So I bought a Miata...

I picked up a 2001 Miata LS yesterday to resell. It was a trade in at the local Carmax and it is in great shape other then the interior (more on that later).

I haven't driven one in awhile and I again see why they are so popular on here. It is just a fun little car. It turns in like crazy and just feels so "tossable". The power feels more then adequate, and riding around with the top down is a pretty awsome experience.

The problem is I don't fit in the damn thing. The stupid door panel dug into my knee the entire time and there is no room for my size thirteens in the pedal box, unless I put my foot behind the clutch. I only drove it for 5 miles or so but I just couldn't get comfortable. I guess not fitting comfortably in a Miata is one of the drawbacks of being 6'4" 210lbs.

I felt bad for this particular car when I first saw it and I knew I had to do something for it. Unfortunatly it previous fell into the hands of an owner with questionable taste. I have seen some pretty stupid things at the auto auction but this one left me scratching my head.

...Really green trim, Really! Worse then that is the fact that they spray painted the carpet black leaving the seats Tan. As if that wasn't enough they thought it would be sweet to paint all of the tan interior panels grey. Great idea! ...and as you would imagine the painter did a poor job with the color change. The grey is now flaking off leaving a ghetto camoflauge pattern of sorts. I haven't tried to get it off but I am counting on their lack of prep to work in my favor allowing me to scrub off most of the paint. If that doesn't work I am sure that "Goof off" will make short work of the offensive hue. Hopefully I will be able to rescue this poor car

I will take some pictures of the process as I work through it.

Great find, depending on price. But you managed to score an NB without an "Appearance Package".

It shouldn't be too hard to score interior bits.

How did you buy the cast off trade in?

Neon green is faster than factory black. Everybody knows that!

Let's see, interior is horrible and you don't fit in it with all the factory bits in place. Seems like its just screaming for a gutted interior and some track day work to me. The only thing that might be a problem is the footwell. For that I'd suggest this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding

I have a NA and size 13 feet. Get some really skinny shoes, or drive barefoot. I have some Puma Speedcats that I like.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: How did you buy the cast off trade in?

They have a dealer only auction every other Monday. It is a great sale and they are upfront about any issues the car has, which is rare at any auto auction to say the least. This past week in addition to the miata they had an 2006 911 turbo, an sts-v and a bently

kazoospec wrote: Let's see, interior is horrible and you don't fit in it with all the factory bits in place. Seems like its just screaming for a gutted interior and some track day work to me. The only thing that might be a problem is the footwell. For that I'd suggest this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding

My wife is nice enough to let multiple cars pass through my hands on a regular basis, but I think she would draw the line at a second track car. I will admit the thought did cross my mind...

search "Miata seat rails" on here. IIRC it was Woody (sorry if incorrectly attributing) that figured out a relatively way to pick up leg/headroom by modifying seat rails and the floorpan. That's not the exact problem you asked about, but anything you can do to make the cockpit less claustrophobic is going to be a help, right?

For the record, I'm 6' 2" and 210, normal torso with long legs. I don't see how anyone taller than me could live with an unmodified interior every day.

As for the door panel...you might be hosed. I know you can put NB door panels on an NA...I don't know how well it would work/how stupid it would look to go the other way, but the NA door panels are flat like a pancake.

As for the footwell, skinny shoes are about your only option (although picking up some legroom/moving the seat to change driving position might help).

Having dealt with the ugly-ass spray-painted interior on another car of mine, I can tell you DON'T attack it with 1) Aircraft Stripper (it will take the paint AND the vinyl covering off) or 2) a Dremel (same deal). The best suggestion I got was Bleche-white whitewall tire cleaner to clean off the paint without dissolving the stuff underneath.

BTW, nice score. I'd love to have an NB of that vintage with those options, and it's a nice color to boot.

Unless you have to flip the car very quickly, I'd just keep an eye on the classified sections of the usual Miata forums (miata.net, clubroadster, mazdaroadster). You'll be able to find the parts that need replacing there fairly quickly as there's always someone out there turning a Miata into a race car or breaking one after it's been bent.

Fitting into the car might be made easier by a foamectomy.