RG Stickers Are In!

You heard right, I just got the first batch of Roadster Garage stickers. Show your support and grab a few from here.

On It’s Way

So today I started painting the sideskirts, But I ran into a few issues. The spray can started to leak and caused a lot of drip marks on the sideskirts, Shortly after that, the paint started to fog up and was looking rather frosty. I was pretty pissed off to say the least. So I dropped everything, Cooled down for a little and headed over to Peps to get some more paint. Turns out the supplier had labeled the cans wrong, So with my acrylic paint, I had enamel thinners matched with it. Peps were more than happy to supply me with 2 new cans for free, And I bought another can for good measure.

So anyway, I managed to get the front bumper painted and cleared, And the skirts have been sanded back, Ready for a repaint. Hopefully I’ll have time to finish off the skirts this weekend.

In other news, I scored a free set of Bridgestone tyres … Awesome!

Fifty Thousand And Counting

I’d just like to thank you all for continuing to follow RoadsterGarage. I really didn’t think that the blog would be going as good as it is. So once again, Thank you all for pushing the view count over the fifty thousand mark!

Prep Work

Well today I decided to get some paintwork on my body kit. So off I went to the local Peps auto parts to get some paint made up. I then headed off to Repco to get some other goodies.

So I spent the night prepping the skirts and bumper for paint tomorrow. I started off with a 400 grit, then worked up to a 800 grit, Finishing it off with a 1200 grit wet and dry sand paper.

I then gave the bits a wipe over with some wax & grease remover and hit it with the primer. Tomorrow I should be able to lay a few layers of paint on the kit.

Miata Journal – Issue III out now!

That’s right guys, Miata Journal’s 3rd issue has just been released. For those of you that don’t know about Miata Journal, It is basically a FREE online magazine that focus’s on the worlds most popular sports car, Which is released each month.

This months features include the Goodwin Racing NC, and mental LS6 NB. Check it out here.

Shopping Spree

Well today I’ve been a naughty boy, I bought these goodies for the car, And spent a shitload of cash on myself. I grabbed the D1 generation bonnet pins from Shift Performance, And The gloves are from Revolution Racegear.

Twilight Drift Pictures

Heres a few pictures of the RG MX-5 in action at the latest Driving Sports event. Hopefully I’ll have a camera mount for next event so I can get some in-car footage.

Thanks Khoa, And Luke for getting these shots.

Roadster Of The Week – Shintaro’s NA

Article written by: Shintaro Maeda
Pictures taken by: Shintaro Maeda

A Miata is a car that I never thought I would own. I was with everyone else thinking it was a girl’s car. However, a big mistake I made during my freshman year in college changed everything. At the time I was peaking my interest in modifying cars. I thought it would be a great idea to take out student loans to buy a sr20det motor to put in my 240sx. A terrible idea that has been. I blew the motor with-in three months because of my inexperience in tuning turbo cars. Not having enough money to rebuild the motor and buy text books, I was forced to part out the car. After learning an expensive lesson, I started looking for another daily driver.

 I still wanted a rear wheel drive car, and it had to be with-in my student budget. After doing some research, I knew the Miata was the answer. The car was very affordable and amazingly fun to drive. After driving one for the first time all the misconceptions I had were blown away. Since this car had to last me through college, I wanted to make it as simple and reliable as possible. Ruling forced induction out of the equation, I went with some mild modifications to enhance the fun-factor of the car.

 Engine-wise, it has a timing advance, Jackson racing intake, headers, borla cat-back, and a test pipe. Exedy stage 1 clutch and Fidanza flywheel have been installed aswell. Suspension consists of H&R springs, AGX shocks, Fat Cat Motorsports tophats and bumpstops. Stopping power is increased with 1.8 brake upgrade with Hawk HP plus pads. At the time I purchased the car I didn’t know anything about the color. After finding out that it was British Racing Green, and that it was a special edition color, I knew I had to build the exterior of the car to mimick the vintage racers of the 60’s.

 The hood has been stripped and polished with Jeep louvers riveted in. The mirror is a Ray-dot replica with a base plate made from an old piece of aluminum I found lying around. To further exentuate the vintage style, a Brainstorm fuel lid has been installed. The car also has RS Aizawa headlight duct, K.G.Works spoiler, OEM lip, Metro Motorsports antenna, and Rennenmetal towhooks.

 There are few bits in the interior as well such as Hard Dog roll bar, Daikei hub, NRG quick-release, and VooDoo shift knob. I have to say buying a Miata has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The car has gotten me through college without issue and I feel I’ve learned a lot more about tuning cars. Now that I’ve graduated and managed to get a full-time job, the Miata has been released of its daily driver duties to weekend-driver status. Future plans include a much-needed paint-job and a supercharger. I feel ready to take on the challenge of forced-induction once again.