Liam's NA Miata - Finally back on the road!!!

[LeadFootLiam]

Awesome, then all I have to do is cut out the affected area, spray rust paint on the exposed structure and install the panel! 👍

 

[LeadFootLiam]

Sorry for the double post. I have some recent photos I want to show you.


45 bucks to fill up, and gas is going up in price here in Vancouver.

Just a bear farting around in the mall parking lot, it was earlier in the middle of the highway near by!

I picked my buddy up and went for a spin, he brought his GoPro on a stick.

I look like a goof hahaha.

I did some skids as well, lol. No photos of that though.

Photo I took today.

ITS MAD AT CHOU!

Loving the MX5 so far! Great fun to drive, and has enough power to keep me entertained, I am sure I can get more power when I sea foam it, and eventually get and intake and exhaust upgrade.

Payday is sometime next week, so this thread should get interesting soon.

Just wanna thank all of you who gave me some tips and advise for maintenance! Especially @Slash for his rust expertise!

 

[Slash]

Awesome, then all I have to do is cut out the affected area, spray rust paint on the exposed structure and install the panel! 👍

Possibly. That panel may or may not need to be welded in.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

I shall find out.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Yup. @Slash has it there - with that much surface rust the inner sills are likely gone too. I spent a lot of time at an MX-5 specialist when I was writing the book and saw plenty of evidence of what they look like below those sills - it ain't pretty.

That's where I'd start with the preventative maintenance - unless the tires are really bad right now, I'd get the rust fixed and then move on to tires and alignment.

The problem, incidentally, is probably clogged drainage holes. There are little holes in the bottom of the sill where water from the soft top filters through channels in the body. Unfortunately, holes on the bottom of the car get clogged with road crap very quickly and all the water just builds up inside - rotting the sills from within. On a really rainy day you can actually hear water sloshing about in there.

Or leaves can clog it up. Also, replacing that section is a PITA. There is A LOT of body/chassis structure in that area, many layers of metal. I had a customer when I worked at Flyin' Miata call and request us to cut that section off a salvage car so he could repair a similar rust issue. We did what he asked, but we just didn't see it being fixed without major headaches. It took forever to cut off, and when you weld it back in you have to reattach each layer of metal. Near impossible I think.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

@Slash nailed everything I was going to say about repairing rust. Everything he said is correct. Trust me we both know about rust. The 67 Fastback I had was probably 50% rust.

 

[homeforsummer]

Possibly. That panel may or may not need to be welded in.

Yup, it isn't a simple job. As RS1600Turbo says above, it's a complicated section with a lot of layers behind it. There's some good small pics on this site - the specialist I went to when writing the book. To do the job properly, it needs to be done thoroughly. Otherwise a few years down the line the rust comes back to haunt you.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

@Slash That fender on ebay needs to be welded in, so thats a no go for me. Guess I will have to do what you said.

 

[Slash]

@Slash That fender on ebay needs to be welded in, so thats a no go for me. Guess I will have to do what you said.

Regardless of it you buy it or not, you are going to have to do cutting and welding.

As the guys above who have fiddled with this car before are saying, it's not going to be an easy task for anyone. That patch panel is probably only for light stuff,

 

[Aquarelle]

If welding is beyond you I'm afraid you're going to have to take it to a body shop.

There's no way to repair rust that deep without welding I'm afraid.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

I will remove what I can when the weather gets dryer over here, then get a body shop to do the rest.

 

[Slash]

Make sure you sand and paint.

If it comes to you needing to go buy some sand paper from Home Depot, do it.

Removing it isn't going to do anything but promote the spread unless you coat it.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

Make sure you sand and paint.

If it comes to you needing to go buy some sand paper from Home Depot, do it.

Removing it isn't going to do anything but promote the spread unless you coat it.

For the small areas, would I be able to sand it, coat it, then use a body filler?

I'm guessing you coat it with Rustoleum? Correct?

 

[Slash]

Yes you can do that but make sure to sand down the body filler with various grits of sand paper as it needs to be perfectly smooth or it will show in the paint, and then have it primed and then have the paint matched at a body shop. You aren't going to need a lot of body filler for that, so buy the smallest can you can find. Most auto places should have it.

Rustoleum would be my choice personally, but anything is better than nothing. Make sure its primed and painted.

 

[homeforsummer]

Incidentally, despite all this talk of rust, don't feel like you've bought a lemon, @LeadFootLiam - virtually all Miatas rust in exactly the same way in that spot. It just comes with the territory! As quarter-century old cars go, they're hardly horrific when it comes to rust or indeed other issues. Some other cars from the time would have dissolved entirely by now...

 

[Slash]

Like my pickup which had its body replaced several times by now...checked the bad fender the other day and its literally a giant hole now haha.


Yeah this car definitely seems repairable and for the money I'd say you did pretty well 👍

 

[Thatman]

I might have to make my Rx7 angry.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

I might have to make my Rx7 angry.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

So I am having this same noise in my Miata.



For me it only happens under 4K rpms, on deceleration. It goes away when I accelerate and when I pressed the clutch in. I can't really locate where this noise is coming from, something it sounds likes its coming from the engine, sometimes the diff, and sometimes the tranny.

Any of you know why this noise is happening?

 

[FordMKIVJ5]

Does it still make the noise if you disengage the clutch? Does it still make the noise if in neutral?

If not it's probably a driveline issue, as the noise only occurs with the driveline under load, most likely a bearing in the gearbox or diff. or U-joints/CV joints. If it still does it could be the pilot bearing.


Just looked it up and it seems a common problem on MX-5s/Miatas, maybe someone with more experience of them could shed some light on this.

EDIT: Having said that, it could be something really mundane, like the heat shield rattling or something, but that does sound more like a grinding you get from a bad bearing.

 

[homeforsummer]

That's what I'd have said too - in the video, it sounds like a mechanical grinding. But my own Miata had a very audible buzzing sound when decelerating from around those revs, which was just a rattling heat shield.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

Does it still make the noise if you disengage the clutch? Does it still make the noise if in neutral?

If not it's probably a driveline issue, as the noise only occurs with the driveline under load, most likely a bearing in the gearbox or diff. or U-joints/CV joints. If it still does it could be the pilot bearing.


Just looked it up and it seems a common problem on MX-5s/Miatas, maybe someone with more experience of them could shed some light on this.

EDIT: Having said that, it could be something really mundane, like the heat shield rattling or something, but that does sound more like a grinding you get from a bad bearing.

The noise goes away when I press in the clutch, and when it's in neutral. I have look it up too, seems like no one can figure it out haha.

Some say it normal, bad it does not sounds like it, it's bloody annoying.

 

[FordMKIVJ5]

The noise goes away when I press in the clutch, and when it's in neutral. I have look it up too, seems like no one can figure it out haha.

Some say it normal, bad it does not sounds like it, it's bloody annoying.

Yeah seems like a lot of people have it and no-one knows what it is. Some people on here with experience of MX-5s might be able to shed a bit more light on it for you. 👍

 

[LeadFootLiam]

So I finally got paid!! This thread will get interesting soon.

So I have a concern, I pulled one of the spark plug wire out and with it, a bunch of oil came out and dripped over the rocker cover. Is this normal? I was surprised when I saw all the oil that splashed out, just wondering if it's something I should be worried about.

 

[Thatman]

Not super worried, but there is a gasket failure somewhere.

 

[LeadFootLiam]

Not super worried, but there is a gasket failure somewhere.

The car does run fine, but I was surprised when the oil went all over lol. Spark plugs have rubber seals on them correct? Maybe I just need new spark plugs.

 

[Thatman]

Mine ran fine too, it didn't actually leak a lot of oil but if you find in my thread somewhere I should have a picture of the ones that came out of my miata. If that helps. XD

 

[Slash]

Buy a quart of oil and put it in because somewhere there's a leak, and it's better to have too much oil than too little.


Time to start tracing.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Sorry guys, couldn't help but laugh at the above replies.

Oil on the spark plugs? Buy a new valve cover gasket.

See the 4 holes in the middle where the plugs go? Gasket there is old & failing.

The red circles on the photo indicate where some liquid gasket should be placed when installing the new one. 👍

 

[Slash]

I'm not to familiar with Miata engines so there