Mike's 2002 V8

A final portrait.

Wed, 19 May 2010 19:34:09 -0400

We brought Mike's car down to the Miatas in Moab event where it was a big hit. The trucking company will be picking it up shortly to take back home to him.
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It's not the prettiest picture, but the car is now wearing its new boots!

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:41:47 -0400

We'll get the car outside when it stops snowing (!) and get some better shots.

Voila, the new tires are on new TR Motorsport C3 wheels.

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:33:21 -0400

That's a 15x9 size. We'll have photos of the wheels on the car shortly.

As you might have noticed in the last update, the car is currently wearing a set of stock 15" wheels.

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:15:53 -0400

To make things more interesting, the tire selection on those wheels is cleverly mixed. Is this to fine-tune the handling for a particular track, or simply an indication of a car that got whatever tires were handy? It should be noted that Mike did not own the car long before sending it to us, so the unusual setup choices were not his.
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Now that is a sleeper.

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:20:17 -0400

Yes, there are some better wheels and tires on the way!

And voila!

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:17:16 -0400

The compleat V8 Miata. Those with sharp eyes and a high level of attention to detail will notice that we used the same, longer intake on this car that we've also used on the 1990-97 models instead of the shorter one found on previous 1999-05 builds. It's not required for packaging, but we found a good gain in both power and torque with this extended intake - more than enough to compensate for the addition of catalytic converters. It's standard on all of our builds now.

It sure looks happy in there, doesn't it?

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:29:43 -0400

When Keith went to Laguna Seca, he took his camera with him.

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:29:22 -0400

That's why there weren't any updates for a while! In the meantime, work continued on the car. The radiator is in place, and we're just waiting for one of the fans to arrive so we can install it in our shroud. We have a special fan setup for the V8 cars to give extra clearance.

In order to maximize the braking capability of the car, we've installed one of our adjustable proportioning valves.

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:23:10 -0400

If you've ever tried to install a Deuce, you know how hard it is to cut the carpet well.

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:22:23 -0400

Nobody told Russ it was hard, and this was the result.

The engine bay continues to fill up.

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:21:04 -0400

It looks like we have lots of room between the radiator and the engine, but a set of fans will fill that up in a hurry.

That's some sexy suspension.

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:30:39 -0400

AFCOs, FM big brakes, tubular control arms - and it's all being spun by huge amounts of torque.

The interior is back in, and some of the last wiring is being done.

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:30:02 -0400

This is the interface box that lets us drive the 1999-05 speedometer from the T56 transmission accurately.

As with most of our other V8 builds, we installed a set of Frog Arms to help the front end deal with all that torque.

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:24:57 -0400

Here's a closer look at the front suspension.

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:23:42 -0400

Tubular control arms and an FM big brake kit keep the weight down while improving performance. This is going to be a very nice car when we're done.

Someone installed front suspension on the car!

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:21:57 -0400

And a set of feet, apparently.

More wiring.

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:57:02 -0400

It's not dramatic for the camera, unfortunately.

Aftermarket snakes.

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:36:59 -0400

Most of the underhood wiring is replaced with the GM harness.

Migrating snakes!

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:35:20 -0400

Most of what can be seen here is factory wiring going back in.

Next up: this box of snakes has to go into the car.

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:42:49 -0400

It looks more daunting than it really is.