New Miata Owner - 2003 LS

[Warhammer]

Hey All,

I just bought my first Miata a few days ago, and I'm already really enjoying it! It's a 2003 LS with 93K miles. The paint is white, but the PO wrapped it in matte green vinyl. I'm deciding on what to do with the color, but that can wait a while. It already has a Hard Dog Hardcore Double Diagonal roll bar in it, so that makes me feel better about putting my son in the car. First steps are to give it a solid once-over to make sure that everything is mechanically sound, replace the completely shredded top (new top will be here Monday), fix the leak in the AC (meh, it's top-down weather anyway) and get some new rear tires. After that, just a solid cleaning and get in a bunch of driving time! There are a bunch of other little fixes and mods that I have planned, but nothing to get in a real hurry about.

I've always been a motorcycle rider, but my son has autism and I can't be sure he will hold on in back of me on a ride. So, right now, taking a motorcycle ride means that I have to leave him at home, and I hate missing out on father-son time. The Miata is going to be my new motorcycle that he can enjoy, too! I've taken him out for 4 or 5 rides, and he's already addicted to it! He doesn't want to go anywhere unless we take the "Roger Rabbit car." (That's what he calls it because it's so small and has no roof!)

I know I'm going to have fun fixing up and modding this car. I'm a tinkerer by nature, so I'm sure that it will be like my motorcycle and pretty much be a constant work in progress that will never be quite done.

It seems like the Miata community is pretty welcoming and loves to help each other out, so I think I'll have a lot of fun on these forums. Of course, no first post would be complete without a pic or two, so here you go!

Cheers!

On the trailer the night I picked it up:



One happy kid!


Hey, the car matches my bike!

[—atank—]

Welcome to MazdaRoadster.net!!!!!!!!!! Nice Rides..............

[— Phatmiata —]

Welcome to the forum!! Will the car get the matching WWII teeth?

[SM16RMSM]

Welcome to the forum!

[Winlowe]

Welcome to the MR forum

[Warhammer]

Thanks!

The modding has already begun (it's a sickness I've had for decades!) with some small changes:

A quick and cheap visor delete using Nissan door panel retainers:


I high-power LED in the sadly inadequate dome light.


And this just arrived last night!

I'll have the glass tinted tomorrow and install the new top on Saturday.

Oh, I also replace the silly boy-racer LED fog light bulbs the PO installed. You couldn't even tell when they were on!

This car is going to be a lot of fun to drive and tinker with!

[BoBo]

Welcome,
Have fun modding the car, there's plenty of upgrades for miata's.

[— Agent☣Orange —]

Welcome to MR. What a cute lil guy. He's going to love cruising around with dad for sure!

If you love to tinker, you sure picked the right platform and a good bunch of enthusiasts here so don't hesitate to ask anything or post updates.

[Warhammer]

And so the madness begins...

I started to install the new top today. The old top was pretty thrashed, with spots that were worn through along both sides, and no back glass. (The glass was falling out when I bought the car, so I just cut it out the rest of the way.) The PO told me that he couldn't understand why the top lasted such a short time, when he pressure washed it regularly to keep it clean.






I say that I "started" the install because it turns out that I need new tension cables, so I couldn't finish the job today. The cables have been ordered, so I'll have to wait until next week to finish. So, I completed the removal of the old top, and then dove into giving the interior a solid cleaning.




With the top out, I cleaned the rear deck (which was already surprisingly clean) and made sure the rain drains were clear (which they were).

Since the seats were already out, I gave them a good cleaning with leather cleaner and conditioned the leather. Man! This may have been the first time these seats have been cleaned! The difference is incredible. While I was at it, I cleaned and conditioned the steering wheel, too. The finish is pretty rough, so I think I'll order a sew-on perforated leather steering wheel cover. I just have to decide if I want to stick with all black, or do a black/tan two-tone cover.

Next, I removed the center console and scrubbed the heck out of it with Simple Green and hot water. It was FILTHY, especially the cup holders, but it's as clean as new, now. While I had the console off, I noticed that the inner shifter boot was pretty torn up. Oh well... perfect excuse to order a short shifter kit from Moss Miata. :thumbs:

The rest of the interior plastics, dash, door panels, door sills, etc... all got the Simple Green treatment, too.

I soaked the seat belts in scalding hot water with Simple Green then power washed them to rinse out all the soap. It was amazing how much grime came out of them.

The carpet got a crazy vacuuming! Apparently, one of the POs had a white, short-haired dog... Dang that fur is HARD to vacuum up!!! After a couple hours of vacuuming, I spot treated and cleaned every inch of the carpet. There were some spots from spilled cola on the passenger side, but they came right out. It looks almost new, now.

I cleaned out the trunk and re-riveted the little plastic support to the tire cover panel, so now it doesn't rock around and come out of place. I'm debating whether to keep the spare tire of just replace it with a can of fix-a-flat.

I removed the rear view mirror until I can figure out if I want to mount it on the dash or remount it at the bottom of the windshield. I love the increase forward vision by getting it out of my line of sight. Besides, with the double diagonal roll bar, you can't see much behind you with the mirror in its original position. I learned to drive in my Dad's 1966 Volvo 1800S, and I always loved the dash-mounted mirror in that car. I am sorely tempted to reinforce the underside of the dash and mount an auto-dimming mirror. Until I decide what to do, no rear view mirror is actually an improvement.

Finally, I cleaned under the hood with Gunk and then let the car idle to dry out while I re-installed the seats. Then, of course, I had to take it our for a short spin since it's such a nice night here in Austin.

Oh, I also ordered a 2004 MazdaSpeed stereo from e-bay. This will allow me to add rear speakers without resorting to an after-market head unit. (After I had my 3rd after-market stereo stolen from a car, I swore that I would never again have anything other than a factory head unit in a car.) Besides, I've already gotten in the habit of not leaving anything in the Miata and just leaving it unlocked. It's cheaper than replacing a soft top after some idiot cuts his way in with a pocket knife.

Tomorrow, I'm going to fix the HIDs the PO installed by adding a wiring harness. (He just plugged them into the OEM sockets.) I'll also see if I can find the leak in the AC system so I can get whatever parts I need to fix it. If I have time, I might polish the headlight lenses, too.

There's so much more to do to this little car... Dang it's fun!!!

[—atank—]

WOW, great progress!!!!!!!!!

[maharaj]

Welcome to MR.net. Great progress on the car. The color is definitely unique, might even consider naming the car "The Hulk."

[Sean5294]

I love the color! Welcome aboard

[Warhammer]

Thanks, guys!

I fixed the AC this morning. Just one hose (a total of 3 bolts). I'll take it to the shop to have them put a vacuum on it and then fill it up next week.

I worked on the top for most of the day today. Let me say fo the record that the instructions Robbins snd with their tops are HORRIBLE!!! They skip steps, do things in the wrong sequence, and half way through all of the reference pictures change from the left sideof the car to the right side, with no warning. GRRRRR!!!! I've learned al ot that would make this job a lot easier to do next time. (The biggest thing I learned is to just pay someone else to do it next time!) Oh well, I'll defineitley feel a sense of accomplishment when I get this wrapped up! I had to stop to runan errand that ended up taking several hours, so I ended up running out of light today. I'll finish it up tomorrow.

Here's a preview of what it looks like at this point.

[Warhammer]

I finished the top today!



I still need to do final adjustments and reinstall the carpet on the rear shelf. I was JUST able to get it latched with the latches adjusted all the way out. I know that some time in the sun will allow the vinyl to stretch so I can tighten up the latches, but the sun was going down by the time I got done. It'll be around 100 degrees here tomorrow, so I should have no trouble getting it stretched into shape. I learned a lot in the process of doing this install. Did a few things wrong and had to back track to fix them. The biggest frustration was how absoultely HORRIBLE the instructions that came with the top are. Whoever wrote them should be flogged, fired, and then rehired so they can flog him some more. Overall, it was a tough job, but not un-doable. Having to work around the roll bar definitely made it tougher. I'm just glad these tops are supposed to last for about 6-7 years!

I also got my new Ultimats from Lloyd. I went with solid black with no embroidery or logos. The mats are really nice and fit perfectly. They came with floor ancjoers (which I installed), but they also have a really nice rubberized backing. Between the backing and the perfect fit, the anchors probably aren't really neccessary.

[—Martin—]

Top looks great! And I totally agree that Robbins' instructions are just awful.