LS1 Miata 1st Road Test!

I thought the most exciting part of the build would be the first drive, but due to fear of explosions and lack of brakes it turned out calling the insurance company to put it the policy generated more excitement.

Not that she's a snooze to dive though!  My first impressions are l have never felt a convertible chassis this stable, it's more solid than the T top Camaro was for sure.  The spec Miata suspension is certainly track orientated and not for the faint of heart or date cars.  It is very firm!  And it didn't take long for me to believe the claims guys make of these cars doing 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds.  Let me give you a word picture:

Imagine the engine is a runaway stallion at full gallop rocketing across an open field.  Now picture a little gal (Jenna) with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck hanging on for dear life.  She can't control him and even though she is terrified she can't let go. 

That is what it feels like to drive the car!  She bucks and snorts and longs to bust out of the gate in a dead run. And keep in mind with the new gears in the trans and diff I am totally babying her! I truly don't know if it will be thrilling or terrifying to open it up... probably both!

I do have a number of issues to work out not the least of which is no brakes.  The way the lines run it's really hard to get the air out of them and I have a couple of stubborn leaks I'm struggeling to seal up.  It did not stop me from driving her though!

Another big issue is very low ground clearence. 

On second thought make that NO ground clearence! 

I just left the coil overs the way they were when I got them as a starting point and she is a bit on the low side especially in the back.  And yeah the poor dear needs a bath! 

I raised the rears up 2 full turns for the rest of the photos but she still has a bit of a rear squat.

The way Flyin Miata had the cats in the exhaust I knew it was going to be low when I put it in but I wanted to try it as it was before I changed it.   

I’m going to rework the exhaust to move the catalytic converters forward of the trans mount where there is more room for them to tuck up tighter.  I’m also going to modify the trans mount to move it up so the entire exhaust can move up.  This should gain me about an inch more of clearance in the center which should be good enough.



I have lots of other bugs to work out too.  Little stuff like the gas tank seal on the top of the tank is leaking, no parking lights, and the check engine light is on.  The bigger problem is for some reason both my scanners are not connecting to the computer to find out why the check engine light is on. 



So the list of things to do seems to be growing rather than shrinking!  But with it now being on the road I can work as I go and enjoy the car.  I was going to drive it to work today but we are expecting storms.  Funny how no brakes and no front end is no big deal but the possibilty of hail leaves her in the garage!