I bought my daughter a 1996 M back in 2012 when she was in high school. It was an automatic and had NOT been well cared for. I got it for free...but had to pay the shop diag fee where the girl that gave it to me had it towed. After finding and installing a new trans...among other "mods" she drove that car for about 4 years. I really enjoyed tinkering on it. I recently sold my 2006 Saleen supercharged mustang and wanted a new project. The memory of that miata kept coming to mind. So I started looking. Finally just about the day before CL started charging $5 for auto listings, I found my car. 2001 Special Edition with 106k miles. Picked it up for $3k and started working on it right away. I may F/I it but I'm not 100% sure yet. Changed all the fluids, rebuilt the shifter, got Cobalt dual tip muffler with roadstersport midpipe. I've had it exactly a month so a lot is up in the air. I'm the 3rd owner and there are zero service records so right now, I've got it torn down waiting for parts to finish up the TB/WP/Seals etc job.

Wow....long winded first post. Look forward to getting to know you folks.

Dale


The day I brought it home

 

Howdy Dale! What part of the world are you in?

That's a handsome looking car. I'd say you did well.

As a former old musclecar guy I can definitely say lightweight cars grow on you by being so much fun.

 

I'm in Raleigh, NC. Been in this area all my 50 years. And I'm already agreeing with you...I've only put a couple hundred miles (at the most) but I love this little car. Rebuilding the shifter and fluid change made a WORLD of difference. It needs shocks but still handles damn fine. I bought it knowing I'd "have to" tinker with it so it's no surprise. It will eventually be my DD ... to help keep the miles off my Tacoma.

Dale
----------------
2001 SE build #2052

 

Nice. Enjoy.

 

Shifter rebuild can make a big difference for sure. Do you have the 5-speed or 6-speed? I think your car came with a six. If so, there's an expensive aftermarket shifter that really improves shifting feel and the ability to find the right gear every time. The tall angled shifter from Miata Roadster is the one to have. I think I got mine from Goodwin Racing.

Suspension is another place where the right upgrades versus the wrong upgrades on our cars can make a huge difference. There are some nice off-the-shelf options but a lot of us build our own coilovers out of Bilstein shocks and off-the-shelf Springs. There is a DIY Bilstein thread in the suspension section.

If you are willing to drop the coin the Xida XL is a top-of-the-line option 4 off-the-shelf coilovers.

 

Yikes! I only paid $3k for the car...dropping another $2k on coilovers probably not in the cards You're right, I have the 6 speed transmission. Thanks for the tips, I'm still figuring out what I want to do with this little guy.

 

You're probably going to be a good candidate for the budget Bilstein DIY setup, then. It makes the car much more settled and controlled.

 

Price of the car is irrelevant when it comes to cost to properly mod it.