Daytime picture of the new Miata

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay) 07/29/2019 at 14:35 • Filed to: None

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God I love this color, Laguna is right up there with BRG as my favorite color for NAs. Mazda really needs to stop being afraid of fun colors on the ND, because it would look great in nearly all of the non boring colors the NA came in. Paint on this one is in great shape, lots of little nicks and scratches right in line with any 200k mile car, but it definitely wasn’t stored outside.

Clutch hydraulics are pretty much gone so I haven’t driven it much. Thankfully, replacement parts for the whole system are less than $50 and I’ve already got them on order.

For those wondering it’s a 1994 A package car (manual windows and locks, power steering, power mirrors, LSD). I’d been been watching NA prices go a bit crazy lately and I thought I might have missed my chance to own one nicer than my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This one popped up for sale a few miles away from me on Friday night, and I went out !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 14:38

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Oh my goodness, the paint is in way too good of shape — AND the hardtop!

This is probably my favorite color

Tapas > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 14:40

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This color on this car - fan fuckin tastic!

Decay buys too many beaters > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 07/29/2019 at 14:41

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Yeah, I know L aguna can start to look real weird when it fades. I believe this was a PNW car all it’s life so even in normal use it probably saw a lot less sun than most of them.

MonkeePuzzle > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 14:44

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remember old movies where they just used a filter over daytime shots to make them appear as nighttime. ahh, good times.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 14:44

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The paint on my mom’s hardtop (red) is completely trashed, and it’s covered most of the time, so this is especially impressive.

Decay buys too many beaters > MonkeePuzzle 07/29/2019 at 14:47

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This just gave me a fit of laughter at my desk, people are looking at me. 

Decay buys too many beaters > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 07/29/2019 at 14:49

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Huh, no idea then, I guess someone really took care of it.

For reference, red is about the same age and mileage :p

promoted by the color red > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 14:50

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1.8L, Laguna Blue, hardtop, and a Torsen? It checks off all the right boxes. 

way2blu does a rev update > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 14:51

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This Miata is definitely subject to the Blue Racecar Active Posting Policy (B.R.A.P.P.)

Learn more here:

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/b-r-a-p-p-1836383721

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 14:52

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Are you swapping the good parts over to this one and selling the beater or going double Miata life? 

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion 07/29/2019 at 14:56

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100% double M iata life, probably selling the FR-S. Red doesn’t really have any parts that are high enough quality that I’d want to swap them in here, so this will be a clean sheet project that I actually spend a bit on (really though, I’ll probably just leave it stock and buy xidas)

Having a second opens the door for me to take red down and do more deep build. probably a turbo, unless I decide to go the swap route. 

Decay buys too many beaters > promoted by the color red 07/29/2019 at 14:57

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Yep, only knock against it was the mile age, but that’s what stops it from being a $7k car.

Chuckles > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:01

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Congrats on your new acquisition. I loved my 94 Miata that had option package B and those same wheels. My paint and top weren’t nearly as nice as yours though.

Decay buys too many beaters > way2blu does a rev update 07/29/2019 at 15:03

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I’ve been missing out! My track car  (the FR-S) is blue too

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:04

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Can’t go wrong on a hardtop equipped Miata. Idiot me passed on one with repairable cosmetic front end damage for about half of what just the hardtops sell for. Same color, under 100k. Manual, no LSD, clean and rust free, Shoulda, woulda, coulda. My loss :(

Decay buys too many beaters > Chuckles 07/29/2019 at 15:08

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They are such good little rust piles. I bought the $200 miata as a joke (because, hey, hairdresser jokes and trolling for pocket chance). I drive it more than anything else I’ve owned concurrently. I’m really excited to play around with one that wouldn’t be more at home in a scrapyard than on the road

Decay buys too many beaters > GoodIdeaAtTheTime 07/29/2019 at 15:11

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We’ve all had those. I don’t know how many $500 E30s I passed on in the early 2010s due to little super minor issues :(

Chuckles > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:12

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They really are great little cars. I was sad to see it go, but happy to have an extra $4300 in my pocket. Now I'm working towards getting a scooter. On Saturday I'm heading to the beach to rent a 50cc scooter to see if I like it or if I want something bigger.

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:20

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Test out the ACE and report back. I know at least one guy has gotten these coilovers hooked up to some kind of GPS box, and used the data to build a suspension that adjusts in real-time based on individual race tracks....

Decay buys too many beaters > Chuckles 07/29/2019 at 15:23

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We’ve probably talked about this in one of Mercedes posts, but what are you looking at?

I grew up around A llentown (N azareth) , and depending on how close in to the city you are, 50cc will either be perfect or borderline useless.

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion 07/29/2019 at 15:25

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Better yet, you buy the ACE and sell me your “ lesser” shocks :p 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:26

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If youre replacing the hydraulics, make sure you do the master cylinder , slave cylinder , and lines all at the same time. I had an expensive mistake where I just replaced the slave and master cylinders but not the line. Well after replacement there was still junk in the lines from the dead slave cylinder and that junk killed my new parts. So I had to replace ALL of it a second time. I this time also used OEM parts for the cylinders instead of autozone specials . Highly recommend deleting that curly crap in the lines and just using straight stainless steel lines for easier bleeding. It was quite the headache and so I try to warn anyone else I can to not make the same mistake!

Good find though, sure is a pretty example. Having just bought my silver NB, I am always jealous of real colors. I suppose I could repaint it someday since the paint is worn anyways. But I really would love a bright color even if the silver has grown on me a little. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:29

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The $200 one must not be that rusty if you are planning on keeping it. I still have two miatas right now as well but the old one is so rusty that it belongs in a trash bin instead of trying to make it into something cool. 

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/29/2019 at 15:29

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Wasn’t planning on doing the lines as I was able to get clean fluid out, but deleting the stupid cu rly thing is probably a good call.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:30

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That concept is so funny because a not rusty miata is irrelevant how many miles it has for actual use.

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/29/2019 at 15:32

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One man’s rusty is another man’s “hey I get to learn sheet metal welding”

It was a utah car, yeah there’s rust and seized fasteners everywhere. But everything underneath is either new or has been serviced relatively recently by me. 

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/29/2019 at 15:34

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Yeah, I mostly got it for the clean shell, anything else is readily fixed/replaced. 

Chuckles > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 15:41

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I’ve been looking at all sorts of stuff in the 50cc-150cc range. I’ve just never ridden a scooter so I want to try a 50cc before I rule them out.

I live in between south Allentown and south Bethlehem, and I work off of 512 heading towards Bath.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 16:07

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I like love color, I was looking for my TSX wagon and I knew there was a blue and a silvery blue but none came up in my search so I guess more rare .

Decay buys too many beaters > Chuckles 07/29/2019 at 16:46

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For that area, I’d say a 125-150 would be totally usable as a daily and still fun in the city. A 50 might be a bit tapped out on 512,

Chuckles > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 17:06

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I work in the office park just north of route 22 by the 512 exit, so my commute is mostly through Bethlehem. I agree that a 50cc might be a little on the slow side, but:

1. I’m going to the beach this weekend, and all they have for rentals are 50cc scooters. I just want to try something.

2. I mentioned before that my other half is skeptical of two wheeled vehicles, so trying out a 50cc is just part of my due diligence before I buy a 125-150cc. "I tried a smaller scooter, but my fat ass is too heavy to ride one safely in traffic."

Decay buys too many beaters > Chuckles 07/29/2019 at 17:34

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50s make fantastic beach runabouts. You'll have a blast 

Tony Foo Yong > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 18:42

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My factory paint took well to the 303 Spray & shine interior/exterior polish. I bet it would do wonders ok that Laguna Blue

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 18:55

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Even with getting clean fluid out, I still had junk in my curly lines somehow. That was why I thought I was good, clean fluid meant it was fine. But I guess I was wrong somehow. Perhaps the fluid doesnt push all of the junk out but running it for a bit will move the junk around enough to ruin stuff? All I know is that it was not something I ever want to mistake again lol. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 19:00

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Thankfully the front frame forks dont rust out on the NA like they do on the NB. The rockers and quarters are definitely “skilled welder” replaceable. And a hobbyist could certainly get to that status with a job like that. But those front frame forks are not really replaceable. The whole front of the car is a box crash structure and just welding in replacement panels will “work” but does not fix the structural integrity problem. While an OEM sourced NA/NB Miata from the factory is not going to win awards for modern crash safety standards regardless, having major crash structure compromised would surely make it fare worse. Considering how cheap less rusty ones are, it made no sense to keep trying to salvage the turd. Even with 250k miles on my second miata, its in far better shape than the other one just because it has lived its entire life in Socal. 

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/29/2019 at 19:09

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Hmm, had no idea on that one!

None of the corrosion on the $200 car is so bad that it would be dangerous or compromise structural integrity. more concerning was that it  definitely had been crashed a time or two, judging by several bends and damaged points to the rear subframe and the center of the frame rails (it looks like it was fork lifted at one point). I’ve already replace the sub frame when I swapped in a torsen and she drives straight.

Decay buys too many beaters > Tony Foo Yong 07/29/2019 at 19:12

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Fuuuuck that’s pretty, yeah, I’ll give that a try

Tony Foo Yong > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 19:22

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It really brought my dash & interior back to life as well. Lemme know how it works out for you

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 19:26

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The frame forks are basically paper machete made out of metal. Its multiple folded layers of steel in which salt and water easily finds its way in between layers and then rusts them from the inside out. In the NA, this is just one solid piece of steel. The change was made for crash safety and it is indeed true that the NB is much safer in a frontal collision than the NA, for more than just the upgraded airbags. This design allows for more crumpling but obviously didnt account for the effects of winter weather driving.

A hammer easily goes through all of it too. So its even worse than it looks lol.  

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 19:26

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The frame forks are basically paper machete made out of metal. Its multiple folded layers of steel in which salt and water easily finds its way in between layers and then rusts them from the inside out. In the NA, this is just one solid piece of steel. The change was made for crash safety and it is indeed true that the NB is much safer in a frontal collision than the NA, for more than just the upgraded airbags. This design allows for more crumpling but obviously didnt account for the effects of winter weather driving.

A hammer easily goes through all of it too. So its even worse than it looks lol.  

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 20:14

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Okay, but you have to buy the rest of the car too. I actually got a sale ad all written up after taking care of the accessory belts, but... Craigslist crashed 

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion 07/29/2019 at 20:21

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Let me steal those shocks before you sell, I’ll pay you more than the car will lose in value for not having them . We can swap on racelands :)

And I’ll turn the wrenches too

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/29/2019 at 20:22

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Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

That’s some horror movie stuff right there

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 20:40

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lol now you can see where I come from with “rust is pure evil” on a miata. Suuuuuper common on the NB. 

Decay buys too many beaters > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/29/2019 at 20:47

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Yeah, my NA is about as rusty as they come, but still totally salvageable with a mig and some sheet metal. That car is donezo 

daender > Decay buys too many beaters 07/29/2019 at 20:57

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Laguna blue is a hell-rare color, nice score.

Decay buys too many beaters > daender 07/29/2019 at 21:02

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And coming with a factory hard top (and judging from the fact the the colors are equally aged), probably It’s own original hard top, made it a buy right now type deal. Certainly did’t hurt that the seller was only about a mile away either. 

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Decay buys too many beaters 07/30/2019 at 00:07

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Nice find.  That hardtop is worth around $1800 alone.

Decay buys too many beaters > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 07/30/2019 at 00:39

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The top definitely has  some nicks and storage marks, so certainly not perfect, but it is pretty crazy the prices these things command.

Mrdad69 > Decay buys too many beaters 07/30/2019 at 01:53

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I also love that color. Blue for me. merlo mica for my son.

Decay buys too many beaters > Mrdad69 07/30/2019 at 02:28

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Both gorgeous 

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Decay buys too many beaters 07/30/2019 at 09:27

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Those nicks and marks won’t impact its value in any way.

You can thank the spec miata guys for that. They started off as an aerodynamic advantage when they were optional in the early days of the class, and then became mandatory as the class became standardized nationally about 10 years ago. Between that and there not being any aftermarket alternative for racecars until relatively recently, they went from being a thing relatively few miata people wanted that sold for $500 or less 10-15 years ago, to just about every last one out there having been snapped up for use on racecars and selling for $1800+ when they can be had at all.

Andre T > Decay buys too many beaters 07/30/2019 at 12:23

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I have a 1994 C Package Laguna Blue and Tan. I still haven't seen another that wasn't raced out or completely ruined so IF I ever sell it I might try to get a little money. Currently has 113k on it and was recently at the last Radwood show in NorCal.

Decay buys too many beaters > Andre T 07/30/2019 at 12:56

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You know, don’t think I have either. With a matching hard top I’d let the overpayers on BAT go wild for it. Seeing how they've been buying up even snc cars, I bet this would sell very well. 

For me, was specifically looking for cloth interior. Never really liked leather myself. 

Andre T > Decay buys too many beaters 07/30/2019 at 16:12

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I don’t know if it’s BAT quality. It’s not original paint, and the miles aren’t necessarily high or low. The seats were redone by me and are vinyl. It's just a relatively clean example of an extremely rare Miata (1 of 341 in this configuration).

CaptDale - is secretly British > Decay buys too many beaters 07/30/2019 at 16:41

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God damn that is a pretty color

Decay buys too many beaters > CaptDale - is secretly British 07/30/2019 at 20:13

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It’s great, really works with t he lines on the first gen cars.