MX5 Comic Book build

Recently I created a new post tag called “People who get it”, for those occasions where an owner or builder will put extra effort into their threads to make for an enjoyable and informative read. But where to from there? Is that as good as it gets? Is it possible to take it a step further than slick photos and well-structured posts? Yes, my friends, yes it is. Let me introduce you to Wil and his foray into the roadster life. Wil decided to document his new found obsession in a light-hearted comic-book style format, much to the delight of his audience. Is this the future of build threads? I can’t wait to see what other ideas people come up with, the bar has been set!

More MX5 builds here.

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Speedhunters: Best of 2010

Here is my second and final guest-post for Speedhunters in 2011. You can read the actual story by clicking here. As usual, I like to post it on my own blog as well for archiving.

There are some teaser shots of new upcoming builds to be featured in 2011, so make sure you stay tuned for those, regular programming will commence soon. I apologise for the lack of content but the guest-posts take a decent amount of time to put together.

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Best. Roadtrip…Ever?

I’ve been keeping my eye on a particular build over at Piston Heads, and it was during one of my visits there that I decided to browse around and see what else I could find. My efforts payed off as soon as I came across this unbelievable road trip thread that instantly had me green with envy.

Umair, the proud owner of an NA MX5, partakes in what is known as the Petrolhead Nirvana Alpine Tour. It’s what a car enthusiasts dreams are made of; thrashing your own car day after day for more than a week on the best roads that Europe has to offer. Umair proves that you don’t have to be a millionaire to enjoy a trip like this, putting his humble roadster up against much more expensive machinery and taking away maximum satisfaction from the experience.

These images have to be seen to be believed, each one is like a postcard from automotive heaven. I urge you to follow the link to the full thread after the jump, there are even some video links scattered throughout it. My hat is well and truly tipped.

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Sharka NA Miata v2.0

From the ashes of a past flame rises a new love. Adam’s pride and joy was a ’97 Miata that met its maker after being rammed up the backside by an inconsiderate truck on the freeway. Instead of packing up and going home, a stock ’95 was purchased with the promise of rebuilding the vision of the original car, only better.

You know those kinds of build threads that are full of great photography, well-written narratives, and lots of DIY mods? This is one of those threads, I think I’ve read it front-to-back about 3 times now.

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13BT Rotary Chevy Nova

I don’t know if you guys have noticed but I like to feature a bit of everything here, from big dollar to small budget, high power to electric, cheque-book-built to DIY, fabricated to bolt-on, and so on and so on. If I had to put my money on it, I’d say the most popular builds would have to be a combination of the following elements; DIY, engine swaps, and some fabrication thrown in for good measure. This build features all of those plus some wow factor, a ’74 Chevy Nova with a 13B turbo Mazda rotary powering the wheels, submitted via email by Daniel. If this isn’t enough Chevy Nova action for you, check out another one featured previously on Build Threads by clicking here. On with the show…

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NA MX5 overhaul

Dan has already had his garage featured here, so it was only fitting that I follow up with what he actually puts in it. Enter the NA MX5, loved the world over and enjoying a second wind of popularity in the current millennium. Dan gives his turbo terror an appearance overhaul DIY style, and it’s great to see that garage being put to use with all the work being done in-house. It looks like some professional photos were being taken for a magazine feature at the time of the last update, so hopefully the thread get’s updated soon with the results of the shoot.

UPDATE: Photoshoot images have been added, check after the jump to view.

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MX520

Here’s a build thread I’ve been reading for quite a long time, and I’ve got a slight suspicion that a lot of you are going to enjoy it. It’s another build based on the “X-chassis underneath Y-body” formula, and this time the culprits are Mazda MX5 subframes/driveline/shock towers being attached to the body of a Datsun 520 pickup.

When it all comes together after a long and creative build process, Bob takes his DIY hybrid creation to the track and shows up some much more expensive machinery. Here’s a small snippet from one of his race outing results to give you an idea:

Position 3 – 1:08.886 – 1966 Datsun MX520
Position 4 – 1:10.366 – 2003 Corvette Z06

You can’t help but sit back and smile when that happens. Check after the jump to see how this track day sleeper was built…

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13B Turbo Rotor NA MX5/Miata

I found this build in a post on Racer86, so firstly thanks to Rob for putting it out there. I’ve seen pictures of this particular car before in full drift flight, it looks so cool slammed on Work Equip 03’s (one of my favourite wheels). It’s just one of the many MX5/Miata’s built on the west coast of America that are making these little car’s appealing to a whole new generation. They used to be synonymous with balance, poise & pure driving enjoyment (among other less-positive analogies). Nowadays, though, people are slamming/stretching/drifting them, earning a level of respect and lust from a new, younger crowd.

This particular build thread focuses on the engine & drivetrain swap, showing the ITB’d 1.8L 4cyl being thrown out in favour of a 13B Turbo rotary. Along with the engine, it also receives S5 RX7 transmission & diff amongst other upgrades.

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Truckasaurus FC RX7 Pickup

Japanese hatches such as the FC RX7 and S13 180SX make great candidates for pickup conversions, as we’ve seen before in Japan with a few drift cars getting the chop.

Earl has created his own spin on the concept with this 2nd Gen RX7, come and see it get built and continually evolve.

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