"new" 1992 miata...what to do?
 

hey guys, I just got a 1992 silver miata with hardtop from my mom. She left everything stock(shes a mom, lol)and I am wondering what the first thing is that I should do. i eventually want to get a turbo or supercharger, but I still need to find more info on that. But, what new stuff should i get for it?

Torsen Dif. is a must

Then make a plan on what you want to do (how much power).

Do not waste money along they way.

First off I would do the suspension, you can enjoy it now and you will need it later.

how old are you?

u stole my queston.. i will improvise


How deep are your pockets?

All you need is about $ 5,000 and a second car :)

Nahh dont throw the kid off...

FIST of all, make sure you do the timing belt, and other maintenance first, and when you do the timing belt take it to a MAZDA dealer(especially if you have a short nose crank).

Then move on to performance,

I would do suspension first imo. If you are ready to go into boost now and you dont have deep pockets i would really look into a nice used greddy kit. It will get you boosted fast, and for cheap(about a grand). Then you can always upgrade from there.

Good luck!

Do not want to through him off. The more the merrier.

Just want to open the eyes.

do all the little things if it hasn't been maintained...bleed your brakes and clutch
...maybe change to some good pads...I'd recommend hawk hps for the street, if it needs new rotors, just go to napa and pick some up. Just learn to work on it. Suspension is a must if you want to put the power down...etc etc.

i never "needed" a torsen...

lol, um i dunno why you say that, but not everyone feels that way. I agree more with miatamania. Start with the little stuff that probably needs some maintenance and make sure it is all working correctly. Learn to set your timing, get some tools if you dont have em ... 3/8 drive will get you the furthest.

The most important thing for you to do right now if you want to make it fast later is to get some decent brake pads, some decent tires, a decent alignment and go driving at the autocross, track, abandoned streets and see what you like and dislike about the car.

Forget the Torsen for now... plenty of other things to spend your money on.
As others have said, GET A TUNEUP!!!

Change all the fluids.
Plugs and plug wires.
Timing belt.
Fuel filter.
PCV valve.
Motor Mounts (get the Mazdaspeed ones).

Give the thing a thorough bath. Spend an entire day and clean the whole thing. Two coats of wax. Put the car up on jacks and pressure wash the underbody. Take a toothbrush to the engine compartment. Shampoo the interior and soak the dash and doors in vinyl protectant.
Run a bottle of Seafoam through the intake (do a search if you don't know how to do this) and add another bottle to the gastank.
Make a thorough inspection of the radiator paying particular attention to the endtanks... they're made of plastic and fail.

As for first upgrades...
Brakes are a logical place to start. You don't need to go fancy with rotors, stock ones are fine. Hawk/RPS/EBC, etc... do some homework on pads that will suit your driving needs... and I vote for Goodridge for brakelines.

Rollbar: NOT A STYLEBAR! Hard-Dog, Boss-Frog, and Autopower are the three main brands.

If you're planning on turbo eventually, I'd hit the suspension next. You can go mild or wild. If you're looking to get your feet wet, then some Racing Beat swaybars and KYB AGX 8-way shocks are the cheapest quality ticket. You can spend more, but until you can actually drive the car, these will suit fine for making the thing more capable.

Tires/Wheels: The lighter the better. No reason to go bigger than 15".

For now, I'd skip anything engine-related except for the plug wires and other things I listed first. Definitely DON'T spend any money on power mods like intake or exhaust until you've decided how quickly and in what manner you're going to turbo.

To do some homework, www.good-win-racing.com is a nice place to check out to see a lot of the more popular Miata performance parts in one spot. I purchased a lot of things from him when I was living in California. It'll give you a good idea of what's out there and what things cost new. Shop around though as there are lots of vendors.

DO NOT GO TO A DEALERSHIP FOR PARTS!!!
For OEM replacement parts, this is the only place to go. http://www.finishlineperformance.com/
They are a dealership, but the owner has a hard-on for guys who do their own work. The prices you see there are about half of what they are at another dealership. They ship same-day and charge actual shipping.


Welcome to the worlds best forum!

Basic up keep/maintenance. Then check in with us when you have that compelte and know how much of a budget you have left.



Jason

sell ME your hard top for like 50 bucks shipped...that'd be the best thing to get you started.....weight reduction!!

Leave it up to Sam to give the worlds longest response to a noob :)

welcome to the forum man, I second everything that sam (aka spamnavy) said in his long winded post.

lol, it's funny because it's true.

P.S. superchargers are for girls and old guys, or something like that.

Don't listen to him trying to low ball you. I'll give you $100 right now + shipping. Let me know.

I'll give you $150 for the hard top.

400 for the top

$400.50

don't forget to buy your mom a gift tho :gay:
after all, she got you a miata..:)