Grassroots Motorsports: The Hardcore Sports Car Magazine

Three easy bolts remove tank

Tight until tank is removed.

Shiny new boot!

Not so ratty anymore.

It’s been a while since we last reported on our aesthetically challenged Miata. This is mainly because we have been too busy driving the wheels off it! Mileage is up over 174K now which means we have put almost 10K miles on the Miata since we rescued it from an ugly death. During it’s time with us, the Miata always starts, runs, and produces smiles from the driver regardless of the destination. Sure it isn’t perfect cosmetically, but that just means we don’t mind driving it to work everyday, and occasionally leaving it in long term parking at the airport during our frequent trips. Heck, we even park in the front spaces when we go grocery shopping! Sometimes it is nice to drive a car that getting scratch, or ding isn’t cause for despair.

It was after one of these out of town trips that our beloved little Rat decided to display some hilariously erratic behavior. We had just flown into Orlando from a week long trip, and as is usually the case, we didn’t’ arrive at the long term parking until late. (1 am or so) The drive from the Orlando airport to Ormond Beach is an easy hour and a half. This late at night, the drive usually is smooth sailing. We were tired from the trip, and ready for some rest. The Miata though, had different plans. The Miata started fine, as usual, and we dropped the top as we always do if the weather permits. About 5 minutes into the trip, the headlights began a crazy dance. The headlight buckets started popping up and down continuously, and we couldn’t get them to stop. We tried pushing the button on the dash that usually keeps them up….no luck. The light switch would turn them off, but as soon as we gave them power, the crazy dance would continue. We stopped at a gas station trying to figure things out, but our sleep deprived brain couldn’t quite figure out the problem. “Well, we thought, the highway is pretty well lit, and cars sure to get the heck out of your way when your lights are flashing like crazy, so we pressed on. Funny part was, the lights didn’t pop up and down simultaneously. Each light had a mind of it’s own, making the road appear like the dance floor of a disco. Groovy, but not so groovy when it is late, and way past bedtime. We drove this way for about 20 minutes, with the lights popping up and down, and the other cars on the road giving us crazy glances, until they magically stopped, and stayed in their upright position. We were able to get home safely without further incident.

Well, we would love to tell you that we found the magic bullet, but…..well…..we didn’t. The headlight mechanisms looked fine, and we never encountered the crazy popping headlight party again. Must have been the full moon! One thing we did notice was that the nut holding the headlight prop rod was a bit loose. Because of this, the mechanism had jumped a notch on the bolt spline. We removed the radiator overfill bottle for easier access to the nut, and with the headlight bucket in it’s fully raised position, we reinstalled the nut. Now our lights were on line, and the bucket lines up nicely with the hood, and raises to it’s full height.

We have also been continuously improving the interior of the Rat, and we recently installed a new shifter boot to replace our very tatty old one. Now, all we need is a quick trip to the autoparts store, or junkyard to fill in the cigarette lighter hole to make the Miata’s interior very un Ratty.

Soon, we will be upgrading the worn out tires, and installing new (to us) suspension that we bought on the cheap. And we may just head down to our local witch doctor to cast a spell on our mysterious dancing lights!

Grooviest boxes in the world!

ready for install

lines indicate temp change

secret hidden bolt!

allen key turns rear piston

all better, and ready to stop

how much more black? None more black

squint and she looks great!

Over the last year or so, our Rat miata has gone from being a really gross, smelly, sticky place to spend time, into a pretty nice daily driver. Sure it won’t win any beauty contests (unless there are a bunch of Capri XR2s around!), but it serves us quite well in day to day use. We decided to give the little car a bit more attitude recently by spray painting the wheels a lovely shade of flat black. This extra attitude came in heat resistant BBQ paint form. We have learned that when doing paintwork, a little extra prep, and cleaning time pays large dividends in the final product. We started by sanding, and cleaning the wheels thoroughly, and then removed whatever was left of the gunk by using a bit of Acetone. Once the surface was sanitary, we masked, primed the wheels, and applied the paint in even, light passes from about 6 or 7 inches away from the surface. We ended up putting 3 coats on each wheel. The finished product looks great, and makes the Miata look a little more like Soundgarden, and a little less like Morrissey.

While we had the wheels off we inspected the rotors and pads…..well, what was left of them! Brake help was needed, and came in the form of new vented and slotted rotors supplied to us by Disk Brakes Australia ( www.DBA.com.au). What sets these rotors apart, besides the super cool chrome colored boxes they come in, is the painted heat indicator strips embedded in the rotor. These painted lines change color as heating temps increase. The Green line becomes white above 458 degrees C, the Orange line becomes Yellow at 550 degrees C, and the Red strip turns white when the rotors surpass 630 degrees. This simple color coded system makes general temp readings an easy task at a glance.

If you have never changed Miata brakes before a word to the wise…….DO NOT compress the rear caliper piston with a C-clamp, or vice. This will end in you breaking things, and scaring the neighborhood children with profane language. Instead, check out www.miata.net like we did. There is a small allen screw hidden behind a bolt on the backside of the brake assembly. Once this screw is accessed, the piston moves easily to make room for the new pads. This is also the e-brake adjustment screw. (see pics)

Now that the Miata is looking a little more butch, and has a nice firm pedal, and fresh pads (stock Mazda pads), we will be looking to upgrade the hopelessly worn out suspension on the cheap. All told, this car has still had less than $2,500 spent on it, including purchase price! We will keep the low cost in mind when choosing the next step. Stay tuned!

Well, it’s been some time since we last reported on our little rat miata. As you know, the car was gross, and had a bit of rust, but upon futher digging we also discovered that the frame had been tweaked in the front end collision it suffered. We wanted to have the car straight, and not leaning to the right (we have lots of them liberals here at the office!) so we took it to the local auto techinical college to have it lined back up. The college does good work for no charge, but the catch is you have to wait until they get to it. Fortunately, the process only took a couple of weeks, and we got our Miata back fixed and ready for the installation of the nosepiece, we found on E-Bay ($75), and our new(used) fender $100 that we found outside of Atlanta. Ken Gearin (FPmarine.com) was nice enough to paint the pieces as a holiday gift, and soon our little rat was looking…..well, a little less like a rodent, and more like a ugly dog, or duckling, but hey, she has a great personality! Ya see, the mounting brackets were mutilated in the wreck, so our panel gaps make a Saturn look like a Lexus! No worries, we can fix that later, now the sun is shining, and there is driving to do! We have even driven the little Rat in it’s first competitive event, a rally cross down in Homestead FL. While we didn’t come home with any trophies, the trusty little car drove the 5 hours down, and 5 hours back without any issues. The trip was made a little more pleasant by the new steering wheel sourced on e-bay ($40), and the Kenwood CD player with speakers ($100) that we got during a closeout sale at Best Buy. We also bit the bullet and changed the waterpump, pullies, and timing belt to make sure carefree motoring would be the rule of the day. Soon we will be upgrading, or painting the wheels, and we are looking to cheaply improve the suspension. Stay tuned as the miles and smiles pile up!

The marriage wasn’t perfect, but they are staying togehter

not bad from 15 feet in the dark!

she looks good from behind.

almost looking normal.

The front brace was bent, and frame tweaked

lots o rust.

clean, and ready.

all better.

funk anyone?.

clean and ready for install.

The Miata was designed to be a modern interpretation of a classic British sportscar. Well, shortly after purchase we found out that our little Rat was trying a little too hard to be a Brit. A little inspection showed that beneath the carpet on the parcel shelf was an abundance of good ole fashioned, character building rust. Fortunately, the rust was pretty much contained on the bolt off panels used to access the fuel tank and filler pipe. A quick trip to BSI for extra panels cost only $25, and with a little help from Rustbullet, and a bit of seam sealer the car was once again rust free. While we were at it, we decided to replace the worn out old top with a newer one provided when we purchased the car.

Since we had a complete top mechanism we didn’t have to mess with stretching new material over the frame, and the installation was a straightforward bolt-on affair. Removing the parcel shelf carpeting revealed the top mounting rails which are bolted to the body. After cleaning out all the misc. leaves, dirt, and other funky stuff that had collected there over the years, we decided it would be a good idea to give the rails themselves a sanding and painting as the corrosion had taken a foothold. Unfastening the top mounting bolts near the safety belt mounting points, and the rear bolts left the top free to be taken off, and the new one was installed. It fits nicely, and now as an added bonus, the driver can actually SEE out the rear window.

Our little rat has been taking steps towards respectablity. Well, how about semi-respectablity? Happily we’ve found parts to be available, and cheap! We sourced a set of decent stock seats, a Racing Beat intake, and a rear support bar from the good folks at BSI Racing, who didn’t need this stuff for Spec Miata prep. All goods cost the princely sum of $150! The car has also undergone a complete scrubbing, vaccuming, and washing. There is more to be done, but at least now we don’t stick to the car when we touch it and the nasty rotting flesh smell is now gone as well. We recently sourced some used Dunlop Sport A2 tires, and with our alignment, the car tracks, drives and handles surprisingly well for a nasty rodent. We have also sourced a front nosepiece in good shape on e-bay for $75. We have an arranged marriage planed between the nose piece and a new fender soon. We’ll let you know how it works out.

The carpet and interior needed a thorough cleaning.

In the Miata world, here’s what $1200 buy you.

The other side of the Miata is the good one. We’ll need a new nose cap.

The interior is missing a few small parts and has a certain funk, but it’s all there.

Baked-on grease. Yum

We’ll get to the why and what in a bit, but for your viewing pleasure here is the World’s Grossest Miata. And we own it. Lucky us.

We paid $1200 for this 1991 A-package car, and the goal is to keep the project low-buck. While the price was low, the car does run and drive fine. We discovered some rust on the package shelf today, but that didn’t dampen our spirits.