After working with the product, I honestly don’t think the product was worth $600 for the full headlight assembly minus the xenon HID upgrade. It all began with a very lengthy wait for half of the product to arrive. I ordered my product back in January. I had to call the company several times to get an ETA, while I was given the standard “we’ll ship it in two weeks…” catch-22. Finally, I dropped them a very frank email stating that my carbon fiber hood was made from scratch and with a turnaround time of one month.

Giving them the credit for having such a product that eliminates the dweeby, cute, pop-ups is much due. The engineering and development is much appreciated. However, the manufacture could have been done better.

The driver side headlight apparatus (the carbon fiber and lexan component) were not made very well. They were somewhat mis-sized. The passenger side was perfect. I had to use my bandsaw to trim the edges around the lexan lens to make it fit the carbon fiber component so the metal clips could hold it onto the carbon fiber.

In the end, if it wasn’t for my adequate skill with manipulation of manufactured products, this product would have been sent back for refund or at the least the driver side of the headlight replaced.

Moving on…Here’s what I’ve done to my car…

The pros of keeping the gauge cluster stock:
1. Simplicity
2. Already functioning
3. Legal (Motor Vehicle Division requirements)

The cons of keeping the gauge cluster stock:
1. Gauges aren’t 100% accurate
2. Tired and old
3. Starts to squeak more often with the speedometer
4. Needles warble more with new harmonics from the 5-oh motor.
5. Mix of mechanics and electronics…
6. Positioning of tach and speedo are reversed
7. Oil Pressure Gauge doesn’t function accurately
8. Coolant gauge doesn’t function accurately

The cons won. I figured that I would go ahead and create my own gauge cluster with gauges that i could use and not have lame duplicates. I already have a vacuum, oil pressure, and coolant temperature gauges on the a-pillar. I had acquired them with the intention to provide me more accurate information of what’s really going on in the engine. To support the con number 7 and 8, the autometer gauges I have read back 40psi for oil pressure at warm idle. The miata oil pressure gauge reads between 55 and 60. I know this is a simple resistor issue, but if I can’t have a trustworthy gauge, I don’t want it. The coolant gauge on the stock gauge moves like a millimeter for every 40 degrees. This is unacceptable. I need something more accurate for my own peace of mind.

With the autometer gauges in the pillar for vacuum, oil pressure, and coolant… I figured that I would go ahead and make my own gauge cluster with gauges that could be of use and flip the two gauges, the tach and the speedometer.

Here are the pictures of what I’ve done:

I had it painted burnt copper. Pictures below:

For those who may wonder why the hood is still black and not painted… The hood is carbon fiber and made by Jim Simpson – I am going to have it wet sanded and clearcoated to complete the job.

I went ahead and got a few things that have been nagging me for a while now. I wanted to finally get to the step of getting my car painted. I had to do a few things first to reach this point. I had to go ahead and get the polyurethane lip, a high flow grille, frog arms, and new front fenders.

I figured that all of these things would come in a series of installs and get myself positioned to get the car painted without needing body work because the fenders were the only damaged parts of the body.

First, I had the lip put on and the grille put on. Have a gander:

Secondly, the frog arms and the new fenders. Have a gander:

I am also including my experiences appropriately with certain areas and such. The reason why I’m doing this is not to make money (donations are appreciated), but to provide the most accurate information about dropping a V8 in a Miata the right way to keep yourself safe and to protect your investment.

The manual has some problem areas and many confusing areas that I intend to clear up in my wiki version of the manual.

The benefits of a wiki allows me to correct parts quickly with minimal hassle and the like. The truth be told, I’m developing this manual because I thought that the Monster Miata manual was hard to follow and a jumble of instructions that could have caused the experience to go south fast.

Eliminate idle issues by making sure your VSS is connected.

A good guideline to help fix your idling issues on Stangnet.

I made my own harness by using the ECH EC139 vehicle speed sensor pigtail acquired from NAPA for $9 and some 16 gauge green/orange wires and some wire loom. Be sure to ground the harness to pin 6 wire in between.

When doing this, be sure to have the base idle set at 600 RPMs (IAC disconnected) and adjusting the idle screw until the RPM reaches 600. Then disconnect battery and leave disconnected for 15+ seconds to reset the ECU. Reconnect the IAC valve then reconnect battery. Start motor. See how it idles then.

A bit more braking capacity would be nicer… now I have that and now everything is all dandy.

Click here for the rear brakes’ 90-93 to 94-97 upgrade procedures.

Click here to go there.

I will be working on the rear procedures. Should be equally as easy because the calipers are interchangeable. That’s the big plus. Why go up to Brembo or Wilwood’s for $1500+ when you can do the entire thing for $300 and have approximately as good braking capability. The Wilwoods are up to about 11″ which isn’t that much different than the 10′s that the 94-97′s have.

The 90-93′s did well for my driving habits with this car which is a bit aggressive and beating on it a few times here and there. For a few times, the 90-93′s brakes weren’t adequate for some functions that resulted in a few close calls and scares which prompted the agenda to upgrade them.

• Idle issues.  Stalling idles at cold starts (150RPM to 1000RPM bounces).
• Idle smoothens out at around 140°F water temperature, but when cruising and at clutch let-go for braking, the engine stalls.
• Engine power loss at a set timing that demonstrated a sweet spot of an earlier drive.
• The list goes on…

The following have been verified to be working correctly:

• Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) shows .945 volts at idle stop and responding correctly to adjustments
• Throttle Body is clean and sealed
• Idle Air Control (IAC) valve works fine (brand new)
• Vacuum is all sealed and steady when idle is steady
• Thermostat is opening/closing as supposed to
• MAF works fine and clean

Knowing that I addressed the fuel pressure issue earlier with a new pump.  The one thing I forgot entirely about was the fuel filter.  Duh!

Today, I went to AutoZone and picked up a new fuel filter and installed it.  After taking a spin for a little while… oh my God.  All the above problems are gone.  I came back to time the motor again.  I set it to 42PSI fuel pressure, 14° BTDC (advanced), and using the existing -8° camshaft timing (retarded).  The car hauls ass now – opened a new can of whoopass.  It runs very steady now, idles at 800 RPMs steady too.  Cold starts are steady now.

The retardation of the camshaft was intended to push the torque curve a bit later so I can get traction first.

Apparently the fuel supply was being constricted by an old filter.  The previous owner probably used the cheapest fuel that one could find.

So, folks, if you ever have the above problems, get the fuel filter out of the way.  A $20 fix.  If you’ve already done the fuel filter swap then you have another problem.