Bought my first project car....
 

Since my job has me staying home at 60% pay indefinitely. I suppose I have too much free time, so I went searching for a car I’ve always wanted to own...a Mazda Roadster!

I looked at several locally at dealers but the prices were a bit high. I extended my search to neighboring prefectures via online auctions and a decent candidate popped up with a buy it now of the equivalent of $2000.

It does have some (very) questionable mods, but they will hopefully be easy to undo.

It’s a 1998 10 year anniversary 1.6 5 speed, with just 140,000 kilometers.
Has a hardtop ( missing the soft top).

I’m planning on picking it up and driving three hours back home on Friday.

I don’t know a lot about these cars except their reputation as fun, cheap, reliable, easy to work on etc.

What should I check carefully before driving it back, and any tools (can fit in a backpack) I should bring?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1588725484.jpg

Hair dresser's scissors.

Sorry Dan, but you are going to have to get used to that stupid joke sometime or another.

Well at least you are doing better than my garden tractor! :D

It's a Miata, just put some gas in it and drive it. Seriously I would check the all fluids and once you get it home replace the timing belt and water pump as soon as you can unless you have documentation it has been done. That's it, you should be able to get anything you need in terms of parts in the home country. Enjoy the new roadster and remember the answer is always Miata! DP

Here’s the engine bay.
Looks like an aftermarket chassis brace and an HKS cold (hot?) air intake. And a lotta dirt.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1588725941.jpg

Once you get it home probably an oil change, drive it a bit then another oil change to some good quality synthetic. Get rid of all the differed maintenance oil.

A friend has had one since it was near new and it would have to be the most reliable car I've heard of.

Looks like a fun project!!!!

thow a turbo kit on it weld the diff and have the time of your life

Nice. Most of those are pretty damn reliable. The early NAs are known to have the short nose crank issue. I am not sure if they solved that in yours. I think it looks a NB from your pic.

https://www.miata.net/garage/crankshaft.html

I had an NA, under power is an understatement, but no need to use brakes on turns so you save gas and it just keeps on going. Mine had sticky tires and adj Tokico shocks on it. Oh one more thing to remember, do not ever allow those soccer moms to beat your ass to the next signal light. They do this without trying and probably don't notice what they are doing to your manhood by making you look bad in your lil' red sports car. Mine was red also. They really are lots of fun. I took mine to a Porsche canyon run a couple times. They all gave me the thumbs up and all smiles, but I know deep down inside those bastards were calling me all kinds of names once I got into the car:eek:. Oh and I know them well.

I live in Japan. There’s no ‘Miata’ stigma ;)

Though there probably is towards Porsches...

Since I’m close to Hiroshima (Mazda’s headquarter) there’s a lot of pride in having one.

Glad to hear that you guys think the trip home will be smooth. I’ll check the liquids and tires and bring some hand tools.

Looking forward to cleaning it up and unpimping it from the aero parts.

Then full maintenance and some more tasteful mods.

I like it!
Not kei truck cool, but I would drive it.

Haha! So you purchased one already?

I’ve had mine for 17 years . . . and it has just turned over 315k kilometres. I bet close to 100k of that is from track and auto cross related activities. It’s cheap. Reliable. And not fast.

Once you get it sorted out throw a supercharger on it and have some fun :D . Never had one but competed against some well setup cars in AX that cornered like a go kart . Some aero kit parts look good ............. the ones on that car not so much :( . But create your own vision and enjoy . Keep us posted as you move forward . SmileWavy

Dan your car is an NB but with the 2nd generation NA 1.6 long nose crank engine. Those engines are very stout and can make serious HP with cams and head-work. Your roadster will look much better minus the side skirts. That car would sell for at least $5K in the USA. The factory bolt on Hardtops are getting to be very rare here due the Spec Miata rules requirement. DP

Nice! Hard top is a big bonus. I’m not sure that counts as much of a project car, something tells me it won’t take much to get it fully roadworthy. There’s a reason why Miata is always the answer....:D

That should be a fun project! And a great price. Where I am the hardtop would sell for $1000 easy.

We didn't get a 1998 model in the US. 1997 was the last of the NA (pop-up headlight) cars, and 1999 started the NB. We also didn't get a 1.6 after 1993 (Or maybe 1994?)

Right hand drive?

Did you know... that you can put a Jaguar V-6 in a Miata?

and it weighs LESS than the stock motor...

Yup! Still in Japan, but hopefully not for long.

Hey guys!

I picked up the car last week. It made the 2.5 hour drive back no problem.
Been cleaning it up slowly and getting ready for the strict Japanese inspection/registration process.
Pulled the seats and thoroughly cleaned the interior. Gave the engine bay a clean too.
I’ve got a pair of (red!) cloth seats on order to replace the bucket which is too tight.
Nice surprise is the soft top is intact and in very good shape too.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1589501407.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1589501407.jpg

That doesn't even look like the same car you posted in the first post.
Nice change!
Having a good soft top will really make using it easier on hmm, is it going to rain or not days.

Very nice, much better with the side skirts removed. What color is that, the 10th anniversary cars here were a special shade of blue, blue top too I think

Don't forget to bleed the clutch hydraulic fluid

It’s color code SU Classic Red.
Good news I passed the inspection process. Just a few small issues so I had to get it rechecked...the seatbelt light wasn’t illuminating because the belt wouldn’t fully retract due to how the po had routed the belt through the hard back bucket (that took me a while to figure out). Had a license bulb out. Muffler was touching the body....But the mechanical stuff was all good.

Gonna focus on the bodywork (front and rear bumpers, rear fender all need work). Should be a fun car to learn how to paint as it is single stage. Then I’ll catch up with fluid changes.

Looks great. Kudos on passing the inspection.

How could you wait so long to get a project car?
At 16 I had my first project car, a lot of other firsts that year too.:D

Because lack of money, time, no garage.
Now I finally have those things in my 40s.

I need two cars that are reliable which I have now ( Benz w210 and wife’s BMW 1 series). So now I can afford to have a cheap third car to work on!

All I ever hear the insecure air cooled codgers say about Miata or Boxster is the tired cliche of hairdresser car.
I see more Boxsters at DE events than air cooled garage queens that only get driven to cars & coffee nonsense.

Miata is a great value and at 2200 lbs. has similar power to weight ratio as a 911 SC or BMW E30


Head over to the Miata forum.
Its a great DIY community without the snobbery of expensive cars
https://forum.miata.net/vb/

There are tons of great auto body paint channels on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/customspraymods/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid
https://www.youtube.com/user/jimmo4life/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid
https://www.youtube.com/user/nexson/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid

Updates!

New seats!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1589656850.jpg

Hope to sell the Bride bucket and original passenger seat to break even.

The car is growing on my wife too. She’s driven it twice now. She’s still getting comfortable with a manual transmission, but I’m proud and happy that she wants to drive it.
She says it’s much less pressure and easier to drive than our old 911s, which we no longer have sadly.

At 16, I had already turned our family car into a project car...


My mom: "It sounds funny"

Cleaned up nicely. Have you driven it though the cherry blossoms?

Hi Dan! Long time no see.. I got a '99 Miata now too since I needed a sports car I could beat on and not worry about while my Porsche is being modded to perfection..by me ....and i am a slow wrench. Wonder who is driving yer old Porsche?

Hey Man!
Nice to hear from you...happy to hear you’ve got an NB6 too :)
I’m really enjoying mine so far, perfect for the small twisty roads of Japan.
Sadly I had to sell the 964 before we moved abroad. Thought I could get another, but it was just when prices started climbing.
Does your friend still have the brown targa?
That’s still my favorite car I’ve owned.
Hope life is good in the Willy-B.

Having a crack at some paintwork. Got some SU CLASSIC RED spray cans and other materials. Someone had sprayed the rear panel in the wrong shade of red.
Much harder than it looks on YouTube.
Both bumpers need some work down the road too.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1589884052.jpg