mrdos
04-08-2013, 11:22 PM
3 Weeks ago I finally purchased a car I've always loved. A white 1990 Miata.
Having grown up with my dad loving the crap out of his 1996 Red Miata (Named Ann Marie) I've always loved the Miata, even though I've always given him hard time for it ;).
Anyways I purchased the car from a good friend of my dads, and a fellow member of the car club my dad founded. Got it for a pretty good price, although it did need some work. However she did come with a lot of extra goodies. Goodies are good.
Here she was when I got her:
http://imageshack.us/a/img835/2290/photo14do.jpg
She has 105xxx miles on her, with a 1.6 Long Nose Crank engine with 70xxx in her.
Mechanically she's in great shape, as the PO spent all of his time making sure she was mechanically sound, other than the front right headlight not wanting to go down.
About 12 years ago she was in an accident and the back left quarter panel was replaced with another welded-in panel.
All of the welds were visible when I got her. In addition the top was completely shot, ripped in several places and had holes throughout. She'd been in primer for years and as a result had a bit of surface rust in a few places.
First thing I went to work on was getting the body in better shape, as that was really the thing that needed the most work. After two weeks of slowly progressing I finally had her ready (and sold my mr2 which gave me some needed $$$) and I took her to the body shop.
Here's a shot as I left her at the body shop:
http://imageshack.us/a/img803/5850/86100422.jpg
Now at this point I feel like I should explain my colour selection... I was initially thinking Smurf Blue all the way. Plenty of Miatas have it and it looks great on the car... But then I saw this article: http://www.petrolicious.com/mint-porsche and I fell in love with the idea of a mint-green Miata. There aren't too many that colour, and it would look great on the Miata. So I did a bit of detective work and found the paint code on that particular 911... Turns out the paint shop I went to couldn't go back to 1993 in their paint mixing -_- Alright, I also had a newer Ford paint code that was a nice minty colour... Nope that was a 3 stage fancy schmancy paint. And as I was trying to keeps costs down, would be WAY over budget. So I found a nice colour that wasn't too far from a mint green. 2012 Nissan Light Green 'Fae'.
Day I picked her up: http://imageshack.us/a/img201/1997/photo17vw.jpg
Okay not exactly the mint green i was looking for :/
But then again, it is absolutely gorgeous. I've only had several compliments on the colour. It's sorta minty, but with a teal mixed in. Even if it's not what I really wanted, I really like it.
First thing I did was plasti-dip the wheels. Spent a grand total of $12.
Before:http://imageshack.us/a/img850/6273/photo16e.jpg
After: http://imageshack.us/a/img854/9132/photo15ci.jpg
Pretty simple to do. Remove wheels, Wash, dry, tape up places you don't want paint, spray a few coats. Simple as that. One of my daisy's had pretty bad curb rash, but is hardly noticeable now :D
I think it makes the car look more like a roadster and less like your grandma's Miata
http://imageshack.us/a/img843/4845/photo18op.jpg
Girlfriend and I got acrylic paint at Michael's for $1.50 for Mazda in the wheel and also decided to paint the Miata badge lol.http://imageshack.us/a/img11/1428/miatapalooza009.jpg
Next thing I had to do was get a top! It's now Thursday and I need to be ready for Miatapalooza on Saturday. AHHH!!!! I ran down to Treasure Coast Miata and picked one up that was on a frame. Great shape other than some coffee or coke or somethat that seems to be burned into the plastic window. It rained all thursday night so I had to wait till friday to get this done. Friday afternoon I'm waiting for help (my dad) and running around to hardware store after hardware store to get everything I need. I pick up a rain-rail in great shape for $20 and start work around 5. Repainted the retainer brackets, and set about taking everything apart. Had a bunch of minor problems that turned to be a real pain in the ass and time consuming... Main snag was I had to file and dremel down a few spots where the welding was too thick for me to put the moulding around top. Finally finished around 12 and proceeded to spend a few more hours putting everything back together for the morning. Big thanks to my dad and girlfriend for helping me get everything done in time!
Add a quart of Oil and she was ready for Miatapalooza... Cruise with 21 other Miatas was epic and a lot of fun :D
Made it with no problems, albeit there was a scary moment when 3 cars next to us locked up 30 minutes from the meet.
Here are a couple of shots at Miatapalooza
http://imageshack.us/a/img827/5884/miatapalooza041.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img802/6048/miatapalooza044.jpg
Miatapalooza was awesome and led to my latest modification... Stickers! http://imageshack.us/a/img820/7817/miatapalooza005.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img35/7237/miatapalooza003.jpg
Make a great way to cover up the ugly stain on the window
http://imageshack.us/a/img15/9897/miatapalooza006.jpg
Not completely where to go from here... I LOVE the retro look a lot of guys have on here, but then again I already have a Momo wheel, knob, pedals, and shoulder pads laying around that would look good on her. And as a broke college student it seems like this is the reasonable way to go. After all, I'm not going for a show car, I'm just going for a tastefully modded roadster :)
Let me know how much you love/hate it!
Having grown up with my dad loving the crap out of his 1996 Red Miata (Named Ann Marie) I've always loved the Miata, even though I've always given him hard time for it ;).
Anyways I purchased the car from a good friend of my dads, and a fellow member of the car club my dad founded. Got it for a pretty good price, although it did need some work. However she did come with a lot of extra goodies. Goodies are good.
Here she was when I got her:
http://imageshack.us/a/img835/2290/photo14do.jpg
She has 105xxx miles on her, with a 1.6 Long Nose Crank engine with 70xxx in her.
Mechanically she's in great shape, as the PO spent all of his time making sure she was mechanically sound, other than the front right headlight not wanting to go down.
About 12 years ago she was in an accident and the back left quarter panel was replaced with another welded-in panel.
All of the welds were visible when I got her. In addition the top was completely shot, ripped in several places and had holes throughout. She'd been in primer for years and as a result had a bit of surface rust in a few places.
First thing I went to work on was getting the body in better shape, as that was really the thing that needed the most work. After two weeks of slowly progressing I finally had her ready (and sold my mr2 which gave me some needed $$$) and I took her to the body shop.
Here's a shot as I left her at the body shop:
http://imageshack.us/a/img803/5850/86100422.jpg
Now at this point I feel like I should explain my colour selection... I was initially thinking Smurf Blue all the way. Plenty of Miatas have it and it looks great on the car... But then I saw this article: http://www.petrolicious.com/mint-porsche and I fell in love with the idea of a mint-green Miata. There aren't too many that colour, and it would look great on the Miata. So I did a bit of detective work and found the paint code on that particular 911... Turns out the paint shop I went to couldn't go back to 1993 in their paint mixing -_- Alright, I also had a newer Ford paint code that was a nice minty colour... Nope that was a 3 stage fancy schmancy paint. And as I was trying to keeps costs down, would be WAY over budget. So I found a nice colour that wasn't too far from a mint green. 2012 Nissan Light Green 'Fae'.
Day I picked her up: http://imageshack.us/a/img201/1997/photo17vw.jpg
Okay not exactly the mint green i was looking for :/
But then again, it is absolutely gorgeous. I've only had several compliments on the colour. It's sorta minty, but with a teal mixed in. Even if it's not what I really wanted, I really like it.
First thing I did was plasti-dip the wheels. Spent a grand total of $12.
Before:http://imageshack.us/a/img850/6273/photo16e.jpg
After: http://imageshack.us/a/img854/9132/photo15ci.jpg
Pretty simple to do. Remove wheels, Wash, dry, tape up places you don't want paint, spray a few coats. Simple as that. One of my daisy's had pretty bad curb rash, but is hardly noticeable now :D
I think it makes the car look more like a roadster and less like your grandma's Miata
http://imageshack.us/a/img843/4845/photo18op.jpg
Girlfriend and I got acrylic paint at Michael's for $1.50 for Mazda in the wheel and also decided to paint the Miata badge lol.http://imageshack.us/a/img11/1428/miatapalooza009.jpg
Next thing I had to do was get a top! It's now Thursday and I need to be ready for Miatapalooza on Saturday. AHHH!!!! I ran down to Treasure Coast Miata and picked one up that was on a frame. Great shape other than some coffee or coke or somethat that seems to be burned into the plastic window. It rained all thursday night so I had to wait till friday to get this done. Friday afternoon I'm waiting for help (my dad) and running around to hardware store after hardware store to get everything I need. I pick up a rain-rail in great shape for $20 and start work around 5. Repainted the retainer brackets, and set about taking everything apart. Had a bunch of minor problems that turned to be a real pain in the ass and time consuming... Main snag was I had to file and dremel down a few spots where the welding was too thick for me to put the moulding around top. Finally finished around 12 and proceeded to spend a few more hours putting everything back together for the morning. Big thanks to my dad and girlfriend for helping me get everything done in time!
Add a quart of Oil and she was ready for Miatapalooza... Cruise with 21 other Miatas was epic and a lot of fun :D
Made it with no problems, albeit there was a scary moment when 3 cars next to us locked up 30 minutes from the meet.
Here are a couple of shots at Miatapalooza
http://imageshack.us/a/img827/5884/miatapalooza041.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img802/6048/miatapalooza044.jpg
Miatapalooza was awesome and led to my latest modification... Stickers! http://imageshack.us/a/img820/7817/miatapalooza005.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img35/7237/miatapalooza003.jpg
Make a great way to cover up the ugly stain on the window
http://imageshack.us/a/img15/9897/miatapalooza006.jpg
Not completely where to go from here... I LOVE the retro look a lot of guys have on here, but then again I already have a Momo wheel, knob, pedals, and shoulder pads laying around that would look good on her. And as a broke college student it seems like this is the reasonable way to go. After all, I'm not going for a show car, I'm just going for a tastefully modded roadster :)
Let me know how much you love/hate it!