I used to own a very cool red 1991 Miata (you can find it at http://www.cardomain.com/ride/364012).

But as of 1/24/09, there is a Crystal White '92 sitting in my driveway.

The car is straight, virtually rust-free, and while it's missing quite a few items, it does have a complete wiring harness, fuel lines, and brake lines (which is a BIG relief to me). And since it'll be a roadster that has been Frankensteined from other Miatas, I've dubbed it "Roadstein" (pronounced road-schtiiiine), even though I'm not much on naming cars.

Body panels are needed, but from my dream list, I'll be sourcing complete suspensions from a NB Miata for the better suspension geometry, and a 5-speed trans. Engine choice is still up in the air, but it'll either be a Greddy'd 1.6, a '01+ 1.8 with '99 head, or a Mazdaspeed motor (found one, but it's expennnnsive....). Basically, I want to build this car with the best parts from the various years.

When the weather warms up, the car will get a thorough cleaning and cataloguing of parts on it, then the chassis will be stitch-welded in a similar fashion to the Targa Miata, and the front and rear past the shock towers will probably be drilled and chamfered to help reduce rotational inertia and help with the center of gravity. After that, the parts collecting begins.

The priority will be on piecing together the suspension, though.

This will be a long-term project, and my 4-year-old daughter is excited to start helping. She's already insisted the car be painted yellow, but paint is still a few years off. The timeframe is as long as the budget allows. But since it's not a daily driver, I'll be able to take my time, research, and do things right. And be as anal as I want to be about the details.

"RoadStein" Part 1 - The Deep Clean

I was finally able to pull the cover off of the '92 and spend a little quality time with it.

With bucket, scrubby sponge, toothbrush, and Brillo pad in hand, I started to clean 17 years of grime off the car. After 45 minutes, the passenger side of the cabin is back to it's shiny Crystal White hue. There is a metal bracket in the footwell (probably where the ECU bolts) that needs to come out for some surface rust removal, but the area is now relatively clean. There are also two drain holes in the floor that have a square of black tar surrounding them, and this has become brittle and cracking on the car. I haven't decided yet if this will come out completely, or be replaced by something like truck bed liner.

One spot that is interesting to note is where the front of the seat bracket mounts. I've noticed there is a TON of debris that has collected under this bracket that'll have to be blown out. Carpet will probably keep it from filling back up, but if you ever have occasion to take your carpet out, you may want to clean this area before reinstalling the carpet.

Since the engine is out, I'm able to detail the engine compartment as well. There was a rediculous amount of crud that had collected in the corner by the wiper motor, and that has been cleaned out. On the other side, it appears there was a leak from the master cylinder at one time, and that will require some paint removal and primer in the near future. Otherwise, a more detailed cleaning of the engine bay is in order when I'll be able to remove some of the metal hydraulic lines and tie the wiring harness out of the way.

Besides, how many people get to say they got to scrub their firewall??

I also took a scrubby sponge to the rear fenders and got a bunch of the black speckles off the paint. You couldn't feel them when you ran your hand along it, but they came right off and revealed the gleaming white underneath.

The rest of the cleaning will probably have to wait until Spring, but I'm already impressed with the results. It's not perfect, but it's a great start.

Here's a "before-and-after" photo.