Thinking of picking up an NA Miata...

[BoBo]

That's exactly what I'm looking for; I love the Audi and it's been nothing but reliable for me, but I want to keep it that way and racking up miles on I-95 isn't the way to do it. I'll drive it once or twice a week to work, whenever it snows, and on dates with the girlfriend and keep it pristine.

That's a great idea, that's why I'm planning to keep my Miata after college. I used to commute long distance on my Q45T V8, the cruiser car was quiet and comfy, but it became pricey when I started going to school. I used to have the same exact car that you just bought. Use Meguiars light cut cleaner on the car with a buffer to bring out the paint, it did the job for me. I would try to sand out that small rust you mentioned though, you might have a pinched rocker drain.

[BlackoutA4]

That's a great idea, that's why I'm planning to keep my Miata after college. I used to commute long distance on my Q45T V8, the cruiser car was quiet and comfy, but it became pricey when I started going to school. I used to have the same exact car that you just bought. Use Meguiars light cut cleaner on the car with a buffer to bring out the paint, it did the job for me. I would try to sand out that small rust you mentioned though, you might have a pinched rocker drain.

Thanks man! I appreciate the product recommendations because I've never needed to restore faded paint despite all of the cars I've owned. I may look into the rust repair eventually, but it's pretty minor and the Monte Carlo SS I restored 10 years ago completely burned me out on rust removal. It's miserable. Lol.

Congratulations BlackoutA4! She should shine right up. A good wash, clay bar, swirl remover, cleaner polish, finishing polish, glaze, and wax. She'll be better than new. Oh, also, since you have single stage paint (Miata went two stage in 1995) your rags will be blood red from all the oxidized paint. But, you will have an amazing color pop!

Thanks! That's what I'm planning on doing. It looks like the hood and trunk lid were resprayed with a two-stage paint, but restoring the single stage paint on the rest of the car should make it serviceable. Tbh I'm not a huge fan of the red, I never liked red cars, so it may end up Plasti dipped camo green or black anyway. But at least the paint underneath will be nice!

[WASABI]

Tbh I'm not a huge fan of the red, I never liked red cars, so it may end up Plasti dipped camo green or black anyway. But at least the paint underneath will be nice!

Red can look pretty damn good... you just need the right modifications.

[BlackoutA4]

Red can look pretty damn good... you just need the right modifications.

Those do look great, it's more of a personal preference that I prefer understated colors with subtle mods. Not sure how much I'll modify this one since I already have the A4 to mess with, but blacking out the wheels and restoring the paint will definitely happen soon. It gets dropped off in an hour but I unfortunately can't get to the DMV until Saturday since their hours are awful.

[ibid]

Another German fan here (grew up with VWs and had several Audi's myself over the years) YET I've also owned many miata's (currently still owning Miata #9 and just sold Miata #10 I had briefly owned) ..although my #9 is a spec miata build waiting for a new engine right now so it's just a lump in the garage for now

[— kung fu jesus —]

Agreed with the above. Get on that rust.

Reset the maintenance, go through the car to take note of what it needs. These 1.6 motors love to rev, so just replacing the original seals, belts and hoses goes a long way to making it even more reliable. Check the shifter boots, they are known to tear or disintegrate over time. Still, I have seen these cars still run very strong with exceedingly deferred maintenance and abuse.

[—atank—]

Gotta love that Classic Red!!!!!!!!!!! Now you can start a build thread.....

[BlackoutA4]

Agreed with the above. Get on that rust.

Reset the maintenance, go through the car to take note of what it needs. These 1.6 motors love to rev, so just replacing the original seals, belts and hoses goes a long way to making it even more reliable. Check the shifter boots, they are known to tear or disintegrate over time. Still, I have seen these cars still run very strong with exceedingly deferred maintenance and abuse.

A screenshot of the ad is below, and based on a cursory look into the engine bay everything seems to be in good shape. I was told that the timing belt was done around 45k miles, but I have nothing proving that so I'm going to assume it wasn't done. Is the interval 72k miles, or is it higher? And if anything that needs to be kept up with isn't mentioned in the ad let me know and I can look into it. The synthetic oil was changed about 1000 miles ago.

If I end up keeping the car for a while I'll do the rust repair, I have the skills to do it but I hate projects like that and it would require a repaint which is more than I want to dump into a toy/beater at the moment.

Thanks everyone for the help!

[riefdaddy]

60,000 miles by the manual for the timing belt, but there was a class action suit in CA and they get 100,000. So you'd be good for awhile. You've got a good color too. Of course, I am biased.

[BlackoutA4]

60,000 miles by the manual for the timing belt, but there was a class action suit in CA and they get 100,000. So you'd be good for awhile. You've got a good color too. Of course, I am biased.

That's interesting, I assume the suit was about dealers doing unnecessary service? And is this an interference engine, or would rolling the dice and going a few thousand miles not include the risk of a trashed motor?

Edit:
Just searched and it's not an interference engine. I'll hold off until it isn't Miata weather around here, with the winter we had
I've got to get the convertible driving done while I can!

[— kung fu jesus —]

The timing belts can easily go 100k. Yours may have been done due to age or signs of cracking, which isn't uncommon for any car with such few miles given it's age. The good news is if the car chucks a belt,you won't destroy the engine. The bad news is there are"timing belt jobs" and then there are "timing belt jobs"... it depends on the level of maintenance the previous owners where willing to do. A typical timing belt job is the belt, waterpump and idler pulleys. Some will just do the belt, others the belt and pulleys. The zealots will do the belt, pulley, water pump, crankshaft front seal, and camshaft front seals because it's all relatively easy to do while "you're in there".

I bought my '92 in '00 with about 39k on it. The problems I had were essentially from the car sitting a lot. A lot of my seals were hard and as I started driving it more than it was accustomed, they began to seep. Not too big of a deal, just be aware. Common oil leaks are the valve cover gasket ($20), front seals (mentioned above - ~$10), the CAS O-ring (cam angle sensor, about $1), and the rear main seal. Some of the 1.6 are known to 'weep' a bit of oil between the head and block on the driver's side, near the rear of the engine. This one is not a big deal, nor usually worth worrying about.

Also, watch your radiator. The end tanks are plastic, so when they change in color from black to brown/green, they are getting brittle.

The car is waaaaaay over-built and can take plenty of abuse and deferred maintenance until it gets really bad. They are simple to work on and easy, even for green shadetree mechanics.

[BlackoutA4]

Got it all buffed out with a Mothers compound. I'm thrilled with how well the paint came back to life. It's still got a few dents, but it's a DD beater so that's tolerable. The nose piece still isn't a perfect match. So I'll need to keep at it and try a few more hits of compound.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1403446272.743586.jpg

This is what I used to buff it; I grabbed it at Autozone and did the resto by hand. Very pleased with it and I'd highly recommend it.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1403446331.478875.jpg

[WASABI]

Awesome job!!!! It is amazing how well the paint takes to the right care. Be extra careful on the edges of the nose with the compound. you can wear through the paint. Keep up the good work!

[etikoner]

Welcome to the slipper slope known as miata.

I bought mine thinking it'd be fine and dandy with a swapped engine, only to have it over heat two weeks later from a bad water pump. As long as you're on top of the maintenance it should be an awesome car.

Welcome to the forum