Mazda NA MX5 Blog
Here we are at the close of the year, and as you can tell from the mileage not much has changed for Miyoshi. There are several issues still at large; the exhaust has a leak where the header meets the catalytic converter, and the AC system still has issues in warm weather. So the car has mostly sat garaged this year, only being driven on nice days when the weather is cool enough to not tax the AC system too much.
Now we have entered the winter season (or what passes for winter here in Houston) and I am using the car more and more as the AC can keep up on days below 80 degrees and the heather works just fine for cooler days. It's also the only Miata I have on all-season tires that I don't have to worry about driving on cold mornings and ruining a set of super 200 race tires.
I have a tune-up planned for it in January to replace the spark plugs and wires, and I am considering replacing the exhaust system with a new cat-back system to fix the exhaust leak and adding a functional catalytic converter again (it would be nice to have a quieter exhaust again). Other than that, I am just enjoying having Miyoshi around again after a year of limited use.
After a month of downtime while Clint at Gas Head Motorworks swapped a front subframe due to an incident where I was run off the road and into a curb, I finally got her back! And she even has a set of shiny new '94 hollow-spoke wheels! New tires too—we decided to go with the Falken SINCERA SN250 A/S, a 720-treadwear all-season tire which had the best overall rating on TireRack.com, knowing full well that they will age out in 5 years and require replacement long before the tread ever wears out.
The drive home from Clint's shop was an interesting one, to say the least... We had a Mazda Comp shock on the front temporarily while I was waiting for the Xida XL replacement shock to arrive, and the tires were brand new, and the car was running a shoestring alignment just to get it home. So I was being super careful as the spongy tires darted and moved all over the road with almost no grip, as the mold release was still intact. And of course, it had to start raining on the drive back.
But all of that didn't matter. Even the slight amount of drifting I did on the exit ramp from Highway 290 onto 610 North didn't faze my happiness in driving the old girl again. It quite literally brought a tear to my eye.
After another 3 weeks, I finally got her replacement Xida XL shock in from 949 Racing, and I was able to get her back on the road after another visit to Clint to get the new shock installed and the alignment done. I have to say, I missed her a lot. I'm glad to have her back.