Ahh, springtime.
The days begin to get longer, the snow melts, the birds chirp, and the air warms. Plants begin to blossom, flower buds begin their vertical journey to the surface, and hope builds for warm weather that will allow sleeping projects to be rousted from their winter dormancy. Love is in the air! Love is a powerful thing, it makes you do things normally you wouldn’t do. It makes you do crazy things.
I did a thing.
Not that I really needed a Miata. I didn’t even really need another project car, I have a backlog of parts I hoarded over the winter for my Mazdaspeed 3, that is currently occupying about 70% of the space in my little office. Seriously, there are boxes everywhere in here. I really don’t have the space to store it, or the budget, or whatever other reasons I could think of for not owning one.
But, sometimes you do things out of love. It didn’t hurt that I got this 1996 NA8 5-speed for a stonking deal WITH the hardtop. And the brakes were recently done. New clutch, master cylinder, and slave cylinder as well. Did I already mention that I got such a good deal that it was too good to pass up?
So, the Five Five Garage stable has now expanded to 4 vehicles and my Mazda family has grown to two. I have spent the past few days getting to know the latest acquisition, I am beginning to understand why people fall in love with the NA’s. They are light, flip-up headlights are the business, and fun to drive. But like all relationships there are some kinks to work out. I hate the steering wheel, space is really at a premium, and I have to fold myself up like origami to get in and out of the car. Thankfully aftermarket solutions exist ( pfft, you didn’t really expect me to keep this car stock did you?) to remedy some of my gripes and have already begun their journey to my front door. Maintenance wise there are also some issues that need addressing, nothing really out of the ordinary when you consider that this car is over 20 yrs old. Expect to see some Miata maintenance videos on the channel soon!
Don’t fret Mazdaspeed 3 fam! I have not forgotten about Project Rocket and there will be some new content for that as well! I finally have acquired a downpipe ( from CP-E, it looks so nice that I want to hang it on my wall), some other odds and ends (no spoilers!), and hopefully this year I can start the tuning process (E85! Livin’ the corn life!). This will probably be the craziest summer ever for me as an auto enthusiast. Two project cars going at the same time? My sanity! My bank account!
2017 was a beginning and I am glad that all of you there decided to come along for the ride. 2018 seems to be the year I pick up steam and shift into the next gear!
I better get to work. These parts aren’t going to install themselves!
-Randy
