After 23 years, we finally got to put that Miata part to good use

Have you ever wondered who’s making that awful racket–and only to discover that it’s you?

We were driving back from Orlando–an hour on the highway–just minding our own business when we started to hear a rather loud engine.

Harley in the area? Nope–and the wrong notes, too.

Straight-piped import on our tail? Didn’t see anyone.

We pressed in the clutch …

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I just hate it when I get a leek in my exhaust.

In reply to Colin Wood :

So, back in 2000, when I bought that gasket, I had only owned the Miata like two years. We were in our old house.

Yet I still knew exactly where to find the gasket in our garage. Oddly, I woke up this morning and didn’t know where my wedding band went. (Apparently I had left it on the vanity last night.)

Wedding band? The musician kind or the jewelry kind? You need to clarify..........

Sooo on back on topic

The spare distributors for the Datsun are from around 1985 (I have 2 of them) the advance plates slowly wear out and or break. The distributor in the car is on it's second plate. All of my spares for the Datsun fit on one shelf in the cabinet with the exception of the back up engine and the spare wheels. If it weren't a race car the extra wheels and engines would be gone.

I stopped saving things that were unlikely to wear out in my life time............I am very anti hoarding.

David S. Wallens said:

So, back in 2000, when I bought that gasket, I had only owned the Miata like two years. We were in our old house.

Yet I still knew exactly where to find the gasket in our garage. Oddly, I woke up this morning and didn’t know where my wedding band went. (Apparently I had left it on the vanity last night.)

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Looks about right. 

I have the original tires on the original wheels for my '90 300ZX Twin Turbo, just sitting on the wall rack looking spiffy.

In reply to 300zxfreak :

Totally can see that. Gotta be ready for Pebble Beach. 

I've got an intake manifold and a 2 barrel carb for one side of an ACVW motor. It was on the 1600cc FormulaVee I sold in 1989. I'll bet I'll find parts for my GTI and SpecMiata race cars sometime, and I stopped racing in 2006. You never know when this stuff might come in handy.

I have spent the week fabricating with a sheet of 1/8" 6061 that I pulled from a scrap metal bin..... in 2010

I have a stash of Mk3 Supra parts from over the years. Never get rid of anything. The stuff that makes a car a car is easy enough to sort out, the stuff that makes it a *specific* car can be quite tricky to find 30+ years after they stopped making them...

So, the big question: Do I keep another exhaust gasket on the shelf in case I need it in another 23 years? 

David S. Wallens said:

So, the big question: Do I keep another exhaust gasket on the shelf in case I need it in another 23 years? 

No no no, you upgrade to a higher flow system and put this whole system on the shelf in case you ever need to change it back.

In reply to matthewmcl :

Ha. You know, all these years later, I still love the way the car sounds. It’s an old Jackson Racing system from Moss: header, cat and exhaust. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Oh, well, no need to upgrade at all, then. Yes, you need another gasket.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

On this episode of hoarders we have a Florida man who has 598 Miata exhaust gaskets................it starts with one.

In all seriousness; I am now 61 and I'll be 84 when that gasket needs replacement. I've really started to think this way.

In reply to matthewmcl :

Ever gotten a car that you’re just so happy with? I’d put the Miata in that category. Ed Senf’s tuning from 23 years ago still holds strong. Like, I’m afraid to change anything–well, other than wheels and tires. (More about that soon, I think.)

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to matthewmcl :

Ever gotten a car that you’re just so happy with? I’d put the Miata in that category. Ed Senf’s tuning from 23 years ago still holds strong. Like, I’m afraid to change anything–well, other than wheels and tires. (More about that soon, I think.)

I totally get this. I was at the BRE open house last weekend and I was telling Peter that I use the exact set up Trevor Harris specified in the Datsun 1200 competition suspension manual.

It just works so well that I have no intention of changing it.

In reply to Tom1200 :

If it ain’t broke, right? 

All these years later, the Miata still starts and idles like a factory car–except it’s not. 

Trent said:

I have spent the week fabricating with a sheet of 1/8" 6061 that I pulled from a scrap metal bin..... in 2010

Building a coilover setup using a pair of Mk2 GTI Bilsteins and R53 Mini camber plates, found I could thread the top of the strut 7/8-14 to take an upper spring seat.  Now I just need some thin nuts.

These are for the lower ball joint from a 4x4 twin traction beam F-150.  The last time I did a set of these, I was working at a certain place because my driver's license was suspended, which puts the timeframe as 1999.  So they were in my toolbox for 24 years.

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to matthewmcl :

Ever gotten a car that you’re just so happy with? I’d put the Miata in that category. Ed Senf’s tuning from 23 years ago still holds strong. Like, I’m afraid to change anything–well, other than wheels and tires. (More about that soon, I think.)

I will say the more I learn, the more scope I pull out of my project. Things I used to think "needed improvement" really are better as they are.

I have some FIAT Spider parts since the late '70s.  Even moved them to CA with me, perhaps in the hope I might find a good car in the CA sunshine.  I did, but they were all up on blocks at the local Pick-A-Part.  My New England self shed a tear at the unmolested metal poised to meet its maker.  Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to unwind a car that's been legally junked.

In reply to matthewmcl :

OEM+ is what the cool kids call it. Maybe not everything needs to be reengineered.