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About this blog

Just a running list of updates on my 1973 2002. Frequent updates on Instagram (@benzintinte).

Entries in this blog

M20 Out, Build Anxiety In

M20 Out, Build Anxiety In

Ever reach a point in your build where you start to wonder if it's ever going back together? This was that point for me. Totally necessary step, but kind of daunting all the same. Last weekend we pulled out the M20. We tried once before out the top of the car, and that proved to be literally impossible. The M20+G260 combo is simply too long to come out the top of the car. So we dropped it out the bottom with the subframe.      Per usual, I just didn't take many photos. I was
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Front End

Front End

With all the Miata updates on my Instagram page, it’d be fair to think I forgot about my 2002. I haven’t given up on this car, it’s just been slow going. My friend, and fabricator for this leg of the project, got injured at work and was out of commission for a few weeks. So priority was low on this project for a while. However he’s knocked out some stunning work so far.    Front end out of the car   The biggest thing he’s been working on is this new front end support. I
Worse Before Better

Worse Before Better

It seems like every project meets some sort of random parts wall at some point. That is to say, you end up waiting for ages for parts to arrive, things are difficult to source, or you end up with the wrong parts entirely. That has been the case for the last few weeks for me. I’ll try to tackle things in order and get everyone up to speed.  So you may remember last year I bought a beefier version of the radiator I currently had in the car. This was in an effort to keep the poor 2002 a little c
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True Progress

True Progress

I finally have real progress photos to share. First I start with more parts collecting however, as that seems to be tradition for this build thread. I picked up AKG Motorsport's shifter and DSSR. Ultimately this may seem like an unnecessary step at this stage, but we're going to be adding some captive nuts under the shifter opening so the shifter can easily be removed from the cabin of the car. As a result, I had to order it in so my fabricator could work on that part. I have to say, this is a s
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Off to Fab

Off to Fab

Not a lot to say other than I got the chassis rolling recently, and this weekend sent it off to my friend's shop for some fab work. The current list includes:    Revised trans brace Custom headers Radiator support Radiator lines Heater core delete plate Engine bay shaving (filling unused holes/removing brackets)   I'll update as progress continues. I'll try to be over there once a week to get new photos until it's done.   
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Delete, delete, delete

Delete, delete, delete

After some consideration, I decided to take things even further. Originally I was going to retain my factory brake booster, the idea being that I wanted to... you know... stop. But I had a number of gripes about the setup as usual. Primarily it was horribly ugly. While technically I had no clearance issues with the ITBs, it does take up a significant amount of room in terms of accessing the steering box, and other subframe bits. Plus it really is just awful to look at. After speaking to a friend
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Rear Buckets, Valve Cover

Rear Buckets, Valve Cover

I can't leave well enough alone. But when the opportunity arises to get something on my bucket list, I'm not going to say no. Short background story, my friend bought an E24 last year. It sat on the back burner for a while because he was too deep in with other projects, and eventually he dropped it off at a friend's shop to just get it sorted so he could drive it. While parked there, the girlfriend of one of the techs backed a trunk into the quarter panel, and completely totaled the car.   
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M20 ITBs

M20 ITBs

The parts I have been waiting for? They came in.    RHD M20 ITB kit. Note, the on engine pictures are absolutely the bare minimum to mock the whole thing up. I have a long way to go before they're actually on and functional, but I wanted to see how they fit in this chassis. The kit was designed for an E30, so I may have some challenges clearing the firewall. Though it fits mocked up, it's a very tight fit.   As if rewiring, replumbing and doing a full interior wasn't enough o
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I Hate Wiring

I Hate Wiring

This weekend I spent some time mapping out wiring. Below is a comparison picture of how it sat as I got the car, versus how it looked with the harness out of the bay. I think we can all agree it's a lot cleaner. After some discussion, mainly with myself, I figured I should go the extra mile and tuck the harness. The goal is to route the engine harness under the dash, and exit mid-firewall to allow it to reach all the necessary sensors. The headlight harness (you can see it spans the missing core
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4
Jumping the Shark

Jumping the Shark

So in trying to remove the diff from the drive shaft, I was poking around the underside of the car and discovered something fairly alarming. At some point, the nuts holding the transmission brace had rattled off, and the whole brace had fallen onto the exhaust. It wasn't that far off, not even the length of the studs extending under the car. Maybe half an inch total lower then it should be. However, I think we all know that an exhaust should not be holding your transmission in the car. Discoveri
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Boring but Necessary

Boring but Necessary

This weekend marked very slow progress, but progress all the same. I spent some time removing bushings, which is a very smelly process. It started with finally removing the control arms from the car. I had to borrow a ball joint separator to get the tie rods off. Also, as it turns out the M20 is very much in the way of getting the driver's side control arm off. While I eventually did manage to jump on a breaker bar and get everything loose, it wasted a ton of time. Perks of owning a hot rod I su
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New Year Catch Up

New Year Catch Up

I've fallen a bit behind in maintaining this build thread. So here's everything up until today.    New Caps   So after losing one hex cap on the road a while back, I've been trying to get a matching fourth or source a new set. When you're picky, it's the biggest pain in the ass. I couldn't come up with a single V1 SpinFab small thread cap, although I'm keeping an eye out for one still. I contacted SpinFab directly, and they said they have moved on to the V2 design. If you loo
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Seats (Again...)

Seats (Again...)

So first thing is first. I mounted the other seat in the car. I'm about 75% happy with them currently because of the mounting situation. The Corn's seats themselves are fantastic, but I sit too close to the steering wheel still, and the generic Sparco brackets don't fit great in the cabin. It works for now, but I'm looking into revising this ASAP.    I feel like 90% of this thread has been seat updates, but I guess it is what it is. I'm looking into seat belt solutions right now, as t
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Breaking Race Car

Breaking Race Car

So excuse the shitty pictures. I'd do better, but I'm spread thin between school, work and a new business I'm starting. So shitty photos off of my phone will just have to do. But! I did install the back seat. In the photo below you'll notice it's not quite sitting right. I've since fixed that. Regardless, I'm really pleased with how the black turned out. The green and brown eyesore is gone, for considerably less money than it would have cost to reupholster. Now I just need a black carpet and bla
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Part Collecting (Still) + Interior Progress

Part Collecting (Still) + Interior Progress

I realize that it has been quiet lately. Progress has been pretty slow on the car, mainly because I've been swamped with school. I have also been waiting for my fabricator to clear some space in his garage to tackle the projects I have coming up. However parts have been steadily trickling in, and I'm hoping to get cracking in the next few weeks. As always, maybe the next post will be more eventful, but here's what I have for you now.      I purchased a right rear shock tower
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Filmed!

Filmed!

An old friend of mine contacted me over the weekend to film the 2002, as well as my friend's 912. They had just finished setting up a new camera rig, and wanted something to test shoot with. Thought I'd share the results, my ratty 2002 has never looked so good. I'll have more updates for the build blog later, but this should hold you over in the mean time.       
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Two Steps Forward, Ten Steps Back

Two Steps Forward, Ten Steps Back

You know how project cars go, you start building some momentum and something comes along to set back your big plans for the year. Sometimes it's engine failure, sometimes it's odd gremlins from owners past, and sometimes it's rust. But more on that at the end. In the mean time, let me catch you up to yesterday. I've been talking about the brakes for a while now, but finally committed to the big brake swap before Big Euro. After further inspection, it was pretty obvious my driver's side caliper w
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Small Updates

Small Updates

I mostly wait to post with big updates. Which is fine, but means I don't have much to say for long periods of time. I'm never in a hurry, I like to take my time with this car and really think before I do things. But it's also frustrating to make so little progress in such a long period of time too. I've been fighting sourcing parts, breaking things and the Arizona heat lately. I thought I'd share a recent hiccup, a part I'm very excited about picking up, and the start of the brake rebuild. This
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Dream Wheels, on the Dream Car

Dream Wheels, on the Dream Car

Catching Up   It's been a while since I've updated, as I tend to maintain my StanceWorks build thread a little more diligently. But I wanted to bring my '02 FAQ blog up to speed as well. Since I last posted, I've made some more changes to the car. A couple months back, I took the Roundie to a local show at FourTillFour. The day before, we gave it a very light buff. The results were pretty impressive, given how shot the paint is.    You can see the before and after here.
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Seats

Seats

Seats   Another small update, but progress is progress so I'll take it. Wish I took more photos of the brackets specifically, but I suppose they aren't much to look at. I started off by restrapping the drivers side seat. Mk2 VW Recaros use a sling style support under the cushion to hold you up. My drivers seat sling had fallen apart, and was poorly repaired. I converted it over to this sling style support using the stock hardware. Let me be the first to say, holy shit this sucks to do.
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Parts Collecting

Parts Collecting

Parts Collecting   Things have been slow with the 2002, it's taken a lot longer to get in parts then I had anticipated. Not many big updates in this post, mostly just parts collecting.    The first guy I had arranged to trade hubs with flaked out, and it took a few weeks to find someone willing to sell me a set. Fortunately they have arrived. I also have all new wheel bearings ready to go when it's time to do the swap. I've also ordered all new brake components, including bra
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Wheels Part Two

Wheels Part Two

So this is a pretty small update, but there's a change in plans with my wheel selection. Originally I was planning on building up the OZ Vega faces that I had sitting around. Given the 2002 was already converted to 5x120, I figured this would work out great. While I was told that 30-hole RS parts will bolt up to these faces, I have some concerns about the "how".    After breaking down my RSs to steal the barrels, I realized that the back of the Vega face doesn't have a machined lip for
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Tail Lights: Now With Actual Light

Tail Lights: Now With Actual Light

So since I got this car, everyone keeps telling me that my tail lights are "the worst they've ever seen". Admittedly, the light output was miserable, so I decided to go with an LED kit from Blunt Tech. I rather not get rear ended because I wasn't visible at night. The parts came in this afternoon, I had them in an hour later.    Before. Yes the lights are on, no I'm not kidding.   I used hot glue to hold everything in place. Just a few dabs in the corners and a li
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Wheels Part One

Wheels Part One

This weekend I spent some time working on the new set of wheels for the Roundie. I had originally built a set of BBS RSs for my E30, I ended up making them 15x8, which would have been too wide for this car. But if I put the stock lips back on it would have been perfect. However it's all a wash, because my 2002 has been swapped to 5x120, and my BBS RSs are 4x100. So I put the RSs back in storage. I figured it wasn't really worth the hassle going back to four lug, and I happened to have a set of w
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First Changes

First Changes

After test driving the car in California, I knew there was a few things that I would have to take care of right away when the car arrived home. Primarily with the throttle pedal. The car has an E30 G260 5 speed, which required the transmission tunnel to be widened. The result was a stock throttle pedal that absolutely did not fit anymore. I struggled to press it, and broke it clean off not 30 seconds after the car had arrived home.  I ordered an Ireland Engineering aluminum throttle pedal, a
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