Project MSM Rescue
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:24 am
New arrival to the Goodwin Racing family!
This car belonged to a gentleman who wanted to trade it in for a new vehicle, but on his way to the dealer the car sprung a coolant leak and had to be towed. The dealer said they suspected the head gasket had gone, didn't want the car on trade-in so he picked up his new truck and now just wanted to get rid of the Miata.
That's where we came in! Took a look at the car, was instantly impressed by how nice the overall condition of the car, interior, etc. was. Some of these limited edition cars get owners who don't appreciate them and they get beat up, but that certainly wasn't the case here. After some poking around we had a strong suspicion that the head gasket was fine and it was likely just a water pump. Handed the guy some cash and rolled the non-running car into the trailer and took it home.
The whole drive home we debated who the car was going to. We went up there on Greg's tip, and as the resident MSM expert OF COURSE he wants another one but once I saw that it was a Titanium Grey (on the first call we thought he had said it was red) suddenly I was warming up to it fast. Love that color. Well, whoever ends up with it, we couldn't pass this one up! Time to start going through the car and get it up and running.
Back at the shop, first thing to do is figure out what we're dealing with on the engine side. At first the car didn't want to start. Traced that to a bad coil, swapped it for another spare in the shop, and it started right up. Ran it for a moment and it was just dumping a river of coolant on to the ground. Definitely have to sort that out. Got the front of the engine pulled apart and did the usual timing belt, water pump, thermostat, fresh OEM coolant hoses, gaskets, and changed the spark plugs while we were in there.
Buttoned things back up and what do ya know? Runs beautifully. No more coolant leaks, holds temperature perfectly, zero issues with the head gasket. The shop it had been at just misdiagnosed it.
So we've been driving this thing around and having some fun!
Now that she's running well, next up is going to be a bath.
Next up is a new soft top and then a smog to get the registration transferred over. That will conclude the must-do's to get it back into shape. After that, who knows?
It's still all stock right now, except for a CSF radiator that came already in it. What do you guys think we should do with it?
This car belonged to a gentleman who wanted to trade it in for a new vehicle, but on his way to the dealer the car sprung a coolant leak and had to be towed. The dealer said they suspected the head gasket had gone, didn't want the car on trade-in so he picked up his new truck and now just wanted to get rid of the Miata.
That's where we came in! Took a look at the car, was instantly impressed by how nice the overall condition of the car, interior, etc. was. Some of these limited edition cars get owners who don't appreciate them and they get beat up, but that certainly wasn't the case here. After some poking around we had a strong suspicion that the head gasket was fine and it was likely just a water pump. Handed the guy some cash and rolled the non-running car into the trailer and took it home.
The whole drive home we debated who the car was going to. We went up there on Greg's tip, and as the resident MSM expert OF COURSE he wants another one but once I saw that it was a Titanium Grey (on the first call we thought he had said it was red) suddenly I was warming up to it fast. Love that color. Well, whoever ends up with it, we couldn't pass this one up! Time to start going through the car and get it up and running.
Back at the shop, first thing to do is figure out what we're dealing with on the engine side. At first the car didn't want to start. Traced that to a bad coil, swapped it for another spare in the shop, and it started right up. Ran it for a moment and it was just dumping a river of coolant on to the ground. Definitely have to sort that out. Got the front of the engine pulled apart and did the usual timing belt, water pump, thermostat, fresh OEM coolant hoses, gaskets, and changed the spark plugs while we were in there.
Buttoned things back up and what do ya know? Runs beautifully. No more coolant leaks, holds temperature perfectly, zero issues with the head gasket. The shop it had been at just misdiagnosed it.
So we've been driving this thing around and having some fun!
Now that she's running well, next up is going to be a bath.
Next up is a new soft top and then a smog to get the registration transferred over. That will conclude the must-do's to get it back into shape. After that, who knows?
It's still all stock right now, except for a CSF radiator that came already in it. What do you guys think we should do with it?