Re: Miata

[Senor_Taylor]

Yes, I bought a Miata. No, the E30 isn't running. 

4 years ago, I was a freshmen in college with $800 and a dream. I posted here a lot about what could be my "first fun car" and got a lot of good information. I cringe when I read what I said, but that's a part of growing, I suppose. A few pages into one of my threads, I posted this.

http://forum.mmsports.org/showthread.php...#pid240818

Someone I knew from offroading knew a guy that needed to sell a Miata quickly. I emailed him and got two really bad photos, talked prices, then things fell through. I ended up waiting another year before I finally bought my first Miata, a white 92, and the rest is history. Fast forward to present day. I've been scouting an abandoned NB in my apartment complex for a while and I've been trying to get in contact with them. I planned to offer them $500 and see what happens. On Thursday I got an email titled "Miata" with the message:

Hi Taylor
A couple of years ago you were interested in the 93 Miata.  I need to get rid of it.  Any further interest?
Repeat - needs battery & tires & tags & inspected.  Roof is ugly but does not leak.  Runs good.

No pictures or anything. I searched through my saved emails from 2014 and found our email chain. We spoke a little more and I learned he was flying back to Virginia from his home in Hawaii to sell his lake house at Leesville lake. The Miata was in the garage and he needed it gone since it wasn't worth it to ship. I asked for more information since we never actually got that far originally and this is what he told me:

1 Owner since 1993, he paid the dealer cash. Garage kept for all 25 years. Dirty, flat tires, and a dead battery, it also hasn't been driven more than 10 miles in the last ~8 years. I asked a price, and he gave me one with only 3 digits. I immediately took Monday off from work and rented a trailer. I drove down Sunday night at my mom's house and he flew in from Hawaii the same day. I woke up early on Monday and finished my trek down there. I arrived at the end of his 1/2 mile long gravel driveway past a For Sale sign to see him doing some yard work. He turns out to be a retired Department head at UVA and a very nice man. We talked for a long time about his career as an engineer, the houses he had built (He built his own house on a small island in Hawaii), and his interest in cars and how he's never bought a used car.  We made our way to his awesome workshop/garage to look at the car. It was dirty, very dirty. Not as bad as the E30 was, but mice had been in there, the tires on the 14 inch steelies (Never seen that before) were flat and dry rotted, just really gross. I popped the hood and immediately noticed no AC fan so I asked him if it had power steering and he claimed it did, but a quick inspection show it was actually a factory manual rack. A true base model! The paint was all original and only missing a little on the trunk. The one rocker I could see was completely clean, not a speck of rust anywhere. The interior was very nice, but dirty, and every little part was present. A well done head unit from what I presume is the 90s, the factory manual, a Mazda battery with the tie down, the splash guard, 5 Mazda keys, everything. A 100% complete NA6. I threw a battery in there and it started as SOON as a turn the key. A little belt squeal and a lot of smoke from the water pump being initially seized, but after that, it held the most wonderful idle I've seen on an NA. It was clear this car was cared for a loved before being parked for a decade. 

We agreed on a price and talked some more about life. I loaded it up on the trailer and I could see the emotion start to wash over him as we spoke about the memories he had of this car, the lakehouse he was selling, and his wife. He asked me what I planned to do with it, and I told him I'd probably try to use it as a race car and apologized that I would be tearing the car apart, but to my surprise, he perked up and started asking a flurry of questions about what I'd be doing with it, what color I'd paint it, etc. We agreed I'd keep him up to date on it's newfound future. We got my trailer turned around and I pulled away. I looked in the mirror just in time to see him touch the fender and wave goodbye to the car for the last time. 

The tow was pleasant an uneventful once I got out of the backroads leading to the lake. I stopped to get gas for both cars and put air in the tires in lynchburg, then I headed to the DMV to get my antique tags. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me take a copy of the title showing 99 miles at the time of titling, but I snagged a picture. I think that's a really cool part of this car's history. I drove the last 3.5 hours back home and unloaded it. Tyler and Zach gave me a hand and we cleaned up the engine bay a little, inspected the car lightly, vacuumed it out, test fit my race seats (They don't fit), changed the oil, etc. We found the sticker for when the timing belt was last changed. It was only 14,000 miles ago!... in 2004. The car cleaned up very nicely and I can't wait to put in a little more work.

Now, I don't know what to do with it just yet. A smart person would put a set of cheap wheels and tires on it and sell it for a profit of a couple thousand. I'm not a smart person. The other option is to keep this and build the race car I wanted to build 3 years ago before I lost Michelle the Miata. Sell the E30 and A) Save that money or put it towards to the Miata or B) Buy something less punishing to my soul to own. I'm leaning towards option B because I don't want to end up where I was 9 months ago hating having a Miata because it's tiny and has no roof. Considering how cheap this car is, I can definitely swing 3 cars as long as 2 of them don't break every 3 and 2/9 days. I'll sit on it and think for a week or two and then make some moves. 

If anyone is keeping track at home, it has been NA6 -> E46 -> NA8 -> E30 -> NA6 -> (E36???)










Before cleaning:

[Gordonovski]

I vote for the racecar mod.

This is my favorite questionable purchase Taylor has made.


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[JPolen01]

I swear every white NA miata I have ever seen has the same dent in the passenger side fender. What does it smell like after sitting for so long?

[BLINGMW]

i would offer to trade fenders with you but uh, mine's no better 

[ScottyB]

super cool find Taylor. dump the E30 and make this one as reliable as possible, then flog for many years.

[BLINGMW]

super cool find Taylor.  dump the E30 and make this one as reliable as possible, then flog for many years.

Many years lol
I think he should sell both cars and buy a Miata

[Jake]

I looked in the mirror just in time to see him touch the fender and wave goodbye to the car for the last time. 

Goddammit man, too early in the morning for onions.

Looks pretty nice, although I would argue that you absolutely can't afford three cars, given how much you bitch about owning two cars as it is. A racecar build can be slow and be a lot of fun, but get that E30 out of your life if you're going to do it. You can keep the wheels/tires you bought for it and throw them on the Miata. It takes some work to get a "real-sized" seat into these cars and it involves cutting/welding to get the little humps out of the floor. I'm not 100% sure what people do for width of seat - cut and notch the trans tunnel, maybe? 

It seems like your heart is with these Miatae so I'd get the E30 running/sold and keep this one/autocross/HPDE it up. 

You will hate driving it with a rollbar, seats, and harnesses on the street. Just FYI.

[Senor_Taylor]

Thanks guys. I can afford 3 cars, just not when one is an E30. I think I'll feel out the Miata then move into the new place in August and see if I can swing a practical "fun" car to buy around the time the Miata is completely ruined for street use.

If I go back to Miata and 4Runner, I'll be right back where I was 6 months ago complaining about the Miata and wanting a car with a roof.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, however. The Miata could be a turd seeing as it hasn't moved more than 100 feet in 8 years. The interior smells/feels just fine now that we've cleaned it and let it air out in the garage. I need tires and wheels for the Miata before it can be taken above 5mph. Right now I'll focus on getting the E30 old since I only have a 30 day parking pass for whatever isn't in the garage. Hopefully I can find a couple wheels to put on the e30 so I can keep these wheels I have now, because they are perfect.

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[D_Eclipse9916]

Just here for the LOLZ.

[Jake]

Thanks guys. I can afford 3 cars, just not when one is an E30. I think I'll feel out the Miata then move into the new place in August and see if I can swing a practical "fun" car to buy around the time the Miata is completely ruined for street use.

I'm not talking financially. You've complained about spending all your time fixing things and having a never-ending list of stuff to do. Keep the 4R and one fun car, reeeeeally think about how much you want to deal with parking three cars, paying registration/insurance/property tax on three cars, keeping tires/brakes/oil changes on three cars, etc. It's a giant mental burden and living in this area with roommate(s), very difficult to pull off. 

I've never been happier than when the mental burden of an E46 M3 left my apartment complex.

[JPolen01]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, however. The Miata could be a turd seeing as it hasn't moved more than 100 feet in 8 years. 

I was waiting for someone to say this. Did not expect it to be you. You must be growing up!

[SlimKlim]

Real talk:

1.) Nice find.

2.) If you rip the paint off trying to pull that dent out with a suction cup, don't say I didn't warn you.

3.) Stick to 2 cars, the money you get from the E30 will just barely finance HPDE prepping this Miata. I've told you seven thousand times the virtues of not spreading yourself too thin, listen goddammit.

[Senor_Taylor]

Fair point, Joey. That's why I'll sell the e30 and keep the Miata somewhat Streetable for now so I can re-evaluate. If I did look for another car, it would be when the Miata began to suck to street.

This is all assuming the Miata is a keeper. If it comes between 4Runner and Race Car or 4Runner and Street Car, the latter wins. I'd rather be happy every day than 2 weekends every month.

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[GTBrandon]

Just start an unhealthy motorcycle addiction

[rherold9]

I'd rather be happy every day than 2 weekends every month.

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You can do both as well eventually. Your choice of if you want 2 weekends a month now or street fun car every day.

BUT, the thing is you complained so much when driving the previous Miata on the daily so, is it a great idea to have one for a fun street car?

If this isn't a dud engine I'd say primary track car that you can drive on the street when you want and just pick up an actual street fun car in the future and deal with the 4stunner for a few years.

[Senor_Taylor]

I see now why cars stress me out. It's all of y'all. Let me own the car for at least 48 hours before we started having a debate.

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[rherold9]

I see now why cars stress me out. It's all of y'all. Let me own the car for at least 48 hours before we started having a debate.

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No.

[JPolen01]

I see now why cars stress me out. It's all of y'all. Let me own the car for at least 48 hours before we started having a debate.

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Hey you came here for a reason. You knew what you were getting into with a thread.

[Jake]

I give up. Do what you want, have fun, and triple-check the orientation of the fuel lines.

[Sully]

I didn't really follow this the first time but why daily the Miata if you don't like dailying Miatas? Just daily the 4runner. Most "fun" cars probably aren't going to be as nice to daily as an automatic 4runner. So have a fun convertible to daily when it's nice out and the 4runner to get you to work and get groceries in and what not. And you can slowly turning it into a track car if you want. You'd still have the 4runner to tow it down to the track for the weekend and you could still kind of use it for your fun weekend car although you may not be as comfortable once you start track prepping it, you probably won't be in it for long enough non-fun drives where you would care anyways.

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