Miata buying spree!!!
 

Well I dont think anyone here knows it, but Sept 11th last year, this old lady in a Crown Vic pulled out right in front of me...I wasnt able to stop in time, and we scraped. Surprisingly enough, she needed a new door; I did some damage to her at least! Anyways it wasnt pretty.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...n/DSCN0818.jpg
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Okay, well as it turns out, I can get a fender for my car for $100. The fender is really the only thing that needs to be replaced, as the minor imprint on the rear panel is barely noticable at all and the door now opens fine, plus the headlights still work without a problem.

I got just under $1700 from her insurance company (thank god) and a full estimate of what would be replaced/fixed and painted; based on the fact they included the estimate of taking apart the door to get to the door handle to make sure it is fully functional, plus taking apart the side mirror and making sure nothing was damaged, despite the fact theres nothing near the door handle and barely a scratch on the mirror. I personally think this is justified however, as the weekend before, I had spent three hours washing and waxing it...

This, combined with my christmas bonus of $433 after taxes made for a good amount of money to sit in the bank! However, my slave cylinder went out and even after replacing it, slowly I lost the clutch again...replaced the master cylinder and no difference. I wasnt too happy, and ended up driving with NO clutch pedal for 2 weeks. Eventually I bled it the proper way, and it turns out there was an insane amount of air in the system; I went through at least 2-3 bottles of brake fluid getting it out!

In the mean time, I complained to mom about how slow it was and annoying. To try and get her to let me sell it, I wrote a list of everything it needed. Now that she is a bit more mechanically inclined, she said "okay, we can use that money to get it all". I had exasterbated the list, putting down stuff to make it back to OEM status, such as timing belt and bushings. One thing that I really wanted that she said no was a turbo kit, since it didnt qualify as maintenance...

Regardless, here is a list of everything I have ordered. I went a bit over my limit, though not terribly much, but my car will certainly be badass pretty soon!

Have: Greenstuff rear pads, timing belt, tensioner, and idler pulleys, water pump, assorted gaskets, PCV valve, fuel filter

In delivery: Slotted rear rotors, gunmetal w/polished lip Rota Slipstreams (16x6.5, 13lbs each so only .5 more than stock, +40 offset, using the tires off my Supra; 225/50R16 Kuhmo Supras), Tein Basic coilovers, complete polyurethane bushing kit, Magnaflow catback (only one I could find and didnt sound like nasty rice--also the only power mod I ordered :lol: )

Prices I paid, shipped (mostly from dealerships and Moss Motors):

Timing belt kit, fuel filter, water pump: $221.68
EBC pads, tensioner and idler pulleys: $127.60
Rota's: $485
Magnaflow: $372.50 w/shipping insurance
Rear rotors: $50, barely used (he upgraded to a big brake kit)
Tein's: $715
Bushings: I think around $300..it was in GBP and I cant find the record for it

Pics soon!

Wow, last time i saw your car the door was a lil difficult to open, did you use shock therapy on it? :lol:

But thats awsome that your finally getting the stuff.

get different tires, those will be way too big for the car and may rub when having fun. Not to mention its going to make the car feel wayyyy slower because of the gearing disadvantage and extra weight.

Find a cheap 205/45 tire, or reorded the slips in 15" and get a 205/50 tire

Well I took that into concideration...but I didnt really want to buy new tires when I can get used but perfectly good tires for free, and before that I spent $300 on brand new tires for my Supra and only put like 1000 miles on them...I want to get my $300 out of them. I'll be thrilled if it only rubs in full lock (theres a guy locally with 17s and 205s that dont rub at all) but otherwise I'm expecting it to. With the Teins, I can adjust the ride height, so I'm planning on raising it as high as I can, and I might have to roll the fenders or whatever too.

Gearing disadvantage yes, but I spend far more time on the interstate than I do around time, so if anything its a gear advantage. I'm hoping the exhaust will offset the extra rolling unsprung mass...because 8 HP and 10 ft lbs is pretty damn good for only a catback on a 1.6 and actually sounds nice. I think the most ironic of all of this is that I'd much rather get more power out of it than make it handle better, yet with all this I'll be much closer to an Elise in handling and even slower than before..

its not the width of the tire so much, its the height. Raising the car won't be a good way to compensate, the roll center will be higher but I suppose if you get some stiffer sways it may help a bit.

Well again, 17" compared to my 16", but I think I'll have more sidewalls than him. Not sure.

As it turns out, even at the highest setting the Teins I'm getting are a bit over an inch lower than stock though. Also, I've heard the wheels themselves will lower the car...not sure about that but okay.

I understand the higher center of gravity, but I'll also have much stiffer ride as compared to my swaying, flexing, rolling stock setup of a 13 year old convertable, so it'll still end up better than stock.

post some after pics.

Yeah an aftermarket fender through Keystone is like 100. but that bumper cover is pricey.

also dont go in a bigger rim size to loose sidewall.

Im not a fan of putting 205/40/17s on everything,I like meatier tires.

on my first gens years ago I was going to put a 215/45/16 on it.

I sold the tires for more that what I paid for and sold the wheels.

60 series sidewalls SUCK...I'm not going to keep them that wide.

Did you ever put those on your car though? Did they rub?

17s are too big for Miatas...16s are cutting it close even. But again, I'd rather just use what I have and deal with it.

Eagerly anticipating getting everything. What I should do in the meantime is put on my fuel filter and PCV valve, cause apparently the filter is real easy. As far as teh PCV valve..do you just pull the old one out and push the new one in? I doubt it'll take more than 5 minutes but havent even looked into what it takes to replace

yeah 60s suck,but 40s are shitty cause of NO sidewall and I hate feeling every little pebble in the road.

I put one rim/tire together and put it on the car,But not to drive.No they didnt rub.Car was stock hieght at the time.

17s are to be IMO,for your car.
16 should fit,the new ones comes with 16.You migth have to roll the fenders.

Just by looking at yoru car,205/50/15 looks like it would be a good fit,Alot of first gen 7 guys used to go with that size also.But them tires are pricey compares to 205/40/17.

On the air filter,did you change the air tube and going with a cone set up or stock style K&N drop in?

PCV should be just a push in.

Did you check racingbeat for parts?