The Slow Pursuit of Vintage.

[73Bacon]

If you want to rename this thread, let me know.

Looking forward to the updates!

Call this car/build “BtB”. Better than Betty. Upwards and onwards with a little bit of tribute thrown in there.

And sorry for your loss. I hate crash announcement posts they eat a little piece of my soul. It seems like I see so many these days. After 28 years of having mine it’s a post I hope I never have to make.

[MaRcOp01o]

So I just read your whole build from page 1-21 and holy hell what a beautiful build Betty was and I am happy to see you were ok and that you found a new pallet to paint on.

So now for the real question. where are the updates?!!!

[JamieH]

So I just read your whole build from page 1-21 and holy hell what a beautiful build Betty was and I am happy to see you were ok and that you found a new pallet to paint on.

So now for the real question. where are the updates?!!!

Sadly, there will not be any updates any time soon. Or at the very least with any accurate predictability.

But, and this is important, Betty will be repaired. At no point have I lost sight of that. If you want an update, the best I can give everyone is that I have been saving up for her repair and repaint. From the estimates from a couple of shops, I have enough to get it done. But, and there's always a but, I feel that I need a bit more to be on the safe side.

I still need to source a HT. And I have not been liking the way HT prices have been going. I would absolutely love to get my hands on one of the new HTs Mazda produced for the restoration program, but it seems I missed out on buying one from Mazda, or any source really.

Which, if anyone knows someone with one of those they'd be willing to let go, to sell, get them in touch with me or send me their info.

I'm not adverse to buying an old OEM top, but it needs to be minty and a defrost/headliner top. Color wouldn't matter, but I don't want to pay a premium for a top in a rarer color knowing I'm going to repaint it Brilliant Black. What does matter is HT trim and rubber, as well as a lack of any cracks or damage to the HT itself.

I also still need, at a bare minimum, a '97 specific driver's side door. I do not want to moddify the door panel at all to fit a non-'97 door. It's a minor difference, bit the inside is shaped slightly different to accomdate the '97 door panel uppers.

I know it's not a difficult mod to fit '97 door panels to non-'97 doors, I've done it for my Laguna. But there are some things I simply do not want to compromise on when it comes to Betty.

That's just a couple of things involved in my Betty restoration plans. While that and many other things are being worked out I'm balancing building Rose, my Laguna, how I envision her.

Which after Betty, the bar is set pretty high for any NA I own. I admit that Betty has spoiled me with how good and nice an NA can be. To the point I would say should be. I did it to myself, but also, and it's hard to explain this over the internet, but Betty was a very good Miata even before I started modding her. Not by way of options or rarity or anything like that, but more in condition and just overall reliability. Betty has always been a car that did not show her true mileage from her appearence or feel. It's always been a surprise for people to learn that her mileage is much higher than expected. Sure, my efforts are part of that, but I don't believe my efforts alone would have half the results they had if not for her being a solid car to begin with.

Well, that got much longer than I meant for it to be far quicker than I realized. But the main point is, Betty will return and Rose will be a worthy stablemate. Both are just on long journeys dependent on me as their navigator, so it may take a while.

[MaRcOp01o]

Hey Jamie,

I appreciate the great response and I know you put an insane amount of focus into your miatas after reading the whole thread. I really look forward to seeing both cars again and would love to see them in person one day! And I know all about worry about restoration and figuring out costs I am in the middle of that right now on the B-Spec. I really want everything perfect and I have just been compiling a list of stuff I need so that is why the B-Spec really doesn't have any new parts lol. But I am very happy to see that both of your cars are still very much in the picture!

[JamieH]

UPDATE!

Today is a good day. It's a great day. I haven't said anything to anyone because I wanted to wait til I had the parts here. Brand new OEM HT, windshield, front & rear bumpers, and a few small things. I'll still be gathering parts, but some of the major parts for Betty's restoration are taken care of now.

Everything was ordered through Tasca Parts during their Black Friday weekend sale. Not a big sale, only a maximium of 10% off on that Saturday, but when dealing with parts of this nature, 10% is a bit more money. And to be honest, I feel that they do have some of the best prices on OEM parts to begin with.

Anyways, the real reason I went with Tasca to get this stuff is because they had the new OEM HT at about tje lowest price anywhere and that 10% off really made it cheaper than anywhere else. But before ordering I did call to see if they could get it, as their site is more of a parts listing than in stock inventory. I was told there was 1 in CA, and they could get it, but it'd be at least a week. I'm in no obvious rush, so that would be fine, so I asked about the OEM windshield availability. It to was available and also would take a week. Again, no problem.

I was on the fence about the OEM bumpers, but am glad I pulled the trigger on them. Expensive at $300ea, but will be worth it in the long run over trying to get old used OEM bumpers that don't have any warping from age (especially the front bumper).

I was sorta guessing on the bumper support panel replacement, as it was difficult finding a parts diagram showing it that made it 100% clear what it was. But I guessed correctly.

Not pictured are new OEM exterior door window moldings. And oh. My. Word. They are soooo minty and fresh looking.

Other parts are new OEM door weatherstrip, both sides, the windshield reveal molding, a new defroster switch (Rose needs her own), and all coolant hoses. I want to do a bit of preventive maintenance on Rose. About all of her OEM constant tension clamps have been replaced with worm gear clamps. And I really don't care for those. So I might as well refresh her coolant hoses when I swap those all out for OEM clamps.

OK, so enough of my yammering, here's the pics.











And parts tucked away for now.



I am absolutely ecstatic to have gotten that HT! That was a big wish/hope to get item. I really want to be able to make Betty as nice as I possibly can. And I feel that having a brand new OEM HT ready to be painted when she gets painted is a big part of that. Paint matching doesn't get any better than everything getting painted from the same mix.

Now to track down some '97 specfic doors.

[—Martin—]

Wow!!!

[oldgrayleather]

Congrats Jamie, that is an amazing haul!!!!!!!! Can’t wait to see Betty after all this love and attention!

[MaRcOp01o]

Holy hell I am jealous. I cant wait to see everything installed!!!

[— Phatmiata —]

Damn son!!! hahahahhaa where did you manage to find the OEM Hardtop? Those have been SOLD OUT since 2018!

[JamieH]

Damn son!!! hahahahhaa where did you manage to find the OEM Hardtop? Those have been SOLD OUT since 2018!

I know! But apparently one was just chilling in a dealer's inventory in CA. I think that's what the fellow at Tasca said when I asked if they could get one.

Seriously, I wasn't sure if it'd actually show up until it did.

[LagBlu]

Congrats on the new parts. That was probably a perfect day.

[HarryB]

Best parts delivery ever or what?

[JamieH]

Best parts delivery ever or what?

Absolutely!

Santa started driving a brown truck and dying his beard.

[JamieH]

I have been checking facebook marketplace and craigslist from time to time looking for '97s being parted out for the doors. Been a struggle, '97s were the least produced NAs, and there's been a couple occassions I came across '97s, but bad doors.

A few days ago that changed. Came across a fb ad of a fellow parting out the body of a '97 with plans to turn it into a Miata-kart. Went and got the doors from it yesyerday.



The bit that's different on '97 doors.



Also got the door panels with them.



And doors stored away.



Only spent $100.

Oh, got the door glass too. Didn't need it, but the fellow offered them with the door at no extra charge. Included the panels at no charge too. He felt they were in too bad of condition to sell. Which, the backings do need replacement, but I thought it'd be good to have a spare set of '97 door panel uppers.

Which, nice guy, and has a Ford 302 swapped NA. Wish I had got pics of it. One of the nicer 5.0 Miata swap engine bays I've seen. He started it up for me, that 5.0 Mustang sound is great, instantly recognizable.

Think I'm gonna order quarter window seals and the windshield header weatherstrip soon.

Still on the fence about the quarter. I'm starting to lean towards replacement. But before I commit, I will talk to a body expert again. I feel that the quarter could be saved.

It's likely just my ridiculous thinking getting the better of me. I want to save/repair as much of Betty's body as possible. It's some sort of thought I have about Betty staying Betty as much as possible. But then I think, and know, and realize, that plenty of cars have body panels replaced during restoration work (classic cars & rust repair) and are perfectly fine afterwards.

[zco]

Great attention to detail, this thread is epic!

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm not sure what I am looking at with the 97 door.. care to explain?