New Miata owner, need some Advice.
 

Hey MiataForumz,

(TL;DR I have some problems, skip to the end to see them. They are numbered.)

I just bought my first NA Miata on 5-20-17, a Red 1997. I bought from an ex-STS autocross racer so it had a few mods:


Hard Dog roll bar, Ground Control coilovers, Eibach springs and adjustable sway bars, Racing Beat sway bar end links, Bosal Exhaust, Some intake, ASA 17x7 wheels with 205 Yokohama Parada tires.

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I'm 6'2", 250LBS and I just did a super aggressive Foamectamy mod which pushed me a good two inches under the roll bar and a good inch or two back and gave me so much more support and comfort. I also removed the plastic door trim to give my left leg more room and I chopped and re-glued the dead pedal to give me some more room.

I'm going to change ALL the fluids this week. I live in Ohio and this is my daily driver, so I'm putting in Mobil 1 10w-40 with the M1-110 filter for the summer and I'll swap it for 5w-30 in the winter, i'm putting in that Ford XT-M5-QS magic sauce in the trans, Mobil 1 75w-90 GL5 for the diff, Mobil 1 ATF for the PS system and some Prestone green for the coolant.

The AC is broken but I think the 97's take normal R134a so eventually i'll pull a vacuum, recharge it and put some UV dye in to check for leaks and fix them.

There is also this "Python" electronic key system under the steering wheel that doesn't work, I'm going to try to remove it and clean up the wiring. That panel is also missing but I heard its heavy so i'm going to make a replacement myself out of some sheet metal.

There's also a mess of wiring in the tombstone for the radio, when I bought it the radio didnt work so I just pulled it out, i'll look into cleaning up the wiring later. The plan down the road is to get a RetroSound Hermosa so keep the old-school Aesthetic.

There is no ABS fuse in the fuse box so i'll order one on Amazon and put it in the car whenever. I've driven and raced with no ABS before so I don't really need it, but it's a peace of mind thing.

It needs an alignment desperately as it has way too much camber for daily driving. My plans are -1.2F, -1.75R, 5.1 Caster and -.02F, .23R for toe. The steering doesn't return to center as fast as I would like so I'm hoping maxing out the caster and getting an alignment will fix that.

The car has some issues and I would like some advice as to what to do.

1- The airbag light is lit up on the dash, I think this is because the passenger side seat does not have the cable going from the buckle receiver to the plug under the carpet and the driver's side does. It's not flashing, just solid lit. There is also a blue plug under the hood that is not connected to anything and I think the airbag plugs are blue or orange IIRC. Should I try to find an OEM buckle receiver or just stiff it? There is also a white plug disconnected under the hood. I'll get some pics and post them up, hopefully someone knows what they are.

2- The door handles do not work from the inside. If I move the switch to the locked or unlocked position, nothing happens. The only way to lock or unlock the doors is from the outside with the key. Should I order new interior door handles? The locks obviously work, I think the interior plastic parts are just broken.

3- The power windows are really slow and the switches are kinda janky. I know I should take the door cards apart and grease the rails, but what grease should I use? The switch doesn't actually move the window until after I press it about three to four times. My plan was to go in there and clean the contacts and make sure all the connections are solid and re-solder any if needed.

4- None of the interior lights work. The dome light on the windshield doesn't work, and neither does the light in the ashtray. Anyone have a link for an LED replacement for these?

5- When I did the foamectamy I found out my car has those bars bolted to the transmission tunnel. I snapped the passenger side bolt in half as the threads in the tunnel were rusted and galled to all hell. Half of the bolt is still in there, I'll figure out how to get it when I feel like it. How important is this piece? To remove the driver's side seat I didn't even touch the bolt, I just filed the rivet and slid it off the bar.

Thanks guys.