Category Archives: Mechanical Things

1990 Miata 'The White Car'

White hardtop, safety gear, brakes, and rust

I traded my red hardtop with defroster/ headliner for a lighter early top.  Finally, the red head is gone.  I put these on with a set of hardtop brackets and tow hooks from RennMetal.  I also installed a set of Sparco5 fixed back seats and G-Force 6 point FIA belts from OG Racing.  I removed the bumps on the floor of the car where the back seat bolts attach and made up some seat brackets that mount to the floor in the back to get as low as possible,

You’ll also see that I found rust on the passenger side rear quarter.  I cut it out and painted the surrounding area with POR15.  I’ll install the repair panel some other time.  This will hold for now.  I’ve had more than 1 person ask me if the hole is there for some sort of cooling…

For my brakes, I’ve got a set of 1994 caliper brackets with rebuilt calipers, Porterfield R4 pads, 949 Racing stainless brake lines and a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve. The car has no issues stopping!

1990 Miata 'The White Car'

Tombstone repair

The center console/ tombstone was smashed when I bought the car.  The previous owner had someone install a radio, and they didn’t mount it to the dash, they mounted it to the tombstone directly.

I ended up using epoxy to piece it together, then I used SolidWorks and the Dimension 3d printer to make an ABS plastic insert to fill the radio hole.  I epoxied it into place then used a bit of Evercoat Rage filler to smooth it out.  I painted it with Rustoleum Satin black (restoration in a can), then used Plastidip on top to make the texture match the rest of the dash. It came out blotchy.

All in all, it came out pretty good, I will probably re-create it and a shorty shifter console completely in SolidWorks eventually.  I’d like to make a mold from the 3d Printer and lay a few up in fiberglass or carbon fiber.

1990 Miata 'The White Car'

Ouch.

Assault vehicle

While waiting for gas, I had a 35 Ford back into me. “I didn’t even see you”.

The car was totaled by my insurance company due to the cost of the repair even though the damage was localized to the driver door and driver fender.

Totalled?!!?

So, it’s time to make the car a track toy (that was the plan anyway!)

Hard Dog Hard Core Hard Top Single Diagonal Terrible Name

I found a set of Bilstein HD’s and installed the recommended OBX kit from the Miata.net ‘Ebay coilover thread’.  375lb front, 278lb rear on generic threaded collars.  I put on a set of FatCat Motorsport NB mounts/ bumpstops, too.  Last, I sold the steelies and bought a set of 15×8 et20 TR Motorsport wheels with 195/50/15 Yokohama S-Drives.

I found a door and fender that were ‘original paint’ and in ‘fantastic condition.’  Imagine my surprise when I picked up the package at the Greyhound station and the paint was a cheap respray and the fender and door had damage.  <sigh>

Either way, I bolted them on with a Hardtop I picked up from the guys @ Pride Performance in Keansberg, NJ. The red top made the car a ‘Testa Rosa’.  I know; terrible.

much better!
TestaRosa! (Red head in Itaila…)

1990 Miata 'The White Car'

90 Miata. ‘The White Car’ intro

‘the white car’, as purchased

I was looking to build a car that I could take to the track and enjoy on the way to work as well.  Something that would be versatile enough to attend AutoX’s, track days, maybe a drift day or a hill-climb. The word on the street (the internet) was to by a Miata if you were looking to learn to drive well.  I had a co-worker who just picked up a 85k mile-original owner 1990 for cheap.  He cleaned it up after replacing the clutch slave cylinder, then sold it to me.

It’s just what I was looking for; OG paint, no body damage, no rust, no power anything.  The top and back window were in good shape, but the back window was a little cloudy.  There was AC, but no PS.  There was some orange discoloring in the wheel well, but no rust peeking through.  Most of the orange came out when I buffed the car out.

The car was owned by a woman who often left the car at the stables, quite possibly under a pile of hay.  This thing was dirty.  Thankfully, I didn’t clean it – My co-worker did.

I pulled the fenders off and was happy to see there was no hidden rust.  This car is pretty clean!

 

VW Volksrod 'The Chopster'

The Chopster build part 18

(this was originally posted on VolksRods.com while I built the car)

Ok, here’s the whole tale:

I began this project in September 04. I busted my ass for a month or so, then shelved the project. I had a million other things to do. About a month before the Classic, Glenn and I decided it’d be fun to throw the car together and roll it. At this point, it was missing a rear wheel well and was just a rolling chassis with nothing.

Fast Forward to the weekend before the Classic:

A few friends came over on Saturday and Sunday. Everyone took a job– 2 guys did brakes and bearings/ seals, 1 guy started with some mud on the outside of the car, 1 guy stabbed the motor and I did the front end. Did I mention it’s hot as hell in AZ this time of year?

Fast Forward to Thrusday before the Classic:

I took off of work this day, the little details were killing us. At this point we had *no* wiring at all, a front drum that would not seat fully, 2 rear brakes that were clicking and making all sorts of racket, and no windows. Oh Yeah, my rear tires still had not shown up from Hurst in Oregon.

I woke up at 6 and scratchbuilt a harness for the car, Glenn showed up at 8 to sort out the motor. We worked our asses off that day. Around 1pm the DHL guy showed up with my tires, and they went straight to the local tire place to be mounted (but not balanced). Around 4pm we fired the car for the first time. We sorted out almost all the brake issues except an amazingly soft pedal. You could pump it up, but the first push went to the floor. Since everything in the system was new, I suspected it might be my linelock.

The tires came back from the shop and they looked great. We bolted them up and let the car down… the body sat flush on the tires. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img] After brainstorming a bit, the only answer was to raise the rear a spline back to stock. Since the body was channeled over the pan, this was HARD. After fighting for what seemed forever, it was finished with minimal clearance.

We took the car for a spin around the neighborhood to my co-workers house so I could give him the finger. He said I wouldn’t get it done. HA! Now, it’s like 7pm, we’re trying to get out by 8. I cut the windshield out of plexiglass then hopped in the shower and packed while Glenn wrestled the seal onto the plexi. I threw on some safety glasses and drove the car to Glenns house with no windshield. LOUD! When we got to his place, he packed and got a shower while Mitch and I tried to put the plexi in. No dice– we made it too tall. I had some blue tape holding the seal to the glass– that became the new seal. Classy!

The drive to Yuma:

So it’s like 11pm on thursday, we’re exhausted and we’re about to take an unknown car several hundred miles. We decided to cut tonight short and head to Yuma to stay at the house of one of the guys from the Arizona Bus Club. They were going to leave in the morning, seemed like a decent plan.
Finally, we were on the road, BUT I FORGOT MY CAMERA!

Either way, the car was just humming along, the sunroof/ seat placement is just right to gaze out the roof at the clear, star-filled AZ sky. That drive thru the desert was one of the best parts of the trip for me. It was clear and cool, the car was rolling— this was the culmination of a full week of non-stop work and worrying if everything was OK. And it was.

The ride was largely uneventful– we were getting used to the squeaks and groans the car makes, the tires were rubbing on the inner fenders a bit… steering was vague… Minor stuff. We got to Yuma around 3am-ish. and went right to bed. My ears were ringing from the exhaust note at 60mph in an un-sound-deadened tin can.

Yuma to San Diego, then LA

7am and I’m a zombie. there are a few beads of weld making up the re-radiused wheel wells that I never ground down… they were cutting into my new slicks. So, in order to piss of the neighbors, the grinder came out.

After trying to mess with the brakes and re-bleed them, we head out on the road with my still squishy brakes. Glenn called the ‘Highway brakes’. Works for me.

Finally.

No issues, I was taking it easy the whole way. But Gawd damn… *everybody* on the road was checking it out. Some people slowed down to gawk, some took pictures, one guy driving a sweet 60’s Porsche Speedster held up a piece of paper with his phone # on it. I thought he either wanted to buy the car or get a date, so I had Glenn call. turns out– he wanted Oval parts.

To the Host Hotel

LA traffic sucks. I can’t imagine paying $700,000 for a house then never being able to travel anywhere due to the crowded highways.

Anyway, we roll in and it’s time to get a shower and figure out WTF is up with the brakes.

After seeing some leakage around the DS front drum, we decide that it’s a leaky wheel cylinder. Damn, that was brand new. Mitch, the guy with the class 11 bug, is the most prepared guy I know. He had a little pinch tool to clamp the line so I’d have 3 brakes. The pedal is now firm, but it pulls to the right. No big deal.
The carb is also acting up– but since this is the 1776 out of Glenn’s daily and not the Chopster’s motor (which isn’t finished), Glenn recognized the problem right away. We could either take it apart and repair it, or just live with a slightly high idle and have it want to stall a bit after crusing. I opted to leave it. We’re on vacation.
We bring the car out to the DKP cruise night @ Nicks and the car gets a pretty welcome reception. Hell, Mike Grady and I made it to the cover of Hoodride!

On the way back to the Hotel, I pass 3 cops on the side of the road with a pulled over Mustang. I got stuck at the light, and the car is far from subtle. One guy hopped in his car and pulled me over. As he walked up, the first thing he said was: “I’m sorry, I didn’t see your plate. Now that I do, I see it’s an AZ classic plate. We’re ok here.” He asked me if I was wanted or on the lam and looked at my license… then started asking questions about the car. He liked it— and let me go!!!

We got back to the hotel and had a beer or 10. A wedding was there and somehow Mitch got some chick to pose on the car. She was better looking with beer goggles, I swear.

Saturday

We woke up late and missed OCTO, so we got breakfast and went to the toy show. Afterwords we went to the Barndoor Mafia picnic at The Butcher Shop. I wanted to drink a few (vacation, remember?) so we took a friends Dodge. The carne was choice… and the busses were hot, too.
Back to the hotel to have a few more… I vaguely remember the car having a beer can mowhawk. And I think I gave it away to Mister Blue when I was arguing about Bon Jovi albums. Alcohol is funny stuff.

Sunday, the Classic

I got up early and left Glenn and Mitch in the room. They put me in line with the ‘special interest’ cars… I couldn’t figure out where the rest of the ‘rodders were.

I met up with the few guys that were there, and talked to Randys’ guys… they decided to let me up front, too.

I was the only guy in the ‘rat rod’ class, so I took 1st.

Normally, that’s a shitty way to win… but I have been dreaming about going to the classic since I got into VW’s a loooooong time ago. Something always came up. Last year was my first time there, but we didn’t take a vw. This was my first ever ride in *this* car– and the plaque was kinda like a ‘you made it!’ trophy. Sounds good to me.

Unfortunately, I met an off duty cop at the show who *didn’t* like the car. I was telling someone about how the cop who pulled me over and let me go– and this guy busted in and read me the freaking riot act. To make a long winded story short– he said that the car had so many infractions in CA law that he would impound it if he saw me leave with it under it’s own power. After mulling it over and deciding if I wanted to chance it (this guys seemed like the type to camp me out), I ended up buying a towbar at the swap and hooking it to my friend Jay’s pickup.

Towing it turned out to be harder than driving it— we lost the air cleaner, a hubcap and destroyed one of the front tires. I guess it was happier being driven.

We got to Phoenix and unhooked the car in the parking lot of a store. I headed home (I live about 25 miles out of phoenix) and ran out of gas. Luckily, I had a 2 gal container in the car– full. It was a pretty funny end to a FREAKING AWESOME WEEKEND!