I feel like I made it through the awkward adolescence of my Miata's mods. This thread is meant to be a trip down memory lane for the evolution of my Jumbata.

There have been a few choices along the way that have needed reversing but I'm really, really happy with the car as she stands today. I purchased the car a little over two years ago, bone stock and having been in a collision, sitting at 194,000 miles. The crank pulley was wobbling, rust on the rockers, front right frame damage, non-functioning soft top, non-functioning radio, four different brands of tires (all worn) etc. I paid what I thought the car was worth, about $300 under the sellers asking price.



I bought this car specifically to learn the platform and to get my hands dirty. The first thing I did was replace all the hoses, the radiator and the timing belt & tensioners, plugs & wires. A couple weeks later a new OEM clutch & motor mounts. Then I found a Wizdom body kit front and rear bumpers plus sideskirts all for less $$ than a new OEM bumper. No brainer for me since I didn't like the mouth on the NA anyway. My wife gives me a roll bar for Valentine's day (she rocks)



and soon after I pick up FM frame rail reinforcements and a RB front sway along with a Cobalt under-panel. The OEM panel was missing entirely.



Over the holidays I picked up a Carbon Fiber hard top. Had to learn how to mount the rear lexan window, which was challenging.



Recently installed Garage Vary hardtop rain rails:





Next came a Magnaflow and cat delete - which I love seeing through the cut-out in the rear bumper.



I'm not a huge fan of the mesh but after more than a year... it has become a lesser priority.



After a few thousand miles of consistent daily driving and a couple of oil changes, I tracked the car for the first time with 196,000 miles on the clock. I spent three hours on track, 30 minutes on, 1 hour off continuously until I had six 30 minute sessions - never a single issue with the car, save a little clicking from the right rear CV joint on hard corners which has since been rebuilt.



Just after installing Megan coilovers. Having adjustable height and dampening means everything to me - I love these and how they feel for daily driving the car.



At a local Miata Tech day - we raised the ride height three collar turns - doing so stopped the scraping I had experienced for about six weeks. It has been at this height for more than a year now - dialed in by my standards.



Installed the Moss LoPro headlight kit - I feel like it compliments the stylizing of the car with the aftermarket bumpers and hard top.



Under the hood-

I picked up an extra intake manny and Valve cover, "shaving" them over a period of months in my garage. Entirely by hand - no power tools. This includes polishing the inside of the runners and port matching the runners o the manifold gasket and block ports. Manifold and Valve cover got a rattle can with metal primer followed by wheel paint, finally clear coated with engine enamel.





Add those to some Fidanza cam gears, Black Gold Glitter powdercoated Carbing 3pt STB and ARC intake chamber, a DIY heat shield & cone filter, eBay engine damper, modified NRG NB rad cooling panel, Billet oil cap, Koyo radiator cap, black silicone hoses... and here's the engine bay as she sits today







On to the interior...

Dynamat on the doors and in the trunk - 20lbs total here and worth every ounce for my daily drives.





Polk db651 in the front, powered by the Kenwood headunit. Rear channel 6x9 speakers are sitting on the parcel shelf, wired to the amp/crossover/sub combo in the trunk.



Been slowly installing Redline goods leather trim pieces. Again a first for me - a lot of reading and youtube watching gave me enough confidence to attack everything EXCEPT for the tombstone bezel, which I have heard horror stories about. I paid a local shop $25 to have them mount the trim. Revlimiter's retro HVAC panel installed.

In this shot you can see the eBay seat covers, gauge bezel surround, shift ****, eBrake handle (all rattle can metalcast red), Redline goods: arm rest, ebrake boot, shift boot, upper door panel, tombstone bezel and gauge hood trim. Sparco 330 two button wheel with Momo hub and new floor mats complete the interior update. I love driving my 45 minute highway commute each way every day.



ILM pedal set on this shot.



Houston Coffee and Cars regular...

 

Nice build! Loving it!

 

Wow dude, great work. I think think I need to invest in some of those Hardtop Rain Rails for mine.

 

Got around to a couple more of the interior peices - installed the pillar and header trim:



Got a new NRG steering wheel to replace my tired ol Sparco



Picked up the HVAC ***** from Rev9 - I think they are going to get the same red as the shift ****.





Today is a big day. The Miata went into the shop yesterday to swap out a freshly rebuilt motor for my current 220,000 mile motor. I should have the car back with the new motor installed sometime tomorrow and can't wait to hear the exhaust note with a new Megan longtube header, a resonator in place of the cat and the Magnaflow cat-back already installed. I also predict I'll be getting about 80 miles more per tank.

 

Junkyard motor, full rebuild with deck & hone + ARP studs. Intake manifold, cam gears, valve cover and accessories are from my previous motor.



Adding in a Megan longtube header, deleting the EGR system & adding an additional resonator to the exhaust.

 

If I buy this wrecked 96, I'm going to have engine rebuilt but want to see if it will start, to check compression and things in general w/ the engine. It will be put in my 91 N/A. The owner had to be one unhappy person, it looked as if it had new paint, new top, Very nice chrome rims and tires. Most if not all part are interchangable, new seats, nice dash, carpets look new also. Great project!
My 91 looked great until a big rotten limb broke off and hit the passenger side bumper and barndoor light(easy fix).
JT

 

Decided to attack the Bikini top last night so I could debut it at this morning's coffee and cars. Best Miata turnout since this location became host to Houston C&C.







The install was not straightforward because of my style of roll bar. I had to fab a cross brace that would then connect to the bikini top center bar. It's a working prototype. Now that I have it up, I'll fab a second "production" run - better fit & finish than the current setup, with a couple of tweaks I have kicking around in my head. I also ordered two small plastic parts that were broken on my old latches. No flapping or top generated noise at highway speeds. There was still a significant breeze in the cabin with the windows down, but the shade was welcome in the Houston sun. With the windows up, I could actually feel the AC pretty well if I turned the fan on high. I liked the top enough that I plan to keep it on there for a few days. If there's a chance for rain - it's not a smart choice to take to work.

While the hard top was off, I installed a full set of OEM window seals, harvested from my now defunct soft top. That also where the front bow for the bikini top came from.

Aftermarket seal removed, OEM installed:



impressed with the aftermarket allowance for OEM fastener locations.





Currently looking into a custom headliner for the hard top. Thinking it will further improve the interior atmosphere.

 

Wowow very nice looking build you have here!!
Loving the interior trim ;D Great job so far!

Care to post up a video of that new engine you put in?

 

Thanks! The interior is almost finished. I really like the red aluminum pieces in the cabin - I've now got a set of vent rings installed as well. I was worried it would be too much red but so far I'm really liking them. I do plan on some new seats and they would be black with red stitching so the large red seat panels will disappear and I think that will really make the trim pieces pop. I'll take photos when I have a couple more of the details done.

The new motor is in and doing great so far. It's just a rebuilt stock motor, but it is pretty loud because I have no cat (straight pipe) and a Magnaflow cat back, along with the ARC intake chamber and open element air filter. It is quieter than my old motor, which had bad compression, leaky valves and an HLA tick.

 

Sounds wonderful, would love to hear that loud engine of yours!