So after planning on looking at a Porsche 944 this weekend I ran across this poor Miata very close to home:
Guy selling it said his dad was the original owner and it has been a family/backup car for a long time. It was sitting for a couple years in the backyard and then this tree branch fell onto it.
After looking at it, the damage appears to be the top, the rear quarter dent, the driver door window and little triangle window. The car has a little over 140k miles and needed to be push started. Only a little bit of body rust near the driver wheelwell but the frames underneath looked very nice. So I paid the guy $500 and drove her home.
Besides pieces of broken glass randomly hitting me on the way home it was an uneventful drive. Engine felt strong and shifted nicely. Cruise control worked, hot air worked, AC doesn't but the compressor kicks on.
Not sure what my plans are going to be just yet. May fix the top and windows and flip it to get something without body damage or just drive it as is for awhile.
What I know it needs in order of importance:
1. Top with frame
2. DS Window with small triangle window window too
3. Pass Window motor isn't working
3. Starter
4. Brakes (Hopefully calipers are good but I suspect 1 of the rears are frozen)
5. Fluids/tuneup
6. Tires
7. Inspect Suspension
8-14: Drive with top down
15. Bodywork
The only thing that worries me is the window frame around the little triangle window on the driver's door. It is pretty bent and not sure if it can be bent back into shape. I need to pop off the panel to see if I could replace it from a donor. Otherwise I may need to find a new door which would suck since the door is in good shape and this color appears difficult to find.
First Miata for me and looking forward to this project.
Nice score!
I think the frame on the window comes with the window when you get a replacement from a donor.
I would look at a frame/top from a later NB as they supposedly work better.
I think there's a company that specializes in used Miata parts that GRM and others have used in the past for their projects, I'll see if I can remember it.
For the dents, I would get a heat gun and some of those large suction cup solutions for dents and go at it.
Heat the panel up a bit, dip the suction cup in a little water to help it seal and pop as much of it out as you can.
If you can get to the backside, inflating something like a basketball could help pop the dent out, just go slowly and keep the panel/paint warm to avoid ruining the paint.
Finish up with splurging for a PDR guy to come out and do what they can for you.
NickD
UberDork
8/16/18 1:43 p.m.
Yes, the little quarter windows come with the door. Also, for the passenger side power window, try replacing the switch first. The switches are not the best. I had a window that started intermittently not wanting to go up or down, bought the Jass switch gear and it fixed that. And nice score on the best color for an NA Miata. Totally not biased or anything.
In reply to NickD :
Just needs a blurple rollbar, right? :)
NickD
UberDork
8/16/18 2:26 p.m.
In reply to Stefan :
It certainly doesn't hurt.
Thanks guys. The blue is an awesome color and I think she'll clean up nice once I get the years worth of dirt off.
So the little quarter windows do come with the frame? or do I need a new door? I am going to pull the windows off a donor this weekend but could probably grab the whole door too. It was hit in the driver door though so not worth using except to grab parts.
Good call on the NB top, I'll keep an eye out for one.
Stefan said:
Nice score!
I think the frame on the window comes with the window when you get a replacement from a donor.
I would look at a frame/top from a later NB as they supposedly work better.
I think there's a company that specializes in used Miata parts that GRM and others have used in the past for their projects, I'll see if I can remember it.
For the dents, I would get a heat gun and some of those large suction cup solutions for dents and go at it.
Heat the panel up a bit, dip the suction cup in a little water to help it seal and pop as much of it out as you can.
If you can get to the backside, inflating something like a basketball could help pop the dent out, just go slowly and keep the panel/paint warm to avoid ruining the paint.
Finish up with splurging for a PDR guy to come out and do what they can for you.
Treasure Coast Miata
http://treasurecoastmiata.com/
NickD
UberDork
8/16/18 3:02 p.m.
Kingkong said:
Thanks guys. The blue is an awesome color and I think she'll clean up nice once I get the years worth of dirt off.
So the little quarter windows do come with the frame? or do I need a new door? I am going to pull the windows off a donor this weekend but could probably grab the whole door too. It was hit in the driver door though so not worth using except to grab parts.
Good call on the NB top, I'll keep an eye out for one.
The little glass windows come in the frame. The frame is removable from the door, although I can't recall how. Where are you located? Because there is a white NA in the junkyard near me (Rome, NY) that has solid, straight doors. I may have robbed the hood and trunk off of it already
Stefan said:
If you can get to the backside, inflating something like a basketball could help pop the dent out, just go slowly and keep the panel/paint warm to avoid ruining the paint.
I want to say thanks for this tip. I have the perfect dent to try it out on.
NickD said:
The little glass windows come in the frame. The frame is removable from the door, although I can't recall how. Where are you located? Because there is a white NA in the junkyard near me (Rome, NY) that has solid, straight doors. I may have robbed the hood and trunk off of it already
I'm in South Jersey. I am going to grab it off a junked car in Philly someone is selling parts from. Thanks for the offer though.
Stefan - Thanks man! That is really helpful!
Just a quick update.
Since NJ decided it wants to be like Florida and rain every day I bought a cheap car cover from Wal Mart. After raining for a few hours I realized the cover was not water proof. So time to make room in the garage.
Good thing it's small!
I planned to take the seats out for a couple reasons, replace the top and clean the carpets, now this is the 3rd reason and most pressing - to get rid of the water now in the car. So I don't think it is the first time the top has allowed water into the cabin. Only snapped one bolt and had to bang a smaller socket on one other. Pictures below will show more evidence to this.
Probably never been cleaned under there
Passenger Side
So this sound deadening material got really soaked and basically is unusable. Worth replacing? Does it keep a lot of heat out?
After getting a lot of the water out, this was the result. Not sure if I am going to pull the whole carpet or just dry out this area. The area below the dash all felt pretty dry.
The fan really helps dry it out!
Since I have the carpet up I might as well take care of that rust in there too. Most likely grind it out and spray it with a rust convertor. From the picture above you can see I have a couple older John Deere's. Deere actually makes their signature yellow and green available in spray paint cans and with proper application it comes out pretty nicely. Anything similar in the miata world so I can try and keep some kind of mono color under the carpets? Otherwise, where is the best place to buy Mariner Blue paint if I decide to break out my spray gun?
I picked up a donor door to fix the driver windows and still searching for a top.
Not much to add except I finally washed the smurf. Body has a bunch of dents but paint actually looks pretty good.
Got the top off and Interior is pretty dry but still letting the carpet air out to try and get rid of the mildew odor.
I would NEVER fix the dent over the rear wheel. It is such as great story. It's amazing that you drove it home.
Rustoleum sail blue us really close to mariner blue
pinchvalve said:
I would NEVER fix the dent over the rear wheel. It is such as great story. It's amazing that you drove it home.
Haha that's awesome! Going to steal that
Dusterbd13 said:
Rustoleum sail blue us really close to mariner blue
Nice, thanks! Under the carpet as long as it is pretty close, I'll be happy.
