STAFF PROJECT: Can’t polish a turd, but I rolled it in glitter!

As some of you know, winters here in Norway are long and dark. That means all our prized possessions and joys goes into somewhere luke warm, away from the white stuff for some TLC.

Not so long after my last post about my car, I put it in the garage the first day of proper snowfall. With some plans of cleaning it up a bit.

The mission was: Tear everything down, strip it to bare metal and make it pretty again. As you can see it wasn’t looking too bad, but to someone who takes pride in their automobile you don’t want nothing but perfection. Am I right? Besides, if this thing is to survive a Norwegian winter, where they salt the roads like kettle chips – It’ll need a bit more protection than that thin, factory underseal.

It’s safe to say that this process is not one I’d like to repeat too many times. But after all too many hours with a grinder underneath the car, it was finally time to give it a lick of paint.

And learn from me kids, remember to have good ventitaltion and new filters in your face mask. Think I’ve shortened my life with several years this winter. Good thing I don’t smoke, eh?

After everything underneath the car, I mean everything: Inside all four wheelwells, inside the petrol tank cavity, gearbox tunnel – everything, was painted it was time to start reassembling the damn thing. Boy, that did wonders on my motivation. Real visible progress!

With a lot of goodies on the car, like these V8 Roadster upper balljoints. Adjustable! All in the name of handling. ~~Plus, it was cheaper than replacing the entire upper arms with oem joints.~~

I’ve had this cage sitting outside the house for a good while, to the great displeasure of my parents. So I thought I’d do them a favour of moving it into the car.

It was crunch time at this point. 10-14 hour days, every day, in the garage to get it back on its wheels. And if you look closely you might get what on earth I mean with the title of this very article.

I don’t think a lot of people grasp the concept of why guys like us do this. Messing up your sleep rythm, always aching in your body and bloody knuckles. Not to mention always being broke, just waiting for that next piece of paper to roll in so you can buy more parts.

It’s all down to those sweet moments like this. Once you see all your hard work finally pay off. I swear I stood at that one spot for five minutes just watching it. All covered in paintdust, grime and grease. And I’ve never seen something so satisfactory in a long time.

It felt good!

Straight out of the garage, I struck frame and left big black marks in the pavement. I’ll let Micke from Superiorimports explain this picture, and I quote: Dude is only happy when he is messing up his car. Such a strange young man.

It looks pretty clean on the underside now.

Ended up with these figures. Not too bad I reckon! 1.5 degrees too much camber at the rear for it to be an ideal trackday setup! Not too shabby for a silly stance car.

I must be strange. Or any other synonym of that word, for that matter. Why? Because this strange young man actually wants to lower it more. Would bagging it be blasphemous?

It at least needs a new paintjob. That’s for sure…

But that’s not gonna happen in a little while. Now I just want to drive the thing.

Want to get your own Miata sounding just right? Try our Miata exhaust guide. Interested in boosting your little roadster? Check out our Miata supercharger guide.

I gotta thank those of you who’ve helped me out throughout the build. For lending me a couple hands those late nights in a cramped garage to get it back on the road. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you guys!

::Dan