Hello from another new guy

[jelliott25]

Hey all, I just came across this site whilst searching for info on the miata.net forums. I had no idea this forum existed but what a pleasant surprise.

My name is Elliott, I drive a white 92 a-package that I bought new in August of 1992. It has 115K miles on it now and doesn't look so great but still runs like a champ. My top has been in need of replacement for years now but I've just never wanted it bad enough to spend the bucks on a new top. The shocks are worn out, the clutch is original and the throw out bearing is squealing like....well, like I don't know what. It's time for a timing belt/water pump. Tires are shot (really shot) and the paint has started flaking off of the left front fender. It failed state inspection last year and I drove it for a year with no inspection until I finally broke down and put a new catalyst on it and got it legal again.

Anyway, I've been a Miata fan since day one. In fact, when I was growing up and all of my friends were lusting over Mustangs and Camaros, I was fantasizing about Triumph, MG, Alfa and Fiat. My father didn't share my enthusiasm for unreliable British and Italian road cars however. Actually, he did share the "enthusiasm" just not enough to foot the inevitable repair bills that would surely result from there being one in his driveway.

Years later, the Miata was like an answer to a prayer. A reliable "British" sports car. It took me until 1992 to get positioned to own one but as soon as I was so positioned, I did. I've had nothing but love for the car since the day it came home from the dealer. Maybe I'm simple but I still get the same giddy teenage thrill everytime I start it up and drive to work in it.

A few years ago I finally realized another teenaged dream. I bought a motorcycle. With a new toy in my garage, the Miata has gotten short shrift from me. I ride more than I drive now and most of my discretionary transportation income has gone to the bike for various things. As a result, needs have been piling up on the little japanese Spitfire. I've long been considering just getting rid of it and getting something new. Thoughts of a new Mini or an S2000 or even a used Vette have been kicking around in my head for the last year or so.

Last week, things came to a head when I decided I needed to go tape up (once again) the holes in the backglass (well...backplastic) to keep out the water from an impending storm. The top is in really bad shape. The backlight is opaque and any semblance of pliability has long since been forgotten. Through a series of bone headed maneuvers during my hole taping exercise, I managed to push through the brittle back window and left myself with more hole than backlight. A hole sufficiently signifcant as to render any further thoughts of a quick tape job...well....silly.

After some soul searching and some honest questions about whether the Miata met my requirements for a vehicle, regardless of it's cosmetic and maitenance requirements, I came to the conclusion that, even after 12+ years of ownership, the Miata is still, exactly what I want in an automobile. I'd love to have that Mini and I may still own a vette someday but, I've decided finally, that I would rather take four or five of those sixty payments I'd be making on a Mini and put the Miata right.

Okay, so I left out the part where I came upstairs and told my girlfriend what had happened and received a highly motivational speech about my needing to either spend some money to fix up the Miata or get a new car since the thing has been an embarrassment for over a year and now is just plain pathetic.

That's beside the point though really. Really it is, I swear. Because while she was talking and I was tuning her out, my mind was rolling over the things about the Miata that make it a great car. The small size, convertible form factor, the perfect balance of power and handling. Not to mention the fact that I can get a whole set of tires mounted and balanced for the same price that my brother pays for EACH TIRE on his Corvette. Those are some economics folks! Plus the fact that there is nothing I couldn't do myself on the Miata if sufficiently motivated, and with the proper tools and space. I don't think I could say that for much of anything (anything fun anyway) on todays new car market. What more could I get from something else? Maybe a little more of one thing or another, but not enough. Not enough to justify five years of payments.

Really, it all boils down that giddy teenager feeling that I get everytime I get in it. I remember, the first couple of weeks after I bought it so many years ago now. I would get in it and think, "God I love this car" but in the back of my mind I knew that someday, the interior would be ragged, the body would be dinged and faded and that the new would wear off and the fun would be gone.

I was right about the first part. I'm still waiting for that last bit to happen.

Anyway. Geez, I hadn't intended to go off like that, I really just wanted to say hi.

HI!

-Elliott-

PS. My new Robbins top should be here on Monday, along with a cam cover gasket, plugs and wires and a new fuel filter. I hope to have new tires on by tuesday and I've been scouring the Garage on miata.net looking for tips on all sorts of upgrades and repairs to various things that are in need of attention.

[channelmaniac]

Hi Elliott!

There are many of us out here that have done our own repairs... I've paid to have 1 top done and I've done another myself. I've also done the timing belt, crank/cam seals, CAS o-ring (which you should do too!!!), water pump, etc...

The only thing you listed that I haven't done is the clutch, but there are others out here that can do that.

Do you have a garage and some tools? If so then maybe we just need to have a repair party.

BTW: I have a rivet gun for doing the top... Did you order a new rain rail to go with the top? You'll probably need to replace it too as they get brittle after all those years and will end up leaking.

Raymond

[jelliott25]

Hi Elliott!

There are many of us out here that have done our own repairs... I've paid to have 1 top done and I've done another myself. I've also done the timing belt, crank/cam seals, CAS o-ring (which you should do too!!!), water pump, etc...

The only thing you listed that I haven't done is the clutch, but there are others out here that can do that.

Do you have a garage and some tools? If so then maybe we just need to have a repair party.

BTW: I have a rivet gun for doing the top... Did you order a new rain rail to go with the top? You'll probably need to replace it too as they get brittle after all those years and will end up leaking.

Raymond

Hey Raymond! Thanks for the welcome.

Yup, I ordered the rain rail and I had a rivet gun. I didn't mention that I worked as a auto tech at a Lincoln/Mercury (Bankston) dealer for 8 years or so. I still have all of my tools. I was working there during the days of the dreaded Austrailian born Capri...or..as we called it...the Cra-pee. I've not done a Miata top but there was recall on the Capris wherein we basically replaced every convertible top on every car. I was the fastest on my team at doing them so I got to do a lot of them. Looking at all of the how to's on the web, it looks pretty doable so I'm just going to give it a go.
I did quite a bit of engine line work on them as well and that engine was quite a lot like the Miata mill even though it was a front driver.

Unfortunately, I live in an apartment and although I do have a garage, they frown on any kind of car maintenance. I do my oil changes and stuff but doing a clutch might be pushing my luck. Anyway, after being a technician for a while, I really lost my appetite for working on cars for a long time. I'll probably just pay someone to do the clutch but anything that doesn't require a rack or large amounts of fluid spillage, I'll probably try and tackle. Unless I get lazy.

Anyway, thank you so much for the offer of the rivet gun. If I didn't already have one I take you up on it for sure.

Good to hear from you!

[sammm]

Welcome jelliott25! Glad you found us and made it aboard!

[black roadster]

Yup.

Repair party sound like fun!

At $115k you're looking at a new timing belt, waterpump, crank and cam seals, etc...

You also might consider a tranny/diff oil change.

All these are easy to do if you are motivated do-it-yourselfer.

What tyres are you going with? Proper stickies will make a huge difference.

The KYB AGX shocks are a good replacement and available inexpensively on eBay.

[Treibenschnell]

Welcome aboard!!

[altiain]

Welcome (back) to the madness, jelliot25!

I'd second the suggestion of a set of KYB shocks after thirteen years and 115k miles. Between a new set of tires and a new set of shocks, you will probably be quite literally amazed by the difference in the car. A brand new set can be found through half a dozen vendors on ebay for less than $300 shipped (a search in the "Miata Tech & Chat" section of this forum should turn up a few threads on them).

Replace all the fluids. Clutch, brakes, tranny, diff, coolant, power steering, transmission turret oil, etc.

I've been involved in two clutch jobs on my '99 (it gets autocrossed a lot, what can I say?), and I didn't enjoy either of them. Had I known at the time, I would have gladly paid Stevan Boyd of Miata Solutions the reasonable sum he charges for a clutch replacement. He has worked on a number of the cars on this forum, and he has an excellent reputation for quality work.

[Dave04]

At $115k you're looking at a new timing belt, waterpump, crank and cam seals, etc...

Where exactly are you buying your parts from?

Also... welcome to the group...

[jelliott25]

Yup.

Repair party sound like fun!

At $115k you're looking at a new timing belt, waterpump, crank and cam seals, etc...

You also might consider a tranny/diff oil change.

All these are easy to do if you are motivated do-it-yourselfer.

What tyres are you going with? Proper stickies will make a huge difference.

The KYB AGX shocks are a good replacement and available inexpensively on eBay.

Thanks for the heads up on the KYB's. I'll definitely check those out. The shocks were replaced at 60K miles with some standard (meaning non-adjustable) tokikos and they've held up pretty good but it's time for something new for sure.

Definitely need to do the tranny/diff fluid too. I don't think I've ever had that done.

For tires I'm looking at Bridgestone re950's in the stock size. I don't plan to do any autocrosses or anything. I just want something sticks decent and has a reasonable wear rating. I see a lot of talk about Kumho tires as well but I have no experience with them. I've always put Dunlop D60 A2's on the car but I read quite a bit about premature tread wear in the newer Dunlops.

I'm not married to the RE950's though so if anyone has recommendations for something better/cheaper, I'm all ears.

Dave,

I bought my top and some other odds and ends from Moss.

I have some questions about a couple of tech related things but I'll post over in the Tech section since this getting beyond introduction status.

[channelmaniac]

Don't worry too much about the garage stuff... There are plenty of us with garages and experience.

At my house the garage is full of crap so it would have to be done in the driveway, but the plus side is that the 24 hour AutoZone is about 6 blocks from my house and Napa is less than 2 miles away.

RJ

[OzCop]

Welcome to the group. You will find these guys willing to give advice as well as physical help... Of course, some of them need some mental help, but they are all good guys. Just don't let any of them near your girl friend. :)
As for the car, just sell that buggy to me to build a STS 2 car for a 1,000 bucks and run down to your nearest MazdaSpeed dealer and get a new Mazda Speed Miata for under 20K... Yeah, that's the ticket...

[jelliott25]

Welcome to the group. You will find these guys willing to give advice as well as physical help... Of course, some of them need some mental help, but they are all good guys. Just don't let any of them near your girl friend. :)
As for the car, just sell that buggy to me to build a STS 2 car for a 1,000 bucks and run down to your nearest MazdaSpeed dealer and get a new Mazda Speed Miata for under 20K... Yeah, that's the ticket...

The bargain Mazdaspeed is definitely a temptation but I'm hoping to get out of this apartment and into my first house when my lease is up in September so getting into car loan is out of the question at the moment. I'm just hoping my girlfriends 120K mile Plymouth Voyager holds up until then!

[Billy Blaze]

Im glad you still love the car, I just got my first in Jan but have always wanted one.
I am going through the feelings you expressed in your opening introduction.
The car will always be with me, I will never sell it, its too fun to drive and kewl to tinker with.
Welcome, and good luck with the repairs.
Billy
p.s.
should you need a place to work on it give me a hollar I have a covered parking area that will fit about 5 or 6 miatas

[channelmaniac]

It sounds like another fluid swap GTG may be needed... Then Jelly Ott can get his brake, clutch, tranny, and diff fluids swapped out.

Nothin' like getting together with other enthusiasts to do things

Elliott, bear with me while I ask you these things as I know you were a wrench turner... These are standard questions

Have you checked for oil leaks down the front of the engine? While in there to do the timing belt and water pump you should also replace the crank and cam seals. Also you should order a new main crank bolt, woodruff key, valve cover gasket, and CAS o-ring.

I don't know if you've done those on the Capri or not. They will be very similar on the Miata except you can do this without having to drop an engine or in cramped quarters next to a shock tower. RWD is a nice thing!

RJ

[Ataim]

Welcome to the madness.

Either A you type much faster than I do or B you have more time than I do

Heck of an intro.