go that route (in the future) I will just do a vinyl wrap.

Spent Saturday getting the car ready to be sent out to paint, bolted up the header, but couldn't bolt up the rest of the exhaust. Set the suspension up, and mounted the 6ul's. I think my neighbours hate me now, 1k rpm was LOUD, 2k rpm was louder then my car at 7200rpm.

7200rpm ...

Couldn't get much of a feel for the suspension (other then STIFF), just wanted to make sure nothing was rubbing.

Drove the car over on sunday, should be back in 2 weeks time.

I don't think I will have much of a problem fitting 275's. I may run a spacer on the fronts for the 225's (it's not like I don't have the room lol) , but I will have to get the ART extended studs, which are 40$ for just the fronts so it isn't so bad.

I was starting to hate the car, but now seeing it as a package, not crammed into a 1.5 car garage, I think it looks pretty badass. Can't wait to see it finished.

nice project! I definately respect anyone who can perform body work, it is a true art form.

What size tires are on there now?

I'd shop around to other budget shops in your area. With that amount of work already done, I'd be surprise if you couldn't find a shop to do it well for under 1500...that said, with all of the work you've done thus far, you should try your hand at shooting it too.

the build has been impressive to watch and frankly, looks a lot like one of my builds in terms of work turning into obsession.

Per Schroeder wrote: I'd shop around to other budget shops in your area. With that amount of work already done, I'd be surprise if you couldn't find a shop to do it well for under 1500...that said, with all of the work you've done thus far, you should try your hand at shooting it too. the build has been impressive to watch and frankly, looks a lot like one of my builds in terms of work turning into obsession.

1. First of all, thanks Per for the kind words.

2. I had tried to shop around, but nobody really wanted to touch it. In the end I sucked it up, if it wasn't my DD and if I wasn't single and in college (lol) I would probably have finished it off myself, and shot it myself. Time and other stuff was a factor.

Car should be back in a week. Going tomorrow to check on the progress after work.

Gotsol wrote: nice project! I definately respect anyone who can perform body work, it is a true art form. What size tires are on there now?

Thanks, 225/45/15 on 15x9's.

nice work, but WTF is that stuff you used to repair your rocker panels? it looks like sheetmetal, welded in place. i've never tried that.

no hijack intended. i put this up here to give you props for using metal, not expanding foam, to make your repairs.

oh, FWIW, i did all the blocking and priming, and maaco masked and painted the car for me for $300. here's my finished product:

Looks sharp Puma. This thread always gives me inspiration.

Pictures from yesterday: iPhone quality, sorry.

Teaser, full writeup tomorrow, out the door in 20min.

Sorry for the water, first time car has ever looked worse wet.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa118/P90Puma/newpaint025.jpg

Holy poop that looks good. Those flares really make the car look more aggressive, especially combined with the wheels. Can't wait to see it with the final spacers and all that. Congrats on getting it done.

Nice Work! The paint came out great, and she looks really tough with the flared guards.

How could one little car take up sooo much room in the garage? Who says obsessive compulsive disorder is a fault ? Hard to argue with the results! Very nice. Next time, don't spend so much time on the computer-more time in the garage!

I promised a writeup.

So, I have always been opposed to spending money on paint, seemed like a waste, money spent on nothing. Even after I drove it down to the bodyshop, still worried I would spend a large sum and it would still look like crap. Boy was I wrong.

The paint has some imperfections that will be wetsanded out next weekend. The bodywork is insane, the flares are so well integrated, if you didn't know miata's you would think the rears were factory, the fronts are noticeable for obvious reasons.

I picked it up at 9.00AM, in pieces. I had a bagel and cream cheese, I didn't eat anything from then until 9pm, and I wasn't hungry! The weather was super cooperative, just a bit hot. Must have drank at least 3L.

Car went together really well, everything got finished (bodywork wise) yesterday besides the mirrors and spoiler. Took it out to go see a movie, the suspension is AWESOME, not exactly what I wanted, it isn't like a racecar at all, or any of the cars I have driven on lowering springs, the suspension is firm, but it isn't harsh. You obviously can't attack speedbumps or potholes.

The tires and suspension as a combo is insane.

I have no clue what my alignment settings are, because my caster/camber gauge won't fit the current wheels. I will put it on some scales either tonight or tomorrow, I decided against going to the local autox, the car is too mint and too fresh to eat a cone.

I still have a few things to do today, I spent all day cleaning the garage.

Thanks for the comments guys. I will try to shoot some other pictures later on tonight.

Only things that are missing are towhooks, and the rear spoiler. Otherwise, look is complete besides the FMIC, which looks like won't be on for a while yet.

Should probably get an s2000 style antenna, as the car really has the RC car look now with the stock antenna.

Car is "dirty", sorry.

Absolutely gorgeous. Looks mean too!

Wow you have an amazing Miata, I commend you on building such a cool car. Besides the antenna the one thing I think would finish up the look on your car are carbon fiber mirrors.

these ones

Finished product looks great! That's a factory 'R' lip, right? Mine could really use one of those:

So a month since the last update. 400 mile cottage round trip, one autox, one trip to the dragstrip, and a bunch of commuter miles.

Miles since last update, ~1000.

Cottage trip:

RS2's have no grip on wet grass uphill. Highways in poor repair suck to drive on. Unpaved roads are not that bad.

Dragstrip:

Best MPH was 16.521 @ 84.60 Best ET was 16.261 @ 83.97

No engine mods at all. No weight mods either.

Corner Weighting: 2415 pounds, with my 180 lb self. 1/4 tank of gas. ~51.3 left weight. ~51.5 front weight. 49.8 cross weight.

Pulled some "skidpad" numbers that night, 1.07G left, 1.06G right.

AutoX

So, I need more front camber. Pretty disappointed with myself, the car had more time in it, I just couldn't drive.

1.11G pulled from data (on street tires) was an interesting sight for sure.

Fun car. Even with the lack of front camber, the car is much more capable then I am. Hopefully 5 or so autox's and 2 or 3 trackdays this fall before I put it away, improve my skill enough to be able to handle the car with boost this spring.

Got back from a trackday at the local test track:

Data:

1.13G on streets, 1.2G on slicks, only had data on for a short period for the first 5min on the slicks, forgot to turn it on later in the session.

The track is awesome, the car was performing really well, but it seems to overheat. I am going to put on the undertray again, but I am worried something more serious might be causing the issue.

It cools right down after a cooldown lap.

Pics:

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Can't wait to go back.

Wow, looks great. Nice wheel combo too.