I’ve been very busy in the garage for the past couple months. I can’t wait to get this car back together again. Hopefully, this is the weekend when that happens.

It’s a new year and there’s a lot to do. The Miata’s suspension is all in a pile on the garage floor. Well, it’s semi-organized. There are many new parts going on the car in the coming months. Most of them are in boxes in the basement. I don’t want to give away any secrets just yet. So much to do!

Here in the Midwest, spring feels like it’s far, far away, but in the garage it feels like it’ll be here next week.

One of my favorite events every September is Ducktail Run. It’s a 4-day car show hosted in, where other than, Gas City, Indiana. Two friends of mine came along to enjoy it.

The huge car show is spread over a city park in a small Midwest town. It’s a show for classic American cars and trucks. The event brings more than 2,500 cars and 50,000 visitors.

There are paved roads running through the park. A lot of the cars in the show are driven around the event. The smell of uncatalyzed exhaust is heavy in the air.

There’s a fairly broad mix of cars in attendance. The only rules are that the cars be from ’72 or earlier unless chopped, channeled, sectioned, or tubbed.

Rat-rods abound at this show.

Traditional customs like this are hard to come by in this area. Most of the cars of this style go over to Fairmount, another town near to Gas City for the annual James Dean Festival. It’s hard to say if it’s a good or bad thing that both events are on the same weekend.

The interior was not neglected.

When it comes to muscle cars, I love Mopar stuff. Here’s a great Dodge Super Bee and a Challenger R/T.

This is some automotive art. This is here every year and every year I look forward to it.

So much work was put into the details. Even if you don’t like the style, you have to appreciate the attention to detail.

Here’s another vehicle seen last year. Then, it looked much different with a mostly teal patina and a different set of wheels. It still has a tube chassis. And it still turns heads.

People take pride in their cars and displays. A lot of people dress for the time period and play music from the ’60s and ’70s.

The cars at the festival really run the gamut of older American custom cars.

There’s plenty to see at the show other than the cars.

This is the coolest tent I’ve ever seen.

There was a petting zoo next to the car show. It’s part of the park that doesn’t get shut down for the show.

At the southern end of the show is a massive swap meet. There are loads of parts. Vendors sell tools, car parts old and new, performance parts, and garage related items. I made off with a few signs and a traffic light this year.

There’s nothing like finding a part you need for your project.

It was a great show! I’m glad two good friends of mine were able to come and have fun. When my wife and I move, I’ll miss it. It’s one of those things in our area that I think will be difficult to replace.

It’s been quite a year.

This is long overdue. Caroline and I spent a Sunday in Fort Wayne at the Baer Field Drift Day and Car Show.

We participated in the car show part of the event. It’s fun to show the car, but as I say to people when I start talking about it, I’d rather be on the track.

I busted out the Japanese plate for the show since they had a “Best JDM” category, the only category I had any chance of winning. No luck.

Baer Field is an oval track. Not the sort of place you’d expect to find drifting, but it was a grassroots kind of event.

This G35 was one of the better cars out there. It’s always more fun to watch the higher speed drifters.

I’m glad to see the Miata become more accepted in the import crowd. It may be low on power, but there are plenty of remedies for that.

With three or four Miatas at the event, I was able to borrow a few ideas for my own. Oh yeah, gold heat tape. Had to buy some soon after this.

This car’s run was very short. He came around one end of the oval, hit the wall, and this is where it stopped.

Too bad. Look at the strut tower bar now forming a high arc across the engine bay.

From a maintenance standpoint, drifting is a very demanding motorsport. Just about everything sees wear and tear.

Come prepared. On a side note, the 5zigen FN01R-C is one of my favorite wheels.

We walked around the paddock. I like to see the drivers getting their cars ready.

A pair of A-10 Warthogs were flying about, taking off and landing at the airport next door.

Rough transition.

We’ve spent a lot of time at open track days and time attack events. I like drifting, but don’t get to see it much. Good to see some this year. Hoping to see more next year!

I have around four events that I need to post about. It will happen.

I saw this video a while ago and loved it. As a delivery driver, my imagination runs a bit wild thinking about how my work could benefit from something like this.

The video has been on my mind after attending a local drift event. Didn’t see any vans, but there were some Nissans. Coverage is on the way.

The video is courtesy of Car Throttle (https://www.carthrottle.com/).

The first track night I attended was great! It was a ton of fun and I was ready to sign up anything else that came along. At that event, we heard about the SCCA’s South Bend Region’s upcoming open track event taking place on September 11. It would be at GingerMan, again. The calendar was clear, so we signed up!

The event was another laid back affair. My wife and I were running a little behind, but arrived during the driver’s meeting. We actually bedded in the new racing brake pads immediately before getting on the highway up to South Haven.

We drove behind this BMW on the way to the track.

It was cool to see this guy again.

Not long before the Mustang and I pass the Ferrari F430.

This Lotus Exige was one of the fastest of my group, if not the evening.

It’s cool to see the older cars raced.

The event went from 5pm until sunset. This was enough time for some pace laps, a 20-minute session, and a 10-minute session. Not a ton of time on the track, but still a lot of fun.

I’m glad that my aunt and uncle from Battle Creek were able to join us. My uncle has an SVT Cobra that he races, occasionally at GingerMan. My aunt was kind enough to take some photos during this event. They drove their ’07 California Special Mustang during the parade laps.

Just before the first session, I realized that I forgot to check the torque on the lug nuts. Better safe than sorry.

I feel like I did pretty well. My best lap time at the first event was about 1:58. I did a little better this time at 1:55, but feel like I could shave it down at least another 5 seconds. If I turned up the boost, that would help too.

My aunt took this shot along the front straight. It was time to pass the Z.

Caroline jumped in to ride along for the last session. I’m glad no one cared. It seems like it’s rare for the officials to allow riders with the novice or beginner groups. She had been along for the pace laps, but they’re just not the same.

I saw this car down at the south end of the paddock. I had seen it online before, but never in person. I love the time attack look. It’s a serious race car. And that is one of the craziest rear diffusers I’ve ever seen! It’s giving me ideas for the Miata…

Here’s the Miata and my aunt and uncle’s California Special. I’m glad they could come out and join in the great time. It wasn’t as much track time as I hoped for, but hey, we’ll be back in a few weeks!

I knew I would race the car someday. I was anxious to get more car stuff. I decided to outfit the car with at least a racing seat for the driver. I really can’t remember how the logic went in my brain, but it ended with me deciding on a Bride seat.

At the Offset Kings show/Gridlife event I went to in the summer of 2015, another Miata owner with a Bride Zeta III was kind enough to let me sit in his car. At least, I think it was a Zeta III. As the friends in attendance may recall, it was a funny sight. The seat was positioned well for the guy who owned it, someone at least a foot shorter than myself. My knees were touching the dash and steering wheel. Nevermind that the seat itself was feeling pretty snug.

After pouring over reviews, forums, and published information on the seats, I made my decision. I loved the Recaro Profi SPG’s. They’re excellent seats. But I went with the Bride Zeta III’s. I’ll be honest; I liked the look better.

The Bride seats are known for running a little slim. Waist greater than 36″? They may have to cut the seat off of you if you manage to get into it. Knowing this, I went with the Type-L version available which is ever-so-slightly larger in a few dimensions.

Since the seat is a side-mount, I had to source some fancy seat brackets. I found these made by GarageStar. I feel a little dumb for mounting the seat in this way. I found later that mounting the seat to the brackets, then brackets to floor is faster and easier.

Tada!

I wanted an upgraded steering wheel in the car in addition to the new seat. I already had a Nardi Torino wheel in the Datsun. Since it wasn’t drivable, I figured I could borrow the wheel at least until I got another one. So, all that was needed was a steering wheel boss. But, I decided I’d get a quick release hub while I was at it.

I like to stick with the same brand on the stuff for the car when I can. There are a lot of bosses on the market, but fewer quick release hubs. The Works Bell quick release is one of the best out there and I found a good deal on one. After a lot of reading and some guesswork I decided on a boss of the same brand. You have to do a little research because these things move the location of the steering wheel. You don’t want it too close or too far away from you.

Goodbye, airbag-equipped factory steering wheel. With the car moving toward a new purpose as track car with race seat and eventually harnesses, the airbag is less desirable. When you’re strapped to the seat, you don’t really need the airbag.

Here’s the install. An impact gun made very quick work of the steering wheel bolt. After a few minutes of man-handling the steering wheel itself, it came off. The wiring is made pretty easy by the use of a resister for the airbag system that was included with the Works Bell boss.

It’s all together! I love the Nardi Torino wheel. You can’t see it as well in this photo, but it’s a deep dish. Forget the Nissan horn button; it’s the only one that works with the wheel/hub combination. It came with the boss I bought for the Datsun.

This made driving so much more fun. I used the stock seat belt for the last month or so of last year before storing the car for winter. It wasn’t ideal, but hey, it was legal. I’m not sure if the cabin looks more “down to business” or more “time to party!”