New from Ohio
 

Hey,

So this past summer I took the plunge and finally bought a Miata. I've been tinkering with my 2000 cavalier too long, and wanted something a little more worthy of modding. :-)

Anyway, I found a 96 Miata with the PEP package, 114K miles and in fair condition for $2500.

Nothing really is wrong with it, except uh.. Well it's kinda obvious. I needs some paint! There really aren't any mods done to it. It has KYB shocks and that's about it.

Anyway, first order of buisness is painting it. Then I was planning on getting a MSPNP. I don't know the first thing about tuning, so it's time to start reading some sticky's to see how I can squeeze a bit more power out of the stock engine before, eventually, going turbo.

I hear miata's are pretty good cars to learn on, and they are very easy to work on, so I'm hoping this is a nice clean slate for me to try my first turbo build. I only have a few pics since it's still winter here, and didn't bother taking that many when I first bought it.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...90922-1935.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...00206-1048.jpg

And finally, the PIMPALIER! 197K miles, all original engine and tranny, no rebuilds, very few things have been replaced. Makes for a good DD. ;-)
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...92628882_l.jpg

Also, anyone know of some good paint shops in central ohio that give good quality paint with reasonable prices?

Awesome to find someone nearby that's looking to go turbo! Sorry, can't help you out with the paint shop deal - I've been looking for one myself for when I get my rebuild complete. You're going to have a blast, and it sounds like you've planned a good route by putting the ECU at the top of the priority list instead of at the bottom. Feel free to yell at me if you need any help!

Ah, cool you're only like 20-30 mins away from me.

Do you know of any Miata car clubs around here?

buckeyemiataclub.com

adult group of enthusiats, they put on monthly miata-centric auto-x events during the warm months, and do lots of other fun stuff. couple of supercharged guys in there - i havent really gotten to know them a whole lot, about the time my interests peaked, i got called up for deployment :( the culture is more "m.net" than "mt.net" or "cr.net", they are an open minded group though.

there is a small "cr.net" contingent in the area too, they meet up maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Last meet I saw posted was on the north side (polaris area).

I'm in Marysville and have a montego blue '95 that is turboed. I know of at least two more turbocharged miata guys and two supercharged miata guys I work with.

Actually I'm selling some of my turbo stuff and my MSPnP, it's made for a 94-95, but could probably be modded to fit your 96. The manifold, turbo and downpipe would fit your car if you're interested. I don't know when you were planning on buying your turbo stuff...

Anyways, welcome.

Hmm... Interesting. What would be involved in modding it? I would definitely be interested in that if it could work.

I'm not sure what would be needed to mod my MS to get it to work with your '96. I do know that the 94-95s are different then the 96-97s (OBDI vs. OBDII) so I'm sure something would need to be changed.

It might not be worth it depending on the amount of work it takes...

not trying to be a deterrance, as i've never worked with the MS, but it sounds like a painful conversion OBD --> OBDII

I'd post up / search in the ECU section to see what you can come up with - there's LOTS of MS experience on this board (though i imagine you may have posted on it already)

Welcome, Another Ohioan is a good thing to hear. Im from the west side of cleveland, but for the next six months im living in mt vernon ohio, about an hour north east of columbus. Hopefully later this summer I'll have a ride put together so that I can hang out with some other miata enthusiasts. If you need anything feel free to PM me or something, I'd be happy to help.