This YouTuber just risked an engine to save his family Miata with a tricky DIY head gasket fix

After burning out the engine in his family car, a Mazda Miata, this YouTuber pushed his inexperienced hands to the limits with a tricky DIY head gasket fix that could have ended in a disaster.

With cars that are passed down the family, someone is bound to inherit an engine problem or two.

That’s the case for this YouTuber, as the most recent of many people in his family to get behind the wheel of the in-house Miata.

However, when an engine fault put the Mazda on the brink of being scrapped, this young lad refused to let it go without a fight.

VISIT SBX CARS – View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie

Young Mazda Miata driver attempts to fix ‘dead’ family heirloom

The Mazda Miata is back and better than ever in 2026, with the Japanese manufacturer creating an extremely limited run of its stellar sports car.

But the older variants hold a desirable place in JDM folklore, proving to be one of the best cars to modify and exert engineering excellence upon.

Or, in this case, exert engineering inexperience upon.

Nonetheless, when mellow_conner’s Mazda Miata – the family heirloom – blew a gasket, he was determined to prove that even the most rookie engineers can save themselves an expensive trip to the garage.

Taking to YouTube, he revealed that the car had been passed down through generations of drivers in his family, but it blew out in a recent trip. So, it was time to put his knowledge to the test with a DIY head gasket fix.

“This car is pretty much dead,” he said.

“I don’t really know that much about engines, so I’m just going to go ahead and try to dive in, see what it is.”

It’s clear that the young man does know a thing or two about combustion engines, knowing which part had malfunctioned, but he claimed to have spent little time under a hood.

Still, on first inspection, he found that there were faults in cylinders 2 and 3 (both having bad compression), and severe overheating from a failed water pump.

It took him seven hours to take the engine apart and remove the head before he started cleaning the Miata up and ordering some replacement parts.

With help from his brother over a few different sit-ins, the YouTuber managed to deep clean the block and head, fit new parts, and reassemble the engine.

But did it work?

DIY head gasket fix ends with unbridled joy

To his delight, the engine fired up again, and despite some nervy issues with the battery and alternator, he appeared to have fixed his family’s Miata.

Taking it for a spin, the DIY head gasket fix had worked like a treat, and the sports car was back living its best life.

“If someone like me can do it, you can too. Don’t be afraid to give things a shot in life,” he said.

“It’s been an absolute grind. It took me nearly a month from start to finish, but I’m stoked.”

The Mazda Miata is renowned for being a customisable and accessible car, so much so that one man surprised his wife with a complete Temu-fied glow up.

But take nothing away from mellow_conner, as this DIY head gasket fix was certainly a fantastic outcome for his family.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie