07-16-2017, 12:46 PM
Mileage 114,XXX
So here's the latest news in my never ending saga of flip flopping on what I want to do. As you guys can tell with the supremely irresponsible number of cars I've contemplated buying/selling/trading in the last month, I'm pretty uncertain as to what my end game is with vehicles. I'm still not settled in entirely up here so I haven't really felt ready to autocross or anything, but the time will come. As it sits, I have the Tacoma, 4Runner, Miata, the moped, and partial ownership of the Chariot of Victory. The Tacoma should hopefully be sold today. The 4Runner has a loan on it that has been factored into my budget nicely and is not an issue besides fixing the manifold leak and doing the TB/WP next weekend; it is relegated to driving me and groceries to and fro. The moped costs me nothing but space so it'll sit, the Subaru will be at Joey's and we're going to invest mostly sweat equity into it, and then that leaves the Miata.
What do I plan to do with it? I've contemplated selling it and using some of the money from the Tacoma to buy something a little nicer to pull Street/HPDE duty and possibly venture into tracking if that suites my fancy, but at the end of the day, I really like the Miata (some times) and I don't know if I wouldn't regret it immensely. I've never owned a vehicle besides the Tacoma long enough to actually get to the point where I would choose what to do to it instead of fixing what was broken so I'm in uncharted waters. I believe I have devised a plan for my automotive future now. I'm selling the truck and will be paying one of my student loans in full (Woohoo!), some will go to Jason for the WP/TB on the 4Runner, and the rest will go into my savings. As I come across good deals on parts, I'm going to start nabbing them and tossing them on the Miata and get her ready to be a multipurpose car. Car parts are cool, but I'm focused on saving some money right now as well.
Quick list of plans for the Miata that may sound dumb but I'm seriously considering:
-Replace the soft top with a tan, plastic, zippered window. This top was broken on a cold night and the window snapped in half and not even 2 pounds of tape can fix it, the vinyl is tattered and the rain rail is shot. I'm looking for a top already on the frame and if I can't find one, I'm paying a shop to put it on. Nobody in this world can convince me to install one without it already on the frame. Sorry.
- Hard Dog Hard Core M1 Hardtop roll bar. AFAIK this bar sits the furthest back and will give me the most head room while fitting under the hard top. This only works with plastic window soft tops, so it doesn't work on NBs. This is will be the deciding moment. If it makes the Miata much worse to drive on the street for me, then my mind will be set on selling it. If it does not, then I have nothing to worry about and we can proceed with plans.
- Baseline and recovery plan for the motor. It needs a new TPS, so I'm looking for a throttle body with a TPS and ISCV already installed. This should hopefully solve the cold idle problem and the occasional buck when I left off the gas. This issue makes the vehicle unbearable to drive in the winter time because trying to drive slow in 1st gear actually causes me physical pain with how hard it jerks and bucks coming off the throttle. I can also hear the engine pinging again, so it's either related to the TPS not reading right, or the CAS is loose and turning itself to advance the timing. I've already re-timed it once a year ago, but the problem seems to have returned with this scorching weather. After that, I need to do a leak down test. Compression is "okay" but I'd like to know why it's a little low and burning some oil. If it's valve seals, I'll go ahead and do them. If it's rings, I'll just drive her until she pops, or proceed with a plan I'll dive into down below.
- Koni Yellows or another easy button suspension refresh. The #1 complaint with this vehicle I can have is the ride. It's on 23 year old shocks and they do not do it justice. If I plan to keep this car, a new suspension must be installed. I don't want to do anything crazy except maybe some used Koni Yellows or something to keep me in my current auto-x class. I don't need mad stance points or anything, I just want a better ride.
- Repair hard top: A piece of the hard top broke off and needs to be epoxied or put back on with some fiberglass. I'm going to wait to do this until after I can source another fender for the front and I'll get them both color matched to my car. At this point, I'm going to assess some rust on the car and try to clean it up as much as possible. The one fender really bothers me more than I ever though a cosmetic issue on a car would and I believe that is the #1 loss of value on this car.
- Pending how everything goes with money, time, effort, motivation, and my goals for motorsports in this thing, I'm going to look into power mods. I've never been one to freak out over lack of power or anything, but it's getting to be time that I'd like a little more. If a leak down test of the engine provides bad results, I'm seriously considering a small rebuild in the future. You're hard pressed to find a more simple engine to do one on and it'd be really cool to give this car a fresh heart. I'm not sure the logistics or plausibility of this, but it would be cool experience and give me much confidence in this car. This would would lead into the big end game.....
Jackson Supercharger. The kits aren't very expense and aren't very difficult to do at all. With a healthy motor in a clean chassis, this would be a bad little car. A 95 M (LSD, ABS, all power options) with a fresh supercharged motor, roll bar, color matched hard top, and a decent suspension will lead to a VERY unique and fun car. I know this all sounds very far-fetched and I may hit "submit" on this post and realize the stupidity of putting that effort into this car, BUT this is a unique car and I've come to realize I identify with this Miata more than I have with any other car I've ever had. Many people tell me that they immediately think of this car when they think about me, and this comes from non-enthusiasts. I don't know how much of this I'll get done, but I should wound't mind a hand with some of it if anyone has some advice, leads on parts, etc. Who knows, I may change my mind day after tomorrow and sell, or maybe I won't and I'll have a really cool car soon.
So here's the latest news in my never ending saga of flip flopping on what I want to do. As you guys can tell with the supremely irresponsible number of cars I've contemplated buying/selling/trading in the last month, I'm pretty uncertain as to what my end game is with vehicles. I'm still not settled in entirely up here so I haven't really felt ready to autocross or anything, but the time will come. As it sits, I have the Tacoma, 4Runner, Miata, the moped, and partial ownership of the Chariot of Victory. The Tacoma should hopefully be sold today. The 4Runner has a loan on it that has been factored into my budget nicely and is not an issue besides fixing the manifold leak and doing the TB/WP next weekend; it is relegated to driving me and groceries to and fro. The moped costs me nothing but space so it'll sit, the Subaru will be at Joey's and we're going to invest mostly sweat equity into it, and then that leaves the Miata.
What do I plan to do with it? I've contemplated selling it and using some of the money from the Tacoma to buy something a little nicer to pull Street/HPDE duty and possibly venture into tracking if that suites my fancy, but at the end of the day, I really like the Miata (some times) and I don't know if I wouldn't regret it immensely. I've never owned a vehicle besides the Tacoma long enough to actually get to the point where I would choose what to do to it instead of fixing what was broken so I'm in uncharted waters. I believe I have devised a plan for my automotive future now. I'm selling the truck and will be paying one of my student loans in full (Woohoo!), some will go to Jason for the WP/TB on the 4Runner, and the rest will go into my savings. As I come across good deals on parts, I'm going to start nabbing them and tossing them on the Miata and get her ready to be a multipurpose car. Car parts are cool, but I'm focused on saving some money right now as well.
Quick list of plans for the Miata that may sound dumb but I'm seriously considering:
-Replace the soft top with a tan, plastic, zippered window. This top was broken on a cold night and the window snapped in half and not even 2 pounds of tape can fix it, the vinyl is tattered and the rain rail is shot. I'm looking for a top already on the frame and if I can't find one, I'm paying a shop to put it on. Nobody in this world can convince me to install one without it already on the frame. Sorry.
- Hard Dog Hard Core M1 Hardtop roll bar. AFAIK this bar sits the furthest back and will give me the most head room while fitting under the hard top. This only works with plastic window soft tops, so it doesn't work on NBs. This is will be the deciding moment. If it makes the Miata much worse to drive on the street for me, then my mind will be set on selling it. If it does not, then I have nothing to worry about and we can proceed with plans.
- Baseline and recovery plan for the motor. It needs a new TPS, so I'm looking for a throttle body with a TPS and ISCV already installed. This should hopefully solve the cold idle problem and the occasional buck when I left off the gas. This issue makes the vehicle unbearable to drive in the winter time because trying to drive slow in 1st gear actually causes me physical pain with how hard it jerks and bucks coming off the throttle. I can also hear the engine pinging again, so it's either related to the TPS not reading right, or the CAS is loose and turning itself to advance the timing. I've already re-timed it once a year ago, but the problem seems to have returned with this scorching weather. After that, I need to do a leak down test. Compression is "okay" but I'd like to know why it's a little low and burning some oil. If it's valve seals, I'll go ahead and do them. If it's rings, I'll just drive her until she pops, or proceed with a plan I'll dive into down below.
- Koni Yellows or another easy button suspension refresh. The #1 complaint with this vehicle I can have is the ride. It's on 23 year old shocks and they do not do it justice. If I plan to keep this car, a new suspension must be installed. I don't want to do anything crazy except maybe some used Koni Yellows or something to keep me in my current auto-x class. I don't need mad stance points or anything, I just want a better ride.
- Repair hard top: A piece of the hard top broke off and needs to be epoxied or put back on with some fiberglass. I'm going to wait to do this until after I can source another fender for the front and I'll get them both color matched to my car. At this point, I'm going to assess some rust on the car and try to clean it up as much as possible. The one fender really bothers me more than I ever though a cosmetic issue on a car would and I believe that is the #1 loss of value on this car.
- Pending how everything goes with money, time, effort, motivation, and my goals for motorsports in this thing, I'm going to look into power mods. I've never been one to freak out over lack of power or anything, but it's getting to be time that I'd like a little more. If a leak down test of the engine provides bad results, I'm seriously considering a small rebuild in the future. You're hard pressed to find a more simple engine to do one on and it'd be really cool to give this car a fresh heart. I'm not sure the logistics or plausibility of this, but it would be cool experience and give me much confidence in this car. This would would lead into the big end game.....
Jackson Supercharger. The kits aren't very expense and aren't very difficult to do at all. With a healthy motor in a clean chassis, this would be a bad little car. A 95 M (LSD, ABS, all power options) with a fresh supercharged motor, roll bar, color matched hard top, and a decent suspension will lead to a VERY unique and fun car. I know this all sounds very far-fetched and I may hit "submit" on this post and realize the stupidity of putting that effort into this car, BUT this is a unique car and I've come to realize I identify with this Miata more than I have with any other car I've ever had. Many people tell me that they immediately think of this car when they think about me, and this comes from non-enthusiasts. I don't know how much of this I'll get done, but I should wound't mind a hand with some of it if anyone has some advice, leads on parts, etc. Who knows, I may change my mind day after tomorrow and sell, or maybe I won't and I'll have a really cool car soon.
Current:
2011 F150 Platinum | 1995 BMW 325i | 1983 BMW 320i | The MMoped | 2008 BMW 128i
Past:
1996 Toyota Tacoma: | 1992 Mazda Miata | 2002 BMW 325i |
2003 Toyota Tacoma | 1995 Miata M Edition | 1997 Subaru Outback |
1992 Mazda Miata | 1990 BMW 325i | 2007 Toyota 4Runner |
1995 Ford Windstar | 1987 BMW 325i | 1987 BMW 325 | 1990 BMW 325i Vert |
2018 VW GTI | 1990 Mazda Miata | 1989 BMW 325i Vert | 2015 Fiesta ST | 1983 BMW 320i parts car
2011 F150 Platinum | 1995 BMW 325i | 1983 BMW 320i | The MMoped | 2008 BMW 128i
Past:
1996 Toyota Tacoma: | 1992 Mazda Miata | 2002 BMW 325i |
2003 Toyota Tacoma | 1995 Miata M Edition | 1997 Subaru Outback |
1992 Mazda Miata | 1990 BMW 325i | 2007 Toyota 4Runner |
1995 Ford Windstar | 1987 BMW 325i | 1987 BMW 325 | 1990 BMW 325i Vert |
2018 VW GTI | 1990 Mazda Miata | 1989 BMW 325i Vert | 2015 Fiesta ST | 1983 BMW 320i parts car