nmwisima's '96 Miata

[Ian.G]

Hey man,

I just picked myself a fun little eunos type s roadster yesterday. It has fully adjustable suspension, uprated brakes, uprated 1.5way plated diff, rollcage, etc

should be good for some summer fun - and it shouldn't depreciate much either.

Have you managed to locate the workshop manuals for it yet ? I have a problem with my drivers side window not working (yeah - I broke it already LOL).

[NoHachi]

Probably just a broken window-motor. Just start tearing the door apart and everything will make itself clear..What also happens alot is a faulty switch. Spraying some contactspray into it would maybe be temporary fix and show you where the problem is..Cool car by the way! Curious about your opinion on it.

[nmwisima]

Very very nice...

No manuals, sorry. What NoHachi sais sounds very reasonable...

Before you sell it, tell me what stuff you got for sale
Or even better, get rid of some nice stuff NOW

oh, all Miatas have fully adjustable suspension (camber, caster, toe etc)

[NoHachi]

5'm guessing he means fully adjustable coilovers. So shockbody length, preload, bump and rebound...I peaked under a couple of roadsters in japan and saw a lot of very nice ohlins, tein etc kits.

[Ian.G]

Yes - this car has all sorts of crazy under body braces, ARB and Gaaz Coilovers. Its very very low down and it scrapes the chassis rails over speed bumps LOL.

I spent some time today giving the car a good clean out and emptying it of debris (less rattles now). Replaced the blue rollcage padding with black so its a little more sedate. Nice layer of wax on it now and the paint came up a treat.

Also removed some nasty razo JDM pedal extensions which turned the pedal box into something like a treddle from an old sewing machine - it was impossible to heel and toe in the car with my big feet. Now on normal pedals its OK.

Just been out for a 2 hour drive getting familiar with the car. So my initial findings here:

1. Could do with getting seat about 1-2" further back - that aint gonna happen - driving position is pretty good but I prefer my legs a little more stretched out.

2. OMP Steering wheel helps a LOT nice and easy to get your hands round the wheel as it has a 90mm dish. Standard wheel on the turbo'd one I drove a few weeks ago was harder to work with.

3. Ride is pretty harsh - as the car is so low down it only has about 1 1/2" before it hits the bumpstops on the rears.

4. It corners like a go-kart - its so nice to have a car with not much power again so you have to drive it to exploit its handling - not just mashing the gas pedal like with the 350z. To induce oversteer you have to nail the gas hard and use weight or the clutch - none of this mash the pedal turbo power stuff. Its been about 8months since i've done any serious sliding about but the eunos is very friendly over the limit - you need to keep it hard on the gas but its quite straight forward to hold long(ish) slides. Diff works a treat - but doesn't feel like a 2 way but locks a lot harder than the std one.

5. Could probably do with a bit more steering angle - but the chap I got the car from has some rack spacers so may try these.

6. Brakes are good - endless pads all round - right now it has the rubber brake lines but in true jdm style they have been covered with zip ties - I think they do this as a cheap way to stop the lines expanding when hot. I'll get some proper lines on it this week.

Nothing for sale .... LOL .... well apart from the nasty razo pedal covers :wink: Car came with a set of 14" bbs wheels too - but I'll keep these as if I ever sell the car I may keep those demon camber wheels as they are dual drilled 4x100 and also hachi stud pattern.

I have a small list of jobs to do this week:

1. fix dodgy drivers window motor
2. braided brake lines and flush and bleed.
3. Check and bleed clutch - sometimes when the car is hot its hard to select a gear when stationary - pumping the pedal makes this go away - maybe a dying slave cylinder ?
4. Get immobiliser fitted (for insurance)
5. Get single din cubby hole from madza and a less silly stereo (the current double din unit flashes all sorts of shite up on the screen - its too much)
6. Search for cheap hard top.

So - its not my corolla for sure (and that is still in bits due to problems getting the fabricator to actually DO SOMETHING to the shell LOL) but its fun for the summer and cheap to run.

[NoHachi]

Hitting the bumpstops in the rear is bad. Sounds like the car isn't setup that well. The mighty big wheels are compounding the problem. Show me a pic of the bbs's if they are the OEM ones they are as light as volk TE37s and probably worth more then the set of boatanchors you have on the car right now. With the stock power, all the miata really needs is the stock 14s and some ultra-sticky tires.

I would try and raise the car somewhat or just dump it completely on the bumpstops and forget about springs all together. Both are a pretty quick setup, but the first is liveable on the street.

Oh and dying slave cylinders are common on the miata too..so you're right on that one.

If you have a properly setup miata, it should handle JUST like an AE86 only with more grip, reliability and girly man image

[nmwisima]

I d not lower the miata more than 2 cm...

[nmwisima]

In my spare time, I took out the center console and paint it silver.
Just to make the interion bit more shiny




You might be able to see the little cuts my hood has, that made some water drop in drivers seat. I covered the cuts with silicone and treated all the rubers around the hood and windows.

Also bought this, original Mazda lip spoiler.
Unfortunately its allready painted so I cant leave it as in pic which was my intention

[lasse]

@ Ian and nmwisima...


How do you have time to work on the cars. when you use all youre time on the haidresser school *LOL*


regards Lasse...

[banpei]

The dash is very nicely done.
Dunno about the lip though... I can't really see it.