Should I buy this car?
 

Hi guys - im about do do a deal on this car.
It won't be my daily, but i would like to run it whenever the weather is nice.
I know its build right, and the seller seems like a prope - but i dont know much about turbo setups and tlike, but maybe someone can tell me if this car sounds solid?

So it's a 1990, the car has 174.000 km on the clock, but the engine has only 35.000 km, and the car has had this setup since 2004.
It has a 1,8 engine from a US Miata,
1,8NB,
LSD from a NB,
Koni damper HR-springs
Racingbeat stiffener
Pistons from a 323-GTR
Exhaust manifold from a 323-GTR
It has a Garrett t-4 turbo
Its fitted with a intercooler and standard radiator
Standard ECU with extra nozzles? (fuel injectors i guess??)
ONETWO exhaust all the way with a racing Cat.

It has never been out in the winter, and has 0 rust. It has been taken apart, and underseal, and put back together and undersealed again.

It has been mapped and dynode to around 200-240HP, it rides with 16 inch BBS rims. It has a remote control central locking and boot opener!

What do you guys think?https://forum.miata.net/vb/miata_ima...er_offline.gifhttps://forum.miata.net/vb/miata_ima...tons/quote.gif

Urban Dictionary: Prope

Just on that alone, yeah, go for it man!

We generally don't use 16in wheels on our cars because they are heavier and therefore do not stop or accelerate as well. They also contribute to a significantly worse ride over uneven pavement. Performance tire choices are fewer and they don't allow the car to get down to a good performance height.

We don't use additional injectors because there are better options. that was the technology that was being used in the aftermarket in the late 80s and early 90s. Nothing was mentioned about a way to adjust the timing to prevent detonation when going into boost. The car really needs a standalone ECU. Does it even have a wideband oxygen sensor? Or even the old school exhaust gas temperature gauge?

The 323 pistons were a waste of time. Things like that were done before there was an aftermarket for Miata parts. Anyone reasonable these days would have spent that money on connecting rods or forged pistons or both.

You didn't mention brakes. The early cars came with smaller brakes.

You said it didn't have a larger radiator and didn't mention a stronger clutch. Those are two things that are often considered essential with a turbo and there are ways to do it wrong that would require you spending money there.

If it really has a Garrett T4 Turbo then it is probably miserable to drive.

Koni shocks are great except for the ones built for Miatas. They're often regarded as improperly valved for our cars and give a very harsh ride and poor control over uneven pavement.

You asked if the car sounded reliable. It may be reliable or it may not be. What I can say is that your modification list seems unusual for a modern Miata build.

I would not buy it because of the thousands of dollars that would be necessary to get the car up to modern standards. Certainly there are better choices out there.

I told you no it was not a good buy on miata.net, and I will tell you the same thing here. It is not a good buy.

It has the larger brakes from the 1,8 model as well and the clutch from the 1,8.
The car have been running like this for quite a while, so when it was build i guess, some of the choices made sense then?
Why should the Garrett make it miserable?

I test-drove it, and i didn't think the ride was to harsh or anything like it, it actually ran pretty well imo..
I think the 16inch wheels are mostly for looks, and with the power it produces it gets up to speed very fast anyways?
Im not sure about the ECU, oxygen sensors, or the other things you mention.. But my guess is that its build right? It wouldn't have been running like this for 13 years? Wouldn't any troubles already have been here if they would arrive?

don't make any more threads like this. we can only handle so much stupid questions and assumptions on any given day

If you have already made up your mind, why did you bother us with the question? I actually thought you wanted input or I wouldn't have bothered spending the time. Enjoy your purchase.

FWIW: 323/Familia GTR pistons are not the droid you guys think they are. Whether it actually has 323/Familia GTR internals or not, would maybe be another matter.

I'm also interested as to how a FWD manifold/turbo orientation is working on the Miata.


Either way, sounds dumb. Pass.

I haven't made up my mind, which is why im asking for advice?
Its either gonna be this one or a regular NA6??
But i dont know enough, and people always expect people to know everything on these kinds of forums.. maybe just be nice and help me out??

We did. Car sounds bad.

T4 is too big for a BP.

I came here for an audio clip. I'm leaving disappointed.

Helpful post is written regarding ancient parts and significant cost required to bring it up to date.

OP rejects helpful post

OP receives backlash

OP says we should just be nice

Ban?

To OP: Yes absolutely, cars are the most reliable when the parts were installed 13 years ago. Don't you know 13 year old cars are more reliable than new ones? :robert:

OP thinks he's special, and not just like the million other clueless entitled n00bs that expects us to hold their hand and "be nice" and encourage their laziness when they can't even be bothered to learn the basics.

Don't know Miata's? Start reading/learning. When you know, then you buy.

Or go on a forum full of old wine and cheezers or stancetard vapebroz who will give you terrible advice, but do it NICELY lol

Also: buying someone else's build when you don't know what you're doing is a really bad idea. It will break, and nobody will know how to fix it because they didn't build it and it isn't stock.

If you don't know anything about turbo miatas, and you aren't willing to put the time into researching and learning, you should not buy ANY turbo Miata, let alone one full of obsolete parts.

I swear to god a deity of your choosing if you use another out of place question mark I will fucking kill be slightly more annoyed with you.

you? mad, bro
don't be so mean to the noob?

we're all here to help those who can't be bothered to learn?
or what

Read this back to yourself aloud. How often do you expect a "best case scenario" and actually experience that? Almost never? Why would this be different.

YOU ARE NOT EDUCATED WELL ENOUGH TO BE BUYING A TURBO MIATA.

You mention that if you dont buy this one, you will buy an na6. This speaks volumes for your Miata knowledge.


Time to learn up bro. Learn up. Expect to spend about a year, maybe two learning about the turbo miata lyfe before you can buy something like this with some confidence.

I think you should consider the best of all worlds. An early NA6 with a Greddy kit.

Fixed?

I hear there's collaboration on a MK FAST FORWARD FLYING ALPHA OMEGA MIATA kit coming out any day now. They're awaiting production of the 15x15 JongDongwallawallayingyang wheels to come out first to put the power down.

For that, should he call the poet or the court jester?

Both: Stephanie

Just spend your money and hope for the best. That seems to be your plan.

28 year old cars with 13 year old modifications that were 10 year old technology when installed should perform with OEM reliability for how long? Answer that question.

How will you retune the car if you change anything? You don't know anything and whoever you take it to will likely refuse to work on it. The top local Miata shop here won't touch somebody's homemade turbo system because "if you work on it, you are responsible for anything that ever breaks in the future."

Thanks for all the inputs guys. The only reason I'm considering buying it, is because the guy that put it all together for the owner back in the days is a mechanic who has a mx-5 repair shop that only works on these
cars and he I like the Oracle here in Denmark. And the other reason is that it is the only turbo miata left in Denmark. All the rest is rusted away or destroyed.

And the mechanic told me that it wouldn't be to bad since almost all the parts are Mazda parts so easy and cheap to fix.
and the seller says he haven't had any problems with it, but so I believe him? I'm not sure..

He's a bozo. Do not buy it.

BUT isn't owning a turbo Miata the same as any other car if I dont intend to do repairs on
it myself as long as my mechanic can do the work properly?

Sounds awesome, you should buy it. Immediately if not sooner.

That's exactly right. Isn't that what we've been saying all along? Just like owning a stock civic.

If you are friends with the mechanic who did all of the modifications and he is local to you and is willing to maintain it I would consider that an important piece of information that you've neglected to share with us.

He is not a friend of mine - but everyone who has a Miata here knows him and he has been maintaining it all along.
He didn't do the turbo, that was another Turbo Mazda guy - but he did do the engine swap and everything else.

Don't do it. But when you do, post photos of the setup because it will be epic.

He sounds popular. I bet he builds the best cars.

I too am noob. Let me tell ya I've been at this Turbo thing for like a week now and can totally see this thing is l3git! These guys are just jealous because you got a sweet lead they will never get the chance to get.

Just get the car man, I mean really it's the last unicorn in Denmark. You're welcome. Just remember to get a roll bar -like a double hoop or anything you can bolt together quickly really- in the thing asap, you WILL need something all those panties your going to be dropping to catch on as your waste gates blaping. All joking aside you will definitely not not regret getting this thing, maybe see if you can get him to come down $100 or so to help cover the cost of some of the little stuff you might have to sort out on it soon and you should be good to go.


Oh PS you should get one of these shirts to help make friends with all the new locals coming your way.
https://www.zazzle.com/learn_arabic_...54246998689343
Everyone should feel welcome.

​​​​​​​Post pics I know I'm interested :D

no no doubt

​​​​​​​Must have been a typo?

so spend a year around this site, build your own and have the only other turbo miata. Better yet, the only one done correctly utilizing technology from this century.

EDIT- I am dying to know how much the seller wants for this miata.

that's a lot of work though?
probably?

cost won't really be relevant to us because Denmark.

Jimbo, you should buy it. You really should.

Yeah i was actually considering this at one point. Just getting a regular one, getting to know it and then boosting it.
BUT it seems like a really expensive project? How much would you guys say the cost would be of going OEM to reliable turbo Miata? Are we talking minimum 10.000$?

The car im talking about cost around 15.000$ here in denmark, and a similar car all standard is around 10.000$ - and you can get a rusty one with a lot of miles for around 7.000$.. So i think the price is alright considering what it would have cost to build it.. It has zero rust, and has always been in a garage with cover over the car. Has only been out in the summer. And as you know the engine and the parts has only done like 20.000 miles. Here are some pictures if anyone wants to see?


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b63a1855a6.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4f865d60e1.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a5cef8af2f.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7c20134f5e.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4fa6bb66b8.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a784daf76e.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0d7b635258.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...105694396f.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6116b4c517.jpg

The most important pictures are always under the hood.

But the car looks nice. Probably worth $5500 around here depending upon actual modifications versus speculation. Obviously you are in a different market. If there are no other Miatas but that one then there are no other Miatas but that one.

You should consider buying a Miata elsewhere and shipping it to you. If I recall correctly, you can get a vehicle shipped from the east coast of the US to Bremerhaven for around $1500-2000.

Yeah it does look nice- im getting a picture from under the hood to show you guys.

still though, for 3-4K usd I think you can have a complete MK turbo kit. New stuff from this century. dont hold me to the price, go to the website and check it out.

I don't ship out of the USA. It costs to damn much due the sizes of my boxes.

I mean, OP, it looks like a clean car, but still, you're going to have a bad time with your current knowledge level. You need to do one of three things:
1. learn a LOT more about turbo Miatas before buying one that's already turbo'd
2. buy a stock one and mod it yourself so you will learn as you go
3. Be prepared to deal with headaches and setbacks and huge shop bills when issues inevitably come up, which will probably be with regularity. You could easily have a small fuel or timing component fail and not know what's wrong til an essential engine part decides it doesn't want to play anymore.

1. Im not sure how to learn more, its hard to read EVERYTHING and have nothing to compare it to in real life.
2. Seems like a thing that i would never do, i just want stuff to work so i can enjoy it.. - i would never turbo a stock one, just do minor things to it..
3. Is this a matter of knowing when things doesn't SOUND right, and catch it before something else goes wrong? I was told by the mechanic who build it, that if i weren't to use it everyday i wouldn't have to much trouble. But using it everyday i would have difficulties keeping it running as well, not knowing when stuff doesn't sound/feel right... As you say..

What to do :( Maybe i should never have tried the turbo car, and i would have loved a stock one?

True true, They dont ship, But there is probably places in europe with the same kind of kits..
But you need to do suspension, LSD and all kinds of other stuff to go along with the turbo for it to stay together, and then it gets expensive!

I think buying this car would be an excellent way to learn about turbos and miatas. Lesson of a lifetime!

If you don't want to learn, you have three options:

1. Buy something pre-built, and spend headaches and money to fix it when it breaks, hoping that you've placed your trust in the right mechanic.
2. Buy something and pay to have it built, spending tons of money along the way
3. Buy something that has the performance you want in its stock form. This car you're looking at probably performs maybe a bit better than a stock S2000 or Porsche Boxster. One of those in stock form may be more to your liking.

That's seriously it.

Let me get this straight:

You don't want to spend a lot of money
You don't want to work on the car
You don't really wanna learn

Honestly, why not just go buy a sports car and drive it?

*edit: Ed beat me to it

:makeout:

Ah shucks if your dead set before you got here just buy it, what's the worst case scenario. I mean really what's the absolute worst case scenario?
Let me tell ya there's a '99 ae in the shop right now - very pretty - but as soon as you open the hood and see that dual injector setup flashbacks of the hot ex girlfriend who tried to stab me with a butter knife come rushing back. This car your looking at - much like my two examples - is likely a case where the bolt-on's don't make the machine worth the hassle. Close the hood slowly step back and walk away!

This coming from someone who doesn't even know what he doesn't know.

Echoing all of the above....


If you want to learn, buy a stock car, and learn to maintain it on the bare minimum. Learn how to change your oil, repair bolt on parts etc. If you inherit a project, and things go wrong, you don't learn shit by taking it somewhere and throwing money into a shop to take care of it for you. You will have a more aggressive learning curve, become more frustrated, and overwhelmed when troubleshooting a basket case. You will end up blowing more money on the car, and be telling all the new kiddo's on the forum to just buy a stock car and go from there.

A turbo car is not a good decision for you right now.

Buy the car.
Break the diff.
Replace the diff.
Remove all of the turbo junk.
Then you will have an N/A NA for more money than an N/A NA that you just buy.

Car is pretty. To continue the girl analogy, it's like a hot chick that has VD and a bitchy attitude.

He said it has a 1.8 diff already.

I've changed my mind. You should buy it. You've got support and it will be a good learning experience and it looks like a clean car. I'm sure it's been well taken care of judging by the way it looks. You can modify it and improve it as time goes on as a part of your learning experience and things will continue to improve incrementally.

By the way, your English is better than that of my daughter who has lived in America all her life, albeit not with me (adopted).

A hot chick with VD (STI?) is completely doable with the appropriate protection... :naughty:

Interesting, what made you change your mind? The looks of the car?
Thanks m8, i guess living in California for a while, and traveling quiet a bit, have improved my English.

So here are pictures of the engine bay, let me know what you think :)

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1a81bafdab.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...06d78c7eb4.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a96d413473.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1ce6ae8ed8.jpg

Looks old. I don't like what I can see of the downpipe. Any pics of the turbo area? Looking down from above or showing the exhaust part of the turbo better?