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Thread: New Guy From Alabama

  1. #1
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Irishguy's Avatar
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    New Guy From Alabama

    Hey folks,

    Been checking out the forum for a while and thought if it was OK with you guys, I might stop by from time to time, hang around, share what little I know and learn from others here on the forum.

    My first Miata was a 1992 Black & Tan I bought after a crappy divorce sort of as some therapy. Not new to Sports cars though. I have had many sporty cars from a 1966 Mustang GT Fastback to a 1971 Olds 442 with a 455SD motor to my current 1995/1996 Miata. I have had about 12 Miata "rescues" in between along with about 7 BMW E30 "rescues." Miatas & E30's that I have bought in forlorn condition, and refurbished to what I would call nice condition, kept them for a while and sold to hopefully a good home.

    I have one home built turbo Miata under my belt, a short stint helping out on a SPEC Miata team and lots of garage time making stupid mistakes, getting my fingernails greasy, cussing, and learning stuff along the way.

    My latest Miata has the following that I can remember:

    Factory ABS
    Power windows (But strangely enough no cruise control)
    Dealer installed very nice leather upholstery

    Some retro interior garnish
    Tokico Illumina shocks
    FM springs
    Jackson racing header
    Borla Exhaust
    Some kind of CAI with stainless heat shield
    Track Dog header blanket
    Fidanza aluminum flywheel
    F1 Stage 2 clutch
    Stainless brake lines
    Yokohama S-Drive tires
    Some wheels

    Anyway, it runs great and for whatever reason seems to have more power than any other Miata that I have owned (other than the turbo '93) and I'm not sure why. I suspect that - judging by the performance parts that were already installed - it may have had some head work done.

    My youngest son - the only one that still lives at home - wanted a sports car as his second car so we were fortunate enough to find him a very nice 2000 Emerald Green LS model with all the bells and whistles. His daily driver is a 2002 Protege, my daily driver is a 2003 Tacoma 4 door TRD and Mrs. Irishguy's daily driver is a 2017 Mazda CX-5. She's had 2 Mazda 3's before that, so we're sort of a Mazda family.

    My son's 2000 and my 1995 on one of our road carving expeditions:

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/CuEM1B]

    A couple of crappy interior pics of my 1995/1996 after my roll bar swap last weekend:

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/ELiRCy]

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/22TPgU4]

  2. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Irishguy For This Useful Post:

    Agent☣Orange (12-27-2017),HarryB (12-26-2017),JamieH (12-26-2017),MiataQuest (12-26-2017),Paul B (12-26-2017)

  3. #2
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    I spy swapped '97 door uppers.

    And welcome to MR!

  4. #3
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! MiataQuest's Avatar
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    Welcome to MR.

    What was your reason to change from the diagonal roll-bar to the Duece?
    I ask because I am torn between trackday acceptance of the diagonal versus the looks of the Duece.

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    Irishguy (12-26-2017)

  6. #4
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Irishguy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JamieH View Post
    I spy swapped '97 door uppers.

    And welcome to MR!
    Thanks for the welcome. I've enjoyed seeing your car. It looks really nice and an inspiration for folks who like the retro aspect of our "Best British sports car the British never made."

    You know... This car is a bit of an enigma.

    It is "officially" a 1995 base model however it has/had:

    Factory installed ABS
    Either factory or dealer installed power windows
    (I believe this because they were serviced at the dealer in 1996 according to the CarFax)
    Dealer installed Leather seats
    ODB II system from the factory
    Factory Power steering
    Factory leather steering wheel
    Headrest speakers

    It basically had everything that came on the PEP (Popular Equipment Package) except power mirrors.

    What I'm leaning to thinking is that maybe it was a late 1995 Miata that was made while the factory was transitioning cars to the ODBII system and then it sat on the lot for a while and the dealer added a few things to sweeten the car up and sell it or it was some kind of special order by a customer. Just a theory.
    Last edited by Irishguy; 12-26-2017 at 04:19 PM.

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    JamieH (12-27-2017)

  8. #5
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Irishguy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MiataQuest View Post
    Welcome to MR.

    What was your reason to change from the diagonal roll-bar to the Duece?
    I ask because I am torn between trackday acceptance of the diagonal versus the looks of the Duece.
    If I am not mistaken the Deuce is accepted by NASA, but I may be wrong. That said the roll bar I had I just didn't like for several reasons:

    It didn't look "right" with the car to me.
    It was too far forward and close to our heads.
    It was too high. Couldn't fit a hard top.
    The seat belts wouldn't retract worth a damn.
    It was a pain to put the top up without getting out of the car.

    If I tracked the car every weekend it would be different, but this is just a fun back road carver.

    The Deuce solves all those problems above and looks like it was made for the car. It just looks right on the car and proportional to the car.

    I design and inspect structural steel for a living and although I that doesn't involve roll bars , but without building a STAAD analysis model of both bars, in my opinion the deuce looks to be just as structurally sound as the single hoop bars. It is a very substantial roll bar.

    I was fortunate enough to be able to make it almost a break even swap.


    Edit: I found this from the Track Dog Racing web site...

    "What roll bars meet NASA HPDE guidelines?
    According to NASA, the Hard Dog M1 and M2 versions of the Hard Core, Hard Core Hardtop, the Ace and the center-braced Deuce currently meet their requirements."
    Last edited by Irishguy; 12-26-2017 at 04:28 PM.

  9. #6
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! MiataQuest's Avatar
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    Your interior looks great with the Deuce roll-bars!

    Thanks for the information on the Deuce NASA HPDE guidelines. That solves a lot of my design issues with my car! With the hardtop mounted it should help me even more get released onto the track for HPDE and it should help protect me on the twisties.
    ========================
    "What roll bars meet NASA HPDE guidelines?
    According to NASA, the Hard Dog M1 and M2 versions of the Hard Core, Hard Core Hardtop, the Ace and the center-braced Deuce currently meet their requirements."

  10. #7
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Irishguy's Avatar
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    I would imagine that if NASA accepts the center braced Deuce that you local SCCA would look favorably on it as well. But that's just an assumption.

    The NASA acceptance is why I went with the center braced vs the side braced, plus the fact that I like the look of the center braced bar more anyway.

    I'm eventually replacing the top with a a glass rear window top and it is also compatible with that as well.

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to Irishguy For This Useful Post:

    MiataQuest (12-27-2017)

  12. #8
    Moderator Winlowe's Avatar
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    Welcome to the MR Forum

    My 90 blue with 179k

  13. #9
    Admin / Pit Boss / Miataholic Phatmiata's Avatar
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    welcome!! would love to see that Olds with the 455!!

  14. #10
    Ninja Messiah kung fu jesus's Avatar
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    Welcome!

    Assessing your past rescues, background, and preferences, we should be on the same bowling team.

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  16. #11
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Irishguy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phatmiata View Post
    welcome!! would love to see that Olds with the 455!!
    Unfortunately no pics. I was about 18 years old at the time. This was in about 1979. It was forest green with a black vinyl top and it was a 2 door hardtop (No rims around the windows) as opposed to a 2 door coupe (window frames). I was never outrun in a street race in that car. The factory stated that car put out 375 hp & 550 ft lbs or torque. It had 3.73 posi-traction rear end and even though traction was an issue it was like being shot out of a sling shot. Amazing sleeper of a car.

  17. #12
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Irishguy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kung fu jesus View Post
    Welcome!

    Assessing your past rescues, background, and preferences, we should be on the same bowling team.
    My favorite E30 was 2 1991 318is' that I had. Put over 275k on one of them, sold it for $3500 and found another with only 75k on it that was mint and was fortunate enough to buy it for $2500. Kept it as my daily driver for about 3 years and sold it with about 120k on it on ebay to a guy from Ft. Smith, Arkansas for $6850. Which was still a good deal for him. I wish I still had that car. the 1991 318is is the poor man's E30 M3 and the most Miata like of any sedan.

  18. #13
    Individual-1 ☚ ☻ ☛ Agent☣Orange's Avatar
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    Welcome to the forum Irishguy and thanks for the great intro. I see you’ve met our resident Bimmer aficionado.


    No todo que es oro brilla.

  19. #14
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Irishguy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent☣Orange View Post
    Welcome to the forum Irishguy and thanks for the great intro. I see you’ve met our resident Bimmer aficionado.
    Thank you for the welcome.

  20. #15
    Ninja Messiah kung fu jesus's Avatar
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    It’s true. I’m a masochist.

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