'94 Mazda Miata - Project Car

 This is my 1994 Mazda Miata, which I built from scratch. When I purchased the vehicle, it was not running. There were mechanical, paint, rust, and other issues with the overall condition of the vehicle. See below for a picture of the car when I first purchased it versus what it looks like now:

Read below to follow the journey of the car over the last year. Working on this car has allowed me to develop hands-on skills that are not commonly taught in a lecture-based engineering course. I was able to learn and practice mechanical work (engine rebuild, transmission rebuild, custom intake & exhaust, and suspension rebuild), electrical work (wiring, soldering, custom relay systems, custom ECU, and tuning/debugging), body work (welding, painting, wrapping, fiberglass, marine epoxy, and bondo).  Many people saw the car when I first acquired it and believed it to be a waste of time or energy however, I saw it as a learning opportunity. I realized there is more to engineering than just doing MATLAB, solving equations, or running simulations, but it's about having the ability to implement what you learned. I used my knowledge of fluid systems to strategically calculate the low & high pressure zones of the car as well as the ideal AFR (air to fuel ratio) to create a custom intake and exhaust system to maximize potential power gains.