The Craigslist Miata

Third time’s a Charm, right? Well, actually, this time yes. Yes, it was. The last time the Craigslist Miata made the trek out to Adams, things didn’t go so good. After a bit of required wrenching that included changing all fluids and rebleeding every hydraulic system in an attempt to ensure maximum time spent running on the track, not sitting beside it.

This would be a four-hour window where the main objectives would be: keep all four wheels on the track, not crash into the fence, and drive home before traffic gets too awful. Luckily, there were only two other cars joining me for the session, a very fast TT and a modified Model 3 testing some sway bars from Eibach and wearing some very sticky rubber.

After the Audi set some fast laps, he retired for the afternoon, and at one point the Testa had to go for a charge. This left the CLM as the lone runner, essentially turning the afternoon into a private track day. It was so private in fact, that I was able to walk the track and even spend some time sweeping rocks from a few corners. Fortunately, the car made it home without incident, which is more than I can say for that poor guy driving the 18 wheeler.

Continue reading “Time Attack @AMP 05/05/20”

Now that things are about as buttoned up as they will ever be for the Craigslist Miata, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to head into the hills for an afternoon shakedown just to make sure all those “improvements” that we’ve been making are holding together. The route was Mullholland Highway through the rolling hills of Malibu. After over 200 miles in the canyon, we can proudly report that this car feels better than ever.

Another excuse to head up to Malibu was a little first-hand research for a little secret project I like to call “Malibu Pizza.” It’s essentially an Initial D ripoff relocated to Southern California. The new Takumi drives an NA with a stack of pizzas on the parcel shelf and masters the downhill momentum drift to make sure he doesn’t smoosh the cheese.

Continue reading “Malibu Shakedown”

Hopefully, this is the last piece of the puzzle that will remedy the Craigslist Miata’s shortcomings on track. While on the phone with the guys at Mazda Motorsports, in addition to selling me a bronze shifter bushing and a new slave cylinder, suggested I upgrade to their “competition” motor mounts. Part of the problem I was facing, as explained by the expert, is the way the Miata’s power plant frame can flex and actually twist under extreme load (like 7,000 RPM) and is a known issue when upshifting from an even-numbered gear. This is due to everything not quite lining up like it does when the car is at rest. Whether or not the Mazda Motorsports mounts prove themselves to be superior, anything is an improvement over running with bent and broken motor mounts.

Continue reading “MAZDASPEED Motor Mounts or That Doesn’t Look Right”

This one has been a long time coming. Ever since first seeing some of Marco Fernandez’s (better known as MFREX) artwork laid out on adhesive backing I wanted to commission a sitting for the Craigslist Miata. After quite a few friendly notes we have what lay before you. A limited run of slaps have been printed, available in person only.

As we found out during our last attempt at Time Attack the Mazda Miata clutch slave cylinder is known to be the weak link in that system and apparently requires regular replacement. As it turns out, the most likely culprits for my non-shifting misadventures were either boiled brake fluid (in the clutch) and or a blown-out slave cylinder. One look at the fluid and it was quite dark in color indicating all the bad things that could happen to hydraulic fluid. Once up inside the wheel well it was also apparent that some major leaking had been going on before.

The job was explained to be simple and straight forward: car in the air, wheel off, one bleeder screw, one threaded fitting, and finally two bolts holding the item in place. Super simple, as long as you can snake a socket through all that suspension and subframe. So, as long as you have a swivel socket adapter and about a foot and a half worth of extensions you should be fine, and some quick scavenging will help when it comes to bleeding the system yourself because no one will want to smell you at this point.

Continue reading “Replacing a Slave Cylinder or Intro to Creative Mechanics”

Anything worth doing, is worth doing right the second time, right? While I was a little impatient to delete the cupholders in the Craigslist Miata, it was only after spending some time on the phone with the guys at Mazda Motorsports that I received all the parts needed to clean up some of the slop in the shifter. With the latest parcel signed for, the center console came out again so the work could begin. Fully embracing the while you’re in there attitude; some old vinyl was ground off the shift lever before being refinished with a fresh coat of paint, the pesky light switch was relocated right to where you’re hand can reach, and a new white shift knob to replace the original 8 ball became the final touch for the interior transformation.

Continue reading “Rebuilding the Shifter the Right Way and a Few Other Things Too”

As you might have heard, there is this thing called COVID going around, and it really sucks. So, when the opportunity arose to return to Adams Motorsports Park for an afternoon of Time Attack (this time with sunlight) I couldn’t sign up fast enough. Like most things in this current time, extra precautions were taken to ensure minimal germ transfer and ensure appropriate social distancing guidelines were followed.

The only problem is that unlike last time where we would be doing a warm-up lap, three flying laps, and a cool down before coming in; this four-hour-long afternoon session would consist of taking turns doing one warm-up, five hot, two cool, four more hot and then a final cool-down lap before coming in. Up until this point, the Craigslist Miata hadn’t been pushed anywhere near its limit for more than two minutes at a time. All seemed well on the first series of hot laps; however, when we turned up the pace for the following series of hots the car was not so cooperative.

Continue reading “Time Attack @AMP 03/31/20”

There seems to be a theme lately that every upgrade, modification, customization, and or supposed enhancement; just ends up making the car more and more impractical. This week’s improvement came all the way from Bulgaria in the form of the Jass Performance center console delete and shift boot combination. The setup is straight forward and probably would have benefited from removing the top layer of existing carpet from the transmission tunnel. With a little extra trimming to the thin fiberglass trim piece in order to locate the screw holes and some extra forceful shoving of the carpet up under the tombstone, the pieces fit quite nicely. They tidy up the interior for a more spartan look, now where do I put my cup?

Continue reading “Jass Performance Console or Hold my Drink, Really”

Now, why did we go and do that? We broke the number one rule for the Craigslist Miata “if it ain’t broke yet don’t try to fix it”. In an overzealous attempt to impress people immediately after the hood is popped, the plastic end tanks on our little Mazda’s stock radiator just weren’t cutting it in the good looks department when compared with the anodized blue bar running across the top of the previously polished valve cover. So we finally gave in to the temptation to upgrade the CLM with a very fancy aluminum “racing” radiator. Truth be told, in a past life it was an aluminum Koyo that saved the life of my SR20, so why would things be any different this time.

It was only after finding a small puddle of slightly slimy water under the engine that we took a closer look. The first discovery was some coolant accumulated along the underside of the new cooler, then more red as you went up the core and eventually a little puddle sitting at the base of what appears to be a bleeder screw. One trip to the track and it looks like my new radiator got a cut above its eye and is bleeding down one side of its face. Emails have been sent, along with accompanying photos. Let’s see what they have to say about this one. So, why did we do this again?

Time for something new; now that the heater core is bypassed and the new brakes are good and bedded it is time to try Time Attack. Think of Time Attack like autocross with consequences, instead of hitting orange cones you drop wheels off curbs. While I had been to Adams Kart Track in the past, and even raced rental karts there once before, the first time out in a “full size” car would be a bit sketchy. This would be a night session, and there is an added element of excitement because how willing you are to encounter the edge of the track directly relates to how fast a lap is turned.

Holy hand grenade Batman, how did those nuts even get in there? Was there a squirrel living under the hood? After five minutes of poking and prodding with a very thin wooden dowel and all this fell out from just the driver side fender of the Craigslist Miata. While it is important to remove debris regularly to prevent rust and corrosion, you can save weight too.

• 

• 

If the stupid amount of extra wheels and tires recently purchased off Craigslist wasn’t a giveaway as to the next big dumb idea being cooked up in the CLM garage an extra set of rear calipers should be a smack in the face. These looked cheap, and are definitely in need of a rebuild, but perfect to plumb to that hydraulic handbrake.

Continue reading “Rear Calipers for Project Drift Miata”

We’ve seen them on professional drift cars, they’ve been recommended by friends and their distributor is located right next door to where the Craigslist Miata received both a heart transplant and a rear-end rejuvenation. After spending a few minutes with my new friend Rob, he recommended the WinMax W3 brake pad. The W3 is made from a compound suited for highly spirited driving and even some track application. The W3 is not a super aggressive race pad, so there is no need to build up heat before the brakes start working. They also provide more modulation than the stock so that you can feel the difference based on how hard your right foot is depressing the pedal. These are metallic brakes, so there will be plenty more noise and dust than before, but after one afternoon spent bedding the brakes in the Crest it would be an understatement to say that the difference is like night and day.

Things are starting to look pretty shiny under there with those fancy blue anodized aluminum bars. While the Craigslist Miata wasn’t suffering from thermal inefficiencies just yet, there was a major issue keeping the car from meeting its full potential on the racetrack. The culprit being a leaky heater core tucked down below the dashboard that was already showing early signs of incontinence. My main motto being “any track day you can drive home from is a successful one.”

This means that until the job could be done the right way, the best option in order to keep hot coolant from pissing all over the driver compartment, and more importantly maintain the cooling system’s structural integrity, would be to simply bypass the tiny heat exchanger all together. While this modification makes it impossible to defog the windshield on a cold morning, it does give me the added peace of mind to start pushing the radiator’s fluid to a highly pressurized limit. So as long as we’re in there, might as well upgrade the radiator too.

I promise this is the last time, for now. Really. Somehow I ended up on TireRack and somehow came across a pair of these Sparco who knows whats but they do look kind of funky. Like they would be cool on the back of a Miata drift car right, maybe, we’ll see.

Continue reading “Stop It Already with the Rims or Rejoining Team Gold Wheels with Sparco”

Blame it on a trip to SEMA, but after meeting a guy who worked at Vivid Racing showed me the Stack tach in his Integra I started to peruse their online inventory of aftermarket automotive knick-knacks. As usual, the search began in the Bargain Bin or Closeout section, where I first came across the lower tie bar on sale for a mere $45 USD. Now not one to leave things half-assed it was decided to pair the beautiful blue anodized piece with the one you’d actually be able to see once the hood is popped. After all what good are the shiny bits bolted to your engine bay unless you can show them off and impress people?

Continue reading “Unnecessary Spending on Some JDM Underhood Bling”

Again with the unnecessary wheel purchase on Craigslist. But hear me out, these aren’t knock offs, these aren’t oversized; these are a genuine set of Enkei RPF1s. Now, these are not as iconic as the Volk Racing TE-37s, but amongst racers, these lightweight rollers are as classic as they come. It turns out the previous owner piloted an NB built for drifting, and an unfortunate job relocation had him heading back to Japan. Side note, he was a chassis engineer for Mazda; so I felt pretty good about the pickup.

Continue reading “A Set of Affordable Track Wheels or Enkei RPF1s with a Little Curb Rash”

It had been some time since the Craigslist Miata stretched its legs and ran with the big boys. There is something nice and inviting about running with the Porsche Owners Club, mainly because they are one of the few who are willing to rent out El Toro. Unlike spending a morning doing SCCA Solo where its three or four runs and you’re done, the Porsche guys like to go all day. It is not unheard of to get in over a dozen runs if you really wanted to.

Continue reading “AutoX POC @ El Toro 12/15/19”

One year later, and it’s back where it all began, this time wearing a classic Mazda Motorsports inspired livery from the age of flame-spitting and big winged IMSA GTO racing machines. Like most of the cars that enjoy a SEMA debut, this widebody MX-5 wasn’t really running on full boost a year ago. A combination of electrical gremlins coupled with preproduction power adders makes it extremely challenging to produce more than a mere static piece of automotive art. I am happy to report that the boost surge issues have been sorted and expect to see #trmnl5 making the moves towards the racetrack in the near future.

Continue reading “#trmnl5 @SEMA2019”

I am a huge sucker for $500 wheels off Craigslist. Why buy a set of knock offs that are too gaudy, when you already have a right-sized version of the real thing? Because racecar; of course. When trying something new and risky, a cheap set of wheels can be a good bit of insurance. A good cleaning they will receive before being set aside to do something both dumb and fun.

Continue reading “Why Rotas When You Already Have the Real Thing?”

Irwindale Speedway is a special place, especially after the final round of Formula Drift where a thin haze of tire particulate and champagne hang in the air. As the podium was being disassembled, @ishotthattoo caught a glimpse of the Craigslist Miata in the lingering mist and thus ensued an exclusive private photoshoot under the lights at the House of Drift. Dang, those yellow headlights look good.

Another year, another JCCS, this year the Japanese Classic Car Show turns 15 years old and while the location has moved across the Long Beach Harbor from the Queen Mary closer to the back straight of the Long Beach Grand Prix. The showing was as good as ever, however the highlight of this years JCCS came after pulling into the parking lot.

A black NSX pulled around me to get through the ticket booth first, after we passed through a fellow Miata driver pointed us in the direction of preferred parking. As we backed in to the spot being saved in the MX-5 area, the NSX trolled past.

Once inside it was the familiar sight of the argyle 767 LeMans racer and a sleuth of Maruha inspired engine compartments adorned with go fast goodies like over sized aluminum Koyo radiators, Samco hoses and ITBs. Maybe they were just a bunch of carbon fiber cam covers there to dress up the Pit Crew conversions, but we’d like to think they were all 2.1 Liter stroker motors.

Continue reading “Maruha Miatas @JCCS2019”

Damn, this setup is looking (and more importantly feeling) good.

Continue reading “It’s Almost TE Tuesday”

Thanks to our friend Mr. Larry Chen and the rest of team AutoFocus we had the once in a lifetime experience of visiting Jay Leno’s Garage. The morning started early at Canon’s Burbank building before being shuttled to the undisclosed location. While we disembarked the rest of the class was already daydreaming about shooting supercars, but all we could think about was the chance to get up close with Jay Leno’s Miata.

Jay is known not to let his cars sit, and with a few square blocks filled with exquisite automobiles and priceless bikes, this Miata has seen some miles. While it was one thing to have a private sitting with the supercharged MX-5, it was a whole nother to be able to pop the hood. We’ve seen photos of Jay up in The Crest or cruising The Snake but you just don’t get a chance to check out the details up close.

At the heart of the beast sits a roots style Jackson Racing supercharger and by the looks of the rat’s nest of vacuum lines running throughout the engine bay the little red roadster still appears to be CARB legal. Perhaps our favorite part of the JLM is the rock chipped front lip, there is just something about it that immediately lets you know this thing gets used.

• 

• 

• 

Continue reading “Jay Leno’s Miata”