My 1990 Miata Project.

so a few months back i bought a white 1990 mazda miata, 5 speed, great condition, bone stock with 79,000 miles off craigslist for $2,400. so far it's been treating me great, i use it as a daily driver. buttttttttt the time has come for some work to be put into it.

so i want to paint it gunmetal, with black rims, an orange racing stripe down the drivers side, and low profile body kit (i hate that ricer shit, i just want subtle accents and foglights), as well as low profile headlights (stock just looks funny) with window tints and blacked out turn signals/brake lights. i also want to paint the brake calipers orange. mechanically i would like to upgrade the suspension, drop a turbo in, make the engine SPEC qualified and throw in a cold air intake. i might redirect the cold air intake to the hood and put on a scoop instead of putting it in the fender and sucking up water when i drive in the rain.

oh yeah, interior wise i'm putting in a small sound system (8 inch sub max, i want to hear my music not the bass). i already have the aftermarket kicker speakers installed. i also have billet style racing pedals with a matching shift knob (the top unscrews to hide "cash and other emergency items" ). i'm going to get interior orange neon lights under the seat and dash which will glow to the beat of the subwoofer, which will be epic in a hotbox.

i'm saving the engine for last, since 1) i'm broke and 2) i'm want to enjoy my 30 mpg as long as i can lol.

Edited by phantomxrider, 21 May 2010 - 05:05 PM.

Good ideas dude. How much boost are you planning on for the turbo? How much are you planning on spending on the upgrades?

how about a silver stripe to offset the gun metal color..

be prepared to beef up your internals if you want to have a turbo running at more than 10 PSI...

TBH i'd find an LSx motor and throw that in there instead of doing the turbo. it would save you soooo much time and if you did some work to the engine down the line it'd make for the ultimate sleeper.

be prepared to beef up your internals if you want to have a turbo running at more than 10 psi...

Tbh i'd find an lsx motor and throw that in there instead of doing the turbo. It would save you soooo much time and if you did some work to the engine down the line it'd make for the ultimate sleeper.

^^^^^ agree 100%

be prepared to beef up your internals if you want to have a turbo running at more than 10 PSI...

TBH i'd find an LSx motor and throw that in there instead of doing the turbo. it would save you soooo much time and if you did some work to the engine down the line it'd make for the ultimate sleeper.

when mazda had the idea for the miata, they took the engine out of a previous model car that had a turbo already and put it in the miata. but they did remove the turbo, and left everything else in. so there's no sidework, you just buy the turbo and go.

pretty fucking classy built, i think you should put money into upgrading the suspension also, since its a driver. Its doesn't take much to make these cars handle like its on rails

updates:
blacked out taillights


new shift knob and boot (top ring unscrews as a stash spot)


blacked out turn signals & reflectors


wheels removed, cleaned, rims painted


blue leds wired to headlights to illuminate dash


new kicker 6 1/2" door speakers


machined aluminum billet style pedals


coming up:
black racing stripes ($20 vinyl, gonna match the car till its painted)
headrest speakers
new top
tinted windows (after top comes in)

i'm going to keep this here in my sig and document everything i do to the car. it's gonna be interesting to see how it comes out.

Edited by phantomxrider, 21 May 2010 - 05:01 PM.

Take off those pep boys fender decorations. They're hideous.

And don't put an LSx motor in it. It will make it nose heavy and useless.

Take off those pep boys fender decorations. They're hideous.

And don't put an LSx motor in it. It will make it nose heavy and useless.

that was actually one of my friends, who bought me those as a present and she stuck them on while i was in class. the paint's too old for the heavy adhesive (the 90's white paint blows on all cars) so the shit's stuck there.

and im not doing an engine swap, im just putting a little more power to the original engine. no lsx over here please.

that was actually one of my friends, who bought me those as a present and she stuck them on while i was in class. the paint's too old for the heavy adhesive (the 90's white paint blows on all cars) so the shit's stuck there.

and im not doing an engine swap, im just putting a little more power to the original engine. no lsx over here please.

I'd be incredibly livid if some girl did that to my car. I'd make her take it off and pay for new paint if anything got damaged.

I'd be incredibly livid if some girl did that to my car. I'd make her take it off and pay for new paint if anything got damaged.

lol it's ok with me. worst case scenario is i would just have to wet sand and touch it up with rusto....shit, the trunk had horrible sun spots on it that i had to fix....im painting it in the next 6 months so its all gravy.

if your gonna turbo it you wont need a cold air intake they have a intercooler wichs cools the air

if your gonna turbo it you wont need a cold air intake they have a intercooler wichs cools the air

This information isnt 100%. Its like saying that you wont need an intake cause you have a turbo. All car's with throttle bodies need intakes and the colder that air starts out the better. Check out the flyin'Miata site, they have lots of info. Miata's are great cause of the amount of huge amount of aftermarket support they have. I bet when your done itll be a blast to drive.

you said you don't wanna go rice, but it seems to be slowly creeping there. in no way am i trying to offend but rather help from experience.

get rid of the shifter and pedals. i know the shifter seems useful but i knew a friend with the same shifter and other than the stash top it's fit is really shitty and only gets worse with time. the pedals will just get in the way due to their (slightly) larger size, it doesn't seem to be a big difference now but when you start running twisty roads and constantly need to be on all pedals they will just get in the way.

also there are 240 site that show mods to turn their headlights into "winking" or "winkers" where the headlights only open about 1/3 of the way.

as for body kits, seeing how you want something subtle, try and find jdm parts. after you get the right rims and right ride height you'll be very happy with it's looks.

Go Miata - Miata parts and a huge selection of Madza Miata parts at low prices!
^check it and have fun:smoke:

you said you don't wanna go rice, but it seems to be slowly creeping there. in no way am i trying to offend but rather help from experience.

get rid of the shifter and pedals. i know the shifter seems useful but i knew a friend with the same shifter and other than the stash top it's fit is really shitty and only gets worse with time. the pedals will just get in the way due to their (slightly) larger size, it doesn't seem to be a big difference now but when you start running twisty roads and constantly need to be on all pedals they will just get in the way.

also there are 240 site that show mods to turn their headlights into "winking" or "winkers" where the headlights only open about 1/3 of the way.

as for body kits, seeing how you want something subtle, try and find jdm parts. after you get the right rims and right ride height you'll be very happy with it's looks.

Go Miata - Miata parts and a huge selection of Madza Miata parts at low prices!
^check it and have fun:smoke:

I like to call it sleepy eye mod:cool:

and yes, a front air dam or lip would teh best.

you said you don't wanna go rice, but it seems to be slowly creeping there. in no way am i trying to offend but rather help from experience.

get rid of the shifter and pedals. i know the shifter seems useful but i knew a friend with the same shifter and other than the stash top it's fit is really shitty and only gets worse with time. the pedals will just get in the way due to their (slightly) larger size, it doesn't seem to be a big difference now but when you start running twisty roads and constantly need to be on all pedals they will just get in the way.

also there are 240 site that show mods to turn their headlights into "winking" or "winkers" where the headlights only open about 1/3 of the way.

as for body kits, seeing how you want something subtle, try and find jdm parts. after you get the right rims and right ride height you'll be very happy with it's looks.

Go Miata - Miata parts and a huge selection of Madza Miata parts at low prices!
^check it and have fun:smoke:

i realized the shifter's fit as soon as it came out of the box: it blows and sucks ass at the same time. so i went down to my lowe's store, picked up an inch of two different sizes of plumbing tubes and used those as an adaptor around my shift column. fits like a charm.

as for the pedals, i've already taken the car down its share of twists and turns and they work imo better than the stock ones. have you ever heard of the "tail of the dragon?" its a famous highway about a day's ride away from my house, with 318 turns in 11 miles. the pedals work great on it

the headlights....ive seen DIY pages and i'm going to follow them instead of a kit. i'm broke and love DIY more than cut and install anyways, and it all seems like an easy process.

the bodykit: here it is
like i said, subtle and functional. the foglights should make up for (if any) lighting lost by the lowered barndoors. im not feeling the rear bumper though. might have to find something else.

and thanks for the go miata link, but ive already scoured that site many times, and will be back

i realized the shifter's fit as soon as it came out of the box: it blows and sucks ass at the same time. so i went down to my lowe's store, picked up an inch of two different sizes of plumbing tubes and used those as an adaptor around my shift column. fits like a charm.

as for the pedals, i've already taken the car down its share of twists and turns and they work imo better than the stock ones. have you ever heard of the "tail of the dragon?" its a famous highway about a day's ride away from my house, with 318 turns in 11 miles. the pedals work great on it

the headlights....ive seen DIY pages and i'm going to follow them instead of a kit. i'm broke and love DIY more than cut and install anyways, and it all seems like an easy process.

the bodykit: here it is
like i said, subtle and functional. the foglights should make up for (if any) lighting lost by the lowered barndoors. im not feeling the rear bumper though. might have to find something else.

and thanks for the go miata link, but ive already scoured that site many times, and will be back

I live close to the tail of the dragon, and I know you weren't pushing your car as hard as it will go if the pedals didn't get in your way, man..

why would you need a CAI if you have a turbo?

why would you need a CAI if you have a turbo?

Why do people ask questions like these?

I fear people talk about mods without fully understanding them. All they know is what they read on the internet.

Your car already comes with a "cold air intake". It's an intake that funnels air through a baffle into the engine to aid in cooling.

What a modified CAI does is provide a more efficient method of delivering the cold air. Usually by shortening the travel time, and making it less restrictive.

Turbocharger's are housed turbines that recycle exhaust gasses from your car into the housing, where it then sends compressed air into your fuel mixture, creating a higher air:fuel ratio. This is what causes the "boost" effect.

They are mutually exclusive modifications.

I really hope this isn't the new generation of "tuners".