Flyin' Miata : Projects: Mike's 2002

February 23, 2010 - Meet the newest patient!
Mike sent us this stock 2002 to be transformed. On top of the 480 hp LS3 engine, the T56 6-speed and the Getrag rear end, the car's going to leave with safety, brake, wheel/tire and suspension upgrades to match. But first, the engine has to come out.
entry 1

February 23, 2010 - Fast work!
Tyler pulled out the entire drivetrain in just a few hours. He still has to strip off the front end and the interior. The car's pretty clean underneath. That always makes working much more pleasant!
entry 2

February 23, 2010 - We said the car was stock.
We lied. We discovered this in the suspension. It appears to be a set of Ground Control coilovers with 370 lb front, 247 lb rear springs. And yes, we think those are stock shocks and destroyed stock bumpstops. We'd be amazed if this worked well.
From what we understand, Mike bought this car as a basis for the transformation and this was probably an innovation of the previous owner. No worries for the future, there's a full AFCO coilover set going in there.
entry 3

February 25, 2010 - Bath time!
When Tyler washes a car, he doesn't screw around.
entry 4

February 25, 2010 - Much better.
After being pressure-washed, the car is ready to have the sheet metal modifications done.
entry 5

February 26, 2010 - Our new plasma cutter is a big hit around the shop.
Our old one got the job done, but required a lot of cleanup. This one makes beautiful cuts. Tyler's amputated the necessary frame parts here and drilled out a few spot welds, now it's time to start reshaping.
We use aircraft stripper to remove the paint and seam sealer before we start to cut. Everything will get repainted with color-matched paint - the end result is usually better than the factory job!
entry 6

February 26, 2010 - After a few hours of cutting and hammering, Tyler has the transmission tunnel almost done.
He's quick!
entry 7

February 26, 2010 - This is the pile of parts we took out of the car after the drivetrain was removed!
With so many cars under construction at Flyin' Miata, we're having to add more storage area for collections like this.
entry 8

March 3, 2010 - The engine is partially assembled with the bellhousing.
This lets us check clearances for the firewall. We actually have a plastic mock-up block that we usually use for this, but it's off elsewhere as part of our header development.
entry 9

March 3, 2010 - And voila, the transmission tunnel is done.
entry 10

March 5, 2010 - We just finished installing a Hard Dog Deuce rollbar.
You can see all the extra structure that's hidden underneath the rear deck on one of these.
entry 11

March 9, 2010 - Time to assemble the rear.
The car's receiving a set of our tubular control arms. Looks pretty tasty, doesn't it?
entry 12

March 9, 2010 - It's hard to see now - whoops, should have taken that picture earlier - but we replaced the stock rubber bushing in the differential nose with a polyurethane unit for better control.
entry 13

March 9, 2010 - Tyler cleaned up the brake calipers.
Not bad!
entry 14

March 9, 2010 - The car is receiving a set of FM's own big brakes.
This is the bracket for the rear calipers to let them fit over the 11" two-piece rotors.
entry 15

March 11, 2010 - The rear end is fully assembled.
It looks good!
entry 16

March 11, 2010 - The firewall modifications are finished, so we welded the various braces back into place and sealed them up with seam sealer.
entry 17

March 11, 2010 - The firewall got a coat of paint to match the exterior.
entry 18

March 11, 2010 - Nice shiny heat shielding for the interior.
entry 19

March 17, 2010 - The rear end is installed in the car.
entry 20

start

entries 1-20 of 46 (46 new) | oldest first
show individual entries | show newest first

newer