SCCA T4 Build thread

[jflogerzi]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I appreciate it man. The list I have so far is:



Front core / radiator support structure

Front crash bar / impact beam

Bumper skin

Headlight driver side

Corner light inserts (Both)

Fenders (both)

Fog inserts

Front plastic Undertray.

Radiator

Rear bumper skin

Brake duct hose

Maybe rear control arm or rear suspension

Maybe front control arm or tie rod

Driver side door



I'm calling the frame shop(s) now to see if I can get the left rear sheet metal tugged out and then I can get it close enough to align and be ready for new rear skin.

Where are you? You can have my old stock radiator. I have an aftermarket radiator

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[pinkwheels]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Loved watching the build, so sorry about the race weekend. I used to be on my SCCA BOD and was Solo Chair too; SCCA seems to be having a serious culture issue and I know at our region the club was allergic to change, esp when it came to HDPE/TT, and all the 'old timers' wanted to keep on doing what they wanted. I've heard from several people that W2W with SCCA has become where bad characters never leave, and I know it's driving my friends to NASA for TT and W2W. I wish you the best of luck getting your car back together!

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by jflogerzi

Where are you? You can have my old stock radiator. I have an aftermarket radiator

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

Washington. It probably makes sense for me to source something locally vs the cost of shipping on a used radiator, assuming you're in CA. I'm going to stay stock because it's more than enough cooling for what I'm doing. I appreciate your willingness to help though!

[jflogerzi]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

Washington. It probably makes sense for me to source something locally vs the cost of shipping on a used radiator, assuming you're in CA. I'm going to stay stock because it's more than enough cooling for what I'm doing. I appreciate your willingness to help though!

Yea in socal. Just seeing if you were local. Good luck on the rebuild

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[solidONE]

I typically love miatas. Just not that red one.

[WheelrDealer]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

Washington. It probably makes sense for me to source something locally vs the cost of shipping on a used radiator, assuming you're in CA. I'm going to stay stock because it's more than enough cooling for what I'm doing. I appreciate your willingness to help though!

I have a parts car the same color as yours. Unfortunately its hit on the right side too. Why don't you PM me and Ill check what I have. I know I have a complete radiator and fans. Front suspension. Perfect right side fender, door. Also anything you need from Toyota I have an inside deal on parts. I will explain to you off line.
Bill

[Totemo_Hayai]

Originally Posted by pinkwheels

Long time lurker, first time poster. Loved watching the build, so sorry about the race weekend. I used to be on my SCCA BOD and was Solo Chair too; SCCA seems to be having a serious culture issue and I know at our region the club was allergic to change, esp when it came to HDPE/TT, and all the 'old timers' wanted to keep on doing what they wanted. I've heard from several people that W2W with SCCA has become where bad characters never leave, and I know it's driving my friends to NASA for TT and W2W. I wish you the best of luck getting your car back together!

The dude in the Miata that did the smashing said he also races with the local NASA group and they are OK with bent metal there as well. This was said in an effort to justify his behavior.

[ermax]

I was trying to find other footage of this incident and found another Miata just casually looping another car off track. It does seem there isn’t much concern for punting.

[WheelrDealer]

Looking forward to seeing these two cars repaired and back out there. Really good videos before the incident.

BR

[rice_classic]

Lots of boxes in the driveway!



I am very appreciative of the help from folks here: Wheelrdealr, Four_wheel_drifts as well as Turfer and Totemo. Between picking up spares, buying new parts and finding a good body shop and I'm in a position to get things back together.

SO MUCH CLUTTER!


Car is back in the garage and the body is now straight. I was able to remount the oil cooler, replace the radiator and start putting on some of the front pieces.






The rear is still crinkly, I may be able to pop out the large dent but a "full" correction of the body will not happen until this off season. But as you can see the bumper skin sits flush (new skin going on).



Next up is working on installing the brake ducts. I am switching away from the APR ducts to the Verus ducts so that I won't have 3" tubing running through my engine bay.




I've found that I'm missing a few key pieces that I didn't know where missing like a mounting bracket, or a light socket that was ripped off so I had to place an order last night. Ideally I can take the black fender and bumpers over to a friends house to be painted, assuming my paint shows up before next weekend.

Still not sure why my toe is 1.1" out of spec as nothing looks bent or even out of place but unbolt a bunch of things, then reinstall and see where it lands and then reset alignment.

[showrun]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I've found that I'm missing a few key pieces that I didn't know where missing like a mounting bracket, or a light socket that was ripped off so I had to place an order last night. Ideally I can take the black fender and bumpers over to a friends house to be painted, assuming my paint shows up before next weekend.

Hey man, I have the exact same car as you and I'm down in Vancouver. If you find yourself needing a part urgently for your upcoming race and it's something you want to borrow, ping me.

[WheelrDealer]

Happy to help. Sorry about the delay with the freight company. Car is coming together.

BR

[rice_classic]

It's amazing how 1 miata can ruin 6 body body panels at once.

Rear bumper, left rear quarter, left door, left front fender, hood and bumper/crash support. It also killed alignment, brake ducts and 3 fender liners as well.

So here's the list for those who are following along:

• Front trays, crash support and fender supports
• New brake ducts installed
• Camber and Toe reset - rack was about 25 degrees off center
• Oil cooler remounted
• New body panels painted and installed
• Car re-corner balanced
• New Radiator installed
• and finally - interior dirt/dust cleaned out.

Once I had the front wheels set to zero toe and the tie rods evened out - the rack to steering wheel relationship was off this much:


Got the new Verus ducts installed but I had to modify things a bit as I'm continuing to use my APR adapters to the hub which are 3" instead of 2.5". Also I'm pulling air from the center of the grill with a 5" duct because it's a high pressure zone and should (theoretically) force more air through the ducts.



Now it was time to corner balance and my numbers came out pretty well. I have removed the tow hitch and redistributed the weight to the passenger well which helped a bit but I am still a 200lb body in the driver seat so I can only get so good. My cross weight is under "5" (see numbers on right side of image below - under 5 on the delta is the target).


The challenge I had is the sway bar. I nailed my target with sway bar disconnected but once I reconnect it and set it to the point it's not under any tension - it then GOES IN TENSION once I sit in the car. So to counter I had to set it under tension in the opposite direction so when I sit in the car I am able to hit my target on the scales and the bar isn't under tension. This would be much easier if I had hub plates and a 200lb weight in the passenger seat - but c'est la vie.


But now it's time for PAINT!

A little prep goes a long way. I used Adhesion promotor on the plastic bits and primer on the metal fender. I also used a ready to spray base coat with separate clear coat that is flexible enough to use on plastic body parts. Since we're painting outside the typical bug/dust gets in the paint but good enough for racecar.











The clear has a little orange peel on immediate application but is good about laying flat after a few minutes.


Unfortunately, even though we used the factory color code - it's not a perfect match - but the original paint is 8 years old... This winter I'm going to fix all the body panels and then wrap the car so I'm not too concerned for now.





Also got a new dash piece to color match the car color

[WheelrDealer]

Colon:

I could not help but notice the paint product. My car is due back in a few weeks from the cage fab. I was inspired by your excellent interior base coat clear coat... versus rattle can cage paint. Just ordered my crystal white pearl and clear coat. The wheels you recommended arrive today.

Glad the car is almost race ready. Thanks for the thread picked up a lot of good info for my build.

Bill