I'm looking at possibly buying a 1995 1.8L Miata, its in decent shape with about 185K on it. Looking to have it as a daily driver with the occasional autocross session. Are there any local miata people who would give me a few minutes of their time and possibly bring it to someone who can put it up on a hoist and help me inspect it before making the final purchase? I'm in the Halifax region.
I'm looking forward to meeting you guys and participating in future autocross events.
Also, what would you recommend for local miata clubs/forums that i should get involved with?


Cheers!
Adis

Welcome!

I'll let the Miata folks chime in here. Excellent platform. The Miata racers can likely list off which parts are the best for upgrade.

Or, simply enjoy a fun little toy.

Cheers!

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

That is a great model to start with. A lot of Miatas in that vintage look great topside, however under body rust is your main concern. Try to find the most rust free car that you can afford. Rust will absolutely haunt you and its definitely worth spending a little more for a rust free car. Do a compression or leak down test on the engine and see what the numbers are. They should be within 10% across the cylinders. Dont worry about the condition of exhaust & brakes; you will be eventually replacing all that stuff anyway. Many Miatas has the dreaded 2nd gear synchro crunch and may have a long clutch with 185 on the clock if it was a city car. That will require a new clutch and/or slave cylinder and that may be the best time to do some surgery in the gearbox. Nobody replaces the rear diff fluid, which I do not understand as it is so easy to change. Get that changed immediately. Try to determine if the T-belt was changed and if not, get that changed ASAP. Miata t-belts are easy to change especially if you pop out the rad (which I always did). Replace the rad hoses and both belts. The alternator belt also runs the water pump so if that breaks or flips off your car will quickly heat up. make sure it is adjusted properly. On my Spec Miatas, I always used a longer bolt in the alternator and put a nut on the backside to stop it from loosing.

Start your mods with tires & a simple set of Hawk or Carbotech brake pads and cheap rotors. Pick up a Hard Dog (or similar) roll bar. Then buy a used set of Spec Miata complete suspension from racers in the US. They are all switching to Penske shocks and dumping their excellent Bilstines for cheap. It is a fun car to drive for sure. And very fun/easy to work on if it is not rusty. Good Luck!

_________________
GT1 - 88 Camaro 1LE/Nissan 200SX
GT2 - 90 CRX/Nissan 200SX
GT3 - 88 CRX/1975 Civic/1997 Acura Integra
GT4 - 93/2000 Mazda Miata
GT5 - 89 Suzuki Swift GTI
GT6 - 86 CRX
ITE - 88 Camaro 1LE
ITA - 89/90 CRX Si
ITB - 85 Civic 1500S/89 Suzuki Swift GTI
ITC - 85/86 Civic
SM - 93/2000 Mazda Miata
Targa NL - 88 CRX Si
Rally Sprint - 95 Del Sol VTEC
Unlimited - All of the above!

thanks for the informative reply, i'll be checking all those things this friday hopefully. cheers.

Hi guys, I tried contacting Brian a couple times by DM and the messages say they were sent successfully upon submission, but they are showing in the outbox folder not the sent folder on the left, am I missing something? Cheers.