miata.net and my new toy
 

Have spent a bit of time on miata.net which, as far as i can tell, is the closest thing to Pelican for those cars. I gotta say, we have it awful good over here. Not even remotely impressed with the brain trust on that site. I'm sure there are some great folks but as a percentage of active posters i'd have to guess miata.net has about 10% of what Pelican has.

Tried to read up on wet spark plug boots (pretty sure i have a leaky cover gasket) and i end up in a thread where the best way to prep your cam cover for red paint is being discussed.

Tried to buy some el cheapo parts which would involve me pulling them with the owner and i got an invitation to stay overnight. seriously.

I guess the fact that the cars are so cheap and have a cross appeal to ricers means that you are always going to have a low percentage of honestly knowledgable and helpful people involved in any particular discussion. Surely is quite different over here.

On a separate note after putting a few miles on the car i wish i had bought one long ago. might not even own the 911 if i had. it is just that good of a car. definitely will be looking into S2000's some day to see if they are similarly sweet (and less gay).

At a minimum this car has reinforced the idea i have that if Elise used values ever approximate the value of my '70 i might be doing some test rides.

As they are getting cheap, especially for a roller, this really interests me:

480HP aluminum SBC LS-3 wedged in there...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1254512398.jpg

Dyno of above car compared to a stocker...


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1254512432.jpg

that is pretty crazy right there! i don't know how you'd get enough tire under the car to handle that. watched a 5.0'd miata and every time the guy even thought of juicing it he was sideways.

not sure i'd be willing to give up this transmission though. 2-3 upshift is like 'push and think of the number 3'. it is perhaps the best part of the car.

I didn't buy a Miata, but I test drove one and it was a blast, a 2001. It seemed to very well built and the seating and shifter worked great. It would have been a blast to own, and I'm not gay. I did end up buying a BMW and have the same impression of their board as you did with Miata.org. The brain trust is very lacking, compared to Pelican. There are lots and lots of ricers on the BMW board and the language used is so high school. I've talked to many and many Pelicans over the years and can really tell the difference,much more mature. Oh well, I love my car and there still might be hope.

Which forum have you been on? I've been searching the NA board recently and it seems *kind of* active. Maybe about like the 944 board here?

Somewhere out there is a kit to put a Ford 4.6 in a Miata... I think the end product was sold turn key as a "Miata Monster"

Saw one in Palm Springs at a VARA event.

Me want...

The first swap of the sort done was with a Ford 5.0L. Now there are kits for the Ford small blocks and small block Chevies.

Miata.net has their board much more separated (suspension, engine, body, brakes, etc....) Since they have it split into so many categories, it doesn't seem as active, but they are quite active on many of the boards. There are some very knowledgeable folks there, but you have to be willing to separate the wheat from the chaff (which is considerable). Yes, since the cars are so cheap, you have a very wide array of folks from 16 yo kids, to 80 year olds, folks that are hardcore about performance and folks that are mechanically clueless.

There's good info to be had, you just have to dig.

the 'Monster Miata' dates back quite a ways and started with 5.0 (ok, really 4.9) mustangs. i think the logo was a godzilla.

scuba been digging through the 'na' forum and several others as well. it's frustrating because i like to overload myself with info when i get a new toy and you really have to dig to find good stuff there.

another example, i have access to a lot of free parts from a 20k mile '99 nb car. so i dug around the na forum looking for what i was sure would be a ton of examples of people having done just this. thus far have found one reasonably useful thread but there is still some confusion. have more reading to do and hope to get the concrete answers soon but wouldn't you think this would show up pretty quickly?

Search is your friend...

Lots of info over there, and of course they are pretty straightforward cars to work on. CHeck over in the Garage section for a valve cover gasket. Very few problems with the cars, and all are well documented.

What info are you looking for? I'm curious. I've got an NA ('97) and my wife drives an NB ('99).

list of parts pulled and bought to swap springs/shocks from nb to na as well as before/after ride height and alignment issues.

seems like there is an abundance of 'i heard' stuff but not a lot of 'joe did it and has a great 'how to' thread here'.

like i said i'm sure there are some expert diy junkies over there but lord are they hidden beneath a lot of crap.

did you get your matching purse yet?

hey, somebody had to say it. It's in the bylaws!

It's pretty hard to find a site as good as here.
Been on some Toyota sites looking for info(timing belt replacement) and geez most can't even find their oil filters!
I'm glad we have such a wealth of knowledge here.

There was a British dude I knew, worked at a wine shop, who wanted to trade me his S2000 for my 911. I declined the offer. I still probably would.

As far as V8s in the Miata, I don't know - that's a lot of weight to get pushed in and out of corners.

As far as Nostatic: LOL!

OK, you say the lanuage is so high school, but then why did you have to tell us that you are not gay. Isn't that a bit high school. Alright, I had to jump you on that, sorry. Have a great weekend.

Yes, the Miatas are pretty tough and you could beat on it a bit.

You would be suprise what as S2000 could do. Those lilttle things are a blast to drive and they handle so well. They revy little mofos. You can drive mine when you pick up the roller. Only If I ever dig it out. You can have it if you promise to ride it. Now I just have to and dig for it.

Hey, look sweetie. Oh forgot, I got rid of the matching purse and the car but still have pretty hair.

Winter's coming. The days are getting short. And I was yelled at by a runner at the Rose Bowl last night for not having lights. How the **** was I to know the sun sets at about 6:00 around the RB?

:eek::eek:

Wheres that pic of those alternate lifestyle types in their miata?

Yeah. Thank goodness no one's invited me to spend the night in exchange for a ducktail. I guess at that rate, a "two-in-one-out" exhaust would take on new meaning.

Are there gays in high school who drive Miata's. rut_rou

Kieth Tanner from Flyin Miata posts there. Mr Fat Cat Motorsports posts in the suspension forum. 1.6 to 1.8 conversions, timing belt how to, V8 forum, SC forum, Turbo forum, etc... Alignment settings, all that good stuff.

Also, Barnes and Noble probably has a copy of Kieth Tanner's ''101 projects for your Miata'', right down the street from you. Lots of the basics right there.

At one time I looked into putting Bilstein PS9 shocks and springs into my NA. Upper spring perch is different from the NB, so you need those for a swap.


It is different over there though. Over there, they beech about Porsches and the Miata stigma of Gaydom. Over here we, um might not be that much different, come to think about it.

I have a carbon fiber ducktail if you're interested. I figure that's gotta' be good for at LEAST two or three sessions though.

My wife has a pink hat that says Zoom Zoom. I got a supercharger and some Falkens. For a 1.6, the thing is a rocket.

The all-aluminum LSx V8 doesn't weigh much more than the 1.6/1.8/2.0L twincam fours.

I saw on some Miata forum where a LS1 powered 1991 Miata weighed less than a stock 2001 Miata, and had better balance front to rear and corner to corner.

Wasn't it Mark Donahue that said (paraphrased), "you only have 'enough' power when you can paint two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the apex of the next."

I say you don't have too much power; you don't have enough tire!

Any thoughts n the 1.6 vs. 1.8? I haven't done a lot of searching around but aside from the short nose issue the early engines had if any is more reliable or modable than the other.

I actually prefer the Miata over the S2000. I know the S2000 has power and nearly mid-engine qualities to it (I think the car is designed so the engine is pushed back pretty far from forward), but performance-per-$ I think the Miata is the better deal.

I've seen a supercharged Miata just tear it up at Willow Springs. I was shocked at how fast that car was. It looked like a Formula Atlantic car with a convertible body atop the chassis.

Looks-wise, I think the Miata - particularly the older Miata - is a better looking car than the S2000.

If I could find one (and they come up for sale now and then), I'd get a Miata R. Bilsteins and a bit lighter -- who could ask for more?

I test drove both the S2000 and the Mazdaspeed MX5 turbo. I liked the Mazda way more. It could have easily been built into a pretty formidable machine. The S2000 was fun and looked less "ghey" but I disliked two things about it - one, it would make you the wet dream of every riced-out Honda Civic driving retard out there and two, it was a DOG below about 4,000 RPM. I don't really feel like having to drive around revved up to six grand just to avoid getting my doors blown off by guys in old minivans full of carpet cleaning equipment. Nor do I particularly want to draw that much attention to myself (and potentially the ire of the popo) by having to rev it that high.

By contrast I found the MX5 to be surprisingly balanced and have decent performance "down low". Not great mind you, but better than the S2K.

Ultimately however, both lost out to the Mercedes SLK, which I ended up buying. The MX5 was cool, but I just don't think I could've handled the constant ghey jokes and (more importantly) the steeper depreciation curve than the SLK had (the MX5 was an '04, the SLK was an '01 and had already realized the bulk of its depreciation). Besides, I was looking for a turnkey daily driver, not another car to tinker with/modify - I have a 944 for that. I doubt I'd have been able to keep my wrenches off a turbo MX5 and it would quickly have turned into another mod-project/money pit.

To each their own though. If we all liked the same things, the world would be awfully boring.

The other, "unoffical" Miata forum can be found at Grassrootsmotorsports.com!

Enjoy.

No, the reliability is the same for both (besides the shortnose crank issue). The 1.8 has a bit more grunt. Some folks talk about the 1.6 being a little revvier. I test drove a bunch when I was looking, I didn't see what they were talking about.

In my research, the '94, '95 models were recommended because they were pre-OBDII but still had the 1.8L. Since they were pre-OBDII, they were considered more modable.

The miata was designed so that if a 165# person was added to the driver's seat, the car will have a 50/50 front to rear and right to left weight distro. Now, I'm not sure how that changes RE: power windows, AC, other options, etc.... I'm sure over the years and with different option packages, that changes, but I'd suspect it should stay pretty close.

I have a '97 with a 1.8. It's pretty darn torquey for what it is. I can start off in 2nd gear with very little clutch slip and easily drive through the parking garage at work in 2nd gear going up to the 9th floor. It continues to feel good all the way up to the 7000 rpm redline.

Good to hear - I'm looking for a '94 or '95 sometime soon myself. Probably sometime in early November. I was glad to hear that the plastics and dash won't do what they did on my 924S, because that was one of the bigger worries I had.

I'm enjoying my new 2010 MazdaSpeed3, but the mazda3forums don't compare to these forums. Of course, I'm at least 25 years older than everyone else on the Mazda boards...

I tried to find some info for you and discovered the same thing. I got frustrated, so I started my own hypothetical thread.

Exactly what is required to put NB shocks on an NA - MX-5 Miata Forum

Hey thanks steve. Look forward to reading responses.

Solved a no charge condition today. Turns out you need a bulb to work or alt won't 'energize'. This I did end up finding on the board.

So far, they say just bolt the whole unit in (spring, shock, hat) and you're good to go.

THe good news is that the top hat for the rear gives you a little more shock travel before you hit the bumpstops.