Is this progress - or progression to something else?

I made some headway on the car over the weekend.  Engine pulled and most of the other stuff has been removed from the engine bay.  Is this progress?  I guess that is relative to your perspective...

Then it was on to tackle the dash.  The dash removal was a bit more involved than I had thought, but I found a good guide that provided lots of insight to the job.  http://www.miata.net/garage/DashRmv_89_93.pdf

I still have some removal to complete and I still cannot believe the amount of wire in this vehicle.  I marked "most" of the wires - and need to go back to mark the rest.  The whole time in pulling the wiring connectors, I kept thinking - there has to be an easy way to eliminate the engine components from the body components - but the deeper I got, the less I believe that.  I am hopeful I can come up with a solution to this without rewiring the entire car.

I do plan on adding a separate relay bank for the cooling fans mounted into a box for more simple fan wiring - but that is down the road a bit.

Other stuff

Last night, I repaired the droopy eyeball vents with fresh felt (could not find velvet), so I used really thin felt. and also repaired the window toggle switches.
http://www.miata.net/garage/eyevent.html
http://www.miata.net/garage/powerwin/

Teardown begins

Today I started the tear down. But first,I had to try the hood on the car.

Got a good start. On jack stands and got the front fenders and bumper cover off.  

Its a little overwhelming with all the wires to deal with in the engine bay.  I guess I'll start with the simple stuff first. Radiator, fans intake plenum, etc - tomorrow. 

The Parts Fairy Arrived

Well - I have been on a shopping spree...

The Car

Hard Dog Double Deuce roll bar already installed 

It has a dent that I didn't know about - oh well...  I guess that is an excuse for the AWR Wide Body kit?

I spent the day driving this little car around town - the battery was disconnected before I picked it up, so all the sensors needed to reset before I could get an emission inspection.  After 75 miles of driving, they were finally clear - while at the shop, I put it on a lift so I could inspect underneath.  All is well, except one brake caliper has a leak (RR).

The shocks on the car...  Pretty new, but I think the shocks are set too stiff.  It does corner nicely though.  I'll probably have to change the springs on these when I drop the beast in!

The Parts

Finally got the engine off the truck - had to "engineer" a hoist from the ceiling as my cherry picker wasn't long enough to reach all the way to the front of the truck bed.

Sanderson Headers - no giant dents for the steering shaft!

Custom Oil pan modification

Parts is parts

Inside the big box - lots of goodies - radiator at the bottom and the carrier mount for the rear is in there too.

The previous owner labeled most of the wires in the harness.

A couple of items that I noticed today.

1. The rear seems to "grumble" a little when starting, but only after backing up - I assume some bushings are worn on the left rear.
2. On hard acceleration, the car pulls slightly to the left - again, I am assuming the same issue causing the "grumbling" is also causing this - further inspection should yield a clue.

Name that part!

Time for "Name that part"  I think it is a vacuum sensor - but what did it plug into on the donor car?

Color selection

I have never owned a blue car, but I really like this color.  It is from a Late model Lexus and called Spectra Blue Mica - PPG 5437.  I plan on painting the engine bay once I have the mods complete and before final engine mounting.

Hood progress

well - I made progress on the hood over the past couple days.

Ground to bare metal for the Epoxy

Now bonded

I used Dynaglass to feather it in - almost dark outside...

As it is now - about 95% of the way there.  I need to finesse it a bit more. 

I decided to close up the cowl part (for now), but left the option  to open it up for air flow in the future.  The hole is about 10"x4" in the front.

The start

Let the games begin!

So this is the first post of a blog / build thread on my Miata project.  It all started when my Wife said that I needed a project - who wants to redo the kitchen, or another boring backyard remake?  I first thought, I could build an older jeep, but we already have a Jeep and I built an offroad trailer last year that accompanies it very well...

Additional pictures of The Orca Project can be found Here

So as I thought through it, this is what came to be the project...  a V8 Miata - LS1 powered, street machine.

Through hours of research, the list of parts being assembled, so far:

• 1996 Miata
• 1999 Firebird LS1 / T56 drivetrain
• Ford rearend
• V8 Roadsters kit

I liked the look of this hood, and couldn't stomach the $1000+ pricetag of the Simpson Design one - so I am building my own.

Here is the progress so-far on the extractor hood.

Looks rough, but I think it will turn out nice - and certainly be one of a kind.  When I start the teardown, I will add more posts and pictures.