Hello fellow Miata people and any random on the internet that may stumble upon this!
My name is Austin and I'm on my 3rd Miata ("Hi, Austin" reply all the miataholics).
I could just leave it at that but I'll talk a bit about my history with Miatas below:
The first one:
I got my first Miata when I had just turned 17. It was the first of many cars I would buy at the insurance auction and I clicked "Buy it now" for just $1250. The minimal damage shown in the picture below didn't even warrant a branded title!
IMG_0755 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/GRfpi8
Yes, it was a real R-Package. I didn't know it till after I sold it but it had the torsen, real R-Package lips, and every option under the sun besides a hardtop (Although it most likely came with one since I did have side-strikers)
Long story short, I didn't really treat this car right. I was 17, driving my first manual RWD car, and wanted to be like all the drift boys in my town. Since it was already a bit beat up I don't feel too bad but I certainly wish I would have kept the racing beat exhaust and diff before I sold it.
This is how it ended up looking and I can't believe it but I actually made money on this car (sold without hardtop).
IMG_0733 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/25qinTu
IMG_0734 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/23Kom8y
Once that was gone I strayed away from Miatas for a while. I flipped a few cars and was really enjoying driving something comfortable until it hit me again. That urge. Around March of every year I seem to have the urge to buy another. I have successfully resisted a few times but this time I didn't.
The Smurf One:
Well I can't really say I didn't. I expressed the urge to my father who woke me up a few mornings later and said, "I bought a Miata, you owe me $500.".
I was excited to have another but I knew that a $500 Miata would need a lot of work. This is it:
IMG_1224 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/23Konmf
(No, it didn't come with the hardtop)
It may not look too bad from that angle but the front end was pushed about 5 inches to the passenger side and we would end up breaking one of those BBS knock-offs while trying to pull it over with a come-along hooked to a truck.
IMG_1297 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/26ryD29
So I found the cheapest set of wheels I could find and parked it behind a friend's shop for almost 2 years. When we finally pulled it out this is how it emerged:
IMG_1312 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/25qinpy
To be honest, I just wanted my money back from this car until I drove it again.
I still had to take it to state inspection since it was from the insurance auction (still clean title) and get the hood to latch and somehow make it less heinous but at the beginning of last summer I started to bring it back to life.
We got it semi-straightened out. Not within spec but enough that the hood would latch again. I cleaned it up, found some turn signals, straight body panels, and replaced the back window. I also sold my mint condition Montego Blue HT that I paid $850 for :-(
But it was soon back on the road! It supposedly only had 78,xxx miles on it but the clutch went after only one drive in it. Whatever enthusiasm I had for that car was lost when I did my first clutch job on the floor of my garage. As you can see below the transmission was FILTHY and I ended up under the car for what felt like 4 days straight trying to work my way through this for the first time.
IMG_7910 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/25qiobo
After I put that in I sold the car for $2700 a few months later. Although I would miss driving a Miata for a while, I'm glad I sold that one.
The latest addition:
After 6 months without a Miata I was ready again. March came around and I knew I needed one. I spent hours combing Craigslist to find one. I wanted something that was cheap, mostly stock, and ready to cruise. This is what I got:
Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 3.26.50 PM by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/JnzHBN
Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 3.27.30 PM by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/JnzHuo
IMG_7129 by Austin Peterson, on Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/259kK2V
I'll save the details of the few things I have changed on the car for the build thread but here is how it came:
-1997 STO
-HVAC Delete and Coolant Reroute
-Depowered Rack
-FM Vmaxx Coilovers
-FM Vmaxx Sway Bars
-Energy Suspension Bushings all around
-Possibly Delrin diff bushings? (Still need to get under the car and verify)
-A (horribly) spray painted HT
Although it's not too practical I plan on mostly using it as something fun to rip around town and the mountains. I will probably end up taking it to a few autox events and would love to make it down to MRLS in September. It's the cheapest "fun car" I could get and it allows me to carry on my love for these tiny (in American standards) Japanese cars.
I look forward to keeping up on this forum, it's definitely my favorite that I've come across.