Never though the miata would be demonted, aka got a DD
 

ever since getting a house in Dec, and with the wanting kiddoes with the wifey, i've been needing more room to haul things. Hooking up the miatas trailer is no fun.

Was considering selling the miata, but my wife wants me to keep it. Says i'm such a happier guy when i work on it and race. (I knew I found the right one for me :makeout:)

Been looking for a while and found a 04 mazda 3 hatch for a song. My sisters has one, so do some of my race buddies. They have all been solid no problem cars for them. Picked it up for a steal with under 47,000k miles (all the rubber hoses are still soft, the radiator end caps are still a dark black!). The dealership, whom my family has worked with several times, had all service records for the car and were the original sellers of the vehicle. Looked at he previous owners address and they lived in a very well to do area and I doubt the car was driven for much more than work/grocery store.

I've had it for about a week and need to check to see if it is using the screw on oil filter or the cartridge type. If it is cartridge type I know there are kits to swap it from cartridge to screw on. Has anyone used one before?

sorry for the crappy cell picture.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1373924850

Also what are good ways to keep the paint/headlights protected since it will see a lot of outside parking.
I already washed/clay bar'ed/ and waxed it and will continue to make sure it is waxed so that the headlights dont haze to quickly. I've ordered laminx film for the headlights as well. Anyone have experience with that? I was going to get a car cover but I dont want to scratch the paint.

BTW the paint looks very similar to the red MSM paint.

If you don't mind answering, how much did you pay? My brother was looking at these for a DD recently and they can be had for a bargain!

I'd just leave the lights unprotected and buff them out when they get hazy. Keeping the paint waxed always helps longivity.

Looks great man!

sent you a pm.

I already ordered the headlight film. I'f I am not crazy about it I can put it on sisters mazda 3. She has an 04 sedan and uses the same headlights.

3M paint defender:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1373975083

people are painting entire cars with them. It's like plastidip, but people are claiming nearly invisible.

3M Paint Defender - RESULTS W/Photos - MX-5 Miata Forum

3M Paint Defender System - MX-5 Miata Forum

IIRC: it has a cartridge. Man up, pay the $4.95 at autozone for the right socket. Or buy a "claw" style remover for spin-ons. It'll jack up the outside of the filter cap, but it works.


Oh, and always drop the under tray. Trust me, you think you'll save time; you wouln't. You WILL NOT save time. You will not. Drop the tray. Just do it.





Pro-tip: The filter hangs upside down, so after you crack it free, position the drain pan below it, then wrap a plastic bag around it, and spin it off. Keeps your hands a lot cleaner.

EDIT: Wax religiously, and keep it clean. 3s rot, especially on the rear hatch and in the rear fender well (honda-rot mutated, mazda caught it)

My Elise has this stuff on the front clamshell as well as the rockers and leading edges of the rear quarters, and it's badass. Not a single rock chip in 14k miles.

BTW, true story: I flew down to Miami to pick the car up from Prestige, who are dealers for Lotus, Lamborghini, Saleen, Audi and a few other high-end brands. My car was still being prepped when I arrived, so I had some time to kill with my fellow-jerseyboy sales guy Jimmy and got to ride along to the place around the corner that did their tinting and plastic shielding. Our ride over: a brand new Gallardo. Our ride back: Saleen S7. (Both there for chip film)

(If given my choice I'd have picked the Saleen. The Gallardo was sexier, but the Saleen was just nasty.)

Rot?

I've never seen rust on any of the 3's that my friends or family have. Maybe its more a Northern thing with salt/ice.

You have an Elise? I hate you. Why have I never heard of this until now? Please make a new thread for it, so i can drool.

Yeah, an 05 Elise (last year of a real cable throttle). I bought it new, loaded (Sport and Touring packages, hardtop) and had to fly to Miami for the right (Starlight black on black) car.

So I'm at the airport chatting up this disinterested Latina nugget while waiting for my dealership guys to pick me up. Mention I'm flying in to pick up a car, she doesn't bite. A blacked-out E350 with enormous gold Lamborghini logos pulls up for me, she abruptly turns to me all smiles and asks if I'm staying in town for a while.. ;^)

Sadly, I wasn't.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1374169675

Here's one with one of my DD's in the background. 3/5" dropped Escalade on 22's.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1374169996

love it. Question though. Why do you have a miata and an elise?

Correction: why do I have THREE Miatas, an Elise, a '47 Chevy Fleetmaster with a big block and tunnel ram, a '53 Chevy Pickup, a '59 Ford F100, a Smart, an Escalade, a Buell 1125r, one chopper I ride and two more almost complete?

Clearly it's a sickness.

Oh, and a Legends autox/track day car, and a '66 Chevy car hauler. And a '76 Hydrostream Viper...

I have so many cars I bought another house just to park them.

Oh shit.. And a '65 Scout. And a Kawasaki Teryx Monster Edition side by side.

There. I think that's it.

and here i was feeling all :cool: because I have two cars. LOL

Christ pinky! How do you have time to use/enjoy all of these cars? With my other hobbies I find i don't even have enough time to ride my buell AND drive my car as much as I would like. The bike has only seen maybe 500 miles this summer so far.

Well, one of the Miatas is getting a new turbo motor, as is the '59 F100, so they (and the two choppers being built) are out of rotation.

On any given day I drive either my DD '99 Miata or the Escalade. I used to DD the Smart, but the DD Miata replaced it and so the Smart is for sale. (It's murdered out and riding on Mercedes 17's.. Very dope.)

I drive the Scout very rarely, maybe 2-3 times a year; i've had it forever, and will have it forever. It's the only one of my cars with a "name". ("Earnest". Dont judge me.)

The Elise see's primarily date-night duty. I DD it occasionally, hence only having put under 2k miles a year on it since new.

The '47 and '53 Chevy's really only go out for shows/cruises.

The third Miata, a *ratty* matte black '93 with a limp M45 and Aids is used purely for flogging and hooliganism. We've been trying to blow it up for about a year to motivate me to part it out, but it chugs on, building a whopping 3-4 pounds of boost. It recently survived many rounds of backyard wide-open second gear dirt-tracking, just screaming at redline, but somehow the pistons did not change holes. I bought it cheap and use it only for idiot behavior.

Which leaves us with the Car Hauler, which is used every now and again, and the Legends car, which hasn't seen action in years.

Oh, and sometimes I run errands on the bikes. Highway = Buell, surface streets = chopper.

Funny how with all these different cars, most of my time is spent in a 99% stock Miata.

Still want an Elise or Exige. The motor is holding back though. I have two Celica's and kinda gotten out of liking the 2zz. Maybe its because they are FWD?

I've honestly been thinking when I get rid of the two celica and the second gen mr2 of getting something like a Civic Si...leave it stock and just drive it. I am not sure if I trust myself not to mod any car though.

Well this is a thread jack if I've ever seen one.

propped