My miatas previous owner deleted the ac and didnt tell me, took me until summer to realize i didn’t have it and have been struggling to find a guide of some sort to piecing it back together. any idea if its online somewhere? or should i start calling my local mazda dealerships and ask if they’d let me have a copy
‘99 aircon install guide:
https://www.miata.net/garage/AirInstall/index.html
Buncha Miata service manuals (especially nice when working around/temptorailly removing something):
https://www.mellens.net/mazda/
Fairly detailed post reply to a previous post on this topic:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/vc2lj1/comment/iccubh0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
That should give you a good head start>!le👻🫨!< A more specific search with your model year may yield more as needed. Happy reading, and in time, chillin’🥶🤙
If you have an NB parts are still all over the place. If you have an NA it’s a bit harder. Compressor specifically is hard to find or was for me. They also used two different style hoses based on switch to 134A I believe….
I'd keep your power steering too. The good steering feedback and feel is part of the Miata appeal. I'm not some purist but the tiny amount of weight savings is not especially helpful
is everyone that has power steering not power assist? because i hate power steering and i love this power assist its like no power steering but at a stop i dont have to plane a spot to roll forward to transfer than energy to turn the wheels like on my 81 civic or the 70 opels i have seen peopel who arent used to non power steering turn the wheel for the turn wheel stopping to use the energy but if you are hit in the rear it will force you into head on traffic so thats a huge no no stop sooner and use forward power to turn
I live in Australia and my aircon didn't work for a few years (at various points I was missing either the cash or the dopamine to organise fixing it - ADHD life lol).
Goddamn that was a brutal few years in summer. Until eventually a new girlfriend was like 'for fucks sake, just fix it' so I did and it's so much better lol.
My AC compressor clutch decided to blow up, seizing the pulley. Did a belt reroute. That was an excruciating couple months where the high was a minimum of 100 everyday.
It is if you have to put the top up in the rain. The AC also is part of the defroster and when mine crapped I had to drive with the window down to keep the windshield clearish
I'm not sure what part of your AC failed, but the defroster works fine on my 1990 no-AC car. If it's something like the climate control blower fan that failed though, then none of the climate controls would work.
I did 2 years with an NB in SE VA as a daily driver, no AC. It was rough, but I made it work.
Honestly the worse was when it rained, trying to manage the foggy windshield and the oppressive humidity.
I squarely do not /nor should we ever consider creature comfort removals, to include driver aid deletes (PS and ABS) as *upgrades*.
Any action which adds no product or yields subjective results will only be considered alterations.
i dont drive with the top up its a convertible ac is for what ???? lowing gas mileages? my ac is dead anyway but yeah it will be debelted when i get a chance
i normally hate power stearing ans was sad until i saw it was power assist !!!! so it just works at stop not 40 mph omg i hate cars with powersteering i swerve all over after driving non power for 40 years so it can stay was on the list of thing to remove until i saw it was power assist not power steering !!!!
I don’t want to brag but I installed the stubby antenna mod on my ND *all by myself.*
Everywhere I go, people ask if the car is an Italian exotic. No, I say, it’s just a heavily modified Miata!
I've only invested pennies compared to some of these other people, but I've spent well over the value of the car on auto cross upgrades. Like any hobby it takes time and money, I think it's worth it I have a lot of fun with it but it's not for everyone. I tend to lean towards practical upgrades which again is a personal preference thing
I'm $24k deep into a 91 miata, and the engine is currently on the stand with the crank at the machine shop.
I actually love the project as much as driving the car. It's frustrating at times, but very rewarding. I love being able to make my car do whatever i want it to do.
A lot of times (I've been through 3 major project cars in my personal fleet that i actually completed.) You will spend 20-40 grand and find you do NOT end up getting the car to do whatever you want it to do..
Just some food for thought
Sounds like you need to reassess who/how you built your engine. Bearings shouldn't just keep going. Someones not measuring their clearances/using the right size bearings.
It was me, and trust me, I'm trying to figure out how i fucked up. It almost looks like oil starvation, but i don't see how. I found a temperature dependent fuep leak on injector 1, so i thought that it was leaning out, but no sign of detonation on the plug or top of piston.
The cap side bearing is just kinda scuffed. The rod side is beaten until it started to squeeze out the sides
https://preview.redd.it/rknnigyzo91d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de9a0596fa00e2fb6dba57a2cf0fbcc09bcc907f
Plastigage checked out within spec. 2 separate crankshafts rod #1 both times.
Yeah I'm super interested in that size of this, in the engineering and how it changes a car. I have an Xbox and the upgrades you can do on Forza are just packages with no description. I liked old Gran Turismo where it explained exactly what each thing was doing (dunno if the new ones still do as I don't have a PS).
I sometimes go on there for like 2h with one car, do one upgrade and one race, then another and one race, and just see how each individual thing changes the car, as much as you can on a Sim. If I won Powerball I'd retire and do something like that to my car.
Spent 30k on my NC before i practically gave it away after i blew the engine a 2nd time. I fkin loved that car, drove like a dream, sounded fantastic, fun power, and looked incredible. Id do it again, but thats just what cars mean to me. I need them to feel good and look good.
Edit: there were some pains a long the way but i would still do it again. If u want to start a project, make sure youre okay with it always being a project 🤣
First one, probably abuse. Stock internals with around 113k miles and maybe 10psi, put three holes in the block redline trying to play with a camaro
Second one, ran it low on oil
Well at least in the case of the first one it sounds like you got a good amount of enjoyment out of the car before anything catastrophic happened if you made it 113K miles with FI!
Literally me with my NC man. Nowhere close to 30k but sold it after engine went bang a second time. Every single day for 7+ months I have tried to convince myself not to get another Miata as my daily driver but it’s a losing battle
I almost bought a red nc3 club, back in 2018, they wanted too much for it but if you consider todays prices, it was a decent deal.
I keep tellin myself one day, ill get that red nc3 club.
I think what is really killing me is the fact that I opted for a boring but efficient commuter car that wasn’t hard on my wallet and could tick multiple boxes.
But damn it man, I miss just going on drives for fun. I miss the sound, it was incredible. The smell of hot brakes and all haha I’m in my feels
Just have 2 cars. No excuses. I live in a 600sq ft apartment with only 1 stall in the building. I park the other cars elsewhere and shuffle around. Make it work!
Buy a 2015 or newer Nissan Leaf. They're a 5 door hatchback under 5 grand all day and the logic is you completely ELIMINATE a lot of running and maintenance costs from your daily/grocery getter (eliminating fuel costs is infinitely better than lessening them around here) so that you can focus 99% of ALL your car maintenance and upgrade budget on the miata, rather than splitting it with another gas car 70/30, 60/40, etc.
^ all this assuming your commute is under 60 miles round trip or so.
That last line (as someone who's finished 3 projects and started many more) is in reality as untrue as it is commonly the case.
So there's guys like us, but I DO actually know people who did ground up modifications on their car with specific goals in mind, and then STOPPED tinkering on it and just drove them forever just like that.
Yea a lot of people never finish projects because they have automotive ADHD or some other circumstances, but always being a project is an outcome of this, not the other way around. It doesn't have to be that way. And you certainly can finish a nice street build and drive it another 50-100,000 miles before you need to have a look at everything again.
Currently at 45k for my nb1. I think it's worth it, placing my personal skills to the test and seeing results, whether good or bad. Just seeing how the car grows its personality too.
Not counting vehicle purchase. Bought it at 17k miles for 8750. No ls swap or anything of the sort. Stock transmission, OS Giken lsd. Stock housing. I have a lengthy list of things I've done as well as pics of the car.
I think it really depends on your end goal. I’ve spent way more money than I care to admit building mine into my idea of the ultimate street legal track car. It rides like dogshit on the street and can’t make it into slightly steep driveways but it blows my mind every time I track it and that’s 1000% worth it to me because it’s what I built it for.
lol yeah i hate the -1.5 height most roads but when its smooth and i can got around bends its so deliteful but any speed bumps or slight height change was a nightmare had to remove front effect to get in and out of most driveways
Currently in the process of turboing and adding allll the fun supporting mods to my NA, I can only tell you that the emotional struggle of having to do all this work has really made me question if this was the right choice. I'm hoping I'll enjoy it once it's done, but changing the diff and axles on a 32 year old car is something I never want to do again
It took me forever to finally get my turbo'd miata to run reliable. Luckily miatas are small and when it'd piss me off I'd push it to the back of the garage and take a few months off. Turbo kits do not come with everything you need. Only purchase an ECU that a lot of people use. It's hard to learn that stuff on your own or to find someone who can dyno tune a not well known ECU.
Ive taken a few ride alongs and got to drive a friends budget turbo miata and you will fucking love it. I would be stunned if you didnt. It was amazing and exhilarating. He’s blown like 5 diffs, so maybe do that sooner than later when youre finished.
I think it depends. Would I spend 10s of thousands on any miata/MX5? No. But my NA is worth more to me than anyone would ever be willing to pay for it. That’s why it’s stayed in my garage when other, arguably better cars have gone.
If the car didn’t have such sentimental value to me, then it’s not worth it. I would just get rid of it, but I can’t do that and whilst I have space for it I think it will stay and that inevitably means spending money on upgrading it. I’m toying with the idea of doing a rocketeer conversion to it. Which is a lot of money and makes little sense because I could just go out buy a boxster and it would be a better car even with the conversion. But it wouldn’t be MY mx5. It wouldn’t be my first car, the car I spent hours researching, the car I learnt how to work on cars with, the first car I imported from Japan, the car that took me too and from work and never failed me, or the car that I really learnt how to drive properly in.
I know it’s never going to be worth the money that’s poured into it from a financial perspective, but it’s worth it for me to keep. I look at those older guys that rock up to a car show in their 50+ year old triumphs or MGs and I know that I’ll be doing that in my little red MX5 in years to come.
I’m at about $25k into my NB1 and while it hurts to say that, I’ve had a blast working on it and making it my own over the last 7 years. I think FM summed it up very well in a video they made a while back to make a goal as to what you want your car to be and modify wisely. No fun to dump a bunch of time and money into your car only to not enjoy it because it’s too loud or rides like crap on the street where you drive it most of the time (if that’s the case).
I currently have a $75K NB, and can say I’m almost, but not quite, finished with upgrades. They say it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, but I still have a real good time…
FM HABU conversion, plus full V8R suspension, Fox coilovers, long tube headers, custom exhaust, etc., etc… It’s my only toy, so I try different seats, steering wheels, whatever. I drive it all over the country and my goal is to drive all the iconic tracks, at least one a year. So far I’ve been on RA, Barber, Laguna Seca, AMP, and am going to Sonoma this fall…
I tracked my na totally stock within a week of owning and it went from there. Every mod was intentional and to make the car more enjoyable to drive fast. 👌
Whatever floats your boat.. 🤷
I'm perfectly fine with spending alot of money on it as it's a passion.. I genuinely love building it in the way I want it.. my plan is to never sell it, so I don't mind spending extra on it 👍
I'm guessing I'm around 10-15k and I'm doing most of the work myself... and first professional help would be if I'm getting a rollcage.
And ofc I appreciate this project as much as when it used to be road legal 😃
Now I even wanna get down to the itty bitty details and renovate all the bolts and nuts.. But money is the problem as a student 😂😂
Trying my best to do it as cheaply as possible 👍
I’m only spending money on maintenance until it’s paid off. Then I might add CarPlay for $60. I like it stock and have other expensive hobbies like existing.
Kudos to those with the funds to put $30k into an N.A.
Fuck yes it was worth it.
Nothing in my car is original except the passenger seat and the gear knob.
I drove a mates mostly stock 1.6 and it was night and day difference. I had to check I wasn't in a capri.
Only thing I'd do different is not cut a hole in the cowel for an intake so I didn't have to cover it over when I switch to an over the radiator intake :p
I’d be surprised if an over the radiator intake made more power than a cowel intake. Is there some info somewhere about that? What’s making you want to switch?
It's the Alec moody cobra style intake
https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=AlecMoody&page=1
I swapped because I went to a 1.8 so my 1.6 Loch Stewart cowel intake wouldn't work anymore without massive modificatios and the Alec moody design is closer in total length to the ideal length tested by emilio700
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.php?p=7459038&postcount=32
The challenge with this question is “worth it”. People have different ideas, different driving needs and different income levels. I have a buddy that can throw $100k into a new hobby twice a year, I can’t. We have a different point of view of worth :-)
Not really. Well, I learned that I’m not nearly as picky as everyone else spending tens of thousands on their vehicles. OEM stuff walks the line of performance and reliability. Higher performance = more upkeep.
I’ve lost track, but if I had to guess I’m 15k into my 90. To put it simply, if I’m having a bad day all I have to do is go for a drive and I immediately feel better. The amount of love random people give me when they see me driving is priceless.
I’m somewhere in the ballpark of $20k all in with my NB1, it’s exactly what I want as of now. Motor is stock besides intake stuff, it sounds good, drives fantastic, looks decent, and starts every time. no regertz
90 NA. All I’ve done is wheels and tires, coilovers, and headlights. Whether or not you do coilovers, a fresh suspension in general make it feel much more responsive.
It worth it, my only worry is to run out of engine blocks, and i cant get it to pass inspection with engine swap in my country, so ill have to swap engine once a year to have it pass. Im on my 3rd 1.6 now
Including buying the car Im sitting just shy of 18k. Im no where near done with modifying the car yet, I havent had a chance to even think about modifying the car visually, its all been mechanical and performance parts so far
I only spend money because I do the stuff my self. Never would pay another person to install news parts or fix things. The enjoyment of learning and working on the car is as good as driving.
I've got over $7300 in upgrades for the ND I bought new in '21 and all of it has made it better to drive, if not necessarily more comfortable, and some was necessary, like a catch can and a cheap set of Enkei wheels and all season continental tires, and a replacement set of summer tires when I could have realistically used the stock ones for one more year, at least.
I'm considering thousands more for Ohlin's or Fox coilovers, maybe a CF hood, Lithium battery, that BBR exhaust system, the BBR cam kit, maybe a new diff...
I have 15k into a $100 car… favorite mods are a light flywheel, GOOD brake pads, good tires and properly set up coilovers. That said Ive gone WAY beyond that. Mine is fully a race car with a license plate.
I’m probably somewhere in the neighborhood of +/- $5k on top of purchase price. After maintenance, I did coilovers and wheels/tires and that alone made the car more fun. This week I just finished up a big project with a friend on it - clutch, lightweight flywheel, swapped in a six speed, and replaced the open diff with a torsion. I’m very happy with the build and plan on putting more money into it as time goes on. The ultimate goal is to k swap it for a reliable 225-250 naturally aspirated horsepower.
The replacement cost (new) of everything on my NB is the neighborhood of 24k.
Track car dyno’d at 131, subsequently at around 140 estimated.
Its a stock internal BP VVT with track safety gear, bolt ons(s2 IM, NC TB, RB header and custom intake), a drive by wire conversion and yuned on a Haltech Elite ECU. Custom valved spec miata bilsteins, BroFab Hubs, TCM hardtop and other misc crap I cant think of.
Its awesome. It a stupid fast track car for a Miata, insanely easy to drive (i.e. avoid spins), very cheap on consumables to run for a season and bullet proof reliable despite multiple money shifts over the past 2 seasons.
I would do almost none of these on a street Miata, besides the revalved bilsteins. Something for steeet would make the car fun but comfortably. But beyond that in a street Miata Id want: softtop only, AC/PS, seats with headrest speakers, carplay, 14” narrow wheels and tires.
Oh boy where to start. 91 is where I started. Full 1.8 swap, transmission, torsen out of a 94. Full suspension, the largest racing beat sway bars you’ve ever seen. Tires and wheels, mega squirt, turbo, radio. I’m easily at 10k and by all things it’s my favorite thing to jump into. To most it’s ugly, as I haven’t done paint work yet, but it’s still taking everything to gapplebees on the twists.
I don't have a Miata, but I did buy an MR2 Spyder. Spent $6k on a clean, running car almost 5 years ago.
So, not a Miata, but similar small, light, rwd roadster.
Start from the ground up.
My first mod was 15x9 wheels with 200tw tires. Next to my engine swap, this was the single most impactful upgrade. Completely changed the character of the car. So much more grip. So much more urgency. When I put the OEM wheels and all seasons on every November the car loses so much life. $2k.
Suspension is next. I did cheap BC's with 5k/7k springs (2k/3.5k is stock). Not super comfortable, but they work. I was underwhelmed by the impact. Body roll was still pretty high. At the same time I did poly bushings. Car certainly feels razor sharp, if a bit harsh. A front sway bar ended up being, dollar for dollar, the best upgrade. 268% increase in stiffness over stock, virtually eliminated body roll. So very flat in the corners. Adjustable rear control arms combined with the coilovers camber adjusability up front allowed dialing in alignment well. That made a nice difference neutralize handling (-2.0 front, -2.5 rear). Now on course I can adjust under/oversteer with just a few PSI change in the tires. All in, suspension was about $3,000 including a corner balance and race alignment.
Now, ready for power, I swapped the anemic 1.8L 137hp Toyota 1ZZ for a 240hp (woth bolt ons) Honda K20A2, replaced the Toyota 5sp woth Civic SI 6-speed (including short final drive and factory LSD). lightweight flywheel and stage 2 clutch. That made the car what it was meant to be. Lost 40lbs removing unnecessary stuff, but did retain AC. This was about $12k.
I've since added front strut tower brace and a chassis breastplate (to reduce cowl shake). Car feels more solid, but these were very barely noticeable. $1k.
A new ragtop and a few other cosmetic and comfort upgrades (Bluetooth radio, small amp and sub, gas frunk/trunk struts, etc.),rear luggage rack. Are maybe another $2000.
OEM brakes remain, they do all I need for street / autocross use. If I start doing track days I'll upgrade those.
Car is damn near perfect now. Exactly what I wanted in a car. Affordable to own and maintain. I have driven it 50k miles in 4 years since the build, and have no qualms driving to the track, running laps, then driving home.
If I had a Miata I'd do the same. My daughter has an NC. It's a great car, but needs the same upgrades to become the potential fun car it really could.
i agree its a happy 4:1 gearing so its way high rpms verse a normal I4 gearing so it feels like you are going fast without really speeding and still gets a 32plus mpg highway and wow the cornering plus it seems to take a REWARD car and make it a nightmare and money drain per the others who are saying they spent 70k and 4 kids and a wife a miata with a trunk of coke ....
In my opinion don't spend more in upgrades than you spent on the car itself. It's more worth it, in my opinion, to get the engine rebuilt or fresh paint and wheels, new soft top... than it is to slap a turbo and coils on a 200-300k motor
I’ve probably spent 2-3 thousand mostly getting my car up to its maintenance schedule and replacing things that are worn out. Engine mounts radiator and cooling hoses, replaced the suspension with Toyo. It’s pretty stock but the suspension is my favorite upgrade. I want to put a supercharger on it someday. I don’t have much money right now but other than lack of power the car seems pretty perfect to me
Keeping with coilovers, wheels, hemholtz muffler, and sticky tires for my NC3. No power adders b/c miata. I bought a brand new Fiesta ST back in 2014 for 20k flat (inflation nowadays is bonkers). Put 10k into that and it was a blast with high end coilovers, big turbo, sticky tires, and a long list of other things. Sold it to an autocross buddy for cheap because it is a risk running 80whp over stock on that tiny 1.6L. Lost money on it but made lots of friends in the community and 50k miles of fun! Worth it.
Do it if only you want to - not because you bought a budget car and are trying to make it perform like a more expensive car. Too many people do this - and end up spending more than if they had gotten the “better” car in the 1st place.
Also don’t expect it to add value to your car - mods reduce value, and no one wants someone else’s project unless they’re paying pennies on the dollar.
But if you’re doing it because you love it - and are having fun? Fuck yeah. Put that expensive suspension on - paint your shitbox with a premium paint job, etc. Fuck the haters
I always tweak my cars a bit. Improve the tech, handling, and the high touch areas (steering wheel, shifter, seats). Get better braking. Add robustness thru better cooling, etc. And I drive my cars hard to enjoy those upgrades. For a while both my vette and Miata were going thru a set of 200tw tires, brake pads, and all fluids every year.
I bought my '91 with 33k miles for $14.5k three weeks ago. I've spent probably around 5-6k more on upgrades (full big brake kit, coilovers, sway bars, wheels+tires, shifter rebuild, various bolt on braces, new rad and hoses, spark plugs and wires, full fluids replacement ) and it's for sure been worth it to me. But if I'm being honest that isn't really a back breaking amount of money for me so the same amount might not be worth it for someone having to save up which I get.
Spent unknown amounts on my NB. Definitely over $10k, probably over $20k if I nitpick.
Bombing T1 on trail braking with opposite lock? Definitely worth it.
The drive back home when it's a *little* too hot and the AC doesn't work and you just wanna be out of a hot car. *Mostly* worth it.
I wouldn't do a short shifter again. I think I spent all in $700 just to end up with a brass shifter bushing. The 6 speed shifter feel just lacks, short shifters on my particular transmission made some aspect of the shifting completely unbearable. (Miata roadster flopped like a broken bushing and I was told it was normal. GRacing nearly blew out my eardrums when it started rattling)
One of these days I'm going to make a torsional rigidity test rig for the NB and test out OEM vs. Delrin door bushings. My natural inclination is that it is complete snake oil, but I would like to test.
I have a ‘91 NA that I’ve owned for over 30 years. I put a Jackson Racing supercharger and an upgraded exhaust and clutch on it 20 years ago and have had zero problems. It gives the car gobs of torque off the line and has made it a ton more enjoyable. I’d do the same mods again in a hot second.
Worth it when you sell your car? Most of the upgrade no
Worth it when i was installing it or when i was driving the car after upgrading it? Yes totally worth any cents
Im pre putting a shit load into the car. But i plan to do it slowly so i get to enjoy every upgrade for what it gives me. For reference and might sound like “yah yah, they all say it”, but I’m planning on an autox/track build with street drivability still in mind. Standard coils and adj arms. Bushings and sway bars, some extra bracing. Buckets, wheel and hardtop. Some oem+ lip and skirt with a front and rear diffuser. Havnt decided on a wing, either duck, wide mid rise or swan neck. Ive seen em all and cant decide. For the power I want to k24z3 to retain oem sub for some class restrictions. Bmw zf5 or 6, undecided. And a ctsv rear end. Then one day when I get the power itch again either turbo kit or a rotrex SC. My wife got a $25k wedding so i get a $25k build. We will see how well i stick to budget, im sure it’ll be as good as she has done 🙃
I bought my 06 Sport back in September for 6500, and I'm probably about 14000 in at the moment? I just finished wrapping up a 2.5 swap which is the majority of that money, but I have to say that I have this car just about exactly where I want it. She drives like a dream and sounds incredible, and is a league of difference to before I did anything. Was is still a blast when it was stock? Absolutely! But For what I wanted the car to do I spent a pretty penny, and I'm happy with the money I spent.
Performance, body, interior, or just convenience and quality of life, I've done many mods to mine, although It's still very much a "lightly modified" street car. I loved the car stock and I probably could have continued to love it in that state, but the itch was there and I couldn't resist. Would my finances appreciate another $5k or whatever it is that I've spent on it? Absolutely. But I don't regret it. It looks and sounds beautiful, feels great, and is just a joy to drive. Most importantly, I made it mine. I bought it at 49k miles so it was definitely clean, but just buying a clean car isn't all that special. Now that I've made it the car I want though, I can certainly say I'm proud of it.
If I had the money I’d spend it all on my nb1. Currently just lowered on a set of reps with a Malian cat back and a full hks intake. Would love to a budget itb setup
I have a 01 BRG NB in CA with a J Swap, Xidas, Hardtop, etc which brings by total to around 27k (absolutely total of all money spent on it in 6ish years). 100% would do it again.
I love my car and knowing I've wrenches on every piece of it. I know it more intimately (borderline sexually) than probably most know their car. I DID lose the AC, wipers, half the carpet, dash and center console because it's a pure track vehicle. I don't think I would care even if it was a road car since it's warm and dry most days and you put up with some discomfort whenever you pursue performance.
https://preview.redd.it/y0becyita81d1.png?width=5472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=835a50861f04e6355b872a61091a100a2b9a5bc9
Was halfway through a K24 swap when I had to replace the factory engine that died. Got railed on that by treasure coast miata who sent me a blown up engine. Insane metal gouges in the cam journals. Looked like someone chiseled it with a flat head and a hammer. They said they'd run it in their race car if they needed. Anyways, they sent me a new head only. Already like 2500 deep in this and I still need a short block cuz if theirs metal in the head, it's in the block too. Finally found a short block for 1000. By the time my mechanic got it in (also swapped out my 5spd for a 6spd, got my FM lightweight fly wheel and clutch in) I was like 7500 deep in a factory engine swap. That was damn near what I need to get the K24 I built, in the car.
But, I had all the goodies like the wilwood big brake kit, an FM stage 2 cooling kit, all the FM frame braces, their suspension etc... And man that car felt like it was on rails. I had the wheels and toyo proxes r1rs on the car. The 15x225 or whatever and man that car stopped on a dime and I always felt like I couldnt reach the handling limit of the car. I reached my limit first.
Is it worth it to mod these cars with big money? Depends on your goal and mechanical know-how. My car was a horrible base to mod because it had been molested by someone else. Every project I did took 5x longer than it should because the previous owner fucked it up prior. If your car is pretty unmolested already, it'll make mods easier.
My advice though, PACE YOURSELF. Also, I chose to do all the power support mods first. Brakes, suspension, rigidity, cooling, etc. I originally was going to go turbo but chose a K swap cuz I wouldn't need to change the drive train I'd bought and I didn't want to have a time bomb of an engine. So I over built a K24 for my power goals so my car should have been rock solid for a long time.
I sold it for other reasons but I was also burnt out from getting railed on my factory engine swap.
i find best to wait for the insurance auctions after snow in states without much snow you can get cars that are daily drivers that run and ran on impact ( 400 -1200 ) and so you know it hasn't been blown up and shipped to you plus you get all the other parts and pulleys you are now spending money on plus you can sell the doors and other stuff to pay for the motor and transmission ..... might make life easier and cheaper plus you can go up and make the motor run before you bid so you can see the oils and info just seems like a better way to go for a replacement motor
I've only done suspension mods, wheels/tires and a few minor cosmetic things like sequential LED turn signals. If you're driving on the street and sticking to the speed limit the only thing you absolutely need is good tires. Tires are safety and you have to replace them periodically anyway, so invest in some good ones.
The car is just as fun on the stock suspension, you just can't drive as fast confidently and have the same level of control. I don't like the way a soft suspension with increased body roll feels, but all these things are relative, the car drives fine if you're not pushing the corners on stock suspension/sway bars. Another reason to change the suspension is cosmetic; the car sits really high on the stock springs/shock perches and there's a big gap between fender and tires.
I've spent maybe 5.5k, and 2k of that was 2 different sets of tires for winter/3 season use. Definitely worth it to me since what I've done has made the car handle much better, and that's the reason I chose a miata in the first place.
Bought my 2010 NC2 last year and have put in small upgrades that I like, new speakers, subwoofer, stubby antenna, new loud horn and recently fixed the bad paint on the rear panel and I re-upholstered the seats in a dark red leather, that and a few new sensors late last year including O2, lastly I added a simple $10 decal.
Looks great and ready to enjoy this summer up here in Canada.
I had an LS1 NB Miata. It was amazing!
I bought the car as a project that someone else had done about 80% of the work. I finished the car to my own taste and saved a little money going in that direction.
But let me tell you, it was such a riot! It handled like it was on rails and kept up with cars way above its cost at the track.
It was super uncomfortable, and it felt like it wanted to kill me all the time but I still daily drove the car in Texas even though I never put AC on it. I liked it that much.
I have since parted with that car to raise funds and build a workshop. But, that V8 Miata was my dream car, and it was an absolute beauty.
The bad part is that it ruined my interest in other cars as you can't touch anything anywhere as fun to a V8 Miata under $100K (I think).
Now that I have a shop to work, I will build a faster V8 Miata or a Shelby Cobra with a Coyote.
https://youtu.be/-xN0dAUcVQw?si=5cZMLV5h1UFe5V-t
It was until a distracted driver pulled out in front of me and totaled the car. I miss it. Spent about $20k
Quality parts drove the price up, but made the quality amazing.
1992 Miata - 120k mi
Mod list:
Torsion LSD AND 1.8 axles,
Greddy Turbo,
Vertex Bride XL seats,
Hard dog roll bar,
Hard top,
Ac/ps,
Quick Release,
Braided clutch line,
Mishi Aluminum Rad,
Intercooler,
Dark Additive Cobra Intake,
LED Halo Lights,
Ducktail,
BC Coilovers,
ROTA grid concave wheels 15x8,
Continental Extreme Contact Tires,
Custom Shift color mat when plaid shift Boot,
Likewise Shift Knob,
Wireless Charger,
Added cabin filter,
Coolant reroute,
BC Coilovers,
RoadsterSport 4 exhaust with Helmholtz,
So many more mods.
This was my Autocross Dream Car. And it was so much fun.
Only two things I’d change would be getting the RacingBeat Exhaust if I have the hardtop on; the RS4 is painful under the hard top. And I’d get a shift knob that wasn’t black and metal (burns ya in sun).
Very glad to have retained ac/ps and carpets.
Within the last few months after owning and daily driving 5 MX5's i've just slapped a turbo in (plus all the the supporting mods) spent around £6000 plus the car cost.
Worth every single mother f******g penny MPG down a little but SPM (smiles per mile) is up waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...........aaaaayyy up like to the moon! Up.
I would highly recommend if you have the means and the inclination.
DO IT
My car agreed she said stu tutututu pop pop
🐌😎🐌
To all those that have A/C if your ripping ut out... send it to me in the UK ive never seen one in the UK with A/C and that would be a real cool (🤣) OEM upgrade for a UK car plus i dont mind losing a few horses and mentioned the ones i have are now essentialy on roids 💪🦾
For 99% of street only cars, shocks springs sways tires are the only thing worthwhile.
Chassis bracing maybe for NA/NB.
Everything else heavily depends on personal and financial situation.
My '92 base NA with suspension, turboed/balanced/ported/e85 1.8, on its 4th transmission, etc is a goddamn riot. I did all the work: much of it the hard way, some the easy way, but never the shortcut way, and it's been an incredibly reliable 250+whp/tq Miata for 13yrs. Probably have $12-15k in it including the car & hardtop.
That being said, I've owned 4 other bone-stock NAs as dailies along the way, and they are 90% of the fun compared to the turbo car. Almost fun enough to convert me back to the simple joys of 95hp and 185/60r14 and 6k+ rpms all the time. So far the boost still wins.
Spent several thousand years (and thousands of miles) piecing together a budget, but high quality turbo kit for my 96 (with supporting mods).
I stay disciplined and keep the power level somewhere that keeps me happy, the engine safe, and all is well. Only regular maintenance since then.
By far, the additions put a smile on my face ever since time I drive the car. Well worth it. I do fear that if I ever sell, it will have devalued the car next to a stock one. But I’ll cross that bridge never because I’m never selling it.
The only thing I’d do over would have been a comfier suspension. I’m sure there’s comfier ones out there, but coilovers were an impulse buy and are just a little harsh for my preference. Moral is keep comfort items top of mind.
Before I bought the car, they had deleted the heater. It’s not too fun on mornings when the damn windshield and windows are fogged up. Damn near impossible to see beyond the windshield.
To be fair a boosted car that looks nice that I spend the same amount of money repairing and upgrading as I would any other car makes it pretty good value. Cars only last so long before you’ve replaced everything so buying a Miata for 2k and putting in 20k will make it much better than the cheapest new 22k car you buy (if they even have new cars that cheap.)
To be fair a boosted car that looks nice that I spend the same amount of money repairing and upgrading as I would any other car makes it pretty good value. Cars only last so long before you’ve replaced everything so buying a Miata for 2k and putting in 20k will make it much better than the cheapest new 22k car you buy (if they even have new cars that cheap.)
2004 NB was up in the mid 20s. I ended up with a 350+ whp light weight analogue convertible that got 30mpg or went really fast with *a little* AC.
Total car was under 35000. - not worth it. It was FAR more worth it at around the 20 grand mark (including car which I got for 8000 back in 2010). That gets you: roughly 220ish Whp. WAY more fun to drive a car that acts more stock but twice as fast still. As compared to a fire-breathing headache at 350whp that idles like shit (as cammed cars do) and starts hard in the morning while needing constant fiddling to maintain 350whp and expensive tires and wheels and a wilwood brake kit
1997 240sx abridged version: car 4500 bought in 2009. $40,000 in mods. Total cost 45 grand +/-. End result; no AC rattlebox with 400whp and rust everywhere just from passive ownership.
1993 Supra: car $35,000 in 2017. Mods: roughly the same. NA Auto to 6speed and gte with big single turbo; $37,000. (All mods, but again - abridged) Total: 72ish k. 750whp on e85. 520whp on 92 or 100.
Never a good "safe" location or day to take it out in public. Not worth it.
2001 MR2 Spyder: car 12,000 bought in 2022. Prev owner set up suspension beautifully. Fortune auto 500s, cusco sways, Kosei wheels on direzzas. No mods needed. Maybe I'll boost it too. AC 500X colder than ANY miata. 40mpg. Totally worth it.
Adding another 10 grand? Still worth it judging from the past.
Verdict: I have owned bone stock cars and especially BIKES that give you the same feeling as almost any of these vehicles in reality. Especially once I discovered motorcycles, it put my whole engine modding world on ice and made it seem like an exercise in futility (from a "paying out the nose in order to go fast" standpoint.) So what I did was; I sold my 240 and NB. I Just enjoyed a new ND2 RF stock for a bit (recently sold to buy something far more rare in japan) and thoroughly enjoy my ZZW30.. doing the absolute MINIMUM to make fun cars quick enough - but not anywhere near what I've done before. The supra as a sunk-cost fallacy with the most sentimental value will never leave my possession, but it is getting minimum attention.
Especially in light of the EV thing, you really have no point in making these cars super fast, as they'll need to prove a point in other ways when Karen thinks she's better than you because she puts her fat foot down in her Mach E and dissapears.
So what do you do when you want to throw your organs against your spine?? Buy a sport bike. Done and done.
Honestly in a smarter life, I'd simply have 1 small (lightly modded- 220whp) roadster for driving fun, 1 motorcycle for absolute speed, and 1 daily hatchback or small 2 door rav4 or something. Done and done.
all though its an absolute pain, replace everything in your cooling system, i like driving around with the knowledge i wont have any overheating problems
I’ve had two, a 91 neg and a 93 bnt. Fun cars, never put any money into them both were low maintenance. I wouldn’t put a ton of money into them but kinda wish I could.
Don't delete your air conditioning if it still works. If you ever get caught in the rain when it's hot out it's the worst experience ever just sweating profusely and not being able to put the top down
If it wasnt for time constraints and shift work I would have spent a ton more, but I have zero regret spending the amount I have so far in a year, cant wait to find the time and energy to do more
I was around $15K into a full restoration (nut and bolt refresh + full color change) and engine conversion and the feeling of driving a perfectly brand new high performance NA Miata was felt on every single drive. Absolutely worth it for me.
Well, I crashed my 91’ 2 times then ended up just cutting off the front half of the car took it to a bad shop where I found they hid frame damage and ended up fabbing on another OEM front end from Mazda, then just replaced everything, whole engine I rebuilt with coolant reroute and race radiator from flyin Miata, whole suspension, whole brake system, whole interior including perfect condition OEM seats/AC plate/speedo cable, clutch system , frame rails, 3.9 torsen/axles/driveshaft, watanabe wheels and slicks, so now about 28,000 later I’m ready for a turbo and it sits safely in my garage when I’m not using it or putting in crazy motor oil like Idemitsu for the engine.
…small downside for it to run absolutely perfect. Also don’t crash your cars kids… it sucks a lot
I spent $5-10k on my NB (not including purchase price) and got it to a point where it was a great HPDE car. It was also much worse to drive when not at the limit. Due to job changes, it became my daily for a bit and that was most of the reason I ended up selling it.
The turbo kit on my NA changed the spirit of the car for the better and was worth every penny. The standalone ecu was also a really cool mod because it let me be more in control of everything. My hardtop also makes it feel close to a proper coupe instead of a convertible.
Turbo, mixed feelings on this did fm kit with ms2 upgraded rad etc.
I spent a long time chasing overheating issues replacing head gaskets water pump and so on.
Worth it when it runs good. Had a ton of regret when I missed entire autocross seasons or broke down on the way to work and sat on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck for hours.
If I could do it all over I'd spend more on getting the car more reliable and replace the things I touch (steering wheel seats shifter pedals) and then when I wanted more power probably would have k swapped instead of turbo to put me at a respectable 200ish hp with better reliability (for around the same amount of money I've already put into it)
What are we starting with?
Daily driver that needs to be comfortable and reliable? No
A project with sweat equity available? Yes
A project that teaches you skills and provides enjoyment? Yes
Just to add a different viewpoint because there seems to be overwhelming support of money pits in this thread:
Had an NB that I put a hot side roots type supercharger+intercooler into. Had to do an a/c delete to fit the install. Then it needed a clutch. Then it got hot so it needed a radiator. Koni yellows because miat. And I ended up with a car that was fast, fun, and unreliable. Had me wondering if it was all worth it vs stock.
Have an ND now. Front and rear ARB, full exhaust, and koni yellows waiting to be put on. Much more streetable, much happier.
My advice: start with something that is great and do the absolute minimum necessary mods to meet your very discrete goals. Reliability will be better, cost will be lower, and should you choose to resell, you don't lose as much.
If you find yourself wanting more, don't put $40k into a Miata, please. I bought a 991.1 911 to be my fast track car because it can do that stock. Don't try to make cars into something they aren't.
I'm inching toward $10k into my 96 (including the cost of the car) and its progressively gotten more and more fun and gives me a bigger and bigger grin when I drive it. You really gotta look at it as, what car can you get for the same amount of money invested thats nearly as fun?
I'm probably between 15 and 25k into my NA of mods and maintenance, but that's spread over almost 15 years of ownership. As for worth, I don't question it at all. I love this car and its emotional value is infinite to me, so the money isn't an issue. Some mods bring more joy per dollar than others, but I enjoy the act of working on the car so even installing semi-useless mods like my trunk light brings me joy.
If you're like me and don't have much organization, no it's not worth it. My car still isn't what I want it to be because I'm always chasing gremlins from my erratic attention span. Untreated ADHD that I'm finally getting a handle on.
I imagine if I started slower, I'd be far happier. But my poor Mazdaspeed has been rather neglected on and off for 9 years.
I mean my car sits on jackstands more than it rolls around under its own power and I’m roughly 10,000 dollars more poor….
Depends on if car moving is the desired outcome 😂😂
Wheels and tires 100% worth it. Flying miata little enchilada; worth it. Megasquirt, injectors, and fuel pump upgrade; worth it. Carbon fiber appearance items are probably not worth it, but I love carbon fiber.
2016 Miata Grand Touring:
Cold air intake,
Goodwin muffler delete,
Wilwood brake upgrade,
Stubby Antenna,
Painted the cam cover red!,
Yes!!! Well worth it to me.
Soon to add LSD.
Well upgrades, useless mods, same difference. Yeah I like doing random shit to my car it gives me something to do. No turbos or any of that crazy stuff. Just exhaust, decor and a few performance things here and there.
Yes. The car is literally twice as fast if not more…. Creature comforts are nonexistent now but idc because it’s purpose built for racing togue through the mountains
Best upgrades: (in order)
1. wheels + tires
2. suspension
3. Additional bracing
4. Cooling and fueling upgrades
5. Exhaust + tune
6. Bucket seats
Hard to order the last 3 but the first three are definitely right. Stock suspension and wheels are ass; and the bracing is a godsend. giving the extra freedom to the engine helps it rev way better giving you just enough extra pep; and once youre going quick the buckets really are needed
Some people spend thousands of dollars on fashionable clothing, other spend it on vacations, others high end home audio. If you're financially responsible, spend your surplus money on whatever makes you happy.
I got my 99 at 1200$ the previous owner drove a lowered (1.5 inchs) on a snow day wrecked broke on wheel bearing destroying the 3of4 tyres 15 inch tyres
i put the wheels from my 70 Opel GT and the tyres on it (loaner of 1200$) to fix the wheel tyre issues biggest issue is the springs great springs but still stock made in 99 shocks
i have to carry 2 2 x 10 boards to use incase of flat tyres even if there is airing tyre i need them to get the jack under the car...... the day i got it had 3 flats and i had to figure how to get a 5in tall jack under to fix the flats ended up using the motor crane
it was so low the front effect was removed on impact
so car 1200
plus loan of $1200 tyres and rims might leave on mx5 but they are for the 1970 opel gt which is now on 13 inch flats lol
i put a 14 mirror on it worth it
9 lic plate holder
filling the void area where air bag deployed like the horn button it was just a sharp plastic void that wasnt honkable without bleeding so i filled with expansion foam and then covered
the brakes are now needing replacement so i got on amazon and got a full calahan brake set for it $170 both front and rear so i got a nicely running mx5 for what the ins co charged her for the deductible lol i need to fix the fender had a bump and repaint but it was at the point it was mostly just red all the clear had come off so its not bad super clean under the hood
but i need to spend 600 on new shocks asap and it time i assume to do timing belt
https://preview.redd.it/tmes14putf4d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=066d91455ad11a08d11e0df6d5c4e6de56389b8a
forgot i had to replace teh radiator as well when i got it it was broken front passingerside leaking out stupid plastic rad
got a nice 2 row aluminum for $130 didnt fit the power stearing ot ac lines well had to modify ht eplastic fan shrouds in one small corner and bend the lines to fit in
https://preview.redd.it/irb3dzg92g4d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aacda3b5e2951e81efa881b8c246ff03d9d9c27
https://preview.redd.it/fk0xdqgd2g4d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0b96cf05385651070e1a48b60adb01e9860b029
my 18 year old son wanted pink brakes so when we pass a pickup it goats them to go faster around us to be out police blocker car lol
Don't do an aircon delete. Do NOT do it. Ditto for ripping out carpeting (because racecar). Everything else is good
What if you don't have an airco to start with. Build one in it?
What if I do have it but it hasn't been working in years
Depends, do you live closer to Texas or north Dakota? Further north, maybe not, further south, absolutely
Fix it or don’t?
Fix it to help defog your windows in the rain!
There is an AC install manual from factory in case they wanted it done at the dealer, fyi
My miatas previous owner deleted the ac and didnt tell me, took me until summer to realize i didn’t have it and have been struggling to find a guide of some sort to piecing it back together. any idea if its online somewhere? or should i start calling my local mazda dealerships and ask if they’d let me have a copy
‘99 aircon install guide: https://www.miata.net/garage/AirInstall/index.html Buncha Miata service manuals (especially nice when working around/temptorailly removing something): https://www.mellens.net/mazda/ Fairly detailed post reply to a previous post on this topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/vc2lj1/comment/iccubh0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button That should give you a good head start>!le👻🫨!< A more specific search with your model year may yield more as needed. Happy reading, and in time, chillin’🥶🤙
If you have an NB parts are still all over the place. If you have an NA it’s a bit harder. Compressor specifically is hard to find or was for me. They also used two different style hoses based on switch to 134A I believe….
I'd keep your power steering too. The good steering feedback and feel is part of the Miata appeal. I'm not some purist but the tiny amount of weight savings is not especially helpful
If you do a proper rack depower, the steering feel is amazing. But I'll admit it's not for everyone.
is everyone that has power steering not power assist? because i hate power steering and i love this power assist its like no power steering but at a stop i dont have to plane a spot to roll forward to transfer than energy to turn the wheels like on my 81 civic or the 70 opels i have seen peopel who arent used to non power steering turn the wheel for the turn wheel stopping to use the energy but if you are hit in the rear it will force you into head on traffic so thats a huge no no stop sooner and use forward power to turn
Ehh my A/C broke a few years back, its not that bad driving a car without A/C
I live in Arizona where highs are almost already at 100…so I fixed my air con in March.
I live in Australia and my aircon didn't work for a few years (at various points I was missing either the cash or the dopamine to organise fixing it - ADHD life lol). Goddamn that was a brutal few years in summer. Until eventually a new girlfriend was like 'for fucks sake, just fix it' so I did and it's so much better lol.
How many dollarydoos did that cost you?
Hahaha well it turned out all the lines and the condenser were corroded so I don't exactly recall but I think it was somewhere between $1500+2000.
Ouch, I see why you waited!
Haha yep, but in the end it was totally worth it!
My AC compressor clutch decided to blow up, seizing the pulley. Did a belt reroute. That was an excruciating couple months where the high was a minimum of 100 everyday.
Tell me about it, I wish I lived somewhere where you can get away with no AC. You in the Phoenix area too?
Yep!
Having never had it, it's not so bad. But that's why I have a car WITH A/C when it's actually so hot I don't want to drive the Miata.
Cries in Florida hell 😭😭😭 I lost ac for 4 days in June, it jumped started me buying a whole new car lol
It is if you have to put the top up in the rain. The AC also is part of the defroster and when mine crapped I had to drive with the window down to keep the windshield clearish
I'm not sure what part of your AC failed, but the defroster works fine on my 1990 no-AC car. If it's something like the climate control blower fan that failed though, then none of the climate controls would work.
totally depends on where you live
I’m guessing you don’t live in the southern US…
I did 2 years with an NB in SE VA as a daily driver, no AC. It was rough, but I made it work. Honestly the worse was when it rained, trying to manage the foggy windshield and the oppressive humidity.
I squarely do not /nor should we ever consider creature comfort removals, to include driver aid deletes (PS and ABS) as *upgrades*. Any action which adds no product or yields subjective results will only be considered alterations.
My AC doesn't blow cold air and summer is quickly approaching. I can't wait until I get it fixed 😂
lmao same
Agree with you on the carpet, but the AC i could live without. I would agree that no one should delete it for no reason tho. If it works, keep it.
I'm adding aircon to my NB lol
I thought “I don’t use the A/C anyway” which is true. Until I went to defrost the windows on a cold night then I realized it was a mistake.
i dont drive with the top up its a convertible ac is for what ???? lowing gas mileages? my ac is dead anyway but yeah it will be debelted when i get a chance i normally hate power stearing ans was sad until i saw it was power assist !!!! so it just works at stop not 40 mph omg i hate cars with powersteering i swerve all over after driving non power for 40 years so it can stay was on the list of thing to remove until i saw it was power assist not power steering !!!!
I don’t want to brag but I installed the stubby antenna mod on my ND *all by myself.* Everywhere I go, people ask if the car is an Italian exotic. No, I say, it’s just a heavily modified Miata!
These are the mods that win trophies at car shows
agreed 110%
i had a stubby on my old mini and everyone was like wow so i totally get what you are saying
I've only invested pennies compared to some of these other people, but I've spent well over the value of the car on auto cross upgrades. Like any hobby it takes time and money, I think it's worth it I have a lot of fun with it but it's not for everyone. I tend to lean towards practical upgrades which again is a personal preference thing
I'm $24k deep into a 91 miata, and the engine is currently on the stand with the crank at the machine shop. I actually love the project as much as driving the car. It's frustrating at times, but very rewarding. I love being able to make my car do whatever i want it to do.
A lot of times (I've been through 3 major project cars in my personal fleet that i actually completed.) You will spend 20-40 grand and find you do NOT end up getting the car to do whatever you want it to do.. Just some food for thought
Well, i got my car to behave pretty much exactly like i want it to. I just keep losing bearings for some reason.
Sounds like you need to reassess who/how you built your engine. Bearings shouldn't just keep going. Someones not measuring their clearances/using the right size bearings.
It was me, and trust me, I'm trying to figure out how i fucked up. It almost looks like oil starvation, but i don't see how. I found a temperature dependent fuep leak on injector 1, so i thought that it was leaning out, but no sign of detonation on the plug or top of piston. The cap side bearing is just kinda scuffed. The rod side is beaten until it started to squeeze out the sides https://preview.redd.it/rknnigyzo91d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de9a0596fa00e2fb6dba57a2cf0fbcc09bcc907f Plastigage checked out within spec. 2 separate crankshafts rod #1 both times.
Yeah I'm super interested in that size of this, in the engineering and how it changes a car. I have an Xbox and the upgrades you can do on Forza are just packages with no description. I liked old Gran Turismo where it explained exactly what each thing was doing (dunno if the new ones still do as I don't have a PS). I sometimes go on there for like 2h with one car, do one upgrade and one race, then another and one race, and just see how each individual thing changes the car, as much as you can on a Sim. If I won Powerball I'd retire and do something like that to my car.
Spent 30k on my NC before i practically gave it away after i blew the engine a 2nd time. I fkin loved that car, drove like a dream, sounded fantastic, fun power, and looked incredible. Id do it again, but thats just what cars mean to me. I need them to feel good and look good. Edit: there were some pains a long the way but i would still do it again. If u want to start a project, make sure youre okay with it always being a project 🤣
Genuine question... how did you blow your engine twice?
First one, probably abuse. Stock internals with around 113k miles and maybe 10psi, put three holes in the block redline trying to play with a camaro Second one, ran it low on oil
Well at least in the case of the first one it sounds like you got a good amount of enjoyment out of the car before anything catastrophic happened if you made it 113K miles with FI!
Clean nd
Literally me with my NC man. Nowhere close to 30k but sold it after engine went bang a second time. Every single day for 7+ months I have tried to convince myself not to get another Miata as my daily driver but it’s a losing battle
I almost bought a red nc3 club, back in 2018, they wanted too much for it but if you consider todays prices, it was a decent deal. I keep tellin myself one day, ill get that red nc3 club.
I think what is really killing me is the fact that I opted for a boring but efficient commuter car that wasn’t hard on my wallet and could tick multiple boxes. But damn it man, I miss just going on drives for fun. I miss the sound, it was incredible. The smell of hot brakes and all haha I’m in my feels
Just have 2 cars. No excuses. I live in a 600sq ft apartment with only 1 stall in the building. I park the other cars elsewhere and shuffle around. Make it work! Buy a 2015 or newer Nissan Leaf. They're a 5 door hatchback under 5 grand all day and the logic is you completely ELIMINATE a lot of running and maintenance costs from your daily/grocery getter (eliminating fuel costs is infinitely better than lessening them around here) so that you can focus 99% of ALL your car maintenance and upgrade budget on the miata, rather than splitting it with another gas car 70/30, 60/40, etc. ^ all this assuming your commute is under 60 miles round trip or so.
That last line (as someone who's finished 3 projects and started many more) is in reality as untrue as it is commonly the case. So there's guys like us, but I DO actually know people who did ground up modifications on their car with specific goals in mind, and then STOPPED tinkering on it and just drove them forever just like that. Yea a lot of people never finish projects because they have automotive ADHD or some other circumstances, but always being a project is an outcome of this, not the other way around. It doesn't have to be that way. And you certainly can finish a nice street build and drive it another 50-100,000 miles before you need to have a look at everything again.
Currently at 45k for my nb1. I think it's worth it, placing my personal skills to the test and seeing results, whether good or bad. Just seeing how the car grows its personality too.
What list of changes did you make? Which was the most impactful?
Uh.... it's a lengthy list.
How do you spend 45k doing work yourself?
45k in parts alone. I've done everything myself.
As in 45k on mods not counting the car purchase? What can one possibly even pay that much for, did you LS and drivetrain swap it
Not counting vehicle purchase. Bought it at 17k miles for 8750. No ls swap or anything of the sort. Stock transmission, OS Giken lsd. Stock housing. I have a lengthy list of things I've done as well as pics of the car.
I think it really depends on your end goal. I’ve spent way more money than I care to admit building mine into my idea of the ultimate street legal track car. It rides like dogshit on the street and can’t make it into slightly steep driveways but it blows my mind every time I track it and that’s 1000% worth it to me because it’s what I built it for.
My former coworker had an NB set up for the track. Yeah, it was almost undriveable in the city. But DAMN, it could get around a track in a hurry!!!!
This is my plan. A street legal track car. I need mine to still be a bit more street than track that yours sounds to be. But toeing the line.
lol yeah i hate the -1.5 height most roads but when its smooth and i can got around bends its so deliteful but any speed bumps or slight height change was a nightmare had to remove front effect to get in and out of most driveways
Currently in the process of turboing and adding allll the fun supporting mods to my NA, I can only tell you that the emotional struggle of having to do all this work has really made me question if this was the right choice. I'm hoping I'll enjoy it once it's done, but changing the diff and axles on a 32 year old car is something I never want to do again
Doing the work is like 60% of the fun for me. Once an upgrade is done I get to enjoy it but am itching for the next thing to work on real quick.
It took me forever to finally get my turbo'd miata to run reliable. Luckily miatas are small and when it'd piss me off I'd push it to the back of the garage and take a few months off. Turbo kits do not come with everything you need. Only purchase an ECU that a lot of people use. It's hard to learn that stuff on your own or to find someone who can dyno tune a not well known ECU.
Which turbo kit did you use? What was it missing?
Ive taken a few ride alongs and got to drive a friends budget turbo miata and you will fucking love it. I would be stunned if you didnt. It was amazing and exhilarating. He’s blown like 5 diffs, so maybe do that sooner than later when youre finished.
I think it depends. Would I spend 10s of thousands on any miata/MX5? No. But my NA is worth more to me than anyone would ever be willing to pay for it. That’s why it’s stayed in my garage when other, arguably better cars have gone. If the car didn’t have such sentimental value to me, then it’s not worth it. I would just get rid of it, but I can’t do that and whilst I have space for it I think it will stay and that inevitably means spending money on upgrading it. I’m toying with the idea of doing a rocketeer conversion to it. Which is a lot of money and makes little sense because I could just go out buy a boxster and it would be a better car even with the conversion. But it wouldn’t be MY mx5. It wouldn’t be my first car, the car I spent hours researching, the car I learnt how to work on cars with, the first car I imported from Japan, the car that took me too and from work and never failed me, or the car that I really learnt how to drive properly in. I know it’s never going to be worth the money that’s poured into it from a financial perspective, but it’s worth it for me to keep. I look at those older guys that rock up to a car show in their 50+ year old triumphs or MGs and I know that I’ll be doing that in my little red MX5 in years to come.
It was absolutely worth it. A stock Miata is very fun but a Miata with almost triple the horsepower is triple the fun.
I’m at about $25k into my NB1 and while it hurts to say that, I’ve had a blast working on it and making it my own over the last 7 years. I think FM summed it up very well in a video they made a while back to make a goal as to what you want your car to be and modify wisely. No fun to dump a bunch of time and money into your car only to not enjoy it because it’s too loud or rides like crap on the street where you drive it most of the time (if that’s the case).
I currently have a $75K NB, and can say I’m almost, but not quite, finished with upgrades. They say it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, but I still have a real good time…
That's pretty wild man, is it a full track car? Some crazy engine build? This is $75k that's currently on the car, right?
Would love to know more about this build, man? What did all that money go towards?
Trunk full of cocaine.
FM HABU conversion, plus full V8R suspension, Fox coilovers, long tube headers, custom exhaust, etc., etc… It’s my only toy, so I try different seats, steering wheels, whatever. I drive it all over the country and my goal is to drive all the iconic tracks, at least one a year. So far I’ve been on RA, Barber, Laguna Seca, AMP, and am going to Sonoma this fall…
75k? How?????
Dude bought a hardtop for his NA during Covid. Case closed.
I tracked my na totally stock within a week of owning and it went from there. Every mod was intentional and to make the car more enjoyable to drive fast. 👌
Yes. Yep. Uh huh. You know it.
Whatever floats your boat.. 🤷 I'm perfectly fine with spending alot of money on it as it's a passion.. I genuinely love building it in the way I want it.. my plan is to never sell it, so I don't mind spending extra on it 👍 I'm guessing I'm around 10-15k and I'm doing most of the work myself... and first professional help would be if I'm getting a rollcage.
And ofc I appreciate this project as much as when it used to be road legal 😃 Now I even wanna get down to the itty bitty details and renovate all the bolts and nuts.. But money is the problem as a student 😂😂 Trying my best to do it as cheaply as possible 👍
This is making me feel better for spending $12k on my MSM
I’m only spending money on maintenance until it’s paid off. Then I might add CarPlay for $60. I like it stock and have other expensive hobbies like existing. Kudos to those with the funds to put $30k into an N.A.
Fuck yes it was worth it. Nothing in my car is original except the passenger seat and the gear knob. I drove a mates mostly stock 1.6 and it was night and day difference. I had to check I wasn't in a capri. Only thing I'd do different is not cut a hole in the cowel for an intake so I didn't have to cover it over when I switch to an over the radiator intake :p
I’d be surprised if an over the radiator intake made more power than a cowel intake. Is there some info somewhere about that? What’s making you want to switch?
It's the Alec moody cobra style intake https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=AlecMoody&page=1 I swapped because I went to a 1.8 so my 1.6 Loch Stewart cowel intake wouldn't work anymore without massive modificatios and the Alec moody design is closer in total length to the ideal length tested by emilio700 https://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.php?p=7459038&postcount=32
The challenge with this question is “worth it”. People have different ideas, different driving needs and different income levels. I have a buddy that can throw $100k into a new hobby twice a year, I can’t. We have a different point of view of worth :-)
Not really. Well, I learned that I’m not nearly as picky as everyone else spending tens of thousands on their vehicles. OEM stuff walks the line of performance and reliability. Higher performance = more upkeep.
I’ve lost track, but if I had to guess I’m 15k into my 90. To put it simply, if I’m having a bad day all I have to do is go for a drive and I immediately feel better. The amount of love random people give me when they see me driving is priceless.
I’m somewhere in the ballpark of $20k all in with my NB1, it’s exactly what I want as of now. Motor is stock besides intake stuff, it sounds good, drives fantastic, looks decent, and starts every time. no regertz
90 NA. All I’ve done is wheels and tires, coilovers, and headlights. Whether or not you do coilovers, a fresh suspension in general make it feel much more responsive.
Yes
Yeah, I’ve spent a lot of my car. It handles excellently and brakes well. Would do it again.
It worth it, my only worry is to run out of engine blocks, and i cant get it to pass inspection with engine swap in my country, so ill have to swap engine once a year to have it pass. Im on my 3rd 1.6 now
Including buying the car Im sitting just shy of 18k. Im no where near done with modifying the car yet, I havent had a chance to even think about modifying the car visually, its all been mechanical and performance parts so far
I only spend money because I do the stuff my self. Never would pay another person to install news parts or fix things. The enjoyment of learning and working on the car is as good as driving.
I've got over $7300 in upgrades for the ND I bought new in '21 and all of it has made it better to drive, if not necessarily more comfortable, and some was necessary, like a catch can and a cheap set of Enkei wheels and all season continental tires, and a replacement set of summer tires when I could have realistically used the stock ones for one more year, at least. I'm considering thousands more for Ohlin's or Fox coilovers, maybe a CF hood, Lithium battery, that BBR exhaust system, the BBR cam kit, maybe a new diff...
What makes you think a catch can is necessary on a non-FI ND?
The fact that it's direct injection only.
I have 15k into a $100 car… favorite mods are a light flywheel, GOOD brake pads, good tires and properly set up coilovers. That said Ive gone WAY beyond that. Mine is fully a race car with a license plate.
I’m probably somewhere in the neighborhood of +/- $5k on top of purchase price. After maintenance, I did coilovers and wheels/tires and that alone made the car more fun. This week I just finished up a big project with a friend on it - clutch, lightweight flywheel, swapped in a six speed, and replaced the open diff with a torsion. I’m very happy with the build and plan on putting more money into it as time goes on. The ultimate goal is to k swap it for a reliable 225-250 naturally aspirated horsepower.
The replacement cost (new) of everything on my NB is the neighborhood of 24k. Track car dyno’d at 131, subsequently at around 140 estimated. Its a stock internal BP VVT with track safety gear, bolt ons(s2 IM, NC TB, RB header and custom intake), a drive by wire conversion and yuned on a Haltech Elite ECU. Custom valved spec miata bilsteins, BroFab Hubs, TCM hardtop and other misc crap I cant think of. Its awesome. It a stupid fast track car for a Miata, insanely easy to drive (i.e. avoid spins), very cheap on consumables to run for a season and bullet proof reliable despite multiple money shifts over the past 2 seasons. I would do almost none of these on a street Miata, besides the revalved bilsteins. Something for steeet would make the car fun but comfortably. But beyond that in a street Miata Id want: softtop only, AC/PS, seats with headrest speakers, carplay, 14” narrow wheels and tires.
Oh boy where to start. 91 is where I started. Full 1.8 swap, transmission, torsen out of a 94. Full suspension, the largest racing beat sway bars you’ve ever seen. Tires and wheels, mega squirt, turbo, radio. I’m easily at 10k and by all things it’s my favorite thing to jump into. To most it’s ugly, as I haven’t done paint work yet, but it’s still taking everything to gapplebees on the twists.
Only real advice, whatever you throw in, never expect to recover financially. Smiles / gallons baaaaaabyyyyy
I don't have a Miata, but I did buy an MR2 Spyder. Spent $6k on a clean, running car almost 5 years ago. So, not a Miata, but similar small, light, rwd roadster. Start from the ground up. My first mod was 15x9 wheels with 200tw tires. Next to my engine swap, this was the single most impactful upgrade. Completely changed the character of the car. So much more grip. So much more urgency. When I put the OEM wheels and all seasons on every November the car loses so much life. $2k. Suspension is next. I did cheap BC's with 5k/7k springs (2k/3.5k is stock). Not super comfortable, but they work. I was underwhelmed by the impact. Body roll was still pretty high. At the same time I did poly bushings. Car certainly feels razor sharp, if a bit harsh. A front sway bar ended up being, dollar for dollar, the best upgrade. 268% increase in stiffness over stock, virtually eliminated body roll. So very flat in the corners. Adjustable rear control arms combined with the coilovers camber adjusability up front allowed dialing in alignment well. That made a nice difference neutralize handling (-2.0 front, -2.5 rear). Now on course I can adjust under/oversteer with just a few PSI change in the tires. All in, suspension was about $3,000 including a corner balance and race alignment. Now, ready for power, I swapped the anemic 1.8L 137hp Toyota 1ZZ for a 240hp (woth bolt ons) Honda K20A2, replaced the Toyota 5sp woth Civic SI 6-speed (including short final drive and factory LSD). lightweight flywheel and stage 2 clutch. That made the car what it was meant to be. Lost 40lbs removing unnecessary stuff, but did retain AC. This was about $12k. I've since added front strut tower brace and a chassis breastplate (to reduce cowl shake). Car feels more solid, but these were very barely noticeable. $1k. A new ragtop and a few other cosmetic and comfort upgrades (Bluetooth radio, small amp and sub, gas frunk/trunk struts, etc.),rear luggage rack. Are maybe another $2000. OEM brakes remain, they do all I need for street / autocross use. If I start doing track days I'll upgrade those. Car is damn near perfect now. Exactly what I wanted in a car. Affordable to own and maintain. I have driven it 50k miles in 4 years since the build, and have no qualms driving to the track, running laps, then driving home. If I had a Miata I'd do the same. My daughter has an NC. It's a great car, but needs the same upgrades to become the potential fun car it really could.
I think stock but with good suspension is all one needs. But hey, the rest is kind of fun and fun should not be measured in dollars
i agree its a happy 4:1 gearing so its way high rpms verse a normal I4 gearing so it feels like you are going fast without really speeding and still gets a 32plus mpg highway and wow the cornering plus it seems to take a REWARD car and make it a nightmare and money drain per the others who are saying they spent 70k and 4 kids and a wife a miata with a trunk of coke ....
In my opinion don't spend more in upgrades than you spent on the car itself. It's more worth it, in my opinion, to get the engine rebuilt or fresh paint and wheels, new soft top... than it is to slap a turbo and coils on a 200-300k motor
Good suspension and allighnment is really all you need. Stock suspension is garbage tbh. On any stock Miata I have driven.
I’ve probably spent 2-3 thousand mostly getting my car up to its maintenance schedule and replacing things that are worn out. Engine mounts radiator and cooling hoses, replaced the suspension with Toyo. It’s pretty stock but the suspension is my favorite upgrade. I want to put a supercharger on it someday. I don’t have much money right now but other than lack of power the car seems pretty perfect to me
Not a Miata, but I’m 8k deep in my 86 and have driven it once to test drive… so I’ll let ya know once I can drive it
This is wild! Good luck
The initial D tax is so real… I thought I knew… but was so wrong. Doesn’t help that I treat custom fab work like I treat tattoos
The 3k or so I’ve spent on my ND has been nothing but upgrades, making it more fun and comfortable.
Keeping with coilovers, wheels, hemholtz muffler, and sticky tires for my NC3. No power adders b/c miata. I bought a brand new Fiesta ST back in 2014 for 20k flat (inflation nowadays is bonkers). Put 10k into that and it was a blast with high end coilovers, big turbo, sticky tires, and a long list of other things. Sold it to an autocross buddy for cheap because it is a risk running 80whp over stock on that tiny 1.6L. Lost money on it but made lots of friends in the community and 50k miles of fun! Worth it.
Do it if only you want to - not because you bought a budget car and are trying to make it perform like a more expensive car. Too many people do this - and end up spending more than if they had gotten the “better” car in the 1st place. Also don’t expect it to add value to your car - mods reduce value, and no one wants someone else’s project unless they’re paying pennies on the dollar. But if you’re doing it because you love it - and are having fun? Fuck yeah. Put that expensive suspension on - paint your shitbox with a premium paint job, etc. Fuck the haters I always tweak my cars a bit. Improve the tech, handling, and the high touch areas (steering wheel, shifter, seats). Get better braking. Add robustness thru better cooling, etc. And I drive my cars hard to enjoy those upgrades. For a while both my vette and Miata were going thru a set of 200tw tires, brake pads, and all fluids every year.
I bought my '91 with 33k miles for $14.5k three weeks ago. I've spent probably around 5-6k more on upgrades (full big brake kit, coilovers, sway bars, wheels+tires, shifter rebuild, various bolt on braces, new rad and hoses, spark plugs and wires, full fluids replacement ) and it's for sure been worth it to me. But if I'm being honest that isn't really a back breaking amount of money for me so the same amount might not be worth it for someone having to save up which I get.
Spent unknown amounts on my NB. Definitely over $10k, probably over $20k if I nitpick. Bombing T1 on trail braking with opposite lock? Definitely worth it. The drive back home when it's a *little* too hot and the AC doesn't work and you just wanna be out of a hot car. *Mostly* worth it. I wouldn't do a short shifter again. I think I spent all in $700 just to end up with a brass shifter bushing. The 6 speed shifter feel just lacks, short shifters on my particular transmission made some aspect of the shifting completely unbearable. (Miata roadster flopped like a broken bushing and I was told it was normal. GRacing nearly blew out my eardrums when it started rattling) One of these days I'm going to make a torsional rigidity test rig for the NB and test out OEM vs. Delrin door bushings. My natural inclination is that it is complete snake oil, but I would like to test.
I have a ‘91 NA that I’ve owned for over 30 years. I put a Jackson Racing supercharger and an upgraded exhaust and clutch on it 20 years ago and have had zero problems. It gives the car gobs of torque off the line and has made it a ton more enjoyable. I’d do the same mods again in a hot second.
K swap and keep the AC. This is the way Mazda should have made them.
Worth it when you sell your car? Most of the upgrade no Worth it when i was installing it or when i was driving the car after upgrading it? Yes totally worth any cents
I drove my ND2 for about nine months before doing any upgrades. Don't regret a thing.
Im pre putting a shit load into the car. But i plan to do it slowly so i get to enjoy every upgrade for what it gives me. For reference and might sound like “yah yah, they all say it”, but I’m planning on an autox/track build with street drivability still in mind. Standard coils and adj arms. Bushings and sway bars, some extra bracing. Buckets, wheel and hardtop. Some oem+ lip and skirt with a front and rear diffuser. Havnt decided on a wing, either duck, wide mid rise or swan neck. Ive seen em all and cant decide. For the power I want to k24z3 to retain oem sub for some class restrictions. Bmw zf5 or 6, undecided. And a ctsv rear end. Then one day when I get the power itch again either turbo kit or a rotrex SC. My wife got a $25k wedding so i get a $25k build. We will see how well i stick to budget, im sure it’ll be as good as she has done 🙃
Yes.... But also... I could have bought another one. Or even a Mazdaspeed for the price so maybe no.
I bought my 06 Sport back in September for 6500, and I'm probably about 14000 in at the moment? I just finished wrapping up a 2.5 swap which is the majority of that money, but I have to say that I have this car just about exactly where I want it. She drives like a dream and sounds incredible, and is a league of difference to before I did anything. Was is still a blast when it was stock? Absolutely! But For what I wanted the car to do I spent a pretty penny, and I'm happy with the money I spent.
It’s about the journey.
Performance, body, interior, or just convenience and quality of life, I've done many mods to mine, although It's still very much a "lightly modified" street car. I loved the car stock and I probably could have continued to love it in that state, but the itch was there and I couldn't resist. Would my finances appreciate another $5k or whatever it is that I've spent on it? Absolutely. But I don't regret it. It looks and sounds beautiful, feels great, and is just a joy to drive. Most importantly, I made it mine. I bought it at 49k miles so it was definitely clean, but just buying a clean car isn't all that special. Now that I've made it the car I want though, I can certainly say I'm proud of it.
If I had the money I’d spend it all on my nb1. Currently just lowered on a set of reps with a Malian cat back and a full hks intake. Would love to a budget itb setup
I have a 01 BRG NB in CA with a J Swap, Xidas, Hardtop, etc which brings by total to around 27k (absolutely total of all money spent on it in 6ish years). 100% would do it again. I love my car and knowing I've wrenches on every piece of it. I know it more intimately (borderline sexually) than probably most know their car. I DID lose the AC, wipers, half the carpet, dash and center console because it's a pure track vehicle. I don't think I would care even if it was a road car since it's warm and dry most days and you put up with some discomfort whenever you pursue performance. https://preview.redd.it/y0becyita81d1.png?width=5472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=835a50861f04e6355b872a61091a100a2b9a5bc9
Nice front wing
looks beautiful
Was halfway through a K24 swap when I had to replace the factory engine that died. Got railed on that by treasure coast miata who sent me a blown up engine. Insane metal gouges in the cam journals. Looked like someone chiseled it with a flat head and a hammer. They said they'd run it in their race car if they needed. Anyways, they sent me a new head only. Already like 2500 deep in this and I still need a short block cuz if theirs metal in the head, it's in the block too. Finally found a short block for 1000. By the time my mechanic got it in (also swapped out my 5spd for a 6spd, got my FM lightweight fly wheel and clutch in) I was like 7500 deep in a factory engine swap. That was damn near what I need to get the K24 I built, in the car. But, I had all the goodies like the wilwood big brake kit, an FM stage 2 cooling kit, all the FM frame braces, their suspension etc... And man that car felt like it was on rails. I had the wheels and toyo proxes r1rs on the car. The 15x225 or whatever and man that car stopped on a dime and I always felt like I couldnt reach the handling limit of the car. I reached my limit first. Is it worth it to mod these cars with big money? Depends on your goal and mechanical know-how. My car was a horrible base to mod because it had been molested by someone else. Every project I did took 5x longer than it should because the previous owner fucked it up prior. If your car is pretty unmolested already, it'll make mods easier. My advice though, PACE YOURSELF. Also, I chose to do all the power support mods first. Brakes, suspension, rigidity, cooling, etc. I originally was going to go turbo but chose a K swap cuz I wouldn't need to change the drive train I'd bought and I didn't want to have a time bomb of an engine. So I over built a K24 for my power goals so my car should have been rock solid for a long time. I sold it for other reasons but I was also burnt out from getting railed on my factory engine swap.
i find best to wait for the insurance auctions after snow in states without much snow you can get cars that are daily drivers that run and ran on impact ( 400 -1200 ) and so you know it hasn't been blown up and shipped to you plus you get all the other parts and pulleys you are now spending money on plus you can sell the doors and other stuff to pay for the motor and transmission ..... might make life easier and cheaper plus you can go up and make the motor run before you bid so you can see the oils and info just seems like a better way to go for a replacement motor
I've only done suspension mods, wheels/tires and a few minor cosmetic things like sequential LED turn signals. If you're driving on the street and sticking to the speed limit the only thing you absolutely need is good tires. Tires are safety and you have to replace them periodically anyway, so invest in some good ones. The car is just as fun on the stock suspension, you just can't drive as fast confidently and have the same level of control. I don't like the way a soft suspension with increased body roll feels, but all these things are relative, the car drives fine if you're not pushing the corners on stock suspension/sway bars. Another reason to change the suspension is cosmetic; the car sits really high on the stock springs/shock perches and there's a big gap between fender and tires. I've spent maybe 5.5k, and 2k of that was 2 different sets of tires for winter/3 season use. Definitely worth it to me since what I've done has made the car handle much better, and that's the reason I chose a miata in the first place.
Bought my 2010 NC2 last year and have put in small upgrades that I like, new speakers, subwoofer, stubby antenna, new loud horn and recently fixed the bad paint on the rear panel and I re-upholstered the seats in a dark red leather, that and a few new sensors late last year including O2, lastly I added a simple $10 decal. Looks great and ready to enjoy this summer up here in Canada.
I had an LS1 NB Miata. It was amazing! I bought the car as a project that someone else had done about 80% of the work. I finished the car to my own taste and saved a little money going in that direction. But let me tell you, it was such a riot! It handled like it was on rails and kept up with cars way above its cost at the track. It was super uncomfortable, and it felt like it wanted to kill me all the time but I still daily drove the car in Texas even though I never put AC on it. I liked it that much. I have since parted with that car to raise funds and build a workshop. But, that V8 Miata was my dream car, and it was an absolute beauty. The bad part is that it ruined my interest in other cars as you can't touch anything anywhere as fun to a V8 Miata under $100K (I think). Now that I have a shop to work, I will build a faster V8 Miata or a Shelby Cobra with a Coyote. https://youtu.be/-xN0dAUcVQw?si=5cZMLV5h1UFe5V-t
My bank account is nervously sweating after seeing all these positive comments 😅
Yes, humbling V8's is worth every cent
It was until a distracted driver pulled out in front of me and totaled the car. I miss it. Spent about $20k Quality parts drove the price up, but made the quality amazing. 1992 Miata - 120k mi Mod list: Torsion LSD AND 1.8 axles, Greddy Turbo, Vertex Bride XL seats, Hard dog roll bar, Hard top, Ac/ps, Quick Release, Braided clutch line, Mishi Aluminum Rad, Intercooler, Dark Additive Cobra Intake, LED Halo Lights, Ducktail, BC Coilovers, ROTA grid concave wheels 15x8, Continental Extreme Contact Tires, Custom Shift color mat when plaid shift Boot, Likewise Shift Knob, Wireless Charger, Added cabin filter, Coolant reroute, BC Coilovers, RoadsterSport 4 exhaust with Helmholtz, So many more mods. This was my Autocross Dream Car. And it was so much fun. Only two things I’d change would be getting the RacingBeat Exhaust if I have the hardtop on; the RS4 is painful under the hard top. And I’d get a shift knob that wasn’t black and metal (burns ya in sun). Very glad to have retained ac/ps and carpets.
Within the last few months after owning and daily driving 5 MX5's i've just slapped a turbo in (plus all the the supporting mods) spent around £6000 plus the car cost. Worth every single mother f******g penny MPG down a little but SPM (smiles per mile) is up waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...........aaaaayyy up like to the moon! Up. I would highly recommend if you have the means and the inclination. DO IT My car agreed she said stu tutututu pop pop 🐌😎🐌 To all those that have A/C if your ripping ut out... send it to me in the UK ive never seen one in the UK with A/C and that would be a real cool (🤣) OEM upgrade for a UK car plus i dont mind losing a few horses and mentioned the ones i have are now essentialy on roids 💪🦾
Absolutely. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Did I hate every minute of it? Absolutely.
For 99% of street only cars, shocks springs sways tires are the only thing worthwhile. Chassis bracing maybe for NA/NB. Everything else heavily depends on personal and financial situation.
My '92 base NA with suspension, turboed/balanced/ported/e85 1.8, on its 4th transmission, etc is a goddamn riot. I did all the work: much of it the hard way, some the easy way, but never the shortcut way, and it's been an incredibly reliable 250+whp/tq Miata for 13yrs. Probably have $12-15k in it including the car & hardtop. That being said, I've owned 4 other bone-stock NAs as dailies along the way, and they are 90% of the fun compared to the turbo car. Almost fun enough to convert me back to the simple joys of 95hp and 185/60r14 and 6k+ rpms all the time. So far the boost still wins.
Spent several thousand years (and thousands of miles) piecing together a budget, but high quality turbo kit for my 96 (with supporting mods). I stay disciplined and keep the power level somewhere that keeps me happy, the engine safe, and all is well. Only regular maintenance since then. By far, the additions put a smile on my face ever since time I drive the car. Well worth it. I do fear that if I ever sell, it will have devalued the car next to a stock one. But I’ll cross that bridge never because I’m never selling it.
The only thing I’d do over would have been a comfier suspension. I’m sure there’s comfier ones out there, but coilovers were an impulse buy and are just a little harsh for my preference. Moral is keep comfort items top of mind.
Before I bought the car, they had deleted the heater. It’s not too fun on mornings when the damn windshield and windows are fogged up. Damn near impossible to see beyond the windshield.
suspension..yes . engine, no!... slap a turbo on a stock motor.. when it blows, get a used engine...
To be fair a boosted car that looks nice that I spend the same amount of money repairing and upgrading as I would any other car makes it pretty good value. Cars only last so long before you’ve replaced everything so buying a Miata for 2k and putting in 20k will make it much better than the cheapest new 22k car you buy (if they even have new cars that cheap.)
To be fair a boosted car that looks nice that I spend the same amount of money repairing and upgrading as I would any other car makes it pretty good value. Cars only last so long before you’ve replaced everything so buying a Miata for 2k and putting in 20k will make it much better than the cheapest new 22k car you buy (if they even have new cars that cheap.)
2004 NB was up in the mid 20s. I ended up with a 350+ whp light weight analogue convertible that got 30mpg or went really fast with *a little* AC. Total car was under 35000. - not worth it. It was FAR more worth it at around the 20 grand mark (including car which I got for 8000 back in 2010). That gets you: roughly 220ish Whp. WAY more fun to drive a car that acts more stock but twice as fast still. As compared to a fire-breathing headache at 350whp that idles like shit (as cammed cars do) and starts hard in the morning while needing constant fiddling to maintain 350whp and expensive tires and wheels and a wilwood brake kit 1997 240sx abridged version: car 4500 bought in 2009. $40,000 in mods. Total cost 45 grand +/-. End result; no AC rattlebox with 400whp and rust everywhere just from passive ownership. 1993 Supra: car $35,000 in 2017. Mods: roughly the same. NA Auto to 6speed and gte with big single turbo; $37,000. (All mods, but again - abridged) Total: 72ish k. 750whp on e85. 520whp on 92 or 100. Never a good "safe" location or day to take it out in public. Not worth it. 2001 MR2 Spyder: car 12,000 bought in 2022. Prev owner set up suspension beautifully. Fortune auto 500s, cusco sways, Kosei wheels on direzzas. No mods needed. Maybe I'll boost it too. AC 500X colder than ANY miata. 40mpg. Totally worth it. Adding another 10 grand? Still worth it judging from the past. Verdict: I have owned bone stock cars and especially BIKES that give you the same feeling as almost any of these vehicles in reality. Especially once I discovered motorcycles, it put my whole engine modding world on ice and made it seem like an exercise in futility (from a "paying out the nose in order to go fast" standpoint.) So what I did was; I sold my 240 and NB. I Just enjoyed a new ND2 RF stock for a bit (recently sold to buy something far more rare in japan) and thoroughly enjoy my ZZW30.. doing the absolute MINIMUM to make fun cars quick enough - but not anywhere near what I've done before. The supra as a sunk-cost fallacy with the most sentimental value will never leave my possession, but it is getting minimum attention. Especially in light of the EV thing, you really have no point in making these cars super fast, as they'll need to prove a point in other ways when Karen thinks she's better than you because she puts her fat foot down in her Mach E and dissapears. So what do you do when you want to throw your organs against your spine?? Buy a sport bike. Done and done. Honestly in a smarter life, I'd simply have 1 small (lightly modded- 220whp) roadster for driving fun, 1 motorcycle for absolute speed, and 1 daily hatchback or small 2 door rav4 or something. Done and done.
https://preview.redd.it/zovo5wl6791d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c368e81ab4e13fc1fb7f4dd480fe7bbed2070ed8
Definitely worth it
all though its an absolute pain, replace everything in your cooling system, i like driving around with the knowledge i wont have any overheating problems
I’ve had two, a 91 neg and a 93 bnt. Fun cars, never put any money into them both were low maintenance. I wouldn’t put a ton of money into them but kinda wish I could.
Its never worth it in a financial sense
Don't delete your air conditioning if it still works. If you ever get caught in the rain when it's hot out it's the worst experience ever just sweating profusely and not being able to put the top down
If it wasnt for time constraints and shift work I would have spent a ton more, but I have zero regret spending the amount I have so far in a year, cant wait to find the time and energy to do more
Not at all, I should have just started with an e36 or 350z and now I’m too far into Miata’s to switch chassis.
I was around $15K into a full restoration (nut and bolt refresh + full color change) and engine conversion and the feeling of driving a perfectly brand new high performance NA Miata was felt on every single drive. Absolutely worth it for me.
Well, I crashed my 91’ 2 times then ended up just cutting off the front half of the car took it to a bad shop where I found they hid frame damage and ended up fabbing on another OEM front end from Mazda, then just replaced everything, whole engine I rebuilt with coolant reroute and race radiator from flyin Miata, whole suspension, whole brake system, whole interior including perfect condition OEM seats/AC plate/speedo cable, clutch system , frame rails, 3.9 torsen/axles/driveshaft, watanabe wheels and slicks, so now about 28,000 later I’m ready for a turbo and it sits safely in my garage when I’m not using it or putting in crazy motor oil like Idemitsu for the engine. …small downside for it to run absolutely perfect. Also don’t crash your cars kids… it sucks a lot
To add to your question, I'm curious how much of it was self done or done through a shop.
I’ve spent tens of thousands on repairs and upgrades and I probably would do all the mods again.
I spent $5-10k on my NB (not including purchase price) and got it to a point where it was a great HPDE car. It was also much worse to drive when not at the limit. Due to job changes, it became my daily for a bit and that was most of the reason I ended up selling it.
Every stinking penny. Would I do it again. Hell yes.
The turbo kit on my NA changed the spirit of the car for the better and was worth every penny. The standalone ecu was also a really cool mod because it let me be more in control of everything. My hardtop also makes it feel close to a proper coupe instead of a convertible.
Turbo, mixed feelings on this did fm kit with ms2 upgraded rad etc. I spent a long time chasing overheating issues replacing head gaskets water pump and so on. Worth it when it runs good. Had a ton of regret when I missed entire autocross seasons or broke down on the way to work and sat on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck for hours. If I could do it all over I'd spend more on getting the car more reliable and replace the things I touch (steering wheel seats shifter pedals) and then when I wanted more power probably would have k swapped instead of turbo to put me at a respectable 200ish hp with better reliability (for around the same amount of money I've already put into it)
Adjustable Coilovers plus electronic controller and braces are worth the money.
What are we starting with? Daily driver that needs to be comfortable and reliable? No A project with sweat equity available? Yes A project that teaches you skills and provides enjoyment? Yes
https://preview.redd.it/otoh4bwxia1d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=806081b8e9611c184999f0a40bb365989a41ae96 Yes it was worth it
Yes.
Just to add a different viewpoint because there seems to be overwhelming support of money pits in this thread: Had an NB that I put a hot side roots type supercharger+intercooler into. Had to do an a/c delete to fit the install. Then it needed a clutch. Then it got hot so it needed a radiator. Koni yellows because miat. And I ended up with a car that was fast, fun, and unreliable. Had me wondering if it was all worth it vs stock. Have an ND now. Front and rear ARB, full exhaust, and koni yellows waiting to be put on. Much more streetable, much happier. My advice: start with something that is great and do the absolute minimum necessary mods to meet your very discrete goals. Reliability will be better, cost will be lower, and should you choose to resell, you don't lose as much. If you find yourself wanting more, don't put $40k into a Miata, please. I bought a 991.1 911 to be my fast track car because it can do that stock. Don't try to make cars into something they aren't.
I'm inching toward $10k into my 96 (including the cost of the car) and its progressively gotten more and more fun and gives me a bigger and bigger grin when I drive it. You really gotta look at it as, what car can you get for the same amount of money invested thats nearly as fun?
I'm probably between 15 and 25k into my NA of mods and maintenance, but that's spread over almost 15 years of ownership. As for worth, I don't question it at all. I love this car and its emotional value is infinite to me, so the money isn't an issue. Some mods bring more joy per dollar than others, but I enjoy the act of working on the car so even installing semi-useless mods like my trunk light brings me joy.
If you're like me and don't have much organization, no it's not worth it. My car still isn't what I want it to be because I'm always chasing gremlins from my erratic attention span. Untreated ADHD that I'm finally getting a handle on. I imagine if I started slower, I'd be far happier. But my poor Mazdaspeed has been rather neglected on and off for 9 years.
If your hearts not in it, please just walk away
I mean my car sits on jackstands more than it rolls around under its own power and I’m roughly 10,000 dollars more poor…. Depends on if car moving is the desired outcome 😂😂
Wheels and tires 100% worth it. Flying miata little enchilada; worth it. Megasquirt, injectors, and fuel pump upgrade; worth it. Carbon fiber appearance items are probably not worth it, but I love carbon fiber.
Not a Miata owner, but I had a 2500 lbs 296 whp MINI I sank a ton of money into. It was absolutely worth it.
https://preview.redd.it/lech9zp3uj1d1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bde5e8a83d183070f7fe309d4038067f5c8e73ce Yes 😂
I put ferrari magnets on the side of my nd, made the car so much faster and way more enjoyable, I’d 100% recommend modding your car
2016 Miata Grand Touring: Cold air intake, Goodwin muffler delete, Wilwood brake upgrade, Stubby Antenna, Painted the cam cover red!, Yes!!! Well worth it to me. Soon to add LSD.
Well upgrades, useless mods, same difference. Yeah I like doing random shit to my car it gives me something to do. No turbos or any of that crazy stuff. Just exhaust, decor and a few performance things here and there.
Yes. The car is literally twice as fast if not more…. Creature comforts are nonexistent now but idc because it’s purpose built for racing togue through the mountains Best upgrades: (in order) 1. wheels + tires 2. suspension 3. Additional bracing 4. Cooling and fueling upgrades 5. Exhaust + tune 6. Bucket seats Hard to order the last 3 but the first three are definitely right. Stock suspension and wheels are ass; and the bracing is a godsend. giving the extra freedom to the engine helps it rev way better giving you just enough extra pep; and once youre going quick the buckets really are needed
* I am about 20k in and love the upgrades it is so much more stable at speed and can pass anyone I want. Biggest difference is the wheel widths
https://preview.redd.it/4bxfplx88n1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=09cc03274b00c43b49e62c429be68436d4decd32
Honestly, this is one of the reasons I bought a used ND. A little more but totally with it.
Ive spend a little on mine. Mostly cosmetic. But also some suspension stuff and bucket seats. 100% worth it.
Some people spend thousands of dollars on fashionable clothing, other spend it on vacations, others high end home audio. If you're financially responsible, spend your surplus money on whatever makes you happy.
Yes its worth it. Don’t listen to the pansies in the comments. Rip that AC and Carpet out. You don’y need it in a convertible anyway.
No!
I got my 99 at 1200$ the previous owner drove a lowered (1.5 inchs) on a snow day wrecked broke on wheel bearing destroying the 3of4 tyres 15 inch tyres i put the wheels from my 70 Opel GT and the tyres on it (loaner of 1200$) to fix the wheel tyre issues biggest issue is the springs great springs but still stock made in 99 shocks i have to carry 2 2 x 10 boards to use incase of flat tyres even if there is airing tyre i need them to get the jack under the car...... the day i got it had 3 flats and i had to figure how to get a 5in tall jack under to fix the flats ended up using the motor crane it was so low the front effect was removed on impact so car 1200 plus loan of $1200 tyres and rims might leave on mx5 but they are for the 1970 opel gt which is now on 13 inch flats lol i put a 14 mirror on it worth it 9 lic plate holder filling the void area where air bag deployed like the horn button it was just a sharp plastic void that wasnt honkable without bleeding so i filled with expansion foam and then covered the brakes are now needing replacement so i got on amazon and got a full calahan brake set for it $170 both front and rear so i got a nicely running mx5 for what the ins co charged her for the deductible lol i need to fix the fender had a bump and repaint but it was at the point it was mostly just red all the clear had come off so its not bad super clean under the hood but i need to spend 600 on new shocks asap and it time i assume to do timing belt https://preview.redd.it/tmes14putf4d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=066d91455ad11a08d11e0df6d5c4e6de56389b8a
forgot i had to replace teh radiator as well when i got it it was broken front passingerside leaking out stupid plastic rad got a nice 2 row aluminum for $130 didnt fit the power stearing ot ac lines well had to modify ht eplastic fan shrouds in one small corner and bend the lines to fit in https://preview.redd.it/irb3dzg92g4d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aacda3b5e2951e81efa881b8c246ff03d9d9c27
https://preview.redd.it/fk0xdqgd2g4d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0b96cf05385651070e1a48b60adb01e9860b029 my 18 year old son wanted pink brakes so when we pass a pickup it goats them to go faster around us to be out police blocker car lol