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car located in Tampa FL, ideally you would be located somewhat nearby to come pick it up
car is running and completely sorted with a conservative tune and 18 psi of boost. I drove it for about 2 years after the rebuild but my children have taken over my life pretty much and I stopped driving it during the pandemic.
chassis has 116k miles
car is salvage title. Was totaled out back in 2000-2001 and has spent 20+ years on the road including multiple track days with no problems. (ie, it's mechanically fine)
I completely restored everything back in 2016-2017 and I've probably put about 10k on the car since. Except for the AC (you get an uninstalled replacement compressor) and PS (it's depowered), the entire car is pretty much back to factory levels of reliability (windows, soft top, clutch, hydraulics, engine, etc)
About the car:
fully sorted and running turbo miata set up as street car
car has been hooked up to trickle charger for last 2 years, started and ran as of last week
AC and stereo present but the AC compressor needs to be replaced (replacement is sitting in box in trunk). AC otherwise fully present and functioning.
car is track ready but needs minor work on the radiator ducting under the car. The car has a reroute, ducting, huge radiator, huge intercooler, high pressure cap, etc.
Engine had a complete bottom/top end rebuild back in 2016, rebuild has under 10k miles of commute and highway driving.
ECU is an FM Link ECU from 96-97 (the Obiwan) Tune is conservative 11.5:1 under boost fine tuned with an AEM wideband. Car is set up to make a steady 18 psi of boost to redline.
car has power windows, bushings replaced with delrin, work like new
soft top was replaced in 2017, is like new with clear plastic rear window
power steering has been depowered, greased and sealed
Mods (engine/turbo)
Built short block. Pauter x-beam rods, Wiseco 8.5:1 84.5mm pistons, Line honed mains with ARP main studs, ARP rod bolts
rebuilt 99 head with supermiata heavy double valve springs, supermiata valve guides and seals, valve job done back in 2016
ARP head studs, ARP intake studs, locking nuts on exhaust studs, locking nuts on turbo flange which uses inconel studs
flat top intake manifold w/ stock miata throttle body
coolant reroute with thermostat at back of head
toyota COP ignition conversion
ati superdamper (you can have the puller tool)
Turbo is a T3T04E 50 trim on a JGS tool mild steel log. The log has been fine the past 20 years but I had the flange machined so it would seal better back in 2017
Turbo manifold, turbine housing and downpipe are all ceramic coated silver (washes off with brake cleaner) and look great
intercooler is a gigantic bar/plate unit mounted at an angle with ducting. It pretty much can't heat soak.
Mods (other):
Suspension is a XIDA GS coilover system that runs at slightly below stock ride height so it can clear speed bumps and driveways. It can go lower if you want.
Front sway is an FM unit. Rear sway is stock. I got rid of the rear FM sway because it made the car great when naturally aspirated but scary when turboed.
Rear diff is a GURU torsen. FM used to sell these back in the mid 2000s. Great unit, takes regular diff oil, is tough as nails.
transmission is a regular 5 speed. I treat the car gently and don't drag race so I've only gone through 1 so far.
Clutch is the FM stage 2 (whatever the highest end one is) with replaced new hydraulics and a flywheel I bought 20 years ago (don't reemmber brand). It was surfaced when I replaced the flywheel.
Brakes are stock miata units with carbotech/gforce street/track pads. It used to be 10s/8s but they changed the nubmering and I think they are 12/10 front rear. It's the streetable/trackable compound.
car has a carbon fiber gauge pod and custom gauges- oil pressure, boost, wideband (LED/digital), EGT, and oil temp. The CEL functions as a knock sensor (car uses the old FM microphone one that goes into the motor mount.
Car has oriignal STO leather seats (brown) but replaced soft top is black (the interior is black/brown from the factory).
wheels look like old 15x6.5 rota slipstreams with old max performance summer tires on them. I assume whoever buys this will replace these so I haven't touched them.
Front clip is setup to quick detach. There are locking clasps on the side and the 4 factory screws at the top and the front bumper just slides right off so you can work on ducting or whatever.
To be completely honest, I realize I could do x y and z and get the car sold at a higher price.
The two main problems are that
honestly I am already stretched really thin due to job and babies (1yo and 4yo in the house) and have no time to work on the car. Even small **** takes impossibly long. I probably couldn't find a 10mm socket these days to save my life. Wife also works incredibly long hours so we're both always tired. You get the picture.
working on a car you've owned for 20 years so you can get rid of that car is more emotionally difficult than I expected
Anyway, the solution I arrived at is to just sell it as is and price it to move- the car gets a good home and I get to move on without a hassle.
Sad thing is I'm in almost the same situation. Going to be selling my 95 flyin miata with tons of mods because I have kids and no time for it. Even plan on selling it for the same price and I'm also in Tampa. It's funny how similar our situation but boy am I going to miss the car.
Sad thing is I'm in almost the same situation. Going to be selling my 95 flyin miata with tons of mods because I have kids and no time for it. Even plan on selling it for the same price and I'm also in Tampa. It's funny how similar our situation but boy am I going to miss the car.
Ill take it off of your hands. Shoot me an email with info on the car. I've been looking for a turbo Miata.
I thought it was a great deal also. I drove the car a few hundred miles from Tampa.
Lots of great parts on the car no doubt however it also needed quite a bit of work... It was overheating on the highway (airflow would go around the radiator, no oil cooler installed), had coolant leaks (radiator overflow nipple was broken off along with loose fittings elsewhere) and oil leaks (oil pressure sender, valve cover gasket and other ones I have not gotten to yet) would stall at lights. Starter would occasionally not engage, and unrelated intermittent no start issue. A/C bracket and power steering bracket missing bolts/tensioner piece, has a cracked downpipe, and a lot of wiring that needs to be redone (solid core wires with wire nuts, wiring going through chassis without grommets, braided steel lines rubbing on wiring and rubber hoses). For example a previously -partially- installed alarm system was feeding ignition circuit in parallel. Wiring was melting against the exhaust and the valve cover (and getting brake master/reservoir too hot to touch). The link serial adapter had broken solder joints. The blow off valve was pulling in unfiltered air at idle and cruise, map sensor on same line as blow off valve right behind the throttle body, broken shifter pivot bushing, broken hose clamps and more.
Here's how some of it looks after more than 20 hours of work. It is far from being done with more shop time scheduled this weekend to fix the exhaust (completely open at the moment, adding a cat and a muffler and fixing the leaks). I am almost done with electrical work, then I will be moving back to routing fuel and air lines to simplify and reduce possible failure points, and other adjustments like adding a check valve to the brake booster.
03-17-2022, 02:08 PM
97 miata $5k, FL, Xida GS, Turbo, built
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