Flyin' Miata : Projects: Igor

March 3, 2010 - Meet Igor.
He came to us as a salvage car, but was too good to strip down so he was turned into an FM project car. As you can see, we had to replace a few bits and pieces to put him back together. Thus the name. He's got around 74,000 miles on the clock and a nice solid-feeling chassis.
Most of our project cars are full of one-off or exotic pieces. This is good because it allows us to develop new parts and investigate different possibilities. But with Igor, we're going to take a different tack. He's going to be built with off-the-shelf parts, an example of what our customers can put together out of the FM catalog. We're going to leave the engine internals stock as well, so everything will be a bolt-on.
The plan is to have Igor at the big event at Laguna Seca in April. That means we have a bit over a month.
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March 3, 2010 - It'll all fit.
Honest.
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March 3, 2010 - The first modification for Igor is a roll bar.
Well, not the first. He's actually running a prototype catalytic converter right now so we can make sure it plays well with the stock computer. But never mind that.

So, the first modification for Igor is a roll bar. A big thanks to Hard Dog Fabrication for this - it was a contribution to the project from them. The bar is a Hard Core Hard Top, which is the same as a Sport with beefier 1.75" tubing. We also have the formed SFI padding with a nice cover for noggin protection.
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March 3, 2010 - Russ and Bill lift the roll bar into place.
Note the use of Mazda Miata Performance Projects as an install guide - it's the first rollbar Russ has installed. That's a rare first edition, too!
The wheels are temporary. We've had at least three sets on the car by this point as we shuffle various bits and pieces around.
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March 3, 2010 - Almost done with the rollbar.
We just have to fit the plastic panels.
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March 3, 2010 - This might be the first rollbar that Russ has installed, but he's no slouch.
Check out the fit on those panels! That's a lot harder than it looks.
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March 3, 2010 - We've been having some fun with random body panels.
Naturally.
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March 17, 2010 - Time to get to work on the engine bay!
Step 1, remove everything that is not a turbocharger.
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March 17, 2010 - Step 2, install a turbocharger.
This is easy!
We've specified the optional ceramic coating for the manifold, turbine outlet and turbine housing.
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March 17, 2010 - Naturally, we're using our formed stainless steel hard lines for water and oil.
Flexible hoses eventually degrade from the heat. These parts are expected to outlast the car.
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March 19, 2010 - Hey, has anyone seen the transmission?
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March 19, 2010 - Well, since the transmission is out, we might as well put this in.
It's a Level 1 Happy Meal with a 10.3 lb flywheel.
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March 19, 2010 - We found the transmission!
With it back in, we installed the full 3" stainless steel exhaust system. Igor's going to have a nice baritone singing voice.
You can't see it well in this picture, but one of the frame rails is completely pancaked. We have some work ahead of us there.
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March 19, 2010 - Naturally, we installed one of our support brackets on the exhaust system.
This takes a load off the studs holding the turbo to the manifold by supporting the turbo. It's a simple thing, but it's proven to be effective in our testing.
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March 19, 2010 - Because Igor will be seeing much track use - including two days at Laguna Seca in a few weeks - and it's hot around here, we added one of our oil cooler kits. Everything we're installing is right out of our catalog.
No prototypes, no secret parts - it's all stuff customers can do to their own cars. Well, they're in the next issue of the catalog anyhow...
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March 19, 2010 - It's not all shiny new stuff for Igor, though.
He's still a used car that's had a rough life, so we decided to do a quick timing belt change. Good thing, too - look at how loose that belt is!
The intake manifold is apart so that we can install new injectors.
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March 19, 2010 - Igor sure isn't pretty underneath.
When the rear subframe brace was removed at some time in the past, two of the six bolts snapped. More work is ahead to solve this problem.
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March 22, 2010 - Looks as if we replaced that water pump just in time.
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March 22, 2010 - With the maintenance complete, it's time to keep going on building up Igor's muscles.
You can see the hard lines for the turbo system in this photo, and the thermostat neck has been removed due to the upcoming coolant reroute. A bit of spray paint makes all the difference to that valve cover, too!
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March 24, 2010 - Igor is starting to look a little healthier, with most of his FMII installed.
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