Well, I screwed myself.

I was looking for a used NA Miata and found one that actually looked pretty good. I didn't have a rack handy so I looked underneath as best I could and it looked acceptable so I took it for $2000.

Later a friend offered to put it on the rack and look at it and it turned out that the middle bottom I couldn't see was rusted to beat hall and I probably can't get an inspection sticker for it when it needs one.

I can't take it back as I had inspected it myself and accepted it as is, but the scrappers will probably give me in the area of a grand because for some reason people look for NA parts so the junkyard will take them. I got a $700 sight unseen offer on it which I may/may not accept. 

Update. I found another one that I put on the lift and there's not a bit of rust on it. NONE! Not in the wheel wells, NOWHERE.

I snagged it and even with my mistake I'm coming out ahead. O could probably flip it for $8K which put me back in the game where I want to be.

Everything else is clean. The seller is a car guy that stores his good stuff between Oct/Nov and late Mar/April. You don't find many guys with a rack in a 2 car garage.

I made an offer and he took it and BINGO! It's in the garage now. 

I can simply flip the plate and all the insurance company has to do is change the VIN which I will get done over the next day or so.

Anyway, I was puttering around with it at about 0630 and felt alive for the first time in quite a while. I had something to do, a labor of love.

The junker had a lot of 'nice to have' things and needless to say, I swapped them out MOST riki-tik. The junker had actually been some sports car enthusiast's pride and joy and there's a plaque on the dash because it won some prize or another. I guess the guy I bought it from decided to use it as his daily driver and run the snot out of it all year 'round. That's actually pretty stupid because a rear wheel sports car, while they are outstanding on dry pavement, they're not worth a penny farthing in the snow.

Anyway, for the first time in a LONG time I feel alive again and that's a damned good feeling.

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Over the years I have done quite a bit of wheeling and dealing and almost always come out on top, meaning I have almost gotten a good deal on what I wanted.

Once I bought something worth about $700 for $200 and traded it for something else worth $500. 

Some people said I should have held out for a better swap but if you do the math I got what I would have paid $500 for at the cost of $250.

I always liked that deal because it was win/win. I got a $500 item for $250 and left a little meat on the bone for the other guy. All in all, not a bad deal.

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY