What have you done to your Miata today?

chiefmg said:
Did you forget what I do for a living? On the bolt side there is a lockwasher on top of the fender washer. I'll be keeping an eye on things, if it's needed I'll add a little Loctite.
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Nope, that's why I asked. What was shown in the picture didn't really jive up with how I figured you'd do things. But yeah, lockwasher and loctite would probably keep it in good shape.
Does the hook actually capture the flats on the nuts so they can't spin?
 
aMaff said:
Nope, that's why I asked. What was shown in the picture didn't really jive up with how I figured you'd do things. But yeah, lockwasher and loctite would probably keep it in good shape.
Does the hook actually capture the flats on the nuts so they can't spin?
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A good magician never reveals all his secrets. If I really wanted to get fancy I'd drill things and use safety wire. Yes, the nuts are captive and cannot spin.

Thanks to the Photoshop skills of someone on one of the forums, here is what it will look like with the upper section painted:

3qJpfDg.jpg


Those who like it all black, what say you now?
 
aMaff said:
Safety wire, pfffffttttt

Skull_welding-1.jpg


Yeah, definitely still all black IMO
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Maybe next time I'm home I'll get myself a welder. Tool Topia has some nice ones for not much money.

bazooka joe said:
All black! But you do what you like! [emoji106]
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thejeans said:
i still say all black. but my two cents isnt worth much. haha
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I respect everyone's opinion. Of course I'm going to do what I want, but I like hearing what others would do. It would be a dull world otherwise.
 
Finally heard back from Rev9 about the reflectors. I was supposed to get them, Jet Stream neglected to package them with the parts. Considering it only took two days for me to get the big pieces from Japan once they were made, I'm interested to see how long the reflectors will take.
 
Been hearing crickets so lubed the clutch actuating fork.

The more I look at the diffuser setup, the more I like it. I used to dislike how far the exhaust tips stuck out past the bumper, with the diffusers in place it masks that and makes it look more of a piece.
 
ebcb07061f76756748451a4cd892f9e3.jpg


Finally getting around to repairing my 3rd brake light on the MSM. 2 of the 6 leds were out. All fixed!
 
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My '95 is running. Poorly, but it's running. Ended up ditching the BP4W head and went back with a BP05. Had no compression on any cylinder. I literally checked the timing fifty times. Removed the head and not a single valve is seating to the head, light can be seen through each seat. To minimize downtime, I installed the BP05 and it starts. Had a fuel and coolant leak- fuel was injector #2 and the coolant was the thermostat neck. It was cracked (by me) and hoped for the best as the other TWO I had in the box of parts I got were both broken. Waiting on it to arrive. Otherwise, it starts and runs.
 
Preferio said:
My '95 is running. Poorly, but it's running. Ended up ditching the BP4W head and went back with a BP05. Had no compression on any cylinder. I literally checked the timing fifty times. Removed the head and not a single valve is seating to the head, light can be seen through each seat. To minimize downtime, I installed the BP05 and it starts. Had a fuel and coolant leak- fuel was injector #2 and the coolant was the thermostat neck. It was cracked (by me) and hoped for the best as the other TWO I had in the box of parts I got were both broken. Waiting on it to arrive. Otherwise, it starts and runs.
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What do you think was causing the valves to not seat?
 
Received the reflectors today, took 6 days from the time they were sent from Japan. They install with a tab on one end and a screw/washer on the other. No pictures as yet, I have something planned...
 
Test fit the diffuser reflectors, there was some rubbing on the passenger side at the outboard tip. I used my Dremel to sand some down to let it fit nicely. Close inspection of the reflectors showed their origin:

36179537013_e709dbe461_c.jpg


Hopefully having a Toyota part on her won't transform her into a snoozemobile.
 
About a week ago now, but I picked up the center piece of my next big project on the car.



I got orders in today for rack bushings and boots, and bump-steer correction blocks for the steering rack (going to be swapping in a de-powered PS rack), and ordered the controller and a couple other bits and bobs for the EPS unit.
It'll take a bit of work go get it lined up and mounted properly, but it's going to be f**king rad once its working :D

Also there's finally going to be an NA Miata with a Tilt Steering wheel to make up for every Miata that's listed for sale with it (rlaugh)
 
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I always thought the drive motor was in the engine bay, not under the dash. Cool about the tilt feature.

I'm trying to get some work done around the house before leaving for a meeting tomorrow so I will post my work later on. For now, here's how it all turned out:

36610067040_23336433a6_b.jpg
 
Installed a pair of FM hood lifters on the ND. Opens real smooth and with no hood prop in the way!
1d81463d05eb89f31a319367049adffb.jpg
 
chiefmg said:
I always thought the drive motor was in the engine bay, not under the dash.
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Depends on the system. The S2000, NC and RX-8 all have electric *racks*. This commonly used GM system is, obviously, on the column.

I picked up another stock steering column to cannibalize, and spent a little while in the shop taking measurements between the 2 racks. It looks like adapting the 2 will be fairly straight forward. I'll need to fab up lower mounts (I can cannibalize the stock ones for that) at the firewall, and upper mounts so that it'll bolt up in a stock-ish location. The steering wheel splines are the same as the Miatas so I can bolt my steering wheel quick disconnect right up.

The GM column is about 3 1/4" shorter than the Miatas. And after disassembling my 2nd Miata column, I found out that the lower half of the column is a very common 3/4" shaft size. The company that makes the controller box also sells spline adapters, including an adapter that will bolt to the GM column output shaft, and is a slip fit for a 3/4" shaft, so I'll be able to chop the bottom off the Miata shaft, pop it in that coupler and weld it so that it extends the column 3 3/4". So I'll be able to make a bolt-on adapter that will be able to swap between columns if the EPS column ever craps out for some reason. Just run to a junk yard, grab another and bolt it in.

I'm stoked :D
 
bazooka joe said:
Installed a pair of FM hood lifters on the ND. Opens real smooth and with no hood prop in the way!
1d81463d05eb89f31a319367049adffb.jpg
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I love hood lifts.

aMaff said:
Depends on the system. The S2000, NC and RX-8 all have electric *racks*. This commonly used GM system is, obviously, on the column.

I picked up another stock steering column to cannibalize, and spent a little while in the shop taking measurements between the 2 racks. It looks like adapting the 2 will be fairly straight forward. I'll need to fab up lower mounts (I can cannibalize the stock ones for that) at the firewall, and upper mounts so that it'll bolt up in a stock-ish location. The steering wheel splines are the same as the Miatas so I can bolt my steering wheel quick disconnect right up.

The GM column is about 3 1/4" shorter than the Miatas. And after disassembling my 2nd Miata column, I found out that the lower half of the column is a very common 3/4" shaft size. The company that makes the controller box also sells spline adapters, including an adapter that will bolt to the GM column output shaft, and is a slip fit for a 3/4" shaft, so I'll be able to chop the bottom off the Miata shaft, pop it in that coupler and weld it so that it extends the column 3 3/4". So I'll be able to make a bolt-on adapter that will be able to swap between columns if the EPS column ever craps out for some reason. Just run to a junk yard, grab another and bolt it in.

I'm stoked :D
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Can't wait to hear how it works for you.

Work log:

I had ordered some Mahogany Mica spray paint from Automotive Touchup, received that on Wednesday. I ran some errands on Thursday, stopped in to Pep Boys to peruse their spray paint selection. I was looking for something other than black to use for the majority of the diffuser. I saw some DupliColor Trim and Bumper paint in charcoal with a matte finish that looked like it might do the trick so I bought that.


36572469320_7e6b52ff0d_c.jpg



I went to another place to buy some 1/2" width 3M double-sided tape to use on the upper part. When I removed it the tape Jet Stream provided came right off so I knew it wasn't very strong.

Since I had never done any painting on fiberglass before I did some 'net research to find out how to prep things. Basically with a gel coat you need to degrease it first, even before sanding. There were several different methods I found, I tried some acetone but didn't like how it was reacting with the gel coat. In the end I used denatured alcohol to wipe it down several times. Next up was sanding with some 220 grit to scuff the surface. I wiped it down again with the alcohol to remove all the dust and ended up with this:

36572476080_3df16af1ff_c.jpg


Next step was to tape the upper diffuser where I was going to paint it body color. I bought some 3M tape that was touted to be flexible, but it wasn't very for my application. This caused me to use shorter strips in order to get the tape around the curves. I then painted the charcoal. Here is how that ended up:

36572474510_f6990f368f_c.jpg


Being one piece the lower diffuser was easier to paint:

36133733194_9b5044095c_c.jpg


Each piece got four coats, I didn't use any primer for this stuff.
 
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