Hey guys, I figured I'd post up an intro thread and share a little story of how I got my Miata, some background on my car history, and just a general introduction. This forum seems pretty informative and active, which is what I was looking for. I'm very active over on Mazdaspeedforums.org and was looking for a Miata specific forum to frequent. I apologize in advance for the long read. My favorite threads to browse are people's intros and build threads as I love to see what people work on, what styles they like, and what other kind of automotive interests they have so I like to provide the same for other people out there like me. I feel I am very much a true "enthusiast" and enjoy talking about anything and everything car related.
A little background on myself: I'm a Firefighter/Medic for two departments in Central Virginia. I work full-time for a large metro department and part-time for a much smaller mostly volunteer rural department. About to be married, no kids, a spoiled brat dog, blah blah blah.
On to car stuff. I have been into cars since I was 18 and my first "build" was a 1990 Nissan 240SX. I had it for 5 years and brought it from bone stock to barely street legal and almost race prepped. All work done to it was done by myself and I really took the time to learn about cars and how they work. It was my pride and joy through college, and even though I started with no formal training on mechanics, I have since gotten to the point where I do any and all automotive repairs on the side for friends and family It's quite rewarding to be able to learn something completely new by reading and just going out and getting your hands dirty.
I did go through a slight Hellaflush phase, but quickly realized that I'm all about function over form (though form is still very important to me!) Unfortunately the latest picture I have of it was during this phase, and do not have any pictures of when it had meaty tires, was raised up for optimal handling, and had the roll cage done. Here it is:
It was then decided that driving it every day was too much of a hassle. I decided to try to be a "grown-up" and sell my silly race car for something more practical. Man, what a mistake. I very quickly learned that I needed something fun, fast, and impractical in my life that I could tinker with and work on. My newly acquired 2005 Ford Escape just wasn't cutting it. So I went out and bought this:
2005 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R 636. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before going down. I am a very competent rider, but some situations are just unavoidable. I was hit while out on a gorgeous spring day by someone who came around a blind corner and across the double yellows into my lane. He didn't even stop after the hit...
Luckily, I was wearing full protective gear and managed to escape only with a pesky soft-tissue shoulder injury that took a year to fully recover from. It took a lot of time and money, but eventually I was able to build her back up better than before:
I toyed around with racing it for a bit, but it was mostly a back road weekend warrior. However, the bug to get back into a car started biting hard. My Escape began having problems that I didn't want to spend the money on to fix, so car shopping began. I ended up with something much more "me" as my friends put it, a 2009 Mazdaspeed3. Since I had already raced a RWD car and a bike, the urge to learn how to properly drive a FWD car was strong. I had always liked how the first gen Speed3s looked and it still offered the functionality that my Escape provided in regards to being able to carry around all my gear for work. Plus, it is black, which I am sure by now you guys can see is my color of choice. I told myself it was going to stay stock. Yeah, right...
Then, as if a fast car and a bike weren't enough, this gem fell into my lap for $250. Yes, $250. Running and driving. It also happened to be another vehicle on my list of "hey, I've always wanted one of those!"
I quickly found out that a car, Jeep, and motorcycle was slightly excessive, especially given my living situation at the time of my small bachelor-pad apartment in downtown Richmond with no off-street parking. So, since I could make the most money out of it, the motorcycle was sold.
For a while I was content with what I had. I got engaged, moved to other apartments, fixed up the Jeep here and there, and eventually was able to move into a house (finally, a place where I know I'll always have a parking spot!) And the best part, was the house not only met my one requirement of having a garage, but it far exceeded it:
Detached from the house, 2 1/2 car garage PLUS workshop. Oh, and that Cherokee ended up just being a donor vehicle for the YJ. So, now I had a place to work. I began by tearing into the Wrangler and doing a fuel injected motor swap (hence the Cherokee). It ultimately has turned into a frame-off pseudo-restoration though. This is pretty much as it sits currently:
When I am done, however, it will be pretty much completely brand new underneath with a freshened up motor and trans. Plus, in the end I'm still less than $4k into it all together, which is still less than a rust free YJ goes for around here that doesn't have all brand new brakes, suspension, steering, etc. I'm hoping that I'll have the time to finish up the Jeep over the next few months. All I've been waiting for is some warmer weather to start sanding and painting some of the body before I drop it back on. All of the engine and chassis stuff has been long done.
So, with the Speed and the Jeep project going on, I wasn't exactly in the market for a new car. However, the Miata just kind of fell into my lap for way too good a deal to pass up. A lot of the Speed3 guys over on MSF have Miatas as second cars and they absolutely love them. I had driven a friends 99 base a couple years back, but it was nothing special as far as I was concerned, and it actually handled quite poorly based on all the hype. I think he had just modified it a bit untastefully in my opinion, as it certainly wasn't built to maximize performance. With everyone raging over how they loved their Miatas though, I considered the possibility of picking one up after the Jeep is done to be my next build.
It ended up that a Chief from my full-time job gave me a call one day and asked me if I happened to know anyone that was in the market for a Miata since he knew I worked on cars (particularly Mazdas). He told me what he was asking for it (which was already below market value for this area) and joked that if I wanted it he would sell it to me for significantly less. I put some thought into it, but decided that with the wedding coming up in May that it would be financially irresponsible for me to buy it. He asked if he could at least bring it by for me to look over to let him know what other potential buyers may see that would make him have to alter his asking price or anything.
He brought it by, and my first impression was "eh, it's just a Miata, nothing special." It was dirty, it needed some maintenance, and had been sitting for a while. However, it did start right up and ran really well. I gave him some advice and thought he was on his way. He then asked me if I wanted to take it for a spin. I agreed, and he told me to drive it hard as he wanted to know my true opinion. Well, I'm sure you can see where this is going from here...
I was HOOKED. I now get the hype of why so many people absolutely love these cars. Even with spark plugs that have never been changed, a NASTY air filter, horribly soft brakes, and worn out clutch with squealing throw out bearing it drove AWESOME. I knew I had to have it and that if I was ever going to consider a Miata that now was the time because I was never going to find another one with a straight, rust free body and low(ish) miles for the price.
So, here she is: 1999 base, bone stock, with 102k miles.
Like I mentioned, it certainly needs some maintenance done that I will be knocking out over the next few weeks (or months depending on how finances are for the wedding). I already have a full compliment of tune up goodies on the way, and the timing belt/water pump, clutch, and brakes are next on the list.
But, the first order of business was a good vacuuming and cleaning ;)
Sorry again for such a long read you guys. If you made it this far without getting bored, feel free to post up and let me know what you think. I'll update with mods as they come, as I'm sure it won't be stock for long, and will definitely be seeing some track time. I'll be reading through the other intros and build threads on here as like I said I love reading about people's personal builds.
Oh, and one more picture...my garage is now getting slightly cramped and it's beginning to get a bit ridiculous in there. Not pictured in the corner behind the Miata is a DISI build for my buddy's Speed3 that we are dropping in this weekend.