My ST165 saga

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w6/Texas_Alltrac/

Motor is still out, but I am getting closer.

Spec Stage-3 clutch kit (done)
new timing belt (done)
new oil pump (done)
new water pump (done)
all new gaskets throughout(not head though) (done)
new battery (have, but need to install)
new alternator (have, but need to install)
rebuilt CT26 with .44 trim (back from builders in a week)
ported exhaust manifold (done)
new oil sender (have, but need to install)
dual remote oil filter system (have, but need to install)
new front sway bushings (backordered)
new left and right motor mounts (done)
Solid front and rear motor mounts (done)
Greddy Type-S BOV (have, but need to install)
TurboXS MBC (done)
Greddy turbo timer (have, but need to install)
FCD (have, but need to install)
strait intake (have, but need to install)
cold air box (still need to fabricate)
relocating the battery to hatch (not started)
new used shift cables (have, but need to install)
New steering rack (done)
re-installing the pwr steering I ripped out in 2005 (have, but need to install)
new steering rack bushings (done)
catch can (not ordered)
new driver's seat mechanicals (have, but need to install)
fuel filter (have, but need to install)
EGR valve (done)
O2 sensor (have, but need to install)
all hoses (half-way done)
170 degree thermo (on order)
new plugs, one step colder than stock (done)
oversized heat exchange (more than triple OEM capacity)
Rousch 255gph IC pump (have, but need to install)
Autometer boost gauge (done)

I figured that now is the time to just go through the whole thing.

Sounds like a fun project. But aren't Miatas only 2-seaters? I'd keep the trac. I recently sold my GT and GT-S for my little girl on the way. I'll soon be back with a GT4. Good luck.

Miata's are definitely two-seaters, so that would make an odd purchase for a family car. :shrug:

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Well, the Miata was purchased with the idea of mom and dad leaving kiddo with the grandparents and then roadtripping through the Texas hillcountry on Sunday afternoons - and as a commuter for whoever does not have the kid with them. In hindsight, I should have bought a Legacy GT instead of the Forester, and used the money I spent on the miata to fix up the Alltrac. Ah well.

It is an incredibly fun car to drive though. Surprisingly quick (not entirely stock), and handles great. It can carve corners better than any car I have driven apart from an NSX. It is easy to get the back-end to break loose and powerslide on corners which is especially entertaining.

BUT - it is small as hell. You cannot have a decent sounding stereo due to space constraints. You cannot haul a mountainbike on the roof or in the hatch. You can maybe get an overnight bag in the trunk. Miatas have a 65-mph shimmy that feels like the car will come apart on you. The have a very noisy cockpit from windnoise and basically sitting on top of the tranny. It is very unstable over 100mph or on the highway in high wind. And may the force be with you if you have to drive in the rain.

But the AT has its issues to: availability of parts, difficulty and time consumtion to fix anything, more things to break and more often (miatas are bulletproof), many more complex systems to maintain, less gas mpg, more frequent oil changes.

I would say that when you consider the convertible factor the miata is more fun to drive than the Alltrac...but I am addicted to the sound of a CT26 turbo spooling up, the wicked acceleration that follows and nothing else will do for me.

I think I will put them both up for sale when the AT is finished. Whichever one sells first goes and I keep the other.

The miatas do handle great. But they were never much in the performance category. You said it's not stock, what do you have done to it?

The miata has a ported out head and a Jackson Racing cold intake. Nothing too intense, but it pulls much stronger over 4k rpm than stock. It is around 140ish horsepower and weighs in a little over 2300 pounds.

A type-R package factory airdam and spoiler make a little more stable at highway speed.

It still has stock suspension though, but if I keep it that will all change. As it is now though, it runs circles around my alltrac handling wise.

TG

I have a second gen RX7 and a 165, and I am happy with having the combination of Mazda and Toyota, even though my trac has run for 3 weeks out of the 9 months I have owned it.

But it lets me tell people "I have a factory non-turbo RX7 and a factory turbo Celica, and I like it that way" and its fun to watch their face as they try to figure out what I just said.

But, good luck man. Have fun with the project!

I had a complete day free to work on the car and got a ton of stuff done.

that oil filter relocation looks sweet (what brand and where did you get it?)... is it necessary to have to run two oil filters and how much more oil capacity do you gain?

where in texas are u located?