As some of you know I just picked up a 2000 LS Miata. On the outside, it's perfect. Plus it has the 6spd, torsen, 3.909. On the inside... well let's just say it's spent a few winters up North.

When I bought it I knew the issues, rusty. The plan was to get the timing belt/water pump/engine mounts replaced, and drive it for a year or so and figure out what to do. Since I'm in TX the rust didn't worry me too much. It's rained pretty much once in the past year.

Well I did the timing belt and water pump, but the gasket I used for the waterpump was shady (super thin and during install it took a beating). Well the water pump is leaking.

So now facing the fact that I will need to tear back into the car, I'm debating doing an overhaul. Basically I'm thinking of doing the following:

New bushings (Poly master kit)
sand/repaint subframes/PPF/diff
remove power steering
clean and possibly paint engine bay
replace as many bolts as I can with higher grade bolts
remove all body pannels and clean behind them
remove all interior and clean
v-maxx suspension
FM sway bars

I really hate rust. And there is a lot of it. Pretty much limited to surface rust. The worst part is bolts just seem to crumble when trying to remove them. I'm just trying to figure out if doing all this work will be worth it. Or should I just sell it off after I fix the WP and look for a Sourthern car with no rust?

 

Fix the waterpump and sell it off. Let some older person have a dealer combat the cancer while you enjoy a rust free version.

 

In my mission to suffer as much as possible I have decided: restore.

After digging a bit further in the car I've decided it's manageable. I'm thinking the car will be down and out until the end of December.

New parts on order: FM Sways, Full Set of Poly Bushings, SS Brake Lines.

Already on car: Curly-Q delete, new slave/master clutch, timing belt, w/p, acc. belts, comp motor mounts, OEM clutch.

Dropping the subframes tomorrow. Hopefully will have them fully disassembled by the time the bushings get here. Painting the subframes after I give them a good scrub down. Will probably depower the rack as well. Lots of work, but this car is a keeper. It has everything I want.

 

Throw some pics up for us of the "damage" I'd like to see what you're dealing with. Personally, I would do the semi-resto because it sounds like a lot of fun and you'd be able to get really personal with the car. However, the car you have is really rare (from what I understand about NB's) and coming across another would not be likely., if you sold this one and wanted to replace it with another.

Also, BAWLZ

 

Once I pull the engine I'll get some pictures. It's not terribly bad. Just the cheapo parts that rust easy are junk. Mostly surface rust on subframe.

Is there any major downfall in just leaving the P/S pump in place with nothing hooked up? Seems like those P/S Idler pulleys are JDM rare.

 

Worked on the car for about 4 hours today... and made some progress.













Really only planned to get the engine and front subframe pulled, but managed to get in some disassemble a it as well. Cleaned the subframe as well. There actually was not much rust on the subframe at all. After it was cleaned only a few spots will need to be touched up.

The control arms will need to be cleaned, some parts sanded, and completely painted once the bushings are pressed out.

Only had 3 bolts break. 2 ten mil bolts for the ABS wiring and the lower steering knuckle bolt. That one should be easy enough to drill out.

 

I have A LOT of parts on order. Should show up next week. Expect high quality picture sexyness.