27 replies to this topic

[Bench Racer]

Dominic, on this site, at Waterford, Gratten or Gingerman introduce yourself to some local MI Spec Miata racers. Use their support however you obtain a Spec Miata. As others have said, there are turds out there. To me one VERY LARGE turd would be a roll cage where my left elbow while driving would hit he left side driver protection/roll cage side tubes that connect to the front & rear hoops. In my Karting days I wore a soft sports elbow pad to keep from whacking my right elbow into the Yamaha 100cc head. Another turd would if the front hoop down tube were to far right where the tube is attached to the floor/inside of rocker panel. Your left foot will be constantly bumping into the lower tube/structure. There are many other items that a seasoned owner/driver will be aware of.

I built my own car & I sure as hell don't want to add up the receipts.

[LarryKing]

These cars aren't as hard to build as some folks would have you believe. In fact Miatas are incredibly easy to work on - very inuitive.

I agree it's probably a wash cost-wise between buying used and building your own. Have a pro build the cage, if you're handy with wrenches the rest is gravy.

[fotostars]

These cars aren't as hard to build as some folks would have you believe. In fact Miatas are incredibly easy to work on - very inuitive.

I agree it's probably a wash cost-wise between buying used and building your own. Have a pro build the cage, if you're handy with wrenches the rest is gravy.

I built mine for ~$11K including $3K for the donor. The only outsourced jobs were the cage, seat bracket and body paint.
A lot of hours in my garage and a very understanding wife
I'm glad I did it that way because I wanted to learn something along the way and I did. I pretty much know every nuts and bolts on the car now!

Bottom line: it depends on what your goal is. If its going racing next month, obviously get a used car. If you're in no rush and like to do work in your garage, it's an interesting journey. It does take away seat time so will clearly push out the day you get a podium finish

[Bigyellowhead53]

Was reading something on seats and it mentiond tht not all seats fit into the miata.. Is this true? I was looking into a sparco Evo or somthing along the lines of that, will that fit into it easily and what mounting hardware does it need? Do I need a floor mount as well as rails and side mounts?
Thanks for you guys help with every thing!

[Bigyellowhead53]

Also If anybody is gettIng rid of a used set of racing seats I might be interested just shoot me a message with a pic and a price
Thanks

[davew]

If you haven't already, buy my book. It will help guide you in what ever direction you end up going.

Figure out your budget. Both dollars and time. When is your first race?

Budget $10k for a good minimal used car purchase. Budget another $1500 for maintenance, upgrades and fitting of the car to you.

To build your own car, budget $8k for parts. Cage, seat, brakes, suspension, tires and wheels, at a minimum.

Then budget your time. First time home builders will spend 250-300 hours in the garage. If you work 2 hours every week day evening and 8 hours Saturday and Sunday that is only 26 hours a week. If you can be that disceplined it will take you 10 weeks at a minimum. Most people have other things to do.and will not keep that strict of a schedule. An honest realistic schedule is 4 months of dedictaed work in the garage.

Now be honest with yourself. Do I have $10k-$20k-$30k to spend right now on a new or used car? Do I have $8k to buy all the parts plus another $3k to buy a donor today? Am I going to do a slooow build with only $1k per month to spend? Do I have the mechanical abilities to complete the build process? Can I weld? Can I do paint/body work? When do I want to race,? Next week? Next month? next year? How competitive do I want to be?

No doubt, there is a HUGE satisfaction in building the car yourself. But setting realistic goals and a budget will help greatly.

Dave

[dstevens]

Criag was forced to say just under $500 because of its Chump status. I have sold cars in much worse condition for over $1,500. Look hard and you can find a 99 for about 2 to 2.5 K. If they say it got hot, it means engine is toast.

I got a pretty beat 90 and a hardtop for $1200. Time to get the donor to my standards has been one of the things that slowed me down not counting the external life factors. I should have bought a better donor. The Miata was the 4th car I'd built (or rebuilt) so to the new builder a build can be daunting. Tom Hampton's blog and mine detail what goes into an SM build for someone new to the class. Tom had never built any sort of race car before and did a damn fine job. It boils down to if you have the time, tools, space and mechanical ability to do the build.

For the OP, buy Wheeler's book. Today.

[Tom Hampton]

I got a pretty beat 90 and a hardtop for $1200. Time to get the donor to my standards has been one of the things that slowed me down not counting the external life factors. I should have bought a better donor. The Miata was the 4th car I'd built (or rebuilt) so to the new builder a build can be daunting. Tom Hampton's blog and mine detail what goes into an SM build for someone new to the class. Tom had never built any sort of race car before and did a damn fine job. It boils down to if you have the time, tools, space and mechanical ability to do the build.

For the OP, buy Wheeler's book. Today.

Blush....gee thanks Dave. Always more to do, and life has gotten in the way this year for sure! Sadly, my blog has been as stagnant as my car.

As always, Dave Wheeler is dead on. I bought my donor for $1200 22 months ago. I've been on the track with it for the last 10 months....as I continue to do non-rolling updates.

It has been very rewarding building the car myself. It might have been my first racecar, but I build my first car when I was 13...the only thing that was TRULY new was the roll cage.