build diary

July 18, 2004: Whew.
Saturday was a lot of cutting and fitting. I decided to tackle the header as it's the last big job remaining. Armed with a chop saw, a grinder, a welder and a lot of patience I managed to get all four runners built. They're only tack-welded together and are still missing an exhaust flange, but the hard part is done. I have to say that I'm very proud of this. I managed to get three of the runners at the ideal length and the other is only 10mm longer. It looks good and should help my engine breathe as well as possible. There's no way I could have honestly built this any other way than by cutting and welding u-bends. It's also just as well I wasn't paying someone else by the hour - it took me at least 8 hours to get it done! Now I just have to finish the rest of the exhaust...

About those ill-fitting aluminum panels. Both my friend Eric and I realised at the same time that the problem pieces are those that are probably exclusive to the Miata kit. Steve at CMC mentioned that they were mocked up on that 2-day GRM build in the shop. Sounds as if there were some time pressures...

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