I was finally able to find a project Miata in my budget (my wife's budget, too)...sub $1k. I picked this one up tonight. It's a '92 with about a gazillion miles on it. Red and black. It currently has a horrible respray, which I'll massage to last the summer at least, as paint isn't in the budget for awhile. The lady had receipts from her ownership (2008 on). I drove it home, and they really are gokarts. Much sharper than the MGB was in terms of handling, and that was just the initial drive home. I figured getting a running/driving/stopping/shifting Miata with a new top (plastic window, though) for this price was a pretty good deal. A couple of bangs and bruises, of course. But hey, I can come to Mazda meets with a Mazda again!

I'm looking forward to getting started on the project! First up is a thorough cleaning/inspection to see what I'm getting into. Teaser pic of the before:

Welcome back to Mazda ownership. Good thing you cleared out all that garage space!

You can fit that in your Murano!

Oh hey, another red NA MX-5. Yes, like go-carts, very immediate, very entertaining to drive, more than you'd maybe expect from the specs on paper. Sounds like you got a great deal, I hope you keep the updates rolling! You have a very nice setup for working on it.

Niceeeee!

I'm pretty excited, so is my son. When I told him he could help work on the car, that's all he wanted to do last night. I've been searching for a cheap roadster of some sort for a while, and this one fit the budget. My wife told me I should get it, so 2 hours later, I was driving it home. I think today might be an unproductive work day...

nice. you really needed a project car.

Sweet. should form sub forum for top down motoring...

Nice!!!

Here's what a cheap arse Miata looks like. The hood shot, I ran the polisher on 1 side, 1 pass of Meguiars UC. The rear fender shot, I wetsanded with 1500/2000, then went over with UC. The "respray" is basically touch up spray paint that someone went around and sprayed over scratches/chips/etc. My wetsanding is taking that off, thankfully. And no, the passenger side headlight isn't bent, the shadows just make it look that way. Interior, I haven't even cleaned yet. I dig the Radio Shack speakers.

I have some parts if you need them. I have two seats, same color and are in really good shape ($50 for the pair) and have a brand new, never been opened set of Tokico adjustable shocks. http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4537&parentid=0&stocknumber=13-57027 that I won in a raffle at the flying Miata summer camp. ($350). With those shocks and a set of FM springs, suspension Done. Let me know if you are interested.

Congrats on the Miata, they are awesome cars and a ton of fun.

Sub 1k and the car looks to be pretty clean. The interior from that one shot looks great. I must say I am very jealous!

The interior does look good. Some serious cleaning and replace the driver's seat and you have a nice car.

It's amazing what a little polishing can do, it really wakes that paint up...lookin' good!

Thanks. It definitely looks a little better in pictures, at least paint wise. I need new pads for the PC, and I'm sure a more aggressive pad/compound will make for easier work of the crappy spray paint that's on there and nearly eliminate any need for wet sanding. Even the bumpers...the paint underneath, for the most part, looks good.

Lots and lots of little dings, scratches, and whatnot. I still haven't even thought about mechanical stuff yet, just want to get the initial cleanup completed first.