Miata Mailing List: June 1994, Message #142
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   From: kenw@netaxs.com (Ken Warren)
Subject: Re: I *LOVE* it!
   Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 21:30:15 -0400

At 03:00 PM 6/7/94 -0400, Phydeaux wrote:

>Got a '94 "M" car about a month ago.  It's our 3rd car -- wife doesn't
>really  drive a manual  yet, so  my  '84 Olds has  been gathering dust
>while I drive the Miata ;-)

Congrats! You're going to love it more as time goes on.

>I was wondering about changing the oil.  For 20 bucks I can go down to
>the local Jiffy-Lube  type  place and have  them  do it.   BUT I  read
>somewhere  (here I think)   of a special  little washer  that needs to
>(should?) be changed  every time you  open the oil drain plug.  What's
>the scoop on  this?  Should I take  it to the dealer  to  change?  I'm
>long past doing the oil myself ;-)

I get those crush washers for very little per, and figure that they're cheap 
insurance. Heck, the oil filter costs more than 10x what those little 
washers cost. If the shop manual says replace it, and it's cheap, why not, eh?

BTW, doing the oil yourself is a pain in the butt the first time, and pretty 
irritating the next two or three times. After that, it's a way to spend a 
half hour on the car. It's certainly not hard to do.

>pps: I *HATE* that stupid front license plate holder.  Makes me want to move
>     to Pennsylvania -- to lose the front plate!

Someone's making a bracket to let you mount it *under* the mouth. It looks 
much better there. And if you're lucky, you'll break the bracket scraping 
the plate against a curb somewhere and have to throw it in the trunk until 
you can replace it. :)

>ppps:Can anyone point me to a NJ Miata club?

Sure. Unless you're really far north in NJ, you probably want the Delaware 
Valley Miata Club. Our next event is a ride&drive with the Big Apple Club, 
at Mazda Regional in Piscataway, on June 25th (saturday). Gary Fischman 
(DelVal newsletter editor) is probably a bit more local to you; perhaps 
he'll offer better directions for the direction you're coming from. Or I can 
send you the contact info for our New Jersey state representatives. If you 
want the latter, let me know before tomorrow 4 pm. I leave for Indy tomorrow 
evening. :)

--
Ken
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           Ken Warren               E-Mail: kenw@netaxs.com
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Finger me for the current Philadelphia Region SCCA Solo II schedule...