So far, just about everyone has asked, and the answer is still the same.. I'm not interested in Spec Miata thankyouverymuch

Don't get me wrong, I love my truck, but the $75 weekly diesel fill-ups are getting old. So we decided to get a fun econo-commuter car for the hour-long commute each way to/from work.

It's a 1991 Miata with 80,800 miles and it's been sitting for about 8 months or so since the husband died of cancer. It just broke her heart to have to sell it. The guy was a active Miata Club member and took care of the car, so I now have a huge file folder with all service and maintenance related records. There's a small oil leak on the back of the head somewhere, and it has the short nose crank. Otherwise, it runs, stops, and drives great.

Mrs. johng now wants a new one with more luxuries such as A/C, power windows, and cup holders. I think we'll hold off on the new Miata for a while.

So much for brand loyalty... we now own a Ford, Nissan, Mazda, and Honda.

 

Great find John. Great fun cars, and much better MPG than your truck!

Have fun with it!

 

Fun cars, handle nicely imo. too slow. (this coming from a guy who just bought a CX)
~Eyal

 

You got a giant truck...a giant trailer...a race kaa...a pop-up canopy...and now a convertible sports car for a daily driver? You are my Idol.

Scott, who knows that every so often you're gonna look at the front of that thing and think it's trying to tell you it wants to be a Spec Miata...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mrs. johng now wants a new one with more luxuries such as A/C, power windows, and cup holders. I think we'll hold off on the new Miata for a while.</TD></TR></TABLE>

A/C was dealer installed, so probably fairly easy to intall if you can get the parts cheap. And do you really need it in the Pacific NW? I rarely use mine in DC's sticky, smoggy summers.

Power windows - find a spec guy who wants to trade for cranks.

Cup holders - none of the Miata have them (maybe the '06?), so you'll want this...
Folding Cup Holder

 

As for the short-nose, if it's made it this long, you're probably ok. Just be careful if you ever have to remove the crank pulley (actually the problem is in replacing the pulley).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So far, just about everyone has asked, and the answer is still the same.. I'm not interested in Spec Miata thankyouverymuch </TD></TR></TABLE>

The first step in becoming a spec miata driver is shame. The second step is anger. The third step is denial. You're well on your way.

 

Nice buy I am really enjoying driving my 99 around every day Its so much fun! Would make a nice SM car as well....... huhu...

 

Just remember to hold your pinky finger out when holding the steering wheel.

Barry H.

 

well yours might not, but the way RJ is with cars... his will end up a SM

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nice buy I am really enjoying driving my 99 around every day </TD></TR></TABLE>

Mrs. johng wants a roll bar too. It's wierd, I didn't even have to say anything, she just brought it up the other day; "John, do you think we can put one of those roll bars in it"?
RJ, nice. What bar is that?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">RJ, nice. What bar is that?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hard dog something..... i'd prefer the double-diagonal version, but i'm sure as hell not going to pull the one i have out to make that happen.

 

My buddy has a spare motor for sale

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There's a small oil leak on the back of the head somewhere, and it has the short nose crank. Otherwise, it runs, stops, and drives great.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

you really should turn it into a SM.......but anyway.......

i can say with 95% certainty that the small oil leak on the back of the head is the cam angle sensor o-ring. they go out on pretty much all of the cars, take the coil pack off, remove valve cover, and remove the CAS with 2 more bolts. take the dried, crusty o-ring to a local parts store, i bought 3 of them for $.35. iirc, all you have to do to fix the short nose crank is buy a new crank pulley bolt, and/or crank pulley. i have 2 of each as spares if you want to purchase them on the cheap.

 

I love 1600s. Seriously.

The mileage a 1.6 Miata gets makes my Focus look like a gas-guzzler. I drove 40 miles in a 1.6 with the needle on E and the light never came on.

A cheap, 1600 Miata will probably be one of the first things I buy when I graduate......

 

You'll love it, I loved mine when it was on the street and it had 259,000 miles on it.

Definitely something I will be considering doing once my gas sponsorship dries up, since driving a gas truck every day would cost less than the 1500 a decent back-up car...err...daily driver Miata would.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TeamSlowdotOrg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the 1500 a decent back-up car...err...daily driver Miata would.</TD></TR></TABLE>

OK I've got a question. Where are you guys finding $1500 Miatas? I *never* find such things. I find $3000 rat traps that need almost $1000 to get them tolerable.

 

Heh. When I said decent I meant in the "isn't going to be blowed up soon and would make a good donor spec miata" sense of the word. They're around here and there, but they're not in the kind of shape that John's is. If it really were going to be a daily driver, I'd probably fork over the 3-4 grand for exactly what I want. I'd probably try and find a '94 with the Torsen, and those are a lot more expensive, but '90's with over 150k miles are available for under 2 grand.

PS:

20,000 miles/year at 14 mpg at 2.75/gal = $3,928.57
12,000 miles/year in a Miata + 8000/year in the Ram = $2,750

So not quite there, but pretty close.


Modified by TeamSlowdotOrg at 5:34 PM 8/23/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The mileage a 1.6 Miata gets makes my Focus look like a gas-guzzler</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont get great gas mileage on mine at all.... not hard to do when the tach is never below 4000 rpm

 

the trick is to go look at ones where people say they don't run. very often it's a simple simple fix that will cost you couple hundred dollars at most. these you can usually find for $500 or less.

i bought mine for 2k 2yrs ago and it was in pretty darn good shape, all it needed was the $.30 o-ring i mentioned earlier.

 

I bought a '90 with 96k miles on it for $300 a few weeks ago.

It has a snapped timing belt and had been sitting for 2 years.
Im hoping that I can get it road worthy for less than $100. No, it wont be a SM either, I already have one of those money pits.




karl- there was a 90 miata w/ hardtop for $3k listed today on the local craigslist. A while back there was a 94 w/ hardtop also for $3k and a '92 w/ hardtop for $2k, both of which I passed on for some reason.
Just gotta keep an eye out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I dont get great gas mileage on mine at all.... not hard to do when the tach is never below 4000 rpm </TD></TR></TABLE>

d00d....

1.6 miata + 85 mph = ~4500 rpm

I know you know how much you have to rev a 1600 to get it to actually get out of its own way.

I got back into my focus and was all "Damn, who put a st00pid charger on my car!"

 

I'm still amazed that this Neon in the driveway gets 37mpg on the highway.

These days the truck stays parked whenever possible and I'm pimping the Neon. Daddio valved konis, -2.5 camber, and single chamber dynomax. I don't care.
At $2.60 a gallon the 16mpg Tundra doesn't move very often.

Nice car John. I loved my '95 but eventually sold it because I never drove it. I think it had 32K on it when i bought it and 35K when I sold it 18 months later. Atlanta is just too damned hot in the summer for that ****.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Catch 22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm still amazed that this Neon in the driveway gets 37mpg on the highway.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

No way! How does your old and busted neon get better mileage than my new hawtness focus?

Best I could squeak out on a trip to hallet was 33 mpg.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Catch 22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Atlanta is just too damned hot in the summer for that ****.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The only time I have the top up is if its raining Cloudy, Sun, Heat, Looks like its gonna rain.... dont matter