Time to put a bookend to yet another project, I sold my Miata last week. The reason why I decided to part ways with the car is clear – and not a new one. Like my other cars, I did not make enough use of it. If something does not have immediate purpose or a potential for utilization, I break my attachment with it and move on. This is not to say I didn’t drive the Miata at all, I used it for occasional commuting. The principal motive behind my sale stems from a vast contradiction of a personal philosophy I imposed at the onset of this project. I stated with conviction how owning a fancy, name-brand car was unimportant. While my intentions may have been acceptable, I am now taking an opposite stance on this.

Owning a “normal” car, whether or not if it blends in with the crowd, is what I want. Driving around in the Miata, no matter how done up, was still driving around in a Miata. I thought I wanted a basic and raw car, spartan in every aspect. The Miata was exactly this, it was stiff, simplistic, and loud. Hence why I predominantly opted to drive in the refined and smooth convenience of the Prius. The nature of the Miata and how I built it would have made sense if I tracked the car, but realistically, I was never going to. This put the Miata in the same group as all my previous cars: filled with trinkets and bells & whistles, but served no significant function for me. At least with my bike, I fully plan on using it at the track.

All of this might be the old man in me talking, but I have to face it, it’s time to grow up. Pouring in copious amounts of money and time with my old RX-7 was enough. Doing it all over again with the Miata made it doubly stupid. I had ideas of how I wanted the Miata to be, and my stubborn ways forced me to persevere until my vision was realized. Simply said, modding a car is POINTLESS. I sound like a broken record-player now. I offloaded the Miata at a cheap price and lost a lot of money. This is the price I will have to pay, and is also a final lesson for me.

Up until now, all my cars have been Japanese and from the 90’s. I am breaking out of this horrid tradition and going with something newer and better. This way, I won’t be tempted to change out every single part and component on the vehicle. I really feel like I just came out of rehab and kicked a meth addiction or something. Yes, modding cars is a negative addiction and an expensive one too. I am no longer a child, so the moment beckons to add sophistication and maturation into my life.

So long Miata – yet another unnecessary car project – it was fun in a sadistic sort of way. You took away my money. You took away my time. And you added years worth of undue stress.

Alas, my car is finally ready for the roads again and my compunctions mollified. If all goes well, I can now check off the Miata as “DONE“.

I didn’t want to bother with it anymore, so I bought the same steering wheel again. Why not? Thanks to cheap knock-off companies using real Nardi horn buttons on their fake wheels, Nardi decided to bump up their prices. The horn button originally cost $40… now it sells for $100. Not exactly helpful for buyers of real Nardi wheels like me… Which is why it seemed more logical to just buy another wheel rather than cash out on a little button.

Although the OMP suede wheel was perfectly good, I had made it a point to get this wood Nardi. I wanted a touch of class in a mostly uncivilized car. There’s a lot stacked against me for driving a cheap, Japanese, “tuner” car, so I need to do all I can to introduce a slightly higher level of refinement.

3 wheels to achieve 1 result.

For Nardi #2, I literally had it installed from start to finish in under 10 minutes. I guess it simply would have been too easy to do this in one go from the beginning.

I thought there would be glory, but there is no glory. Only pulled hair and maybe the recognition of male counterparts. And copious amounts of suffering and unhealthy tendencies of suicide contemplation. It would have been more prudent if I just saved my money for something of more realistic value. All my life I’ve constantly had a car that I worked on and poured money into, I can’t rid myself of this disease. I remember adamantly declaring to get out of cars once I sold my RX-7 and moved onto a bike… unfortunately, that mindset ended up not having much lasting appeal.

So what now? Let’s see, that spoiler I destroyed in minutes is taking weeks to resolve. I can no longer recommend this place as they have consecutively failed me multiple times now. I had to wait for the spoiler to be painted twice. Finally, I sent it away to a different shop for a THIRD round… we’ll see how that goes. I’m about to go bankrupt if I can’t get what I’m looking for with this spoiler. Also because of this, I haven’t had the motivation to drive the car, not until it’s fixed.

Spoiler aside, I’m basically finished with this Miata… yet even at what appears to be the home stretch, obstacles never yield. As an impulse buy, I decided to switch up my OMP Suede wheel for a Classic Wood Nardi. Mostly unnecessary, yet I deemed it necessary. Swapping the wheels went easily enough, as it should with something as simple as bolting and unbolting. All I had to do was pop on the Nardi horn button, and I was done. Well, after spending over an hour trying to install a GOD DAMN HORN BUTTON, things turned ugly. After taking the more delicate approach by utilizing finesse, I quickly decided that was a waste of time and turned on beast mode. If you asked me how I spent my Friday night, I would have told you I spent it by sitting in a dark garage, trying to muscle on a round button into a metal hole. I was eventually able to get the horn button on, at the expense of the horn button itself. It was warped and wouldn’t sit flush.

After all that work, I accomplished nothing and now had to buy a replacement. But wait. There’s more. To my pleasant surprise, this horn button costs over $100 new. WHAT THE FUCK. That is laughably outrageous. Exerting this much effort over superficial crap is downright stupid.

I plan to finally quit this pointless car-modding lifestyle after the Miata. I would like to say it with absolution, but cannot given my past trends. It’s a Love-Hate relationship, with more bias towards the hate side.

Living the life…

Some people might hate them, but I think these mudguards compliment the car perfectly, especially because mine is black. They also make the Miata appear wider and lower, not to mention protect the rocker panels (which I had explicitly gotten smoothed) from becoming paint chipped by debris.

Now I still have to figure something out for the spoiler…

Unfortunately, although one end was loose, the rest of the spoiler was firmly cemented down by the double-sided tape. I had to take off the spoiler completely in order to redo the adhesive, just because that one end was lifting. Well, no matter what I tried, there was no way to get the thing off. Trying to slice the remaining tape with a razor blade proved futile. In the end, I said fuck it and gorilla’d the spoiler free, which ultimately split it in half.

It only took a few minutes to render a $350 carbon fiber spoiler into nothing more than a garbage can ornament. It also left me with this mess. So instead of gingerly wiping down my car with a microfiber towel and wax, I had to spend hours rubbing away adhesive with a terry cloth and WD-40.

Needless to say, I was pissed and got a small return from my investment in the form of some curb-stomping induced satisfaction. As nice as this spoiler was (from Japan, almost perfect weave and finish, $$$), the fitment was still off… it didn’t quite conform to the curvature and shape of the trunk lid, which is why one end was having trouble sticking down.

It is sadly ironic that my deliberate intentions prior to embarking on this project was to own a car that needed zero body or paint work. This clearly did not pan out the way I was hoping for. The entire car was repainted, the hardtop was repainted twice, and now I’m going to have to paint a replacement spoiler.

Not to mention, I also had this AutoKonexion Ver 2 Fiberglass trunk painted… 3 times. It may look perfect in the picture, but do not be fooled, it was indeed below-standards.

This was a failed endeavor that I originally proposed to keep under wraps. I bought the trunk lid in hopes of achieving my Ducktail vision, but the product I received was unusable. Aside from the corners and edges being dissimilar and rough, the whole trunk had more waves in it than the Atlantic. Poorly made and also made out of fiberglass. I told myself in the beginning to never buy any more fiberglass aesthetic parts, yet my judgement was clouded by my Ducktail aspirations.

Quality parts are harder and harder to come by nowadays. OEM > All when it comes to body accessories. Fact – no, Law.

Following a very low red S14.

Changing the rears of said red S14 over to spares (got tuck?).

On location.

Fast and Furious style with a lookout and everything, legit.

Here’s a vid of the 2 S14s doing their thing.

The rear fenders were “finished” off yesterday, thanks to a buddy.

Now the lips are flat. The difference may only be a couple millimeters, but it was enough to significantly improve the rubbing and was worth the efforts. Feels good to be able to actually take turns properly, without scraping, rubbing and bottoming out everywhere. Low but not too low, that’s what I call ideal.

Blah blah blah, here.

It’s not even the money that’s getting to me, even though this was supposed to be a budget-minded build and is now effectively voiding the classification I initially purposed… it’s the time and energy spent. Out of all people, I should have known what I signed up for in the beginning. I did, after all, sell my RX-7 to move away from cars. Yet somehow here I am again, buying parts and working on another car, all in the namesake of being able to drive something more unique. In order to properly undertake a build like this, you need to invest a monk’s level of diligence and patience.

I have the diligence, maybe too much of it. When I take on a project with as much stake as this one, the need for thoroughness and perfection is compounded. However, given the nature of working on a car, things can go wrong far, far too easily. A horrible combination. I’m also lacking in the patience department, so instead, I have to tap into my stress reservoir to sustain myself. I’m already old as shit… after this build, I’ve aged myself at least another decade.

With the second set of wheels, I had to get another alignment to dial in more camber. I’ve also had to tweak the coilover heights at least a million god damn times. From those million adjustments, I had to mount and dismount the wheels each time. While unscrewing the lugnuts, my socket dropped and put a small ding on one of the wheels. Then it happened again, this time on the other side with the lugnut itself dropping. I had to shave and grind for clearance around the passenger side bumper/fender probably half a million times. That passenger front wheel also ended up bending out the fender… and in a moment of haste, I thought hitting it with a hammer would fix it. It didn’t. Now I have a front fender that’s not only bent, but dented.

These are all but minor examples. Every little thing adds a tally to my neurosis. Everything wouldn’t matter if this car was at least a few thousand dollars cheaper, but it’s been blown out of proportion.

I can’t really say if this car was worth it, because I haven’t been able to enjoy it. We’ll see in the time to come. But take my word for it, I won’t be building another stupid car after this. This one has taken a toll on me, and I have the popped blood vessels to prove it.

Most of all, I need to tell myself to NOT SELL THIS and KEEP IT. I have a very bad habit of building something, getting bored of it, and selling it all too soon.