So I finally caved...

[Kompresshun]

Yes, I finally caved and bought a Miata. After Jesda's Miata thread and some more thorough research I decided that I could make one work for me. Oddly enough, just as I realized one would work my wife tells me that a friend of hers has one up for sale. We were going over to hang out with them last night anyways, so I looked at the Miata while I was there. I drove it for an hour or so and fell in love with it.

It's a 90 Miata with 156k miles on it. Mechanically it's nearly perfect, but cosmetically it needs some help at some point. Nothing keeping me from driving it though thankfully. I drove it all the way home last night in 55 degree weather with the top down and a grin on my face the whole time.

It already has coil overs on it, cat-back exhaust, Konig wheels, and sticky tires. No immediate plans for it aside from basic maintenance. It will need a top eventually and paint, but i'm not concerned about either of those at the moment.

[flohtingPoint]

Looking at the tread pattern, I can assure you those tires are far from sticky =)

Oddly enough, never owned one. Drove every variety, never had one in the driveway though. Perhaps shortly though as my ranch is about to expand. Good buy!

[frapjap]

CONGRATS DUDE! You'll never regret that purchase. Thats a pretty BA looking roll bar, too.
A note to consider though-
If you do the timing belt yourself, (or even if you have someone do it!) read up on the short nosed crank problem. Its avoidable, but do keep it in mind.

http://www.miata.net/garage/crankshaft.html

Also, miata.net is your friend. Loads of info there to help you with damn near anything. Their search works, too.

[Bubba1]

Congrats on your new zoom zoom. Time to pencil in NICOfest Carlisle

[sx moneypit]

Congrats on your new ride Chris!

[elwesso]

Miata's are so much fun. I would have NEVER imagined it was such a great car until I drove one...

[Heavy]

congrats! miatas are sooooo much fun, i got to drive frapjap's at carlisle with a blown suspension. best 1min 06sec of my life

[alphapig]

Looks good!

91 Miata owner here - NA 1.6 Miata is glorious master race.

I like your Hard Dog Deuce roll bar and Momo(?) seats. Are you planning to get a harness?

[skydragoness]

Congratulations!

Eh, just get a hardtop for the winter/foul weather and you're golden.

[Kompresshun]

Thanks guys!

I can't get enough of driving it already. I went and drove it around last night for over an hour after work and washed it up really good.

Looking at the tread pattern, I can assure you those tires are far from sticky =)

I'm not tire educated, so I probably should've just said summer tires instead

I like your Hard Dog Deuce roll bar and Momo(?) seats. Are you planning to get a harness?

Those are Momo seats. I probably wouldn't have picked them myself, but i'm cheap anyways so that's the main reason.

It already has 5 point harnesses installed in it too. I hate them though, because it takes 8 hours to get buckled in before you go anywhere

Eh, just get a hardtop for the winter/foul weather and you're golden.

Personally i'd rather do that, but a soft top replacement is A LOT cheaper. I'm dying to get my hands on one of the fastback tops though.

[WDRacing]

That's sweet dude! The Miata is the funnest car I've owned to date. The Miata corners like it's on rails with almost any decent summer tires, so you should be good2go.

I look fwd to seeing it at Carlisle!

[gwoods]

Looking at the tread pattern, I can assure you those tires are far from sticky =)

I'm not tire educated, so I probably should've just said summer tires instead
.

Summer Tires are Tucky sticky

I have always been lucky to have my quick car on UHP Summer tires year round her in Phoenix where our winters are 80.

[Bubba1]

Summer Tires are Tucky sticky

I have always been lucky to have my quick car on UHP Summer tires year round her in Phoenix where our winters are 80.

Gwoods brings up a good point. If your Miata is on summer tires, they are probably recommended only for use when the outide temp is above 40 degrees. You might want double check exactly what you have. If you want to play with the car during the winters, you may need to buy a set all seasons or snows. but the nice thing about Miati is that prices for their tires/wheels are reasonable.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Boost it!

[Razi]

That is awesome! I'm really leaning towards buying one as a 2nd car in the future.

[flohtingPoint]

Summer Tires are Tucky sticky

I have always been lucky to have my quick car on UHP Summer tires year round her in Phoenix where our winters are 80.

Gwoods brings up a good point. If your Miata is on summer tires, they are probably recommended only for use when the outide temp is above 40 degrees. You might want double check exactly what you have. If you want to play with the car during the winters, you may need to buy a set all seasons or snows. but the nice thing about Miati is that prices for their tires/wheels are reasonable.

Looking at the tread pattern, they look all-seasony. If they're on the cusp of "summer tires" though, Joel is spot on, you'd be wise to get something of the all-season to winter variety. Summer tires turn to bricks in the cold, useless bricks.

[skydragoness]

Personally i'd rather do that, but a soft top replacement is A LOT cheaper. I'm dying to get my hands on one of the fastback tops though.

It is cheaper...aggravating...but cheaper.
I was very lucky finding a hardtop; a friend-of-a-friend knew someone selling a NB hardtop for cheap ($400). They transform the car but I see you have roll bars (Boss Frog?) so that already helps the chassis flex.

The fastback tops from Warhorse are amazing! I wish Mazda made them like that from the factory. :/

[Kompresshun]

Looking at the tread pattern, they look all-seasony. If they're on the cusp of "summer tires" though, Joel is spot on, you'd be wise to get something of the all-season to winter variety. Summer tires turn to bricks in the cold, useless bricks.

You are correct. They are Nitto Neo Gen's.

The previous owner told me they were summer tires, but they're a high performance all-season tire. We don't see THAT much cold weather here, so i'll probably just get by with one set of tires for the time being. It's an extra car anyways, so if the conditions are too cold for it i'll just drive my Five Hundred.

It is cheaper...aggravating...but cheaper.
I was very lucky finding a hardtop; a friend-of-a-friend knew someone selling a NB hardtop for cheap ($400). They transform the car but I see you have roll bars (Boss Frog?) so that already helps the chassis flex.

The fastback tops from Warhorse are amazing! I wish Mazda made them like that from the factory. :/

If I found a hardtop that cheap i'd definitely jump on it too. I'm not sure what brand roll bars it has, but they're stout. They are one single piece and are mounted in like 10 different places.

I'm actually considering trying to do a quick and cheap fix on my plastic back window for now, so I can hold out until tax season and buy a better top. The rest of the top seems to be decent enough to make it through the winter. No rips or tears that I can find at least.

If I had the money lying around, a fastback top would've been my first purchase. So sexy:

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'll never understand people that put hardtops on Miatai.

MAYBE if you're a girl and are fickle about your hair... but being a vert is half the allure of owning the miata. Its not like its hard to put down or anything.

[Kompresshun]

Oh I prefer it in convertible form too, but I'd just love to have the hardtop around for it. Last time I had something like this I had a stockpile of stuff for it just so I could change it up every now and again.

[krash]

Oh I prefer it in convertible form too, but I'd just love to have the hardtop around for it. Last time I had something like this I had a stockpile of stuff for it just so I could change it up every now and again.

That and S2000s. I'll never understand why people do the hardtops on those. (except for the people that own them as dedicated crazy time attack cars or something)

[AZhitman]

Learned REAL fast (with the Roadster) that a hardtop is a PITA. It's a space-sucker when it's off, and invariably, it'll fall over, get banged into, collect dust, or be in the way of something you need.

You could probably sell that 5-point nonsense, pick up a set of OEM belts at a junkyard, and have some cash left over to put towards the top... or the FM butterfly brace... Mmmmm... LOVE mine.

[gwoods]

So which turbo are you looking at?

If your looking for something in the way of a challenge I've heard terrible things about BEGi? Papa Smurf LOVES them with a capital F

[Jesda]

Never understood the idea of putting a metal roof on a roadster unless you're using it as a dedicated track toy.

The tiny cabin retains heat/AC exceptionally well. All you have to do is brush off the snow once in a while. If the top is leaking it's cheaper to fix or replace than to buy a metal lid.

It's never going to achieve Q45 levels of silence no matter what you do; just turn up the music!

[AZhitman]

just turn up the music!

Unless you have the Bose Miata system (which I do). It's horrid. Seriously, the worst stock audio system in any modern car I have ever owned.

[Jesda]

just turn up the music!

Unless you have the Bose Miata system (which I do). It's horrid. Seriously, the worst stock audio system in any modern car I have ever owned.

NA's base tape deck kicks.

Why? I have no idea.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

My bose unit actually isn't bad. I get some rattles from the bass, but I rarely turn mine up over 50%. The head unit easily has enough balls to over-power the factory speakers.
Its probably a different model than the one in Greg's car though.

The only time I have an issue with it is when there's a song with 30 seconds of soft opening and you can't hear any of it over the wind noise... but you'd have that no matter what. Speed sensitive volume control would be nice too. Hell, even the G37 vert I currently have doesn't have that (WHY!?!?!). If there was ever a vehicle that needs speed sensitive auto-volume, its a convertible.

[Jesda]

Headrest speakers would be nice. I know M-edition NAs had them. Sounds like it might be a fun project!

In my Saab I taped the head unit remote to the top of the steering wheel hub so I can adjust the volume without reaching over for the knob every time I get off the highway. Music sounds great in that car because the speakers are mounted on top of the dash, facing the wraparound windshield which reflects it directly to your ears. Wind doesn't get as much of a chance to distort the sound waves.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I have some M-edition seats coming my way to replace my torn ones. I'll miss my perforated leather, but if I can figure out a way to get the headrest speakers to work, I'd be ballin on a budget.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

So which turbo are you looking at?

If your looking for something in the way of a challenge I've heard terrible things about BEGi? Papa Smurf LOVES them with a capital F

Anything with the Bell name associated with it is bound to arrive late, not complete, and not fit. Then they'll argue with you about it.

Its pretty sad when Chinese crap from Ebay is head and shoulders above your "premium" products.

Fortunately for as bad as BEGI is, Flyin Miata is the flip side of that coin and is absolutely great.