1992 Miata: The keeper

I picked this up recently.

219k miles on the clock, some wear on the body and interior, but it runs and the hard top is an original yellow, too.

The only plans I have are:

• refresh the suspension, including the bushings

• Hawk HPS brake pads

• find some 15x7 wheels for it. I am kicking myself for selling the BBS Basket-weaves I had in that size, but I think I'd prefer something a bit easier to clean, anyhow.

Looks like fun.

Wow.... She's pretty

The little plastic bit on the fuel door lock that holds the gas door down broke today, and the suspension is moving quickly to the top of the to-do list. Speed bumps are a real problem in this car. I am thinking of researching the threads on rallycross suspensions and going with something like that.

I talked to EvanB about his setup a bit (Thanks!) and went to order the parts from Mazdaspeed and found out that my membership was suspended because I didn't submit any results last year.

DOH!

I submitted the results, and I am hoping my access will be back soon. If the weather ever gets nice I'll take pictures, too.

I was driving the car at lunch and hit an unpainted speed bump in an unfamiliar parking lot faster than I would have liked. The car dragged frame a bit and now I have a thunk/banging noise from the back when I accelerate.

If the rear diff mount is anything like the FC RX-7s, I am betting it failed somehow. I've not crawled under there, yet, but I'll check the alignment eccentrics as well.

So, until I can do that, it's no longer the daily driver. I was really enjoying the gas mileage, too, but if I'm going back to the Subie I guess the time to do it is when gasoline is lower priced.

If it's a broken diff mount, should be a relatively easy fix with a tig welder. I welded up a busted 1.8 diff for my miata a year or two ago, no problem.

It's held up well to lots of abuse since then.

Good looking car. Yellow hardtop too, super rare.

Has it been repainted? I don't think I've ever seen one of these where the panels didn't fade at different rates.

The failure in the diff mounts I was thinking about are bushing related. Wow, how did you break that?

It's never been repainted as far as I know.

Until I get it in the air, it is all just guesswork, anyhow.

Brett_Murphy wrote: The failure in the diff mounts I was thinking about are bushing related. Wow, how did you break that?

Yeah, hopefully a bushing, or maybe even something more minor like a sway bar link. The broken mount pictured came out of a junkyard car that was in what appeared to be a fairly minor collision. I repaired it and swapped it in to replace the 1.6 diff in my car. Apparently, it's not a terribly uncommon thing to break on rx7s and miatas if you smack it hard enough.

Nice looking car!

The rear diff will break in just about any hard collision near the rear. I think it is designed that way.

Love the yellow Miata.

Or, there is apparently NOTHING wrong in the back of the car and the shocks I picked up for the RX-7 and completely forgot I had left in the trunk unboxed themselves and started banging around.

This is one of the few times I'm going to forgive myself for having a DUH moment since it didn't cost me any money.

The Miata diff mount has a notch cast into it on the right side. It's an intentional break point and it doesn't take a very big hit from the rear to break it. I had to replace mine after a hit that dislocated the rear bumper cover , no other structural damage. A new housing with bushings is just shy of $1,000.

You can buy a whole Torsen diff for $700. At least that is what I paid for mine.

I went to drive it yesterday and the rear end still doesn't feel right. The clunk is gone, but there is certainly something not right back there.

I'm going to have to give it another look.

I looked and there is still obviously nothing wrong. I took it to my favorite local repair shop earlier this week, they should have some news for me tomorrow, but they suspect a problem with the transmission after having it on the lift.

I swear, just my luck.

It needs a clutch and they want me to bring in my spare transmission "just in case." The clutch felt fine and engaged smoothly, but I'll take a look at it while I'm there. I was really thinking driveshaft, half-shafts or differential.

There goes the Flyin' Miata suspension money. Also, time to get a 1.8 open unit and start the LSD conversion.

Just a thought but check the slave cylinder on the side of the trans. Replace anyway for cheap insurance. If not bled properly or leaking it will cause issues. A shop might miss it.

That's on the list.

The differential failed catastrophically, but I commend it for making it over 200k in the first place.

I'm going to do a 1.8 swap. I guess that means I'm running in the Modified class now.

That stinks, but glad you figured it out. Is the 1.8 diff just stronger, or better ratio too?

LKQ in Durham and if that don't work LKQ in Garner/Clayton. Doable in a day trip. I pulled numerous Miata parts from there and sold them for great profits. Keep at it.

Might as well just buy my whole car, it comes with the 1.8 clutch LSD.

EvanB wrote: Might as well just buy my whole car, it comes with the 1.8 clutch LSD.

Details? I'm kinda looking