Project Miatabusa Part 17: EVO II is Finally Here!
Project Miatabusa #17 Miatabusa EVO II is Finally Here! by Dave Coleman If you’re one of the 6 people in the world who isn’t familiar with this car, step back,…
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Dave Coleman
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Wrench Tips #33: Old Tires Suck
Wrench Tips #33: Old Tires Suck! by Dave Coleman There are a lot of goofy, semi-nonsensical numbers in the tire business, but if you're a tire-scrounging cheapass like me, this one…
Project Silvia’s Grlfriend: Part 3 – Making it Pretty
Project Silvia’s Girlfriend: Part 3 – Making it Pretty by Dave Coleman It only takes a short glance at any car I’ve ever owned (or any house, or my closet…)…
Project Silvia’s Girlfirend Part 2: Making it Handle
Project Silvia's Girlfriend Part 2: Making it Handle by Dave Coleman You would think that making Project Silvia's Girlfriend handle would be really simple. After all, way back in 2003 Project…
Project Silvia’s Girlfriend – Part 1
Project Silvia's Girlfriend Part 1: Engine and Stuff by Dave Coleman I've been holding out on you. While years were going by between updates on Project Silvia, I was actually spending time on…
The Dumpster Diver’s Garage – #1 Air Freight Shed
The Dumpser Diver's Garage #1: The Air Freight Shed by Dave Coleman Yeah, yeah, yeah, where the hell is Project Miatabusa? I know, I know… After the death rattle, the…
Wrench Tips #32: Precision for Pennies
Wrench Tips #32: Precision for Pennies by Dave Coleman This tip comes to you, in a roundabout way, from Alex Vendler, creater of the MetroGnome, mastermind of the…
Wrench Tips #31: Cast Aluminum in a Can
Wrench Tips #31: Cast Aluminum in a Can by Dave Coleman Strangely enough, this wrench tip is one I learned from owning this bike: I bought the bike…
Project Nissan Silvia: Over 2 Pounds Less Bouncy Stuff!
Project S13 Silvia Taking 2 Pounds off the Bouncy Bits! by Dave Coleman The last installment of Project Silvia was a story of tragedy. A tempting, but ultimately unnecessary attempt…
Project Miatabusa Part 16: What’s that noise?
Project Miatabusa Part 16: What's That Noise? by Dave Coleman First things first: Where the hell has the Miatabusa been? There's a complicated string of excuses involving…
Project Frankenmiata – The Ultimate Miata Coolant Reroute
Project Frankenmiata The Ultimate Miata Coolant Reroute by Dave Coleman The lameness of Miata cooling systems is well known. They can reasonably handle the 12-13 hp a naturally-aspirated Miata makes,…
Project Miatabusa part 15: AEM Data Logging (and some RC plane parts)
As we inch ever closer to getting Project Miatabusa on a dyno, more and more unfinished business keeps revealing itself. Ok, the car starts and runs now, but it still…
Project Miatabusa Part 13 – Sweet Sounds and Donuts!
Project Miatabusa has been dragging on for a long time. So long, that our comment section is filling up with impatient demands to hear this baby run and…
Project Miatabusa part 14: The home stretch
Hope you enjoyed yesterday's tasty donuts. Now here are a bunch of details that have delayed the making of stinky donuts: At the end of the aluminum exhaust fab project, we…
Project Frankenmiata – Failure is ALWAYS an Option
Project Frankenmiata: Failure is ALWAYS an Option by Dave Coleman It would be easy to mistake the Eyesore Racing 24 Hours of LeMons juggernaut for a polished, finely…
Wrench tips #30: Finding Oil Leaks Using Fluorescent Goo
Wrench Tip #30: Finding Oil Leaks Using Fluorescent Goo by Dave Coleman Finding the origin of an oil leak can be a pain in the ass. By the time…
Project Miatabusa part 12 – Why You Can’t Make Aluminum Exhausts, And Why I Did It Anyway
Project Miatabusa part 12: Why You Can't Make Aluminum Exhausts… And Why I Did it Anyway. by Dave Coleman From exhaust port to tailpipe, project Miatabusa's exhaust system fabrication has…
Wrench Tips #28: Quality German Hose Clamps for CHEAP
Wrench Tips #28: Quality German Hose Clamps for CHEAP by Dave Coleman I've been struggling lately to find a source of high quality hose clamps while plumbing the three fuel…
Wrench Tips #27: Restoring Plastic is (Sometimes) Easy!
Wrench Tips #27 Restoring Plastic is (Sometimes) Easy! by Dave Coleman I failed freshman chemistry, so let me be right up front here and point out that I…
Wrench Tips #26: Back Purge Your TIG Welds The Cheap Way
Wrench Tips #26: Back Purge Your TIG Welds The Cheap Way by Dave Coleman When you're welding tubing, the backside of your weld (inside the tube) is still exposed to…
Wrench Tips #25: How to Clean Up That Nasty Butyl Tape Vapor Barrier Goo
Wrench Tips #25: How to Clean Up That Nasty Butyl Tape Vapor Barrier Goo by Dave Coleman It's worse than Aunt Jemima's. That nasty butyl tape goo that's used…
Project Miatabusa Part 11 – Shorai Lithium Iron Battery (and Lots of Plumbing)
Project Miatabusa Part 11 Shorai Lithium Iron Battery (and Lots of Plumbing) by Dave Coleman Odds are pretty good this is the first Miata in history to have its battery…
Angry Hamster EVO II: Holy Crap, I drove it! (and now I’m deaf)
Angry Hamster EVO II Holy Crap, I drove it! by Dave Coleman It takes 3 or 4 stalls to get rolling with only 1 liter of torque, no flywheel and…
Project Miatabusa part 9: Thank God We Finally Found a Starter!
Project Miatabusa, Part 9: Thank God We Finally Found a Starter! by Dave Coleman This seemed like a problem with two easy answers. The Miatabusa would need a starter. Miatas…
Project Miatabusa Gets the Shaft!
Project Miatabusa Gets the Shaft! by Dave Coleman The last time any of you heard anything but excuses about Project Miatabusa was January. I almost can't believe that myself. The…
Wrench Tips #24 – Silicone Hoses for Adults
Wrench Tips – Tip #24: Silicone Hoses for Adults by Dave Coleman There comes a time in every car dork’s life when you no longer want your engine bay…
What the Hell Happened to Project Silvia?
What the Hell Happened to Project Silvia? by Dave Coleman Project Silvia was a Krylon superstar. Back in the heady days of Sport Compact Car and paper magazines, it…
LeMons at Le Mans – Part 2
From LeMons to Le Mans, Eyesore Racing's Victory Tour Part 2: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About the Le Mans-Winning Corvette's Air Conditioner. by Dave Coleman…
From LeMons to Le Mans – Part 1: Le Mans Night Practice
From LeMons to Le Mans, Eyesore Racing's Victory Tour Part 1: Le Mans Night Practice by Dave Coleman Northern France is, in a word, Iowa. The two…
24 Best Cars at the 24 Hours of LeMans
How did we know we were finally getting close to Le Mans? Morgans, that's how. When you see 7 of those whatchamacalit modern, BMW-powered Morgans in a land of Schitroens,…
Project Sipster part 8: All the Drag-Reducing Details
Project Sipster Part 8: All the Drag-Reducing Details by Dave Coleman Photography mostly by Jared Holstein When we set out to save the world, we promised three 7's; so…
Project Sipster Part 7 – Sipster Indeed!
Project Sipster: Frugal Sipster (is what I was gonna call it) Project Sipster: Sipster Indeed (is how it ended up) by 2009 Dave Coleman with commentary from 2011 Dave Coleman…