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New, but not new

Old 08-05-2019 | 12:07 PM
  #1  
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Thought I had an account from 2010 or so when I first started looking at miata's, guess I was wrong?

Anyways, if you couldn't guess by my username, my name is Travis.

I've been seriously looking for a Miata for the past few years. Was always after a low mile 95M or a 97M. You might've seen my bounty on Facebook this yea as I've been growing impatient to say the least. Anyways, I recently did a 15 hour round trip to purchase my first miata. Ended up getting a 91, much to be desired, red Miata with hardtop for $1200 with 144k miles.


Rusty Boi

Runs pretty good, still in the process of getting it baseline'd. I never considered turboing the car I've been hunting for as I want to keep it original. Being that this car isn't close to being super nice, I've pondered autox and potentially drifting as my state has a decent scene.

Anyways, so here I am. Back to learn and absorb everything I can. Stayed up until 4am reading last night (mainly the Achulz thread )

I'll be making a post about an issue I'm facing as other platforms haven't been helpful. I rounded the aux pulley bolt while I was torquing it. The wrench I was borrowing wasn't calibrated correctly and over-torqued the bolt, rounding it. Now I'm in a pickle as nothing really fits through that pulley hole.

Anyways, thanks for providing a platform for us novice guys to learn.

Last edited by Travv801; 08-05-2019 at 12:22 PM.
Old 08-05-2019 | 01:01 PM
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Now that I'm at an actual keyboard, I'll do a better introduction.

My name is Travis, I'm 28. Based in Utah. Occupation is a business owner, specifically card games, board games, etc. (anyone want MTG for a kit? LOL)

I already gave an intro on the Miata I purchased, but I didn't exactly go into detail as what I'd like to do as of right now. I'm leaning towards a MKTurbo kit, partially because Lars appears to have awesome customer service, and I can get behind that. While I have 0 experience with turbos, I do my best to learn fast. Goal would be 200-300 HP, but I'm wanting to work on a budget, so that could limit the HP in the end. Will probably piece things together over a month or two until everything is sourced.

As for skills and experience with vehicles, I'd say I'm above your average car owner, but below majority of the members here. First vehicle was a 74 charger, which got swapped for a 74 roadrunner. The thing was over a jack stand more than a road... I've never welded, but have watched my father for hours. Plus, this gives me a reason to learn, right?

Anyways, I'm off to reading more stickies and posts.
Old 08-05-2019 | 01:09 PM
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Torque doesn't round heads of bolts. wrong sockets do.

Is it too late to suggest selling that 1.6 with its inferior drivetrain/ brakes, for something with less rust, more brake,engine, and a better diff? to be honest, you are starting at a pretty significant deficit (depending on your real plan) with that 91.

Heck, I would consider keeping the hardtop, and sell the rest of the car for 1000 bucks. winning.


SMH at driving 15 hrs for a rust bucket....
Old 08-05-2019 | 01:11 PM
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Sell the car and buy a 94-up. It will save you thousands in necessary upgrades just to be on par with the later cars. Seriously.
Old 08-05-2019 | 01:28 PM
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Originally Posted by ryansmoneypit
Torque doesn't round heads of bolts. wrong sockets do.

Is it too late to suggest selling that 1.6 with its inferior drivetrain/ brakes, for something with less rust, more brake,engine, and a better diff? to be honest, you are starting at a pretty significant deficit (depending on your real plan) with that 91.

Heck, I would consider keeping the hardtop, and sell the rest of the car for 1000 bucks. winning.


SMH at driving 15 hrs for a rust bucket....
I've read that a lot of the bolts on a miata are soft. searching m.net, there's SO many posts about rounding bolts. However, I get what you're saying.

This car is just a placement holder until I find that sub 60k 95M/97M. If I ended up boosting it, I'd hold onto it until finding a 1.8 miata to swap what I can to that. I should probably just do things right from the get go... Anyways, looks like this will be a natural aspirated autox vehicle for the time being.

Miata's sell for more than they should in Utah. Even with rust. Which is why I jumped on this vehicle from Vegas. Undercarriage is actually decent, can't say that for the quarter panels. I planned on cutting out the rusted part and getting my weld on.

Originally Posted by sixshooter
Sell the car and buy a 94-up. It will save you thousands in necessary upgrades just to be on par with the later cars. Seriously.
with what I've been reading, this is something I'm already leaning towards. I'd turn the $1200 purchase into about $3500 here in Utah (unless I keep the HT). I already have a search up locally for miata's, I'll refine it for 1.8/94+.

Thanks, Six and Ryan for the suggestions. I see you guys are active in help threads, so I appreciate your input in the new/noob member section.
Old 08-05-2019 | 01:39 PM
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Whats the hold up for a sub 100k mi. car? why the fixation? lots of really good 150 ish cars out there. All said and done, a 60k car has plastic and rubber bits that are still the same age as a 150k car.
Old 08-05-2019 | 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by sixshooter
Sell the car and buy a 94-up. It will save you thousands in necessary upgrades just to be on par with the later cars. Seriously.
This^.
Old 08-05-2019 | 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by ryansmoneypit
Whats the hold up for a sub 100k mi. car? why the fixation? lots of really good 150 ish cars out there. All said and done, a 60k car has plastic and rubber bits that are still the same age as a 150k car.
The fixation is my desire for a clean car. If I come across a clean car, original paint, etc that's over 100k, I'll consider it, but they generally want as much as a lower miles car.

Almost flew to Ohio for a brg last week. 40k miles, everything was great except the clear coat was peeling about the size of a quarter. To properly solve that is to repaint it, something I don't want to do with a vehicle I'm spending 7k on. Especially my strong want for original paint. I'm just picky with the vehicle I plan on keeping for a long time.

Went through the same thing on my 2003 gx470. Ended up flying to Chicago for a nice deal and drove it home. I'm willing to wait to find something I'm after generally.
Old 08-05-2019 | 03:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Travv801
The fixation is my desire for a clean car.
oh, isee
Old 08-05-2019 | 03:40 PM
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Found this in about 2 seconds. buy a 150 dollar plane ticket, drive home happy

https://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/...941864483.html



Old 08-05-2019 | 03:41 PM
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Or this one, a better year...

https://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/...935662437.html
Old 08-05-2019 | 03:43 PM
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Or this MSM with the FM upgrade. all of these are in the 5 k range..


https://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/...933215565.html
Old 08-05-2019 | 11:49 PM
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Thank for the links, Ryan.

I use autotempest and searchtempest for notifications of specific miata's nationwide. Great tool, I recommend checking it out if you haven't used it before.

As for the 1.6, I'm wanting to find a 1.8 to replace it before moving the other. I'm going through my backlog of Miata's that didn't cut it for the clean car, but will fit the bill of a project car.

I'll probably replace the valve cover gasket and throw some r134 in and be done working on my miata. No need to be more into it with me wanting to flip it sooner than planned.

Last edited by Travv801; 08-06-2019 at 12:03 AM.
Old 08-06-2019 | 06:20 AM
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Ok
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