The Miata experience: his and hers.

mr2s2000elise said:

Talk about living a good retirement ;)

I've been talking about it coming for a while, and now it's real.  As of the end of last week I am officially retired.

 It's going to be a little weird for a while, changing the habits of the last 27 years...  but I think I can get a handle on it.  

In reply to Rodan :

congrats! 

just checked my EVO $55,000 value 

haggerty - $1072/yr

grundy -732/yr

Interesting, when I checked Grundy vs Hagerty on my 996 turbo the quotes were basically the same...

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

Wow.  That's a little more expensive than I would have guessed, but the delta between Hagerty and Grundy is about the same as I was quoted.

Got the BMW tinted today.  Should make summertime much more tolerable, and it really improves the looks of the car, IMHO.

Power steering parts land tomorrow, but with a track event on Saturday, I probably won't get to it until next week.

In reply to Rodan :

Window tint is a seriously under rated mod.  I have precut tint for the Subaru and I need to get the truck done too.  It makes a huge difference, especially when you have wagon glass! 

Really is such a cool wagon.  I tint all my cars, its just too hot/bright here in Colorado.

I had to run to the dump today with some stuff that wasn't really 'dirty', so I took the BMW.  Mostly because you get a weight in and out, and they charge by weight (if over a minimum number).

So, subtract me, and a couple other miscellaneous items that were in the car and the BMW's weight at half tank is ~3030lbs.  Not bad... it's amazing how porky modern cars have become by comparison.

Spent the morning changing out the power steering lines on the Touring, and then installed an eBay OEM style M3 splitter.

Also got a box from Germany...  brand new, Euro spec fog lights.

Next up will be a cooling system refresh... still assembling a parts list for that.

The parts list is easy, replace everything!  Seriously, do it all.  New fan, fan clutch, radiator, over flow tank, thermostat, thermostat housing, water pump and radiator hoses.  Check the condition of the motor mounts, if they're weak the clutch fan can hit the radiator and explode and put a hole in your brand new radiator.  Don't ask me how I know.  Also buy the S54 M coupe OEM radiator, it's bigger.

My intent is definitely to replace everything... the effort has been to cross-reference part numbers between my Euro 2.0 and the US 2.3-2.8 cars to ensure the parts I can order from the US will fit.  It appears the 2.0L M52 uses the radiator/overflow from the 4 cyl car, but everything on the engine side of the equation is the same as the US 2.8 M52. 

My plan is to convert to US spec on the radiator side, and I'll probably upgrade to an aftermarket aluminum radiator.  I'll look into the E46 M radiator... didn't know that was a bolt-in.  I'd also like to eliminate the mechanical fan... looks like a pretty easy conversion from what I'm reading on the BMW forums.   The consensus there is that the aux fan can carry the load with a different activation point and thermostat.  I can always add an aftermarket e-fan if necessary.

Took the touring down the local mountain road this morning and stopped for some pictures...

Stopped on the way home for a new 'Euro only' gathering put on by the local C&C sponsor.  Pretty good turnout for a first event, in February.

if you ever bring that to So Cal - would love to meet and check it out 

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

SoCal isn't high on my list these days, but I'll definitely reach out if we're headed that way... 

Got in a pile of parts to do the cooling system refresh on the Touring... now I just need a day that isn't going to be miserable to get it done.  Supposed to warm up, so fingers crossed.

Played musical cars so I could get the BMW up on stands in the garage.  Weather is turning nasty this week, but I need to get this job done.  I really need a bigger garage...

New water pump and radiator are in...

Unfortunately, I had thought the overflow tank was going to mount to the radiator, but it mounts to the fan shroud.  So... fan shroud on order and we wait...

Time to catch up a bit...

Got the remaining parts in for the Touring, but first, I had to fix a small QC problem...

The mounting tab for the fan shroud was too long, and blocking the overflow tube.

My dremel made quick work of that problem.

Once that was dealt with, everything went back together pretty easily.

Gotta love that BMW ducts cooling air to the alternator!

So the BMW was back together, with the radiator filled and bled and showing no leaks over the last few days of driving.  But before I can put the Capri back in the work zone, I needed to do a little fabrication project for the RV.

I've been working on a few maintenance items, and I discovered that one of the gas struts for the engine cover at the rear was dead so I ordered replacements.  When I attempted to install them, there was no way I could get them compressed in the installation position.  They're 100lb struts, and difficult to compress even putting my body weight over them! 

I tried the tie down strap method, and it wasn't working at all, so today I fabbed up a jig out of some angle iron and flat stock to hold them at a suitable compressed length for installation.

The method is zip tie the big end into the jig, then stand on the flat stock with the jig vertical.  I use a second piece of angle iron as a 'T' handle on the other end of the strut and push it down until I can slide it into position to be held by the jig.  Then zip tie that end in place.

Now it should be simple to just pop the strut into place and cut the zip ties, then repeat for the other side.  I'll find out if it works tomorrow.

The "strut installation tool" worked perfectly this morning and I was able to install both struts on the engine cover of the RV.

So, back to Miata stuff for a minute...

As we went into the holidays at the end of 2022, I told myself 2023 was the year for power for the NA... the chassis is ready... Suspension:  done.  Brakes: done.  Cage:  done.  Fire system: done.  Seat:  done.  Aero:  done.   And I'm retired now, so there's time to work on it.

Those who have been following the thread know I've collected a bunch of parts for a turbo BP build.  I'm at the point where it was time to drop an engine (I have a spare VVT engine) at a builder, and get my ass in gear.  I was down to deciding between two builders.  But I found myself reluctant to make the decision.  Our goal for the car has never been outright speed, as much as having a fun to drive and dead reliable track car.  I've run it for nearly 6 years without any engine work other than regular maintenance.  More power is absolutely a goal, but I was reluctant to cast off that kind of reliability.   I just couldn't get the nagging thoughts of a naturally aspirated swap out of my head. 

I boiled things down to three candidates a while back:  small Ford V8, GM LFX V6, or Honda K.  Emotionally, I've always loved the idea of the Ford small block... the sound alone would be worth it.  The LFX is a great choice for max performance at 300hp, which many say is the sweet spot for Miata chassis, but it's just as involved as the V8.  The K swap has always been the most rational of the three... an easy swap with a stock (cheap and plentiful) engine that can give 200-220hp at the wheels in a Miata.  All are more expensive up front than a turbo build, but would pay dividends down the road in simplicity and reliability.

The clincher came when I was reading up on NASA rules for 2023... not only did they make fender vents legal for ST/TT4 (in 2022, it bumped you up to ST/TT3), but aftermarket subframes for engine swaps are now legal (with a modifier) as well, as long as they keep the stock suspension geometry.  220 or so horsepower puts me right in the sweet spot for TT4...

So, today I did a thing.  

More to come...

Welcome to spring in the AZ mountains...

42* F in the garage right now... not thinking I'm getting much done on the cars today...

I've been working on the RV lately, trying to get it ready for a race weekend coming up at the end of the month.  There have been a few minor things I've been chasing down (kind of a constant with RVs), and I've also been waiting for the weather to warm up a bit to de-winterize it.  So today we de-winterized, and filled the fresh water and propane tanks.  We also washed it.   I used to think my dually was a big deal to wash... ugh.

Still have a couple of small projects to complete next week, but at least it's clean.

I dislike having to wash my Land Cruiser, I can't imagine washing that thing!

In feb you talked about a swap and now, you have a race weekend??