Miata Mailing List: March 1994, Message #52
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   From: a.mccombs3@genie.geis.com
Subject: alarms, clutches, etc.
   Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 06:09:49 -0500

1.      Barry Suskind noted that a friend has an alarm which is triggered
when someone reaches into the interior of the car.  I'd like to know more
about it.  Not sure that I want to go the alarm route (one more thing to go
wrong with the car, more expense for a good one than the cost of
replacement, personal inertia, etc.) - but that particular type sounds like
the way to go.  Another problem I have with alarms (and I believe it to be
endemic, or at least headed in that direction) is that when I hear one, IU
don't pay much attention to it.  I mean, there are so many alarms on so many
cars that are being set off so many times every day.  When was the last time
you got up off the couch to take a look outside when you heard a car alarm
go off down the street someplace?  (I'm assuming you'd look if it sounded
like it was in your driveway.)  So, I have mixed emotions about alarms - but
I'd consider a really effective one, if the price is right.
 
2.      RE: The Perfect Tool Kit:  Can't add much to that.  One can't carry
one of everything when on the road, and one is unlikely to be able to truly
fix any serious problem out in the middle of nowhere.  Best one can do is
patch it up so you can get to a place to fix it right.  The tools listed -
especially racer's (duct) tape, baling wire, humongoid screwdriver, and vise
grips - will handle 90 percent of the problems you have any hope of fixing
yourself without the specialized tools and parts.  For the other ten
percent, keep that quarter handy for the phone.  The beauty of the above
(and other tools listed) is that they pack nicely in a corner of a Miata
trunk.  You can do a lot with a Swiss Army knife, too - but that stays in my
pocket, rather than in the car.
 
3.      Clutches:  I'm relatively new to the Miata game, but I drove several
before making a deal on our keeper.  Only one had a defective clutch; that
car had about 60k on it, as I recall.  Don't know what the problem was -
worn disk, improper adjustment, leaky rear main seal, or what.  Our kansei
has just over 80k on it, and everything works as it should.  It appears that
the stock clutch is fine, so long as it's not abused.  I had a new
transmission installed in our early Datsun Z car within the past year, and
so long as we were into it that far, had the clutch disk, pressure plate,
bearings, and rear seal replaced too.  The clutch disk looked like it had
another 40k or more left (it already had well over 100k on it).  Most of it
comes down to how it's treated.  I went with another stock unit, on the
theory that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
P.S:  Thanks for the coupon offer, Alex - I'll take you up on that.  If/when
we ever get our issue, I'll pass it on to you in pristine condition (or
however it arrives after the post office gets through with it).
 
                                                        Jack M.