build diary

February 26, 2004: It really helps being closely involved with the Miata community while doing a project like this.
A car that's undergoing an engine transplant is donating wiring harness parts and a 1.6 automatic throttle body. The latter will bolt up to my intake manifold without any modification and has the better TPS that I need for my 1.8 ECU. A wrecked Miata is donating steering parts to help my modifications and a Texan race car is going to provide some nice clean seats. This is fun.

Back in the garage, the wiring work continues. I've now figured how it's all going to work. I keep forgetting how simple the car will be and that I don't need the same robust wiring as a stock Miata that runs heater fans, wipers, big stereos and electric windows. The interior fuse box will run the entire car along with a few extra relays and the wiring colours will be the same as a Miata to make it easy to troubleshoot. Now it's just a matter of cutting and splicing. Of course I forgot my wiring diagrams at work last night so I had to entertain myself with little things.

One thing that has become obvious is how easy it will be to work on the engine when this car is done. It's very exposed and even has lots of room at the rear of the head. This is good! The transmission will be a different matter, and removing the driveshaft will involve pulling out interior parts. But overall, I think it will be easy to modify and maintain - good for what is essentially a racer.

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