My 1996 Boosted Miata Build Thread

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First of all, this is a college budget build. I don't know about the rest of you, but I love pictures. I know this isn't a BMW, but it's my fun car.

Anyways, I'll get straight to the point. I used to own a Ford Focus that I put lots of money into (and NOS, so cool, right?) but it was FWD and lame. So I sold it when I graduated high school and went down to UWO as a freshman without a car. With a wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket and nothing better to do in the dorms, I stumbled across a Mazda Miata on Craigslist right in Oshkosh. I walked over to the guy's house... turns out he had the same name as me and also went to the same school. That's a whole different story, but now we're very good friends. He gave me a ride and I just about shit my pants. I went to the bank the next day and handed him $4,000. I knew nothing about RWD, turbos, or even imports for that matter, but I knew it was fast. Even though it was monster truck status, had stickers everywhere, puffed a little smoke, and was all around kinda haggered, I still pulled the trigger.

Little did I know, I just successfully bought a money pit.

First thing I did was take off all the stickers and nightshade the corner lights.

Spent lots of time cleaning and restoring the car the best I could. Bought a mad-tyte-JDM mirror and put it in.

Got some sweet hood-struts because it never came with a prop. I have since broken these...

I realized that my truck status Miata probably didn't look very "cool".

So I did something about it...

Then I bought some red spray stuff.

And I bought some lips.

Installed everything and painted my flaking and faded red calipers. Much better...

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My friend took a couple sweet pics after I installed a new radio:

Put some fog lights in:

Bought a bike for $700 because the car never ran right and pissed me off:

I was sick of the car being so quiet... I wanted it to be all loud and cool, so I chopped the downpipe.

Then the car sounded like this:
http://vimeo.com/37047481

Ever since I slammed the car, the wheels were hellasunk. So I bought 1" spacers to go from this:

To this:

To me, the car finally looked good. I had a vision and it was pretty much complete at this point. Wait, scratch that... cars are never 'complete'.

I got some lame gauges that I ended up taking off within a week because I haaated them, and a new steering wheel:

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At this point, the car was always running like shit and blowing smoke all over the place. I knew it wasn't going to last much longer. So, in search of a winter warrior and DD, I scooped up this 5-speed Jeep Cherokee for $1,000!

And then I figured out why it was only $1,000. Yeah, these are the floorboards.

Then searching Craigslist, I found an M-Edition Miata with a bad crankshaft down in Indianapolis. I grabbed a truck, rented a trailer, and went down with some friends. Handed over $800 and loaded her up.

It was a long trip for one day...

Finally home, the next day.

Basically picked it up just so I could swap the LSD into my car (for drifting ofcourse), have a spare set of wheels, and to part the rest out to make a profit.

Anyways, then my boosted Miata finally decided to pop.

So, out with the old...

While that was happening, I scored another deal. $500 for this hardtop.

Then these showed up...

Found a low mileage Ford Escort motor just outside of Detriot. Grabbed the van and went out to pick it up with a few friends. Made a trip out of it and stayed at a hotel for the weekend. Came back and got to work.

Took out the shitty open diff in the back and squeezed the new motor in up front...

While doing this, what better time than now to wire tuck? Boom.

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I don't have any pictures, but I ditched the shitty AEM F/IC piggy back that was running on the car and went full standalone ECU. MegaSquirt 3x, tuned by yours truly. Also ditched the FPR and swapped the small injectors for some bigger ones. Absolutely love it because it allowed me to do stuff like this:

At the same time my boosted Miata was back on the streets and running better than ever, I got rid of pretty much everything from the parts car. Gibby's came and picked it up, still gave me $500 for a bare tub! I made lots of dough off this parts car.

Meanwhile, I was very much enjoying the new-found LSD.

Friends!

Then my "hood pins failed". Well, that's just what I told people. I really just forgot to put them in. Hood flew up and cracked the windshield. This is after I bent it back the best I could.

And very shortly after, I ran over a dead cat. My car was beginning to fall apart.

So, I traded the Jeep straight up for a BMW 328is.

This brings us to today. I swapped the hood I kept from the parts car on, so it's not the right color. I put a G-wing on the hardtop and installed a tow-hook through the hood. I also bought a new lip, which I busted up 4 days after installing it. Stupid rocks.
270413102012908023712731451882803n.jp

I bent it back the best I could, and took this last night:

Sorry for the super long thread, but that's what happens over the course of 3 years and I'm sure I'm still forgetting stuff that I never documented.

The car is finally reliable, runs great, pulls hard, and looks pretty good.

Stay tuned, there is more to come. I actually have a large package that should be delivered tomorrow

Brian.

Wow, I'm pretty sure this said Members BMW's and not, Members bitch-miata's. .

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Kidding, I love miata's. Especially NA miata's. I've seen you post pictures on Fb like a boss. I wanna see fireballs in person. We can tandem fireballs down the highway if you'd like. :3

Love your car btw.

KaiserRolls

i love threads with lots of pictures.

YoungCR

This is great! Thanks for sharing the story

Jdesign

Well I applaud you dear sir. I wanted a miata before my e30 vert, and still do. I am all kinds of jelly inside. Nice thread!

StewCrew

This car is awesome. Bring that thing to drift day next saturday!

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New pics!

The Yada by Jake Spence Photography, on Flickr

Inside the Yada by Jake Spence Photography, on Flickr

Under the Hood of the Yada by Jake Spence Photography, on Flickr

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Out with the crappy Racelands...

Adios by Jake Spence Photography, on Flickr

In with the new:

Stance by Jake Spence Photography, on Flickr

Brian.

Stance FTW. Back when I had my Onevia, I really wanted Stance GR+ 3 ways. Couldn't justify the price at the time though. These should help your car a ton in the handling aspect! In for installed pics

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Instagram teaser

Install by Jake Spence Photography, on Flickr

Brian.

Looking good! I'd say I'd come help I'll be in Oshkosh this weekend, but you seem to have beaten me to the offer! Congrats dude!

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Here's a picture after installing the new coils. Rears are all the way down, with the bottom collar removed. This is the lowest you can go in back without messing up the preload. The front still has a lot of room to lay frame. They ride MUCH better than the Racelands. Can't wait to fine tune them with the damper adjustments. Sorry for the uneven ground, but the car is level.

Oh, and anyone notice anything different?

Coils = Installed by Jake Spence Photography, on Flickr