FS: 1992 Miata, 5-speed, Cincinnati, OH, $1000 OBO

Figured I would help enable some of the addicts here before I throw it Craigslist. For sale is a salvage title 1992 Miata I bought two years ago with the intention of doing something that I've now forgotten. Would be a good donor for someone looking to do LeMons, ChumpCar or the Grassroots $2013 Challenge.

Car has been stored indoors since I've owned it and was stored indoors at the salvage yard I bought it from (http://www.strickerbros.com, which is a pretty fancy place and definitely not your typical junk yard).

Car has 168,xxx miles, is a 5-speed manual, and has plenty of things you could sell to get down to the $2013 limit, such as power windows, power steering, a/c, cruise control, tan leather seats, chrome door sills, Nardi wood shift knob, wood e-brake handle, and trunk luggage rack. Car does have typical rust in front of the rear wheels and the glass window in the soft top has collapsed, but could be made water tight with some plastic and duct tape.

Pictures of the car can be found here: Picasa Web Album. Let me know if you want more pictures of specific areas.

From what I can tell, the car failed to stop in time and rear ended a vehicle with a trailer hitch and ball at about 10 mph. The airbag did not deploy. Since it is a '92, the insurance company totaled the car and the salvage yard bought it and sold it to me as a "repairable" vehicle. The hitch and ball damaged the front bumper and then wedged itself between the bumper and the hood, pushing the radiator core support back a few inches. The 1.6L engine runs (albeit with a lot of HLA noise), but only leaks coolant from the damaged radiator. The car drives and stops straight (up and down my driveway) and appears to have been well maintained before it was wrecked.

Off the top of my head, the car needs a new/used radiator, the fluids flushed, brakes checked and the radiator core support bent/pulled back into place before it's good enough to have the cage installed and go racing.

NOTE: The car will need to be towed and is not street legal due to the salvage title, which I have in hand and ready to sign over to the new owner. I'm in Cincinnati, Ohio and I am flexible on the price.

I really shouldn't do this, since I need space more than another project, but, any interest in trading for my Subaru wagon?

Well the good thing is that trading a Subaru for a Miata will give you more space.

EvanB wrote: Well the good thing is that trading a Subaru for a Miata will give you more space.

Thats kind of my twisted logic

Also for whoever gets this I have a used radiator a few hours north.

eastsidemav wrote: I really shouldn't do this, since I need space more than another project, but, any interest in trading for my Subaru wagon?

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not particularly interested in trades. Trying to thin the stable of projects I have myself

cincy94max wrote:

eastsidemav wrote: I really shouldn't do this, since I need space more than another project, but, any interest in trading for my Subaru wagon?

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not particularly interested in trades. Trying to thin the stable of projects I have myself

No problem, I understand. Trying to thin things out over here as well.

I pulled the car out of storage over the weekend, checked the fluids, jumped the battery, let the car run for about an hour and drove the car up and down the driveway a few times. The car idles perfectly (no surging), tracks straight, shifts through all the gears without issue, the motor revs very freely, the clutch is good, the brakes have tons of pad and rotor life left, and the tires have over 50% tread left.

The car came up to temperature as it should and never overheated in the hour I had it idling while I was working on other projects. The radiator seems to only be damaged at the top, where the plastic is cracked, so it holds plenty of coolant for anyone who wants to test drive it on my driveway.

The car does need a new battery as the one in the car wouldn't even turn on the accessory lights after I turned the car off. I hooked my battery tender up to it, but it wouldn't charge it due to it being so flat. That said, the car starts and runs just fine with a jump start, so I don't think it's anything more than a battery.

With all that in mind, I'll take $850 or best offer.

Would make an excellent Christmas present!

kinda interested...short nose crank?

LSD rear?

damnit...wallet, y u so empty?!?!

CarKid1989 wrote: kinda interested...short nose crank? LSD rear?

Everything I've read states short-nose crank was only 1990 and early 1991 cars. This is a 1992, so I'm pretty sure it's a long-nose crank.

The VLSD rear on these cars is notoriously hard to identify unless you take the diff apart and look at the insides, which I don't want to do at this point in time. If one of the three people currently interested doesn't take the car off my hands in a few days, I may call Mazda and get the original options list based on the VIN.

Unless it's been replaced with a junkyard motor, it's a long nose crank.

If it weren't for shipping it down to me doubling the purchase price...

SOLD! Thanks for the interest.