1999 Miata Track Build Part 3 – Budget NASA TTE Race Car Setup & Early Prep Strategy
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Stage 1: "The Early Days"
Carfest was a blast. I could easily see how some light prep could make this thing a strong regional TTE car. Also, I had just entered into a small business with a friend and we had a truck and trailer available, so a lot of the logistics were already in place. I kinda dragged my feet all winter. Here I was, suddenly with 4 miatas, 3 of which were track prepped. Which one do I go forward with?
Ultimately I decided to send all of my autocross and lapping day budget in a more "serious" direction. Let's go see if I can hang in track competition. Why not?
In February 2016 I had the car dynoed and started prepping to get it caged. I also applied for a Provisional NASA comp license.
Initial Plan
- Do all the cheap points-free modifications; dash delete, lexan, sound deadening, etc.
- Use the car nearly as-is
- Scavenge my NA for anything and everything "fast"
Build Philosophy
Going forward, every decision was made on the premise of doing it as cheaply as possible above all else. This was a secondary track car, probably 4th on my hobby priority list.
I would keep using the Sport brakes until I used up the pads. Only then would I swap to regular 1.8 calipers freeing up points to move the OsGiken over from the NA, etc.
Key Budgetary Considerations
- I used Winding Road contingency money from TT to help cover w2w safety gear: HNRS, Nets, Mirrors, etc.
- I used second hand takeoff SM6s to win R7s
- I won free Hawks using whatever was on the car.
Follow along as this budget-built NB1 Miata evolves from a lightly prepped track car into a competitive NASA TTE machine.
