Just purchased a 1990 Miata 5-speed. Love the car already. It is such a dream to drive. I'm looking forward to updating everyone on my new additions to her and seeking advice when needed

 

welcome to the forum. What are your plans for the car?

 

Yo, 90miata, finish filling out your profile so we know more about you AND the car! welcome aboard

 

I don't have any concrete plans yet. Just got out of the Marine Corps so I've gotta take it easy on the spending for a while. But eventually either a turbo or V-8 swap.

 

First and foremost, welcome home soldier and thank you for your service! Congrats on your recent purchase of a MIATA. It, in my opinion, is one of the best values in a two seat sports car and you will lots of fun putting it into whatever state of personal customization you choose. That is what is so great about this car, there are so many things you can do to it to improve the ride, handling and look. This forum will be an excellent resource for you as you travel through its' pages.

 

There is a Miata with a 5.0 Mustang swap and a full roll cage down here in Tampa for $3500 on the local forum.

 

So I went out to the Miata to go to school and as soon as I started her up I knew something was wrong. When I started driving something was making an awful racket and rattling like crazy. Thank god for the ST otherwise I probably wouldn't be at school today. I'm gonna dive into it when I get home. I'm hoping it's nothing major

 

Yikes! Please let this forum know what you were hearing and where it was coming from: engine, drive line or rear end. Check all of the belts, fluid levels, especially the oil. These are the areas I would check first and do avoid running long until you discover where these sounds were coming from! You may be needing this forum's help sooner than you thought. We'll be waiting..........fingers crossed.

 

I appreciate the advice. I left it parked the rest of the day. Probably won't have time to tear into it until Saturday. I'm very into cars but still a newbie so I'm sure there will be plenty of questions once I get into it.

 

The hydraulic lifters sound a lot like a rod knock when they collapse. Only one will make you think the engine is coming apart. Use Rotella T6 synthetic oil and it will help clean everything up. It is a diesel oil so it has a lot more detergents than even the best gasoline oils do. Miatas are very sensitive to oil quality.