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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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!