Finally got one

[Master357]

Hi my name is Wes. i just got my miata yesterday. i've been looking for the past few months waiting for the right deal to present itself. it is a 1994 laguna blue with tan top. it is a good starting point for my plans for it. i do have a few questions that i havn't answered with miata.net's resources.

first how can i tell what "package" the car has. i have leather and cruise and power windows and antenna so do i have a c package? so does that mean i have a torsen lsd as well? it also has the r package rear trunklid spoiler but no airdam spoilers

second, the car came with 225\45-17s on all four corners. the tires rub the front fenders quite easily. is it possible to just roll the fender lip to solve this problem or will 215 or 205 tires be the only solution? eventually i'll get a lighter set of 16s but i don't have the money at this point.

third, the windows are slow to move up and down, which i gather is quite normal, what is the most likely reason? Miata.net has like 5 different fixes for it, where should i start?

fourth, what the hell is "bipes"? i've seen this word used many times and havn't pick up from context clues as to what exactly it is. it's obvious it is related to turbocharged miatas but i don't know how.

and last, who has the best price on the low profile pop-up headlights? this will eventually be one of my few purely cosmetic mods.

i was going to post up a pic of the car but this forum must not allow uploading. thank you for reading my post and double thank you to anyone who can help me with my newbie questions

wes

[Treibenschnell]

Hello and welcome aboard!

If I didn't have steaks and chicken cooking on the grill... I'd still be of no use to ya!

Just kidding... one our gurus will come along with your answers!

Anyhow, welcome!

[Master357]

i love cooking on the grill. cooking outside, no matter the method, just seems more barbaric. it's great

thanks anyway man

[Carmen1990]

fourth, what the hell is "bipes"? i've seen this word used many times and havn't pick up from context clues as to what exactly it is. it's obvious it is related to turbocharged miatas but i don't know how.

wes

Bipes is a timing control device used mainly on FI cars (Turbo, Supercharged, and Nitrous)

It uses a few different facors to determine how much timing to pull, based on how you set it up..

Here:
http://frontiernet.net/~bipesauto/BipesACU/

There is a chart at the bottom of the page comparing it to similar devices..

Oh, and welcome to the forum, where are you located?

[Radio-Active]

second, the car came with 225\45-17s on all four corners. the tires rub the front fenders quite easily. is it possible to just roll the fender lip to solve this problem or will 215 or 205 tires be the only solution? eventually i'll get a lighter set of 16s but i don't have the money at this point.

third, the windows are slow to move up and down, which i gather is quite normal, what is the most likely reason? Miata.net has like 5 different fixes for it, where should i start?

Hi Wes and welcome aboard.

My New MX-5 Miata came stock with 205/40-17's on it. I suspect that this would give enough clearance to keep from rubbing the fenders without having to buy new rims. Also if you check the classified section here, there may be someone selling a smaller set of rims and tires for the car if you want to go that route. You might want to check out the Tire Rack for their sugestions on your model to verify the different tire sizes that will work.

For the Windows, I shot some of the Motorcycle Chain lube(i.e. spray grease) down the guide rails for the windows and it made a night and day difference on my Mom's 1990 miata. You just have to pop off the door panels to get to them.

Good luck,
David

[POS Racing]

i was going to post up a pic of the car but this forum must not allow uploading. thank you for reading my post and double thank you to anyone who can help me with my newbie questions

wes

If you have them somewhere on the WWW you should be able to just add image tags[img] picture link.gif [/img] to the location! If not you might want to find somewhere like Car-domain or become a member of MME by clicking on Support MME!

Radio-Active is on the money on the windows did the same thing to my '92 and it speed them up nicely! Remember a Little goes a long way, or you'll be cleaning the glass more often then you want!

On the 17" what is the offset on the rims? They may have a nasty offset that may not fit well with your Miata.

Congrats on the new car! Let us know how we can help!

[channelmaniac]

215 is really the biggest you'd want... 225s are really too big. If you can find a slightly smaller tire, you'd avoid the fender issues, well... like POS said, providing you have the correct offset on the rims.

As for the windows, if the lube doesn't work, you may have to take everything apart and clean the old hardened grease out of the tracks & off the rollers mounted on the windows. I may have an extra roller if you have a cracked one. I had both problems on my Spec racer - stiff old grease and a cracked roller.

If you take the VIN and call Mazda (I don't have the 800 # offhand) they will tell you what the car came with from the factory. Now if someone added a torsen differential to the car, the factory won't know, but it will give you a baseline of what the car came with.

Also, one of the guys here was listing some low profile headlights in the Classifieds section on the board.

You should go to cardomain and set up a web page for your car. It's easy to do and it's free. I have car pages for both my 2003 and my Spec racer.

One last thing, where in the metroplex are you located?

RJ

[Master357]

wow thanks for all the info guys.

that bipes thing is an awesome little device. reminds me of something you would find in a 1st gen dsm, i've had a few awd versions of those as well, but defintily something good for a tuning base to a turbo kit.

i'm hopefully going to solve the tire problem tomorrow. do you think i can get away with just changing the front to 215\40 and leaving the back the same or should i not have it staggered?

another question, is the brace behind the seats that connects what should be the b pilllars strong enough to one day mount 4 point seat belts to? that is if i decide to buy belts before i buy a roll bar to mount them too.

i'm live in grapevine. right off hwy 121 just south of hwy 114. right next to dfw honda motorcycle.

thanks for all your help

[channelmaniac]

As long as the offset is OK, the tire should work... I'm running 215/35r/18 on my NB (2003) and it doesn't rub. but maybe one of the NA guys can chime in on that...

Personally, I would NOT put belts on that brace... It's pretty flimsy under all that thick plastic. Save your $$$ for a Hard Dog roll bar and get the harness tabs on it. You'll be much much safer with that setup. I wouldn't even do it with a Frenzy style bar that has the 1/4" thick chassis brace built in. The only thing that would be holding you in would be the bolts that hold it to the seat belt tower... at least the roll bar has other chassis mounting points to make the setup much stronger.

RJ

[Master357]

that's good advice. thanks. i'll wait till i buy a hard dog then

[driftdevil]

Hey your right down the road from me! I'm in Lewisville. Anyway welcome these guys are a great bunch. As for the tires as long as your offset is ok you can run 215-40-17s without any problems. As for doing just the fronts you may find the front end wanting to plow with the staggered tires, unless you have some decent power. Save your money and get a roll bar it will be safer for you if you get in a wreck. As for the low pro headlights if you want the pop up kind go to gomiata.com, if your wanting non pop ups the ones on the board are gone but a guy on miata.net is working on a nice set. He's just trying to get the kit to fit right and then he'll be releasing a couple of kits with different options. Enjoy the new ride and hope to see ya at some of the events when I can come out to play! Welcome to the addiction.

[altiain]

Welcome to the forum!

i'm hopefully going to solve the tire problem tomorrow. do you think i can get away with just changing the front to 215\40 and leaving the back the same or should i not have it staggered?

Staggered tire sizes aren't necessary on a Miata, and they will usually negatively affect the handling by causing excessive understeer (there are exceptions to this rule, but they're typically heavily boosted, ~300whp autocross Miatas). 225/45/17 is probably a little larger and taller than you'd want on a Miata anyway, but we'd need to know the offset of your wheels to tell you if a smaller tire would fit without rolling the fenders. You should be able to find this info either stamped into the metal or written on a sticker on the inside of the wheel, if they're aftermarket.

another question, is the brace behind the seats that connects what should be the b pilllars strong enough to one day mount 4 point seat belts to? that is if i decide to buy belts before i buy a roll bar to mount them too.

No, it's not strong enough. More importantly, you do not want to use shoulder belts in a convertible without real rollover protection, unless you've got really strong neck muscles. Think about it.

I'd highly recommend the Hard Dog line of roll bars - both the Sport and Hard Core models are very good products.

[Sharpie]

Sounds like you got a sweet car. Those are rare, not many were made with Laguna and tan. The car should have a torsen, but it's not a guarantee. I should be considered a C-package. You can call mazda with the vin number and they should be able to see if has the torsen.

Welcome aboard Congrats!

[Master357]

so a 215\45-17 works. it seems that the car is a little lower on the passenger side, so i had to roll the fender lip in a little with a large pair of pliers and a very soft towel.

is the soft top repairable? mine has a 6 inch vertical cut between the driver window and rear window. it's not that big of a deal because i have a hard top also but one day i'm sure it will be annoying.

[riverracer]

Pictures...Can we see some pictures?

[Billy Blaze]

Welcome aboard, congrats on the car, your gonna love it more every day.

[Master357]

man i'd love to upload some pics but cardomain.com is being a punk. everytime i try to upload one it says "internal server error"

[riverracer]

1stdayxs.jpg

mitatquarternightsm.jpg
Here are his pics
Wes the other two are too big for here....and my Cardomain didn't like your pictures either...I'll get the other 2 up as soon a s I get them resized. Nice car....
Jerry

[Master357]

the first one is when the car still had 225/45s on it, and the second it has 215/45s on it. i'll eventually get 16s on the car and sell those 17s

[riverracer]

wes 1.jpg

wes 2.jpg
Wes here's the other two pics....