Sparco Seat Installation

I had my eye on the Sparco Sprint seat. It's been around for many generations and with it's steel tube structure, it's been tried and true. I had considered getting the Momo Start seat again, but it's considerably more and I'm slightly superstitious- the first time I took it out for a track day, I got sent into a wall. The price of the Sparco was hovering around $360, but suddenly Amazon jumped the price all the way to $400! Then I found the seat on EliteRaceFab.com for $328 with free shipping! Ka-ching! I bought it right away!

I spent a night installing the old Hard Dog harness bar back in the car. When I bought the harness bar 5 years ago, it cost me $165 including shipping and tax. Now it sells for $50 more!

I was trying to figure out how I was going to mount the seat in the Miata. Last time, I did a fixed mount

with the Momo seat, which was fine, since I was only using the seat for track days. This time, I was thinking about leaving it in. But to get in and out of the car with the seat in a permanently fixed is going to be difficult, especially with the top up. So I did some brainstorming about putting the seat on rails. Sparco sells rails, but I would still need to mount them to side mounts first. Sounding expensive... But why can't I use my original rails? I guess the seat new holes don't exactly line up with the OEM rails. I did find some adapters on eBay for $59 (plus $12 shipping) coming from Lithuania. Then I stumbled across a very useful YouTube instructional video! I think I can do this myself! for a lot cheaper! I'm on it!

I ran down to my local Home Depot and found a 3-foot piece of flat steel for under $7 and I bought some new M8x1.25 bolts of different lengths. Lucky for me, I just happened to have all the tools necessary to do this DIY project! The video was extremely helpful, but it doesn't really address the bolt issue that you need to find tapered countersink bolts, so that the rail can sit flat (relatively) against the adapter- so that was a second trip to the hardware store. Other than that, the project went pretty straight forward. Just a lot of accurate measuring, not an easy task if you're gulping down wine! Regardless, the seat mounted to the floor and the sliders worked flawlessly! Thanks, CashedOutCars!

In my last post, I did mention that I was buying a used Simpson 5-point harness on eBay. So now was the time to get it mounted up. I bought my mounting hardware through IOPortRacing.com, same place as last time. Ken's store is about 25 miles down the road from me, so I just pick up the parts myself. I was able to mount the harness to the same points as last time with no issues. It works perfectly! But this time, I looped the OEM seat belt through a couple of the holes, so I could wear it when street driving instead of using the harness- just more user friendly and legal!

Mazdaspeed Love

Every day that I drive this car, I realize just why I bought it! and I am so happy that I decided to keep the car, not selling it to some hack that would not appreciate the vehicle for what it is.

I've spent the last couple of months really raking through some maintenance. I replaced the timing belt, water pump and radiator, while changing the accessory belts to Gates, keeping all else as OEM as I could. I changed the engine oil to Mobil 1 5W-20 synthetic. I changed the transmission and differential oils with Red Line oils. I recently had the tires rotated and balanced. And I finally bit the bullet and bought one of those nifty Miata Roadster long shift kits. I think the shifter is still breaking in, so I am only just feeling a modest gain in smoothness, but the added leverage and ball placement has improved for sure!

I am currently doing worksheets on how and what it would take for me to "compete" in the local SCCA autocross group. I've already emailed back and forth with one of the members of the chair to get a fix on my classification. With my transmission swap from the lousy OEM 6-speed to the 5-speed, and with the larger intercooler swap (probably my radiator fans too), he has pegged me at the SSM (Super Street Modified) category. Yikes!! That means I'll have to deal with extremely modified beasts in my class!! But since I'm running regular street tires and not racing specific tires, I could move to one of their local specialties- the Street tire Modified category. I could run 200 UTQG rated tires and hopefully my competition will be more palatable.

I can do upgrades and mods in stages. The first thing to get would really be new wheels and tires. Finding 12 lb. wheels would be ideal. I'll probably stay with 15X8. I'm undecided on the offset. I might try BFG Rival tires in 225/45/15R. Also in the first stage would be a new seat and harness. I've already found a used Simpson 5-point harness on eBay and a very nice price. I have to reinstall that harness bar and relocate the windblocker. The last reasonable upgrade for this stage would be a new exhaust. I'm looking at the Flyin' Miata MSM exhaust, since I already have their intake kit and downpipe. I just have to figure out if I already bought their midpipe. These mods should help me through the first year as a novice just fine.

The next stage would be way more serious. It would involve modifications to the ECU. Since the stock ECU can't be adjusted, unless doing a reflash (which is expensive and not adjustable), I am looking at a standalone solution, most likely a Megasquirt. The ECU and new bigger injectors would bump me up to close to 250hp. I would also need a wideband gauge/processor to help tune. That's going to run me around $2,000!!

Lastly in this stage would be aerodynamics, like a rear spoiler and a front splitter. Maybe I would do this before the engine management. It's certainly cheaper. I'm thinking about a small ducktail spoiler bolted to a spare trunk lid.

All in the name of fun. It's just money! And lots of it!