Buying used spec miatas

I've been lurking a little while now and have decided to sell my 04 c5 z06 vette to buy a used spec miata to do track days and possibly get involved with time trials and possibly w2w. At this point I've got about 7ish years of autox experience and 6-8 track days under my belt. If I do get into TT and w2w, I'm not expecting to be competitive because I won't have the budget.

I'm currently looking at a car outside of Cleveland.

94 spec miata

Since I'm not super knowledgeable on miatas, what does GRM say about it? Car was built in 2011 by Ohio technical college. It has a custom cage and a current log book. He's asking 8.5k and the lowest I think he'll go is 8k. Is this car a bad idea? My budget is really sub-9k. I'd like to get into a car before summer is over so I can get some events in.

Thoughts? Comments? Am I getting in over my head?

There are a few long time SpecMiata guys out that way. Head over to the SpecMiata boards (http://www.mazdaracers.com/) and introduce yourself. Someone might be able to put eyes on the car for you. Where are you located?

You'll want a compression/leakdown test done at least. Also, find out if the seat/belts are up to date and if they are included. Find out who built the cage and who assembled the car into a SpecMiata. I just skimmed the ad, but it looks like it was last run in 2011 and the engine was built about the same time. There were some engine rule changes that may require to take a peak at the head machining if you plan on W2W racing or end up getting torn down.

Good luck!

Unless you're confident that you will want to take part in Spec Piñata, you can probably build/buy something that'll TT nicely and still be streetable for similar or less money.

Like buy an NA or early NB Miata for $3k, stuff a rollbar in ($700), put a better seat in it ($500) and throw an FM suspension package on it ($1200?). Leaves a fair amount of money in the budget for 15" wheels and reasonably sticky tires.

Or pick up a 1.6 Spec. They're pretty cheap these days iirc.

Guy only wants $350 bucks for that car!

BoxheadTim wrote: Unless you're confident that you will want to take part in Spec Piñata, you can probably build/buy something that'll TT nicely and still be streetable for similar or less money. Like buy an NA or early NB Miata for $3k, stuff a rollbar in ($700), put a better seat in it ($500) and throw an FM suspension package on it ($1200?). Leaves a fair amount of money in the budget for 15" wheels and reasonably sticky tires.

$5500 + $400 for wheels, $500 for tires, another $500 for fresh rotors/fluids/track pads.

That put's you at $7k (and if you bought a hardtop, not necessary, but that's another $1k and you're back up to $8k) and there will still likely be other stuff you need. It's almost never, NEVER cheaper to build than to buy something that's ready to go.

Well, based on everyone's input, I think I have some more research/thinking to do before I pull the trigger on anything. I think at this point, I'd either do a used 1.6 spec miata or whatever cheap miata I can find and slowly build it towards spec miata as I gain track time.

I'm headed to up Road America Saturday to watch some of the June Sprints and check out some cars. If anyone is up there, I'd like to stop by and say hi.

I forgot to mention that I'm on the north side of Chicago.

I saw this in the add and it made me chuckle. Do all caps make it even more legal now?

From the add said: Motor: Was completely gone through by OTC, ALL COMPONENTS WERE ASSURED TO BE IN SPEC PER THE CLASS RULES WHEN REASSEMBLED.

Is that code for it is not legal now?

It could be, actually. There have been changes.

In reply to mrjre42: I would suggest to decide what you want to do before you buy a car. I'm in this conundrum with my E36, and it's not that cheap to make a street car into a race car, especially if you can't do half/most of the major modifications yourself. At least with a Miata, you avoid the BMW/Porsche/Corvette "tax".

dean1484 wrote: I saw this in the add and it made me chuckle. Do all caps make it even more legal now?

From the add said: Motor: Was completely gone through by OTC, ALL COMPONENTS WERE ASSURED TO BE IN SPEC PER THE CLASS RULES WHEN REASSEMBLED.

Is that code for it is not legal now?

Google for Spec Miata and "plunge cut".

Forgive my ignorance, and I'm totally not being a wiseass, but why would you get rid of a Z06 to get a Miata?

I'd suspect that the SpecMiata would be cheaper to run and you'd have a ready class to slide into.

Converting a Z06 to a full race car would be expensive and the consumables wouldn't be cheap.

Both would be fun.

In reply to gearheadmb:

Turboswede is right. Cheaper. Not only are consumables cheaper, but if I end up wrecking a miata, it's a bit cheaper to replace. Plus there seem to be a few more opportunities to get involved with w2w.

Don't get me wrong, I love the z06, especially on the track but financially miata would mean lots more track time.