I found a '99 Miata at a dealership but the engine had been modded and the dealer is clueless. I'm new to the Miata and wanted to know if someone could identify the mods and point me to a source of information before I take the plunge.
Thanks!
from the picture, there is a cheap aftermarket air intake and a breather on the valve cover.thats all
yup, cheaP!
The intake track has been shortened quite a bit. The stock intake quot;boxquot; is over on the driver's side fender area. I always thought putting the intake by the header was not a great idea due to the heat generated from the header heating up the incoming air. The breather on the valve cover is no big deal. Looks like stock exhaust as well. How does it run?
Hmmmmm hot radiator air blowing in to the intake......
The long stock crossover tube is tuned to take advantage of the standing waves in the intake air column amp; thus adding HP amp; torque. A heat deflector will cool the intake charge a bit. Check the vendors for additional tips on keeping the intake charge cool.
i dunno if its possible, but could he rotate the intake to the coldside?
Reach under the header cover (when the engine is cold) If the cast iron header with a narrow (lt;3quot;) tube, it is a FED Std (that's good), if the header has a large (gt;5quot;) bulge in it, you have a CA car, and two CAT's (avoid if at all possible unless you need to meet CA emissions). If it a tube header, it is from a 2001+ (that's best, but not necessary).
Does anyone know if the blue ignition wires are stock? If not, that is a good thing.
How many miles on the car? Over 100K, see if the timing belt amp; water pump has been changed (if no, you will need to do that ASAP), has anyone looked at the CAT, have the coil packs been replace?
Originally Posted by cardude720
i dunno if its possible, but could he rotate the intake to the coldside?
Probably not without relocating the radiator overflow tank.
It's hard to tell the sum total of modifications just from one cropped pic of the middle portion of the engine bay. However, I don't see anything more than what others have pointed out.
Originally Posted by Steve in VC
Reach under the header cover (when the engine is cold) If the cast iron header with a narrow (lt;3quot;) tube, it is a FED Std (that's good), if the header has a large (gt;5quot;) bulge in it, you have a CA car, and two CAT's (avoid if at all possible unless you need to meet CA emissions). If it a tube header, it is from a 2001+ (that's best, but not necessary).
Does anyone know if the blue ignition wires are stock? If not, that is a good thing.
How many miles on the car? Over 100K, see if the timing belt amp; water pump has been changed (if no, you will need to do that ASAP), has anyone looked at the CAT, have the coil packs been replace?
I have a 99 and the same ignition wires. I think mine are stock.
Thanks all for the responses. The car has 71k miles on it. It runs pretty well in my opinion but that's based on a limited sample. I test drove an 01 auto and another 00 w/5 SPD manual and this car has more pep and smoother acceleration. New top, interior is pristine and no rust issues to speak of. It looks like it has had new paint as well - not brand new but within the last couple of years. I'm just worried about the non-stock engine work.
I believe it is a Cali emissions model, the connector for the first O2 sensor is front and center on the valve cover. The wires to it are Bosch replacement colors, so it's been replaced as well. Extended for header upgrade? Possibly, might explain the quot;more pepquot; The blue ignition wires are aftermarket, but most likely NGK Blue, which is an upgrade. The CAI and valve cover breathers are easily replaceable
I would be cautious with car like that. There may be other mods on there that aren't very noticeable or were installed poorly. Also, cheap mods like that point to a car that was driven very hard.
Personally I'm not into mods that someone else did, especially if they were unknown. I would be reluctant to take it on. There are a lot of stock Miatas out there and that is what I would be looking for. Then, if you want to mod, you would know what you had.
Originally Posted by leakyfaucet
I would be cautious with car like that. There may be other mods on there that aren't very noticeable or were installed poorly. Also, cheap mods like that point to a car that was driven very hard.
These cars are hardly fragile. I've driven my car hard since the day I bought it and now, with 136k miles and 2 years with 10psi of boost, it only thanks me more every time I drive it.
All of the mods pictured and/or mentioned in this thread are very superficial and if they were installed poorly it would be immediately obvious to someone who knew what they're looking at.
I wouldn't take any more caution with this car than any other non-modified used car I was considering buying.
You mention it may have been re-painted. See if you can find out why. That's a bigger red flag to me than an inexpensive shorty intake and valve cover breather. Bolt on mods are easy to fix/replace. Bondo and covered-up body work can be hiding another whole can of worms. And at only 71k I can't imagine it *needed* a respray due to normal use.
Originally Posted by oldschool
Thanks all for the responses. The car has 71k miles on it. It runs pretty well in my opinion but that's based on a limited sample. I test drove an 01 auto and another 00 w/5 SPD manual and this car has more pep and smoother acceleration. New top, interior is pristine and no rust issues to speak of. It looks like it has had new paint as well - not brand new but within the last couple of years. I'm just worried about the non-stock engine work.
New paint isn't always a good thing. A lot of times it's a sign that has been wrecked. Did you check all the places where body parts come together for uniform gaps?
Body is good, no gaps. Got a look underneath and the frame looks good as well. For what it's worth Carfax and Autocheck are clean.
These cars run better with a longer intake tract than on that car, but it's easily fixed and that alone should not hold you back from buying an otherwise good car. Same goes for the stupid filter in the crankcase vent hole, all you need is the PCV and hose to fix that. Let a mechanic that you trust take a look at this car and get his opinion, from this distance our opinion is worth exactly what you paid us for it.
Thanks for all of the inputs. As it turns out the paint job is just a little touch up spray around the drivers license slot on the back. Otherwise, it's been well taken care of except for the hobby shop engine mod. I'll have a mechanic take a look.
They must not have smog checks in VA, because that intake isn't smog legal. Also the little filter on the valve cover, that's not suppose to be there. The valve cover fitting is suppose to have a tube leading into the intake tract, entering behind the Mass airflow sensor, so that air being sucked thru the egr system is metered. Here in Calif, it's the seller's responsibility for being smog compliant, that would be the dealer, in your case. Bob |
Post at 2-7 08:08 AM
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