Jeff's 2003 Shinsen Build Thread

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Well, rad is still sitting in the shed. Got busy with work and other things to do and didn't have time to do it. I have noticed a trend though. If I leave the coolant resorvoir empty, I don't get the puddles or the strong smell of burnt coolant after a drive. Leak is right at the top of the rad and the coolant level in the rad itself has stayed constant once it is below the point of the leak. For now I'm just keeping an eye on the gauge and the level in the rad until I replace it. All I'm doing is wasting it by filling up the resorvoir every three days.
 
Hey Mahk....been busy. In fact I did...last Friday! While doing it I noticed a frayed belt (the culprit of the annoying squeal I've been hearing on rainy days) so new belts will be coming soon along with a vc gasket change and while I'm at it, I guess I'll do plugs and cps. Monday I replaced the front turn signals bulbs with Silverstars and last night I removed the headlight and taillight bezels. All four were loose along the bottom edges. Plus I hope to restore the headlights this weekend so they needed to get out of the way. Still trying to all the excess tape residue off the lights, what a PITA.

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Just ordered some new goodies for her. :D

Konig Dial In 15x7s in the new bright silver with silver McGard spline drive lugs, black 949 valve stems (from Goodwin Racing) and 205/50/15 DZ102s from TireRack. Now to call around and set up a time next week to get them m&b. :)

Might have found a snow tire as well. TireRack has the Firestone Winterforce in stock but I'll wait to see the new lineup and what rebates there may be in the upcoming month or two. These are pretty damn aggressive though.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic.jsp?sidewall=Blackwall&tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Winterforce
 
Jeff, just picked up a new radiator myself. Got something a little thicker adding more cooling capacity. My car only ran hot with the AC on in stop and go traffic, being 10 yrs old, and having known leaking tanks I went for a koyo unit.


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Jeff, you driving the miata in winter??

Yup, she's my new dd. I could take the P5 keys back and tell my daughter to ride the bus to school? (rlaugh)

Jeff, just picked up a new radiator myself. Got something a little thicker adding more cooling capacity. My car only ran hot with the AC on in stop and go traffic, being 10 yrs old, and having known leaking tanks I went for a koyo unit.


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I was looking at the Koyo or Mishimoto but either would be overkill for my NA dd use.
 
Didn't have to work this morning so I took advantage of it and broke out the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit. Very pleased with the end results.

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After wetsanding with 400g, 1000g, 2000g and then rubbing with a clarifying compound
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After application of the UV clearcoat
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About an hour with some breaks inbetween for a drink and to refill the water bucket.
 
These arrived yesterday...took them over to Mike at Moto East to get m&b and then mounted them on Lexi. :) No pics of that yet though, going to give her a good wash first.

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Nice Jeff, one of our Ottawa Miata guy's got his Miata updated at Mike's a month ago. He's a very happy camper.
 
hurry up with pics Jeffy!!! those look sweet!


great work on the headlights too! its amazing what some wetsanding and buffing/polishing can do... i did my truck earlier this week and had better than expected results as well haha
 
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Thanks guys and yeah, Mike was very nice. I won't need him for any tuning in the future but would def. use him for anything that I am uncomfortable doing myself. You are soooo right Levi! A little bit of elbow grease goes a long way.

Had a chance to wash the ol' girl this morning and then found a nice spot for photos at a local park. :)

















 
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Mounted the winter set-up Sunday morning. 15x6 MB Interlines with 195/55/15 General Altimax Arctics. Applied some new vinyl yesterday too, courtesy of Barry aka Jackelope.

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Cool stuff Jeffy!! What's Barry's contact info? Looks like a fall cleaning meet won't happen now [emoji20] we'll have to plan a spring cleaning meet in April May ish time frame.


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