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.

I hadn't opened them up yet, that's all. I have now responded. I was at the track all weekend, sorry man!

No worries man, i thought i was doing something wrong, thanks for the reply!

So I ended up buying it after all. It is in great shape, no rust to be found, just a little scuff here and there. Everything seems OEM original except for aftermarket radio and a set of basic tein coilovers. The engine revs up smoothly with no ticking or knocking, the transmission shifts without grinding, but it feels a little notchy, doesn't feel as perfectly smooth as other transmissions I've tried (what do you recommend I use to flush it with, or should I just change the fluid, if so, what fluid would you guys recommend?.
I did blow a heater core hose driving it on the highway yesterday, (looks like a slow oil leak from rear cam seal? has been dripping on the hose and softened it till it blew) lucky for me I was heading over to a gearhead friend of mine and we ended up finding a new hose and did a full coolant system flush, which looked as if it has never been done before, the coolant was brown.
We also found some other things that needed atention, like the plugs looked like OEM originals, they were so worn but with no warning signs. And a collection of black oil in the rear spark plug hole that we had to blow out and clean out just so we wouldn't hydrolock the engine after replacing the plugs. It could definitely use a new top end seal kit, which is on the list for this winter, which we will do when replacing the cam belt, which I'm assuming hasent been done considering all these other neglected services.
Even with all the attention that it needs, the thing drives smooth with no hesitation, I'm very impressed with this lil machine. It's been alot of fun driving it and working on it so far. Now I understand the cult following this car has. Very excited to bring out to the next autox event. Hope to see you all soon, cheers!

Adis, if you are changing your trans and rear diff fluid I can recommend the Royal Purple 90w (or was it 75w90) and don’t forget the shifter turret too, that may cure any notchiness in your shifter

_________________
"I had all kinds of grip,......until I had none!"
-STi driver, after exiting between turns 2 and 3

I was thinking about that Neil, I've also read on some Miata forums that the Ford transmission fluid seems to be the most popular choice for smooth shifting. I'll give the Ford stuff a try and let you guys know. Cheers.

I always used Redline MTL. Works perfect.

_________________
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!

Yeah, I read about the redline stuff too, and it's a close second to the Ford stuff according to alot of the guys on the forums, thanks for the heads up.

Also, I'm looking for a flasher module for my 1995 Miata, I think all the NAs have the same one, it's the grey box mounted above the clutch pedal under the dash, it pulls right off and unplugs without any tools.
My front drivers side blinker light turns off after about 10 mins of driving and it no longer blinks as if the bulb is blown, it starts to flash quickly on the rear light, but no light at all in the front. After searching the Miata forums, most people suggest that it's the flasher unit, which I'm unable to find locally, checked the dealers and non have any stock, special order only with no return at $100+, Amazon wants $150 and some other online retailers are sold out.
I tried new front bulbs after cleaning the sockets, back ones look brand new and checked fuses as well and they look good too. So I'm hoping someone local has a spare parts car with one of these I can borrow to test and buy if possible. Or if I can boroow one in general from someone's daily just for testing to confirm that it is the problem.Cheers!
Part # 3211-167-320

Assuming (read: hoping and praying) that the car in question was kept in good repair and there are no major mechanical issues, what are the major disadvantages to buying a high mileage (100k+) NA? The car would serve daily driver duty, but I'm not afraid of fixing/replacing/upgrading parts as necessary. Thanks.