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I decided to finally treat myself to something I've wanted for 30 years...IMG_20200609_142417.jpg.66c70338dda8251e29a74ed8913464a6.jpgIMG_20200609_142417.jpg.66c70338dda8251e29a74ed8913464a6.jpg

 

'95 M Edition. One of 3500 made, only 89k miles.  BBS wheels were standard, tan leather interior, one-year-only Merlot paint. Most of the heavy lifting (timing belt, cooling system, motor mounts, respray) was done by previous owner, leaving me with a lot of little jobs to do to bring her back to her former glory. She had been sitting for a while so brakes needed to be rebuilt. I will be fitting a new top at some point soon as well as new leather seat covers. THe original exhaust is a bit tired so it will be receiving a Racing Beat SS system. THe paint took about 5 hours to remove the worst of the scratches and swirl marks. I've also been going over the car from nose to tail tracking down missing push rivets, bolts and clips. It now feels solid and remarkably quiet for an old Miata. I added a twin-tone air horn to make sure texting SUV drivers are aware of my presence as well as E-code headlamps. She's insanely fun to drive (not fast, but fun) and it's the most engaging car I've ever driven. You have to be paying attention at all times behind the wheel, which is just how I like it!

 

At the City Dock...

2042353936_IMG_20200622_183655(1).jpg.52994a3c0fe6cb3215f5871cb6f24c92.jpg

 

What a rear end...

IMG_20200609_142436.thumb.jpg.729d01754a382e041841cfc0b8115db6.jpg

 

Sleeping with the enemy... (pic taken in the garage at work)

IMG_20200613_140508.jpg.01817de7c08fea70d027c1b06bbcbae2.jpg

 

The 1:24 version will b e coming soon!

 

 

 

IMG_20200609_142449.jpg

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41 minutes ago, jaymcminn said:

I decided to finally treat myself to something I've wanted for 30 years...IMG_20200609_142417.jpg.66c70338dda8251e29a74ed8913464a6.jpgIMG_20200609_142417.jpg.66c70338dda8251e29a74ed8913464a6.jpg

 

'95 M Edition. One of 3500 made, only 89k miles.  BBS wheels were standard, tan leather interior, one-year-only Merlot paint. Most of the heavy lifting (timing belt, cooling system, motor mounts, respray) was done by previous owner, leaving me with a lot of little jobs to do to bring her back to her former glory. She had been sitting for a while so brakes needed to be rebuilt. I will be fitting a new top at some point soon as well as new leather seat covers. THe original exhaust is a bit tired so it will be receiving a Racing Beat SS system. THe paint took about 5 hours to remove the worst of the scratches and swirl marks. I've also been going over the car from nose to tail tracking down missing push rivets, bolts and clips. It now feels solid and remarkably quiet for an old Miata. I added a twin-tone air horn to make sure texting SUV drivers are aware of my presence as well as E-code headlamps. She's insanely fun to drive (not fast, but fun) and it's the most engaging car I've ever driven. You have to be paying attention at all times behind the wheel, which is just how I like it!

 

At the City Dock...

2042353936_IMG_20200622_183655(1).jpg.52994a3c0fe6cb3215f5871cb6f24c92.jpg

 

What a rear end...

IMG_20200609_142436.thumb.jpg.729d01754a382e041841cfc0b8115db6.jpg

 

Sleeping with the enemy... (pic taken in the garage at work)

IMG_20200613_140508.jpg.01817de7c08fea70d027c1b06bbcbae2.jpg

 

The 1:24 version will b e coming soon!

 

 

 

IMG_20200609_142449.jpg

Beautiful looking Miata. I remember this special edition because I like the color so much. I even considered buying one but my upper torso put the top of the windshield frame at eye level. Anold saying about cars. "It is more fun driving a slow car fast than driving a fast car slow". I have always found it true.   

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13 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

That is a really nice colour! You will love it! Is it manual or auto? I have a 2013 PRHT and find it a thrill to drive. Here’s a link to the Miata/MX-5 site.

https://forum.miata.net/vb/

Thanks man! She's an auto. I wasn't looking for an automatic, but the spec and condition were so good for the price that I couldn't pass it up, especially given that NA prices are starting to take off. The Merlot Mica is an amazing color that makes the '95M stand out from the rest of the pack.  I was looking at NCs as well (never liked the NB generation) but I just can't pass up a nice set of pop-up headlamps! I'm already on Miata.net, same user ID over there. I used their buyer's guide when looking the car over (took a little chance on low idle issue, turned out to be dirty ISC, cheap fix) I'll probably cross-post my 1/24 '95M build over there as I'm doing it. 

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I’m envious!! I’ve owned two Miatas now - an NA and and NB, and I’m looking for another NA.  How’s the automatic trans on that thing?  I never drove an auto version.

If you’re not familiar, whilst you’re checking things over it’s worth making sure the drain holes under the doors aren’t bunged up with crud and gunk - that seems like its one of the most common reasons that these start to rust underneath.

Enjoy your Miata-ing!! 

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41 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

I’m envious!! I’ve owned two Miatas now - an NA and and NB, and I’m looking for another NA.  How’s the automatic trans on that thing?  I never drove an auto version.

If you’re not familiar, whilst you’re checking things over it’s worth making sure the drain holes under the doors aren’t bunged up with crud and gunk - that seems like its one of the most common reasons that these start to rust underneath.

Enjoy your Miata-ing!! 

 

Thanks Jim! Rocker drains weren't bad, a little bit of sand/dirt came out but they weren't blocked. The rain rail drains were clean as a whistle. I unbolted the bottoms of the front fenders to get the crud that accumulates from the hood drains and there was a bunch of nastiness there, but no rust yet. (For those who aren't familiar, 1st generation Miatas are built with something like 13 drain holes to keep water from accumulating in the complex stamped steel structure and rotting the car from the inside out; keeping these drains clear is just one of the little maintenance tasks involved in keeping a 25-year-old roadster on the road) The auto trans is good, it allows the engine to rev out nicely and has a "hold" feature to keep it out of overdrive for in-town driving if you want to keep the revs up. If the auto trans ever craps out (unlikely, they're as tough as the engine) I might go manual swap. 

Good luck on your NA search, there are still good ones out there. As a previous owner you obviously know what to look out for, and I'm sure you'll find one!

Edited by jaymcminn
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That's a gorgeous color!  You will enjoy it.  I had a friend who looked for a nice example in this blue, then he trashed it doing track time.  When the transmission failed, he decided to stuff a Corvette V8 in it, took 3 years.  So be careful......
6984749906_f52c35c0a9_5k.jpg

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Sweet ride Jason!

My GF had one of those too (before I met her). She said that she loved driving it.  I'm promised her that I'll build a model of it. I started it years ago, but it is still unfinished.  I have the Tamiya and Revell kits, BBS wheels, the Merlot Mica paint, and even photoetched the required emblems.  I just have to get back to that project one of these days.

Edited by peteski
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6 hours ago, peteski said:

Sweet ride Jason!

My GF had one of those too (before I met her). She said that she loved driving it.  I'm promised her that I'll build a model of it. I started it years ago, but it is still unfinished.  I have the Tamiya and Revell kits, BBS wheels, the Merlot Mica paint, and even photoetched the required emblems.  I just have to get back to that project one of these days.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to my scale build. Biggest challenge is converting the early interior to the NA8 interior, especially since the 95M had low back buckets with headrests. I am probably going to base my build on the Tamiya Eunos because most of my collection is 1/24 and the '95 has a different engine to the '93 Revell kit so the Eunos being curbside doesn't bother me. I'll use the Revell mostly for detail bits. 

51 minutes ago, JollySipper said:

I LIKE these little cars! Never driven a Miata, but I know Mazda makes pretty tough stuff. I got 250K miles out of a little Mazda hatch back.

Weren't these cars kinda based on a Lotus Elan?

The Elan connection is a big point of contention in Miata circles. There are definite similarities in the suspension and chassis design. Early design proposals from Mazda's American design center looked more Italian than British. When the prototypes were being built in Japan Mazda had several "benchmark" sports cars they were driving as well, including a couple of Elans. The final models took on a lot of the Elan's styling characteristics, including the more rounded rear end and the "smiley" grille opening. What's funny is when you see a Miata parked next to an Elan you realize how tiny the Lotus is...the Miata looks huge next to it!images.jpeg.1f7be62beb78c861b8faceb6ce906aca.jpeg

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4 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

I've always been a fan of Miatas. But being 6'6" kinds of takes that car out of ownership contention for me!

 

I'm 5'11" and it fits me like a tailored suit. If you're more than 6 '1" or so it's a tight fit. The 6'3" 300lb engineering director of my hotel tried to get into the driver's seat and couldn't quite manage it. At 6'6" you'd have to get two and wear them like roller skates!

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They are great cars. My wife had one just like yours but with a standard. She loved the car and it was a ball to drive. Unfortunately in trying to avoid a head-on collision she went off the road and hit a tree on the drivers side. She was very lucky in only getting a badly sprained wrist and bruises from the air bag but the car was totaled. So at most there are only 3499 of them left.

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32 minutes ago, crazyjim said:

I remember reading somewhere that you can buy a bolt in crossmember and bolt a Ford 302 in one of those.

... but since the expert advice is get the 1.6 ltr engine instead of the 1.8, because even that extra weight throws off the balance and the driving delight of the finely tuned chassis dynamics, why would you want to hang a boat anchor out front?

beat,

M.

(who’s just been looking up how much an NA would cost locally, and thinking “it’s less than £2K... that ain’t so much...”)

Edited by Matt Bacon
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3 hours ago, crazyjim said:

I remember reading somewhere that you can buy a bolt in crossmember and bolt a Ford 302 in one of those.

There are plenty of Ford 302 and SBC swaps out there. It's pretty easy to do, and there are plug and play kits. 

3 hours ago, Matt Bacon said:

... but since the expert advice is get the 1.6 ltr engine instead of the 1.8, because even that extra weight throws off the balance and the driving delight of the finely tuned chassis dynamics, why would you want to hang a boat anchor out front?

beat,

M.

(who’s just been looking up how much an NA would cost locally, and thinking “it’s less than £2K... that ain’t so much...”)

Inspect that sub £2k MX5 carefully. I looked at a few in the $2000-$2500 price range and they were pretty crusty. From what I understand the tendency for these little cars to rust is no joke and it is not cheap or easy to fix if it needs to be done. If you shop for one pay special attention to the rear quarters and wheelwells. They seem to go wrong there first. 1.6 and 1.8 engines aren't all that different as far as weight goes, and there's a nice little 17hp bump from the 1.8 engine. If you find a good one you can't go wrong... it's exactly as much fun as you would expect!

Edited by jaymcminn
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  • 3 weeks later...

That’s a lovely Miata. We just retired a ‘94 M Miata from our household. Got many good miles off it including a 2 week camping/driving trip. Great cars, and so much fun. Lots of comfort and go fast bits for them too. My favorite accessory was a pair of Piloti driving shoes. 

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