M.O.A.B.

[oldgrayfrog]

I'm flying to NYC this Saturday, to bring back MOAB Mother Of All Blowers. It's a 1995 miata wearing the whipple supercharger that was designed by Corky Bell and sold through FM a few years ago. Its a coldside kit, and incorporates a forward mounted air to air intercooler. The guy who sold it, has been autocrossing in the NYC area with great success the last couple years. The purchase includes hardtop and 15x9 6UL wheels and 225-45-15 Hankook RS3s. KYB AGX 8 ways with Ground Control mounts, custom springs and FM rear top mounts, a torsen. That's about it. The interior is really rough, the front seat had a foamectomy, and it looks like he did it through the face of the seat, with one of those sporks they give you to eat with at KFC.

4815 The only thing I regret...did it have to be red?? Oh and yup, those are hood risers all right!

4813 6ULs look good in Bronze, and Silver and Black...

4814 Believe me, this is the only good view of those tan leather seats!

4816 Ubercharger revealed, though not this cars engine, had it not been for Ford ordering 600 of the Whipples for the Ford GT project, FM might have continued to sell these. Can't say this gives up much to an FM II. Oh they were $5800 plus electronics, this car is running 550 RC injectors with AEM full standalone.

4817 Notice the itty bitty filter crammed in, at the top left corner of the engine bay? Also notice the two holes drilled in the firewall to give the car some cold air. On the Drivers side are Racing Beat headers emptying into FM's 2.5 inch exhaust.

[oldgrayfrog]

4818 We do love those 6ULs!

4819 No lack of rubber here.

4820 look at how early the car hits 100 hp, the max a stock 1.8 puts out! At 2500 rpm the car is making more than 200 ft pounds of torque, it's almost at 200 ft lbs from just off idle

4821 minus driver at 175, 15 lbs of stylebar and a few odds and ends. Traaz says it's way off, but books say curb weight without driver and 1/4 tank of gas is 2290, so add a 175 guy and a fake roll bar...

4822

As you can see the Whipple, or Ubercharger as it was known at FM, really gets the torque in down low! I spoke with the previous owner at length, and apparently this thing isn't maxed out. You can get more with ported heads, a cam and 3" exhaust, there are some Uberchargers that have hit 350 whp!
Take a look at those corner weights! i believe they are with driver and the non functional style bar. He insisted no top level autox competitors use rollbars due to the weight penalty. As I am not a top flight autox guy, this car will get a rollbar asap!

[RotorNutFD3S]

I so cannot wait to see this car in person!!! :D Congrats on scoring an awesome deal!

[nickt93]

Wait whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!? How long has this been in the works? I imagine you would have told us about it on Saturday...or perhaps you were keeping it a secret. Either way, congratulations!

[Stealth97]

you got to be kidding!

[dmonroe2008]

wow dude you got lucky!! beautiful

[theothersawyer]

Yeah I want to see this thing too! I had never heard of this supercharger until I saw this car about a week or so ago. I really like this set up!

[NA6R]

the Whipple system goes way back

[theothersawyer]

I figured it was nothing new I just haven't heard about it. Time to do some research!

[miata5620]

congrats... I so want to be you when I grow up. LOL

[traatz]

Holy $h1t that thing is HEAVY!!!!!

My '97 is 2405lb with my fat a$$ in the seat, a major overkill 8pt cage, filled cool shirt system, hard top, splitter/under tray, wing, 6 speed, all original body panels and 250# of lead ballast to make minimum race weight!

I would guess that was either weighed with a driver and passenger, or the scales were majorly out of calibration. If the driver was a serious wide load, there is NO WAY there would only be a 25# split LF to RF.
You might want to see if you can find someone skilled with a set of scales to recheck those numbers.

[oldgrayfrog]

Seeing as the guy says he weighs 175, and removed his soft top to reduce weight, I'd say you were right. Unfortunately, the guy I know, is really pissed at me because I won't sell him wheels. Oh well, there must be somebody who knows how to corner weigh a car.

[oldgrayfrog]

Wait whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!? How long has this been in the works? I imagine you would have told us about it on Saturday...or perhaps you were keeping it a secret. Either way, congratulations!


Well, it was in the works for a little over a week. The guy has had the car posted for about a month on Miata.net CR.net and MiataTurbo asking $7500. He went further and offered to sell the car and take off $850 if you didn't want the hard top, $950 without the 6ULs, and $200 without the suede steering wheel.

I contacted the guy, and all of a sudden he gets the brilliant idea to list it on Ebay. Of course to the uninitiated, this car sounded like a very expensive 95 with 157k miles on it, and of course 95% of the folks on CR.net, and Miataturbo heave never seen $7500 together before at one time.

I even offered the guy $7200 twice without the steering wheel to end the auction, but he told me"he didn't want to disappoint the car's fans, and many followers". Seriously, this is how he put it. I guess he thought it was like Facebook and he thought he was very popular. In the end I won the auction at $5101 and will be buying the wheels and the hardtop, unless the HT is in bad shape.

I'll be flying into JFK on Saturday, and take two or three days to get back home, hoping there won't be any mechanical delays, I just feel like taking my time.

Oh and never tell anyone of the amazing deal on Ebay until you win. Especially guys who pick up LS1 cars they "just went to look at". I unlike you have to sell one of my cars to buy another:lol:

[Dr.Drew]

Well Dave, go get yourself an LS Miata and collect the whole set. But seriously, you and Nick really need to consider leaving some for the rest of us :lol:

[Bernie]

Dave, love that you snatched this car for 2 grand under what you offered him on the up and up. Apparently folks don't remember the phrase "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".

[oldgrayfrog]

Only if I show up with my own set of wheels and tires, that the hardtop and the steering wheel was extra... I still came out about 600 less than I offered him earlier in the week, His talking about the auctions "legions of fans" who would be dissapointed if the auction ended early, really kind of made me laugh.

[iamdallas]

Congrats! That's one hell of a torquey 1.8.

Now... I heard that car will give you aids unless you let me drive it. ...maybe it was just a rumour. I dunnnoo. Its always better to play it safe though.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[Acro]

Holy crap blower O_O I want a ride >.>

[nolift]

weee bit jealous. Very nice find and love the story of how you bought it! Doh!

[qualcon]

Wow dude! Congrats! That's an awesome dyno.

[mgeoffriau]

Posting it on eBay was probably not the best choice, but I'm not sure the guy deserves to get mocked for following through on the auction after it had bidders. Could he have yanked the auction and made a bit more money? Sure. But he didn't, and that's his choice.

I was literally 24 hours off from bidding against you, OGF. If I'd trusted my buyer's word on Sunday that he was coming back Monday night with cash, I might have done it anyway, but I've had too many flakes bail on their promises to risk that.

[metalman]

Posting it on eBay was probably not the best choice, but I'm not sure the guy deserves to get mocked for following through on the auction after it had bidders.

Fvck greedy eghey and its deadbeat bidders.
Its plain stupid to sell it there when you can sell elsewhere. My .02
Its perfectly legitimate to delete bids and cancel an auction for a better sale elsewhere.

[oldgrayfrog]

Truth is I won it at $5101, my limit was 5200, you could have had it easily. I was really starting to wane a little on the desire to drive 950 miles without a radio. I also need to do more research on these unique cars before I jump in. Lets just say, I have evidence that this build was occasionally done on the cheap, and I have not even seen it yet.

My hat's off to you for holding off the bid, even if you thought the guy buying would come through. I have had to fold at the last second (not on Ebay) because my dog had $3000 surgery right when I wanted to buy something. I told the guy why, and he still gave me sh+t publicly on CR.net, two weeks later when I had the money, he was shocked that I wouldn't buy from him:jawdrop:. Most people bid, and then when they have to withdraw because they don't have the cash, the poor guy selling has to relist on account of dead beat bidders. I have even heard of guys bidding past the value of an item with a new bidder profile, going deadbeat, then purchasing at a lower bid on the next auction, when presumably their rival bidder has moved on.

I agree with Kurt that it's hard to not take the buyer that has cash in hand over the possibility of bigger bids. The guy thinking because 1,000 hits had come on the sale, that he had a following, and fans that reveal his ignorance and naivte. I had 5000 hits and over 100 followers when I sold the 95 M3 two weeks ago. In the end only three people actually bid on the car.

So he didn't get killed, he lost $600 from his original asking price, which is less than an 8% discount off what he wanted. I think he did pretty well for a first time seller. I read some other things he's posted, and he's been building an LS1 swapped S13 Nissan for about three or four years.

Unlike a lot of guys I see get into the world of F.I. Miatas he did it on a smaller scale with an exact mission focus. He wanted to continue autocrossing while he was doing his S13 build. he built an awesome car, without going nuts on suspension or brakes or even weight loss, he beat a lot of F.I. M3s and 911 in the modified class.

He never changed anything but the brake pads and the lines to stainless, tossed the radio, and kept the stock fugly leather seats after an extreme foamectomy. He only cared about winning and he has the trophies to prove it. He has my respect for having a vision, and sticking to it, and part of that vision was staying on the cheap.

[MoD_Scotty]

Congrats! You're gonna need a bigger garage soon!

[oldgrayfrog]

That's the problem, Amy has limited me to four cars! I know the hardship, right? If I want to buy, I have to sell one. She knows I won't sell her daily, its my Murano, and ya gotta have at least one vehicle that can carry a Miata's hood inside, my VW R32 only has 15,000 miles on it, and there just isn't another "practical" Daily driver I can think of that I won't pay more for it. Ripley will gut me like a fish if I ever sell the RS (Ripley Sport), he even has a deal with Amy, that if I die, he gets the car. So when I want a new toy, it's sell one to buy one. Probably means the MOAB won't be here long. The only way to increase the size of the herd is if I build another garage behind the current one, across the big cement pad. I wonder how much Rob FE3MX5 paid for his Garage Mahal?

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

Congrats Dave! That thing will be an absolute blast to drive!!

[mgeoffriau]

My hat's off to you for holding off the bid, even if you thought the guy buying would come through.

Well, if you drive it home and it's not what you wanted, just give me a shout. I was hoping to avoid another red NA (really want blue or silver) but I'd make an exception in this case.

[metalman]

Probably means the MOAB won't be here long.

Dave I really appreciate you letting me have the car for half what you paid for it.
Thats really nice of you. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[nickt93]

Well, if you drive it home and it's not what you wanted, just give me a shout. I was hoping to avoid another red NA (really want blue or silver) but I'd make an exception in this case.

Dave has A.D.D. - that car will be in your driveway within 6 months! :)

Geoff I'll be in your general vicinity tomorrow night - staying at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale. Ever hear of it?

[mgeoffriau]

Dave has A.D.D. - that car will be in your driveway within 6 months! :)

Geoff I'll be in your general vicinity tomorrow night - staying at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale. Ever hear of it?

Heck, maybe he'll even install a rollbar before he sells it to me. :lol:

Never stayed there but I know about it. If you have the evening free, check out Ground Zero. That's the place Morgan Freeman co-owns...it's a nice, semi-authentic blues shack where white people can go without feeling too out of place.

[Bob_Bobber0]

Fantastic looking car! Those wheels are amazing.

[oldgrayfrog]

Hate to bust ya'lls bubbles, but that car is destined to be parted out when I've had my fun driving it. I assessed the value of the aftermarket parts, decided the out weighed the price I was willing to pay for the car. If you like the wheels, get out the piggy back because they'll be for sale shortly $1200. If you think I'm crazy, go look at CR.net and see what the last two sets of 15x9 6ULs went for with 225 RS3s. Both the wheels and more importantly the tires are sold out. The last two sets, sold in two hours for $1200. Hardtop will be $1000 unless it's really pretty, then it will be $1200. A little more work, but there will be no half price sales here. If ya like the Whipple, I'll be selling that for $2500, the ecu for $1000, and the injectors for $300. By the time I'm done it will be a nice stock 95 for $4000.

[mgeoffriau]

Cool. Enjoy it while you have it, I guess.

The search continues.

[theothersawyer]

Man I wish I had the money for the whipple, that would be cool to have. Also, Dave I would love to get a ride in the car before you part it!

[oldgrayfrog]

Don't worry, it won't happen overnight. Mr mgeoffrau, would you consider changing your avatar, I like the one on Miataturbo, but this one is making me want to punch somebody in the face. Looks like a cousin by marriage that molested kids...Sorry if it's your likeness...

[Acro]

Make a nice bit back on it for sure. I definately want a ride in it beforehand. Looooooooove the sound of a blower ^.-.^

[wonton]

Cool. Enjoy it while you have it, I guess.

The search continues.

you in the market for another miata? :rolleyes:

[nickt93]

mgeoffrau, would you consider changing your avatar...Looks like a cousin by marriage that molested kids...Sorry if it's your likeness...

Ouch - that's kind of harsh man! Respect for all members!

[miata5620]

Ouch - that's kind of harsh man! Respect for all members!

Agreed... that comment should have been sent via PM if you had to say something.

[mgeoffriau]

Geez, I always thought of myself as a fairly respectable looking fellow...dignified and whatnot with my impressive moustache. If it really does remind you of an unwelcome relation, I can change it though.

you in the market for another miata? :rolleyes:

I am -- I sold the '92 on Monday. I'll have some leftover parts to sell off in the future, once I pick up another car and see what will and will not transfer over.

[iamdallas]

Wow, I'm sorry to see it will he parted. I wish I had the money to change your mind. I would love to be the proud owner of this car.


Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[oldgrayfrog]

Sorry, Mgeoffoia lots of folks have pictures of people that aren't themselves, and yeah the particular picture does remind me of somebody I'd rather not be reminded of. No offense intended. I asked what's his name to take that damn ribbon of his head and he pollitely told me to go F+ck myself.

I saw you active over on miataturbo for a long while, didn't you upgrade your suspension not long ago? Didn't know that you had sold your ride. What are you looking for specifically?

[mgeoffriau]

No worries, it's just an old funny picture of me when I had a handlebar mustache. Now I'm Alain Prost.

I've got jacob300zx's old suspension setup before he switched to an S2000. MSM Bilstein's, front's revalved by Bilstein, with ISC tophats in the back and custom tall tophats in the front. 670/350 spring rates with ebay coilover sleeves. Right now it's just sitting on a shelf in my workroom.

Sold the 1992, as I decided that if I was going to spend any more time on a project Miata, I didn't want it to be red and I didn't want it be a 1.6l. Looking for a blue or silver 94-01 Miata now.

[jzilla]

torque from 2500 rpms... oivey

[oldgrayfrog]

No worries, it's just an old funny picture of me when I had a handlebar mustache. Now I'm Alain Prost.

I've got jacob300zx's old suspension setup before he switched to an S2000. MSM Bilstein's, front's revalved by Bilstein, with ISC tophats in the back and custom tall tophats in the front. 670/350 spring rates with ebay coilover sleeves. Right now it's just sitting on a shelf in my workroom.

Sold the 1992, as I decided that if I was going to spend any more time on a project Miata, I didn't want it to be red and I didn't want it be a 1.6l. Looking for a blue or silver 94-01 Miata now.

I like alain better:) I'm pretty sure I bought my H&R coilovers from you.
I'll keep an eye out. There was a stupid low priced silver on Ebay last week, but obviously I stopped monitoring that after I bought this one. I now own two red NAs. Good thing i like the color huh?

[mgeoffriau]

I like alain better:) I'm pretty sure I bought my H&R coilovers from you.
I'll keep an eye out. There was a stupid low priced silver on Ebay last week, but obviously I stopped monitoring that after I bought this one. I now own two red NAs. Good thing i like the color huh?

Almost -- I think you were trying to decide between the H&R's and some Bilstein/GC's. I remember talking about the H&R's but I ended up selling mine to some other guy on CR.net.

I don't hate the red, but there's sooo many red NA's out there, and I love the Laguna Blue cars. Too bad they are so hard to find.

[oldgrayfrog]

:facepalm:Our member here Laguna Blue sold his 282 whp car about a month ago. You just missed it. I like having easy parts interchange so make mine white,,black, red or smurf please.

[mgeoffriau]

That car was way out of my price range. I'm poor.

[wonton]

Too bad my car is red! lulz

[Kasdan]

ill cry to see this car get parted =(

[wonton]

The one dave is picking up?

[Kasdan]

yeah

[wonton]

lulz!

[Kasdan]

ok, so i wont really cry, but i will secretly be jealous of whoever gets the blower.
ok, so it wont be secretly either.

[oldgrayfrog]

The MOAB has landed! 970 solo miles. I really wish that Mazda had designed a cruise control system that lasts as long as the car. So far, I have owned four, and not a functioning cruise control system on any of the. Day to day, I could car less. Keeping my foot partially depressed for 18 hours...ouch.

First impressions, the car is rust free, the majority of the Carfax I saw had the car in Texas and the Southwest, so it's brief stay in NYC. didn't give it the tin worm.

Pretty straight. Front and rear bumpers need a couple touch ups, and the front bumper wore the front tag holder so long, it may just need replacing. Paint is faded, pretty well gone on the tops of the power mirrors. A respray may be in order at Chicos for $800-1000.

The soft top was non-existent. The pos original, as usual, just stitch this bit here, and it's all fine. Not if you want a functioning top, but hey I'm picky! Luckily, I have the parchment top I'm taking of the RS. Several small interior plastic pieces are MIA. He took the plastic off the seat belt tower, and removed the radio to "save weight" for the autoX, Oh yeah and corner weighed it with a full tank of gas! Left the OEM seats in place, scooped the middle of the drivers seat out, it feels like sitting on a toilet for 14 hours. Go sit on yours at home and see how long you last. AC is in and works beautifully, ditto PS. OIL and temp gauges work, huge 8"autometer tach, boost and wideband O2 work. Speedometer, Odometer and factory tach, along with dash lights with headlamps on, do not function.

Have the original 12 psi boost pulley, the car is currently running 19psi! The car has a front mounted intercooler, but it's the old begi style and about the size of the factory MSM FMIC. I'm not surprised that the seller spoke of temps staying in the 170s, the intercooler was just overwhelmed. Luckily, I can get a larger 22" core FMIC off ebay for less than $200, and the original pulley came with the car. I don't know enough about tuning to describe what I don't like other than to say "It doesn't idle as well as I will accept."

Okay the good stuff. Once I took the settings off road course kill, and set them to a little bit more real world set up, the car handles beautifully, and those 225 width RS3s really give the car otherworldly grip.

Power: As I started the journey a long way from home,and hoped to make it back without the use of a tow truck, I tried getting to know MOAB a little bit. When I finally started experimenting with the boost...it's fast, very fast. I doubt I ever got beyond 15psi of boost and it was throw your butt back in your seat. I can see how the kid, who is a nice guy, and obviously talented in some ways, but like he decided to go to 19psi, and FM told him hewas buying the only pulley every ordered, it never occurred to him,"Do I need more than just the pulley? Some supporting mods?"

This guy decides to go to the local dragstrip. Never practiced, didn't know how to stage, let alone stage deep, naw, he just goes and takes a little off the 245 slicks he somehow wrapped around a set of hollow spoke 14" to warm em up, then kind of bogs the first 60' and still runs a 12.3. They of course kick him off. No rollbar!

I don't think it's the fastest Miata we have around here, but it's damn quick. I don't know whether to take the system off and package it together with all the supporting stuff, like 550 RCs and the fuel rail and Fuel pressure regulator, sell that to anybody running a 1.8. The NB folks, the manifold for the NB is a deal of the day, asking $250. I bet you can get it for $125-150. Sell the Ubercharger for $2000-2500, and sell the AEM for $1000-1200. Just return the car back to stock. It's a really nice Miata

Anyone got any thought? I'm not sure I want to go through learning two different tuning platforms at once. Oh well, at least the drives over.

[Dr.Drew]

Part it out as separate pieces with an option for buying everything together at a discount. Sounds like a fun car but also sounds like a car that's running right on the razor's edge and without a working odometer I don't know how much I would trust it. I'm sure 19psi is nice but without a sufficient intercooler it could get dangerous quick (especially down here when we have a 95 degree day with 99% humidity).

Also, on the other thread you said the car ran at 12.5 afr consistently under load. Do you mean in boost or just when cruising down the freeway? Cause 18 hours of 12.5 means the oil is probably half gasoline. Not to mention the 12.5 thing is a good goal, up to about 10psi. Most of what I've read recommends lower above that, especially with those intake temps.

It's also worrying that the PO wouldn't fix basic things, like the speedometer and dash lights. Sure, adding all that stuff is fun but general maintenance is a great sign of the overall health of a car and care from an owner.

[oldgrayfrog]

The thing that pissed me off? He bought the pulley and it made 250 whp, the 12 psi pulley on FM's dyno made 230 whp! The 12.5's were under load. He did a timing belt and water pump, but he really probably screwed the instrument panel up when he was playing with his stereo cables. He definitely has an internment ground happening.

I can fix everything, solve the ground issue, and get rid of the monster tach. I can throw in a MSM motor with 20k on it for $2000 plus labor, and then go tune it at 12 psi to about 260 whp. That's one path I'm considering, I just know I'll end up dropping $20,000 into the car and have two miatas, that we know nobody pays what goes in them. I'd be lucky to get $12,000 after I put another $4000-5000 in interiors and stereos, extra body panels that I have laying around. That stuff isn't free, it would still cost me whatever I originally paid.

I can sell the car separately from the hardtop and wheels and be done with it. I think that it should definitely go back to 12 psi, that's the blower's sweet spot, and I doubt that there's a lot of difference between 230 whp and 250, other than a bunch more heat.

I could sell the blower for $2000, the AEM for $1000, sell the torsen for $800, buy an open diff for $200, buy a 95 intake off Mazdaparts depot for $75, 95 injectors for $100, sell the RC 550cc for $250, sell the car with a set of cloth NA seats for $4000, that's about $7700 and I still have a hard top in good shape and a set of 6ULs with 225 RS3s to sell, that's another $2000-2200. I just hate to break a car up that is working well you know?