Let's see your Miata! (Page 2/2)
Raydar JUL 24, 04:24 PM

quote
Originally posted by carnut122:

OK- I'll stay tuned to see what transpires.
...



Gee, I've never had a stalker follower before.
Well... that chick from Tennessee counts, I guess. But probably only to ten.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 07-24-2012).]

carnut122 JUL 24, 07:03 PM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:


Gee, I've never had a stalker follower before.
Well... that chick from Tennessee counts, I guess. But probably only to ten.




Every time I talk to you, you have a different vehicle-it's cheap entertainment. She may only be able to count to ten, but she plays a mean Dueling Banjos.
Raydar JUL 24, 10:41 PM
Well now you've been introduced to "the herd".
No other surprises are in store, that I know of.

The only one with less than 100K on it is Tammy's van, and she's racking them up with efficiency.
It's got like 86K on it, and it's an '09. (She drives to Nashville or Memphis 3 times per month, on average.)
Carcenomy JUL 25, 04:17 AM
Ahhh, the MX5 Miata. I've never owned one but I've driven a buttload of NAs. Was introduced to them when my brother upgraded from his Eunos Presso (MX3) to an NA6C Eunos Roadster. That car was a bit of a basketcase but by the time he sold it on, it was fantastic. Now a couple of my friends have MX5s too, one has an NA6C with some japanese aftermarket turbo kit, the other a really nice NA8C. Absolutely fantastic little cars, was a toss-up between buying my '86 T-top and an MX5...

If you want to do an engine swap but not totally mutilate the Jinba-Ittai (hahahahahaha! Oh Mazda...) take a look at the 90s Kia Sportage with the 2.0L DOHC motor. That's no Kia powerplant, that's the Mazda FE-DOHC in disguise, the bigblock Mazda four of the era. They take to boost like ducks to water and even unboosted, swap in the proper Mazda cams and you'd have a nice naturally aspirated MX5 that has torque to back it up.

Ed: Oh, and glass rear window. Do it. Best upgrade ever. Take the whole frame and everything from an NB, bolts directly to the NA.

[This message has been edited by Carcenomy (edited 07-25-2012).]

Raydar JUL 28, 12:26 AM

quote
Originally posted by Stubby79:

My '91 a year ago, just after purchasing it:


I've since repaired some body damage, painted the lower half of the bumpers flat black to match the sides, replaced the exhaust (has a beautiful tone now!), replaced the brakes and put a new soft top on it.
Has half a billion miles on it and will be getting a new engine this winter, if all goes well.



I like it! I want a hardtop! Ours started out as a "body repair project" too.
I've replaced the left door and the front bumper cover (got center punched by a trailer hitch.) Adjusted the hood and headlight doors.
Still needs a panel fixed behind the left door, but it's not too noticeable.


quote
Originally posted by Carcenomy:
...Absolutely fantastic little cars, was a toss-up between buying my '86 T-top and an MX5...

If you want to do an engine swap but not totally mutilate the Jinba-Ittai (hahahahahaha! Oh Mazda...) take a look at the 90s Kia Sportage with the 2.0L DOHC motor. That's no Kia powerplant, that's the Mazda FE-DOHC in disguise, the bigblock Mazda four of the era. They take to boost like ducks to water and even unboosted, swap in the proper Mazda cams and you'd have a nice naturally aspirated MX5 that has torque to back it up.

Ed: Oh, and glass rear window. Do it. Best upgrade ever. Take the whole frame and everything from an NB, bolts directly to the NA.




Interesting that you made that comparison. I find the Miata to be a much more precise car than my Fiero. (Don't tell anyone ) It's much easier to drive hard. (Doesn't make me love my Fiero any less, however.)

Thanks for the tip on the Sportage. I've heard the Mazda Protege' used the same, or similar motor as the Miata. Don't recall if it's bigger or not, however.
And yeah... I wouldn't mind the glass window at all. But since the car came with a new top, I'll just have to suffer with the plastic one for a while. The NB top/and framework is also a popular upgrade here.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 07-28-2012).]

FieroMaster88 JUL 28, 08:40 AM
Someday I will buy a Miata, or a BMW Z3, or a MG. Not sure which I want. Leaning towards the MG.
Carcenomy JUL 29, 02:40 AM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:
Interesting that you made that comparison. I find the Miata to be a much more precise car than my Fiero. (Don't tell anyone ) It's much easier to drive hard. (Doesn't make me love my Fiero any less, however.)

Thanks for the tip on the Sportage. I've heard the Mazda Protege' used the same, or similar motor as the Miata. Don't recall if it's bigger or not, however.
And yeah... I wouldn't mind the glass window at all. But since the car came with a new top, I'll just have to suffer with the plastic one for a while. The NB top/and framework is also a popular upgrade here.



At the time, there were two families of Mazda 4-cylinder - the F blocks and the B blocks. The Fs are usually in bigger cars like the 626/MX6 whereas the Bs were smaller cars like the 323, MX3, MX5. A lazy upgrade is the BPT 1.8 Turbo from the 323/Familia GT-X. However in NA form at least, the MX5's unit is as good as any. The FE-DOHC is the JDM 2.0 DOHC that the first generation MX6 guys all lust for, so usually rather than pay the money for the JDM unit, the american guys use the KIA unit instead. The only differences of note are the crankshaft (the KIA uses an eight-bolt pattern, like the Mazda R block diesels versus six-bolt like the JDM) and the cams (KIA uses weaker cam combinations for emissions etc than the JDM part).

But enough about that! The MX5 is a blast even if it's not making mega power!
Stubby79 JUL 29, 05:29 AM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:
I like it! I want a hardtop! Ours started out as a "body repair project" too.
I've replaced the left door and the front bumper cover (got center punched by a trailer hitch.) Adjusted the hood and headlight doors.
Still needs a panel fixed behind the left door, but it's not too noticeable.



Yeah, I had to have the hard-top. I had a convertible when I first moved here, but within a couple of weeks of parking it when the insurance was up, it had the roof cut while being broken into. I wouldn't dare park in our parking garage without the hard top on. Like I did today, as the insurance on it just ran out!