its been in my mind. along with seam welding. and a butterfly brace. and a partial cage. and......
its been in my mind. along with seam welding. and a butterfly brace. and a partial cage. and......
So if you search for FP Miata you get a lot of interesting pictures.
I'm not saying you HAVE to cut the windshield off, but the way they build their cages stiffens the car quite a lot (I'm told) with minimal tubing compared to a real cage. Depends on the end game of the car. I LOVE FP Miatas.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
care to link to some of the dirty details? i have to be honest, this is the first i have ever ventured outside of CP and CAM. i have never really paid any attention to the autocross or track miatas, as i never thought id wind up here.
im probably the only guy that owns a miata that has never autocrossed one, but has autocrossed lighnings, dakota RT, duster, el camino, s10, c4 and c5 vette, etc.
Oh this is going to be good!
Anyone here able to make header flanges? I want some made from 1/4 plate steel, but dont want to spend 3 months with a die grinder and drill press. If its cost prohibitive, thats what ill do though....
Dusterbd13 said:Anyone here able to make header flanges? I want some made from 1/4 plate steel, but dont want to spend 3 months with a die grinder and drill press. If its cost prohibitive, thats what ill do though....
singleslammer's cnc plasma cutter seems like the right answer? dunno what the rates for it are, though
Ooooooo
Need to find that thread......
Dusterbd13 said:didnt even notice that dads dog got in here. awesome!!!
im really excited about this. sooo looking forward to spending more time with dad.
I berkeleyed off a lot in college, took 7 years to get my BSME. My Dad died a couple days before the start of year 7. So yeah, "build cars with Dad" is something I wish I could have done more of. Make sure someone else is around to take pix so there's plenty of shots of you and Dad together.
Or setup a camera off to the side and just have it take pictures at set intervals. Did that one christmas morning so my wife was in the pictures. You get to see it progress over time.
Thought I would chime in her on the build. I am Michael's Father involved in the build. (Does that make me Papa Dork??) My son and I have sweated, swore, and bled over several project cars over the years, and I know I have enjoyed every minute of it. This is the latest go-round. I will let Michael do all of the on line stuff and keep you all up to date on the build while I lurk in the background and work on the car. Thanks for all of your interest.
In reply to wndopdlr :
Hope you wont be sportin' a welding helmet too....
welcome aboard PapaDb
In reply to wndopdlr :
Welcome to the asylum, dad.
In reply to wndopdlr :
Give it just a little bit of time. You'll be Papa Dork in no time at all! Welcome sir!
I love reading this thread because it literally goes from ok I have an idea that's crazy to ok here's the progress of my crazy idea. I approve.
I'm loving this project and excited to see it progress.
I know you mentioned getting the largest intercooler you can fit. I've got one of these Volvo intercoolers laying around the garage. I originally got it for the BMW, but made an air-to-water intercooler instead. It definitely fits the bill of "large". Interested?
In reply to ShawneeCreek :
Dimensions and price? Definitely interested
Somewhere around 24"x24". I'll get exact measurements on Sunday when we get back from Thanksgiving with family. Price will be what I paid for it from the pick-n-pull (less than $50 if I remember correctly)
Ill measure what we'r working with when we fet home as well. Price sounds right.
In reply to wndopdlr :
I'm happy to know you're here, even if it's just looking over our shoulders to make sure we're not getting into too much trouble.
For everyone else, you need to plop yourself down in a chair next to this man at the $2018 Challenge and have a chat. Great guy. Great way to spend a couple hours. Glad he'll be there again.
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to wndopdlr :
I'm happy to know you're here, even if it's just looking over our shoulders to make sure we're not getting into too much trouble.
For everyone else, you need to plop yourself down in a chair next to this man at the $2018 Challenge and have a chat. Great guy. Great way to spend a couple hours. Glad he'll be there again.
that was one of the most amazing discussions i have ever been a part of, and i felt honored to be in the audience.
on a project note: i have googled my butt off for the last week, and am finally starting to get some good grips on the fabrication and execution of this. as well as the late 660 engines. turns out that the 3500 parts i picked up are from the first of the VVT engines, and therefore not able to be used. so ill need to return them for store credit when i get back into town.
additionally, this will not be anywhere near as simple as i initially thought. theres going to be major crossmember surgery due to the oil pan being integral on the 3400 and having crossbolted mains. to properly swap the intake 180 degrees, all the rwd accessories need to be swapped in for the fwd stuff. however, ive found references that just the upper intake can be flipped and prevent half the issues, but no actual pictures or how tos. so no guarantee that its actually possible. there will need to be some flanges and wings and protrusions cut out in the engine bay for clearance. PPF will need dealt with due to the camaro trans not actually using the torque arm in the same manner, and concerns about stress on the t5 in that manner. cooling may be troublesome as well, though i found an LFX swap thread where they angled the radiator, stuffed a bigger radiator in, and vented the hood.
so, areas of research that need to continue at this time (y'all are welcome to play along at home and post links to informative stuff, or personal experience)
1. additional chassis bracing and rigidity mods on challenge budget
2. cooling upgrades, preferably bigger radiators and mounted in was to provide more space for intercooler and turbo
3. PPF/rear end shennannigans
4. crossmember mods for clearance and strength.
Google C10 SWB conversion. use that concept for shortening the PPF, or use come conglomeration of the PPF and Torque arm. Same concept just vastly different executions. IMO Mazda did it better. Stamped torque arm just always felt flimsy.
ShawneeCreek said:I'm loving this project and excited to see it progress.
I know you mentioned getting the largest intercooler you can fit. I've got one of these Volvo intercoolers laying around the garage. I originally got it for the BMW, but made an air-to-water intercooler instead. It definitely fits the bill of "large". Interested?
Those make FANTASTIC 4cyl miata aftercoolers. Someone used one of those years ago for a miata, and the plumbing was awesome, straight shot to the TB, and I want to say a straight shot after a 90 from the turbo.
I think if you have to butcher the thrans x-member, the ppf, *and* are already considering butterfly braces... that you take a step back...
i'd reckon this about the time the nelsons' math breaks in.
you're gonna need to add a cage, a trans support, cross braces, and rear-torque stiffening. So, probably best to plan all of those out so they work together. Less "fab" work... but more importantly: less metal... which is both less weight and less budget.
sleepyhead said:I think if you have to butcher the thrans x-member, the ppf, *and* are already considering butterfly braces... that you take a step back...
i'd reckon this about the time the nelsons' math breaks in.
you're gonna need to add a cage, a trans support, cross braces, and rear-torque stiffening. So, probably best to plan all of those out so they work together. Less "fab" work... but more importantly: less metal... which is both less weight and less budget.
Good call. Time for more research....
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