The Manic Miata

This is the Manic Miata. It's a 1996 base car that belonged to a guy who was an amateur enthusiast mechanic and ceaseless tinkerer. He built it as a general track day toy and fun street car. As such it was a constant work in progress and is a bit, errr, cobbled for lack of a better word. I probably paid more than I could have for it but nothing like what he had in it. It has zero rust and is overall straight with a few dings here and there.

As it is now, below. Photo album link - click first image.

As purchased, August 2010:

Engine bay, August 2010:

The big issue, as you can see here, centers around the engine bay. It's a crowded mess, and unfortunately, with the demise of the PO, I don't have a ready source of "WTF is this?" answers.

It also makes even routine maintenance a serious PITA. For instance, it just developed a hydraulic issue in the clutch. I'm sure it's the slave cylinder, which should be easy, and probably won't be too hard to get to, though I'll probably have to remove all the intercooler piping to get to it. BUT: while I'm doing that, I should replace the clutch master and the weird coiled / soft line bit as well. But I have almost zero access to the firewall thanks to the blower, which is a PITA to remove.

It's an FM cool-side Whipple blower kit with an intercooler. It has a Racing Beat (I believe) header and high-flow cat, but no downstream O2 sensor. The EGR system has been deleted. There's a coolant reroute under the blower.

Engine management is via an FM-sourced Link ECU located in an OE ECM housing behind the passenger seat. There's a wideband O2 sensor with a small control box located on the inner fender next to the master cylinder, where the boost gauge sensor is also located.

There is an assload of vacuum tubing running everywhere. Unfortunately I don't know enough about what each line does to know if it is as it should be, or if it can be improved.

Same goes for wiring in general. The PO was kind of a "Point A to Point B" kind of guy. Some of this wiring could even be abandoned, for all I know... but I unfortunately don't know much.

For reasons unknown, there's a small relay / fuse block located over the passenger side shock top. There are a set of added driving lights wired to operate as DRLs, and a high-output set of Moss low-profile dual headlights. I assume this block carries the heavier lighting wiring and relays for the higher wattage lighting. There are also a set of FIAMM horns which are probably wired through that block as well. This all functions but A) it's a mess, B) it's blocking access to the shock adjuster, and C) it's not in a sealed enclosure.

The car actually runs strong and is remarkably reliable, considering. The problem is I don't have confidence in my control over the underhood situation. I don't like driving a mystery box with a million potential failure points, even though it has served me well so far.

Overriding all this: it's a 1996 car, which in Delaware requires a plug-in OBD-II test. The car is nowhere near OBD-II compliant. Getting it through inspection every other year is a hurdle. So far I have that handled, but it won't last forever. Given that the car is a 1996, that requirement won't age away.

My skills, resources, and workspace are all limited. I don't have a lift, and this car benefits greatly from one. I can't make whole weekends of garage time without rearranging my life.

My priorities are thus:

1. Gain a better understanding of what's going on under there.
2. Improve the quality of the organization and workmanship of wiring and plumbing.
3. Reduce the uncertainty of getting the car through OBD-II inspections.
4. Long term goal - modernize the ECU and improve tune.

So here I am, at mazdeuce's suggestion, to get advice, knowledge, and moral support from the project car gurus. Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Good news: The PO already replaced the clutch master and installed a braided hose to the clutch slave. That means I can just replace the slave and bleed it.

Bad news: I just read the GRM article about rewiring Curmudgeon's Miata. Now, instead of being nervous, I'm frankly terrified - particularly after looking at the pictures. I'll need a ton of knowledgeable help.

randman2011 wrote: I think you'd need to run the stock ECU in parallel just to have something to communicate with the scanner over OBD2.

Is that possible..? I've heard talk about doing that, and it sounds like the way to go. Basically let the OE ECU think it's doing something, when really it's just monitoring. Dunno about A) the logistics of that, or B) the legality.

BAH.  It's never berking nothing.

Got my brake light issue sorted and working fine.  Drove the Miata today (55dF), turned on the heat, and arrived at work to find the driver's footwell wet.

BERK.

I think you'd know this, but note that unless you have changed something from factory, turning the heat on or off does not affect flow through the heater core.  It's going to keep leaking no matter what :(

Yeah, I know.  I'll have to bypass it.  Autocross tomorrow, and I still need to finish up administration prep and load all the T&S gear into the van.  BERK.  Everything was going pretty well; I guess something had to break.

At least it's not a hurricane here.  So there's that.  This is minor compared to what others are facing.