Jack Sprat

Today I adjusted the carb and timing. The timing was very low so I bumped it up (a lot). The car is awesome! More fine tuning to do and I have to get the exhaust tucked up better. The brakes really suck - gonna do some digging on the internet to figure this out.

Got it cleaned up today:

Jack Sprat

MX-Brad

Awesome. Can't wait to finish mine.

Sunshine Guy

See post #20 in this thread: https://www.v8miata.net/v8-miata-bra...es-1699/page2/

The 2002-2005 factory Sport brakes are a decent upgrade, especially on the '93 and earlier cars. There are better "big brakes" kits out there but they start at about twice the price of these.

5.0MX5

Jackie, nice car and congratulations on getting in on the road! Let me be the first to suggest the easiest upgrade for a street car....breaks off a 1.8 car...1994-97. That's what I'm running and on a strictly street car they've proven to be quite adequate. Jason started out tracking one of his cars with 1.8 brakes and upgraded pads, as I recall he had a fairly positive review, just not as good as needed for a serious track car of course.

The 1.8 parts are a strictly bolt on and easily sourced from eBay or online forums, I think I paid $50 for my set-up (pads not included).

Good Luck
RR

Jack Sprat

Thanks RR.

Your reply was just in time. I was just about to order some new brake pads for the rear.

I have figured out that the rear is doing almost nothing since they won't even lock up in grass. I have to put some serious effort into getting the car to stop so upgrades are definitely in order.

None of the cars in the local yards have the bigger brakes. I'll dig around around on ebay.

Thanks Again,
Jackie

charchri4

That should be really easy to find since lots of guys pitch those parts when they go to after market big brake kits. You my try posting wanted ads on the miata forums and your local Miata and autocross clubs with with what you are doing. My hunch is you could find someone to give you a set to support the GRM challenge. If I had a solid brake plan I'd give you mine but probably will run them another summer. V8droptop here would probably have a set lying around but it's a long ship of heavy parts.

Going to post 93 is for sure a worthwhile upgrade and if you can find an adjustable proportioning valve it goes a long way too. And the good news it's an easy fix!

Sunshine Guy

When I suggested part numbers for Sport brakes, I was thinking new rather than used. You already know '94 and later cars have better brakes than the earlier ones. There is one more step up in brakes performance, beyond the standard '94 and later. Any 2001 - 2002 car that came with the "Sport" package would have these "best factory" brakes.

When searching, the Sport package cars came with factory 16" wheels and Bilstein shocks. Of course, these items could have been changed over the years. If you call a dealer with the VIN number they should be able to tell if it came with the Sport package. In 2003 the Sport brakes became standard on all cars. So if you find any 2003, 2004, or 2005 it should have what you need.

Jack Sprat

No luck so far. They are expensive on eBay. I'll keep digging

Jack Sprat

People certainly know what that they have these days. Maybe I'll get lucky and find something.

Jack Sprat

Took the car to the track for the first time today. Things I learned:

1 - ET Streets can overpower the tiny front brakes when they start to dig. I was holding the brakes down very hard the whole time and never let up during the burnout.
2 - Ford E6 heads are terrible - seriously, they are that bad
3 - Granny shifting is not good for low ETs
4 - I hate used Holley carbs from ebay
5 - The car has enormous potential to be fast
6 - Got to work on the wheel hop

Even with issues, it was still a good day at the track.

charchri4

Wow that has to feel good! It sure sounds good! So were you worried about breaking anything? Did you break anything?

Nice to get over the jitters of shake down miles and this is a great way to stress test it for sure.

So are you thinking she'll be up to a road trip to Atlanta in April? Sure would love to have you!

charchri4

I just want to tell you I have reposted this video at least a dozen times as an example of a very fine build on a very small budget and it just saved an NA from certain doom.

Please tell me you will bring it to Mitty!!!

MRM331

Brake thoughts:

Order "Semi Loaded" reman calipers on RockAuto or from your local parts store. Semi-Loaded calipers come with the bracket and hardware but no pads which makes them ideal for upgrading. If you are daring you can order the later year calipers you want to upgrade to and then send in your smaller parts as cores. Chances are you'll get your core credit, if not you're out $100. I used to upgrade to the 1994-97 parts but the last time I looked the even nicer 2002-2005 sport brake parts are now only a little bit more. If I were using a 1990 - 93 as a donor I'd skip the 1994-97 stuff and go right to the sport brakes. I'm in the process of doing this to my rears now as they were up for a rebuild anyhow. Reman sport rear brakes are costing me less than $50 more than reman 1994 rears. Even pads are only a few buck more and rotors are the same price.

-Jason

Jack Sprat

It was great getting the car out there. In that video I got the car up to 94 mph and it was very stable and made some great engine sounds lol. There were no drivetrain vibrations which was great considering that I have not had the car aligned yet and the Aerostar driveshaft wasn't rebalanced after shortening it. My plan of leaving the front subframe, rack & tie rods in the car seemed to work like a charm. I never disconnected the rear A arms so the rear is good. The added weight gave me a little camber but I need that for autox anyhow.

I have a few issues to resolve, mainly due to using used (or Chinese) parts that are way less than perfect. Another issue is that the 86 heads act like a restrictor plate and limit the power A LOT. Solutions in a later post.

Thanks for sharing the video. I hope I have inspired someone to start (or finish) a V8 Miata project. My son loves the car and we have had some good times together working on it.

Yes, I would love to go to Mitty. I have a huge 2 year work project that is supposed to launch a few days before so I can't commit until the last minute.

Jack Sprat

Jason, thank you for your response. I will definitely use your advice.

From driving around the neighborhood, I could tell the brakes sucked but I have never seen a car overpower the brakes like that. No matter how hard you held the brakes the car got faster and faster during the burnout. During hard braking (yeah right!) I can tell that the rears do almost nothing. The fronts do just a tiny bit better.

Jack Sprat

Working on the cure for the restrictor plate. The cam, which came it today, will make it breathe much better than the stock GT cam. The heads are D0OEs which are off a 1970 351W. They have big valves and ports from the factory. Ported, these heads will flow as good as GT40X heads and only cost me a Benjamin. Aluminum heads would have been better for weight savings but would have been at least 6x as much.

charchri4

Well what a good job Santa - Merry Christmas! I ran 351 heads on 302 block my 65 Mustang and it was an excellent power adder. As I recall I had to mill them quite a bit and run thin head gaskets to get the compression up to where it belongs but I just ran stock bolts and it worked great. This is going to make a BIG difference!

Jack Sprat

Santa definitely rocked this year!

I'll check the CCs and shave as needed. Between the heads and the F303 cam, I sure hope that engine wakes up. Lesson learned, Stay away from the 86 and older 5.0s unless you plan on a full build.

The funny thing is that I can't do anything the easy way. I bought a cam that has enough lift that I have to fly cut my pistons for valve clearance. I plan to do that while the engine is in the car.

I'll post some pictures. Wish me luck.

Jack Sprat

Call me insane but while most people were still sleeping off their New Year's eve festivities, I was out in a junk yard celebrating their 50% off sale. My son and I pulled the (pictured) engine from a 96 V8 Explorer. This particular model has the same heads and intake as the 93 Mustang Cobra so it is a decent performer right out of the gate.

The GT40 heads are as good as the D0OEs and since I won't use the D0OE's on the Miata so I will save $100 on my GRC $2015 budget. When I take back an engine core, the complete engine will only cost me $166.17. I needed this savings so I can potentially do nitrous or even a 347 stroker.

I highly recommend the 1996 Explorer/Mountaineer V8 if you can't find a good 87 up Mustang GT engine.

tbone heller

Nice find at a nice price.

jrmotorsports55

Very nice. Love those explorer intakes, good performance at a great price. The heads are pretty good to, basically the original gt40 heads that FMS sold, just cast iron vs. aluminum.

charchri4

I do believe you live a charmed life my friend! Sounds like a really fun father son day and congrats on the find!

Jack Sprat

Thanks.

I agree. I used on a GT40P head on Fox Mustang and it ran pretty well. I'm glad I found a non-P head since I already built my headers.

I certainly feel blessed, charmed sometimes, many times not. lol I'm stoked, the engine will give me the monetary edge I need to be able to make the Miata fast.

SIDEBAR:
A 50% off JunkYard day is a story in itself. To get the engine out was is nothing short of a miracle since there were only 2 chain hoists and a dozen people in line for each one. Vultures circled the towering mobile chain hoists wherever they went since you could see them from any point in the jy. Society had already broken down since everyone was claiming to be next in line even though the present owner had already said that I was. He recanted when he saw someone he knew.

As a bargaining chip, I secured one of the only 2 heavy duty carts needed to transport an engine on. I helped pull that guys engine and I traded the cart for the chain hoist in the nick of time since my son had to be at work. A guy helped me get the chain hoist where I needed it so he became next in line. He was there (as were the vultures) waiting for me to pull my previously unbolted engine but the engine refused to break free from the trans. We double checked several times for bolts we missed. Stress was building. We jumped on it, snatched it, pried it, for what seemed like an eternity but it didn't budge.

I was about to give up on our 6.5 hour struggle but I said a little prayer instead. I had one more chance to pull it before I felt the mob would forcibly take my chain hoist so I moved the hook to the very front of the engine and gave 'er all she had - not caring what broke. It worked! The next guy in line sawzall'd the dangling tidbits and I was somewhat in business, but no cart Fortunately, a different guy with a cart showed up, gave me the cart which put him 3rd in line for the hoist.

It was a valuable lesson. When society collapses in a JY, the barter system and helping others is the only way you will make it out (with your parts). I don't watch the show but I guess it was like being on Survivor.

charchri4

LOL that's good stuff! Around here those 50% days always happen in the dead of winter and let me tell you working in 15 degrees with a sub 0 wind chill doesn't cool tempers at all!