Gabriel

Hi Everyone - Gabriel here from Ontario, Canada.. .

Although I never did end up creating a build thread from the start, and I'm now in the tail end of my project, I edited a series of videos throughout the build process that elaborated on my whole build.

I decided to finally create my build thread, and if nothing else, the videos alone should show pretty much all of the build process.

The car is a red 1990, I went with the Monster Miata V8 conversion kit, and a bone stock 1989 mustang 5.0 with WC T5 and an 8.8 limited slip.

as the project is not yet done, there will be more videos to come, but this is 85% of it. Hope you all enjoy the videos!


Part 1 - Introduction - In this Video I really just introduce myself, the project, and the car.


Part 2 - This is a fast pace overview of the dis-assembly of the car, since this is probably the easiest part, I made this one fairly fast.


Part 3 - This is mostly the modifications required to drop the v8 in the engine bay


Part 4 - Bringing the engine home, and getting ready for the Miata - again, I kept it bone stock for now.. so I didn't open it up in any way, i just cleaned it, painted it, and freshened it up!


Part 5 - This is just a quick video showcasing Martin's kit


Part 6 - Front End Reassembly


Part 7 - Transmission and driveline


Part 8 - very detailed video on how I did my CV joints, or halfshaft conversion. I ended up having to completely disassemble each joint


Part 9 - a bit of a boring video, this shows all of my Wiring. This was my first time doing this, so please do not assume this is done the right way! (I mean, I think it is, but that's my problem . I think specially for wiring, everyone should study the diagrams, understand them and wire the car the best way possible.


Part 10 - Putting everything else together! most of the remaining components required before first start are addressed in this video, the alternator, starter, fans, hood webbing modification, speed sensor... I also discuss my fuel line rerouting.


Part 11 - The First Start of the Engine! I think everyone will remember this part of their build for the rest of their life, when you finally hear that engine running inside the Miata!


Part 12 - In this Video I build the Exhaust, put the new rims on, and finally take it for a short spin..


Part 13 - After the long winter, Spring has finally arrived, But the car is still not sorted!

Part 14 - Another summer without enjoying this car, time to get it done! In this video: The Transmission comes out and goes back in!

Part 15 - The Finale. Taking a step back and admiring the finished product.


Stay tuned, more videos to come!

Gabriel

Reserving spot for future videos

Gabriel

Reserving another spot for future videos

Gabriel

Reserving another spot for future videos again!!

MX-Brad

So awesome.....just watched them all

jrmotorsports55

Very cool. So excited to build mine.

Jason

Gabriel

ha ha - thanks, My thoughts when i decided to make these vids when i started my build were that, there's a huge value in being able to watch the process before getting into it, even if the building your watching doesn't know what he's doing... lol like me... because it really gives you perspective of what you're in for!


lol yep - I was at that point 6 months ago lol.... you'll hit ups and downs... you'll have times when you're super excited to get in the garage on saturday morning and build your car... and then of course they're will be the frustrating times when you're way over budget, you need your garage and it's taken up by this project, you've put soooo much work into it, and have gotten not that much in return...

THEN you get that first ride down the street with no insurance yet!! for me that was only 2 nights ago at 11pm when i finally put the wheels back on after finishing the exhaust work! I probably woke up the whole neighborhood! And i think my hands were shaking for at least an hour after... and i coudln't even sleep despite being exhausted from putting 12 hours of work on the car that day!!! probably the most exciting moment of my life LMAO!

tbone heller

Nice!!

charchri4

LOL every vid has at least one operation that you have to do at least twice for various reasons. Makes me feel right at home and I'm glad I'm not the only one that does that! Again. And again.

I really like the part you put in about builders fatigue. That get's missed a lot in build threads and it's a really big deal no one plans for or expects. Really good stuff Gabe.

I'm looking forward to the shake down runs and future fun with your car. Great build and really fun build thread! Thanks for posting this!!

Gabriel

Thanks Jim - see i'm surprised you picked up on the "have to do at least twice" stuff.. because i felt i didn't elaborate enough on that... almost everything I installed, I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling another 3 times, everytime you think it's the last time... then, later down the road: again!

I feel like these videos make it look like the project gets done over night, but with all the stuff that's not in video, like figuring stuff out.. trying to understand how the peice goes on... redoing it at least twice and more... It certainly does NOT get done overnight

MX-Brad

Gabriel,
Curious if you ever thought about installing the complete engine/tranny/subframe from below. And if you did, what was the deciding factor to install from above?
I'm planning on doing mine from below, but looking for another POV.
Brad

Gabriel

I'm not too sure - I never really concidered doing it from below since i felt it probably required a car hoist like how Stacey David did it on Gearz..

getting the engine to sit right took almost a day of playing and shiming.. it's much easier to do without the bell housing and headers there, HOWEVER - I did end up messing with that even more after these things were all installed, and it's dooable, just not as nice as when they're not there yet..

I guess the from below methode would enable you to do most of this before it's on the car? I suppose the front to back portion would have to be done later since the firewall is not there yet..

I really don't know, i just picked the methode that seemed suited for my situation and proceeded...

I really can't say that installing the Bell, and trans was hard with engine on the car... I had plenty of room in there.. i think a few bell housing bolts i needed the u joint link on my socket extention but only 1 or 2.. and it was really no big deal

Gabriel

Hi Guys! Finally i finished the next video in the series of my car build..... See part 12 in the master post HERE

MX-Brad

awesome. What kinds of little things do you still have to sort? Sounds great.
I'm finally starting my teardown. Takes longer to get this engine out than I thought it would.

Gabriel

haha - brace yourself, the removal of the miata engine is probably the quickest easiest part of the build!

Oh.. all kinds of random stuff still needs done...
-heat sheilds on the exhaust need to be built, floor insulation, the floor gets really hot...
-the shift boot sucks, puts tention on the shifter,
-clutch not diengaging properly after car gets warmed up, either exhaust heating up slave cylinder, or need to brace it like others have done..
-engine still not running right, won't idle when cold,
-runs really rich when cold, not even sure if it would pass e-test right now
-I hear whistling sound coming from the back engine bay, i think there might be a vacume leak,
-alignment hasn't even been done yet
-funny clunking noise comes from the engine bay from time to time, can't figure out what it is...
-intake tube is rubing on the hood at one spot,
-exhaust is only held with temporary bolts, no washers even yet.. has to be properly installed
-still have random bolts sticking out here and there that need to be trimed and made neatter
-realised they're actualy doing spot checks for air pump and things on cars in ontario, read a guy on some forum got a mean ticket for not having the airpump on a 73 corvette!! decided i'm going to reinstall airpump, egr etc... need to purchase all this stuff eehhh...
-after all this i want to do a trickflow kit... the car is HUGE fun with 225hp, but still 350 would be better!

MX-Brad

ha- ya my day was slow going. I started in the morning and finished up before supper, but actually only got about 3 hrs of actual work in. Probably another good hour of work to do before I can yank it out. Maybe tomorrow night.
Def sounds like you have a vacuum leak from your description.

Gabriel

Yep - hopefully this winter i'll have time get get everything fixed up - right now i'm full throttle on getting my house fixed up before the Winter.. Winter is coming!

V8MiataMike

Gabriel, I just finished converting the axles and man... you have no idea how important your video was! I pounded till it hurt trying to get the axles out of the CV joint and finally gave up. I wound up cutting off the axle so there was only a nub left in the joint. Used your detailed video and disassembled it, pushed the nub out, cleaned all the pieces, put it back together and did it again for the other one. Got both axles installed and working good. Thank you for the video! Priceless! By the way, what an amazing piece of hardware that CV joint is.

Gabriel

AH MAN! I'm really glad the video helped!! were they A1 Cardone? So many people here said it was super easy to pop them out, but I faught for hours to get them out and as the video showed the clip binded and shattered inside the CV... I really hope the tequnique I showed are correct lol... As I said in the video, it was the first time I ever did them too... I just hope I never need to take them appart again!

V8MiataMike

Yup. A1 Cardone. The ones that are referenced to get if you have an 8.8 rear end you are putting in.

Now I'm headed back to your video of the radiator. I can't for the life of me make sense of how the brackets are supposed to work or hold the radiator in!

Underdog

Hi Gabriel,

I recently came across your videos on YouTube and watched all of them in one sitting. I just wanted to thank you for documenting your process in this way and at this level of detail and honesty. I didn't expect some of the more melancholy segments and found them to be an excellent addition to the process and very well done.

I can appreciate the amount of work you put into these videos from a technical perspective, as they are loaded with interesting camera angles, techniques and edited well. I wish you the best with your build and I look forward to more updates!

-Tom

Gabriel

Thanks Tom! Honestly I probably enjoyed making the videos as much as I enjoyed building the car... some of them are edited better than others, when your spending so much time on the build, it's hard to spend time editing video at the same time lol... so some of them got slapped together rather quickly...

I will admit many parts where you're really banging your head trying to figure out something on the build, the last thing you feel like doing is setting up the camera and filming a portion of it lol...

I'm going to make a few more videos in the spring, I hope to be able to take all the time required to put together some more professional looking videos, we'll see!

anyway! thanks for the feedback!

Gabe.

MRM331

Gabriel these are awesome. Martin should pay you for them.

Kudos to you sir,

-Jason

V8MiataMike

Indeed! It was Gabriel's videos that moved me from wishing to doing!

Hmmm... Gabriel, I think you should share some of my costs now that I think about it! This Monster Miata I have is all your fault!

Seriously though, after sifting through hundreds of pictures and build threads, your videos cinched it for me to move forward. Thanks!

Mike

charchri4

Now that right there is what I love about this place! ^^ Thank you for sharing that Mike, this is for sure the best post I've seen in a very long time!!!