A Plan is in Place

Kinja'd!!! by "That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms" (thatbastardkurtis5)
Published 09/03/2017 at 13:44

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STARS: 3


After a bunch of back and forth with my own brain, I’ve decided what to do with the red Miata. And that’s to make it a street drivable track car.

I spent a little time looking at pros and cons of my various choices:

I could sell the car as is, running and driving, and maybe make $4-500 on it...but then I can’t buy another one for what I’d be selling it for. Plus I wasn’t crazy about selling it because a) rust, b) 226k miles, and c) the throwout bearing is growling, so it will need a clutch at some point.

I could part it out and scrap it, but it seemed too good for that fate. I’d probably make a few dollars more than selling it, but for what? I guess to do stuff to the black car, but that thing is kinda perfect as is and I don’t want to mess with it a ton.

What I decided on was that in making it a track-focused car, I can still part out quite a lot of it. The car has a good top and a good interior in it that should bring a few bucks, as well as a decent set of daisys that I plan to swap for the daisys that came off the black car, since they’re nicer.

To that end, some parts have been ordered. I ordered the same Centric coated brake rotors I got for the ‘93, but I went with StopTech Sport pads instead of the Street pads I got for that ‘93. I also picked up a new set of NGK V-Power plugs and NGK wires, because its got this little off-idle stumble that I’d like to cure. Of course the car also hadn’t run in months and was full of old gas, so that wasn’t helping it.

I also ordered yellow headlights for it because I wanted them.

The main thing I like about this project is that I’m a really impatient guy, and because I have the ‘93 I don’t need it done tomorrow. I can throw the thing in the garage and mess with it all winter while driving the ‘93 on days that are nice enough for it.

I’m not going to kill myself trying to fix all the rust, which isn’t actually as bad as I thought it was. There isn’t really anything I’m going to do to the car that I can’t just transfer to another Miata shell, so I’m not worried about doing a bunch of stuff to a car that’ll maybe have 3-4 years of use left in it.

Really I’m just glad to have a plan. I’m going to add the car to my insurance and register it later this month (as an antique, so no inspection in RI) so it’ll be street useable, and I’ll get on with the damn program.


Replies (6)

Kinja'd!!! "AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
09/03/2017 at 14:08, STARS: 4

Red, street drivable track Miata? That’s the most rediculous thing I’ve ever heard

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!! "Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
09/03/2017 at 14:16, STARS: 4

Kinja'd!!!

Hmm, sounds familiar! I picked mine up for $900, so my starting price was a bit higher than yours. So many of my parts came from a buddy as he was upgrading his. He had gone to the Flyin Miata summer camp quite a few years and had won quite a few parts in raffles that he sold to me really cheaply. I ended up with a full FM 2.5 upgraded suspension, 6ul wheels with 225/45 RS3, for around $800 total. I had lots of fun wrenching and driving that little car!

Kinja'd!!! "AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
09/03/2017 at 14:21, STARS: 0

I’m guessing you’ve got 15x8's like me? Do the 225/45's rub, or require any fender work? I’d love to get something a bit meatier than the 205's on mine currently

Kinja'd!!! "That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms" (thatbastardkurtis5)
09/03/2017 at 14:44, STARS: 0

Right? Mine will be significantly shittier than yours though, haha. For example, yours seems to be all the same shade of red.

Kinja'd!!! "AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
09/03/2017 at 15:26, STARS: 1

The front bumper is off of another car, and super faded red, but 3 thin coats of wax makes it look the same haha.

Good luck! It’s a lot of fun to build, there’s so much knowledge and aftermarket support, and the community is great. Miata.net and turbomiata both have great classifieds sections.

Kinja'd!!! "Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
09/03/2017 at 18:23, STARS: 0

15x8, back rubbed a little until I got the Paco Motorsports adjustable control arms.