LATEST UPDATES...

I just drank the 6UL Kool-Aid and picked up a set of Gen II 15x8 wheels in Darth Vader Black. Wrapped around them are 225/45 Hankook RS2s. Details below...

In March, I trekked out to the Miatas @ Laguna Seca event to celebrate 20 years of the Miata. Check back as I will be adding pictures and a writeup of the trip. 4,200 miles and 17 days for 100 minutes on the most legendary race track in the country!

I'm also adding a page for last fall's trip to Miatas @ Hallett in Oklahoma.

LAGUNA SECA '09 PICS AND VIDEO UP!
HALLETT '08 PICS UP!

Below Left: Day One - 93,000 miles

Last Update: 7/31/2009 - 139,000 miles

This is my first Miata, but not my first Mazda. I've owned a string of RX-7s - no less than four 1st gen cars, one 2nd gen, and my dad had a '93 3rd gen - so the Miata seemed like a natural progression. I've also had an assortment of other drivers, including two Camaros and a Mustang (all V8s), and a gray-market '84 BMW 745i. When I started Miata-shopping, I was driving a serviceable but perfectly boring '97 Toyota Camry with 180K miles on the clock. The transmission had started to go south (4th and reverse were intermittent at best), so I sold it as a fixer-upper while it would still move under its own power - leaving me temporarily carless. I looked at several Miatae in Dallas that were either trashed or too expensive (or both) , then I found this one on eBay. After talking at length to the owner, I felt like this was the one I had to have. Anyhow, I bid smart and won the car, drove it back home from Oklahoma on October 4, 2006 and it's been my daily driver since then...

So far I've racked up over 40K fun and trouble-free miles since Day One, including three big road trips to New Mexico, a great track event at Hallett Oklahoma, and an epic road trip to California to run hot laps at Laguna Seca. I've also been known to take a quick errand and turn it into a 5-hour backroad cruise. Of course, it didn't take long to start buying and swapping parts. I hooked up with one of the local Miata clubs in town, which has made finding parts dangerously easy. On the plus side, I've been able to sell or trade just about all the old parts I've taken off, so everybody wins. The car's coming along nicely, but I've still got some more left to do (mainly more power!)...

I've tried to detail as much as possible about the things I've done to the Miata, so enjoy!

MODS & UPGRADES

Hard Top No. 1
The parts-swapping started about a month after I got the car. First order of business was to pick up a hardtop. Originally, the top was Montego Blue, but I had it painted... white. I've seen pictures of old Jags, MGs, and Lotuses (Loti?) with contrasting hardtops - and I wanted that look. I think I nailed it... (but that's just me)

Also, when I took my first road trip in the Miata, the front end got chipped and scratched all to hell, so I had it repainted... and added a factory air-dam... and put the front license plate in the trunk.

Wheels & Tires
Next, I swapped the stock wheels out for a set of Konig Rewinds - they've got the look of the Panasport Minilites, but they're lighter weight and a LOT cheaper. For tires, I settled on the Toyo Proxes 4 - they call it an "all-season" tire, and it's less aggressive than the T1R, but they grip very well on dry pavement and they're great in the rain/snow/mud, etc...

Recently, I upgraded to a set of 225/45 Hankook RS2s wrapped around 15x8 6UL wheels - in matte black. The RS2s have much sharper turn-in and tremendous grip, yet the ride on the street is comparable to my last set of Toyo T1Rs. They do like to follow the grooves in the road, but I think it'll be a small price to pay for the added performance.

Brakes
I upgraded to drilled rotors and Hawk HPS brake pads. They look great and, more importantly, the new setup stops HARD .

This turned out to be an all-day job for me...

The old rotors were a little, um, difficult. I had to beat the snot out them with a hammer to break them loose from the hubs...

New rotors: lookin' good...

Interior
The car came with black leather seats that were in decent shape (right) . They looked nice, but they were hot and made the interior feel even smaller than it already is. I had been thinking about getting the seats recovered and doing a two-tone interior when I ran across a wrecked '95 M-Edition with 41K miles. It took me about 5 seconds to pounce on the seats (and matching door panels) once I saw them. They're a big improvement over the originals - very comfortable, much cooler and they really tie the car together...

Steering Wheel
I installed a MOMO Fighter Zebrano steering wheel, using a Daikei Boss hub adapter (it's the only one that's truly plug 'n' play). The stock wheel had a skinny rim and looked a little ratty - definitely the weak link. The new wheel feels great! Yep, that's real wood on the rim...

Back To Black!
During a stint with a pair of Bride race seats (not pictured), I got it in my head that I wanted to recover my M-Edition seats in black leather. With some help from Miata.net, I located LeatherSeats.com in Oklahoma City. It's my understanding that they are the only place in the country that has the patterns on file for the '95M seats with separate head rests. The new covers arrived on a Friday, and I dove into the project that weekend. By Sunday afternoon I had two brand new seats! A few days later I painted the door panels with some Duplicolor vinyl paint to complete the (re)transformation!

Additionally, I ponied up for the IL Motorsport NA console. Yes, it's pricey, but it was well worth the money. The cupholders are far more usable than the OEM units, the storage under the armrest is far more spacious, and the whole console is of much higher quality than the OEM console. Results below...

Audio
After six months with the stock radio, it was time to upgrade. I wanted to keep the install relatively simple (no external amp, no sub) and find a head unit that could control my iPod. I chose the Alpine 9885 because it appeared to be a very good stand-alone unit, and the "high-speed" iPod interface is very slick. For speakers, I chose Boston Acoustic S60 component units. I turned the installation over to a reputable shop here in Dallas (well worth it to save me the pain-in-the-ass of doing it myself) . The install is very clean and the sound is great , especially considering the simplicity of the system. It passed the Dark Side of the Moon test with flying colors. I also recently added Sirius radio to the mix, as the Alpine 9885 is satellite-ready.

New Soft Top
Well, I finally bit the bullet and picked up a used tan soft top off a '96 M-Edition. I believe it's actually a Robbins aftermarket top but, man... it's nice! I found it through my local Miata club, and caught a lucky break (sorta) when my trunk started filling up with water after big rainstorms! The seller had the top sold, but the buyer-to-be felt sorry for me and let me have it, since I'd been on the prowl for a tan top, and had a trunk full of water! Anyhow, it's the best of all worlds - Hartz cloth canvas and a glass window that zips out. Even better, the top goes down without unzipping the window! Pics below (the donor car is at the bottom):

Hard Top No. 2
In mid-April of '08 I got the itch to upgrade to an OEM hard top. First order of business was to sell the white Snug Top. At the same time, I happened to run across an almost-pristine '91 Silverstone top on eBay - only 3 hours away in Oklahoma City! As luck would have it, I bought the new top and was able to sell the old top in the same week... whew! So, on April 28th, I headed up to OKC and picked up the new silver top...

Suspension
Tein Flex coilovers! I really mulled this one over, and almost settled on a set of KYB AGX shocks with Tein S-Tech springs. However, I consulted our local guru and he insisted that I come take a ride in a properly-adjusted Tein Flex-equipped car. Well, it took me 10 minutes to wrap up the decision-making process, and I got the Tein Flex coilovers. It's a HUGE improvement over stock (moderately stiffer, but very civilized), and definitely better than any other aftermarket Miata setup that I've driven so far. Money well spent. Today (4/13) I went ripping around some backroads south of Dallas with a couple of other Miatas and all I can say about the new setup is "Wow!" The car handles like a big go kart now, and tracks through corners like a laser! And I'll be honest... the man was right when he said you could drink a cup of coffee in the car with this setup - well, iced coffee just to be on the safe side.

Hard Dog Roll Bar
I finally installed the roll bar this weekend - and none too soon, since I'm leaving in a week to heaad to California for Miatas @ Laguna Seca. It's a Hard Dog M2 Sport - which means it will clear both the hard top and the glass window in the soft top. It took me a couple of hours to strip the interior and make way for the bar. Then, with a little force and encouragement, I successfully started all 4 of the existing mounting bolts (the bar attaches using the upper and lower seat belt mounts, plus 10 additional bolts). The next day, I borrowed a friend and we got the rest of the holes drilled and bar mounted solidly to the car. Finally, I trimmed the deck to clear the bar and the harness tabs, then reinstalled the trim and carpet.

Miscellaneous Mods
Right after I got back from my big January '07 road trip, I upgraded my headlights to Hella-type halogens. Instead of the standard sealed beam units, these are high-quality lens/reflectors that use a replaceable H4 halogen bulb. The brightness and quality of the light pattern are a huge improvement over the best sealed beams I could find.

I also installed additional interior lights in the footwells. The single stock interior light in my car was over on the passenger side of the dash, next to the glove box - made no sense to me. Not only did earlier cars have the light on the driver's side, but my car had knockouts on either side of the console where the new lights snapped right into place. Again, a much-needed improvement.

Next came a Stebel Nautilus air horn in place of the stock "squeaky" horn. It's cheap, well-made, easy to install, and LOUD! Just the thing to keep me from getting run over. It's a "must-have" for any Miata. Click HERE to hear it honk...

Finally, I was able to procure a complete factory cruise control setup. Oddly enough, it came from the same parts car that provided my soft top. Installation was pretty much plug 'n' play, but the gas pedal swap was a tad difficult. The end result is it works great! I got to road test it on my trip to California, and it was much appreciated.

I picked up a set of clear turn signals on eBay clear turn signals to replace the leaky and frosted OEM units. One of these days I'll get the LED bulbs sorted out and installed for a little extra brightness.

Winter Mod Plans
I've collected a pile of parts that I plan to install before spring gets here in full swing. Here's a quick list:
 
FM Butterfly Brace
1999 head and intake
Subwoofer
I'll probably also pick out a header and upgrade the clutch along with the motor mounts in preparation for a supercharger install...

PAGE 2 - Power Mods, with VIDEO
PAGE 3 - Miatas @ Laguna Seca 2009
PAGE 4 - Miatas @ Hallett 2008
PAGE 5 - Summer Vacation 2007
PAGE 6 - January 2007 Road Trip
PAGE 7 - Past Road Trips
PAGE 8 - Project RX-V8

COMING SOON... supercharger!