Miata General /mg/

Is there a difference between surface rust and very bad rust? I mean, is there an acceptable level of rust that can be seen on an NA, or is any rust a run away sign?

Brg

In my experience if you can see rust coming up around the wheels or the rocker panels, there is a lot of rust hiding behind it or in other areas. I once had an older car (1991 Dodge Dynasty) that had quite a bit of rust. Upon further inspection and poking at the whole, most of the rear fender was rust underneath but the paint was keeping it together. I took out a foot long section of body panel with one smack that looked like a 1 inch hole.

Black interior + brg would look weird m9

So if I can already see it on the surface without getting underneath, its probably fairly rotten within?

for example, pic related, would that be acceptable or run away?

If that is what you are looking at that doesn't seem bad. I was imagining an actual hole. I would imagine you could cut that out and mend it up somehow before it gets worse.

Some of that and the underneath was similar to pic related, except the exhaust on the one I saw was gone brownish.

>I would imagine you could cut that out and mend it up somehow before it gets worse.

If im not comfortable doing that DIY, is it a very expensive fix?
Anything that can be done without cutting bits off and welding?

you're a madman

I personally wouldn't buy a car with that much rust. I live in PA and have seen and owned some nasty rusted cars but I refuse to own one now. If it is all just surface rust there might not be a problem but it just freaks me out.
You wouldn't have to weld in a new piece, hell you could use bondo or fiberglass patch and spraypaint it. Paying a shop to weld in a new rocker piece like that would be a few hundred at the least.

Well then, do sunburst yellow if you like loud colors or a deep metallic grey if you don't

Is your body fucking ready lads

here's a funfact, nb rust more than na
as for the body it's the same but nb also tend to have problems with rusting longerons which is a serious fucking issue btw

i have no idea how mazda could fuck this up even more but they did

:(

I'll give you 500 for the car.
My only experience is with NAs, I would have thought NBs are a little bit better on the whole rust thing.

>My only experience is with NAs, I would have thought NBs are a little bit better on the whole rust thing.

yeah, you'd think they'd get better with time but that's mazda for you
still, that's nothing compared to first gen mazda 6, these fuckers started rusting right after leaving the factory
at least from nc forward they pulled their shit together and it's much better now

>tfw 6ft4 and fit in an na miats just fine
>but with the sunvisor right at my forehead level

They make slim visors and blanking plates for faggots like you.

They only make a drivers side slim visor. I want both.

>if you're under 6'2" and aren't overweight you can fit without modification
>Tfw 6'3"
>TFW overweight
Handling the overweight part (took weight from 288 to 226 and going lower) but can't really do anything about being an anti-manlet
Feels strangely bad, man

Would an Na be a good car to start to learn how to work on cars? Also I would likely trade/sell my motorcycle to buy one and it would probably have to be my daily. (I live in PNW btw)

Basically I want to learn maintenance and modifications and someday I'd like to turbo it. How doable is dailying an NA and about how much should I expect to spend?

yes.

can anyone give more advice on this?

**Miata Inception**

A brg dropped drop-top inside my brg dropped drop-top

my nc has a bit of rust :o

Probably better than most FWD cars as there seems to be a fair bit of space in the engine bay. Dailying should be ok as long as you dont ever need to carry more than 1 passanger at a time. Parts and shit should be pretty cheap cause these are so common and they rust loads, so lots of decent parts for fairly cheap. Cost depends on where you live, in the US I guess about $2k, in the UK about £600 - £1000, just make sure it isn't rotten and the engine doesn't knock, most other stuff should be fixable. Oh, and get a hardtop if you can, stops people slashing your roof/climbing in and stealing it.

>"timing belt" makes a noise
>not been driven for years

Sounds like the engine blew up and they garaged it. Then again, replacement engines are pretty cheap, so if it does go just drop a new one in. Just don't overpay and listen for knocking. and if ANY of the rust is more than surface (poke it with a screwdriver) walk away. MX5s are pretty common, another one will come up

>Sounds like the engine blew up and they garaged it

If thats the case, when I go to test drive it, it wont start or run right?

>and if ANY of the rust is more than surface (poke it with a screwdriver) walk away

what does poking with a screwdriver do?, sorry to sound stupid

Thanks for the advice user!

It might still run, but only for short periods of time before it starts to overheat or whatever. if you do test drive it make sure to take your time (try to get caught in slow moving traffic, that will cause then engine to do work to keep you moving, but wont give the radiator the airflow it needs to keep the engine cooled. normal cars handle this fine, shitters dont). it may also have been lack of oil, which can cause quite a lot of engine wear, but wont show when the oil is topped off again.

Poking the rust with a screwdriver shows which type of rust it is. there are 2 types, surface and penetrating (idk if thats the right term, but il stick with it for now). surface rust is just rust on that side of the sheet of metal, where the paint/rust protection has worn away and the metal has started to corrode. it will have eaten away at a little bit of the metal but it will still be ok if the rust has been removed and the area protected, as long as the rust hasnt gone too far through. Penetrating rust is rust that has gone all the way through the metal, so there is no metal left in that spot. the rust will still hold its place/shape, but will be significantly weaker than the metal around it, and will spread outwards. this cannot be treated i the same way as surface rust, as there is no more metal to protect. Poking the rust with a screwdriver will test to see how bad the rust is, penetrating rust will crumble, and surface rust that is bad enough that the metal beneath it is weakened will cause the remaining metal to be punctured by the screwdriver. Just remember that rust can come from both sides of the metal, and what may look like surface rust from one side may be rust from the other side that has eaten its way through, which is why you use he screwdriver test on ALL rust that you can see. best case scenario, its all solid, and can be sanded back and rust protected when you buy it. worst case, you put a hole in their car cause its so badly rusted, (1/2)

>just checking my own trips before part 2
(2/2) and walk (or run, depending on how pissed they are/how big the hole is) away and start your search again. btw, all that shit about the engine in part one is worst case, chances are that the belt is hitting a twig thats stuck in there/something in the same area but unrelated, and the lack of driving is just down to circumstance. just remember that this is one of the most common convertables out there, if something looks fucky dont be afraid to just walk away and find another, its a fuck load cheaper to wait a month or so rather than buy a shitter that spends a year on your drive while you fix it. oh and ffs dont be scared off by what i just wrote, as i said before, chances are its nothing serious

Thanks so much for the info user, really good stuff. Good tip on the rust too, i will bring the screwdriver.

A few other points
Im worried about what shape the engine is in since its been sitting up a while with no driving, and the condition of the fluids.

If I start it up and drive it with shitty old oils and petrol in it, do I risk ruining it for myself if I buy it after?

And also with the rust and corrosion, do any major suspension parts suffer from this? That would make it a serious danger to drive in the long run? Im talking wheels coming off, car falling to bits while at high speed shit here.

if the engines been sitting, chances are it will be ok. if the petrols that bad the car will probbaly refuse to start, or will run kind of shitty. the oil is the major concern, as if its broken down it could fuck up the engine. honestly, it shouldnt be an issue, ive had a car running after sitting for 7 years or so with no oil change. in hindsight that was a shit idea, but the point is it wont outright kill the car. best bet is just to contact the guy and ask if its been changed recently. chances are if its been driven lightly it should have had it changed at some point if they gave 2 fucks about the car.

IIRC they do sometimes rust on the subframes, but i dont think its as common as body rust. Make sure you check for it though, do an image search for mx5 front and rear subframes, and take a torch to make sure they dont have rust. if the do, and its anything more than light surface, then just walk away, its no worth the effort. (if you cant get underneath use a smartphone camera with the flash locked on to get a good view of the underside). i dont think mx5s are particularly bad for this, but also check the suspension turrets (in the trunk and under the hood). rust on these isnt really that common but its really bad if it is there. also if you can just check any suspension components underneath for any play.

as far as the engine goes, other than oil issues, listen out for tapping/knocking from the engine, and make sure the gearbox works fine in all gears

Just give this a read through too, seems to be a fairly complete list of things to look out for : pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=803271

Oh and dont poke too hard with that screwdriver, if you mark the paint they will be pissed. Also if you do find rust, keep quiet about it incase they bitch you out for damaging the car

I know some of you expressed interest in Jet Stream headlights.

There is a group buy going on, might still be active. Only 3 people needed for the group buy price ($810 shipped)

mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?14595-Jet-Stream-Fixed-Headlight-Group-Buy&p=203982

Madman

I was one of those that expressed interest since i dont have headlights at all, but they did a group buy before with more than 10 people and it was $600. so do they plan on lowering the price as more people are added to the list or is $800 the fixed price?

unfortunately i dont have the cash at the moment.

do you guys get compliments on your cars by passerby? I get a lot of "nice car" but mostly from middle aged guys.

205/50/15 or 195/50/15?

Yes, but mostly from kids yelling. I love that though. It's fun to make a kid's day, even if it isn't that cool a car.

Not much difference outside of racing, really. For street use it mostly depends on the wheel width and whether you want a beefier look.

I am not sure, if I were you I'd email them to find out.

Can you fit a full size drum kit in a miata easy?

>can you
yes
>easy
no

Reposting this here from QTDDTOT:

I've got bad news, Veeky Forums, and was wondering if you could help.

Recently I found out my NB Miata's front frame rails have been rusting out, while everything else is pristine.
That means basically removing the entire front end and either saw off the rails and welding new ones on, or sanding them down, patching them, and coating them in a rust inhibitor if it's not too bad.

All included it's going to run me about 3 grand or so. I've resigned to the fact that I have to have this done, I just don't know where.

Dealership shops won't touch anything with rust in my area, and I've never had to deal with body shops or anything of the sort. Where do I go to get an estimate or find someone competent enough at welding/structure work to be able to do this?

Is 190.000 miles too much?

For a daily driver, I'd say so, but it depends on the owner and whether or not they actually took care of the car

205 for 7.5" or 8" wide wheel
195 for 7" or less wide wheel

nah, but i've seen it being shilled on all the big youtube channels. those fuckers almost convinced me to download it too but i just drank some bourbon and forgot about it instead

why?

the fuck is the appeal of htose headlights? you ruin the only redeemable feature of the NA for that dog shit?

Honestly jetsream lights are the only aftermarket design I like since it integrates well with the car's lines. I fucking hate sleepy eyes so much holy shit, especially when assholes throw small lightbars in there instead of headlights.

literally doesn't matter. even 185 is overkill for the twinky 100hp car that is the MX-5. 205s look bad ass so id just go with that i guess

>3k
>NB

bruh everyone's frame rails are rusted out. they aren't even an integral part of the chassis (look it up). how bad can it possibly be?

One is pretty bad and looks to definitely need replacing, the other can probably be patched.

3k because of the labor costs obviously. I can get both rails for about 800 from Mazda.

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My 94 didn't want to start this morning. It cranked and it felt like the engine fired in a few cylinders and then it immediately died. Did that a few times then I went out and unplugged and replugged the CAS and MAF. Didn't help but then I played with the throttle and got it to start? Any ideas? Only thing really that changed was it was a bit more foggy today and my starter has been staying on a bit long after the engine starts and grinds a little sometimes. I don't think the starter would cause it not to start since it turned the motor plenty to fire a few times.

Any ideas?

Thanks again user, you have been really helpful.

When should any major services been done on these cars?
Timing belts, water pump etc.
The car has over 75000 miles on it, but its never had any of these changed.

As far as services go, the current seller is clueless on the phone, because she is selling it after her dad gave it to her. So hopefully there is a service record and other records kept that can tell me more.

Will my NA's check engine light come on when I already have a stored code that doesn't show the light when running?

user in Twingo plushie thread says Miata is next, get excited
Reminder that 2008 NC is the most smiley miat

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HNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

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>not having 2 spare tires on the back for maximum over drift

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non-miata guy here

i came here to make fun of you guys but now i must say that the OP pic is by far the best looking miata that ive ever seen, and that i may consider driving it if someone maybe had a gun to my head or something.

that is all.

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but you dont think this is better looking

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mans never been in MG when its SHUTDOWN

TRUSS MI DADDI

anyone help with this?

i've had "nice car" from a middle aged woman

also had a guy come up to me and ask "is it very fast?" i replied "it's quite fast" lol

LEL

I've had a few people tell me they like it while I was stopped at lights with the top down.

Pretty sure one was an Veeky Forumstist. He said he liked my car, asked if it was a manual, then told me about the NA he had at home.

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NA's rust more than NB's. If you see it on the outside of the rocker, it means the inside is rusted through as they rust from inside out. Most common spot for NA's to rust is at the rocker, because the drain holes get blocked and water sits in there, eventually forming rust.

the amazon tier led bars are literally the worst

"ruin" lol

also its weighs less than pop up's

The only thing I don't like about them is that you're cutting the top portions of the bumper out. Not being fully reversible puts me off of them.
>inb4 hurr durr u can buy another bumper xDDDDDD

you can buy another bumper.

but if you dont want to cut into your bumper you can get these ugly ass lights.

Get out.

these look way better