"Oh no!" or "What just happened here?"

So as I may have mentioned, 'Phira is a definite work in progress.  Her previous owner maintained her but just barely.  When I got her the O-ring on her cam angle sensor was completely deteriorated and hard as a rock, she had several seeping seals on the front of her engine, a radiator that was on its last leg, a leaky top, toasted suspension bushings (and with double wishbone all around, that's a lot of bushings), old rubber hoses, etc.  She was basically a 16-year-old car that had been moderately maintained.  The downside to that was I was getting her right when stuff was about to start wearing out.  The upside is that once I finish her I'll have a great, shiny little sportscar for the total investment of a Honda Civic LX plus a little which, lets be honest, is the total cost of that car anyway since you can't just leave it for stock.  My old FA1, "Gracie," ended up with an extra $5-6k invested in her after all.

So anyway...I'm heading to work Sunday morning and she bogs a little pulling out of the driveway.  I don't notice it since she does this occasionally when she's starting cold and doesn't like the temperature outside (too hot/cold).  I'm about five minutes out of work when the steady CEL i've been seeing for a while starts flashing.  The engine's working okay and I don't hear any funny sounds so I continue to work, park and look it up.  Of course the forums say I probably should not have done that since I've likely killed my cat but I'm pretty sure it was already dead to begin with so I'm cool with that.

'Phira being loaded onto a AAA flatbed.  You can see her peeling clearcoat best from this angle.

'Phira likes being tied down, but don't tell anyone

She's now sitting at Motorsports For Miatas in Jefferson waiting for the work to begin.  I'm really not looking forward to this bill.  Maybe I should take paypal donations, haha.  (I am BTW.  Use roadsterland@yahoo.com)