For $300, how could I say no?? NA Miata content

I just posted it in a Build thread...never thought I'd actually create one of those...but had to at least mention it here.  I mentioned a while back I found an incredible steal on a '97 Lexus LS400 for my 15 year old son.  That will be his daily driver.  However, he wants to learn stick, and every car we own is auto.  He also wants to do autox, HPDE and then LeMons.  Plus he's taking Auto Shop class in high school this year.  Put all those together and my wife and I were on board with the idea of finding him a project.  I've tried project cars myself in the past, and failed miserably.  However, I don't want my failures to prevent him from doing something he wants.  We wanted a "light" project, i.e. no motor swaps, rebuilds, crazy mods, etc.., that way it's more realistic. 

Yesterday, I saw a '90 Miata show up on CL.  Asking price was $900, but it was clear owner was desperate to sell.  After several texts back and forth, discovered she got caught up in the paperwork mess that is getting a GA salvage title.  Long story, but it all is on the up and up from what I can tell, she just got fed up with it and wanted out.  Threw out an offer of $300 just to see if she'd bite and she did.  Grabbed a U-Haul dolly before she could change her mind and went to get it. 

So here it is in it's glory.  For $300, how can I go wrong??  It runs and drives, surprisingly well.  From the very short time I've had to look at it, the thing is amazingly rust free.  Obvious needs so far...steering rack boots, engine breaks up under 4000rpm (no internal noises, just a spark issue??), clutch has a high engagement. 

Putting it in the basement tonight and am going to make a point to spend quality father/son time with both of my boys turning this into an autox car.  My son paid for 1/2 of the car himself, as I wanted him to have a true investment in it.  He'll pay 1/2 the parts costs too, but Miata parts are dirt cheap and everywhere.  This is my 5th NA Miata....and 7th overall...clearly I have a problem.

Wow, that's a great score.  Even with the issues, around here that's a $2000 asking car, plus rust!

Great deal.   Try NGK wires and plugs for the misfire first, and probably a slave cylinder for the clutch, both are common wear items. Rock auto is your friend again, with 5% discount code in the shop talk section 

That's a steal.  You'll never be upside down on it if it's rust free.  Tell Junior your bunch of weird "internet friends" said "good score". 

If the plan is to make it an Autox car, shoot for STS.  You can make an NA Miata amazingly fast in that class without totally ruining it as a street/fun car. 

My misfire issue recently was a bad fuel injector or injector harness... not sure as I just swapped the entire thing & all 4 injectors from a parts motor.  

Great score on what will hopefully be a fun project.  Lots of us with NA Miata spares so post up if you need something.  

Great score and should be a great father/son project! 

Dang, i’d Love to find something like that for my kid.  He’s co-driving with me for now but at some point he should get and build his own track toy.   I’m just psyched to see younguns getting into it earlier than I did.

I'm going to get it up on jackstands over the next few days and really get a good look at everything.  In taking a quick peek under it while in the parking lot where I met the PO, and while it was on the dolly, I was shocked how clean it looked underneath.  I'm hoping/assuming that it's just a spark issue, I only drove it less than 2 miles total.  It just bucked and sputtered under load, especially when we were trying to climb a hill, but once we got close to 4k rpm, it cleared up and was fine.  I repeated that test and got the same result.  I'll definitely throw some NGKs at it.  I'll try to keep the build thread updated.  Our goal is to have it autox ready by his b-day which is in March.  We're not looking to be competitive in any class, I just want to get him on a closed course where he can safely start to learn car control.  As of this very moment, he's still in the "let's go driving in the high school parking lot with our minivan and try not to hit curbs" phase, so we've got a bit of a way to go. 

I am definitely excited by the project.  I love Miatas, even with my limited skills I found them easy to work on in the past, cheap parts, great support, etc...  Plus my younger son, who is about to turn 12, also wants to get his hands dirty.  So this should be fun.

Klayfish said:

This is my 5th NA Miata....and 7th overall...clearly I have a problem.

I don't see a problem....

Great find! Hopefully it will be a fun project and a great father/son bonding experience. I look forward to the progress! 

Get some high-test in that tank along with some injector cleaner and give it an italian tune-up. But yeah, the early ones were sensitive to wires.

Nice score. Any running car for $300 is a good deal, but a reasonably decent NA Miata? 

Further proving that all the good deals are in Atlanta!  

In reply to Keith Tanner :

along with some injector cleaner

Any recommendation for which one?

BG is good stuff and easy to find.

I'll post more in the build thread but as a quick update I found out last night why it had paperwork for a salvage title (I knew it had been at IAA before I bought it, PO told me).  Off to contact shops I know to get an inside favor on a frame pull or two.  I don't want to scrap the car, because it's amazingly rust free.  It looks like everything would come off and on super easy, no rusted and destroyed nuts/bolts and such.  For my son...and me...that will make life so much easier.

In reply to Klayfish :

Where is that?  it appears that you are looking up...

When pulling that straight, don't forget to use some heat to reduce the stiffness the metal has from being deformed- it will keep the tearing down, and should retain some strength after the work.

alfadriver said:

In reply to Klayfish :

Where is that?  it appears that you are looking up...

When pulling that straight, don't forget to use some heat to reduce the stiffness the metal has from being deformed- it will keep the tearing down, and should retain some strength after the work.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that.  In the picture, I'm laying down looking up.  That's the right front rail.  I won't do the work myself, I'll have a body shop do it, I don't know how to do that stuff.