I'm re-assembling it to the point where I can drive it onto a trailer. It will be the end of stage 2. It will be very rough, very hastily assembled. But I absolutely need to have this thing wrapped up by the end of this weekend, no matter what state it's in. Unfortunately that's my reality at the moment. I told my wife a few months ago that I would have this project at a good stopping point by the end of April and here we are...
So, after the progress made in the last article, everything is ready for me to put the fenders on! Followed by the bumpers, rear door, and the two removable windows. Put the dash back in, seats, and it's ready to go! I'll have to figure out the windshield wipers, cowl area, window cranks, finish the sheet metal around the trunk area and rear fender wells, etc. in a few months from now, which will be Stage 3 of this build. Stage 3 is getting it daily-driver-able, and stage 2 is/was turning the two cars into one. Stage 1 was stretching the Miata by six inches. Stage 4 will be the full restoration.
I figured out how to "stretch" the rear fender wheel arches to make the tires fit under them. I'll try to explain: if I push inward and upwards on a bottom corner, it causes the sheet metal to bow outward maybe 5 to 10mm. And if that's not enough then maybe adding some negative camber will be enough. The front still remains to be seen but I can roll with the smaller diameter wheels if I need to at first.
I also got the battery cable routed under the car and into the trunk area. Stretching the miata by 6" didn't seem to effect the battery cable. Must have been enough slack in it. Only think left to do now is the rear hatch door, the headlights, and to put the wheels on and cross my fingers that they clear the fenders. If they don't then I'll go down to the auto parts store and do the unthinkable.
So here it is!
Unfortunately the tires where hitting the fenders in the rear, even after "bowing" them outward. I thought maybe I could put the old wheels on, which are 1" smaller in diameter, and at first I had the clearance needed. But I guess the coil springs where still settling after being at full droop for a few months while the car was on jack stands, because when I drove it to the gas station (about 0.25 miles away from my house) the clearance I thought I had was gone and the rubber on the tires was melting and making a mess.
There's still a butt load of work to be done before I can really drive it around. Top things on the Stage 3 list will be to do something about the clearance between fenders and tires so that I can drive it. I'll also need to finish welding the sheet metal by the back wheels, add a muffler and have the exhaust go out the back of the car rather than into the cabin. Cut a grill. Windshield wipers. Etcetera.
But I won't be able to get to those things for a few months probably. My wife has been supportive but all good things must come to an end. When all (and I mean all) of your time is spent in the garage every single weekend, it's just not fair to the other spouse. I haven't been helping with any of the chores, haven't been spending any quality time with my wife, haven't had any energy to do anything else but work on this frivolous project. And it seems especially frivolous right now because I need to be focusing on my new career change, on getting our house sold, on finding a new house to buy, and packing up and making the move. Which will be a lot harder now that I have to trailer a car across half the country.
I thought I had way more clearance than I did because I think the coil springs were artificially raising the car more than normal because they were at full droop for several months while the car was on jack stands.
Here's my options I think:
- doing body work to the fenders (fender flares, modifying the arches, stretching, etc)
- free or pretty cheap
- lots and lots of work
- could look amazing
- permanent and potential for ruining the fenders if I do a terrible job
- tiny tires
- I would get 165/55r16 which are 22.5" diameter
- The new larger tires I have are 175/65r16 and 24.3" diameter. The smaller ones that came with the Miata are 195/60r14 and 23.2" diameter. So the tiny 165/55r16s would be less than an inch shorter than the Miata wheels and would, in theory, give me 5mm more clearance that my new 16" wheels. Would that be enough?? I really don't think so.
- I'm not a big fan of small tires
- ~$350
- virtually no labor involved at all
- suspension lift
- Paco 3" lift kit
- $240
- good time to put in new shocks/struts as well, which need to be done
- can always remove it
- should only take a few hours to install
- not as cool, not "slammed"
- a combo of some of the above, plus some negative camber added, smaller tires in front & bigger in rear, a little more stretching and rolling of the fenders, etc...
The lift kit may be the ticket, for the the time being. Three inches sounds like a lot (because it is) but I actually think it's the perfect amount. Last night I did some measuring and here's what it looks like with a 3" lift via the floor jack:
Switching gears a little bit. Last night I installed the headlights. The sealed beam bulbs were actually salvaged from the Miata and they look nice and bright. The Miata also came with running lights and I'm thinking about adding some accessory lights to take advantage of the existing wiring.
So I ordered the Paco Motorsports 3" lift kit for Miata.
There's something you should know and it will help explain why the 3" lift is the right one. Last weekend, before putting the wheels on and driving it out of the garage, I put these spacers in the coil springs:
Had them on all 4 corners. In the front they were positioned to add 1.5" of lift (supposedly), and in the rear I had them positioned the other way to add 1" of lift (the coils were wound a lot tighter in the rear, had a hard time getting them in there). It did seem to level out the stance a little, because before I did that, the car was titled forward just slightly. The photo above is of the front, but I repositioned the spacers to be the tall way after taking the photo.
Of course, those things are trash and shouldn't be anywhere near my project, but I was just looking for a quick and easy temporary solution.
So these pics are with 1" to 1.5" lift, supposedly, already added, and before the coil springs settled down even further another 0.5 inch:
And the Paco 3" lift is just as easy to remove as it is to install. So one day I can do the body work to the fender arches that would allow it to go back to that original ground clearance. Or I can replace the stock coils with lowering ones to bring it back down just a little.
I got the two rear lift brackets installed yesterday. I had a devil of a time getting the outer lower-control-arm bolts (the long one that goes through the hub) out. They were rusted and seized to the metal sleeve. But I persisted. The key was to use a MAP torch, get the hub sleeves real hot, break it loose (breaker bar with a cheater pipe extension), pb-blaster, more heat, more breaker bar, more pb-blaster, impact wrench, more pb-blaster, get it spinning with the impact driver and while it's spinning hit it on the other side with a sledge hammer (with the nut on the end to protect the threads). It's a 30 year old car so I can't complain. I loaded them up with anti-sieze before reinstalling.
I should be able to reconnect the sway bars. The aftermarket links that someone installed are adjustable and if they don't adjust far enough then I can use some threaded rod or something.
How long do you think my CV shafts will last? The photo above is at full droop of course but, as the instructions that came with the kit says, this is pushing the limits of the vehicle has it was designed.
After several weeks of fighting the old suspension bolts, I finally had all four lift brackets installed. And new ball joints, and one new shock because the old one had to be cut in half...
Then I took it for a test drive!!
So there you have it folks!! A Miata with the body of a VW Type 3 Squareback. Or is it a Squareback with the chassis of a Miata? I don't know but I've also recently learned that these are sometimes called hat cars. Well whatever it is, it will be possible the only Type 3 Squareback (or a car that looks like one) with 4-wheel disc brakes, power brake assist, power steering, working AC and heat, modern handling and suspension and horsepower, fuel injection that actually works, etc.
