Went for a little Saturday morning rip in the 914. Before I got home, I received this pic from a Facebook/car guy acquaintance :)
it's really a joy to drive now in any situation, as opposed to the original engine and trans that were so finicky and anxiety-inducing.
I got tired of the terrible turning radius on the 4 door RZR limo. Too many 3 point turns when trying to ride the trails. So we decided to sell it and get a Talon. One of the few sxs machines with a real transmission, not a damn belt drive CVT.
pulled the decals off the Talon for a much cleaner look. We ripped this thing through the local trails all day on Saturday. So. Much. Fun!
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Hey! We just got a pioneer and i love how this thing drives with the trans. And its so much quiter.
surfshibby07 said:In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Hey! We just got a pioneer and i love how this thing drives with the trans. And its so much quiter.
Real nice machines! The Hondas feel higher quality than the other brands. And no stupid rubber belt to strand you!
Loaded up for a trip to Amelia Island this weekend. Concours d'Lemons tomorrow and Radwood on Saturday. Unfortunately were not going to stick around for the big money stuff on Sunday. I've got a few Lemons racer buddies meeting me up there too. If my wife wasn't making the trip with me (about 4 hours each way) I'd be driving the car up there. But sometimes you've gotta consider the lady's comfort as well. 😂
we've got an Airbnb and planning to drive on the beach at Huguenot Park and take the St John's ferry across the river. Should be fun! I considered entering the car in the Lemons show, but just not feasible to get up there in time.
edit: I pussed out and unhooked the Porsche. Sundays rain looks ugly and the windows on the car don't seal much it all. It'd get douched on the 4 hour ride home. :(
edit 2: hooked the trailer back up and packed some towels, trash bags, etc. we'll figure it out :)
That thing looks so tough! Hope you stay in the dry for the trip.
In reply to captainawesome & Lof8 - Andy:
Sort of like captainawesome and my E21, the two of you guys and your 914s really make me feel that whenever I do move on from the E21, the next vintage racer should be a 914.
Those fender flares make it look so right! What an awesome looking car!!
We had a great time! The 914 did great and we only had to run through about 1/2 hour of rain on sunday. No major catastrophe. Lots of cool cars to see and quite a few people were interested in chatting about the 914!
let me explain...
I feel naked without a car in the "build" phase.
NC Miata's have been on my facebook search list for at least a few years. Then I found out how cheap the 2.5 swap can be done and the appeal grew. I checked out a few in my price window and they were pretty trashed. This one is decent and has a few mods I don't need to change or reverse (and some that I do).
not sure yet if I'll do the 2.5, but this one has functional a/c and is in good enough condition that I'll get it where I want, drive it a bit, and then decide if it or the Boxster finds a new home in the long run.
*When's that flyin miata turbo kit coming out?
Dibs!!
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
2.5 swap with cams and a supercharger...
dyintorace said:Dibs!!
lol!
First change for the miata is some contrasting wheels. The black wheels against the dark blue car are not speaking to me at all. FD rx7 wheels in 16x8 are a straight bolt on to the NC, hold a wider tire and fill out the wheel well more. I've also learned that my car came with pretty rare/desireable mazdaspeed sideskirts. But I sort of prefer the standard issue skirts. Maybe they'll grow on me.
pic from original ad:
New wheels:
not my car:
I tried to get em bolted on during lunch but ran into some lock lug nuts (for which I have no key) and also some missing lug nuts (always a great sign!). Did some parts store and google hunting and think I've ordered the right key and a new set of lug nuts. So this is all we get for now.
under side of the car looks nice. Aftermarket stainless exhaust, konis and h&r springs, sway bars, chassis bracing. Much like the Boxster, someone gave this car some love at one point.
I removed the busted up front lip and next will be the E36 M3ty purple tint. I think the windshield is tinted too. Lame. While I had the front wheel off, I was able to replace 8 or 10 missing push-pins for the wheel well plastic. That added significant rigidity to the flimsy front bumper.
I hate that air filter poking out of the grill, exposed to weather. Not a fan of the missing grill either.
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Love that Blue.
Never seen those NC wheels before, they remind me a lot of some of the factory NA wheels.
AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Never seen those NC wheels before.
Thats because they're FD RX7 wheels! :) They're a relatively common swap onto NC's though.
I love that look, never seen it before. Not sure how to explain this but with those wheels I think it makes the NC look more like a Miata than it does normally - which I see as a great thing.
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Starting out with 'let me explain' made me bust out laughing. I feel like that is the car enthusiast motto. But in all seriousness, I’m excited to see what you’ll do.
AxeHealey said:I love that look, never seen it before. Not sure how to explain this but with those wheels I think it makes the NC look more like a Miata than it does normally - which I see as a great thing.
Now that you say that, I totally see it. And I think that's why I like them. :)
FWIW I have had good luck with the "reverse thread" style locking lug nut removers.
java230 said:FWIW I have had good luck with the "reverse thread" style locking lug nut removers.
I got lucky with one from Amazon that was close but not exactly right. I was able to hammer the key onto the nut and make it work. Thankfully there were only two of the lock nuts. The car now has 4 matching wheels :)
Miata happenings: ditched the cold water intake protruding from the grill for a hot air intake, fabbed from what was already there. Will probably look for a stock airbox to replace it. Gold foil heat shield stickers are from the PO and don't come off well. Attached the factory grill insert and got 90% of the bumper-related fasteners in place - no more floppy bumper.
The interior is a real nice place to be, after I removed a bunch of stickers from the dash and various places and cleaned years of gunk from the crevices. When purchased, the steering column was loose and floppy, kind of scary the guy was driving it like that. A bushing between the column and support bracket had cracked and fallen out. I was expecting this to be a substantial project to repair, but a dude on the Facebook group prints a 2 piece bushing that can be installed in about 20 minutes. She feels solid now!
minus a couple clear coat problems and dings the exterior is actually pretty decent as well!
this thing is PLANTED on the konis/h&r springs. Feels wonderful to drive! Better turn-in than the Boxster even. The interior is on par with the Boxster but has 4 cup holders, a glove box, and some center console storage. These are crucial items when talking your wife into road trips!
currently it is popping out of 4th gear on occasion, but I've read this can often be remedied with an external adjustment on the transmission, so that's high on the priorities.
the fb group has mentioned my local Mazda dealer as a good source for NC hardtops, so I stopped in there today. Their going rate of $2700 is very decent for one of these rare pieces. However, they have a red top that was "damaged" in shipping. I haggled the price of that one down to $1500 😳. I'm taking it home tomorrow! I'm just not a convertible guy, and a factory hard top basically turns Miatas into coupes. It'll get wrapped or painted to match the car.
the engine is not crazy powerful but it's absolutely enough to rip pretty well! Major engine upgrades are on the back burner for now. And the Boxster is probably starting to worry about its place in the garage.
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