Finally upgraded the brakes (and saved my car)

Well, on Friday I finally got around to upgrading to the big brakes on my car. Now, if you're looking at my profile you may be thinking, "He has an '01 LS. They came with the 'Sport Brakes', so isn't he going down in size?" Well that would have been the case if Tom at Miata Technologies hadn't taken the sport brakes off and swapped them with the smallest brakes ever put on a Miata (the 1.6 version) :punchout:. But that's a rant for another time...

I got the brake set, as well as stainless lines and HPS pads from Gary.
Rogue did an awesome job on the install and I can finally stop like I mean it!!

...and not a moment too soon!
Saturday night my wife and I were driving home up Garland Rd. by the Arboretum. Doing 40~50 mph when some ::Censor:: pulls out right in front of me from Lakeland Dr. It's a blind corner and there are at least 3 "No Turn on RED" signs because it is a blind corner. Anyway, butthead pulls out right in front of me and I hit the brakes and look for an escape (which I don't have). I'm still used to the old brakes and my brain did the math and I knew we were going to hit this guy. But the new brakes have so much more grab (and better feel with the SS lines), I was able to really brake hard without locking up (chirping the tires, but totally under control). I dropped enough speed to just miss the guy! No way the old brakes would have slowed us down enough. I couldn't believe we didn't hit him, and neither could my wife!

The only really positive thing about this was that it ended any quibbling we were doing about spending money on the car for upgrades ;) Melanie turned to me and commented how amazed she was at how well the new brakes worked (she's driven the car a lot and also expected us to hit the jerk). She also said she was glad I got the brakes done. Which is huge since we are in the process of moving and she really wasn't thrilled that I was spending money on the car at the moment.

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Originally Posted by Monkey of Death

They came with the 'Sport Brakes', so isn't he going down in size?" Well that would have been the case if Tom at Miata Technologies hadn't taken the sport brakes off and swapped them with the smallest brakes ever put on a Miata (the 1.6 version)

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Rogue was telling me this story yesterday. What a freakin' thief! Buyer beware when dealing with Miata Technologies and Tom McGrath!!!

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Originally Posted by Monkey of Death

...She also said she was glad I got the brakes done. Which is huge since we are in the process of moving and she really wasn't thrilled that I was spending money on the car at the moment.

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Glad I could help you by pulling out in front of you and proving that your purchase was a good one. I'll expect my check from you any day now, right?

;)

I'm glad to hear (read) that your brake "re-conversion" happened in time to really help you out! What Miata Technologies did to the car you purchased sounds almost illegal. At a minimum it seems like he should have told you about the swap. I know "buyer beware" and all, but... wow!

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Originally Posted by sammm

Rogue was telling me this story yesterday. What a freakin' thief! Buyer beware when dealing with Miata Technologies and Tom McGrath!!!

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Yep. I heard that story from Gary a while ago. I didn't realize MoD was the unlucky recipient of one of the worst things I've ever heard of in the Miata community.

Leaving wrenches in cars and just being an idiot when installing superchargers is one thing but yanking all the goodies off a car and throwing on sh-t parts from older cars, then selling it as a stock 2001 LS is F'in B.S. I would have sued him. That is not only dishonest but potentially unsafe as MoD mentioned.

I've heard some stories about this guy, but that takes the cake! I'd like to know how that happened without that guy getting his ass kicked and/or sued...

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Originally Posted by Kestrel

At a minimum it seems like he should have told you about the swap. I know "buyer beware" and all, but... wow!

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He wasn't telling me because he was pulling a fast one (or trying to). Some of his lies started conflicting, so I had Gary have a look at the car. We discovered the brakes were swapped, the under car bracing was missing and the Torsen was missing ::Blink::. That's where he really f***ed up. When I was talking to him about buying it, I specifically mentioned that I wanted an LS because I wanted one with a limited slip. "Oh, this has the Torsen... blah, blah blah." So when it didn't, I had him in a real lie. Miraculously, he happened to have a Torsen in the shop for another customer that he could put in my car, no charge :rolleyes:. I also got the bracing back and a few other "missing items". Basically, everything but the brakes. I got a good enough price on the car that it more than offset having to swap the brakes back. I thought about legal action, but that's a pain, as well as expensive and time consuming.

On a side note, he told me before I bought it that the tranny had been notchy and he had replaced it for the previous owner. What he failed to mention was that it had been a 6 speed and he replaced it with a 5. I suspect he did that just before I looked at the car, but since I knew it was a 5 speed when I looked at it and he technically told me he had swapped that part, I didn't have much ground to stand on there. But still pretty slimy, IMO. As I've said in previous posts, "I'd rather have an epileptic, blind monkey hopped up on crack wielding a tire iron work on my Miata than ever let Miata Technologies touch it again."

So consider yourselves warned! ;)

I found it interesting that the parts guy at Hancock Mazda recommended these guys to work on my car because I did not want to pay dealer prices. Nice parts guy!!

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Originally Posted by motorollow

I found it interesting that the parts guy at Hancock Mazda recommended these guys to work on my car because I did not want to pay dealer prices. Nice parts guy!!

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Maybe they figured that after an experience with Miata Tech, you'd come back and be happy to pay 'em whatever they asked ;)

Yikes! That's ridiculous!

I've got a friend of a friend situation where the FOF has a supercharged Miata that's apparently been effed up by this guy. As I understand it, since MT had their paws on it (blower + solid lifter head), it's lost compression, it's blowing/burning oil, and it's got no power...

These cats are bad ::Censor:: Ju Ju...