The $1,200 Miata

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Oh damn!  No, I don't recall seeing that!  I bet that was a wild ride.

In other news, a new battery has been fitted, I cleaned up the battery acid that the last battery left all over the place, new bolts are securing the license plate, and the oil is freshly changed.  I need to clean up the bumpers and the left door and fender a bit and then give the whole car - except the freshly-painted quarters - a coat of wax.  There shouldn't be any problem getting that done by the time the rain is officially out of the area on Wednesday.

A break in the weather gave me an opportunity to finish with the polishing and to put some of the Chemical Guys Hydroslick on all the paint, except for the fresh stuff.  The shop didn't say anything about it, but I've always heard that you should wait a couple months before waxing fresh paint.  I'm very happy with how it has turned out:

I got it tucked back into the garage right before the rain restarted.  I want to do something about adding better sound to the car, but for now I got a $20 Bluetooth-to-FM adapter.  Ideally, I'd like to figure out something that I could connect to whatever the CD changer used so that I'd keep the OEM look.  But that's pretty low priority.  For now, I can't wait until Wednesday when things are supposed to dry up!

In reply to wae :

I think I still have the speakers that I pulled out of the E46 when I put the new BavSound speakers in it if you're interested in seeing if any of them fit well in the Miata.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

I appreciate it, but I've got my eyes on a set of Rockford Fostgates from Crutchfield

---

For about 12 hours, we managed to not have any rain, so I took advantage of that and got the Miata out on the road for a few miles for the first time in forever.  There's a nasty vibration at about 35mph and another not-so-bad one at around 70mph.  I've ordered up a new driveshaft since that speed range is more than likely the front U-joint.  It was also running a little bit hot after climbing the hill to get home, so once it cools down a bit I'll check the coolant level.  Other than those minor issues, it was an absolute joy to get out there and drive that car again!

Looking great! It's making me want to polish Sven before the race this weekend.

Finally!  A good day for a drive!

Now that I can see it in the sun, I'm very happy with the color match on the paint.

I've got a new driveshaft on the way and that should take care of the vibration, but I have noticed that as I've driven it, the vibration has gotten a little less severe.  Other than the driveshaft and maybe some centercaps, I don't anticipate doing anything to the car for a while.  My winter list for it is to do something about recovering or replacing the seats - or at least the driver seat - and doing a foamectomy and adding seat heaters, improving the sound system, and trying to find the refrigerant leak in the A/C system.  There's also a small oil leak that I think is coming from the valve cover gasket and I may or may not look at that.  And I may refresh the suspension as well, but I think the Saab is in more dire need of such work.

Can't catch a break!  Taking the car to pick the youngest daughter up from school, the little rubber isolator on the clutch pedal broke apart so every time I hit the clutch there's a tapping sound which is irritating.  And then on the way home, it popped a P0420 code, so it looks like it's time for an anti-fouler.

The vibration could be as simple as flat spotted tires from sitting. Drive more :)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Well, when I drove the car to and from the paint shop, that's what I thought.  But now that the brand-new, freshly mounted and balanced tires are on there, I think that's less likely. 

But I'm going to keep driving it, just in case!

Since I had two papers to write and a midterm to study for, I decided to clear off my work calendar yesterday and drive down to Buffalo Trace to buy some bourbon.  I stayed off the Interstate and spent the drive down on US127 and the drive back on KY16 and US25 and it was a great drive.  The P0420 code came back of course, but that didn't really surprise me.  Other than that, it was absolutely perfect there and back and I got a ton of compliments on the car while I was threading through the parking lot at the distillery.  I've made out my list of things that I need to do, but most of them are going to wait until after the weather changes and I put the car up for the winter. 

• Driveshaft and/or cure the vibration
• Replace the last four non-shiny lug nuts
• New wiper blades
• Polish and wax the hardtop
• Put a couple anti-foulers on the downstream O2 sensor
• Replace the rubber clutch pedal stopper
• New door speakers
• Some sort of Bluetooth solution without ruining the 90's aesthetic of the car
• Recover seats - foamectomy and add heaters while I'm at it
• Fix the AC
• Repaint the wiper arms
• Buy or print some centercaps
• Replace the under-engine splash shield
• Find a way to secure that bumper support
• Get the right clips to install the trim in front of the headlight
• Track down the oil leak

It's interesting to me to see how this has evolved.  It went from non-running project to fun car that needed some things.  I transitioned it back to non-running project and now it's back to fun car that needs some things.  But other than the vibration that I'm getting, the things that it needs are not all that serious, so I can take my time and relax a bit with it which is nice.  I get to enjoy the project car instead of paying taxes and insurance on something that is just in the way all the time.  This also moves me into a position that I haven't been for about 6 years:  All of my cars are out of "inoperable project" status!  The most work I would need to do to be able to jump into any one of them and drive them would be to put the street tires back on the Neon.  Now I just need to keep pressure on my daughter to get her Civic back together and I'll have a completely open workshop!

Consider just leaving the second O2 sensor just out in open air and plugging the hole.  I did this for my 07 Mazda3 race car when I put a catless header, and expected a check engine light from it, but never got one now more than a year later.  

My kid bought a Ghostbox for the Bluetooth music in his 93.  It's a small box that fits behind the factory radio. He says it works well, sounds good, and the factory door speakers don't cut out like they did before. Downsides are that the factory radio has no power, so no clock or AM/FM. It was about $140 shipped.