So the interior is going to be a paaaaaain. The PO put this black mat stuff down that doesn't look possible to remove. I hate having it there, and I was looking forward to getting the metal clean and putting down some rust resistant coating.

I'm debating just putting the new carpet over it and calling it a day. There is no rust anywhere at all, just lots of glue from the previous carpet and these black mats. I was definitely very happy to find literally zero rust though.

I see why I sit so high too, these mounts for the seat are like 3" off the ground, then there are sliders on top of that, and then the seat is like 4" high. Definitely going to need to get the seat lower, I feel way too high in the car.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400801005

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400801005

I did put in a new drivers side regulator and crank. I lubed up the whole system and now it slides like butter. I couldn't even move the previous window up and down.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400801005

Are you sure thats not OEM? My Triumph has something similar to that black crap. It sucks ass to actually do it but you might try dry ice trick used to remove dynamat.

Unless other 2002s have it removed, I haven't seen it on other cars when people have documented their interior overhauls. Since there doesn't appear to be rust below it, from what I can tell looking underneath the car, I'll probably just clean it and put the carpet over it.

The Panzerwagen had something very similar to that black stuff. I think the German car companies added that as heat shielding when they had to add catalytic converters for the US market starting in 1975. Since your car is a 1976 . . . . I'm betting it's OEM.

I think though, if it has the TUV certification it is made in Germany. At least that is what I recall KW suspension telling me when I bought the V3s for my Jetta.

There was definitely not a CC on this car. I know California 02's had some extra emission crap added on. From my research it's not OEM, but either way it's a pain.

Today I swapped out:
Coil
Distributor for a Tii Mechanical Advance
Plugs
Wires

I still need to set timing, but the car started so getting the timing zeroed in should be pretty easy.

I was feeling frisky so I painted the bracket and bolts...
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400826503

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400826503

The old one has a vacuum advance, which some people like. I prefer the mechanical advance.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400826503

Old setup... new setup I'll get some pictures tomorrow, much cleaner.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400826503

Better conditions door cards are in, looks good just need to install some speakers. Took a few photos so I figured I'd post them...

New Coil, Dist, Plugs, Wires
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400967024

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400967024

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1400967024

Painting? Jeffbucc influence?

Haha a little bit, yea.

Kind of fixed my turn signals today... I have hazards now, but no turn signals. Also, shockingly the dome light now works lol. Was not expecting that to be working. I'm pretty sure the turn signal switch is no longer working. Tomorrow I'm going to pull it off, open it up, and clean all the contacts. I hope I can fix it, $150 for a new one :/

Tomorrow is actually all electrical stuff. I'm still going through my spare harness and restoring it. I need to add in the fuel pump circuit, electric radiator fan, and stereo. Fun times. :brain:

Preparing for new carpet and wiring harness.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401123983

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401123983

This was my sweet ass fabric for the rear deck behind the seats. That is what the Arizona sun will do lol... Needless to say this is not going to be reused..
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401123983

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401123983

I feel you man. This is also why your paint is faded to shit and your dashboard is trashed. However, i'd be willing to bet there is minimal rust. It's well worth the trade-off imo.

Sun Damage = Cosmetic
Rust Damage = Structural

How about some DEI tunnel shield for that rear deck? LOL.

Makes me glad my parents are letting me keep the Miata in their garage when I'm finally finished.

Good job with the paint. The metal in the interior looks surprisingly corrosion/rust free.

this is why I have started getting all my cars tinted. every one of them

This car will be tinted to the legal limit, and I'm definitely investing in a windshield cover. I'm taking a bit of a risk with how I'm repairing this dash, it can't look worse than it already does.

I got the entire harness out of the car. It comes in a front part, which is basically lights and shit. And a rear part, which is the rear lights... There are basically 3 wires that run this car. Love it.

Anyways I rewrapped the front part and it's back in. The rear part is a bit larger, and I need to add in speaker wire and fuel pump power so it will take a bit more work. I'm hoping to have it done tomorrow. Carpet should be in this week too! So excite. I have a bunch of pictures I'll upload later.

Before of dash, will post my attempts to fix it soon.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401294002

Trunk, easy access to fuel tank and spare... kind of scary having the fuel tank and battery right next to each other :/
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401294002

Usually 2002s rust pretty bad below the spare. It looks like it may have been repaired at one point. I picked off some paint and there was rust under it. Going to sand it down and repaint it. The rust doesn't look like it goes deep.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401294002

Here is my old front harness next to the spare I fixed up. I deleted a lot of the junk that wasn't necessary, fixed some minor issues, polished up the grounds, and re-installed. Looks 100x cleaner in the engine bay now.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401294002

Making great progress. The entire harness was removed, rewrapped, a lot of junk was removed, and a lot of new stuff was added:

Electric radiator fan circuit
Electric choke circuit added
Battery power to head unit
Switched power to head unit
Battery power to dual Kenwood sub/amps
Speaker wires for 4" door speakers and 6x9" rear speakers
Fixed coil circuit for blue coil

I also put in a new turn signal switch and actually have turn signals. It feels good after driving for 3 months with none.

The car drives completely different now. There are no misses, and low end power is WAY higher. The car is actually legitimately fast now. The engine bay is much cleaner now. The addition of an electric choke (replaced water choke that wasn't even hooked up) really made cold starts much better.

The transmission most likely has a bad bearing which really sucks. The getrag 245 5 speed O/D is such a pain to find. They are either selling for $2000, or have been sold.

Here are some photos:

New 4" Rockford Fosgate speakers. Almost looks OEM. Excited to get the sound system hooked up.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401554962

Happy in the garage:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401554962

Electric choke, yay:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401554962


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401554962

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401554962

I made some real progress on the car tonight. Well I've been making good progress almost everyday, but today it actually started to look nice, instead of just behind the scenes wire work.

I'm putting in a pretty decent audio system in the car. I don't listen to anything with major bass, and stealth was pretty key, so I wanted a sub that would fit under the seat. I went with a kenwood sub/amp, the same one my brother used with great results in his Porsche. It fits perfectly under the seat. 6x9s sit just behind, also a bit stealthy. Surely not ideal placement, but I've been driving around with them in and no sub and they sound amazing.

Also finally installing new carpet. It's a major pain since this glues in, but it looks a thousand times better.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401860469

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401860469

Haven't quite figured out how I'm going to mount the radio yet... I knew I wanted an old school looking one, and this has all the features I could ever want. This adds a bit to the stealth of this setup. I just don't want to constantly be worried someone is going to steal my shit
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401860469

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1401860469

That head unit is super awesome, no one is going to steal something with knobs. Good show!

My thoughts exactly. It looks nicer than the pictures (the knobs have sleeves that go on them so you can't see the nut) but I just threw it together real quick to test it out.

I bought two Corbeau GTS II seats with brackets yesterday. Also have a momo steering wheel going in to replace the destroyed stock wheel. And finally I bought a dash cover that should fix the big cracks. Hopefully all this will be installed by the weekend.