So i bought the car from a dealer in Perth at xmas time 2012. 2004 SE. Silver. Soft top. Had no mods whatsoever, 88,000 on the clock and all logbook services done up to the 110k service. In other words it was a prime candidate for me to get my tinkering hands on.
Now one year on and the car is starting to resemble the vision i had for it.
Ive gone through many grand ideas of how to get to this vision, most failed.
First mod i bought was a turbosmart boost tee and gauge. Super simple to install and use. boost tee is tucked under the recirc valve piping so it wont be seen unless your looking for it. And the gauge fit perfectly into the air vent with the center eyeball bit removed. Was pretty easy for me to get the vent out and apart. Plenty of space to run the vacuum line and i spliced the light wire for the gauge into the wire for the backlight in the foglamp switch.
Then I though it would be a pretty good idea to paint the stock racingharts, one fluro orange and one fluro green on each side with alternate colour wheel nuts. I was pretty happy with it when it was fresh and id only done one side. But as i waited for the time to do the other side i just didnt do it. and then they faded. ALOT. so i just didnt do the other side. and the sh*t paint is still there now.
also whilst i was in there i painted the brake calipers red. that part i liked. plus i can really feel the extra 25kw. (any MCM fans out there?)
Next fail mod was the initially amazing stickerbombing idea i had. spent $80 on 3000 stickers and then set to work stickering the left front fender and fuel door. looked the goods. for a while. until it didnt. because it absorbed the clearcoat. and the rain. and the sun. and went black and white and curly. so i took all that off. it took a bit of effort but an old bank car and some WD40 helped alot.
i also sticker bombed the radio and gear knob surround and the folding bit of the wind blocker. those parts have stayed completely unfaded and have stayed on there. the only reason im planing to take them off in future is because it just doesnt match the vision i have any more.
After the sticker bomb fail i moved onto what i thought was the next logical step, vinyl wrapping. bought 15square meters of matt orange vinyl wrap off ebay for about 300 bucks and with no previous experience or any help i started wrapping. Put simply, I would never wish that job on my worst enemy. so much swearing. after failing the front fenders 5 times and the bonnet 3 times i gave up on that idea. in hind sight i probably should have tried the wet wrapping technique as since then ive done a few other friends cars for them with much more success using water and soap. but i would still never do my own car again. ive developed a fear of curved surfaces due to that job.
I resigned myself to accept that my car was silver and moved on. To the headlights. Bought some Black Halo projectors from ebay, $350 pair, came with all new globes . had to do a bit of cutting and soldering to wire the new plugs in and the halos. worked perfectly looked amazing. if anybodys seen these headlights youl notice they have three little LED's along the top. i didnt wire them in because i just didnt like them. I was keen on getting some eyelids to cover the top section but wasnt so keen on spending a couple hundred on a few pieces of plastic. so i got to work one day and was talking to a mate about it and i happened to have some black electrical tape in my pocket. some how ended up taping on some eyelids. looked sick. until it shrunk. then the missus got shitty and pulled them off. so theyre back to being clean.
Few months gap on the mods here where i had a few things on like getting engaged and sh*t. emptied my wallet for a while.
came back from holidays, dropve me car for a week. radiator shat bricks and split. so i bought a 52mm one from ebay. cant remember the brand. spnt about 4 hours doing that on the drive way with no jacks and no spring clamp tool. but i got it to fit with a bit of trimming on the fan shroud. hardest part was getting the throttle pipe back on in the no space that i now had.
but then came this xmas time 2013, asked everyone for vouchers for car parts and also bought some side skirt extensions off ebay. they took a while to get here but eventually they did.
in the meantime i was looking for solutions to the factory 10psi boost cut. took interest in fuel cut defenders. had a mate with an old one he didnt want so i took that. after a bit of study and a few words with forum members i decided not to bother with it and just bide my time for more safer paths.
i removed the factory recirc valve and blocked off the three hose that go to it for a bit of turbo flutter. this was what enlightened me to the classic SE problem of the throttle pipe coming off. id read about it before but thought i was lucky enough to get away with it up until then. so as soon as i can find an upgrade i will be getting on to that.
got the windows tinted as well from a guy off facebook. darkest legal on the sides and limo on the soft top glass. looks the goods. cant see in through the back and you cant see the red of the seats through the sides. not bad for $250.
also did a carbon fiber vinyl wrap job on a friends car and he was kind enough to leave me his scraps. ended up wrapping the windshield surround and the fuel door. very happy with that. was going to attempt a wrap on the mirrors but just looking at it made me cry. so ill either get some carbon fiber covers or just paint them.
xmas came. ended up with $250 worth of autopro vouchers. went staright in on boxing day and bought six cans of white plastidip. the guy at the shop said the last guy he sold to did a 180sx with seven cans so i figured my smaller car should be good with six. ended up buying another 6 and i still think it could do with a few more coats. but i am actually so happy with how it turned out. matt white body with the black roof and widshield looks absolutely killer. plus it brings out the new headlights so much more. get so many looks now. when i did the job i removed all the little things(washer jets, reflectors, indicaters, head/tail lights.) and then just gave the car a good clean and degrease.didnt cover the wheels or windows, im getting new tires in a couple days so wasnt too bothered about them. but if i did it agin i would tape the windows anyway. the stuff does just peel off but only if its thick enough. if its not then you have to go around rubbing it with your finger or a cloth and risk rubbing off bits you shouldnt. just easier to mask it.
day after painting finished the side skirts rocked up. couldnt find anything to suit an nb so i found some na ones and measured them up. 62". same as the nb roughly so i just winged it and got em. turns out they fit pretty well. only one of the holes in the skirt lined up though so i just got the drill out and fixed that. easy as pie. polyurethane so is flexible. black so it goes well with the colour scheme. no paint required. came with a bag full of screws. and one long bolt for some reason.
and thats where im at right now. ive got a front lip on order from the go miata website that fits on with the factory SE lip. still gotta sort those mirrors. and in about a month ill be ordering the yellowspeed coilovers. then hopefully thats the outside done. oh and some black and white custom plates. probably LOWLIFE. or some variation.
p.s. not really sure how to add pictures other than as attatchments, or if thats even possible soo some help with that would be appreciated.
