I have been driving by and noticing this car parked about 2 minutes from my house for the past few years. I finally stopped and knocked on the guys door asking if he had any interest in selling it; he said he did so here I am with another project. I have been viewing this forum for a few years now however this is my first time posting.
So, about the car, here are some pictures of how it sat when I picked it up.
The story is that a tree fell on it in 2014 and the PO never turned it into insurance or drove it again afterword. The car is in the exact same spot that it was when it was hit. Its a 1996 M edition with ~115k miles on it. I cranked it over for a split second and the motor is free but beyond that I don't know anything of the mechanical condition. I will try to keep this thread updated as I tear into the car some more.
Looks like a great project platform to roll with!
Cool.
Immediately clean the drains in the rear shelf by your shoulders.
It'll be interesting to see the condition of the interior. The leather Mazda uses has never been terribly robust. Fingers crossed!
Has a good spec on it, though - Torsen, OBD-II, etc. And based on the ride height, it has the original 1996 springs. Those things were safari before safari was cool.
Here are some more pictures of the car. The PO had the seats reupholstered at a local shop in 2011. He paid $1,100 for it. I could be mistaken but I didn't think the originals had two different shades like these. The car does appear to have the original 1996 springs although I am not familiar with what safari is.
Apparently the PO was the original owner as well. He pulled out the original window sticker and gave it to me along with all of the original paperwork from the sale.
I pulled the fuel pump out, I wanted to siphon the gas out before attempting to start it. Upon removal of the fuel pump I could immediately tell that I was going to have an issue with rust.
These are the first cars that I have worked on that have a drain plug in the bottom of the gas tank. Definitely helpful given the location of the gas tank. I think that I am going to try and use vinegar and maybe some cleaners specific to this job before I pull the tank. If it doesn't work out I am going to bite the bullet and look for a gas tank to purchase and swap in.
Here is the shade of the gas that was coming out. And yes, I was using a brake bleed tool to pull the gas out because I couldn't find a tube long enough, lol. This was before I learned about the drain plug on google.
Safari: the trend to lift normal vehicles and put big tires on them to add off-road capability, real or imagined. This is basically the fantasy, the 959 that won Paris Dakar. Started in the 911 world and became widespread with the Gambler events - or with the Subaru Outback 20 years earlier :) The 1996 Miata sat considerably higher than previous NAs for some reason, I don't know the logic.
I saw a safari Prius just an hour ago.
Pretty good looking interior. Looks to me like the upholstery shop reused the headrests with the perforations and the embroidered logo. Nice score on getting the M-edition toys, there's a whole community of nerds who love that stuff.
I would budget for a new radiator fairly soon, especially if you're going to be stressing the cooling system with hard use.
I pulled some gas out of my Mini that looked for all the world like red diesel. I can smell that picture.
What a score; good things come to those that show initiative. I assume the buy-in was reasonable, and a 96 M Edition is a solid base for any NA Miata build.
Very cool. Are you going to look for new body work, or bang what you've got back in to shape?
Having those seats in that condition is a score.
Good score! There's a 91 in my neighborhood that has been sitting since 2016 due to a bad clutch. It's in "I'm going to fix it" purgatory.
Keith can smell the bad gas, I can smell the interior!
It amazes me that an original owner of a limited edition model like that would just let the car sit outside for so long. I'm guessing that after the tree fell on it, he got so discouraged he just walked away.
The M Edition cars are "limited" but not really all that rare or unusual. And I don't think the numbers were actually limited in 1996. It was basically a fully optioned car with a unique color and some badges. Not anything a collector would seek out, and when it got damaged it was a nearly 20-year old car with a relatively low resale value. An insurance claim would have probably totalled it due to the paint cost alone.
I don't hold much hope for that hood, they're really hard to bang back into shape. It almost looks like the damaged panels are a different color, is that just the lighting?
At 115k miles, it's due for a timing belt about now. Good opportunity to refresh some hoses and all belts. Based on that fuel tank, sending the injectors off to RC Engineering for cleaning would be worthwhile. They're mechanically very robust little critters so it shouldn't take much to get it running like a top.
From what the previous owner told me there were 3,000 of the 1996 M edition miatas produced. So, I agree not exactly unusual but still a bit more rare.
I was definitely planning on replacing the radiator, based on that brown top it is ready to blow at any moment and I will most likely do the timing belt and water pump as well. I am confident that I can get it running fairly easily given the "ran when parked" statement.
As far as the body goes I have a friend who runs Midwest miata parts, He has the two body panels that I need which will be thrown on the car. I have another friend who owned a body shop and has since retired but still does work out of his personal garage; he does great work for low $ so that's a win for me. My plan is to have him match the two panels getting replaced and whatever else needs touched up on the car that I cannot see yet given the dirtiness. The Hood and fender do appear to be a different color in the pictures but they are the same in person. It must just be lighting.
I was also astonished that the P.O. had let the car get to this condition, although in 2014 when the tree incident happened this car probably wasn't worth much more than its weight in scrap in that condition.
I got the car running today. I ended up using vinegar and let it soak for 1 full week; I am very happy with the results. This photo is from in the middle of me cleaning out the sludge that remained, I forgot to take a final picture.
After I got the gas tank to where I was happy with it I changed the oil, spark plugs, spark plug wires, cracked valve cover and gasket, fuel pump and filters.
The car cranked for less than 10 seconds and fired up, she sounds great.
I ordered oem replacement brakes, suspension, motor mounts, clutch master and slave cylinder.
Also in the process of tracking down the necessary body panels for paint; overall I feel it is coming along well.
I can't believe that's the same tank!
Come on man! You don't even tell dad about the build thread after I helped drag the car home....
