Speedie Jr. update

[MadMerv]

It's now been about four months since my last Miata acquisition, a red 92 base with hardtop and 69K miles. The rear damage from the telephone pole has now been replaced, thanks to the "Miata porch ART" doner, and it looks almost normal! There is a slight droop in the left fender, but thats all aft of the subframe mounting, so should not impact the integrity of the important stuff. The car is gutted from the firewall, back, just about ready for the roll cage fabrication, which should begin just as soon as I get the mounting plates. I'm tempted to drop the front subframe, suspension, engine, and tranny as an assembly so I just have the shell to work with. Haven't ever tried this, so it should be interesting...... Wish I had a hoist on a trolley to move things around :)

[black roadster]

Sweet!

Aren't the NB Miatas allowed in Spec now? How competitive are they compared to a lighter NA 1.6L?

[fwMiata]

iirc not very, the 1.6l is the fastest one. they regulate the others down too much.

[Treibenschnell]

They use intake restrictor plates?

[Titus]

They use intake restrictor plates?

I believe so... all 1.8s have to... not just the NBs.

[MadMerv]

94-95 gets a 47mm restrictor
96-97 (OBDII) gets a 45
NB gets a 41, or 39 in PRO
I thought about an NB, but too expensive and I have all these NA spares lying around..... :) Not enough info on the NB yet, but they seem to be pretty quick even with the smaller restrictors.

[Sharpie]

That's awesome Merv, can't wait to hear your race stories again! <insert rainman voice, "you're a very good driver" rainman voice off>

[MadMerv]

Turns out it is much simpler to drop the front subframe/engine/tranny out the bottom, as a unit, compared to pulling the engine/tranny from the top and still having to remove all the old suspension. Several connectors were difficult to get at until the body was raised a bit, but they are now free, as are the brake lines and A/C lines.

Now I have to figure out the best way to move the monster out of the way so I can lower the body back on to the lift........ I will probably separate everything since it is so eazy to get to everything with it out in the open.

[Treibenschnell]

[MadMerv]

Whatever........

[Treibenschnell]

Whatever........

Easy MadMerv, I'm just ribbing ya...

Truth be told, I'm rather envious... I wish I had the time and space to do the same.

[Kestrel]

Easy MadMerv, I'm just ribbing ya...

Truth be told, I'm rather envious... I wish I had the time and space to do the same.

Ditto, except with me you'd have to add "ability" to that sentence... as in "I wish I had the time, space and ability to do the same".

[Titus]

Ditto, except with me you'd have to add "ability" to that sentence... as in "I wish I had the time, space and ability to do the same".

Ahh yes... the illusive “ability”. I fear that even if I could overcome time and space constraints, I am too far off from ever having the ability needed to feel comfortable enough to actually do it.

[MadMerv]

I do have some really INTERESTING pictures.....but they're still in the camera. A few of them add new meaning to the term "Flying Miata" Last evening, I raised the body up and out of the way of the subfrrame assembly so that I could start disassembling it. It's amazing how easy it is to separate the tranny from the engine, removing the starter, exhaust, etc. when you have 360 degree access. In about ninety minutes, it was all apart, moved off of the lift, and the body lowered back on to the lift. Now, all I need to do is tie it down, level the whole thing, and start cage construction. I'm actually going to build two complete cages so that I will have templates for building more later on. I've come up with a design that I think will be stronger and safer than any that I have seen to date. If only I knew how to weld!!!!!!!

[Treibenschnell]

Hey Merv, in Spec, the car doesn't have to have a hardtop, correct? If I read the rules right, if the driver wears hand restraints without having a hardtop, the car is still legal right?

The reason I ask is this: I've always wondered if the rear bar of the roll cage can extend just a bit taller than the top of the windshield for taller drivers...

[MadMerv]

Hey Merv, in Spec, the car doesn't have to have a hardtop, correct? If I read the rules right, if the driver wears hand restraints without having a hardtop, the car is still legal right?

The reason I ask is this: I've always wondered if the rear bar of the roll cage can extend just a bit taller than the top of the windshield for taller drivers...

I'm not sure if the rules will still allow an open cockpit next year when the class goes National, but you can certainly put a roll bar in that is taller. It just keeps you from ever having the top up! The Japanese Miata racecars have a "spec" cage, and it is taller. The way most get around that now is to mount the seat directly to the floor. Ther are several 6'2"+ drivers that do that without any problems.......