Ownership Verified: 1.6 Liters of gayness... '90 MX-5

thedguy

rides with Rebecca Black.. in the back
Joined
Jun 18, 2004
Messages
9,006
Location
Orange California
Car(s)
(OO=[][]=OO)
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/thedguy/2008/12/14/uno.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/thedguy/2008/12/14/tres.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/thedguy/2008/12/14/five.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/thedguy/2008/12/14/six.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/thedguy/2008/12/14/7.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/thedguy/2008/12/14/quattro.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/thedguy/2008/12/14/dos.jpg


It was formerly an automatic 1.6l owned by some (rather good looking) girl from New Mexico. Unfortunately I'm down on power by about 10-15 compared to the factory manuals. The plus side is I get .5 less compression so I can run more boost when I go turbo :thumbsup:

I picked it up for the pricey sum of $0. Ripped the a/c and power steering out of it as the pump on the a/c was bad and PS is utterly pointless on a car so light. It's also lacking a top as the back window decided to separate and the car will be getting a hard top after the roll bar. Wheels are Team Dynamics 16x7's.

Future plans, are to get the damn fender properly repaired/replaced. I'm on the hunt for a roll bar that'll fit in the hard top (probably a hard dog hardcore) and the Flying Miata frame rails.

After riding in a 2001 Sport Package with every factory brace known to man, spring rates over twice stock, same wheel/tire combo I have, and still better riding than my car, and it's significantly faster with 2 people in the car and more factory weight, I'm sold.

edit: some of the bracing I'm looking at buying

carbing lower arm bar
Flyin' Miata Cannon rear subframe brace (based on the RB unit but better built, RB brace has problems with the bolt holes elongating after a year).
Hard dog hardcore roll bar
boss from arms
 
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How's the Miata without PS? I'm on a quest to lighten mine up, looking at loosing the A/C, some carpets, possibly the radio, not sure if I really need power steering.

I hear the Flyin' Miata braces really work, that and the sway bars.
 
no no no, its "MAN LOVE RULES, OK!"


Enjoy that little chilly pepper, i wish we still had "wet" weather here :(. Its raining salt.
 
Great little car.

I sometimes think I would like to get one myself as a little project car. But I think 3 cars is a bit excessive for me. And I don't plan on selling the Toyota any time soon.
 
Lower that bitch!

:p Nice find.
 
How's the Miata without PS? I'm on a quest to lighten mine up, looking at loosing the A/C, some carpets, possibly the radio, not sure if I really need power steering.

I hear the Flyin' Miata braces really work, that and the sway bars.

I LOVE it without the pump. I drove it a while with just the belt disconnected and hardly noticed it. I looped the lines (though not sure it's proper...) an other than dead stop it's easy as pie to drive, the tiniest of movement and it turns easily.

The flyin miata braces essentially emulate all the ones on the 2001 sport package, though I've heard the butterfly brace is pointless, especially with a roll bar.

The nice thing about having NO AC is that if I hit the "A/C" button it now just turns the idle up and runs both my rad fans. Not that I've ever needed them to come on even after hard running in the canyons.

Lower that bitch!

:p Nice find.

Working on it
 
The nice thing about having NO AC is that if I hit the "A/C" button it now just turns the idle up and runs both my rad fans. Not that I've ever needed them to come on even after hard running in the canyons

:lol:

What about a Monster Miata build? Although I have to say it is quite weird to hear a grumbling V8 coming from such a prissy-looking car.

Oh and how the hell did you get that car for free?
 
So when is the KLZE or 13BT or LS1 swap going to happen ? ;):p
 
Is the tremendous amount of fender gap caused by the stock springs or wrong size tires?
 
where can I find cars like that for a similar amount of monies?

cool car, I'd drop it down a bit though, those wheels are too big
 
:lol:

What about a Monster Miata build? Although I have to say it is quite weird to hear a grumbling V8 coming from such a prissy-looking car.

Oh and how the hell did you get that car for free?

Only v8 I'd probably do is a Rover/Buick 215. I got the car for free because of some family issues at the time involved me doing a lot of work for no money.

Nice car! Have fun with trying to mod your car with CARB EO parts.

Don't need an EO number to put in a Roll bar, chassis bracing, springs/struts, etc. ;) The best mod I can do right now is improve the abilities of the part between the seat and steering wheel.

Even so, plenty of legal swaps I could do, and you'd probably shit bricks if I took the time to list the CARB legal power mods (turbo kits galore, thanks to an engine that is built for turbo's).

It's great :) Pop-up lights!

Shame about automatic, kinda kills the purpose of a miata :(

Was an automatic. I never drove the car with a functioning unit. It was a manual swap in it or sell it and keep my 87 Sentra/Sunny.

So when is the KLZE or 13BT or LS1 swap going to happen ? ;):p

I'd love to do either of the former, the latter is just fucking nuts. Sadly I doubt any of them will happen. It's raining too hard to drive the car (remember no top) and I'm already feeling a bit emo. Don't know how I'd go weeks on end with it on jack stands sans engine.

Is the tremendous amount of fender gap caused by the stock springs or wrong size tires?

The tires are marginally larger in diameter than stock. It's stock springs with about 5-10% of the cars weight missing. The damn thing has better ground clearance than my Ford!
 
Definitely a nice find.

Anyhow, find some quality springs and lower it! Bears hate wheel gap. lol
 
I LOVE it without the pump. I drove it a while with just the belt disconnected and hardly noticed it. I looped the lines (though not sure it's proper...) an other than dead stop it's easy as pie to drive, the tiniest of movement and it turns easily.

The flyin miata braces essentially emulate all the ones on the 2001 sport package, though I've heard the butterfly brace is pointless, especially with a roll bar.

The nice thing about having NO AC is that if I hit the "A/C" button it now just turns the idle up and runs both my rad fans. Not that I've ever needed them to come on even after hard running in the canyons.



Working on it

So that's it lose the A/C and PS. The 944 didn't have PS and made in-town driving a bit difficult, but the 944 was a bit heavier with much bigger tires. Still debating whether I need the top, I use the car nearly daily (in season), and I hear you need two people to put on a hard top, but I imagine you lose at least 100 lbs. by losing the top. But then if I take it on long drives I need to use the hard top :(
 
So that's it lose the A/C and PS. The 944 didn't have PS and made in-town driving a bit difficult, but the 944 was a bit heavier with much bigger tires. Still debating whether I need the top, I use the car nearly daily (in season), and I hear you need two people to put on a hard top, but I imagine you lose at least 100 lbs. by losing the top. But then if I take it on long drives I need to use the hard top :(

I took the entire softop assembly myself, it's unlikely anywhere near that heavy. The a/c pump is heavier than the entire top.

I'm going hard top myself, I don't want to hassle with worrying about my top getting slashed or falling apart (again).

chibisf said:
Definitely a nice find.

Anyhow, find some quality springs and lower it! Bears hate wheel gap. lol

I hate wheel gap as well, but I'm trying to find proper suspension, not just something that will make it look better. If I really cared about the looks I'd be getting the fender fixed properly and painted before anything else. :cool:
 
AM I only the only one who noticed the 240Z and Ford fat fender in the background?
 
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