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

thedguy said:
Oh sorry, I just ordered some of the parts, haven't actually got them. Also it's not front brakes, it's all 4 wheels. I refuse to upgrade only half of the braking system, just makes the car stop worse in the end.
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Well 2 new sets of brembo for my car is about $2000ish. I don't have the money to go all 4 : (
 
thedguy said:
Just finished it. While I was at it though I just ordered the bits to upgrade to 1.8l brakes (1" diameter increase in rotor size).

I love this car, so cheap to upgrade. $125 plus normal wear items (rotors and pads) to get a "big brake kit" if I really needed it I could go up another 1" from that without spending much more.
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It's cheap until you go to upgrade the calipers, last time I checked it was like $1,600 for the full kit. But there your seeing diminishing value. Rotors, pads, lines, and TIRES should give you the most bang for the buck in terms of fade and stoping distance.

Anyways I hate you still. I've made a deal with myself that I wont start messing with the Miata until the 944 is gone, and I've put at least $4K into my 401k this year. Plus a 1.8s with low miles and a LSD going for $6,000 look awful tempting.
 
D, I'll be coming to this thread for some inspiration as I'm gonna be picking one of these up next week. I don't know if I'm gonna drive it myself, or fix it up and resell it. I'm getting an amazing deal on it because it was my old neighbours and was in her drive when a car caught fire. Only real damage from the blaze (aside from a melted SUV and Volvo) are the tail lamps, rear bumper, and finish plate. Has 76k miles on it AND a hard top :cool: but needs a re-spray cause the paint is pretty faded. If I can fix it up, and get some good offers, I'll def sell it as the deal I'm getting on it, I could sell just the hardtop and make the money back.
 
Twerp128 said:
It's cheap until you go to upgrade the calipers, last time I checked it was like $1,600 for the full kit. But there your seeing diminishing value. Rotors, pads, lines, and TIRES should give you the most bang for the buck in terms of fade and stoping distance.

Anyways I hate you still. I've made a deal with myself that I wont start messing with the Miata until the 944 is gone, and I've put at least $4K into my 401k this year. Plus a 1.8s with low miles and a LSD going for $6,000 look awful tempting.
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Well since I'm sticking with factory parts and it's only to 1.8 brakes I don't need the calipers, just the brackets I ordered.

My tires aren't super sticky Azenies but they do surprisingly well. I just want my braking system to ALWAYS do what it should do when I push the middle pedal...scrub off speed.

No Boss said:
D, I'll be coming to this thread for some inspiration as I'm gonna be picking one of these up next week. I don't know if I'm gonna drive it myself, or fix it up and resell it.
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Do yourself a favor and at least try it on for a while, put an aggressive street alignment (look up "lanny's alignment" and some good tires on it. The only real complaint I have with the stock car is the amount of body roll.

Though prepare to be depressed by the handling of your Volvo afterward and wanting to make up for it with more power mods :p

I'm getting an amazing deal on it because it was my old neighbours and was in her drive when a car caught fire. Only real damage from the blaze (aside from a melted SUV and Volvo) are the tail lamps, rear bumper, and finish plate. Has 76k miles on it AND a hard top :cool: but needs a re-spray cause the paint is pretty faded. If I can fix it up, and get some good offers, I'll def sell it as the deal I'm getting on it, I could sell just the hardtop and make the money back.
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Post pics of the top, don't respray it until you at least ATTEMPT to rub out the paint on it. Especially if you plan to repaint it anyway, there is no reason not to try it, if you screw up and burn through the paint, you won't be out. Faded paint is usually just some oxidation of the clear coat. Polish/rubbing compound will bring it out. This car was PINK it was so faded when I got it, you can still see most of the color in the bumper, now it's bright red. If you do respray it, I highly recommend doing it black regardless of the car color and selling it separate from the car, unless the softtop is trashed.

Regardless the top in good or bad condition with all the hardware is easily good for $600, $1100 if it's perfect with good paint. The damn things just don't depreciate.
 
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No Boss said:
D, I'll be coming to this thread for some inspiration as I'm gonna be picking one of these up next week. I don't know if I'm gonna drive it myself, or fix it up and resell it. I'm getting an amazing deal on it because it was my old neighbours and was in her drive when a car caught fire. Only real damage from the blaze (aside from a melted SUV and Volvo) are the tail lamps, rear bumper, and finish plate. Has 76k miles on it AND a hard top :cool: but needs a re-spray cause the paint is pretty faded. If I can fix it up, and get some good offers, I'll def sell it as the deal I'm getting on it, I could sell just the hardtop and make the money back.
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You wont be selling it.
 
^No need for that

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I find it funny that as small as these cars are, there is more head room with the top up in it than in many of my friends cars, both the S14 240sx and FC RX7 come to mind.

I'm king with the top down. :thumbsup:

BTW, am I the only one who thinks the stock seats feel like they make you sit to high, or am I just used to the factory recaro (rip-offs?) in Is model BMW's?
 
No, me too.

The stock seats in my 944 hold you good, are low, but aren't tiring. In the Miata my ass hurts after an hour and I'm constantly looking under roof to see stop lights, why I took off the sun visors.
 
That roll bar does make things look better : )
 
What you need on the Miata is T-T-T-TURBO POWER!!!
 
thedguy said:
Was up early as hell this morning so decided to drive through Los Padres National Forest (300mile round trip, out of boredom)
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My brother just got finished with an internship at that park! I was up there this August, not exactly Miata friendly roads. My brother has some great videos of sliding a F-350 though.
 
Steve, it's getting it on sunday. Hopefully my 1.8 brake upgrade will be done by then :thumbsup:

edit: Posmo: I swear the Drive-through incident is true.
 
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thedguy said:
Was up early as hell this morning so decided to drive through Los Padres National Forest (300mile round trip, out of boredom)
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I hate people who have time/monies/a nice car to do something like this!

then again I will be driving a Mini Cooper convertible in circles next week, so I'm getting there ;) :p
 
Well consider I didn't actually go TO any particularly place. I merely drove so it was just the cost of fuel and refreshments.

It is nice having the time though ;)
 
well, fuel costs lots of monies to us Euros... so cost IS an issue...
 
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