Miata project car. opinion?

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No-Locksmith-9377@reddit

Dude, buy that right now for $1500. All the NA miatas near me are worse than that AND $8,000+.

If it needs an entire new engine, who cares the car was $1500. BP engines are cheap AF.

Just get it running and cleaned up and list it for sale 10k and negotiate down to 8k. Jesus.

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RileyDream@reddit

Nonrunning shortnose crank for 1500?? Walk away

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2Drogdar2Furious@reddit

r/miata

The rear rocker rust is from not clearing the drain holes and will likely be a cut and weld affair to repair. Just FYI.

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Cheezslap@reddit

Yes, get it. And they all rust behind the driver's door.

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breakfast-clothes@reddit

Mine doesn’t either and I have like 260k on the chassis. Not sure why you got downvoted.

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If you can keep them out of the weather and keep them clean, that goes a long way towards preventing rust, but A LOT of them rust in exactly that spot. I forget why; maybe a drain or something is there. You can buy patch panels for just that spot, so it's not like it's an uncommon thing.

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donald7773@reddit

You nailed it. The gutter system for the tops drain out of between the rear tire and doors. If they clog water can just collect inside the body there. They're easy to clean and if you don't park them under trees all the time it's never really an issue. Mine was parked with no top on it under a lean to shed deal for years and it doesn't have any real rust. Open roof, open to elements on 3 sides and its surprisingly on. Not mint but decent considering the condition I got it in

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breakfast-clothes@reddit

If you go see it, look underneath it. They don’t rust outside in, they rust from the inside going out. If it’s to the rocker panel already I’d be willing to bet there’s more rust that you can’t see in the picture.

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BoardBreack@reddit

The fact that he says the roof doesn't leak shows he's lying. Literally all of these leak

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Halofieldfan@reddit

Hey now mine didn’t leak from the soft top when I had it, it leaked because the windows would just fall back into the doors.

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donald7773@reddit

Get new seals, replace your window bushings, adjust your top, seals, and windows correctly and they do not leak. I drive my NA in the rain regularly and it doesn't leak unless I open the window then close it again

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DegreeAcceptable837@reddit

fuel pump 30. clutch s 20

pump pump gaskets 20

can possibly do it on his driveway and drive back

the screw holding origional fuel pump to pump assembly is really hard to remove and easy to strip, I bypassed it somehow and zip tied new pump in place.

the pump goes bad because fuel garage isn't accurate, 1/4 tank is not actually 1/4 so always keep it above half tank

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Gertrude1976@reddit

I did the cylinders in my driveway with little experience, took longer than projected but had trouble with the few bolts involved being difficult. Definitely get some harbor freight line wrenches. Very simple job otherwise if you have a friend to help and a large pizza and some music :)

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DegreeAcceptable837@reddit

hf flair nut wrench, it's like 10 bux is. best buy ever, mvp ib my tool box.

I did mine without it, cuz I'm dumb but was easy

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Gertrude1976@reddit

two of the bolts became difficult because I started without the wrenches. Then I went out and bought them and it was at least better for the remaining ones lol... had to melt and/or angle grind the bad ones tho. That was fun

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megabit2@reddit

Miot

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Any_Instruction_4644@reddit

Looks fair for the price. Probably get it running for \~$500 DIY repairs

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donald7773@reddit

You can find NAs without rocker panel rust. Expect that to Cost a few bucks to fix. If you have any NA Miata specific questions I'm happy to answer them as Ive done everything on mine short of pulling the engine.

Few red flags on used car buying in general. "It's just" is never right. If "it just" needed a fuel pump to run then why hasn't it been fixed? You can get to that in 10 minutes on these cars. Same with the slave cylinder, that's a $20 part and an hour of your time, the worst part is getting the rubber boot to sit right again. Also pictures of a car when it's wet is another red flag. But for 1500 bucks with a generally straight body (besides the rust that needs to be cut out) if the underside isn't very rusty nothing on it is all that expensive to fix

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GearheadGamer3D@reddit

I’d test compression. I’ve heard using starter fluid on a gas car is generally a no-no, and sounds like he’s been doing that at the very least.

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ShaggysGTI@reddit

I like cheap Miatas. I’d do it.

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Good_With_Tools@reddit

Miatas are ALWAYS a good decision (unless they're rusty).

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aForgedPiston@reddit

Look at this Miata, flat tire, needs fuel pump, it doesn't even Miat no more

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aForgedPiston@reddit

Being serious for a moment:

It could be okay. On the plus side, if he's being truthful and all it needs to get moving again is $100 in repairs, it could be decent. Has he acknowledged the tires needing to be replaced? That's $.

The risk is that he doesn't know or isn't being truthful about what it needs to run and drive well. There could very easily be more hiding behind the immediate issues he identified. If it was that easy to get running, and that cheap, then why doesn't he have it running?

If you go through with it, be extremely thorough inspecting the top too. He could just not know what he's talking about with regards to it being good.

I'm leaning towards a no on this one, but if you're a proper Miata enthusiast I could see it being worth it.

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Ozidizee@reddit (OP)

with labor costs i can see each thing being over $300 to repair but each part is only $20. but yes my main concern so how do i know this actually is the only two issues if i need to fix these first to know?

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PracticalDaikon169@reddit

Everything is easy on that car. Buy it and enjoy it. Gl Op

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DegreeAcceptable837@reddit

thing w miata is everything is easy to work on, and being so old, everything can fail at anytime

the prestige is In restoring it and be reliable

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bigdaddybodiddly@reddit

Two flat tire

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aForgedPiston@reddit

Could be fun. On the plus side, if he's being truthful and all it needs to get moving again is $100 in repairs, it could be decent. Has he acknowledged the tires needing to be replaced? That's $.

The risk is that he doesn't know or isn't being truthful about what it needs to run and drive well. There could very easily be more hiding behind the immediate issues he identified. If it was that easy to get running, and that cheap, then why doesn't he have it running?

If you go through with it, be extremely thorough inspecting the top too. He could just not know what he's talking about with regards to it being good.

I'm leaning towards a no on this one, but if you're a proper Miata enthusiast I could see it being worth it.

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