Taylor's 92 Miata

I rode down to Durham today and bought a white 92 with 153k on the clock. Manual everything but it has AC and PS. Top is in great condition. Just a tiny tear on the plastic window less than 2 cm. Interior is an 8/10. All of the fabric and everything look fantastic. Only flaws is that the radio is fitted poorly and you see space around it, the glove box is missing a hinge, and the guy broke the driver side window cable yesterday. It even came with one of those roof covers that snap on when the roof is down!

The guy was nice, but he was firm, so I couldn't talk him down, but I didn't care after driving it. Engine and transmission are strong. I even spun tires backing out of his drive way because I am less than spectacular at driving stick. Driving through Durham in afternoon traffic helped me improve quite a bit, though. I looked it over and it is practically rust free for a 22 year old car. Even the exhaust bolts are sparkling clean. Only thing I noticed was the rivets where the soft top meets the package tray are a little corroded.

Okay, I'll cut to the chase.

Good:
Super fly NB wheels
Brand new clutch and fly wheel
Interior is fantastic
Engine is strong
Headlight motors still work
No rattles or squeaks
Roof is great
Brand new Batter
Paint is <2 years old
A/C blows cold

Bad:
Driver side window doesn't roll down
Got hit by two tiny rocks on the drive back, so now I have 2 little cracks to fix before they spread
Shift boot has a small hole in it
Glove box is missing a hinge
Driver headlight doesn't close all the way
Speakers are about blown
Small hole in the plastic window
Needs brakes (badly)
Needs tires to pass inspection
Airbag Diagnostic Module is bad (92's use a cheap one)
Roof cover smells like gear oil
Radiator probably should be replaced eventually
Missing paint on the hood
Hood release doesn't work properly (Fixed that when I got home)
Wet oil around valve cover gasket and CAS. PO says he took the valve cover off to replace something with the thermostat, so I'll clean to oil off and see if it comes back.

Probably some other stuff. I should have it on the road by mid June when my summer classes let out. I'm just too excited. I love my truck, but I've dreamed of owning a Miata forever. I'll finally be able to do Auto-x, cruises, Track stuff, everything.

I also got a sick sun burn from driving all the way back with the top down

 

most fun 5 grand will buy haha......95

 

Unfortunately, being a student with lots of bills, my budget was tiny. I think I did okay for the money I spent. That's a clean one! I wish I could have gotten a 1.8, but this is a long nose crank, so I'll be okay.

 

Flushed the coolant 7 times and got rid of all of the rusty, gross coolant. Pricing tires now. Also filled the cracks in the windshield.

The foamectomy was a success. I took about 2 inches of foam from the bottom and an inch from the back. I probably could have done more, but I didn't want to ruin the seat. You can't even tell I did it since I took the foam from the underside. The bucket was SUPER rusty, which concerns me. Overall, my knee just barely hits the bottom the steering wheel with my biggest tennis shoes on, so I think I can live with it. Definitely feels tighter around my back since the bolster things hug me more now.



I took this entire bump off and a little more.









The window regulator is as bad as I suspected. The cable snapped and there's really no repairing that without a lot of trouble, so I took everything out and kind of reconfigured it with the unbroken parts so I can pull the cable out through the door to raise the window then tie it somewhere to keep the window up. I can now roll the window about halfway down. I guess that's better than nothing. I have to leave the door panel off to be able to use the window so I need to decide between three options:

-Leave it this way with no door panel and a half working window.
-Put the panel back on and just leave the window up
- or lastly, drop $80 on a new regulator and have everything right



I also got the headlight a little closer to flush. I pulled really hard and it gave a loud "POP" and snapped up a little. It's still not perfect.
Also called the junkyard near my house. One miata but there's almost nothing left of it. No regulator, so I doubt anything else I need is on it. May swing by later.

 

There are adjustment screws to fix the headlight level.

 

I believe the whole frame for the light is bent.

 

Okay. Time for another update. Put some new(er) speakers in and got the airbag light fixed after hours and hours in junkyards looking for early 90s fords with the module I needed. Got my tires mounted. I was just a set of brakes away from an inspection so I got those ordered.

Cleaned it up and it was looking nice.



The brakes didn't fit.

It turns out that I have the upgraded NA8 calipers and brackets, so pads for my year won't fit. Didn't have to buy another set of pads and rotors and I couldn't return the ones I bought, so I just bought some pads for the rear and called it a day. Then, I broke a bleeder screw while bleeding them, so I had to fix that.

Also... I found that when I would take the radiator cap off, I was gushing coolant down the front of the block. Water pump had gone.



So, I tore into that and had to do an entire timing belt job and had to retime it by hand. Fun.
This is the job about halfway torn down. Cam gears, thermostat housing, crank pulley, all of the coverings behind those, then the timing belt, all of the tensioners and guides and stuff, then finally the water pump had to come out.



Got it back together and took it for a drive and the radiator exploded. Great. So for now, it sits in the driveway until I can get some bills out of the way and get the money for a new radiator.

 

Got a coupon today and bought my radiator. I bought one for an automatic trans, which is a big upgrade over the MT radiator. It took a lot of fiddling, but we got most of it hooked up. I had to cut the fan shroud to make it not rub. Took it for a drive and it was fantastic. Great on power (for a Miata), quiet, and smooth.

 

Okay, it's been almost 2 months and almost 2000 miles of driving it. It's been extremely fun. Even with crappy brakes and blown suspension, it still handles like no other car I've ever driven. I have an unreal amount of people try to race me when I'm driving around town, but I don't partake. It's really interesting how many people think that this car 1. Costs a lot of money and 2. Is fast. Neither of which are true. It still has rattles and squeaks and the occasional misfire. It also idles at 1200 RPM all of the time and almost stalls when idling with the A/C on. I think the intake cam may be off a tooth, but it doesn't bother me that much.

Since my last post:

New speakers, made my own rain guards out of cool whip tubs, removed the carpet from the trunk and washed it to get the oil smell out of it, replaced the heater hoses, resealed the tail lights, installed a new LBJ on the driver side, and put in a new window regulator on the driver side.




Took it for a photoshoot on LU mountain.

 

Coming up on 7 months of ownership. It's been great. I did pads and rotors all the way around and some small odds and ends. Regular maintenance and such. The car has been an absolute peach besides needing new calipers all around.

I've definitely been ringing the car out whenever I get a chance and even some autocrosses!

 

Well, Michelle the Miata is no more. I let someone borrow her a few weeks ago and they totaled her. I have since sold the Miata to someone I know and through a deal made with him, have come to own an E46 325i BMW.

 

You'll have another one day. I stumbled into miatas a few years back and have come to appreciate them much. You found out, as I did, they don't take a hit very well.

Once you go through them and fix the usual things, they're bulletproof! Great change of pace to get out of the Tacoma and toss these little guys around, huh?