May 4, 2006:

Just ordered Axxis Ultimate brake pads and Spec Miata rotors yesterday.

Today I ordered Ultra wires, NGK plugs, timing belt kit, fuel filter, Jackson Racing Dual Stage panel filter, oil filter, and a Haynes manual.

All of this goes in on Wednesday the 10th! W00t!

May 23, 2006:

Ordered centering rings for the Kosei and SSR wheels last week, and on Friday I ordered Kumho V710's.

All are here, and she'll be riding on race rubber by week's end.

May 28, 2006:

First autocross on the Kumhos. I won ES class (by default: I was the only competitor)!

June 2, 2006:

Pursuing a lead on used shocks (for $50!). Hey, 18K miles of use is a heck of a lot better than 89K miles of use.

Also considering a trailer hitch for carrying tools & tires.

June 5, 2006:

Ordered the shocks! Now I just need to find some cheap stock springs and replace all the bushings. And replace all the rusted cam-bolts. And lift the engine. And...

June 16, 2006

Autocross this weekend (E-Stock has a couple more competitors this time, so my lock on 1st place isn't assured).

Yesterday I placed an order for a Hard Dog Hard Core (Hard Top) bar. That's a lot of hard. Also put in an order for a 2" Willans 6-point harness and a Voodoo shift knob.

June 18, 2006
Autocross Pictures:

June 30, 2006

All the carpeting has been removed from the trunk and package tray areas, the trim and quarter-panels are out, and the ECU cover has been trimmed. Tomorrow I'm pulling out the fuel-tank cover to trim the package tray, removing the seat belts, and getting the rollbar installed. I am so excited! The only thing I expect to actually be hard is figuring out where to anchor the harness (and how to do it, since it came with no real anchors).

July 9, 2006

Rollbar installed:
Willans 2" cam-lock 6-point harness installed (another one is coming for the passenger side):
Rollbar padded, and camera-mount installed:
The right rear brake caliper needs to be replaced, and the replacement came in on Friday, so hopefully that will get sorted this week.

With the padding installed on the rollbar, the hard-top really doesn't fit very well. I'll need to trim some of it back.

July 13, 2006

Padding modified to fit the roof and clasps. Everything fits nicely now. I pulled up the center console and found the shift boots to be destroyed, so I ordered new ones.

I also have a full set of RedLine fluids coming (hopefully today), and I'm installing that brake caliper tonight.

On a side note, to help pay for some of this stuff, I'm selling everything that isn't of value to me. Gone already are the factory jack and lug wrench.

Gone on Sunday will be those replacement shocks I ordered. I'm no longer legal for E-Stock, so I might as well sell them. Hopefully someone will express interest in the cockpit brace and at least a little bit of the interior carpeting.

July 26, 2006

Hmm... I skipped some stuff. Ok, I ordered the Spec Miata suspension package on the 14th, and it arrived on the 18th. Mr. K and I installed it the following night, and we replaced my crappy brake caliper on the 20th.

On the 21st, she got a 4-wheel alignment: 0 toe and -2 degrees camber all the way around, +4.9 and +5.3 degrees caster at the front (not ideal, but close enough).

On Sunday, I got to drive it for the first time at VIR, and really learned a lot about the car. I learned that while the Falken Azenis RT615's are FABULOUS tires, they're not track tires: we spun off the track once , slid through a braking zone, and nearly spun off a second time.

Everything else about the car was great, except that I definitely need racing seats.

Here's video of the spin (skip to the last 15 seconds):