A funny thing happened on the way to the JimmyUp drift matsuri, I ran into our friend @devilyoukno who was awesome enough to leave us with these amazing shots of the Craigslist Miata. There was even an NA getting sideways out there on Willow Springs’ Horse Theif Mile. What a day.
After adding some unnecessary bling under the hood, and then proceeding to drive the car in a quite spirited manner, I encountered evidence of the cooling system outside of where it would normally be. Now this car has always been a bit of a magician when it comes to coolant, and the overflow bottle had been replaced in the past; and was currently running a little low. So the drops on the garage floor were initially attributed to that. Then, a little pool of radiator fluid was discovered, leading to a series of back and forth emails between the retailer and the manufacturer which led to resealing the bleeder screw right behind the filler neck. Hope this holds.
It is not very often the roof comes off the Craigslist Miata to reveal the NA’s nature as a real roadster. Originally this top was bought because the original soft top came with the rare USDM drop-down “flow-through” rear glass, and it was full of holes. The car once wore a very fashionable shower cap, but a strong rainy season and an extended trip out of town meant that something had to be done. The only other time the roof came off was when the rollbar went in.
The roof accentuates the Miata’s lines, and that rear wraparound DLO is such an aesthetic improvement over the standard smaller rear window. The roof also acts to tie the chassis together, not saying that it adds considerable stiffness, but it nearly eliminates that pesky cowl shake when potholes jump out in front of you. However, the sun is shining and the weather reports show no signs of rain today, so let’s go for a drive.
Continue reading “Going Topless or Making the World’s Sexiest Dog House”
Third time’s a Charm, right? Well, actually, this time yes. Yes, it was. The last time the Craigslist Miata made the trek out to Adams, things didn’t go so good. After a bit of required wrenching that included changing all fluids and rebleeding every hydraulic system in an attempt to ensure maximum time spent running on the track, not sitting beside it.
This would be a four-hour window where the main objectives would be: keep all four wheels on the track, not crash into the fence, and drive home before traffic gets too awful. Luckily, there were only two other cars joining me for the session, a very fast TT and a modified Model 3 testing some sway bars from Eibach and wearing some very sticky rubber.
After the Audi set some fast laps, he retired for the afternoon, and at one point the Testa had to go for a charge. This left the CLM as the lone runner, essentially turning the afternoon into a private track day. It was so private in fact, that I was able to walk the track and even spend some time sweeping rocks from a few corners. Fortunately, the car made it home without incident, which is more than I can say for that poor guy driving the 18 wheeler.
