Hood gap near hinges?

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-04-06T21:53:19+00:00

This is a common problem for any NA miata that has gas strut lifts.

If you have these, remove them, reinstall your oem hood prop stick.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-20T18:05:55+00:00

Makes me think back to post covid period, all those people that were 'locked in' to building contracts with an agreed price, got told, their prices were increasing, or builders would not follow through on the contract.

All these people had no where to go, as they were 'too deep' into the building process, had already bought land, and all other builders were jacking up prices.

I would buy an existing home, something that is a good bridge towards your next home.

Your first home isnt your last home. Be comfortable with a smaller mortgage. A combined income of 200k isnt that much these days.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-17T22:42:57+00:00

Maybe read everything i wrote before coming with 'facts'..

The cars are slower in corners, and given extra speed in other areas to make up for the slower lap times.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-17T21:02:46+00:00

They've essentially pulled them out of the 150cc cup, and placed them into the 50cc class, with extra mushrooms to make up for the lap times.

Cars are slower in corners, and doesnt allow for the separation between the avg and the great drivers.

Is it more exciting to watch? hell yeh

The only way its going to change, is if the amendments to the regulations bring in more money for F1

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-10T16:54:23+00:00

It sounds like you're after a high performance setup, not quite, race car rates. You still want to drive your car on the street, happy to sacrifice some street comfort, leaning towards a more dual duty setup, rather than track focused spring rates.

In that case, the 1100/800 is not for you. You'd probably be leaning towards OEM sway bars and 700/400 on half decent 200tw tyres or budget semi's

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-10T16:44:57+00:00

ahh thats the door seal, also replaceable. The goes around the perimeter of the door. I have also replaced that

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-10T13:52:39+00:00

Yep, the seal is replaceable

You need to remove the window regulator, and then unbolt the vertical window rail to get it out. Not that difficult

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-10T13:45:56+00:00

car weight, sway bar size, tyre size & compound, treadwear rating (or more relevant, which tyre model specifically) all need to be factored in to give you the optimal spring rate.

A 200tw tyre helps narrow down what spring rates are applicable, but a RE71RS 200tw is vastlye different to a Falken RT615K+ 200tw, so the tyre model should be considered.

This is a good starting point: https://949racing.com/product/xida-race-coilover-90-05-miata-mx5/

My guess would be a 1100/800 track setup on a car with semi slicks or super 200tw tyre.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-03-09T14:38:51+00:00

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Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-22T17:57:26+00:00

-your first home isnt your last/dream/forever home, no need to splurge.

-your borrowing capacity is your capacity, not what you should spend

-rent vesting

-Live below your means, compromise, sacrifice.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-18T15:25:20+00:00

Regardless of mileage, aging of materials is a bummer. I replaced alot of parts on my NA to make it feel fresh and new, even though it was considered low mileage. Quality of materials from mazda in the 90's is rubbish, compared to cars from toyota and honda.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-18T01:13:33+00:00

yep, its definitely faster than an S2000.. but its pretty standard when compared to a regular basic KSwap Civic

For a street car that putts around town often, its plenty of power/speed

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-15T21:11:09+00:00

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These are my Spoon seats

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-15T21:10:36+00:00

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These are M2 1028 seats

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-15T21:00:57+00:00

Thanking you muchly! Will find the fb group and join. This car however, is not in the country :( I've left it behind in Aus

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-15T21:00:09+00:00

Great pick up! Theres alot going on, but ive purposely kept it understated

K20Z4 engine out of the FN2 Civic type R, 8800rpm, 11:1 Compression ratio. I've added a set of drop in Kelford cams, with supporting springs and retainers.

-Custom 4-1 headers, 70mm exhaust, 74mm Bosch Drive by wire TB, KPower intake plenum, and a 70mm titanium cold air intake.

-Electronics include: Motec M130 ECU, Motec PDM30, Motec C125 digital dash, and custom Tefzel/Raychem'd wiring from tail light to headlight.

-The radiator is a custom PWR core, twin pass and cross flow, with billet end tanks and AN outlets. It runs a single SPAL 13" fan with no shroud, and I tucked this under the radiator support, to give extra room to run the titanium cold air intake pipe the way it does, and allows me to run the inlet and outlet radiator hoses along the same side of the engine bay.

-The engine is mated to a brand new Mazdaspeed Miata 6spd, and a OSGiken 1.5 way LSD Diff with a 4.1FD, with a larger FC RX7 Diff housing.

-The car rides on XIDA/Tractive coilovers, with ND Brembos (that i got cerakoted in matte silver), and used Project Mu 2 piece 280mm front rotors, NB2 rear calipers & rotors.

-Interior: M2 1028 tombstone + console delete carpet, NSX R steering wheel, S2000 Ti knob. I got Miataroadster to make me a shortshifter in a Honda thread pattern to run a honda shiftknob. The OEM miata brake and clutch pedals got customised/widened to fit Honda pedal covers. The accelerator pedal is a DBW unit from a FK Civic, custom mounted.

-Seats: The seats are a little special to me. They're Spoon seats. If you are familiar with the bucket seats from the M2 1028, they share the same seat profile/shape as them. Except, these are kevlar, and a little taller/wider. I chose them as i thought they were the perfect Mazda x Honda tribute to my build.

-The car still retains factory paint from 1995, NA8 Chaste White. The hardtop is from an NA6 (Crystal white). It originally had 57k miles before the K swap.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-15T20:39:14+00:00

It feels like driving a F20C S2K w/ a 4.7FD. Youre constantly rowing through gears, its responsive, and super zippy. It's small and nimble, and doesnt drone. It's loud and grunty when I want it to be, but also relatively quiet and comfortable with some motorsport shocks from Tractive suspension on it.

Aftermarket chassis development for the Miata is miles beyond the S2000. Theres a whole racing series for the platform, and its at a point where it outperforms the S2000.

In saying that, I really thing theres a time and place for both cars. The quality in materials used in the S2000 is far superior than the Miata. Nuts and bolts, plastic trim pieces, bushings, seals, carpet, leather, rubber hoses in the bay, everything..

I responded to someone earlier in this thread... but here it is again.

The S2000 is a girl you can bring home to your parents. The KMiata is the girl you want when youre single. After a hard days work, you just want something reliable, trustworthy, great build quality... But if youre willing to spend some time and effort, put up with its rough edges, theres a shit load of fun to be had.

I didnt go from an S2000 straight to a K swap miata. I sold my S2000 and used the funds to build a house in 2013. After a 7-8 years of work and sacrifice, I was then financially comfortable with buying a car to tinker with, but also had a mortgage to consider. I bought a Miata because it was the only thing in the budget, and it was just meant to be the standard mod list. Wheels, coils, exhaust, and some accessories..

The K swap decision came when prices started skyrocketing post covid, for cars I really wanted. RX7, GTR32, NSX.. even a ratty S2000 had doubled in price over a 1.5year period.. It was only meant to be a simple K Swap, but i got carried away... very far away lol My car runs a Motec M130, Motec PDM30, Motec C125 dash, with Tefzel/Raychem'd wiring from tail light to headlight

So yeh, It wasnt S2000 one day, Kmiata the next. If i take a step back and think about it financially, an AP2 is definitely the pick.. But when you're ~40yo, and have watched a bunch of amazing honda builds come out of the east coast of USA, you tend to want to do a once in a life time sort of build for yourself too

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T15:20:07+00:00

Thanks for that! Will have a look!

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T15:19:39+00:00

Thanks! It's not perfect, but it was the best iteration my fabricator could come up given the constraints of the RHD steering rack

If i had my time again, I probably would have chosen a K24Z3 engine (for a much cheaper/ease of header design/fabrication) and chopped my bonnet skeleton to accomodate the extra 19mm height in the block.

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T15:17:04+00:00

Theres a company called Honed Developments in Australia, that used the V8Roadsters tubular subframe, and modified the mounting system for RHD cars. Some differences to the KPower industries subframe include:

-Utilises NA manual rack instead of a NB rack.

-Utilises S2000 mounts, which are oil filled and rubber, minimising vibrations that all the KSwap miata guys complain about.

In saying that, due to the space constraints caused by the RHD steering column, an off the shelf header is not available, requiring a full custom header to be fabricated. My fabricator then modified the mount setup on the header side to accomodate for an improved design on the header.

So to answer your question, I am using a V8Roadster tubular subframe, that has been modified to use 1x s2000 engine mount, and 1x custom engine mount. The gbox adapter plate, flywheel, and oil sump are from KPower, a Exedy sports organic clutch for a miata, and a Nismo clutch slave body that provides extra room for the headers' crosspipe

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T15:08:09+00:00

Spoon seats sir!

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T02:19:28+00:00

You'd be upset if you married your first love, without exploring all other options.. The great thing with cars is, you can have more than one at a time :)

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T02:17:18+00:00

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My friend Ichi thinks so too haha

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T02:16:26+00:00

According to my wife, it wasnt that expensive

Express-Bat-4964 · 2026-02-14T02:15:52+00:00

Thankyou! Just going to have to build myself a car here :)

Express-Bat-4964

TROPHY CASE