THSCC Forums

I have narrowed my selection down to two:

First one:

1993, 88k Miles. 2nd owner. 1.6l motor. Has a hardtop, leather, cruise, Konis, power windows, and a front spoiler. Selling for about $4K (the top alone is worth about $1k I figure).

Second one:

1994, 109K miles. 3rd owner. 1.8l motor. New soft top and cables, timing belt has been changed at 90K, cloth seats, Konis, Kosei wheels, I beleive the other options to be in line with those of the 1993. It also has a new head unit, and speakers. Not a huge thing, but a plus. Selling for $5k.

So what would THSCC do?

The 1993 looks to be the better deal. Pretty sure you can get at least $1k out of the top. SM guys have driven the price of those through the roof (pun intended).

Is the soft top there and in decent shape? If so I'd be the earlier car and sell the hard top, personally. There just ain't $2k in difference in that motor. You could get the 1.6 to 1.8 power levels for a whole lot less than the $2k, that's for dang sure.


--Donnie

i don't know...the hardtop may be worth $1k on the street, but is it worth it to Jeb??? the 94 is a 1.8L with kosei's...are the kosei's stock legal? are you planning to run stock? the t-belt is also a big plus IMO. the 1.6 can get to 1.8 but not if you plan on running stock.

do either have service histories?
do either have the torsens?
have both been checked for standard rust areas for NA miatas?

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05 MCS

I can agree with both Donnie and Chris for different reasons. If you want to run in stock class than the 94 may be the better way to go. If you want to run in STS2 than the 93 would probably be the better bet as you can sell the hardtop to fun some of the suspension goodies. A timing belt is a very good thing but was the water pump done at the same time? My R had the timing belt done before I bought it but the water pump was original and started leaking about a year after buying the car (not a big deal as I do my own work) but you have to remove all the timing belt to do the water pump so to be safe I just replaced the timing belt again when I did the water pump. All this is just food for thought.

If the 94 has a torsen than I would probably go that route and run in stock but if it has an open diff I would probably go the route of the 93 and build it for STS2. Unless you have plans to run in CSP than throw all my opinions out the window. Just my $0.02

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2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

I just answered his question outside of racing. My point was he can *sell* the hard top quite easily. So yeah, it's worth $1k to him!

If he wants to race the car, we need to know what he's most interested in. Either car should be a good STS2 starter car as long as they don't have a Torsen. If you want to go CSP, well, then it depends how far you want to go...


--Donnie

- What class do you want to run in?
- Does the 94 have a Torsen?
- What other maintenance records do the owners have (shifter boots, etc)?
- What are your plans with the car (autocross only vs dual purpose track car)?
- Are you looking to buy and drive or tweak the car further?

With this vintage Miata you'll need to invest at a minimum in a full set of fine thread alignment bolts, and think about heater hoses and valve cover gaskets and fuel filter and transmission and rear differential fluids. Records = good.

Also, have you ever driven one in anger?

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Timing belts in Miatas mean nothing. It's a non-interference engine, so worst case, it breaks and you're replacing it... no harm, no foul

As far as records and what type of stuff you want to do with the car, both cars could be justified. For me, the '93 is the better deal all around. If you want to track it, you have a lot of the expensive stuff covered already. Add a rollbar, harnesses, pads and rotors, flush the fluids and you're on track for under another $600.

The difference on track with '94 1.8L and a '93 1.6L can easily be made up by driver skill, and like Donnie said, you can do a lot to 1.6 cheaply to make good power. Another plus of the '93 is less overall miles, which should mean even if maintenance was neglected, the damage should be less.

I owned a '93 just like what you're talking about and bought it with 96k on it bone stock for $4500 about 5 years ago and it was in real nice shape for the year, and fast out of the box. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

I think at this point, I am leaning towards running in STS2 and eventually in CSP(?). Long term goal would be to supercharge it.

How can I tell if the 94 has the Torsen rear end?

As for the top, it would be nice to have, especially if I get into track. Not sure at this point if I would sell it or not.

Some other things I left off of the 1994, the top has a glass rear window. It also has a new radiator. Neither one is a deal breaker. I am now kind of leaning towads the 93, just based on the few responses so far.

Looking forward to the day crew chiming in now.

The only way to truly know if the '94 has a Torsen is to get the VIN and call Mazda Corporate. They can run it and tell you the entire build package. Otherwise, if the previous owner swapped in a torsen, I would think they would highlight that. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

That glass window would interfere with a rollbar if you were thinking about installing one IIRC.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

If you are serious about the SC, the get the 94. Much better options for teh 1.8.

If its only a dream, get the 93.

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

This would be a good thread to read: http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums/sh ... hp?t=18387

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Go to Miata.net and get familiar with the different packages offered for '94. If it was a leather package, you'd definitely have a Torsen rear end. I think there was a "B package" in '94 which had power options with cloth seats. That's what you should be hoping for in the '94. If it's a base model, I'd pass it by.

The 1.6 does appear to be a better deal on paper. It's probably got the VSLD in it, but they have a reputation for having a short life span. I bought Spratte's 1.6 2 years ago for my SM2 project. At 113k, it still worked.

I've never driven a 1.6 car, always 1.8 (Spratte's 1.6 didn't stay in the car for long after I got hold of it). Ryan had his '90 running really quick in CSP. Stock cheap, CSP or ST2 $$.

One final input, there's nothing wrong with being patient to get what you really want.

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“I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways.” - A.J. Foyt

Kevin Butler
Mobetta Autosport Spec E30 #612
2003 C5 Z06 Corvette
AFR Miata, SM2 61, '93 w/200 SC'd RWHP - soon to be resurrected
Waaaay too many other projects....

I started out in that Miata and never once complained about power. Granted I may have if I hadn't done a completely miserable job of setting up the suspension on it.

I've driven one NB Miata with the 1.8 in it. And I know it's not apples to apples, but I remember that the 1.6 just seemed to love to have the crap revved out of it.

Unless you're putting a S/C into inside of two years, I'd get the '93. 1.8s aren't that hard to find.

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

I voted '93 because of the lower miles and hardtop. The improved gas mileage is sort of nice too. My '95 got in the low 20's while most people report high 20's city and mid 30's hwy on the 1.6 cars.

--Kevin H.

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2003 WRX (again!)