an odd 91
 

Hey everyone. I haven't the slightest clue as to how pictures are posted, but I am having a really hard time deciphering exactly what this car is. The story goes; I bought a car 3 states away with basically only seeing it in person one time. It's a pretty deep green color with a white hardtop and no name wide spoked sporty rims. My question is basically, were there other dark green colors available for the 91 besides brg? I had no idea such a thing existed, so I didn't have the sense to check a door tag for a paint code. No matter the color it was a screaming deal. 91 miata hardtop, set of aftermarket rims including a full size spare, perfect body, 208000 miles, $1300. Amarite?

The only green I know on the 1991 is BRG. Maybe it's a repaint job if not BRG. Sounds like a great deal. The hardtop itself, if in good condition, is worth $1300. Hopefully the car is mechanically sound, too.

Mechanically, it seems solid in the chassis less a few miscellaneous bushings. I wad told once that tappy valves are happy valves, yet this site and a few other state otherwise. The top has a blemish the size of a pea with a nice headliner. If nothing else you instilled confidence in me, considering it's a done deal. I had my last car for six years and I plan to have this one longer, so you'll see me around. Thank you for your response.

I would have bought it without hesitation. If you consider you paid $1,300 for the hardtop, they threw the rest of the car in for free. :)

Sweet! I'll give it a thorough once over and update after it makes the 8 hour trip home. Update with pics of course.

Well here is an admittedly horrible picture

That looks great. If you change the oil for some Shell Rotella T6 synthetic (blue jug), the tapping will likely cease and driving pleasure will be yours. The Rotella T6 is a high-detergent oil that will break down the carbon, varnish, and other gunk inside your lifters and the rest of your engine and eventually clean it all out. Your next oil change after changing to Rotella will yield some of the dirtiest oil you have ever seen as it has broken loose all of the garbage that has been accumulating. Tapping lifters is really only common on solid lifter engines.

Wow, thanks for the advice sixshooter. Would it be okay to use the t6 for the long drive home?

Looks a lot better than I expected. Rims aren't half bad, either.
:cool:

Hey it came with 5 of those rims, so as long as they dont weigh a metric ton and arent curbed to death they may just stay.

T6 is my regular oil now for all of my vehicles. It is just good oil with better/more beneficial additives than most. Oil is cheap. The additives are a big part of the expense difference.

If you really want to learn about motor oils, spend a few years reading all of the articles and forum discussions at Used Oil Analysis - Bob is the Oil Guy - Bob is the Oil Guy
Everything points to Rotella T6 as the top oil for your car or truck.

Some mistake injector clicking for valves tap i got my 91 in grate shape for 1,200 the guy was saying the valves need work but turned out it was injector clicking. and it ran ruff he was thinking it need seals for it was smoking a bit but just need new plug wires stop smoking and runs smooth

I'll keep that in mind, but I'm pretty confident that it is a noise from the lifter assemblies. I also believe it to be pretty well documented on engine configurations such as these, to be a problem. The sound I heard was fairly loud. Not likely to be injectors unfortunately.

The B6 and BP engines are notorious for lifter noise when the oil hasn't been changed regularly.

Interesting development.... the estate from which I purchased my miata from had 2 miatas. The green one that I wanted and another green "parts" car that had been a total loss. Well my great aunt, who lives in Illinois near me, had both titles. With no fault to anyone, I was told my car was a 91. turns out it is a 96, which changes practically everything. So i went from having a 91 with some odd shade of green that wasnt in the list of colors for the 91 model year, to a 96 miata with an odd shade of green.... that still isnt on the list of colors for 96!! Basically a simple vin/title discrepancy which I'm actually rather pleased with. I kind of like that it is obdII for diagnostic purposes. So yeah, buying cars sight unseen 8 hours from home is risky business, but in this instance it has worked in my favor. Thoughts?

The '96 is a much better car all around -bigger brakes, engine, differential, etc. It also has more chassis bracing.

The hardtop alone is worth $700.

Now you get to update the year model in your profile, too!

Im pretty excited. this is my last weekend without it. April 6th shes coming home with me. Ive met some guys in my area that actually track their roadsters. considering it more and more every day. Doghouse, here I come.

Update! Brought the car home and finalized everything. It is in fact a 96 as stated earlier in the thread. The color discrepancy also comes to a head today. After checking the door tag, I retrieved a paint code of m8 making it montego blue mica, which explains why the photos I received of the car appeared green from the sunlight. It's a good day and sorry about the terrible pic, but I've been going for 36 hours now and am going to bed.

4/6/2014
Suspected a collapsed lifter, so I tore the car down, removed the cams and inspected each lifter. Due to being a giant weenie, I purchased 16 new lifters. While waiting for the lifters to arrive I did brakes on all four corners. Slide pin on left rear was seized and required replacement. the "quick and easy" option was to buy the new caliper, cut the pin with a grinder, then screw the pin out of the caliper bracket... So thats exactly what I did. Cleaned up around the car and removed the hardtop only to find that the soft top was brand new... Well Ill be, this just keeps getting better. Time to move to the shifter turret and its various replaceable parts.... Oh snap, previous owner did the shifter turret down to every last part as well as fresh fluid. Im falling in love. lets go check out the diff. Ooh boy, factory bracing riddles the undercarriage. Falling in love? Im head over heels at this point. The long and short of it, is that my $1300 car turned in to about a $2000 dollar car which is still ok, all things considered.
4/8/2014
Lifters came in and are sitting in a bucket of oil until I can get home to start dropping them in... One problem, i rolled the car in gear by accident and spun the motor about 1/4 turn (when looking at the crankshaft dowel). So, just spin it back and ensure TDC and its no big deal right? Sixshooter im hoping for a response from you, sir.

Yes, you can spin it back without an issue. Getting the cam timing set right whenever the belt is being replaced usually requires a little bit of turning it back and forth.

Getting the timing belt timed just right often requires a couple of tries. And the marks on the cam gears are somewhat counter-intuitive. I often turn the engine slowly in the proper direction with a wrench once the belt is installed to ensure everything is dead on when it comes back around.

Does your Montego '96 have a tan interior and electric windows, mirrors, and cruise control? If so, you also have the desirable Torsen limited slip differential.

None of those options are present, but when I look at the miata guide to deciphering differentials it looks like a torsen when looking at the 3rd(?) Member. Lifters are in, cams installed, timed, and lower timing cover installed before the wifey said it's bed time. I can say with certainty that this is the most fun I've had wrenching simply due to the thought of getting to drive with the top down.

These cars are pretty easy to work on, too.

Just think how much more fun it will be once you upgrade the suspension, brakes, and add a turbo, haha!

And the first trip out. Only complaint is a rattle coming from ? Somewhere behind me. Trunk lid rods are still in the clip. Haven't washed it yet though. It's supposed to rain around here.

You haven't washed it? It only takes a cup of water ;)