1990 Mariner Blue Miata # 1756, April 1989

[Bob_Bobber0]

Figured I might as well start a journal again. So some of you know I sold my 1995 Classic Red last April after owning it for just under a year. It was a great car, I learned a lot but I really wanted to grab a Mariner. I think the color is fantastic and is very unique and thus the search began.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1995%20Classic%20Red%20Miata/DSC_0001.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1995%20Classic%20Red%20Miata/DSC_0004.jpg

Anyway, picked this one up for $3400. Had 175,000 miles on it when I bought it, hard top, KYB Adjustable Shocks, FM rear sway bar, shock tower bar, A/C and manual steering, and the interior was extremely clean. Had to drive to Calera Alabama to get it, bought it of an M.netter.

Pics of the day I got it:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0179.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0185.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0184.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0182.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0181.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0180.jpg

[Bob_Bobber0]

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0186.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0188.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0189.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0194.jpg

Engine bay was pretty dirty. Still working on that one. Besides the radiator failing the day before I left for Floriday (thank you RSpeed on the south 120 loop in Marietta for the timely replacement) and changing the oil, replacing the PVC valve and hose, and removing some stickers, doors strips, and antenna, I didn't do too much to the car over the summer. Drove it 900 miles to Florida and had an awesome time riding around St. George Island:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/0714111031.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSC_0980.jpg

[Bob_Bobber0]

I couldn't get it to pass emissions, so took a trip up to Pat's house to check out my cat situation (bought the cat from David). Turns out someone had knocked the honeycomb right out. I guess Alabama doesn't have very strict emission standards (or standards at all lol).

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/nocat.jpg

Popped in a new cat and it passed no problem.

October rolled around and took a drive up the Wolf Penn Gap with a friend from work and another miata buddy (guy who hooked me up with a bunch of tools when I first had my 1995).

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSCN3774.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSCN3787.jpg

A trip to wine country Dahlonega in October as well:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/IMAG0325.jpg

[Bob_Bobber0]

I had noticed some rust under the brake booster when I bought the car, and the PO said the brake fluid reservoir had spilled and ruined the shelf but that the leaking was done. Guess it happened again because the rust got real bad, combined with rain water dripping down in there I had to fix it.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSCN3795.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSCN3796.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSCN3797.jpg

Grabbed a used but good master cylinder from Kurt and replaced it with the help of Greg. We (he, I watched) sanded, and hit the shelf with a drill brush thing (whatever its called) and we layed in some primer over the fresh metal.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSCN3804.jpg

The old master cylinder reservoir was disgusting full of nasty fluid and deterioration seals.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3817.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Mariner%20Blue%20Miata/DSCN3803.jpg

I'll get to painting it eventually. You can see in the pics how water is still dripping down onto that shelf. I wanna try and fix that somehow or at least coat the shelf or add some bondo so water wont sit back there and rust out some more.

[Bob_Bobber0]

I made another trip back down to Calera to grab a spare engine and transmission that the PO said I could grab for free. I had fun tearing it to pieces and checking out the internals. Was a nice learning experience, but decided not to mess with a rebuild and just donated it to Greg who seems to love dropping all kinds of money into his stuff :p

The motor had a rusted cylinder and crank was frozen-ish.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Miata%20Engine%20Rebuild/DSCN3733.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Miata%20Engine%20Rebuild/DSCN3707.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Miata%20Engine%20Rebuild/DSCN3737.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Miata%20Engine%20Rebuild/DSCN3741.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/1990%20Miata%20Engine%20Rebuild/DSCN3717.jpg

Sold some parts and made some money, which somehow disappeared into other things non car related.

My front passenger side caliper started leaking horribly. I grabbed a spare caliper from Kurt and removed and replaced. The pads were covered in oil as were the rotors. Took a bit of brake fluid to them. I plan on getting new pads and rotors and painting the calipers sometime in the next 6 months.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3818.jpg

Fixed my awful 2200rpm rattle. Used some safety wire to hold the exhaust heat shield together.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3801.jpg

^^^ That lasted like a week so I ripped the whole thing off lol.

This was a random impulse buy I found on M.net I'd like to think I'm gunna go with a retro feel with my car with some silver chaps, some nice vintage style mirrors, and this gas cap, for the outside at least.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3811.jpg

[fastnfurious7]

Great pics in the thread. It is a pretty car with some plans for some cool stuff coming up. We should find a way to pop it on a dyno before the changes to mark the improvement.

just donated it to Greg who seems to love dropping all kinds of money into his stuff :p

It's true...much to my wife's chagrin. We are coming to some sort of terms so I can finish...I hope.

[Bob_Bobber0]

Great pics in the thread. It is a pretty car with some plans for some cool stuff coming up. We should find a way to pop it on a dyno before the changes to mark the improvement.

That would be fun to see. I gotta scrounge some more pics from other minor maintenance stuff I've done and take some of the new engine being painted. And bring this up to speed.

[oldgrayfrog]

Great start to your thread. I highly agree with you, the smurf blue is really a very cool color. I think it's getting to be better with time passing. It's just so first gen Miata . Also love the late model NA wheels. If you ever want a set of original daisies, let me know, in case you want to go back to stock. The roll bar is a sweet addition as well. $3400 seems more than a fair price with the hardtop. I paid a little less for my 91 with hard top, but then mine had 100,000 more miles on it! This little car is really just getting broken in:)

[Bob_Bobber0]

Hehe, thanks Dave! I'm planning on getting some chaps to replace these semi-hollow spoke ones in the Spring. And yes, this car has many more miles of enjoyment left in it.

So some of you may recognize this as the motor Roadster was selling a few weeks back. I decided to grab it and that sweet looking header. I had been tracking the mileage to oil burnt on the original motor that's currently in my car for the last two months now and it burns about 1 qt per 1000 miles. It's about time for a rebuild, most likely burning the oil through the rings. Since its in need of a timing belt job anyway I figured what the hell and just pulled the trigger on this setup.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/fs16.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3822.jpg

As Roadster said it has about 45k miles on it and has some nice head work to it, ported and polished intakes, ceramic coated valves etc. He was a nice guy, delivered it for me, threw a couple extra parts and gave me that carbon fiber shock tower brace, what a guy! It was painted yellow so I'm in the process of painting it aluminium/silver.

Its my first paint job ever and only second time using a spray can so go easy..

First coat:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3806.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3807.jpg

Couple coats later...

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3815.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3814.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3808.jpg

I plan on touching up the spots I missed and the taping it back up again and hitting it with another few coats of clear/sealant. I'd like to tackle the crank pulleys too but I'm not sure how to go about it.

I think I got high off the paint fumes and decided to waste about half a can cleaning and painting my transmission. Which I successfully (I think) popped back out of reverse. I need a spare shifter to test it out.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3819.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3821.jpg

Hopefully, if all goes well, and I grab the associated parts I will be dropping the motor in sometime early in 2012 (perhaps January?) with the help of Pat and Greg (you know, me standing around, watching, feeling useless :p ).

[fastnfurious7]

Learning, Grasshopper, learning...not useless. We'll need beer runs. :lol: Paint job doesn't look bad @ all. Good news is that even if there are some imperfections here & there, a motor is the place for 'em because most will never notice. Moving right along, good work!

[oldgrayfrog]

Take a page out of Ripley's playbook, and take a little time while the engine and trans are out, and clean that engine bay. Throw some coating on the transmission tunnel. I'm a little jealous of that 1.6 and header. That's going to rev like mad, sound awesome and make good power.This is shaping up to be a really nice restoration/build.

[Bob_Bobber0]

I'm a little jealous of that 1.6 and header. That's going to rev like mad, sound awesome and make good power.

I'll trade ya for the 5.0 hahaha :D

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

That is awesome. Mariner blue's my favorite colour and that motor from Tommy really does rip too. Good luck getting it complete!

[fastnfurious7]

^^^...'colour'...just like my Canadian wife. :lol: You all spell funny. I know, I know...same thing she always says: "That's the correct way to spell it". Okay, if she says so.

/:end threadjack:

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

Who would have thought an Englishman speak ENGLISH?! ;)

[miatasaint]

We mostly came from england....sooooo......

[Bob_Bobber0]

Took FOREVER to bleed it and get the pressure back. Ending up cutting the hard line in one place and maneuvering it out. Probably was more effort than it should have been for me. Pedal pressure feels great though. I did not reuse the clamps that held the one lines to the firewall and engine/trans. Dunno if the line will move around and vibrate/buzz/cause problems. We'll see.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3835.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3836.jpg

[fastnfurious7]

Very nice. You ordered yours after me & I still don't have mine yet. WTF!? Maybe because I ordered some lug nuts with it. :dunno: Good work on the install. Should be a nice upgrade.

[Bob_Bobber0]

Been sick the last few days and finally got tired of laying in bed watching Spartacus...lol.

I painted my wiper arms when I first got my car and they came out looking like sh!t. I've wanted to fix them for a long time. Also the little cover thing that lays below them on the windshield has become worn and scratched and faded and unglued. So decided to fix that today.

Crappy job using flat black and no skills:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3838.jpg

Sanded and prepped the arms:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3844.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3840.jpg

Removed the cover thing. Broke one of the clips covers on the end :/ Used gorilla glue to glue the rubber piece back into place. Turned out alright.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3847.jpg

Pretty foggy this morning:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3841.jpg

All painted with Acrylic Gloss Black Spray Paint from NAPA and waiting to dry:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3851.jpg

While I was waiting I decided to take a look at my trunk and see if it needed cleaning. Found nasty dirty, old foam, and mold:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3848.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3849.jpg

A little modest cleaning... looks a little better...have to figure out the mold situation now.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3868.jpg

Here is the finished product on the wipers and windshield cover. I think they came out pretty good!

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3855.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/DSCN3852.jpg

[iamdallas]

Fun read so far. You're tackling all those little things that I need to pay attention to on my car.

I can't wait to see that motor in!

[Bob_Bobber0]

Finally gathered the courage, parts, people, and resources to do the motor swap. I think it went fairly well. Couple slow downs in driving to like 4 parts stores to find the transmission input shaft seal (dealer gave me wrong part, the O'Reilly one said it would fit but didnt, Autozone finally had one). The put that brainstorm header on as well.

Other than that, the motor is in and cranked on the first go. It is running pretty rough and bogged down right now. I think it needs to be re-timed but I'm an idiot and didn't put that timing marker shroud on so I've got to remove the intake, belts, pulleys, and put that thing on so I can re-time the motor, unless there is another way!

Hopefully will have it running for monday. It is my only DD hehe :p

Thanks so much to Pat and Greg for helping me out despite both of their schedules, I seriously appreciate it dudes!!!!

And now for some pics:

Night before:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0169-1.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0170.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0171.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0172.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0178.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0180.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0181.jpg

Morning of:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0187.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0189.jpg

[Bob_Bobber0]

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0190.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0191.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0192.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0193.jpg

Final pic after a successful start and drive. Like I said, it runs pretty bogged down, but I think its just a timing issue..

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Bob_Bobber0/Motor%20Swap/DSC_0194.jpg

[fastnfurious7]

This is how it's done. I think Pat was a little excited it started and ran the first time we started it. NA6R was the main man that made it happen. Good work for sure. Click pic for video of running engine.

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac226/Gregoryga7/th_20120303_212605.jpg (http://s902.photobucket.com/albums/ac226/Gregoryga7/?action=view&current=20120303_212605.mp4)

[Bob_Bobber0]

Fixed the timing. Car runs like a champ now. Timing was somewhere like 2-4 degrees. haha.

[tougemiata]

Like where this is going! Nice ride, keep it up