New 1993 Limited Edition Miata. Fixing Quirks, advice?

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I am the proud owner of a new 1993 black limited edition miata with red leather interior. 88k miles, brand new transmission, clutch, and A/C system. Only paid $1800, the guy I bought it from didn't know anything about miatas and didn't know it was a limited edition. It is mechanically strong, but just has a few issues that need to be worked out.
Starting off, the power mirrors dont work. I'm guessing a fuse but I don't know..my last miata didnt have power mirrors. A fuse sounds like the easiest(and most optimistic) solution. How would I go about changing this? Where is the fuse box? What fuse do i need and which one is for the power mirrors?
Second, the leather interior is not torn at all, but it is worn. I believe it can be repaired by an upholsterer? Pretty decent condition though.
Small crack in the dash on the passenger side. I won't drop the money to buy an entire new dash, but I have never found dash pads(not the covers) to fix this. I have seen them sold for many other models of cars though. Can a vinyl repair shop or something like that fix this?
4th, the power radio antenna doesnt go up. It has an aftermarket radio, could it just have been wired wrong? How would i check? Would a better solution be to just buy a normal antenna thats always extended?
There are 2 small nicks in the front windshield. Not any cracks, but I was wondering if there is anything worth doing to the winshield. One is about half the size of a penny, the other is not much bigger than the end of a ballpoint pen. Its not worth the money to me to replace it completely, however.
Finally, the last 2 quirks are that the left clip for the convertible top likes to rattle at high speeds, but only on bumpy roads or potholes. Also, the rearview mirror doesnt like to hold its position very well over bumps either, but otherwise its fine. I assume these are easy fixes but I don't know for sure.
So I got a car that had a bunch of small problems, but nothing major, and overall I think I came out with a pretty good deal. Everything else on the car works fine. I'm going to start tomorrow getting these problems fixed, but I wanted to ask the miata community for their opinions because I really don't know how to go about solving these problems. Could you guys offer some advice or suggestions on what to do to fix these issues? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris Ruffin

Regarding the dash pad:  You can pick up one on e-bay and repaint.  It was an easy fix.  They generally go for around $50 to $70.  Buy any color and get your paint and prep from SEM.  They have a website.  You can change the color if you don't see yours.

Not a bad deal for $1800.  Let's see what she looks like!

Thanks for the reply, CJB. The thing is, I have never been able to find a dash pad or anything of that sort on ebay. All I can find are dash kits and the piece to the front of the dash, not the top part by the window. I don't have a picture of my dash, but if it helps, my old miata had a smaller crack in the dash in the same location as my new miata. I have attached a picture of the old dash. Am I just missing them or are they called something else? If you could provide a link that would be great.
Thanks,
Chris Ruffin

Yes, I think I got a pretty good deal. The guy I bought it from has more in just the new transmission, clutch, and A/C than I do in the entire car. I have the receipts to show that the work was done. I can't wait until I fix all the little issues this car has. As for the pictures, I will upload some tomorrow during the day. It is a little after midnight here in Texas.
Thanks,
Chris Ruffin


Originally Posted by cbruffin
Thanks for the reply, CJB. The thing is, I have never been able to find a dash pad or anything of that sort on ebay. All I can find are dash kits and the piece to the front of the dash, not the top part by the window. I don't have a picture of my dash, but if it helps, my old miata had a smaller crack in the dash in the same location as my new miata. I have attached a picture of the old dash. Am I just missing them or are they called something else? If you could provide a link that would be great.
Thanks,
Chris Ruffin
I thought you were referring to the section just below the upper dash.  I've seen the section you need but not often.  Sometimes if you find someone who is parting out you can luck out.  Personally I would look into getting it repaired and repainted..........switching out the upper dash seems very time consuming.  The quot;Garagequot; has some info on it.
Chris

If you haven't done so look into getting a seatbelt tower brace and a front shock tower brace........you'll be amazed at how quot;solidquot; the car becomes.  I have a SBTB from a 96 that I got on e-bay and the FSTB can be had for as little as $30 new.
Another item I would recommend is the quot;Cool Breeze Scoopquot;.  It keeps the foot wells cool and having been to the Tx Panhandle I know you get some pretty hot days.
I didn't have a color preference when I bought mine but I'm now glad that I ended up with black.
Good luck with it and welcome to the quot;madnessquot;.
Chris


Originally Posted by cbruffin
Starting off, the power mirrors dont work. I'm guessing a fuse but I don't know..my last miata didnt have power mirrors. A fuse sounds like the easiest(and most optimistic) solution. How would I go about changing this? Where is the fuse box? What fuse do i need and which one is for the power mirrors?
4th, the power radio antenna doesnt go up. It has an aftermarket radio, could it just have been wired wrong? How would i check? Would a better solution be to just buy a normal antenna thats always extended?
Chris Ruffin

good buy
ok, the power mirrors, power antenna and cigar lighter are all on the same fuse.  its labelled as cigar fuse,  the fuse box is in the drivers footwell
its the 15A fuse near the top left of the fuse box


good buy
ok, the power mirrors, power antenna and cigar lighter are all on the same fuse. its labelled as cigar fuse, the fuse box is in the drivers footwell
its the 15A fuse near the top left of the fuse box

Thank you Newbster, hopefully I lucked out and thats whats causing both my power mirror and power antenna problems. The only thing that has me worried is that my cigarette lighter still works...Does that mean there is a bigger problem with my mirrors and antenna? If its the same fuse, and one of them still works, shouldn't all of them still be functioning? Or is that not how it works?

The mirrors quot;could bequot; that some work was done and they were removed/unplugged from within the door. Try removing the door speakers and put your arm in the hole to find the connection.
Hey, can't blame a fella for quot;starting simplequot;, especially when you say the lighter works (same fuse)


Originally Posted by afc2112
Not a bad deal for $1800.  Let's see what she looks like!

I agree...how about some pictures.  

It may be two separate fuses.  And once you remove the fuse panel there marked on the inside of the cover.  Should be easy to figure which one is which.  I have power mirrors on mine, I'm sure its probably a fuse.  And the antenna check to see if it makes noise when you turn the radio on.  If it does its a broken antenna mast.  There a pain in the A to replace.  If I had mine to do over again I would have gotten a fixed stubby antenna and called it good.
And that is an awesome price.  Why cant I ever find deals like that?  Maybe because if I did I wouldn't have any place to keep all of my Miata's.  Its probably a good thing I only have one.  That probably could have $3500 easy.


It may be two separate fuses. And once you remove the fuse panel there marked on the inside of the cover. Should be easy to figure which one is which. I have power mirrors on mine, I'm sure its probably a fuse. And the antenna check to see if it makes noise when you turn the radio on. If it does its a broken antenna mast. There a pain in the A to replace. If I had mine to do over again I would have gotten a fixed stubby antenna and called it good.
And that is an awesome price. Why cant I ever find deals like that? Maybe because if I did I wouldn't have any place to keep all of my Miata's. Its probably a good thing I only have one. That probably could have $3500 easy.

Well the guy was asking $3000 but he just wanted to get rid of it so he was easy to bargain with. Ended up paying only $1800. He didn't even know it was a limited edition. Hopefully it is just a fuse. No noise as far as I can tell from the power antenna. No anything at all. Just sits there.
I can get pictures up but unfortunately not till later next week. I will probably put them in a new thread but if this one is still alive I'll ad them here. I'll be out of town for a couple of days but when I get back I'll take a few.

Haha..I saw that ad in Craigslist last week.  I called the guy as well and he really did want to get rid of that car.  He went into a tirade about his daughter and how she wouldn't drive it.  It was actually pretty funny...well good buy and good job talking him down lower than I got him!

oh forgot to talk about the buzz from the top problem.  Your latch just might need adjusted.  There is a long nut that you can adjust in and out to take up the slack.  Try turning it one way or the other and see if that helps.


Originally Posted by CJB
If you haven't done so look into getting a seatbelt tower brace and a front shock tower brace........you'll be amazed at how quot;solidquot; the car becomes.  I have a SBTB from a 96 that I got on e-bay and the FSTB can be had for as little as $30 new.
Another item I would recommend is the quot;Cool Breeze Scoopquot;.  It keeps the foot wells cool and having been to the Tx Panhandle I know you get some pretty hot days.
I didn't have a color preference when I bought mine but I'm now glad that I ended up with black.
Good luck with it and welcome to the quot;madnessquot;.
Chris

No offense, but both of these are a waste of money.  The seatbelt tower brace was added for side impact protection, not to firm up the car and the shock tower brace has been talked about and debunked on here on a regular basis.  If you feel it added stiffness, money well spent but the general consensus is that it/they do nothing worthwhile.  Now, the Cool Breeze scoop is money well spent.

You should be able to fix your windshield with a kit available at any autoparts store.  It's pretty simple.
I would suspect the radio isn't hooked up to the antenna signal.  I can't tell you what wire that is on your 93.  My cheap aftermarket radio supplies the signal whenever it has power.


does anyone know where this wire is if I were to check it? Is it behind the radio or in the trunk?

Thanks for the suggestions. Anyone have any additional advice? Everything offered so far has been great. One question though..my miata has a turbo emblem on the back, how do I know if it is actually turbocharged or if someone just put the emblem on there because it looks cool?


Originally Posted by cbruffin
Thanks for the suggestions. Anyone have any additional advice? Everything offered so far has been great. One question though..my miata has a turbo emblem on the back, how do I know if it is actually turbocharged or if someone just put the emblem on there because it looks cool?

Ummmm...look under the hood? Turbo is not a Miata option but can be added aftermarket. Like the emblem.


Ummmm...look under the hood
? Turbo is not a Miata option but can be added aftermarket. Like the emblem.

I know that its not factory, but I dont know where to look for the turbo charger. Sadly I havent ever seen a turbo.

If the car has a turbo there will be extra piping going into the intake and a hair dryer looking thingy hanging below the exhaust header.

I thought 93 LE is black, the photo you shown has red paint???


Originally Posted by annamiata
I thought 93 LE is black, the photo you shown has red paint???

I wondered the same thing, but then realized he said that was a photo from his previous Miata, not the 93 LE.
Overall, $1800 for the car as described seems like a really great deal!