So far I've welded all along the door jams, all the floor pan and interior seams, engine-bay, and all along the inner-fenders including everything under the actual fenders using the old inch on inch off tactic. Prep work was very time consuming, but so far its all been worth it. Only spots left are above the windshield a couple more floor pan spots, and a little more on the inner-fenders. With one more day of good work, I should be done and have everything grinded sanded and painted. I'm going to start my own thread here after I pick up my Ls1 next week.

 

Any schematics for these stress points?

 

I feel like it is almost useless posting an update with no photos, but the girlfriend took the camera with her to Vegas for a couple months.

So far I have the differential mounted, hubs pressed in, cooling figured out and 90% finished, and still 2 wires to run and a driveshaft to measure and order. On the differential i ended up using the stock pinion mount. I cut/burned off the stock rubber mount, and welded some 1/4" bar to extend it forward a bit. I built a cross brace that bolts between the subframes and also through the floor. The mount is solid right now, but it also allows me to adjust the pinion angle really easily.

Also, the car is now white. I just was not happy with how the satin black was coming out, and white really hides any imperfections. It is just a crappy spray paint job, but it will do for now. After all, i have been working on this car a while. I just want to drive it. Appearance can come later.

 

a couple months!? DAMN, if we should all be so lucky haha. what about camara phone? id like to see your cross brace, What are the 2 wires? Sounds like your almost there man, keep up the good work!

 

Well it is time for an update with or without photos.

This past sunday a friend came over and we swapped over the suspension and brakes from my other miata. It was still having a lot of hesitation with the throttle response and my reverse lockout wasn't working, but we decided to push it out in the road and take her for a quick spin. We didn't realize it was 1am... oops. Overall everything felt nice; no leaks, temp staying right where it should, brakes were great, etc.

The next morning i was going over the car and the first thing i tested out was unplugging the mass air meter. Cranked up the car and instant throttle response, no hesitation, and at least 100 more horsepower than the night before. Right now i'm running 195/55/15's all around, and don't get traction til 4th gear. It is a blast!

Still have a few kinks to work out though.

Reverse - I took off the reverse lockout solenoid only to find it seized with sludge. With it removed i can no get the shifter over to the reverse gate, but not into gear. I'm going to try bleeding my clutch line again and see if that helps since i noticed that the car is wanting to move forward slightly when i put it in first gear.

Coolant Leak - Only when the motor is up to around 180 or so does it build enough pressure to start a slow leak, but i'm sure a new hose clamp or just doubling up will do the trick.

Messy wiring - In tracking down a couple wires, i have turned the wiring inside to a mess. I'm going to take the dash out and straighten them all up. I can't stand knowing it is a mess under there.

Traction - I am ordering some 275/50/15's to put on 15 x 9" wheels in a week or so. I also have some solid delrin differential bushings ordered just to give me some piece of mind. I'm hoping i don't need any, but i still have 2 extra sets of axles and one more differential at the house.


Since the car is moving now, i need to set up my video camera and post up some youtube videos! It is so much fun with these small tires. haha

 

^^^ So what did the neighbors say about the 1 am Test Drive? mine used to hate that lol did you get it painted yet or the car still red and fender flares black? Agreed to clean up the wires though, last thing you need after all your hard work is it to go up in smoke. More pics and vids!!! thats a bad lil **** man, congrats on the finished product! or almost finished lol

 

Regarding the MAF, is there a CEL (check engine light)? Do you have tuning software?

 

LS1-450

ive been keepin track of this thread for several months now, but, do you realize youve been watchin it for 10 months!? not only that but OP got the car and started the process a month before the original post, been building it ( assuming its done next month ) for damn near a year

 

Apparently someone tried to break into my neighbors house right before we pushed the car into the road. The cops pulled up right as we had the car in the road, and my neighbors said they think we might have scared them off. haha We waited til the police left to start her back up and take her down the road, but boy is she loud! I need to do something about that, but it isn't top on the priority list.

LS1-450 - I'm sure i am getting a CEL, i just don't have my light hooked up right now. It was never wired back in after trying to track down some wiring problems. A friend is supposed to be tuning it in a couple weeks, so i will know more then. I'm placing an order for some 15x9 6ul's today, and hopefully will order some 275's next week. That will make me feel a lot better.

Until then, the car is a blast to drive even if it drinks the gas.


Oh, and i know the car won't be done for at least another month. I have a lot of little things to work out, and i know i'm not going to be happy until then. This is the longest build i have had so far, but so far the most rewarding.

 

Well everything has been going well until this morning. I got in some 15 x 9" 6ul wheels and some 275/50/15 tires this week. Got them mounted and balanced yesterday and took the car for a spin this morning. It felt great! No more spinning through 3rd and part of the way through 4th. With 30lbs in the drag radials, i still spin a good bit in 2nd but it is a massive difference.

I drove over to my friends house to let him drive it with these tires on. We pulled out on a nice, straight road and he nailed it. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and missed 4th... Really? Nope, he got it in 4th, but the differential urethane pulled apart from the metal which dropped that side of the diff down and yanked the axle apart. Oops. haha I guess now i will putting in those solid delrin diff mounts this weekend. I think i can put the axle back together. There didn't seem to be any damage done to it.

So far this is the only real problem i have had. I'm just glad it happened a mile away from his house, and not at the drag strip!

 

Pictures of damage needed........

 

Sorry, no pictures of damage. I just got a new camera last night, so bear with me while i figure it out.

I need to raise the front up a little bit and get some rear adjustable upper control arms to help with the camber issues.




Closeup of said camber.


Overall, the 275's fit very nicely. Right now they rub a little on the inside, but that will be taken care of along with the camber issue, and just a tiny bit on the flares. Nothing a little trimming won't fix.



I still have a couple things to do in the engine bay, but it is 90% the way i want it now.






I'm actually going back with the factory thermostat housing which will free up a fitting i have in the lower hose. Put that fitting in the place of the inline filler, and route all my steam vents to it. I'm paranoid about air in the system, so i'm doing everything i can to insure they don't get trapped in the motor.

 

Any spacers on the back end? I have 235/60/15's I'm going to try to shove under mine in the next few months

 

No spacers. The tires are just mounted on some 15 x 9 6ul's. I thought i would need spacers. Looks like i was wrong.

 

Sweet! I have the same flares and was unsure if I'd need the dreaded spacers. Just waiting on the nickel 6UL's to come in

Your car is coming together nicely! You really do seem paranoid about air bubbles with the dual radiator fill caps haha

BTW- where'd you get the overflow tank? Looks nice

 

Thanks man. Remember that the 235's are not going to be quite as wide, so it might take a 10-15mm spacer or so to bring it out a little more flush. I would really just make use of the narrower size and try to get it centered in there to avoid rubbing with a violent launch.

Also, i am deleting the inline filler, but adding a filler/surge tank for all 4 of the steam lines to run into. A bit overkill, but then again isn't that what putting an LS motor in a miata is all about? haha

The overflow tank is stock. The little remote fill above it was made by PRC along with my radiator. Jegs and Summit sell similar things too just depending on what setup you want to run.

 

sickness

 

Also looks like you deleted your fuse panel!

Why aren't you able to dial out the camber with the lower eccentric bolts? That "should" also push the top of the tire away from the inner fender. A picture of the FC rear end with CV angle vs lower arm angle would be awesome!

 

Will you be putting flares on the front end also? If so, try throwing the 275's up front. If they fit, that would be a nice unheard of combo for Auto-x with around 40psi of pressure in them. The sidewalls are decently stiff and the tires hold up fairly well. The tires can handle over 1800 pounds per corner, and resting weight on the miata is around 550-600 per corner.

 

Sadly,The FC rear is much like the stock MX5 rear, so no welding will really hold on it. the 929 pumpkin is about the only way to get a sturdy bracing to the rear cradle, with its dual ears on it. Between those and the factory batwings, the rear end should be firmly supported.

LS1-450: That is one of the strongest looking rear end designs I've seen.