MRM331

So, it's time to sell the 331 Laguna and move on. The need to find a better place for my kids to go to school as well as a need to do something different sort of came together and convinced me this is the way to go. I never intended on keeping the car this long but I also didn't really build it to sell (like the other three I built). While I built the rest with the intention of building them and selling them to someone I built this one specifically with the intention of it being a viable alternative to a track day C5 Corvette. I think I did this and have been very happy with how it turned out. That said, the quick cash it could turn into will help make the move to another home easier (one with an actual garage this time) and its absence will allow me to replace it with another.

Because I built it to a certain goal I think it may have a pretty small market as it now sits. I've pretty much resolved myself to the fact that I'll have to "detrack" it a bit to sell. I intend to leave the drive line as it now is: 331/T5/7.5 with a new TruTrack limited slip. Below is what I think I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to do to make it appealing to people other than track rats:

-Add a soft top back
-Return the dash to a more street orientation-remove track warning lights, put a stereo back in, remove door bars

Beyond that I'm really torn about what to do about the engine management. As it now sits, with a MS2, it may not be able to pass emissions. Currently it has a modified Ford harness with a MS2 adapter. The harness is not my best work. I planned to complete and install a stand alone MS2 harness I have been building for it but now I'm wondering if I should pick up a reman a9l (they now offer them again), swap the injectors out for some 24's, put the mass air meter back in, and add the EGR back in...what do you all think???

-Jason

.boB

I think that's a good idea. Trying to sell a track toy that doesn't fit any particular racing class would be tough. It is a very limited market. Particularly in PA. Before doing all that - or while you're doing it - you might consider selling it in a western state that doesn't have to worry about emissions, like Colorado. Maybe advertise on the FM site.

The new cloth top will certainly be a positive selling point. But I don't think I would change the dash or add a stereo. The new buyer might want to customize it himself, and you'll be lucky to get 50 cents on the dollar for those new parts.

MRM331

Thanks Bob, I plan on advertising it here, on my website, possibly with Martin Wilson, on the local Craigslist, on Miata.net, on Club Roadster and maybe on eBay so chances are it will not go locally. V8 Miatas we've built or restored on are currently living in Hawaii, Kansas, New Jersey, Arizona, New Mexico and Arkansas so we've done it before.

My thoughts on the dash is that I have a few switches and lights that were not hooked up or were functional at one point but are not now used. I have a few stereos around so adding one is not a big deal. My current center stack has the HVAC controls moved down a slot so that I can see the aftermarket gauges without looking down. Doing this was great at the track but made the HVAC controls a little less usable as the cables are not really long enough to stretch. I could figure this out but then I'm left with still no stereo. The car currently has an amp that I plug into my phone to listen to Pandora or songs I have on it. I figure keeping the custom gauge faces with the rescalled tach is a good thing. I'm actually having Adam of RevLimiter make me up a new matching water temp face since I had removed that gauge originally since I had an aftermarket one in the center stack.

My real concern was the idea of selling it with the MS2. I'll have it tuned and running well so the potential owner would not even need to worry about it unless they wanted to change something out. I'm just worried the perception of it having a "tunable" ecu may scare some people away.

I may make up the clean harness and install it but offer to convert it back to an a9l if someone needs me to. It's the same cost to me ether way.

Thanks Bob, please anyone else with an opinion chime in.

-Jason

577nitro

I concur with .boB, many western states no longer have emission requirements like the east, and ditto on Colorado. I would not replace all of the nice track type dash unless someone asks. That looks pretty much the way a lot of the "streetcrew" like it anyway.
The very best of luck, I know I just mad a similar Hard choice to sell house and move back to Colorado without my Miata project..but we move on to another project.
-Fred
Hi .bob, coming your way next week

mrmustang

My advice is to put the convertible top on it, but the 24lb injectors and the A9L on it, clean up the harness as only you can do, and yes, swap the dash over to a street configuration, then put it on BAT (bring a trailer).

6 of my 8 V8 cars sold after they were mentioned on BAT. Now that BAT is offering their own auction format, I see your car as the perfect one for the first V8 converted Miata to be sold there.

As for inspections, it really depends on where you live, as the car is over 20 years old, and some states have that as a break point. Others, like SC, no longer have an inspection for emissions, so it's really not the concern of the seller, but that of the buyer as to whether the car can and will pass emissions


Just my two cents worth.


Bill S.

PS: Any ideas on an asking price yet?

Kevin S.

We have emissions in Colorado but not where you are at down south or up north in ft Collins. lucky bastards! lol

Also good luck with the sale! I agree with everything you said. Make it more streetable / pass emissions to broaden the possible interested buyers. Why won't it pass emissions as is though? It's a 94 so obd2 shouldn't be an issue or am I missing something? No cats?

Also where are some pics of this beast ?

charchri4

I must be in the small market because I would have wanted it just like it is but I would want both the soft and hard top in the car. Boys like buttons light and switches and your cockpit style set up would be very appealing to me as a buyer. But yeah that is just me!

MRM331

I haven't touched it yet, it still has all its functional and non functional bells and whistles. Come out to PA with a check Jim and it can be yours

MRM331

Honestly I'm not really changing anything drastic, just finishing up or removing a few things that are not finished up to how I'd want them to be to sell it. The center stack has a few non working switches that were there to switch the wideband guage from one side to the other should I had added a second wideband. I never did so other than looking cool it does nothing. Although they are in place and labeled I never hooked up my three big red warning lights that take the place of the stock water temp gauge. Its less work to remove them and put the gauge back (I've got a matching GT40 face plate on order for it). The HVAC controls are not cool with there little nubs missing and making them work where the contols are now is going to be a chore.
What it will have are the upgrades I did over the course of the last summer after I could use my arm again. They are:
-The afore mentioned BIG Howe radiator
-Brand new custom built 7.5" 3.08 rear with a new Eaton True Track carrier
-All new wheel bearings
-Rear Sport Miata Rotors, hangers, pads, calipers
-Mazda 929 brake master
-Crane 1.72 Rockers

I am slightly bummed that it may now be as close to perfect as ever and I've got to see it go. The research that went into the rear upgrade alone is crazy. It doesn't have to sell but doing so gives my wife and I the opportunity to move our family to a home with something more than on-street parking quickly. Currently every time I need to do something to the car it involves a day at my father's garage which, while I enjoy spending time there with my fathet, really does not help the dynamics of my own young family. I could continue in this situation for anothet two to three years and make the move with this car or sell it now and get into a better situation for my family and my hobby more quickly.
The chance to try something new is a good feeling also. I love the Ford engine. I really think that while the LSx is a great piece of engineering and, brace yourselves everyone for what I'm about to say, out of the box a perhapse slightly more modern package, it comes with a pretty heafty price over what can be done with a Ford. I think this new Honda idea may be the same way but a bit more modern. As I look further into the Honda J3x I see a lot of the same innovation and picking and choosing from the Honda oem parts bin that I saw with the Fords 10 years ago. Its sort of invigorating to be again working on a viable "formula" to make this new option work.

To answer a previous question from Bill, I'm not giving it away but I didn't build it to make a profit. That said, I know within $50 what I have in it not counting consumables and know what I could get parting it out. If it looks like I can't get a reasonable price I'll pull some of the parts that have been custom built (engine, rear, etc), replace them with standard parts and let it go for what other average Ford 5.0 Miatas are going for. I got $23k for the last one I built which was 6/10ths of what this one is. I know the market is not what it was before the great recession but I still think I can ask very low $20's for it with a new top, ac and 400 hp.

-Jason

94miataM

I agree with Mr. Mustang, bringatrailer.com is a great community for a car like this. Modified seem to go for less though than rare originals on their auction section but the exposure is great for craigslist or ebay listings.

As for making it more streetable, I think radios are a waste with all the options out there for bluetooth. I picked up mine over the winter with no radio and a tone of switches and couldn't be happier (also with one of your engines in it)! I found a product by wetsounds for boats that is their stealth 6 bluetooth speaker that fits perfectly under the roll bar. Sounds better than any headrest speakers and you can actually hear it at highway speeds with the top down.