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I'm 6'4" and 290. I fit more comfortably in my Miata than I do in my friend's VW Jetta or my fiancee's PT Cruiser. It's all about proportions. The only problem I have had is that I changed up my lifting recently and my quads have absolutely exploded, so I had to remove the driver's side door handle to make more room for my leg between the door and steering wheel. Otherwise I didn't have room to lift my leg and get my foot off the clutch!
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Apr 24, 2010 00:21
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mobn posted:I'm 6'4" and 290. I fit more comfortably in my Miata than I do in my friend's VW Jetta or my fiancee's PT Cruiser. It's all about proportions. The only problem I have had is that I changed up my lifting recently and my quads have absolutely exploded, so I had to remove the driver's side door handle to make more room for my leg between the door and steering wheel. Otherwise I didn't have room to lift my leg and get my foot off the clutch!
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Apr 24, 2010 00:44
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CR? I could use couple of those.
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Apr 24, 2010 00:53
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destructo posted:Get some sweet leather door pulls? There's a dude on CR selling some. I'm gonna make some myself. My fiancee's uncle has scrap leather lying around his woodshop from a job he's doing restoring some chairs right now. My car's really beat up, so they don't need to be pretty.
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Apr 24, 2010 05:35
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Sudden Infant Def Syndrome posted:Other than mine. Oh god it burned so much at autox. We never actually saw blue smoke did we?
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Apr 24, 2010 05:54
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Instead of getting the pull straps you should just put the top down and close the door by grabbing around the top of the door.
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Apr 24, 2010 06:18
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I've given up hope of ever fixing my 94, so I'm selling it. Car is in Dallas, posted in the sale thread. edit: Sold fatman1683 fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Apr 24, 2010 |
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Apr 24, 2010 16:18
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Regarding the whole size/fit thing, I'm 5'10" and I consider my NA to be "snug;" it's not quite cramped, but there's definitely very little room to go around. I have used different driving positions, but I tend to sit very far forward in any car; people shorter than me (say, 5'2") have had to move the seat back after I've driven. Currently, I'm sitting almost all the way back (I can't move the seat further back because I've got a subwoofer there) and have the seat reclined, and I actually started driving while resting back like that. My knees and feet are always flexed, about 90° each. Despite it sounding uncomfortable, I never feel that way and long drives don't bother me at all; bumper-to-bumper traffic is really the only problem. I have a friend who's 6'2" that went along on a road trip, and despite his head just about touching one of the convertible top's support ribs he said he was comfortable and enjoyed the drive. When I sit in other (i.e. normal) cars it feels awkward with all that extra room.  Weinertron posted:Yep. I'm burning oil at high RPM. Just need to keep an eye on it and top it up every once in a while. It really is a good habit to check your oil every time you fill up with gas, just to be sure. Based on this comment, I actually just started checking the oil at the gas station. It really is the best time to do it, and it takes less time to pop the hood & check than it does for the pump to finish filling the car. bladernr posted:What he said... A: the car does not have struts, thus no strut tower. It does, however have shocks, and will take a shock tower brace. Just so I understand this, the shocks aren't considered struts because they don't support the car, they just act as dampers? That is, the car has a double wishbone suspension instead of a strut-type suspension? Why is it so difficult to find Redline products? I'm looking for the MT-90 I've been talking about and none of the local places (Chicagoland) carry it. They carry other brands, but no Redline anything. I can get it from Amazon for $12.50 per quart but I can't see why it's so rare.
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Apr 24, 2010 21:40
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Atomizer posted:Why is it so difficult to find Redline products? I'm looking for the MT-90 I've been talking about and none of the local places (Chicagoland) carry it. They carry other brands, but no Redline anything. I can get it from Amazon for $12.50 per quart but I can't see why it's so rare. I have to buy it from a drag racing shop here. No idea why its so tough to find, but try looking for performance auto parts places, they should have it.
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Apr 24, 2010 22:29
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Atomizer posted:Just so I understand this, the shocks aren't considered struts because they don't support the car, they just act as dampers? That is, the car has a double wishbone suspension instead of a strut-type suspension? The stock shocks on the car are coil overs (spring coil over shock). They aren't struts because they ONLY hold the weight of the car, not any sideways forces from turning. I'm replacing the suspension bushings on my 97. I guess I'll find the source of the clunk while I disassemble/reassemble everything.
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Apr 24, 2010 22:29
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Holy poo poo. While doing a rollbar instal this weekend on a Miata I realized that if you undo the seatbelt connector under the seat the seatbelt buzzer/light goes away! I always buckle up last while the car's idle is settling, engine warming, etc. NO MORE BUZZER.
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Apr 26, 2010 20:05
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Also, you can unplug the horrid "key in ignition but door is open" buzzer by unplugging it under the steering wheel. gently caress buzzers, the only one I want is when I leave my lights on by accident.
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Apr 26, 2010 20:12
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Ziploc posted:Holy poo poo. While doing a rollbar instal this weekend on a Miata I realized that if you undo the seatbelt connector under the seat the seatbelt buzzer/light goes away! Mine goes away in the winter all on its own!
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Apr 26, 2010 20:19
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The Third Man posted:gently caress buzzers, the only one I want is when I leave my lights on by accident. Which NAs don't have annoyingly. I'm going to look for the door buzzer tonight.
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Apr 26, 2010 20:20
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Ziploc posted:Which NAs don't have annoyingly. I'm going to look for the door buzzer tonight. The barndoors blocking your view aren't a clue? 
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Apr 26, 2010 20:27
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Ziploc posted:Which NAs don't have annoyingly. I'm going to look for the door buzzer tonight. It's really hard. Key in the ignition, open your door, feel underneath the wheel and find the one that's vibrating.
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Apr 26, 2010 20:29
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IOwnCalculus posted:The barndoors blocking your view aren't a clue? Nah, the little DRLs got me a couple times when I first got the car. Killed my battery twice forgetting to turn them off.
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Apr 26, 2010 20:33
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My radiator crack is finally causing some temperature issues. Is there any reason I shouldn't just use the stock replacement from AutoZone for $105?
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Apr 26, 2010 20:39
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Has anyone here used one of BTD racing's rear quarter patch panels? I'm doing some rust removal which uncovered a PO's dirty, horrible accident repair (a few mm of zinc and a few more of bondo, all of which cover terrible welds and a lovely attempt at dent removal) He did a poor job of sealing the pinch weld on the wheel well, and now its rusted to poo poo. I need to patch it, and since I'm terrible at making patches (found out today) I want to use a ready made panel. I can get the panel http://btdtracing.com/gallery/v/Parts/rearquarters/DSC04525.JPG.html for 130€, but I'd like to hear from anyone who's replace one, it would really ease my fears about body repair.
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Apr 26, 2010 21:31
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Frank Dillinger posted:I'm doing some rust removal which uncovered a PO's dirty, horrible accident repair (a few mm of zinc and a few more of bondo, all of which cover terrible welds and a lovely attempt at dent removal) Pics for the curious? I've wondered what a bad repair looks like.
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Apr 26, 2010 21:58
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Speaking of rust repair, I've got the dreaded rocker rust in front of one of my rear wheels, what is the best course of action in dealing with it? How much can I expect to pay to have it fixed at a shop?
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Apr 26, 2010 23:05
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I've been exclusively driving this car for about 2 years now, and have changed up my driving style multiple times, but I've got a question about shifting. Typically, while upshifting or downshifting I'll try to smoothly engage the clutch, but I've seen other people do a fast clutch release (and I've done it myself.) I'm wondering if this is any worse than the gradual clutch release. Just to clarify, while upshifting you let out the clutch, shift, then quickly release it before letting the revs drop; while downshifting you blip the throttle and quickly release it. I figure the gradual method might put more wear on the clutch, while the quick method puts more wear on the drivetrain. Or not. Anyone want to set me straight? Separately, I had previously mentioned how my car seems to have an excessive shuddering problem upon throttle manipulation, and the mechanic didn't find any drivetrain slack (but indicated that I could probably use new front shocks.) I was just thinking about this today and had an idea: could worn shocks be part of the problem? If the shocks aren't as stiff as they should be then I could see this allowing the car to buck back and forth more than it should. Am I on to something here? And finally, on a related note I'd like to go back to this: bladernr posted:But honestly, it all depends on how much money you have to spend. I'd start with new shocks, springs, bumpstops and such... then better brakes, better tires and a good alignment (not those silly 15 minute jobs you get at Sears, but a good Balanced alignment. I appreciate the recommendations from you guys. I'd just like to clarify that I don't track my car and haven't done an autocross with it (and don't plan to anytime soon.) It's my daily driver and I really can't risk anything happening to it (plus, I drive it hard enough as it is on the street.) So with that in mind, I'm looking for parts primarily for street use. I've got the brakes/tires/alignment taken care of; at this point I guess I'm mainly looking for suspension upgrades. The most current project at this point would be the shocks.
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Apr 27, 2010 05:26
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Atomizer posted:I've been exclusively driving this car for about 2 years now, and have changed up my driving style multiple times, but I've got a question about shifting. Typically, while upshifting or downshifting I'll try to smoothly engage the clutch, but I've seen other people do a fast clutch release (and I've done it myself.) I'm wondering if this is any worse than the gradual clutch release. Just to clarify, while upshifting you let out the clutch, shift, then quickly release it before letting the revs drop; while downshifting you blip the throttle and quickly release it. I figure the gradual method might put more wear on the clutch, while the quick method puts more wear on the drivetrain. Or not. Anyone want to set me straight? For normal driving, when upshifting let the clutch out quickly when the falling engine RPMs match the engagement RPMs of the gear you're shifting into. There should be as near zero slippage as possible. When done right, there won't be any jerkiness at all. When downshifting, blip the throttle and let the clutch out quickly when the engine RPMs match the engagement RPMs of the gear you're shifting into. There should be as near zero slippage as possible. When done right, there won't be any jerkiness at all. The only time you should be slipping the clutch at all is when starting from a stop, and it should be pretty minimal. Unless I'm launching really hard (rarely), when starting from a stop I slip the clutch, at the very most, for about 1-1.5 seconds. You MAYBE will slip it just a little bit when shifting from 1st to 2nd to reduce jerkiness, but if you get your rev-matching down nicely you won't need to do it much/at all.
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Apr 27, 2010 05:38
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Finally gonna replace the "Champiros" and other generic, cheap-o tires that were on the car when I bought it. Just curious what you guys recommend now for actual tires and size. She's a 96 with stock 14" steelies.
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Apr 28, 2010 07:41
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Try to find some 14" stock alloys. Some daisies from 90-93 will cost you about 100 bucks and you'll drop 25lbs from the car, easily. As for tires... Summer max performance: 195/60R14 Dunlop Star Specs ~$95/tire Decent all-season: 185/60R14 Falken Ziex ZE-912 ~$55/tire Phone fucked around with this message at 08:26 on Apr 28, 2010 |
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Apr 28, 2010 08:22
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That might just be the easiest radiator swap I've ever done. It took like 90 minutes(including a trip for a new lower hose.)
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Apr 29, 2010 03:25
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Phone posted:Try to find some 14" stock alloys. Some daisies from 90-93 will cost you about 100 bucks and you'll drop 25lbs from the car, easily. Thanks for the tip, anywhere you guys recommend looking for those wheels? I've seen 'em show up on craigslist every now and then but none at the moment.
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Apr 29, 2010 04:32
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Tactical Bonnet posted:That might just be the easiest radiator swap I've ever done. It took like 90 minutes(including a trip for a new lower hose.) These cars are just so drat simple to work on it blows my mind that mine was made in year 2000.
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Apr 29, 2010 04:36
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Brain Issues posted:These cars are just so drat simple to work on it blows my mind that mine was made in year 2000. To be fair, the NB isn't that far advanced beyond the NA in a lot of ways.
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Apr 29, 2010 04:43
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IOwnCalculus posted:To be fair, the NB isn't that far advanced beyond the NA in a lot of ways. If it were, I would've held out for an NA. Dropping the pop-up headlights probably REDUCED the tech in the '99. Heh.
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Apr 29, 2010 16:41
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They're pretty nearly the same car outside of the body and interior. A few minor mechanical differences and a slightly updated motor. Mazda essentially sold the same car for like 15 years. And seriously, good for them, they did it right the first time and just kept polishing it up. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Apr 29, 2010 18:41
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Bah, well I went to drive the car to work today and I may have gotten hit by the slave cylinder fairy. Clutch engagement was allllll the way on the floor and the pedal felt more spongey than springy. Basically I'm just going to make sure the master cylinder fluid reservoir is filled until I can get the slave cylinder in and that may be sufficient for now if it's a slow leak?
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Apr 29, 2010 19:09
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dreesemonkey posted:Bah, well I went to drive the car to work today and I may have gotten hit by the slave cylinder fairy. Clutch engagement was allllll the way on the floor and the pedal felt more spongey than springy. That didn't work so good for me. Of course my problem turned out to be the master cylinder, not the slave. Not a difficult or expensive fix at all, and replacing the master was the first time I've ever worked on a car in my life. Maybe this will help: http://www.miata.net/garage/slavecyl.html
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Apr 29, 2010 19:26
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dreesemonkey posted:Bah, well I went to drive the car to work today and I may have gotten hit by the slave cylinder fairy. Clutch engagement was allllll the way on the floor and the pedal felt more spongey than springy. Yep, the first time I had one fail I was able to prop it up for a few days on fluid top-offs. It rarely ends up as a catastrophic failure, but as Mezmerized said, if it is the master, it won't last as long. If you don't know when either was replaced, I would replace both; it's a small amount of extra labor, but you only bleed once for the whole thing. Get them from Autozone with a lifetime warranty.
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Apr 29, 2010 22:01
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My 2007 NC has a slow leak on the rear right tire. Pressure drops from 29psi to 22 after two weeks, all the other tires remain constant. Should I take it to the dealership or a tire place? Also, it's got bumper-to-bumper warranty till October, do warranties usually cover this type of thing?
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Apr 30, 2010 00:43
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Thanks for the input on my clutch woes. I checked the fluid last night and it was at the min line, so I topped it off. The wife took the car today and didn't complain about it, though the clutch engagement is still much closer to the floor than it was before. I can get both master/slave cylinder replacements on rockauto for $50 so I'm going to opt for that, looks like a pretty straightforward install. Hopefully I'm on the end of my "do anything to your car and it turns out way harder than it should be for some stupid reason" streak.
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Apr 30, 2010 18:27
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If it makes you feel better, I have been nothing but surprised about how easy it is to work on my miata. It took me like half an hour to do my front brakes and only 90 minutes to change my radiator.
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Apr 30, 2010 18:45
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I just got a free NB radiator only to find that NA and NB radiators can't swap. 
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Apr 30, 2010 19:48
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Guinness posted:For normal driving, when upshifting let the clutch out quickly when the falling engine RPMs match the engagement RPMs of the gear you're shifting into. There should be as near zero slippage as possible. When done right, there won't be any jerkiness at all. Yeah, thanks, I know how to drive the car, but believe it or not, I'm not perfect. My question was addressing imperfect shifting. It's really only an issue shifting into 1st and then into 2nd, but I asked the question because I was curious about what everyone else thought. Any comments about the shocks? (From my prior post) A couple weeks back I lubed the headlights again with 3-in-1 oil and that seemed to do the trick; they've been operating smoothly ever since. Before that, at one point I went to extend them and the driver's side one hesitated long enough I didn't think it was going to go out. It was only like a second or two, but still, that never happened before. I received my shifter boots and 4 quarts of MT-90. I did the shifter rebuild on Wednesday. The verdict? Best ~$100 I think I've ever spent. The upper boot was completely missing the top half, and the lower boot was split around the middle so that all sorts of gunk could get in the turret. The oil I removed was black, and the MT-90 that went in was of course clear. The boots probably made the shifting more firm, and the new oil made it smoother; it's a little weird now that the upper boot is actually there, but it's definitely a positive change. The only hard parts about the whole thing were getting the old lower boot off (I had to split it straight down), getting the new lower boot on (lots of silicone lube), and getting the shift lever back in the turret; it really doesn't want to go in there. Also, after I reassembled everything I didn't move the power window switch cables out of the way so I had to remove the console again and get it away from the shifter. I did happen to take photos of the whole process. Any questions?
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May 1, 2010 03:29
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May 2, 2010 01:49
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