RIP soft top

 

Well I suck and did not take a single pic yet because life is super busy right now.

Drove back from PA beautifully the 5hr trip was great. I now get what people say about the high rpms at highway speeds.

Anyways, some info until i get pictures

-Red 92
No rust anywhere was kept garaged and covered. Looks like it was originally a B package because it has A/C, headrest speakers, Cruise control, p/s, abs
-200k+ on chassis
-90k on 1.8 swap (96 motor)
-45k on turbo setup

-Its got the gt2560r flyin' miata kit with the hydra ecu. 700cc injectors etc.

-Owner said it was a full stainless steel exhaust. Muffler is a twin tip borla for sure but I don't know if the exhaust is a full 3" all the way back doesn't sound like it.

-full metal rad. not sure what type but i will investigate later...

-ACT stage 1 clutch (seems a bit heavy? better or worse than the flyin' miata happy meal anyone know?)

-1.8 rear from same 96 the motor came from

-1.8 brakes all around

-tokico blues with some springs not sure which haven't got a chance to really get under her yet

-flyin' miata frame rails and butterfly brace

-glass softtop (no defrost tho whomp whomp)

-black leather seat covers

-random Alpine headunit

-turn signal intake vents (at least +20 hp obv.)

The two things I hate about the car:
The rear spoiler which is one of these: JKS® - Mazda Miata 1990-1997 Factory Style Rear Spoiler

They also did this to the hood (not as nicely)

which i hate that will be the first thing to go.

 

Sell me the wing.

 

I love the late 90s mustang hood though.

 

Get one

 

done deal if you've got a normal red trunk +cash

OR

a red trunk with a stock lip style spoiler

 

Not sure if sarcasm

but you can have mine if i can find a replacement for mine!

 

I do have a "normal" trunk lid. Paint isn't that great, though.

 

Will start a build thread soon (i know i haven't even posted a picture of the car yet...)

Haven't gotten the car registered yet because CT's DMV sucks and its impossible to go there and not spend 5+ hours in line.

However, I did pick up a hardtop and new hood this weekend. hardtop is a defrost/headliner version. The hood is to replace the mustang style one shown above.

 

I hate CT's DMV! They made me pay blue book sales tax on a car, even though I purchased it for well under that price. They can suck my dick. Moved away over a decade ago, and got a bill a couple years ago from them for registration, and tags for over $1500 on a car I hadn't owned in a decade. I ignored the **** out of them and they eventually stopped sending bills.

**** them.

Keith

 

Texas does that now too. Charging taxes on blue book as opposed to purchase price.

 

Well i now hate CT for a new plethora of reasons.

So i get to the DMV at 715am to wait in line for it to open at 745am.

Turns out CT now does not issue perm license plates to out of state vehicles until you pass emissions.


SOOOOO they charge you $20/week for temp plates and require you to go pass emissions then go BACK to the DMV and wait in line again to get an actual registration. And then pay again for actual plates.

So, my car doesn't have a cat but i thought *Well my WRX passed visual and sniffer inspection without a cat no problem*. However, the emissions gods hate me. The miata failed the sniffer.

Here's the kicker, since i refused to pay more than I was forced to for the temp plates, I only paid for one week of temp plates. So i now have 7 days to find a cat and slap it on there and putter down to get retested. I also don't know if I even have space for a cat AKA i don't know what exhaust setup the PO has on there since I've been crazy busy lately.

So all in all. **** CT

 

Find someone who wont check as thoroughly for a slightly larger fee.

 

In Texas they just ticket you if you tell them you drove it without plates. Needless to say I "never" drive mine up there when something is expired.

 

Sorry for your troubles.

I must admit that I got a slight chuckle out of reading this, however. A lot of East Coast people spend a lot of time bashing CA, and yet most of the complaining I hear about this sort of thing all takes place out here on the commie coast.

 

The cat area is easily visualized from the driver's side. Stick your jack under the mirror (good estimate for the front/back balance point on a miata) and jack it up. 20 seconds later you'll have an idea if it's got a bolted in test pipe you can easily replace, or if you'll need to have one welded in.

Please use jack stands once you're actually under the car.

I bought a $70 cat off ebay, along with a couple flanges. A few hours later my mig welder and I had a 3" cat for $80 so I can test every 2 years. YRMV, especially if you can't weld.

 

I wish there was still a way to do this in CT thats how i passed my DSM through emissions backs in the day. However, now all CT registered emissions stations are outfitted with cameras to ensure you don't tamper with the process. Or what alot of places used to do was enter your VIN then "test" a car they knew would pass.

 

I passed on HC (hydrocarbons) so the A/F is fine
My results were as follows:
HC: 129ppm on a limit of 188ppm PASS
CO: 1.38% on a limit of 1.00% FAIL
NOx: 2397ppm on a limit of 2188ppm FAIL

So I wasn't far off at all

 

Damn. That sucks.

 

So I had time to peek under my car today and check out what kind of exhaust setup is down there.

And I have a ******* cat. So the moron at Meineke that failed me on the visual test saying I didn't have a cat deserves to be knocked upside the head.

As far as my test results go, I am going to be a bit more intelligent this time. My failing test, I ran home from the DMV and shot down the street to the Meineke which is less than a 5-10 minute drive so the car had not gotten up to operating temperature and I don't think the car was in closed loop when testing so the car was probably running a bit rich causing the fail.

Tomorrow or Thursday I am going to go for a decent drive before getting tested to get the car up to operating temps and hopefully I pass there. If not, I'll keep the car unregistered until I get MS as I'm already annoyed by Hydra's ****-poor customer service and product support.


Oh yeah and I'm definitely NOT going to that Meineke again. I'm heading to the local Firestone where my pig rich WRX passes with flying colors.