Congrats on pulling the trigger. As for the rattle, I see competition mazda engine mounts on your list. That's definitely going to add some vibration to the car and undoubtedly some rattles. That reminds of yet another thing I still have in a box to slap on mine.

 

Nice, mine just went in the shop for a blown head gasket. I'd watch the Falken tires, when I was researching mine the Falkens were rated really badly for wet but OK for dry.

 

i have a set of the ziex 912s on my car, i put a new set on a month ago. i had the 912s on for 45k miles and up untill about 42-43k i had zero problems in rain.

 

Put manly tires on like R1Rs, RS3s, or Direzzas. Your car will thank you when you push it for the nice new shoes. RS3s are super cheap right now at Tirerack. I picked a new set for the RX7, $115 ea! I also have R1Rs on the NB and love them. Ran Direzzas on the Jetta. The only thing I didn't like about them was how quick they got heat in them and got greasy at the track. Great for Street/AutoX, sad and slippery at the track.

 

so i took the heat shield off the other day at my mechanics and we ended up finding a crack in the header. i feel like that might be the cause of the rattling? is this possible? if so, anyone have suggestions on what headers to buy? i was thinking about going with racelands. decent for the price yeah? also was looking to lower the car. i want it for the looks now, but maybe eventually track it. anyone got ideas to help a newbie out? anythings appreciated.

 

When the engine moves relative to the chassis, the exhaust moves too. Sometimes it will crack at the weakest point. Adding a section of flex pipe will help keep it from happening so easily again.

 

nice find! I just bought my 1990 miata white, had 73k miles and clean for $2k unmodded

 

i heard ARC intake chamber claims it will make 6hp at the wheels

 

Gain of 6HP*



*when combined with matching exhaust and aftermarket ECU. Results may vary.

 

+1 on this! This link is very useful


Hope that you can get that noise figured out and congrats on the car!~