Alex's white NA8 build.

[Alex 2550]

The frame rails made a huge difference to how the car feels it’s much more solid over bumps ect and the whole car feels more responsive, I did it mostly to improve NVH and would highly recommend them.

Before I go further I want to say there is many people that have helped me with my car along the way and I can’t recall all off my head at the minute I am very appreciative of the help.

Similar time to all this happening I was trawling through the forum and came across a new unopened set of supertech high flow stainless coated intake and exhaust valves for sale.
These are back cut and undercut.
The forum member 3gress was selling them, now this guy is a legend honestly. So helpful and full of knowledge he even chucked in some bronze valve guides!. A huge thanks to him but this was not the last time I dealt with him, more to come there but his generosity is insane!!
People like him and others mentioned in this thread is what makes the MX5/miata community so great.

So for the cylinder head at this stage I had collected.

The Gary Stewart head.
The supertech light double valve springs and titanium retainers.
Mazdaspeed shim under buckets and lash caps.
Supertech highflow valves.
Supertech bronze valve guides.

I also forgot to mention that I was able to get a set of NB valve retaining collets off a gent on here for a pretty reasonable price, they are expensive and needed for the SUB conversion and titanium retainers.

I also forgot to mention that with the change from BP05 to BP4W the inlet manifolds aren’t interchangeable (without an adaptor plate) so I needed another inlet manifold and lots of people mostly on the U.S forums get excited about the NB8B JDM/Aus flat top/square top manifold.
I believe Manga_blue pointed me in the direction of one for sale and I grabbed it....... so I have a flat top manifold as well.
Actually Phil (Manga_blue) has been the most tremendous help with everything from the test drive before I bought an NA to showing me things on my car and just being a wealth of knowledge he is my MX5 Yoda lol.
It was Phil that got me in contact with green machine on the Stewart head even so a massive thanks is owed to him.
It’s also Phil’s Springs, SUB and retainers going into this build so again an absolute massive thanks to him.

I also acquired an NB8A fuel rail required for the head conversion off a forum member so parts are coming along but I’m still missing some important bits like um......... cams!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex 2550]

So at this point I’m pretty sure I was extremely excited about being back in the bike so not much happened but I did pick up a brown Davis roll bar for a great price and an XForce rear section and muffler for about $50.
I went the brown Davis because I am long in the legs short in the torso and needed all the seat travel I could get so it got bolted in.
Excuse the dust.


About a year later I removed the shitty window tint

[Okibi]

The clutch line is a great mod, I always keep an MX-5 slave cylender in reserve waiting for the next one to fail, last time we managed to swap one over and bleed on the side of the road.

[Alex 2550]

The clutch line is a great mod, I always keep an MX-5 slave cylender in reserve waiting for the next one to fail, last time we managed to swap one over and bleed on the side of the road.

It’s funny you mention this I watched a YouTube video by gingium last night where he had some go on him and did the same, very keen young fella that guy.
I knew it would happen eventually and figured I may as well go the whole hog while there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex 2550]

Now the car has the frame rails and rollbar along with all the late model NA8 bracing so the car was fairly stiff and the springs I had on the car were just to hard for the KYB shocks and the ride was very crashy so I picked up some lowered king springs for about $100 with hardly any use and fitted them up.
The ride is so much better and I don’t feel I have lost any performance from what I can tell.
These are just a stop gap till I decide what coilovers to get, it was between Tein flex Z and MCA but the extended top hat of Meister Rs is tempting and the reviews are really positive so I don’t know.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex 2550]

Now my car is good from far, far from good it has a split and paint cracking front bumper.
A trashed rear bumper, cracked garnish and dented boot.
I have a very nice marina blue boot here and rear bumper that need to be painted.
I am also going To be fitting a Garage Vary/carbon miata rear panel when funds permit and maybe some sort of ducktail spoiler still undecided on that anyway I liked the look of the bumper cut and on begi website there is a template........ my bumper is stuffed and going in the bin so why not try on this one and if I don’t like it don’t do it to the good one so................


The car looks on a lean in those photos but it’s my driveway I measured the hun to arch but it does look odd.
As for the bumper cut I really like it and I know not everyone will, this is the mild cut.
I also put on the good bumper reinforcement I had and cut it where needed and straightened this bumper best I could.
The only thing I didn’t like was how it showed off my very boring stock muffler but keep in mind I have that big shiney xforce sitting in the garage.
I also painted the tow hook mounts that come down matt black because they looked like 2 vampire teeth hanging down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex 2550]

It was about this stage I went off to the U.S and A for about 6 weeks for my brothers wedding and a big tour around, unfortunately after a couple drinks in Nashville my wife rolled her ankle and in short that was about 4 months ago and she is unable to bear any weight and is in need of a full reconstruction with artificial tendons.
she always does her best to give 100% and do a good job.
Actually being the proud husband here for a minute we got her a knee walker for the rest of the trip and with fully ruptured tendons (not repairable) she did about 12-14 hours a day on the knee walker including 5 days in Disney world, 5 days in New York, Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Vegas ect to the point she got bed sores on her legs and a staf infection in her leg. She was in immense pain but refused to go home or stop I don’t know how she did it, just a bloody champion.

Anyway your not going to go to America and not bring back souvenirs like parts from Flyin Miata lol.
Due to weight restrictions I only got Flyin miata pedal set, garage star delrin door bushes and the Keith tanner books which are a great read.

Everyone knows what the door bushes are and I will say that the reviews are true about them reducing rattles which is why I purchased them but I wouldn’t say handling changed but I didn’t expect it to especially with the frame rails and roll bar.
They definitely improved rattles and made it so quiet that I could hear the rear of my hardtop moving and adjusted the plate near the Frankenstein bolts.

The pedals are awesome, really grippy and the accelerator extension means if you heel toe it’s a much more relaxed roll of the foot, very nice indeed.
The matching dead pedal cover is just a little cool lol.
I don’t have any photos of them except I put a little badge on the ashtray a week or two ago and you can make the dead pedal cover out.
You can also see the Revlimiter shift plate.
Now I’m not sure if the badge is “rice or nice” but it was $1.80 so I thought I would try.
You will notice that my ashtray is spun around, I did this ages ago basically remove it undo the screws spin it 180 degrees and screw it back up, it is heaps better because your wrist doesn’t rest on the raised part of the ashtray.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex 2550]

So anyway back from the states and looking around the forums at parts ect and just trying to grow my knowledge I stumbled across some cams for sale on the forums here.

Now before I go further I need to explain that the direction of the build hasn’t changed and I still want a retro style roadster that’s fairly quick.

But track days aren’t going to happen, I just don’t really have the time and live to far away to make it something I can do as much as I used to.

Now I wanted to have a reliable cammed N/A car, I have seen too many turbo cars have problems at the track.

Now that track time is not an option a turbo is in the future for this car because a turbo road build and turbo track build are 2 very different animals.
Really it all boils down (see what I did there lol) to heat management and a road turbo setup won’t see the same amount of time at WOT that the track car will therefore less heat everywhere in the engine, the cooling system, the brakes, the tyres, everywhere.

Anyway back to these cams because I had decided that a turbo was going to happen I didn’t want or need as big a cams one because they will hurt spool and secondly large overlap will blow the charge out the exhaust.

So when Dan (3gress) put up for sale a set of TODA 256 degree/ 9mm lift cams I jumped on them for $450, bargain of the century.
Really these are the cams Mazda should of fitted to the car from the factory.

Now I said earlier that Dan’s generosity is insane he gave me some supertech viton valve stem seals to go with the valves I previously purchased which is awesome but he casually sends me a message “hey I have some TODA adjustable cam gears here I’ll package them up and throw them in for you” !!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s right he gave me a set of TODA gears!!!!
I did of course transfer some extra money into his account so he could have a beer or 24 on me.
Thanks again Dan.
Turns out he has Maruha gears on his motor and these weren’t needed any longer.
So this was a nice set of parcels







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex 2550]

So this post is for Stan the Man in particular
The head list is as follows

Gary Stewart race head, ported, unshrouded with new seats, shaved 60 thou.
Supertech light double valve springs.
Supertech titanium retainers.
Supertech highflow intake and exhaust valves.
Supertech bronze valve guides.
Supertech valve stem seals.
Mazdaspeed shim under bucket lifters.
TODA 256 /9 mm intake and exhaust cam shafts.
TODA adjustable cam gears.
NB8A valve collets.
Flat top NB8B manifold.
NB8A fuel rail.
NB8A injectors (fitted already)

I have spoken to a local head shop with a very good machinist and he can do a 3 angle valve job, install bronze valve guides and set the head up for roughly $1000. Because the valves are longer than standard they will take down the valve stems and use as little shim as possible.

On a bench purely for STM



Now incase someone is wondering I have got some amazing deals on parts for this head by keeping an eye out and grabbing things where I can but by the time it’s fitted to the car I will have about $3,500 in it now I worked out if you were to just order the parts new online from places like 949 racing, mx5 mania, Flyin miata ect and this was just a quick search not looking for the best deal plus Gary’s porting time and set up you would be looking at about $7,500 assembled!!.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex 2550]

So I think that leaves me up to the last couple weeks, I put that japan badge on ashtray which I kind of like, Ferrari used to have two crossed chequered flags in front of the shifter in older models so it kind of has that feel and MG had a Union Jack and chequered flag on console of a GT model so it’s going with the throwback, you guys and gals tell me what you think.

On Monday this week I had the XForce muffler put on, it’s deep and reasonably quiet, can’t hear it over the intake I made and it won’t be on forever just until the turbo exhaust goes on but it looks a dam sight better than the stock one with the bumper cut, I don’t have a photo yet.

Last weekend I decided that the bumper reflectors made the side of the car busy (and not legally required in japan, the uk or Australia, needed legally in the USA and also why there’s have lights in them)so since I have a spare set I sanded them back to remove writing and sprayed them here is a before and after, I also removed the hardtop tint at this time because it was bubbled, purple and flaking.




I also gave the engine bay a clean again, you can see that in the top left there is a Nitrdann washer bottle in the cowl that I got years ago.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ManiacLachy]

You can't post pornography like that on this site! That head layout is obscene!



I'm enjoying these catch-up posts.

[StanTheMan]

Thanks Alex.

your cams.....very conservative.
I recon with a quality head like you have you need somewhere in the 290's ohhh man the drama, the poetry at high rpm. city drivability? mehhh overated....you live in the dcountry anyway.



I hope you don't mind me saying though. Invest in better valve stem seals.I can see some seals there. They look like they may Supertech ones. Get the OEM ones. I used some from somewhere in America on the 1.6 but they were crap. On the BP-4W I used the OEM ones.

Your head looks gorgeous. very different roughness to mine. I think I used 110 grid for intakes. This looks a lot smoother is there also bowl work in that? Yours was done professionally.

I had a hero shave like yours on mine. But I started with 9.5:1 CR unlike your one.

[Alex 2550]

So future plans from now.
Well this week the car will be getting runabout m2 mirrors and a zoom engineering fuel flap which is a birthday present, not high priority items but Japanese manufactures have a habit of just discontinuing things so grabbing them while I can.

For the body.
Last week I got quotes to have the panel damage fixed up, I will get a new front bumper from mania, a GV lip, KG works spoiler and turn signal intakes.
Yes I’m aware that they increase pressure in the engine bay and do nothing but the stock indicators make the car look very 1990s so I’m removing them there is also 350HP miatas keeping cool with them fitted so I don’t think they are very detrimental in the grand scheme.
All add ons will be colour coded except gv lip that will go gloss black.
I wanted a barchetta clubman front bumper from japan but it’s about $1500 landed and at this stage I can’t justify it, maybe one day.
I have a garage star offset numberplate bracket already and will fit it to the new front bumper so it will be nice and un-dented from the numberplate like mine is now, I also have the Revlimiter nose badge to fit that matches the side stripes on the car.
I will do the bumper cut on the blue bumper and I will get a GV style panel from carbon miata, of the non genuine panels they seem to fit best but I also want the round tail lights rather than the Mazda portacab ones and I will put amber Vinyl over the clear centre piece and get the quilted leather trans tunnel cover while I’m ordering from them.

Interior
Well as mentioned above I want the genuine quilted trans cover, because I am retaining a console Marc from carbon miata said he can do the 2 quilted genuine leather side pieces for $200 USD.
I’m seriously considering making a zoom style centre console, I reckon I can knock one up for around $150 and the real thing is about $1000.
If I don’t like it I can put the stock one back in.

I want to pull the very 90s CD player out and put in a retro sound unit and do that area up very similar to Adam from Revlimiters in Sharka.
I have the switches, hoops and leather already to trim it. Just the clock and radio I want is expensive.

I have spoken with interior innovations about having the stock seats retrimmed in leather but there will be something custom there that I’ll leave for a surprise.

This last week I have been looking at the sliding cobra style mirror from IL because of my height I can’t see much out back with roll bar so it’s a solution perhaps.
Along with many other little bits, I have never really spent much time on my interiors because they were either extra weight or had to just work and I’m having fun making it a nice place to be.

Engine and suspension.
ARP headstuds and gaskets for the head.
Thinking of a skunk throttle body for insurance of eating throttle plate screws with that head.
Coolant reroute most likely Flyin miata with the turbo plans.
An ECU to run it all, at the minute a megasquirt pnp2 is on the cards.
Wideband and controller.
Gm air temp sensor.
I’ll get everything running on the new ECU as it is, then swap the heads and get it all running sweet fit a new clutch and lightened flywheel then I will start down the turbo path.
I have spoken to an engineer already and he said pre 97 cars are much easier to get through the emissions side of things. It will be engineered.
Ideally I want a NitroDann set up but this may no longer be possible so second will be a Kraken set up.
Turbo will be a Garrett 2560 at this stage, I want response and enough power. I would like to keep the 5 speed so that will limit power something in the 220-250hp range.
Once that’s all sweet I’ll look at building the bottom end probably with lower Comp pistons as that head shave of mine is going to be fun to tune around.
Fit coilovers of some breed as I said I’m not sure which way I’ll go just a quality set that rides nice and handles well for a Street focused car.
All big plans but it’s a long term project but my focus at the minute is definitely getting the body tidy and getting the ECU in so I can start tuning and playing.

Feels good to have this back up to date, thanks for putting up with my ramblings



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[StanTheMan]

I also love your AN fitting on the manifold. very classy

[Alex 2550]

Thanks Alex.

your cams.....very conservative.
I recon with a quality head like you have you need somewhere in the 290's ohhh man the drama, the poetry at high rpm. city drivability? mehhh overated....you live in the dcountry anyway.



I hope you don't mind me saying though. Invest in better valve stem seals.I can see some seals there. They look like they may Supertech ones. Get the OEM ones. I used some from somewhere in America on the 1.6 but they were crap. On the BP-4W I used the OEM ones.

Your head looks gorgeous. very different roughness to mine. I think I used 110 grid for intakes. This looks a lot smoother is there also bowl work in that? Yours was done professionally.

I had a hero shave like yours on mine. But I started with 9.5:1 CR unlike your one.

Yer 290 would be nice but now it will need to spool a snail and have manners I’m thinking of the car more like a GT now, I did forget that there is a heap of bowl work on that head thanks for reminding me. Huge cams and ITB’s mmmmm drool.
There is a possibility a black NB8B could end up next to the NA and that will be a non boosted rev happy thing but thats a sideline idea at the minute.
Looks like I’m getting a free MX-6 in chaste white as well but unsure what to do and if I want it.

The valve stem seals are supertech and I have heard either use 949s or oem which I’ll research further before the setup goes in.

I also forgot that I put some kuhmo tyres on V720 from memory there ok, pretty sticky and couldn’t get anything else in short notice, car also has an aggressive street alignment.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk