Considering re-joining the Mazda community...

[erod550]

Yea I'm sure I'd be hitting the top frame with a helmet on. Without it I fit fine though.

[roninsoldier83]

I know a bunch go manual for autocross. I'm about 5' 14" and about 225 lbs. I fit (or wear) the Miata. When we put up the top at the snowcone event, with the helmet on, I was hitting the roof. On the other hand, with the top down, there is plenty of head room!

And for the record, I've seen a bench that weighs 300 (couldn't budge it but I did see it)!

Haha! :lol:

Yeah, I didn't consider helmet with the top down, but I'm sure I'll be in the same situation haha. The price you pay for running a ~2200 lbs car, right?

[ecam8000]

Haha! :lol:

The price you pay for running a ~2200 lbs car, right?

Speaking of that $2200 for 2200 lbs. That's a better deal than hamburger!

[roninsoldier83]

Speaking of that $2200 for 2200 lbs. That's a better deal than hamburger!

Hahahaha!! :lol:

I didn't even consider that! Well played sir

[erod550]

Without the AC and PS, it's even less than that, depending on the weight of those wheels.

[coloskydiver]

I am 6'3" , 175lbs and fell like I fit great in the Miata. My wife makes fun of me and calls me McGrubber but it is all in fun. I have not worn a helmet in the car yet but am a little concerned of it hitting the roll bar. As far as comfort goes, changing out the steering wheel made a big difference. For about $225 (includes hub) I think it is a must for us taller guys. The more I have driven my Miata the more I love it and the thing I love the most is how it handles. Thing drives on rails. Later down the road I could easily see my self buying another NA if I could get it for $2,200. They are easy to work on, tons of mods, parts are easy to find and there is nothing like driving a convertable.

[chickenwafer]

He said something about some mod that made the steering lighter... not sure what he was talking about.

He may mean he did a "real" full manual conversion on the rack, which involves completely disassembling the rack and removing the internal fluid seals and welding the quill shaft.

This means you no longer have to work the steering against the resistance of the internal seals which gets you as close as possible to a full manual rack and makes it easier to turn at low speeds. It also means, however, you can't simply bolt back in a PS pump, run some lines to it and have power steering, because it's been fully de-powered.

Not sure if that's what he meant (it's a common mods on RX-7's and Miata's) but just an FYI

[Regulator]

DO IT!!!

Did you know your MS6 was the first one that I rode in? 1 Year later I was driving an MS6.

[ecam8000]

Well did you buy it?

[roninsoldier83]

I picked the car up last night.

Although, I've got some work to do on her to say the least. When I test drove it, the headlight motors worked just fine.... got on I25, hit around ~75mph, hit a huge speed bump, and the damn driver side headlight motor gave out, and I spent the rest of the drive home with the light bouncing up and down lol. So, I'll be replacing the hood and the headlight, as well as the parking lights ASAP. On top of that, the soft-top is completely shot, taped up, can't see out of it at ALL.

Other than that, the car drives just fine. Motor feels healthy for a car with 129k miles, and tranny shifts without much of an issue.

I have no problem swapping out a hood & headlight, but I don't do paint... anyone want to recommend me to a decent body shop in the southeast Denver/Aurora area?

[RX-7 Chris]

glad you picked up the car.

[roninsoldier83]

I am 6'3" , 175lbs and fell like I fit great in the Miata. My wife makes fun of me and calls me McGrubber but it is all in fun. I have not worn a helmet in the car yet but am a little concerned of it hitting the roll bar. As far as comfort goes, changing out the steering wheel made a big difference. For about $225 (includes hub) I think it is a must for us taller guys. The more I have driven my Miata the more I love it and the thing I love the most is how it handles. Thing drives on rails. Later down the road I could easily see my self buying another NA if I could get it for $2,200. They are easy to work on, tons of mods, parts are easy to find and there is nothing like driving a convertable.

Yeah, everything seems like it would be fairly easy to work on, so I'm looking forward to having a car I can work on without feeling like a contortionist haha! I saw your wheel in your built thread, and it is already on my list of future mods

He may mean he did a "real" full manual conversion on the rack, which involves completely disassembling the rack and removing the internal fluid seals and welding the quill shaft.

This means you no longer have to work the steering against the resistance of the internal seals which gets you as close as possible to a full manual rack and makes it easier to turn at low speeds. It also means, however, you can't simply bolt back in a PS pump, run some lines to it and have power steering, because it's been fully de-powered.

Not sure if that's what he meant (it's a common mods on RX-7's and Miata's) but just an FYI

As it turns out, I was mistaken, he didn't do that mod, it was just something he INTENDED to do one day. Basically, the lines are looped.

DO IT!!!

Did you know your MS6 was the first one that I rode in? 1 Year later I was driving an MS6.

I still remember that meet, haha!! Although, I won't lie, if my giving you a ride in my old MS6 inspired you to buy one, in order to make sure I don't corrupt you, I'm not going to give you a ride in my 335xi

[RX-7 Chris]

You still need to change your ride from the 2006 STI

[roninsoldier83]

You still need to change your ride from the 2006 STI

LOL, didn't even notice that.... and I haven't owned my STI for about a year now, haha! Updated.

[erod550]

I picked the car up last night.

Although, I've got some work to do on her to say the least. When I test drove it, the headlight motors worked just fine.... got on I25, hit around ~75mph, hit a huge speed bump, and the damn driver side headlight motor gave out, and I spent the rest of the drive home with the light bouncing up and down lol. So, I'll be replacing the hood and the headlight, as well as the parking lights ASAP. On top of that, the soft-top is completely shot, taped up, can't see out of it at ALL.

Other than that, the car drives just fine. Motor feels healthy for a car with 129k miles, and tranny shifts without much of an issue.

I have no problem swapping out a hood & headlight, but I don't do paint... anyone want to recommend me to a decent body shop in the southeast Denver/Aurora area?

Was the headlight like flapping all the way closed and bouncing around? My Miata's headlights bounce quite a bit in the wind at 75-80mph, even after having my brother-in-law weld the frame of one of the headlights to the frame of the car because it was missing a couple bolts. Just the nature of pop-up headlights I guess.

As for the top, you might be able to get an upholstery shop to replace just the window if the rest of the top is in good shape, but they quoted me like $300-400 to do it because they'd have to remove the top, and that is getting into the territory of a new top with glass window. I paid around $600 for my Robbins top with rain rail, glass window, and fold-down flap and I couldn't be happier with it. I decided to pay a pro to install it since I didn't want to mess it up and have it leak on me. Installation was about $375. Most expensive thing I've done to the car including swapping the motor and tranny, but it's a quality top that should last me a long time, and I can see out of it perfectly instead of having that blurry effect from the plastic window.