Last week I was working on the pole

and I saw this NB at the neighbor next door.

I've been looking for another Miata. Actually want a turbo one because Lil Stampie is hinting that he wants my NA. Back up plan is find him a Miata cheap. Anyway we went back Tuesday to see if they wanted to sell.

Story is the first owner died 5 years ago and now his mom owned it. The brother lives with her and was dealing with us. He said it hadn't been started in a while and the battery was dead. So what's under the tarp?

The driver's door is apart for a bad motor that never got it's replacement put back in. 

Check out the awesome wheels.

Clean interior other than the door that's apart.

Couple of dents in the body.

Proof that it spent way too long under a tarp.

New top but unfortunately the glass window fell out.

Yesterday we went back to jump start it as the brother swore it would run no problem. We get there to find out that he bought a new battery for it. Tightened the battery cables and right as I was about to give up she fired up. Just a slight hint of pumped down lifters that went away in seconds. Clutch and brakes worked in a driveway test drive. AC blows cold.

Went back tonight and bought it. Challenge eligible. Tucked it in at Casa de Stampie.

​​​​​​

The GRM gods were shining on us as we see a filing cabinet on the side of the road on our walk back 

The dog is Lucy. We called the number on her collar. She apparently had escaped from down the street so we returned her after loading the cabinet. 

Oh forgot to mention the Miata has 32,000 original miles.

32!!!!!!!!

As I was reading, I was thinking, "you'll get good karma for helping the dog get home" and the next thing I read is 32k.  I see the karma has been fulfilled! 

Stampie said:

Just a slight hint of pumped down lifters that went away in seconds.

Be aware that NBs are solid lifters, there's nothing to pump up.

Nice find though!

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Well that would explain why I didn't hear what sounds like a death rattle that I'm used to on my NA after sitting.

Great story!

Hopefully you fed Lucy before you took her home...

In reply to Rodan :

Lucy was a spaz.  About all we could do was to get her to follow us down the street with drive by pettings.

Nice job, man!

Proving once again that you should *always* ask if it's for sale.  Well bought, my friend!

I'll give you $2500 for it.

I hope the Polish guy paid you well for services rendered. 

 Geez!  I never find scores like that.

Well played, young sir.

Win, win, win!!

on the pole, eh?

Nice score. NBs are pretty

Jealous, SOOO Jealous.   Congrats!

First to say YOU SUCK!  

Those '99-'00 engines will make 250whp without upgraded guts, I can tell you.

The Miata is cool but what were you doing up a pole?  

In reply to dean1484 :

My dad had one job in life and he failed to keep me off the pole. You should see my routine. I'm sexy in my hardhat. 

So went to my Miata parter outer guy and no good 15 inch wheels.  Trying to figure out what I'm going to do with it. Original idea was to flip it. Now I'm torn. Dusterdb13 is trying to convince me to keep it and add boost. I have some thinking to do. 

In reply to Stampie :

Drivetrain donor for the Elite.  

I'm confused.

I thought I read the words "turbo," and "second Miata," early in this thread. I don't remember any mention of flipping it. 
 

Sudden attack of rationality?

Yeah, great score! If you need to sell something, sell something else. 

Fix the mirror and rear glass then horse trade it for something in the 10-15k price range (due to that mileage) to in turn enter in the challenge. I'm thinking an EVO that's straight and mechanically sound, but has body damage to make an EVO kart...

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm confused.

I thought I read the words "turbo," and "second Miata," early in this thread. I don't remember any mention of flipping it. 
 

Sudden attack of rationality?

Sorry I wasn't clear.  So my main plan is/was buy a turbo Miata for me and hand down my NA to Lil Stampie.  Back up to that was find a cheap beater Miata for him so that's why I noticed the NB when I did.  Plan was not to hand the keys to a 32k Miata to a beginning driver.  Well I already failed that I guess because I let a 13 year old drive the NB the last 200 yards down the street.

I also just noticed the steering wheel, correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that steering wheel indicate an option package that includes some desirable bits? I'm thinking that you may have a torsion limited slip and possibly a shorter gear ratio based upon that observation (I could be completely wrong, but I'm here to encourage verification). 

I'd have dry ice, a heat gun and a suction puller on that driver's side quarter panel today. 

Nice!