doward

This thread will be the storage space for my 03 Club Sport side chick, "Scully"

(Above photo taken after lots of cleaning and a professional paint correction)


I have another monster thread that has morphed into a total cluster with multiple Miatas and the racing shenanigans here: Doward's Jack of all, Master of None Build - ClubRoadster.net
Another that is soley for my PTE racecar: https://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep...e-103-a-90770/

Long story short: We recently stumbled upon a craigslist add for a white 2003 Miata for a "below market price." It was described as, and looked to be a Club Sport in the ad, so we basically stopped what we were doing and drove to San Diego to buy it. Upon arrival we noticed it had a red twin parked on the street. The seller was not ready to let both go, but Emilio came home with the white one and I with first right of refusal on the red one.
Here is a short thread about "Snoopy": https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr.../snoopy-91817/

A couple months go by and we get a phone call. Again, we drop what we're doing, head to San Diego and I bring the second one back.


Both cars spent their entire live's parked outside, on the street, under the California sun. They both have bumps and bruises, crackled clearcoat, etc. Neither had much in the way of preventative maintenance or even general care, leaking valve covers, acorns in the engine bays, makeup coating all over the interior included with both.










^License plates in sequence even.



Initial plan is to simply clean it up, catch it up on all the maintenance items and enjoy it until Socal gets too hot to drive a non-AC car. It will probably see some local non-SCCA autocross, but it will probably not get a rollbar.

It has a CEL for idle speed too high.
It has torn motor mounts.
Hardtop latches are all missing the little caps, so the squeaks and rattles are super prevalent.
Due for a TB/WP, general tune up, valve cover gasket, etc.
The interior needs a steam clean and/or much more elbow grease.

Current "don't look inside or under the hood" status:

jpreston

iTrader: (4)

Bauce.

doward

I had the shop to myself again, so I knocked out some not-fun stuff on the yet-to-be-named red car over the weekend.




Stage one of maintenance catchup on any used car? Seafoam.

Quickly followed by new plugs and an oil change.

"While you're in there" starts to add up though.

It had 1.5 torn motor mounts that were causing a major judder when working the clutch from a standstill. You could feel the motor crash around on the broken left side mount. Turrible.

Engine oil, trans fluid, motor mounts, plugs because seafoam, wires because why not, clutch hydraulics because used Miata.

Fresh NGK Iridiums and NGK wires, Mazda Competition motor mounts, a Clutch Hydraulic Overhaul kit, and a couple quarts of Amsoil Liquid Gold MTL in the trans made this neglected car drive kinda OK again.

thumpetto007

iTrader: (15)

Those headlights will clear right up with some cutting compound. Literally takes 2 minutes per headlight.

doward

Slow thread doesn't always mean slow progress. This time it actually does.

I've de-greased the bay, swapped all the fluids to Amsoil now, motor, trans and diff, treated the motor with some TriboTex nano oil treatment and finally killed the nagging CEL with a fresh CAS, plugs and wires. Whew. It is running exceptionally well. I am pretty sure the plugs and wires were OEM from 2003..


Amsoil Signature Series in the motor
Amsoil MTL in the trans
Amsoil Severe Gear in the diff
NGK iridium plugs BKR5EIX
NGK wires





In the meantime(and now that it's official), we've been using Scully for Xida Ace testing. More info on that elsewhere: https://www.miataturbo.net/suspensio...-xl-ace-93581/








I still have no clue why I own this car or what I'm going to do with it long term.

I'll get the motor mounts, clutch and brake systems overhauled with Supermiata lines and fresh fluids and then daily it through winter I suppose.
I am tempted to delete the poorly installed softtop and bolt the hardtop on like my old NA. That will get rid of all the squeaks from the latches and the softtop thumping around.

doward

Yay, maintenance.
Shifts are a little better. Old boots were toast, as seen below, but the bushings weren't too bad. Turret fluid was nasty though.





Also, I NanoPro Dry Lube'd the crap out of my window guides. Since the stuff is "dry" it doesn't stay runny on the glass. This allows a super lazy application with the included straw thing without removing the door panels and vapor barrier. I just sprayed it into the guide channels from the top of the door. If you've ever messed with that vapor barrier, you know...
NanoProMT - Advanced, Nanotechnology Lubricants

Windows now go up and down super frickin' quick. Win.

Chilicharger665

iTrader: (2)

Dude! I didn't even think of using it for that. My driver side window on the 01 recently stopped working altogether (which is probably a broken switch), but it always been slow. I bought a can of that stuff the other day and I will try that out.

doward

The headlight heckling in the Snoopy thread has reached a breaking point...
MiataTurbo: 1, 949 ClubSports: 0

This is the 3M kit.
400, 800, 1000 wet, 3000 wet, compound, wax:

They're still super hazy, no longer yellow, but far from 'clear'.

The right side light was noticeably brighter on my way home last night. I drove the scenic route through Laguna Canyon on purpose to test it.

doward

Scully went to a new home today. I simply don't need so many cars. Making a concerted effort to downsize.

New owner will continue the 'restoration' back to stock Club Sport status and keep it as a pseudo collector Miata.

Last photo before it drove away: