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Thanks. Overall the first one was cheap enough to have, I got the Miata bug to get something better and ultimately overpaid for the second. Speedsters go for about six grand, more or less depending on condition. This one was on the market for a month with an asking price of five out in the cottage country, had to take a chance on it and travel. After a fair bit of haggling settled on 3800. I honestly don't think they would have let it go for less even in the fall. So far it needed new tires at 400 and the rockers are being fixed right now for a couple of hundred. Then I can finally get it inspected. Insurance ended up being 80 more a year, but with added collision.
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May 9, 2013 01:17
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Last time on this here thread, aftermarket alarm removal leaves behind a cut up ignition harness with a broken connector: Take the relay out of the circuit and reconnect the cut starter wire with one of these:  The find a matching connector at the junk yard and recreate the plug:  Learn that insulated connectors when stripped of their insulation would not stay inside the connector and pop out:  Since no auto parts store in the area carries uninsulated female connectors, splice in a bit of wire with a proper connector, colors be damned:  In the picture above you can also see that I learned the proper connector on spade pattern by heart and drove like that for a week. Hot wiring cars is so easy, especially once you figure out the connectors in the manual are shown from the harness side. For anyone who's interested, if you wire your connector backwards then the defroster light will stay on and your blower will not work, but otherwise the car will run fine.
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May 14, 2013 14:37
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On to making my own "improvements" for future owners to cry over. Steering wheel was coming apart at the moulding seam. Plus I sorta miss the tri-spoke from the black car. The square one with the air bag just looks weird to me. NBs have trispokes that fit NA with a little massaging. Same wheels also came on other Mazdas of similar vintage, so junk yard hunting for a replacement it is. Grabbed a couple of try spokes from Proteges and an air bag from an older 626 for the connectors. Three air bags, two steering wheels, couple of audio units and a bunch of other random crap for $50. Gotta love "all you can carry" days. Airbag and horn connectors on the NA steering wheel:   626 airbag will donate matching connectors for the conversion harness:  Horn connectors pins are similar enough size, simply swap the plastic plug on the protege wheel:    Blue is NA air bag connector, yellow is NB. It's a simple one stage system in both cars:  There are two wires. Voltage on the wires will make the bag go boom, polarity doesn't matter, so making adapter harness is within my meagre electrical soldering skills:  Now, the teeth of the auto cancel for the turn signal on NA are vertical, and on NB horizontal, some fabrication is required. Put some marking stuff on the teeth and fit the wheel to check for contact:   A smart person would use something more contrasting, but lithium grease was the closest tub. The metal is very soft, either drill or dremel will work easily. It's hard to see because of the flash, but there are two new holes next to the splines and a coating of fine metal dust on everything:  Route the harness so the horn is not jammed:  Plug in the air bag and affix it to the wheel with two bolts from the back side:  Here's a shot in the garage, again flash makes it look lighter than it really is, the black vinyl matches the interior quite well:  It feels quite a bit more substantial, being thicker than the original. It also weights less than NA wheel which apparently has a steel internal structure, so weight saving again. The horn works, the air bag computer module does not complain. Overall easy mod that is slightly more useful than CAI. iv46vi fucked around with this message at 04:48 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 04:46
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I was worried for a second you were going to use the airbag from a 626 which might be calibrated differently for a longer cabin. I'm curious if the nb airbag controller is the exact same and how picky the na controller actually is (since that harness doesn't seem capable of sending any identifying information about the bag back to the controller). It's probably fine. I doubt Mazda messed with it. Sure looks good on the na dash though. Good work!
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May 15, 2013 05:08
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Common way to fool both na and nb air bag modules is with a resistor, 300 ohms or so, wired at the end of those two wires. Parts bin technology at its best.
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May 15, 2013 05:37
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Wait, why is that not a Nardi wheel to match your other wooden bits?  Miata.net would have you tar and feathered. Looks good.
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May 16, 2013 01:53
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Shipping kills most deals from states to Canadaland. One day I'll find a better steering wheel in the JY, this was mostly a test run. Couple of better shots of the interior:   Logo is a bit too modern and chrome but otherwise it really ties the dash together. Also some shots of the bodywork, before:   in progress:   and after:   It's very impressive job, especially for 200.
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May 16, 2013 04:57
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Man, that's what my rockers look like.  I guess there was no point in deluding myself that they weren't rusty after leaving tiny clouds of orange particles behind after giving them a good punt.
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May 16, 2013 05:03
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The rust is coming from inside the rocker. So if you see anything at all on the outside its time to cut and weld.
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May 16, 2013 12:44
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Wow, that's very nice for $200. Leica got rid of his last car due to rocker rust and that was the only problem with it I thought. Dunno what that would cost around here to fix, but that was a hell of a deal.
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May 16, 2013 23:46
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iv46vi posted:Great part of gently used car ownership is improving POs additions. I bet it's the horn.
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May 17, 2013 22:14
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The horn is the normal steering wheel action. The green wire might have something to do with an extra fan attached to the radiator. Investigation is in progress. For today spark plugs and accessory belts. Appropriate amount of curses on Mazda engineer who thought of putting lower cinch bolt on the alternator backwards and within an inch of the intake support bracket. Can't put a socket on, and the wrench keeps slipping. Sheer will power and skinny bastard dexterity combined with determination not to jack the car for a single alternator bolt and attack the bugger from below wins the day. Here's the alternator belt, just above the belt in the middle is the perfectly accessible _back_ of the bolt of nightmares:  And the power steering:  Seem to be genuine mazda part numbers, hope the belts were not original at 125k miles:   Sorry, sorry shape of things:  All better, although even these two cheapo belts are $40 altogether in Canada:  While the air tube was out, check the throttle body. The dark stuff is not shadow, solid carbon deposits: 
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May 21, 2013 04:06
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A public remainder: when you have a local classifieds filter set to "miata" to catch parts for sale, it catches actual cars as well. This one was too good to let slip by: Got posted at 4pm, I've looked at it just before closing time at 6pm, next guy was going to look at it first thing in the morning at 9am. With official AI blessings(tm) I bought it first at 10pm. God bless one guy corner lots where owners have cell phone on them in the evening. Before $3 in spray water lots of yellow pollen makes it look purplish:       Traditionally rusty rockers and this time wheel arches:   Interior is filthy:     After wash, you can see the actual colour Midnight Blue:   In background you can also see what an affordable body shop looks like. So 2002 100k miles LS with all the options and a hard top for 2500 plus tax. Body work pending to fix rust bits estimated at $300-400. Not too bad. iv46vi fucked around with this message at 04:58 on May 25, 2013 |
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May 25, 2013 04:55
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Larrymer posted:Wow, that's very nice for $200. Leica got rid of his last car due to rocker rust and that was the only problem with it I thought. Dunno what that would cost around here to fix, but that was a hell of a deal. It needed a lot of work maintenance wise, it needed a top, every part on it was original, and it was a '95 with 140k on it. The rockers were kind of the icing on the cake in terms of me not wanting to invest any time or money into it. If I lived up north I might have dealt with it, but there's too many rust free cars down here to deal with that poo poo. Now that I have a good rust free car I can concentrate on getting all the mechanicals up to par. I'm a happy camper now  Also you stole that NB OP, nice find. Someone tell me how to set up a classifieds filter, I could really benefit from that.
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May 25, 2013 05:29
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It also drives, too. Jesus. If it was a parts car it would still be worth 2500: Engine - $800 6-speed - $800 Hardtop - $800 LSD - $1000 And then all of the interior bits and body panels and poo poo. Great find, dude.
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May 25, 2013 05:49
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Finally sold the green 97. Higher priced NA just don't seem to move well around here. Didn't make any money nor lost any, so it's all good.
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Jun 14, 2013 20:13
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Man, that center console is so much better than the '99-00 center consoles... Wonder how much work it would be to swap one in.
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Jun 14, 2013 20:23
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iv46vi posted:Finally sold the green 97. Higher priced NA just don't seem to move well around here. Didn't make any money nor lost any, so it's all good. Why did you sell the green car, I'd have swapped over parts from the later car. NA > NB. NA with NB suspension, engine, transmission, rear end and wheels > Audi S6
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Jun 15, 2013 03:26
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Engine swaps in an apartment building parking lot are somewhat challenging.
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Jun 15, 2013 04:35
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Public service announcement: Open your doors and clean the crap collecting in front fenders with a stiff rod.   Those piles are couple of inches tall, will trap moisture against the metal to rust it out. Also weight savings.
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Jun 18, 2013 17:01
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Looks like I'm travelling to DC this weekend. Any tips on cheap parking downtown / places to def see?
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Jun 19, 2013 21:16
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Sold the black hardtop to a nice man in DC. Awesome museums, lovely overpriced parking. Drove through ny, pa and md for some nice scenery. The 02 took the thousand miles there and back without complaints. It's definitely more car like than NAs, but still quite fun to drive. Some things need closer attention after the trip: - AC doesn't cool - cruise control shuts doesn't want to stay on - clutch has slight chatter when engaging second - reverse is hard to find on the first try, needs some fumbling I did a dino oil change just before the trip, is it worth it to do one now after 2x10 hours of straight driving or wait until full 3000 miles is up?
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Jun 23, 2013 09:35
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I wouldn't change the oil until the mileage. Even then I do 5k oil changes.
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Jun 23, 2013 14:06
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Cruise control not working right is a common thing with NB's unfortunately
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Jun 23, 2013 15:28
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This thread has ruined me. I keep seeing decently equipped low-mileage NBs starting at 500 or so under KBB and think "nah, I'll just hold out for a killer deal like that Canagoon found." I think I'll be waiting a while. 
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Jun 23, 2013 21:09
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It ain't no garage queen, that's for sure. Here's some undercarriage pics from the safety inspection, normal healthy rust(click for nightmare fuel):    Something is definitely leaking, free rustproofing though.
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Jun 29, 2013 00:12
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Jesus, I forgot how much bracing NBs have underneath, what a pain that is to deal with sometimes.
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Jun 29, 2013 04:31
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Pictures like this are the only reason I like living in Alabama.
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Jun 29, 2013 06:28
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Local classifieds find, two centric rear rotors for sports brake NB.     This shiny metal and paint look is growing on me. I don't want to go full Sock on this with the fancy stuff. Would plain old black rust paint have a fighting chance on the underbody bracing and suspension bits?
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Jul 2, 2013 03:15
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I've lived in florida for 8 years now (moved from cleveland "4 feet of snow" ohio), sometimes i complain that i miss seasons, and snow. I dont miss snow anymore.
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Jul 2, 2013 03:42
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iv46vi posted:Local classifieds find, two centric rear rotors for sports brake NB. I usually sand the suspension piece to bare metal, use rustoleum primer then 2 coats rustoleum enamel. edit: From this:  to this:  I just did that about a week ago, but I did the rear suspension pieces about 2 years ago and they still look the same. doogle fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 03:54
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Is that sanding by hand with 80 grit? Looks nice.
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Jul 2, 2013 04:19
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You can hit it with a wire wheel or get it media blasted. Just get the bushings popped out beforehand.
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Jul 2, 2013 05:05
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iv46vi posted:Is that sanding by hand with 80 grit? Looks nice. I sanded it by hand with 60 grit only because I was tired of waiting for my drill to charge. It took about 30 minutes total for both control arms. I also already had the bushings pressed out at that point and replaced them with energy suspension poly bushings.
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Jul 2, 2013 21:48
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Finally got my audio working again. Couple of weeks back I've tried to fix the LCD on the bose stereo unit. It was doing the common thing of displaying only parts of the info, only showing the whole if you pressed on the display. Stress cracks in the connector for the LCD, take apart the unit and reflow some solder on the pins. Here's what the LCD connector looks like behind the face plate. You can see a stress ring crack on the first factory looking pin after my horrible reflow jobs on the right. My iron tip is too big for the job, I don't really know what I'm doing etc.  This is the completed "fix":  Put the unit back together and ... nothing. Stereo was dead. Fuses were fine. Had to leave for Washington to sell the hard top before a chance to look into it further. It's a Bose system, so there is a separate amp sitting between the head unit and the speakers. The harness plug on the back is standard Mazda, except it has an amp power up relay pin enabled and the speaker output is preamp line level. I've tried pulling headunits from Protege, MPV and Millennia in the junkyard and they all have their issues. Some don't have amp pin, so no sound at all. All have speaker level output, so lot's of distortion and crazy loud interface sounds. One can play with a fader to bias the rear or buy a Scosche output converter to help with that, but we're being cheap here. Illumination match is also a gamble. I've seen green, red and white so far. After reading up on this some more, there are apparently some fusible trace connectors on the head unit board itself. Taking the unit apart gives us this:  (it's the little burnt trace in the fuse under z501 top right of center) Trace pen would be best here but we'll just wire a thin wire strand across the fuse terminals:  And the stereo is back to life. Even LCD works perfectly. On the plus side of all the head unit trading at the junkyard I've kept a cassette tape unit that plugs in the bottom of the stereo. The matching cover for it came from a Millennia with white illumination, but luckily a Protege cover with red illumination is also present. Thank the bin parts reuse gods, the control boards in the covers are identical so it's a simple swap:     I can plug my tape adapter to the the iPhone again.
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Jul 3, 2013 18:50
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The car came with one remote and two keys. While ripping a stereo of a 02 protege in a junkyard I also found it's keys with a factory remote. Programmed it using the magic song and dance procedure for Mazda3: quote:Step 1: Open driver side door and leave open. Works just fine for the door locks, too bad it lacks the trunk open button.
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Jul 4, 2013 19:36
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Local mechanic shop specializing in Mercedes and Jags was closing down with an estate sale. It had an impressive maze of amg and bbs rims stocked in floor-to-ceiling columns. Also a couple of hard tops at get these out of my sight prices:  Red one already sold and delivered to Ann Arbor. Had a pleasant country side drive through Sock's neighbourhood. Cruise control decided to work this time, tape adapter with a stock auto-volume stereo and podcasts, NB is a fine road trip machine. 32 mpg, just which it wasn't premium.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:11
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How much were they so I can decide how much I hate you? Speaking of tape adapters, I cannot for the life of me get mine to work in my 97. It's a Philips adapter. When I first got it the auto reverse in the deck freaks out and tries to reverse 3 times then just ejects it. I looked it up and that's a common problem, the solution is to remove one of the gears inside the adapter. I did that, and now the adapter works for about 5 seconds then the stereo just turns off without ejecting it.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:31
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Depending on the tape deck, it's pretty easy to add in an aux-in via the plug in the back. It's only a few pins you need to solder to, a switch, and a place to jack your iPod into.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:36
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 09:43 |
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Phone posted:Depending on the tape deck, it's pretty easy to add in an aux-in via the plug in the back. It's only a few pins you need to solder to, a switch, and a place to jack your iPod into. It's the stock stereo in my 97M, this guy right here:  Yeah I know an aftermarket unit would be cheap and easy, but it actually sounds surprisingly good, and works great other than a slightly fiddly volume knob.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:40
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