My name is Zico, and this is my Chaste White NA8 build

[zco]

Hi everyone, my name is Zico, I am from Australia, and this is my daijuku build, Daijuku meaning, 'The 19th' in Japanese, being the 19th car I've owned, but also my 1st non Honda car!

Apologies in advance, but this post will drag on a bit, but I think this first post will give some context as to the path I've chosen to go down with my build.

Going back to July 2018, I started looking for a NA8 MX5/Miata. I tried to take my time in finding the right one, trying to take the approach of doing it right the first time. I searched every few hours, yes, multiple times a day, across multiple sites and channels, for every single day for a few months. I wanted a white NA8, and only a white one. It had to be low mileage, and as close to original condition as possible. No irreversible modifications.

After what felt like an eternity, I woke up one morning to an alert for an NA8 advertised on Gumtree. It was interstate, over 11 hours away. A 1994 Chaste White Mazda MX5 Clubman Edition, or as you guys might call it, the R Package. Manual steering, Bilstein PSS9 suspension, BBS wheels, aftermarket sway bars and roll bar, and optional Air Conditioning.

I gave the seller a call, and had a detailed discussion about the car. According to the seller, the car was straight as can be, no accident history, all panel gaps lined up well, original paint, and had approx. 224k kms (140k miles) on it. I initially wanted a car with low mileage, but I got desperate after waiting for so long to find one. I settled with the fact that the car had high mileage and that I was able to fix any mechanical issues that came with it.

Fast forward to a week later, being October 31st 2018, exactly one year ago from today, I fly interstate and meet up with the seller, and this is what I'm presented with.



The car had been parked outside for a few days, and had a layer of dust and dirt on it. Apart from that, it seemed pretty clean, paint seemed to be in fairly decent condition. The seller had some old vintage cars that he was restoring and seemed quite trustworthy. I was so excited, I didn't even check over the car properly, handed over the cash and made my journey back home, a long 1100 kms away.

Almost 11 hours later, I arrive home and eagerly gave the car a wash, and of course, notice all of its faults. So... this is where the story goes south.

The first thing i noticed was my shirt and face felt very greasy with a strong gasoline odour. I didn't think much of it, but after spending some time outside the car washing it, when I had re-entered the cabin, I realised the car stunk of gasoline. Thoughts began to run through my head as to how I was going to remove this odour from the carpet and seats, and all of its interior trim.

Paint. I'm not a fan of repainting cars, I was after a car with original paint. Paint wise, majority of the car was pretty good.





However, some grazes in the paint work were found next to the two chrome footings of the hard top. Seemed like removal/reinstallation of the hard top had caused it. The rear mudguards had been removed, and left some deep grooves in the rear quarter panel. Hardtop was painted from red, to Crystal white instead of Chaste white, and thats when i realised, this hardtop didn't originally come with the car.





A huge patch about 10x5" of paint had come off on the front bumper, with a DIY home paint job to cover it up. Might be a bit hard to see it..



Having put so much emphasis on wanting a car with decent paint work, I don't know why I was so foolish not to look closely. Amongst the fuel odour and paint issues, some other problems i also found include:
-Loose shifter
-Speakers didn't work properly
-Centre caps didn't come with the car
-Leaking rocker cover gasket and oil leaks around the front and rear of the engine.
-Noisy rear wheel bearings
-Leaking aftermarket muffler
-Alarm system doesn't work properly.
-Slow power windows
-Leaking turn signal indicators
-Broken dipstick
-Bubbling rear tint

The closer to the car I got, the more issues I found. The sum of all the issues was just simply too overwhelming for me. I went from being super excited about this car, to frustrated and annoyed (at my self more than anything) and I go to bed unsure of whether I had just made a massive mistake or not. Most likely, yes.

The next morning, I take a closer look at the car's service history. The seller told me the timing belt was changed at 200k kms. It had all the service receipts from new until about 190k kms, and then some hand written notes about its service history after that. I became skeptical of whether or not the timing belt was actually done, so decided that I would have to eventually book the car into the workshop to have it all changed, sooner rather than later.



After owning the car for a few weeks, I quickly realised that owning a high mileage car not only had its own issues with the mechanicals, but also other components I previously overlooked, being interior wear and tear, rubber seals and mouldings on the car that may have aged and weathered, paint work that has been exposed to the elements more often. All my previous cars have had less than half the mileage of this car, so I never paid attention to these things.

Being motivated by the fact that this car was full of issues, both internal and external, mechanical and non mechanical, and also seeing the Mazda Japan restoration program, I decided that this car needed a full restoration. A complete tear down style rebuild.

I pushed on with owning the car, and committed myself to fixing it. I booked the car in to have its timing belt service completed, got new OEM rear wheel bearings replaced, fixed the slow power windows and replaced a whole bunch of weather seals and gaskets, trying to freshen the car up.

Throughout the next few months, I ordered a plethora of OEM parts to freshen up the vehicle. Taking advantage of the fact that the Miata was the most produced sports car, I knew there would be a tonne of New Old Stock lying around in Japan, including the reproduction of discontinued parts from the restoration program. I found myself not only searching for parts online, but also randomly looking at other Miata's for sale. I never realised it until my partner questioned why I was browsing for another Miata. Yes, I do sometimes browse for fun, even at cars I cant afford, or cars I dream of owning, but why was I still looking at Miata's for sale? I was lying to myself that I was actually happy with my purchase of this vehicle, and was too proud to admit that I had made a huge mistake. Deep down inside, I was unhappy.

I decided to put a hold on installing any more parts, but still continued to browse online for parts, knowing that one day, a mint condition example will come up, and i would get my hands on one.

April 2019, I see a post on a facebook group from a user that owns a pretty minty Chaste White NA8. He mentions he was considering selling his car in the coming months as he is expecting a second child. I strike up a conversation with him and take note of when their child is due (August 2019). I assure him that I'm committed to a purchase if he was committed to a sale. July 2019 comes around, a month before his wife gives birth, and I receive a message from him, wanting to sell his car. We come to an agreed price, and I arrange a meeting time with him in a week's time. Clash of our schedules meant that we couldn't meet up any earlier, but for that entire week, I was a nervous wreck, hoping he doesnt sell the car to someone else. A mutual friend of ours, Stephen (IG: 96BRG), actually helped convince the seller that he wasn't just selling the car to some young kid that was just going to destroy it. I guess it put him at ease for the next few days.

The day of purchase comes around, I bring my cousin Tony along (IG: tonesgarage), who's a lot more level headed than I am, to help inspect the car. Everything checks out. It's a 1995 Chaste White NA8, 87k kms (54k miles), 2 mature aged owners (1 being his dad), paint work is mint, and the car drives so tight and firm. The car comes with an original Crystal White hardtop, 14x6.5 Type B RS Watanabe wheels, 60mm RS Factory Stage exhaust, Tein Flex Z coilovers, and a CAMS approved Roll bar.

Safe to say, the start of something amazing was about to happen. Here is a photo of the new car (right), with the old (left).



After owning the car for a few weeks, I still found myself smiling every time I drove it, or even walked past it. Having purchased what I think is an absolute gem of a car (compared to other examples that are floating around in the Sydney car scene), I needed the final confirmation from a fella by the name of Mick, the owner of a well respected paint/workshop. Mick has had his fair share in painting Miata's over the years. I brought the car down for him to run his eyes over it, along with a paint gauge and we found that all panels had paint thickness between 32 - 38 microns. According to Mick, 'A complete virgin of a car'. He mentioned that i should clear out the fender linings from dirt and debris that had accumulated over the ears, and to give the car a nice polish and wax. Something I will look into getting done shortly.



It's been a rollercoaster of emotions over the past year owning a Miata (or two), but safe to say, its definitely been an enjoyable journey so far. I have since sold off the Tein Flex Z coilovers to Stephen, along with the Watanbe's that were on the car, since i already have my own Tein Monoracing coilovers and a brand new set of Watanabes!

Here's a photo from yesterday! I barely get the chance to drive this car so it was awesome to take it out yesterday.



Remember how I was collecting parts since the first Miata? Well here is a sneak peak.














I look forward to posting more about my journey over the coming months with all these parts I've got lying around

Thank you to those online that have reached out for your kind comments on instagram already, you know who you are! If you would like to follow my progress on IG, feel free to find more pics IG: daijuku