Nope, I don't fit

So we decided to sell our 2000 5-speed 4-Runner this fall. The suv is my wifes DD and she has wanted a "fun" car. She came up with a list with very little input from me. First was newer VW Beetle turbo, second Miata, third WRX STI.

I have been very passively keeping my car out for one of the above but no intent at all. Enter this car.

I was riding with my boss over to the dealer to pick up a car and he saw it and stopped by. Long story short I snagged it up for a song and set it up with my wifes vanity plate, without her knowing!!

I didnt have time to do a real detail on it but it cleaned up well. drove it into our fenced in back yard and didnt mention a thing to her. When she let the dog out after work she was very surprised. She loves it. Loves driving it. I am relieved she is happy with it.

She drove me to a movie after she found it, and had to take a pic...

The car is nice, I really like it.

2000 Miata, no options according to Mazda, 100,024 miles, bone stock. Hard Dog roll bar(mandated by po's wife)

I know nothing of Miatas...

Oil, fuel, air filters, wipers, trans and diff fluid first. Any recommendations appreciated.

First on the fun list is locating some nice looking 15" wheels and some good tires.

I am glad she liked it, no way I could dd it

Me, napping at an Englishtown event last weekend in the Suburban. Hot damn these are a tight fit. I dont plan to spend much time in it, but is there anything that can be done to make a bit more room for me?

I know, TLDR...

Ill take some more pics at work on the lift this week.

Thanks Ross

Put an inch of washers between the seat base and the front of the sliders. You will need two longer bolts per side. It makes a big difference.

Also, put a couple of washers between the parking brake assembly and the tunnel at the two lower bolts. It keeps the brake handle from jamming into your thigh.

Is has, what I assume is, the OE fold up wind deflector and map pocket. Not sure how much it matters. Good call on the handle and slider spacers! Thanks for the info.

Woody wrote: Put an inch of washers between the seat base and the front of the sliders. You will need two longer bolts per side. It makes a big difference. Also, put a couple of washers between the parking brake assembly and the tunnel at the two lower bolts. It keeps the brake handle from jamming into your thigh.

Correction: Loosen the two upper bolts, remove the bottom bolt. Add a couple of washers to the bottom. It makes a huge difference.

After:

From my Wintercrosser thread:

Woody wrote: More Quality of life stuff. The short seat base doesn't offer a lot of thigh support. I removed the seat, flipped it over, removed the front bolts mounting the seats to the rails, and loosened the rears and the ones mounting the seat belt buckle to the side of the seat. I found a pair of longer bolts for the front in the Big Bucket of Metric Hardware, put five 5/16" washers on each side between the rails and seat base and then tightened everything up. This raises up the front of the seat base, giving more thigh support. It also raises your knees, which effectively yields noticeably more leg room. So the parking brake mod and the seat shimming took me less that an hour combined and cost me the price of two used bolts and twelve washers. The car is now exponentially more comfortable to drive.

Congrats on the pick up!

I Just picked up a 99 in that color yesterday. Yours looks great!

Cut some foam out of the seat. Its called a foamectomy in the Miata world. I removed the sun visors as I consideref them pointless in a convertible and they blocked the traffic lights.

The timing belt on anything snagged for a song is immediately suspect.

Just be warned that some people are too tall for a miata, even with the various tricks devised over the years.
In my case, as an all-torso 6'3", de-humping the rear seat mount with a kirkey seat bolted right to the floor wasn't enough to get my past the broomstick test.
The tricks can get you some room, but YMMV.

The missus should enjoy it!

SnowMongoose wrote: The missus should enjoy it!

That is the main goal. She has done about 200 miles in it and I am actually surprised how much she loves it.

BrokenYugo wrote: The timing belt on anything snagged for a song is immediately suspect.

The maintenance on the car by the PO is impressive. He was a real stickler for having things done the right way. The ting belt did not ring a bell to him but he said he will email his shop and ask for the records for the car.

The timing belt issues were mentioned to me by a friend that has the tools for is, so I probably will do it anyway when I get a free half day in the shop. Just grab the kit from FM when I make the first order from them...

Does not seem too difficult? Looks like lots of room up front.

Thanks Ross