11 replies to this topic

[Raymond3457]

Hi all,
My name is Ray and I have a 94 Miata that i bought for my son awhile back. There is something wrong wiith the engine but not sure what and have not had a chance to look at it. It is just sitting under a car cover not doing anything.

I have raced before on dirt oval running a 410 Sprintcar and love all forms of motorsports. I recently work as a corner marshal at the recently re-opened Memphis International Raceway durning an event put on by the Porche group. Well, I was really enjoying it as have really been wanting to get back into racing but didnt want to spend every dollar I had on it. (again!!!) I seen this really nice silver miata with flourecnt green wheels and trim really taking the corners and OMG it looked like a blast!!!

Well... Needless to say I have put 2 and 2 together. (Idle willing Miata + ready owner) did alittle research and found the NASA cite, talked with Mike Taylor and he lead me here!

I need alot of information on everything! I want to turn my Miata into a spec Miata racecar. Cage, motor, trans, parts, etc I guess I am asking for help.

Thanks,
Ray

[Tom Hampton]

Welcome Ray. A few things:

1. Get a rulebook. Better, yet get both.
2. Someone's going to tell you that buying an already built car is cheaper. It is, and it definately takes less time. Decide what your goals are.
3. If you're still reading, get Dave Wheeler's Spec Miata Constructor's Manual (http://www.advanced-...&products_id=42)
4. There are a few of us who are blogging our builds. Read them....mine's in my signature. Its as accurate of a picture as I can tell about what it takes.
5. Read everything you can in the garage section here and at specmiata.com. This site is only about 6 months old. The other site has 10 years of archives.
6. You've already done this...but, go to the track and meet current drivers.
7. Rent one, two, or several. There are lots of places that rent SpecMiata racecars for track-days, HPDE, and even races. I paid between $300-$500 per day.

[Motor City Hamilton]

I built my own - a 94 with a blown engine. Is my second car in SCCA after 4 years of a Honda Civic in ITC. Figured that if I bought someone elses ride, I would have torn it down anyway and replaced a bunch of stuff. Plus, I'm 6'4" tall, so finding an already done cage and seat to fit me was nearly impossible. I spent around $12,000, car, hard top, cage, custom aluminum seat, crate motor and all of the go fast parts that I could afford. Did the work myself (except for cage) because I have been wrenching on cars and race cars most of my life (dad and cousin raced dirt oval).

You need to evaluate your goals. Are you planning to race regions or make a run at being a national contender. My wallet and time doesn't allow for me to chase the national desires, so I'm pretty comfortable being a good running regional guy. One good thing about SM is that there is currently room for both types of racer in the class. Remember that the balance on this site are more hard core national people, but there are still enough of us regional only guys here to give you the other perspective.

What I did.
Read, read and re-read the rule book (and you'll still have questions). My oval buddies laugh when they see how big our rule book is.
Found car with no rust and blown motor. Happened to be a 1994.
Found hard top on craigslist and spent more on that than I did the whole car.
Hired race shop to do my cage. Safer. They had experience having done 11 Miatas before mine. They knew exactly what to do to make a "tall guy" cage. Ordered a custom fit aluminum seat from Ultrashield.
Stripped the car myself.
Bought the Advanced Autosports build guide for around $20. So many great tips in there. How to run the cut off wiring, where to mount the door handles, starting points for the springs, toe and camber. Worth the money.
Ordered as much as I could from the vendors who support this site. Thought they'd be valuable resources later. Always good at sharing advice.
Got signed up with Mazdaspeed for the discount on stock parts.
Bought a crate motor from Mazdaspeed for like $2,200 bucks.
Found a local Miata racer who was good for advice and a little wrenching (thanks again Dave Lewis).
Ordered rims and tires.
Built, setup and went racing.
Worried about getting fast in year(s) two, three and now four. Going through the car now to replace wearing stuff and find some speed.

Welcome to the obsession.

[Tom Hampton]

I'm totally on the MCH path, just a little closer to the starting line. I've done most of everything right up to the crate motor step. 'Tis fun, started last October.

[dstevens]

Time to build is the big factor for me. I'm productive when I'm out there, I just haven't been able to get out there as much as I'd like. A +1 on Wheeler's book. It will be the best 20 bucks you've spent and give you an idea of what goes into a build, though it's not a step by step. Tom's blog is more of a step by step. If you've been running 410 winged sprints you'll do well in SM. It's not as cheap as it used to be. Once the class became national it did what most other classes do, get ultra competitive at the top end and costs rose accordingly. One big difference between club sports car racing and circle track (aside from the purse), is the cost of the entry. Most circle tracks you buy a pit pass and you're good to go, 30-50 bucks. Club sports car racing is 300-400 an event weekend for your entry. Club racing doesn't have the same kind of sponsorship or front gate and most of the time is renting the facility.

[Raymond3457]

I have ordered the book! I am so excited and can't wait to get it I feel like a kid at christmas!!! I have been reading the rule books and looking at blogs! Thanks for all your guidance thus far guys!

[john mueller]

I have ordered the book! I am so excited and can't wait to get it I feel like a kid at christmas!!! I have been reading the rule books and looking at blogs! Thanks for all your guidance thus far guys!

I know how ya feel, I was the same way. Feel free to drop me a email if you have any NASA specific related questions but if you build for either you should be fine, only a few minor differences.

[Tom Hampton]

I have ordered the book! I am so excited and can't wait to get it I feel like a kid at christmas!!! I have been reading the rule books and looking at blogs! Thanks for all your guidance thus far guys!

Just the book? How the heck did you manage that? Are you sure you're hooked?

His site is like what I imagine a crack dealer's web site would be like to resist! I don't know what to do with a site like Dave's that is: "Here's practically everything you need to build a SpecMiata. Buy as much as you like."

Plus, Dave has such a good job selecting only top quality parts, and his own custom offerings are top notch, too. You can practically just randomly click 7 things and everything will be something that you will need, and the version of it that you want. How am I supposed to resist just handing over my 401k in exchange for 1 (or 4) of everything? I can't go onto Dave's site without ordering at least $200 worth of stuff. And there have been a couple orders that have had 4 digits on the left.

At this point, I justify it by saying that I'm keeping the shipping costs down to a resonable percentage of the total purchase.

Even when I ordered the book, I ordered like 6 others at the same time. Seriously, one book...that's way too much self-control in my book!!

[dstevens]

He has a package called "Spec Miata in the Box". The base config is a starter kit that gets all the parts to get a book compliant car. You can pick and choose your upgrades from there.

http://www.advanced-..._miata_in_a_box

If you think you are going to start building soon, join Mazdaspeed. Good factory parts prices on most things and they are great supporters of the class. They'll give you a year to build the car then you need to show two races a year to keep your membership active. It's free, all you do is send them a picture of your car. The gang at Mazdaspeed rocks.

http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/

I've spent the most at Mazdaspeed, then NAPA, then other bits all around, some with Wheeler, some with Saferacer and a few others on the site. I have enough of the non Miata specific items, built my own cage (though not exactly pleased with the headroom, may get a kit instead of redesigning), had AIM data previously, a seat and most of the safety bits. I have some stream of conscious thoughts I post at the link in the sig, though at times more about the tools and process rather than the actual car. I just added AC TIG to my welding shop and while I was telling my wife what a great deal I got, all she could say is "are you going to finish that car and get it on the track anytime soon?"

[davew]

Thanks for all the kind words. I use everything I sell in the shop and/or on my personal cars. I really need to get one of them running;-))))

For anybody out there looking for a good starter car; I have a customer who has not raced in 2 years and does not plan on racing in the next couple due to work/family commitments. The car is a 1.6 that we have maintained the last 4 years. We did not build the car. AUtopower cage with some extra bars, kirkey seat, older AIM mychron data, fire system, camera mount.

Could use some TLC and updates. But a good solid car. Can't buy the parts for the $7500 he wants for it. I'll get some pix and an ad put in the classified in the next day or so.

Dave

[Raymond3457]

I want to say thanks for all the info. I have read the about 10 times, have a close friend of mine looking for a donor!! (it's contagious) I will start the tear down here in the next few day. Need to sell a hand routed slot car track I built. Then it is in both feet first!!

[Mark Zwolle]

Welcome to the most fun racing you will ever have...

You're in a pretty good town for support, there are a couple of great resources in the Memphis area.

Of course Jim Drago at Eaststreet, Jim buys every Miata he can find at auctions and builds some of the best SM's around. He was huge in helping me build my car.

And Mike Hoover at Fab-Auto, Mike is awsome for most build help, bushings, bearings Etc... And he is the man when it comes to Trans and Diff work...

Check out you PM for their contact info.


Having driven Memphis a few times let me tell you it is even better than you think... Get that car doen and get to Barber, Road Atlanta and Hallett - they are all easy drives from the Memphis area and are some of the best tracks...


Mark Zwolle