20 replies to this topic

[exninja]

Hi Everyone! I just created an account and thought I'd introduce myself. My name's Eric from Arizona and I'm a Mechanical Engineer. My family's always enjoyed cars and racing, and I'm no exception. I bought an Integra (awesome car) when I started college and later thought that I'd eventually turn that into a track car. When I graduated college three years ago I bought myself an '09 Cobalt SS (awesomer car). I gave wifey the integra to drive since her older car was falling apart. I now graduated with my master's and have a good job so we bought a Tiguan (still evaluating) for the wife cuz she wanted something bigger. That freed up the Integra. I went to my first track day with ProAutoSports in January, where my uncle tracks a street car uncompetitively. They have a small group of "Street Stock Miatas" which my instructor happened to lead. That was my first passive intro to SM. Now that building a track car was actually doable, I thought about it and it seemed that selling the Integra would be the best move since it had leather, a moon roof, working A/C, etc. I figured I could buy something else that didn't have the bells and whistles that I'd end up tossing or selling and use the excess to buy performance parts. After looking around I think that going with a Miata would be the best option. So here I am!

The benefits that I see for going into SM are that I can race the same car in 2-3 organizations with good parity. I don't expect to become a contender for any championships or anything, but I want to be able to have scheduling options. Everything I've read says that SM is the cheapest route to get into w2w racing.

My plan is to buy a car and build up to a Spec Miata over time. I only have the one driving class at ProAutoSports under my belt so I'll need to spend some time warning a license. I figure I can get a Miata and put the SM suspension in and start driving that in HPDE events while building up the car. I want to build my own because that's half the fun and I want to buy the car over time.

Where did you find your donor cars? I'd like to buy one with an engine that still has some life in it so that I can just swap out the suspension and go. Seems like people are very proud of their Miatas on Craigslist right now compared to the KBB.

I look forward to spending plenty of time here. Yes, I'll find Dave Wheeler's book;)

[Tom Hampton]

Welcome.

Craigs list is where I bought mine.

[James York]

Welcome,

A lot of people constantly watch craigslist, classified and internet retail pages for that donor you seek. Sometimes you can get lucky. Another option is to find someone with a dealer license that can watch the auto auctions. Like you have seen, some people really like their cars so finding something you want may take some time and patience.

You may also check the classifieds here. While you don't get the satisfaction or learning of building the car yourself, you might find a ride for less than you could do it yourself.

[exninja]

I got a car! It's a '91.


There's plenty of maintenance to do on it, but it runs so I'm happy with it. It needs motor mounts for sure, which brings up a question:

I've seen a post that quoted the GCR that the Mazdaspeed motor mounts are allowed specifically, but I do not see that now. Are they no longer allowed, or do they count as offered for sale by Mazda so they are legal per the third paragraph of section C in 9.1.8? Thanks!

[exninja]

I've been doing a little to the car since I've gotten it. Pretty slow since I don't have a large amount of time. I've started by doing the normal maintenance that I have to assume hasn't been done.

Looks like for the most part my assumption is correct. The timing belt was tearing on the motor side, must have been rubbing on something. the water pump actually doesn't look TOO bad...

But it gets replaced anyways. When I was taking the rad out I just barely touched a water hose and this happened:

So I bought a new Thermostat housing. I figured by the nasty vibrations on the drive home that the motor mounts were shot.

Replaced those yesterday. That's all for now.

[William Bonsell]

Welcome and nice to know you will not have to deal with the type of weather we deal with in the Pacific Northwest. I will take exception with one comment you made and that pertains to SM being the cheapest route to W2W racing. That is hardly accurate. There are numerous cars which can be had for under $5K that you can race immediately...RX7's, Dodge Neons, VW Rabbits, and even an Acura Integra. As my son went the route you are apparently going to go and build your own Spec Miata, be prepared to spend upwards of $12,000 minimum to get a reliable, safe mid pack car. I suspect his total build cost including wheels, tires, safety equipment, etc is close to $15,000 including the $2500 donor car with 83K on the odometer and a hardtop.

And of course there are a number of SM's for sale in the $8,000-12,000 that would serve a new regional racer well. That is the route I went. Don't worry about all the go fast stuff right off the bat. There is no substitute for seat time. The art of learning how to drive these very capable race cars takes time and is much more important that whether someone next to you has a few more hp.

Good luck and, above all, have fun!!

Bill-

[Todd Tagget]

Welcome!!! You're on the right track, there are a number of us who are just a few months ahead of you...
I don't want to differ with William but you can do a bit cheaper.. I paid $1200 for my donor, $600 for my hardtop,, picked up a spare engine/tranny for $350..
I'm still well under $10k on my project...

[Alberto]

Nice. Looks like the typical donor car.

Keep the progress going.

[Stephanie Andersen]

Don't forget to get that thing out and get some lap times, even if it is just autocross. The parts support that Mazda gives us is great, you need two sets of race results per season to get the nice discount.

[Michael Colangelo]

I will take exception with one comment you made and that pertains to SM being the cheapest route to W2W racing. That is hardly accurate. There are numerous cars which can be had for under $5K that you can race immediately...RX7's, Dodge Neons, VW Rabbits, and even an Acura Integra.

+1

Spec Miatas are great cars and make for good racing, but race ready and competitive ITA cars can be bought much cheaper than a comparable Spec Miata. Mid-pack ITA car: $5k-$6k, mid-pack SM: $8k-10k.

I currently own a Spec Miata and a Honda Civic ITA car, so I've got both ends covered.

In any case, welcome and good luck!

[exninja]

She's running again. I buttoned everything up from the TB/gasket replacements. I also found this guy stuffed in the intake when I was putting it back together:

I didn't know people actually bought those things.

[exninja]

Hey everyone!  It's been a while since my last update.  I have to confess, much of the reason that I bought the Miata when I did is because our first baby was on the way and if I didn't get the car then, who knows if I'd ever get it!

 

Anyways, since the last update it passed emissions and I drove it once in a while.  It didn't start once, which I attributed to a weak battery at the time.  Coincidentally I charged the battery and it started the next time I tried.  But then it refused to start again so I've parked it since.  I'm going to try cleaning the ignition switch first.

 

I've also been rethinking what I want to do with the car.  I'm straying away from the SM route and going towards building an Exomotive Exocet.  I'm thinking that this is more of the kind of build that I want to do, and the final product that I want to have.  It'll still be a Mazda-powered racer so it qualifies for the site, right????  I also made a GoFundMe page to try to get random people to just throw their money at me.  I figure that if people will give money to lazy 21-year-olds to play video games and buy beer then they'll also give money to a reasonably successful mechanical engineer to build a tube frame car.  Perfectly reasonable in my head.  Link is in my signature:)

[Ron Alan]

Old thread...to bad you didnt revive it a month ago! There was a exocet chassis in the bay area for months and the guy finally  gave it away practically. It was built and running with a 99 motor i believe minus the body parts(installed)for $6k. He had no takers, His last advertised price was $2000 for the frame.

[exninja]

Old thread...to bad you didnt revive it a month ago! There was a exocet chassis in the bay area for months and the guy finally  gave it away practically. It was built and running with a 99 motor i believe minus the body parts(installed). My guess is he finally sold it for $3-$4k?

 

Efffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

 

If anyone out there sees something similar come up somewhere and that thought of "seems like someone I know might want one of these..." then that person is me and maybe you'll remember to point me that way:)

 

I've got quite a while (I figure 18 months-2 years) before I come up with all of the money for this.  Lots of honeydo's around the house that this has to compete with, not the least of which is a yard landscape revamp:(

[Ron Alan]

Went back and looked at the thread...edited my first post

[exninja]

Thought it would be fun to update this.

The Miata pretty much just sat in the garage for four years.  I started it every so often, including a trip from the old house to the new house we bought 7 miles away.  I saved money.  A "cheap" frame never showed up on my radar, and demand seems to have gone up over time, so I bought a new Exocet frame early this year.

One of the Miata starts was to move it out of the garage while I cleaned and organized the garage for the pending car build.  I left the Miata running out on the street for 20-30 minutes, just because.  I noticed some clouds coming from the engine bay, and then noticed that the fan was not functioning.  All of the coolant was gone.  Eff.  I filled it up with water, hoped that it would start (it did) then put it back in the garage.  I decided I wasn't going to deal with this engine anymore.  The water jacket was filled with rust and this overheat may have warped the head.  Done-zo.

Just after this I saw someone's progress on an Exocet on Facebook where they had put an LE5 Ecotec engine into theirs.  I was intrigued because my daily is a Cobalt SS running a turbocharged Ecotec, so I know the platform well.  I looked into it and an outfit in Canadia sells a Ecotec swap kit for Miatas that would make my life pretty easy.  So 60 moar HP + familiar engine + no weight penalty = go time.  I ordered the kit (which arrived a couple weeks ago).  I sourced an engine on ebay and have been preparing the car ever since. 

I tried to add some piktars but it wouldn't let me link Google photos, so if you'd like to see progress you can browse my build thread here: https://www.cobaltss...-thread-325770/


 

[Ron Alan]

Funny when people revive old threads...you dont always catch the date...then you see something you posted and what??? Ohh...5 years ago

 

But small world...I have built 3 Ecotec Miatas...all with Matt's kits. New parts are certainly better than the first versions. Well worth every penny to also buy the harness and ECU he now sells. That motor in a Exocet chassis will be a screamer! BTW...I have an extra exhaust manifold I ended up with if you are interested...this...

 

https://www.redline3...ader-1320-PS-HD

[exninja]

Three? I think you have a problem

I got the racer kit since I don't need heater hoses.  Just need to fab some tstat spacers.  I know people say to get their harness but i'm cheap and I'm just going to plug through it.  The engine came with the harness so the price was right.

Sent a PM about the header, I am interested.

[OrangeCrush86]

6+ years? Good luck with your build but I'll give my internet two cents. Just buy something that's finished, otherwise we will see this post bumped in 2024. Don't give up 12 years of seat time to a pile of parts collecting dust in the garage.

[luvin_the_rings]

I agree with Orange Crush.  For me the payout is the fun on track, not the anticipation and all the headache and money spent getting it there.  

 

Plus once I get it there, I realize I've been obsessing over minute details that are hugely overshadowed by my lack of driving experience.  

 

Like you may have turned the same lap time in your 4 year old bone stock Miata.  

 

Not trying to be a dick, this is what happened to me.  

 

I always always always obsess over details that don't matter once I drive off the track at Turn 3. 

 

Fastest path to testing is always the fastest path to success IMO. 

 

If I can turn 5 laps all within 0.5 sec of each other, then it's time to think about power adders and stuff.  But until then, all the money is better spent on the nut behind the steering wheel, or the loose screw between the ears.