$200 miata, finally have a deadline to work toward

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
06/19/2019 at 13:35 • Filed to: $200 miata, decay's beaters, track day bro, miata reunion

Been slacking quite a bit on Miata work lately, it’s been running good enough that I haven’t been motivated to mess with it since all the work I did over the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Well, every year there is a giant Miata meetup in California at Laguna Seca, and I signed up. That means I have 4 months and counting to get my car ready for a 2000 mile road trip with a track day half way. Right now it’s burning about a quart of oil every 1000 miles on the unknown mileage junkyard 1.6, so I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t make it through the trip.

Basically, here is the list of things I need to get done

1. Swap known good 1.8 into the car
-Things needed to make that happen

1a Timing belt on the 1.8

1b rear main seal

2. Tires (probably good to have matching on all corners)

3. Alignment (it’s definitely taken some hits, probably best to throw it on a rack and see where it lies)

4. Brakes, no idea what’s even on there, I reused pads when i changed the calipers

5. Diff fluid, left whatever was already in there when i did the swap

Stretch goals

1. Fix the rust holes

2. Put in real shocks, currently on racelands

3. swap to a standalone ECU, 1.6 stock ecu will run the 1.8 but I’d rather to be able to tune it.

4. Cooling mods, hood ventilation and a larger radiator.

Lol, not going to happen but fun to think about

1. Turbocharge

2. Cruise Control

I’m also hoping to get it done about a month in advance of the event to give me a chance to properly shake everything down and weed out any potential issues.

DISCUSSION (25)

CaptDale - is secretly British > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 13:47

Woo! best be posting that work o n insta.

Decay buys too many beaters > CaptDale - is secretly British
06/19/2019 at 13:53

O f course!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 13:56

Definitely think about a cooling reroute if you are doing an engine swap anyways. That is one surefire way to improve potential reliability.

I am jealous that I missed the signup for Miatas at Laguna Seca! I still plan on going for general admission anyways so hopefully I shall see you out there. Its a good excuse to go for a drive up the PCH through Big Sur anyways. I am sure I will come across many miatas doing that drive. Maybe I can find a way to get in for the track portion? I am going to get on the wait list at least and maybe someone will sell a spot.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 14:05

That means I have 4 months and counting to get my car ready for a 2000 mile road trip with a track day half way. Right now it’s burning about a quart of oil every 1000 miles on the unknown mileage junkyard 1.6,

I’ll shorten your plan for you:

1. Go to Autozone and buy 3 quarts of oil

2. That’s it

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/19/2019 at 14:12

It sold out stupid fast this year, think the non expert sessions were under 1 min for saturday, less than 5 for both days.

Last year at laguna, so that’s probably why it went so fast.

I’ll take a look at cooling reroutes, but probably file it under stretch goals, most companies sure are proud of a few pieces of machined aluminum it seems (just me being a cheapass)

Decay buys too many beaters > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
06/19/2019 at 14:14

LOL!

Not mentioned in post

It is painfully slow running the 1.6 through the 4.1 rear end (stock was a 4.3)
It also runs hot
It also has low oil pressure

nerd_racing > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
06/19/2019 at 14:52

3 gallons*

nerd_racing > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 14:53

Isn’t there a way to use the front wheel drive thermostat housing and bypass pipe?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 14:56

I did not know it was the last year! I'll definitely have to make it out. Any idea where they might go next year?

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/19/2019 at 15:01

No idea, but since Mazda sold L aguna to W eathertech, it seems they don’t get priority for Mazda events any more (at least that’s my assumption). Not sure where it will be next year, which is why I was so keen to sign up this year. M e being in the Northwest c orner of the US it probably won’t get any closer than Laguna realistically.

Decay buys too many beaters > nerd_racing
06/19/2019 at 15:09

Maybe? I haven’t scoped that out yet, need to do some digging on the forums.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > nerd_racing
06/19/2019 at 15:28

I thought the cooling issue was because of the fwd engine the layout was based on. Idk enough about it though since the NB 1.8 is a bit better that at stock power there are zero issues

someassemblyrequired > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 15:41

I asked my local Miata guru (the legendary Coop of Coop’s Miata) about whether it was possible to retrofit cruise into my NA as I was about to drive it from Seattle to New England.

He said the easiest way to get a Miata with cruise control was to buy another Miata that already had it .

Decay buys too many beaters > someassemblyrequired
06/19/2019 at 15:48

Yeah, figured as much.

Might have to do the old brick on the accelerator trick /s

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/19/2019 at 16:01

I think the issue is grossly overstated at stock power in general.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 16:25

From what I understand, the early 1.6NA will easily have cooling issues at stock power even on a single track day with a beginner in the summer time. But then again, I am basing that opinion on the grossly overstated reports most likely!

All I know is that I did two track days where it was around 110F and had zero cooling issues, never saw temps above ~210F (mostly stayed below 200). My body on the other hand, definitely saw cooling issues with the top down lol. Tons of gatorade and water consumed, and my top zip tied closed (latches would not have held at track speeds otherwise), and I was able to make it through all four sessions. Meanwhile, there were maybe 10% of the cars remaining in that last session due to heat soaked turbos and such.

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/19/2019 at 16:32

The current 1.6 definitely runs on the hot side so there may be some truth to it, but it seems to stabilize about 3/4 of the way up the temp gauge no matter how hard I push. From what I hear the 1.8 does quite a bit better, but we’ll have to see.

I just know from years on various forums how relatively minor issues tend to get blown out of proportion. (See FRS/BRZ big turbo guys blowing up factory transmissions at 3x stock power quickly turning in to “these transmissions are made of glass” )

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 16:50

Oh right you have actual oil pressure and temp gauges! The only way my temp gauge is moving anywhere other than the center is at 230+ which is useless as the headgasket has already gone bye bye along with the head. OBD2 scanner hooked up to trackaddict to record stats gets me the actual numbers each session at least.

And yup, forums tend to do that. They are right sometimes but everything needs to be taken with a grain (massive pile really) of salt.

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/19/2019 at 16:53

Yep!
Of course the flip side of that is you have OBD and can log parameters directly on your phone, where I have to trust that my 26 year old sensors are still calibrated

someassemblyrequired > Decay buys too many beaters
06/19/2019 at 22:14

TBH it wasn’t as bad as I thought without it.

Future Heap Owner > someassemblyrequired
06/20/2019 at 00:46

Honestly I sometimes straight up forget about cruise control, even on multiple-hour drives.

daender > Decay buys too many beaters
06/20/2019 at 18:10

You’ll also want to swap the diff and axles out because the 1.6 diff may not take 1.8 abuse. I think the drive shafts are different lengths but don’t hold me to it. IMO, rebuild the 1.6 instead of swapping it, do the maintenance, and SEND IT.

Also, do you have a foam strip between your radiator and core support? If you don’t, try going to a home improvement store and buying some thick foam to jam in there. Apparently the helps seal hot air, that’s circulating around in the engine bay at speed, from re-entering the radiator.

Decay buys too many beaters > daender
06/20/2019 at 19:36

I did a full torsen swap back in December, driveline is SOLID

daender > Decay buys too many beaters
06/20/2019 at 21:25

Welp... 1.8L TIME.

someassemblyrequired > Future Heap Owner
06/21/2019 at 11:16

Yeah other than noise levels, it’s not a penalty box on a long drive.