Hey Paddock folks,
I have an opportunity to buy a caged race car Miata. Someone started this project and fell on some tough times and wants to sell it.
He says its built it for Spec Miata. I wonder if its legal? His roll cage looks really impressive (thats only surface rust) but it doesn't have the bar that travels from behind the drivers head down to the passengers floor. He also dropped the drivers side floor pan. I don't know how low, buts its been done. Lastly, the car is actually two cars welded together! All this stuff looks professional done. He's prepped race cars before but that sounds crazy.
Check out the photos.....

Run as fast as you can IMHO
I've never seen a cage like that and those welds look a little sketchy. Maybe it's just the pics but....

The welds look better in person. None of that even matters if the cage isn't legal.
I wonder if the cage is even the correct wall thickness. Cant find an inspection hole.

No offense Shane, but I don't think that cage is legal, and it's probably not a great start to begin with. It's got extra bars and missing some of the required ones. If you google Spec Miata cage, you'll see what I mean.

Besides, as you and I both know, buying a complete race car is ALWAYS cheaper than building one. This thing needs a lot to get going. Currently you can buy an NA (1st gen) Spec Miata with spares including engines, tires, etc for the 5-6k range. Not going to be super competitive, but enough to get started with minimal headaches. The NB (2nd gen) is the weapon of choice for the guys who want to win, but they're usually twice as expensive as the NA.

However, SCCA has apparently been talking about splitting SM into 2 classes - one for NA cars and one for NBs since there are so many NAs sitting in garages collecting dust.

That cage sketches me out too. I do believe the welds look better in person (though that triangular gusset on the right side looks like it has some super crappy welds), but all of the weird slightly bent tubes get me. The upper member on those door bars doesn't look like it connects to the main hoop which is weird. It goes strangely low in the front too which makes it pretty useless IMHO.

I'd pass on this one...

George,
Didn't offend me at all. My first impression on this cage is that it isn't correct at all. I didn't measure the tubing sizes yet but they looked on the smaller size. Tech would be a nightmare with this car. (probably wouldn't pass chump tech either)
I did google spec Miata cages after I posted this. Didn't see any photos like this cage anywhere.
Hell, not even sure I wanted a Miata.
Oh, and I putting the cars together. The engineering aspect is fun to me.

Its a pass for sure.
I was looking for someone to chime in and say "swipe that up." I knew better. The guy that owns it is on hard times but I also don't need this problem either.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/ope...d/119865/page1/ Hey Shane, this is in your neck of the swamp, Fort Myers i think. I emailed him 3 times, finally got an email saying he would send pix amd hasn't yet, bern about a week
Looks like a good deal, maybe you would like to harass him?

CL in the Portland area has had 3-4 Spec Miatas F/S recently.......complete racing cars ready to go.
The asking prices are all around $10K......with spares. If in the market, I would be inclined to lean towards a complete , proven car.

Quick update here.
He didn't pay his storage rent and lost the car and it sounds like a lot of tools too.
I feel for the guy. He's a good dude.
My 914 has been such a bear lately I maybe in the Miata or maybe even a SPEC E30. My car is making me crazy.