Project 0.5 psi at idle
 

So... you know when you see a dirty hobo under a bridge or at a bus stop curled up trying to sleep off a bottle of Orange Jubilee MD 20/20 in a nest that's been painstakingly constructed of a discarded Dora the Explorer sleeping bag and mountains of free local penny saver newspapers, and you ask yourself, my god, where did it go wrong? What led you down this path?

As you get closer you become acutely aware of the biting stench of stale urine and unwashed human that your COVID mask does little to suppress. Suddenly, that tortured soul flips over scattering empty bottles of Wild Irish Rose and miniatures of New Amsterdam Gin across the sidewalk. Mercifully the creature does not awaken, but through the impossibly matted hair and open lip sores you noticed something... odd in that gaunt, dirty face. Your brain begins buzzing wildly as if trying to recall some long forgotten fact when all at once, like a rogue wave at the beach, you are hit with that cold, metallic feeling in the pit of your stomach as your brain triumphantly thrusts this dusty knowledge into your consciousness. RECOGNITION!

My god, you KNOW this person!

And that, my friends, is the introduction that leads me to the subject of this thread: my black 1995 Mazda Miata.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2dfcfb1453.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9df6e7178c.jpg

Let me get a couple things straight here...

1. This isn't a black 1995 Miata or another black 1995 Miata, this is MY BLACK 1995 MIATA
I bought THIS CAR back in early 2002 after I sold my last foxbody Mustang. I was unemployed, the Mustang had been broken into repeatedly and I was getting raped by my insurance company. I needed something with fewer cylinders that would get better mileage but would still be fun. I went online, found the very cheap Miata in SoCal, took the pile of cash from the Mustang sale and got my Dad to drive me the 300+ miles down to West Los Angles to to get this car. It turns out the guy I bought it from was an exact duplicate of Adam Sandler's character Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems. In fact, he gave me his business card and said if I found any diamonds in the car to call him first because apparently he had lost some and said he'd definitely make it worth my time. No joke. What he failed to put in the online posting was the car was a salvage title, which I didn't notice until he literally handed me the title. I was pissed but I didn't want to leave without a car, so I talked him down another $500 and I headed up the 405 with my "new" NA.

2. This car has been a salvage title for a long time, and those generally don't get better with age.
Some time between when the car was sold new on the lot in 95 and when I bought it in 02, it had been hit in the back, and it was hit HARD. Being that it was probably still the late 90s the car still had some value, so some intrepid individual looked at it and said "I bet I can fix that." They cut the entire back end off the car, found another Miata that had been punched in the face, cut its ass off, and then welded the two together. The results are less than perfect, but they did their best with what they had available. It turns out that not only was the donor a red Miata, but a red NA6 at that. As we go along I'll point and laugh at some of the scars that bear witness to this lineage. I first discovered this when I went to replace the rear brake pads and discovered NA6 calipers and discs, attached to NA6 axles and a smooth case NA6 4.3 diff. Somehow that poor diff had held up to the mighty power of the BP05 for a number of years, and even though I knew I was on borrowed time I wasn't in a financial position to replace it. It still had that diff in it when I sold it.

3. This car has changed hands 3-4 times since I sold it and now, and I know all the previous owners.
In fact, all 3 of them are members of this forum. I think. Lol. I'll let them rat themselves out should they feel the need. The car has spent time in Idaho, California, Oregon, and even a stint in Massachusetts, which is where it got its current fancy license plate. Its worn a FM Turbo and a MS1, its been a stock daily driver, its been a naturally aspirated racecar, and its spent a lot of time sitting. This car has done and seen some serious shit, kinda like the hobo in my intro. I believe at least 2 of the POs have mentioned crushing this car in the past, but somehow it endures.

4. I bear no ill will against any of the POs of this car
Like I said, I know all of them and consider them friends. When I bitch about things and talk shit its intended in a friendly, jovial way not like a "hey, look what the PO fucked up" kind of way. We all have different needs form vehicles and enjoy different projects, and I'm not here to kink shame anybody. This car got us all started with Miatas. I still have my NB, one of the POs has an NB and a Miata based racecar ... thing, another PO has an NC, and another has an ND. This thing has been a gateway drug for more than just me.

That was a lot of words so I should probably post some pics. So here she is, fresh off the big red transport truck and in the parking lot of a dead mall.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ec2f795323.jpg
If this car could talk, it could tell you some shit. (Shout out to NorCalRoadsters! RIP) I'd like to point out that I hit two deer with this car when I owned it the first time so its not like any of the panel gaps have been acceptable for a long, long time.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d0f8cab154.jpg
Good to see that damage I had repaired in the rear fender above the wheel held up

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1fc3f71747.jpg
Dat ass tho

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Humm, something missing...

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Ohhh boy, this is gonna hurt

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All this and only 177k on the clock!

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Look Ma, no hood prop! BP05 in all its glory

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...52cfec1c37.jpgClearly some cleaning is going to be required

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a0866f1550.jpg
And I'm guessing a whooooole lot of coolant gonna get flushed.

... and with a clatter of HLAs I drove it home! :p

So the first order of business is to top off the coolant and the oil, because it keeps leaking both on my fucking driveway.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c7c93bd7d8.jpg

Enter my favorite automotive cleanup tools: Purple Power and shitty electric Ryobi pressure washer!
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...951a7755e8.jpg

Step 1: Soak everything in Purple Power. Be sure to forget you aren't supposed to spray it on bare aluminum.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...36f404b9b0.jpg

Step 2: Aggressively, and with malice, spray the ever living fuck out of everything.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...85f02fe4eb.jpg

Step 3: Observe the beauty of our natural world
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...584af27038.jpg

Step 4: Bask in shock and horror of the filth you have dislodged
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ab5098c3ba.jpg

Then start the engine and let it run up to temp for a while to cook the water out of everything. 20 minutes is probably good enough. Be sure to keep the fucking coolant topped off.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...571bdc18fc.jpg

LET ME PLAY FOR YOU THE SONG OF MY PEOPLE


At this point I was getting really tired of listening to the HLAs so I decided to check the oil

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...152d3ed47a.jpg

Well, that's a fucking problem. The good news is, like so many things in life, the solution comes in a bottle.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...36553cd14b.jpg

Although I guess technically that's a can. After an assertive helping of Seafoam and a quart and a bit of oil, the HLAs are near silent! Woohoo! It's amazing how much better engines run when they are full of oil and coolant.

Next we need to start sorting out some overdue maintenance items and basic systems checks, and figure out where all the fucking coolant is going.

Air cleaner seemed like a good place to start...
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a4cba861b4.jpg

Humm. I thought I smelled rodents. Unfortunately my pic of the filter element didn't come out but I will say that it did a fantastic job keeping the large chunks of acorns out of the engine :bigtu:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5dc886b8ee.jpg
Coolant leak at the front of the car was easy to identify.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8cf04930f0.jpg
Even easier when you clean off the schmoo

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...91b7f7f6e9.jpg
Oil leak will be much easier to solve as it appears the leak is coming from the drain plug. My initial guess was no gasket, but it turns out its infinitely worse and the drain plug was finger tight :eek4:
I'll need to crawl under here with more Purple Power and pressure washer action to get this mess cleaned up.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f6f07cb761.jpg
Still got a coolant leak at the back of the head. Sumbitch.

You know, I really love modern technology. Rather than fight a mirror and a flashlight I can just jam my phone into tight places and take video:
Mother. Fucking. Heater. Hose. Clearly I've been spoiled by the NB and its lack of speedometer cable because removing and reinstalling this thing was a bitch.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f7d0655720.jpg
This *WAS* a fairly new hose, still had a label on it and everything. Too bad whoever installed it didn't get the spring clamp past the glans and wasn't actually making a seal. Now that the hose was crushed and mangled I cut it a bit shorter and put a hose clamp on it.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4f7f6b8023.jpg
I removed the stock spring clamp and discovered this mess. That's all rust sediment from the inside of the block, and its hideous. The tube is also pretty mangled as well, I suspect someone had a hard time getting it loose and crushed it with some pliers. No matter, I'll swage it back to round with some sockets.

This seemed like a good opportunity for a full coolant system flush...
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dcf4ce3682.jpg
Just jam the hose in the radiator and let her blow until she comes out clear! Easy!

Now we reinstall the freshly circumcised hose, with a real hose clamp, and bust out the Magic Funnel and burp it like a chubby baby. Or in this case a crack baby. Unsure how this works with babies.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9de68fb616.jpg

For those of you worrying about the impending Superfund Site designation for my back yard, please rest assured that there is NO antifreeze in that coolant. It's all just rusty water :sad2:

And, once again, fate is a cruel mistress.



I've never actually seen one of these things leak from the blockoff plate gasket at the rear of the head, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

I ordered all new OE hoses for this thing from Mazda. I think I'm done fucking with the cooling system for now. I pulled the spark plugs (which look shockingly good) and dumped about an ounce of Seafoam into each cylinder, then turned the crank manually about 10 full rotations with the plugs out. I'm hoping that help get any carbon and garbage buildup out of the rings and off the pistons. Plugs went back in and then drained the oil & Seafoam out of the crankcase, and I'll let it drip overnight. All this cleaning may seen excessive until you realize that the direct PO also informed me that the last time the oil was changed was probably 4 years ago, but its OK because there's only 200 miles on it :giggle: I'll be giving it fresh (cheap) oil and filter tomorrow as a flush, and then right before I go to SMOG it I'll change the oil again. It does help believe it or not.

That's right folks, my goal here is to make this thing 100% street legal and get it to pass a SMOG inspection. It's gonna be a bumpy ride! :bang:

inb4electricaltape :jerkit:

Yes, I am aware of the electrical tape on the crossover pipe at the throttle body clamp. It's been like that since I bought the car in 2002, although I'd imagine subsequent POs have replaced the tape. But don't worry, I have a good condition used one on its way to finally replace it. Better late than never! It's only been like that for the last 18-20 years? lol

You always have very entertaining threads. Good luck on bringing her back from certain doom.

This will be entertaining for sure.

Haven't enjoyed a build thread that much for a while! For the cooling system, there's an evaporust formulation specifically for that, which does wonders. Trust me, you will not believe the amount of shit that will come out.

Thanks! I mean, I may be sentencing this car to certain doom at this point, but I need a challenge and this seemed like a good one. It'll never be nice again but maybe I can keep her going for a while longer
Oh it'll definitely be something. Hopefully not hantavirus and tetanus tho :/
Thanks! I'm still just doing catch-up PMCS at this point, hopefully the rest of it will be just as entertaining as well :)
O RLY?
I was not aware of this product until you mentioned it. I'm familiar with EvapoRust of course so I'll definitely look into this. Thanks for the recommendation! :bigtu:

May I ask how much you paid for this, ah....opportunity?

Entertaining write up. Would read again.

Free-ninety-free, just pay shipping. I suspect condition played a big role with that. Shipping also ended up being about double what I was expecting, but I couldn't buy a running NA out here for double that number so I said fuckit and made it happen. I'm bored out of my gourd right now and need a challenge. I'm sure this vehicle will rise to the occasion :giggle:
Thanks! It's been cathartic thus far. Also, I'm not even into the interior or the undercarriage yet...

Probably not going to make a ton of progress today. Temps are estimated to peak at 110° this afternoon and AQI is a solid 179 or big red "UNHEALTHY" on that scale. That'll completely ruin me with my sinus problems if I'm out for more than a couple hours. Great way to spend Labor Day :sad2:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ccb6590b6d.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...86760a3300.jpg

Everyone loves a list of vital statistics and mods so let's get that out there...

1995 Mazda Miata
177,336 miles
5 speed
NA8 4.1 or 4.3 (ratio TBD) Torsen 1 with 2 piece axles
OE hard top
Stock Exedy MSM clutch (purchased from dealer back when I first owned the car)
Stock brakes (pretty sure anyway)

Modz:

M1HCHTDD roll bar
Advanti Storm S1 15x8 +25 in Grey (I need another wheel! Please see my WTB thread!!!)
205/50R15 BFG Rivals (date code 1014)
ARP Extended bullet nose wheel studs
949RACING alloy lug nuts
Stainless braided brake lines
Odyssey PC680 (15.4lbs!)
Kirkey 71 Series PN 71500 16" Standard 20° Layback Road Race Containment seat (bolted to floor, no rear humps)
G-FORCE Pro Series 3" 6 Point Camlock (expired 2018)
Front & Rear Racing Beat sway bars
Budget Bilsteins with QA 7HT550 front, QA 7TH350 rear
TougeRun looking chin spoiler thing
AROSPEED Tow Point Straps (F/R)
Interior delete (mostly)
A/C delete
HVAC delete (incomplete)
Soft top delete
Air guide & undertray delete
Driver side window regulator delete (lol)

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...13f3b7a82f.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...070b8fdd51.jpg

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https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1aa7acc959.jpg

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https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...102c53b6da.jpg

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https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ef57ea65ad.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...77cd2a9bca.jpg

Hey look! I found the other hard top latch! :bigtu:

LOL, this thread is great man! Keep it going, that old NA actually looks pretty clean if you can get past the horror of it all.

Fucking hell, the car is worse than I thought it was. Congrats G