I have access to some Chromoly tubing from a craigslist deal that's been just sitting for a few years, so I'm planning to use that. I ended up using Solidworks which makes the math real easy and can give me the centerline lengths of the sections of the main hoop tube based on the overall outside width and height of the cage, given the tube OD. I really liked this idea, so that ruled a hard-dog-type bar, because I would need a main hoop that mounted on the floor (in order to accommodate the door bars).Īfter measuring the critical dimensions (lots of flipping the top up and down, moving around the sea, etc) I drew up some sketches. One of the suggestions I got from folks on this forum was to consider the possibility of modifying the bar to a full cage down the road. I also spent a lot of time looking at the existing aftermarket bars. With the seat in and the OEM seatbelts and surround trim/carpet removed, I started measuring and sketching up the bar. So, yeah, not for tall people wearing helmets. I'll try to remember to grab pictures of the seat brackets next time I have it out of the car.Ī note of caution to people thinking about racing miatas I spent a lot of time massaging the brackets, removed all the foam from the seat, and reclined the seat as much as I could and I can only just get my head under the top with my helmet on. I would have liked to mount the seat with fixed brackets but SWMBO is much shorter than I am (I'm 6 ft 0 and she's somewhere around 5 ft 1), so we really needed the adjustability in seating position. It had momo rails, but I ended up using the OEM miata rails, with some modifications to get them as low in the car as possible. It's a composite Momo fixed-back bucket with FIA tags. The seat was an X-mas present from my brother (came out of his old Lemons car). I ended up trading some of the trim I didn't need to a friend for the 4th hllow spoke rim so I ended up with a full matched set of wheels, which will replace the daisies for street use.Īfter finishing up the rear end, I started working on removing interior bits, modifying the seat rails and installing the racing seat, all in preparation for working on the roll bar. I also pulled a 4.778 ring and pinion from a Kia Sportage 1.8 Brake brackets, hardware and prop valve.Complete torsen, axles, driveshaft, bushings. ![]() I was able to pick up the following parts: I noticed the car on their website that evening and got there first-thing on Saturday morning. ![]() I got a huge lucky break a week or two after I purchased the car when the local Pull-A-Part yard received a `95 Miata on a Friday afternoon. In order to make this all possible on such a tight budget, I've purchased some of the major parts used (koni's, torsen, tires), will fabricate other parts myself (roll bar, seat brackets, probably tophats), and will use some parts I have from past projects (seat, harnesses). The crank was hardly worn, so I decided to pick up the car.Īfter replacing the crank pulley and key, and applying some super Loctite (as suggested on the thread about worn keyways: ), I fired it up and had a great running car! She had the timing belt and water pump + pullies replaced and when the shop when to put everything back together they found the worn keyway and told her she needed a new engine. The previous owner had just replaced the tires and had the head gasket redone. The chassis has 257k miles and it needed the crank pulley replaced (hence the low price). I picked it up for a decent price (below challenge money). I've always loved driving them and the cost of consumables is just dirt cheap.Īfter searching the local (Atlanta) Craigslist for a few weeks I came up with this: I have never really liked convertibles, but since the goal with this car is the most fun for the least money, I found it hard to come up with anything better than an NA Miata. ![]() I've had the good fortune to be able to get out on track a few times through the Wreck Racing team, and ran a 24 hour Lemons race a few years ago and have really enjoyed it (who wouldn't?), so now it's time for me to put together my own track car. So, SWMBO and I decided that we'll give up our auto-x season this year, campaigning her RX-8 in C-Stock, and save up the money and time to run some HPDEs (and maybe a TT event by the end of the season).
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