mrmustang

When building my 2009, I replaced the zip ties with adel clamps. Bill S.

Perfect, thanks Bill S

I’m watching this with great interest, as I am also in the planning and quoting stages for an attached 30x40(10) foot ceiling, stick build. Having never done this in the south, I need to ask if you are pouring footings, or just compacting the red clay, adding forms, rebar, etc and pouring directly? Any need for a vapor barrier? thanks in advance Bill S.

Bruce, In my eyes, I am nothing of the sort, just a retired, ex bodyshop owner, race shop sales person and backyard mechanic/inventor, who happened to be obsessed with convertibles, and has built, driven, even raced a few of them. Having grown up in the near shadows of Dockery Ford, a place I visited in my diapers on, and most likely left soil imprints in several Cobras I was given rides in at that time, no seat belts, no grab handles, just dropping a very young child into a passenger seat and hearing "watch this" as I was forced into the back of the seat and propelled at great speed down the back roads behind the dealership in NJ, was enough to warp my mind into what it is today. I envy your toy ownership, wish I had the wherewithal to own the same, or similar....As for my skills, and my ownership of such a vast volume of convertibles over the years, it was more a necessity, kind of like a lend lease program......When business was up, and the funds aplenty, I bought mostly abandoned builds/restoration projects, socked them away in corners of my warehouse, or storage buildings, and grabbed one or two at a time out, when business was slow (in the northeast, that would be December-mid February), and I'd work on the mechanicals, usually finishing off, or fixing the mistakes of others, I'd also let my employees work on them (mostly bodywork and paint), so I did not have to lay anyone off when funds where tight...Come spring, 1-6 cars would have been finished, and I'd be able to sell them for a nice profit, to essentially pay myself for wages I did not, or could not take for myself, all while replenishing my toy fund for the next cycle to begin. Times that by the number of years, not to mention the ups and downs of the actual market (say 2007-2009 as the perfect example), where people where dumping such things at 20-30 cents on the dollar, and you get my drift....Of course that was with mostly Cobra replicas, miatas, with the occasional FR500 Ford Mustang race car, or 1995 Cobra "R" model thrown in..I did the same with commercial realty, even invested in a company who owned the actual land under the billboards (who would have thought of such an idea)..So while we are at times, on opposite ends of certain parts of the equation, we are still enthusiasts, both with a means to our eventual end...Your car ownership vastly overshadows mine, yours in higher quality vs my higher quantity, I am envious of them, and perhaps in the future, may own one or two like them....Only time will tell. Bill S.

Most of my 5.0L Miatas were built for less than $20K-24K, that included, at that time, the rust free, original paint, sub 60K mile Miatas, which I then sold off the original drivetrains, radiators, and misc parts to recoupe another 2K-3.8K........Anything you purchase at retail, especially a Flying Miata conversion of a 2019 and up, will be HUGE money, not really best bang for buck as you have already stated above...SPF/ERA/lower quality FFR (I've had more than my fair share of them, including their prototype-spyder from way back when), can all be had for less than 90K....Of course the trick with any of them is to make certain you know what you are getting for your money, as not one of them is built the same as the other. I'll leave it at that. Bill S.

Actually, MV8 made that statement, yet I understand part of what he was saying, as the cast iron 8.8" rear differential, along with the beefy, custom, Monster Miata brackets, did help offset the front to rear balance of the chassis. The following posted back in 2014, the last time I owned a V8 Miata, a 1991 chassis in Mariner Blue, I sold the car in mid 2014, the car was then sold in April 2017, and again in July 2021 on BAT New Vette: 53% front and 47% rear New Camaro 52/48 New Mustang 54% – 46% Stock Miata (2014) 52/48 Flying Miata V8 (with aluminum heads) 52.3F / 47.7R Monster Miata (cast heads) 53F / 47R Monster Miata (aluminum heads) 51F / 49R 1991 Mustang gt weighs in at 3190lbs 1991 Miata weighs in at 2182lbs Mustang engine in stock form puts out 225hp/300ft/lbs of torque Miata engine in stock form puts out 116hp/100ft/lbs of torque Adding the 5.0 engine, transmission, 8.8" cast iron IRS rear end to the miata only adds 170lbs to the entire car Bill S.

Having spent time in the computer business in the early years, I can still remember dial up, and UUnet, long before web forums and such. Then again, I can remember typing in the word "mustang" in to lycos, and having just two web sites pop up, mine, and someone in Hanford, California........I joined earlier than 2006, but uncertain why I had to register my user name...Think Gary might have had a server meltdown at one point in time...Sadly, that happened to the saacforum 1.0 as well, years of excellent information up in smoke, with no "uncorrupted" back ups to be found. Bill S.

Only used mrmustang on miata.net, lurked for years before I actually joined, as I have on several dozen other sites here and there over the years. Only participate on a select few these days. Bill S.

We are friends with Chuck Cantwell (original Shelby engineer) and family, his recollection is that the story as told, was a bit "off", any bets had to do with the type of buyer, not the body style of which car they purchased. Yes, the 289 roadster was/is limited by what essentially is a 205/70/15 tire size due to the lack of body flairs, while even the narrow hip 427 (and subsequent FIA small block powered race cars) afforded what is now essentially a 235/60/15 for the front and 295/50/15 for the rear. Given the tire limitations, the short wheel base of the car, power to weight ratio, it came down to the buyer/owners previous experience, as well as their attitude, cocky, demure, or otherwise. Some didn't make it out of the parking lots at the dealership they purchased the car at (unless purchasing a race car, you could not purchase directly from Shelby like in the movies, Shelby did not deal with non race customers, no matter what was written or shown)......I've owned all three body styles, and prefer the 289 FIA and 427 SC body styles for their looks, and their handling...... As for the Monster Miatas, I've now owned/built/rebuilt/restored 8 of them, everything from a stock 5.0L drivetrain, to a crazy supercharged, 347 stroker with almost 600hp at the rear wheels (unreliable and almost undriveable on the street, but a great autocrosser by it's current owner), it's a matter taste, and as with the Cobras, a matter of experience. With stock heads, the nose can be a little on the heavy side, with aluminum heads, the car has the same weight distribution of a new Mustang or Corvette, within 1% of a stock Miata....An Acura V6 is the way to go these days, but that type of swap was unavailable at the time I was building them....Later Miatas, like SWMBO 06 GT, got a 2.5L Ford Duratec swap, similar to what we now use in the Caterham......All fun cars in their own right. Bill S.

I've owned many Jeeps, CJ5,CJ7, Wrangler, later Wrangler (2K being the last), along with a few Cherokees.....All fun in their own right....Eventually, there may be another, but nothing in my sights at this time. Dig the Fiero in the background, I've been hands on in a number of V8 conversions with them. As for the Glaspac, it was actually a splash mold taken off an early Arntz/Butler Cobra (CSX3193), then adjusted to fit their chassis dimensions, with the EM and Midstates splashing off of a Contemporary (CSX3045) and not a ERA (CSX3252). As a side note, I recently sold my 289 roadster (SPF), in lew of keeping my ex-track prepped ERA 289 FIA, the roadster was fun, but even with a scant 325hp at the rear wheels, and the 70 series, size limited (flairs and wire wheels), the car was only fun when driven sedately (I have 120K miles behind the wheel of my cobras, both track, and street), but get in the wet, or if the temps were below 45 degrees, it was a bit too squirrely for my tastes. Even my 7's handled better in the cold weather than the roadster...The 289 FIA, was just more of my personal choice between the two. Bill S.

Can't say I've ever used a spray on bed liner for anything but under the fender wells of my Cobras, but adapting the same for the "7" will work equally as well. Rustoleum spray on bedliner in a can, I use 4 cans for the wheelwells and floorpans (sprayed under the car only) on my Cobras. Available at most autoparts stores. Follow the instructions, use only in a well ventilated area, and use eye protection. Bill S.

Sorry Croc, I have first dibs

Awaiting architectural approval from the HOA board on my 30x40 garage request now

Is that poor 986 Porsche behind and to the right of your car ever going to get done

To the best of my knowledge, the OP still has it. Bill S.

Direct link to Bruce's old car:

As stated above, classic scam Do not fall for it, simply walk away and do not converse with the scammer further. Bill S.

Was looking at the pics on my phone, sure looked like a crack, but seeing the larger picture on my laptop this AM, it does appear to be a welded tubing. Thanks for the extra set of eyes. As far as price goes, at 15K, without knowing whether the car comes with the convertible top or not, the seller should take the money and run. Bill S.

I've seen scratches like found on the hood before on a friends Cobra replica where he went under a chain-link fence (not intentionally). Looking at the pictures, what scares me the most, is the right front lower control arm, it appears to be cracked (see attached) . Or am I seeing something that only appears to be a crack? Bill S.

Coming along nicely, you'll be on the road before you know it. Bill S.

That would be the one

Skip, I only posted what is currently in the garage, between the two of us, I do not think there is enough bandwidth in the database for what we have both owned. Try to keep this one away from the port-a-johns Bill S.

The final for today is our 1970 Shelby GT 350 convertible, this was a car I've been chasing for many years, restored back in 1992, then sold to the last owner in 1994 and placed on a 4 post lift in his warehouse and left to it's own devices. Finally talked the owner in to selling it last year, with a deposit given in March 2021 and the car finally delivered to me in October of that year. The next 3 months were spent getting the car back on the road. Started by draining the 8 gallons of turpentine (IE: stale gas from 1992) from the tank, then have a shop go through all of the drivetrain and wiring (IE: rats nest of splices, shorts, and melted wiring), after that I spent an additional 3 months to go through the rest of the car to get it safe enough for a potential cross country trip. Have only put 155 miles on it so far this year, not as much as I would have liked, but given it's concourse detailed undercarriage, I've been hesitant to drive it on anything but the nicest of days, when we have had the free time to do so.

Long term, 8+ years of ownership is SWMBO summer toy, a 2006 Miata GT, 6spd, factory Bilstein car, now powered by a 2.5L Ford Duratec Motor when the stock 2.0L Mazda engine let loose in 2013. It too has been meticulously maintained, thought about adding a Harddog rollbar to it and taking it out for some HPDE events, but decided with the other two above, it was not necessary. Sadly, SWMBO didn't drive it at all this year, I felt bad, and added 200 miles of use just so it would not be jealous of the other 3 cars stuffed into our two car (no lift) garage.

Next car to kind of drop in my lap was our 52,000 mile 2001 Porsche "S", originally a track prepped (lots of suspension and brake goodies, 6K worth of receipts for them, all other mechanicals stock and up to date on all maintenance, including RMS and IMS) car for the last two owners, again, not really looking, but kind of found me when a friend pointed it out and asked me to go look at it for him. On my 2 hour drive down to the burbs of Atlanta, my friend called and stated he bought a neighbors car last night, since I was within 10 minutes of the car, I decided not to cancel and ended up bringing it home for under 17K, with an additional 3K in parts which have now been sold off to offset the 2K in parts and services I needed to bring it up to spec. Have only put 150 miles on it so far in the last three weeks, but it will make a fun driver for SWMBO and I. Attached picture is the required first early evening drive out on "date night", where to, for ice cream of course. SWMBO found the heated seat button on the center console and states "she approves".