modernbeat

So, most of this was posted on the other sites, but in case I missed anyone...

I'd like to get feedback on what I've done already. How I can make it better or what else I can do to compliment the changes I've already made. So here it goes.



So, this is not my first Miata. And not the second, or third, or fourth… It’s my seventh. But, it’s the first one that was slated to be a fun street car. All the others are either competition cars that had to follow a rulebook, beaters that were either parted out or tracked, or kept stock and driven then sold. So, all those fun parts I’ve bought since 2004 and haven’t used are going to find a home on this car.

The theme I’m trying to keep is OEM-Plus. I don’t plan on any radical modifications. No huge body modifications, no turbo, no stripped race like interiors. This is not a JDM build. I’m not a fanboi and will not stick EUNOS badging on just for the sake of being JDM. I want to keep its identity as a Miata while mixing and matching the best of the OEM parts and a few subtle, well built aftermarket parts. Also, I’m not a fashion horse. Name brands for the most part don’t impress me, and I don’t care about them on the car. While there ARE name-brand aftermarket parts on the car, the parts will mostly be chosen because of their quality, utility, aesthetics and sometimes because they were first to market – not strictly because of the label. Another thing I’d like to do is keep the visible parts period appropriate – from ’89 to ’99.

modernbeat

I really started this build on a fair condition ’91 that I bought a few years ago. This car came from a charity car auction that I attend. It was a Crystal White ’91 with an early hardtop and a Hard Dog Sport rollbar. I won the bidding and took it home for just over $600 including title, registration and taxes.



The white paint was in poor shape and the vinyl stripes had petrified and cracked. The interior was sunbaked, though the aftermarket grey softtop was almost brand new. I started collecting parts for it, including a good white fender, new white mirrors, all the rubber hoses, the hardtop edge and window rubber trim, gauge cowl, radio surround, Murakami M2-1028 trunk lid etc… Then the economy took a dump and when NASA had to make cutbacks, I lost my job at Boeing. I offered the white car and the parts I bought specifically for it up for sale and it left within a month to live a life as a never-street-driven track rat at Motorsports Ranch Houston.

After relocating to Dallas and getting my financial life together, I wanted to finish what I started. This time instead of using whatever car I happened across, like the white car, I was going to find the “right” car – which for me was a ’92 Black and Tan or a NA6 in British Racing Green. I watched the local (Dallas, Austin, Houston) Craigslist posts and even set up an RSS feed for different searches. Eventually a fairly nice ’92 SE showed up for $3000 including a lot of extras and the original hardtop. The hardtop was important, as I’m not really a convertible guy and would rather a coupe. During inspection I noted that the car had sat for a LONG time. And it had sat under an oak tree and had a lot of paint etching and hard water deposits that the seller tried to cover up with a lot of detailing glaze. The front bumper had never seen a license plate and was dent free (good) but the softtop looked like a piece of beef jerky (bad for him). The seller and I haggled over it and I bought it for a very good price.

Here’s the only photo I have of it from that day.

modernbeat

The very first thing I did was get license plates. My pal and I are both pun fanatics, but most of the really good plates I wanted were already taken, or not available. Texas only allows six characters on their plates. I ended up getting “NNNN” which is a pun for “foreign”. I also ordered a custom bent right hand side Garage Star license plate bracket as I wanted an offset plate mount, but didn’t want the plate to be on the same side as the front bumper MAZDA sticker.



Plate jealousy struck my friend, and he also ordered a custom plate. He’s an antique dealer and buys the majority of his stock at estate sales. He selected this plate which reads “You Die – I Buy”. Morbid for some, but everyone we know in the antiques business finds it hilarious.

modernbeat

After that I immediately started looking for black interior parts, as the tan interior was the first thing to go. The dash, kick panels and seatbelt tower panels came in first from Harleybutter on MiataTurbo. Then the main carpet came from a track car build out of Houston. A nice pair of NA6 cloth seats came from a Craigslist ad out of Waco and a couple pair of decent floor mats came in (one for using, the other for showing) from wanted ads. I eventually got the rear carpets from PartsGroup. I bought a pair of one-year-only ’96 black electric-window door panels from Second Chance Roadster.



Oops, got two right side kick panels! Harleybutter took care of it like a pro.



Then I bought another rent house in Houston and was gone for a few months while I remodeled it. I got back to Dallas in January and started on the interior swap.

modernbeat

I got a good deal on a few rolls of Raammat, ensolite padding and spray glue over the holidays. Here’s the tub with about a half roll of deadener in it. The ensolite went in over the deadner, then the original pads went in last.



While the main carpet was in fair condition, it was filthy. I took it down to the car wash and powerwashed it and let it dry for a week before it went in the car. I swear some previous owner must have spilled at least two dozen coffees in the passenger footwell. The powerwasher water ran brown for 30 minutes.



I accidentally ordered the bulkhead carpet from a ’95 and it was moulded to go around the ECU that was behind the seats. I picked up another carpet out of a ’90 my girlfriend bought to make a track rat out of. But, that carpet was filthy, full of cat hair, and was fuzzy. The filth and cat hair came out with a powerwash. I took a heatgun on low setting to the carpet to “erase” all the fuzz sticking up out of the carpet. When I was done it looked nearly new.

modernbeat

While I had the dash out, I was going to remove all the airbag components.



I cut into the harness to use the switched power from the airbag to power an auxiliary fuse box. Here’s the yellow power wire under the HVAC stack and the black radar detector cable under the blower.



The fuse box is going to power a radar detector, an iPod charger and power locks. I ran wire up the windshield to the V1 mount.



Here’s some of the wire I removed from the car. Some airbag stuff and some vintage Autopage alarm stuff. Anyone want the alarm? I’ve got two remotes, stickers and some literature for it.



Turned out the new black dash had two broken tabs that connected it to the corners of the metal brace. I fixed them with epoxy. It doesn’t look like much under the dash, but it’s invisible from inside the car and it will keep the dash from squeaking.

modernbeat

About this time I started working on the gauges. Some of the parts I had bought way back when I had the white car. I wanted an all black dash and to clean up the gauges as much as possible without looking like they were aftermarket. Think Porsche 911 for inspiration. For reference, here’s what the original ’92 gauges looked like.



Here’s the ’90 Canadian gauges that I took the tach face from. The ’96 cover in the background was the only one I had and the clear cover was heavily scratched. I wet sanded it and buffed it until it was nearly perfect.



The scratched ’96 cover.



Here’s the UK market speedometer face that AndyK on MX5Nutz sent me.



And after assembling the parts from four different gauges, this is what I ended up with. The gauge hood is the original painted one, but it’s got paint issues and two broken tabs, so it will be replaced with a new one.

modernbeat

Here’s another thing I wanted to try. When you remove the airbag system, the clock spring remains and it’s got three wires that run through it. One is for the horn and the other two set off the airbag. I crimped spade connectors on all three. One is still for the horn, the other two will lead to a button on the steering wheel to mute the radar detector.



I made the horn female and the two for the radar male to keep them organized.



It was cheaper to buy this mute button kit off ebay than to source the components, have them mailed and assemble it myself.



I cut it into two and crimped connectors on the section that will go into the steering wheel. The other section will go under the dash, spliced into the original airbag wiring and plugged into the Valentine power network.



Here’s the little microswitch that will be adhered to the back of the steering wheel.



So, during all this steering wheel fitting, I felt the wheel was too far away. I purchased a few Nardi spacers from Ej86 on Club4AG. I couldn’t use the bolts, but the spacers were worth it.



I had to cut a groove in one of the spacers for the mute wire to pass through. I could have done this with a file, or a grinder, but used the opportunity to teach a friend of mine how to use a mill.

modernbeat

I bought this ’97 hazard switch back when I had the white car. Here it is in the NA6 radio surround. This surround has a hole in it from the alarm’s LED. I have another good surround on it’s way.



And installed.



Here's the mute button on the back of a steering wheel spoke.

modernbeat

I spotted this pair of mirrors in a photo of a car on MX5Nutz. Garath, the owner, had bought it to fix up and sell. He was willing to sell me the mirrors, but needed a pair of silver RHD manual mirrors in addition to some cash. I sourced a set of silver mirrors on Ebay.UK and had them shipped to Garath. He then shipped them to me.



Here’s the photos where I spotted the mirrors. I didn’t know if they were GHO or M2 mirrors. But the Garath verified they were Vitaloni tops.





And the silver RHD Ebay.UK mirrors that I partial traded for them.



I sanded and painted the bases and cleaned and conditioned the plastic bits. I’ve got some original style security fasteners coming for them, but until then they are on the car with some Phillips heads.