"Chitty Chitty Crunch Bang" - 1997 Miata - Maintenance Log

ctag

fill it with wires!
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Hi there :hi:

Today I made an impulse purchase: a 1997 MX-5 M-Edition Miata. That had been totaled by the previous insurance. Spent $1500.

The previous owner was hit by someone running a red light, and a half second later the airbag deployed.

The car came with an insurance-quote from a collision center, which claims no frame damage, so hopefully I can just install new suspension bits, get a rebuilt title, and hit the road :cool:



 

ctag

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Got the car towed home and immediately noticed a good bit of oil leaking out, oh well.

The passenger door is jammed, so I set to work removing the crunched fender.



While crawling around under the car, I noticed that the coilover is bent, and the wheel has a chunk missing :???: That sucks, I was hoping either of those would be salvageable.
 


ctag

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The car starts, but was apparently sitting at the collision center for about a month, so I got the battery on a trickle charger.



The trunk is really clean :D


Moved the car into the driveway and got it up on stands. Now I can get a better look at the suspension damage. That's a TEIN Street Advance Z coilover.


 

ctag

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Finished taking the suspension bits off.



Had to cut the upper control arm off the mounting bolt. Boy was that a pain.




I contacted Tein customer support, and they're helping me buy a single replacement shock.
 


ctag

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Got the headlight unit removed. Not really sure how to fix the sheet metal that's all crunched up beneath it.





 

710times

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Man, that looks like it’s gonna be fun. I used to live next door to someone who has a boosted miata. He would get off work at like 12:30am and would pull in his driveway every night hitting the launch control. His driveway ran right on the side of my apartment. Looks like you got a good project going on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ctag

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Thanks man! I hope so, I'm not really sure what to expect yet though.

Found out that I bought the wrong size wheel :???: That was an expensive mistake.


Got the control arms reinstalled though.
 

ImportFan1

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Man I want a Miata.

Nice progress thus far. Plans once shes back on the road?
 

ctag

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Here, take this one :rolf:

So I bought a set of OEM shocks to tide me over until Tein sorts out how to sell just a single shock to me :roll: After messing around for too long last night, I went and rented a spring compressor and got the shock assembled and then installed. My friend dropped by after work and helped me do some shake-down on bolts I'd missed, then we went on a very short joyride to the nearest fast food joint. The car did great, even with the wrong shock, wheel, and alignment on the front passenger side. There's definitely an oil leak somewhere though, this car smells like my old blue Del Sol :D Oh, and I found that I don't really fit in the cabin very well; I had a hard time getting my legs past the steering wheel to get back out :|



Now that it's drive-able, I'm faced with "What comes next?"

I don't know what my plans are yet, but some of the options are kicking around in my head. If Chitty-Chitty here is going to be a show car, then there's still a lot of body work, and interior work, and a paint job left to do. Even then I'm not sure if I want to make it clean and stock, or make it a project. I'd really only consider trying to keep it stock because it's M-edition. But if I want to make it a track car or something, then there's a lot less upfront work to be concerned about, but I'd have to find some internal motivation to actually go to the track with it regularly (I'm not some thrill seeking racecar driver, you all know that :lol:). Or I could just sell it. I consider that the least rewarding option, but it's a possibility :what:
 


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