Jeff's 2008 Special Edition Build Thread...

IL Motorsports L A/C Check Valve Cap
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Fuse Box Cover
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So you may be thinking - Why Volk Mag Blue? Well, earlier this year I was contemplating buying new wheels when I needed to buy tires. I shopped (and drove my wife crazy) for a few weeks and finally decided to just keep my stock wheels....for now. While shopping, I found some Volk TE37s in the Mag Blue color and couldn't get it out of my head. Since my stock wheels were chipped and had some light curb rash, I said "what the hell" and set about trying to find a way to duplicate the color. After some googling, I found that All Powder Paints sells a powder named Volk Mag Blue. :D I ordered a sample along with other samples from other powder companies that seemed close to match, on the monitor. Once I had the samples in hand, I knew that VMB was the winner. My next dilemma was how do I tackle the center caps. The OCD in me was going insane thinking of how they eye would be drawn to that grey center cap in the middle of the wheel. More googling revealed that Duplicolor makes a pretty close match in a spray can known as Ford Royal Medium Blue. Off to Autozone I went, where I bought a can of Ford Medium Blue (guess they dropped the Royal(dunno)) along with a can of primer and clear. It is pretty darn close and IMO looks better than the grey would have. I applied two coats of primer, and three coats each of color and clear. C'mon Spring!

OEM Wheel with Satin Finish (I will admit, it killed me a little inside to have these sandblasted)
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OEM Wheel Sandblasted :(
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OEM Wheel in Volk Mag Blue with matching Center Caps
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Center Cap Paint
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  • Emilia - OEM Wheel Powdercoated Volk Mag Blue with Custom Painted Center Cap.jpeg
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One more small step in cleaning up the bay. Removed the PSV bracket, blasted it and then painted it Ford Medium Blue. I don't have any before pics but it was looking nasty.

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Can't wait to see those wheels on the car!


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You and me both! Going to drop them off with Mike at Moto-East on the 20th to get the tires mounted. Then I just have to wait for warm weather.

Speaking of Mike, since the powdercoater I use is right next door to him, I stopped in today to see him. Chatted for a few minutes and left with this. :D Dropped the tube/clamp with the coater along with the FSTB and brake fluid cap cover.

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Today I installed the IL Motorsports brake fluid cap cover, Rich Velardo custom ECU Cover, OEM FSTB, HPS silicone intake elbow and removed the bumper to install a Moto-East CAI. Since the HPS elbow didn't have slots for the PSV bracket we made a small bend and drilled a hole so I could attach it one of the FSTB mounting points. I had the brake fluid cap cover, intake tube and FSTB coated mag blue to match the coolant tank and other misc. engine bits along with the wheels.

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Summer temps are finally here! Took advantage of the gorgeous weather over the weekend to do a few things. On Saturday I gave her a bath, followed by scrubbing the calipers with liberal shots of brake cleaner and a wire brush. Once cleaned, I painted them gloss black using the G2 kit. I stopped here to shower up before going to watch Kaila perform in her dance show. Sunday morning I installed her summer shoes....finally! In addition to painting the center caps ford royal blue, I painted a take-off set of OEM lugs the same and bought some Rays valve stems in magnesium blue. The finishing touch was a set of MX-5 brake caliper decals in metallic silver that I bought from RS Vinyl Graphics.

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Some close up pics of the decals. I went with the metallic silver color and think it pairs nicely with the exterior metallic paint and chrome trim.

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  • Emilia - Brake Caliper Decals - Rear.jpeg
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Thanks Mark! He'll yeah, if y'all w/o have me!

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Today I turned the ugly rear bumper reflectors into working lights. If they are going to stay on the car, they might as well have some form of function. I used a pair of 3" HD LED red semi flex strips from Diode Dynamics.

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Today I turned the ugly rear bumper reflectors into working lights. If they are going to stay on the car, they might as well have some form of function. I used a pair of 3" HD LED red semi flex strips from Diode Dynamics.

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Nice work jeff!


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For sure. No funds to throw at the car lately, the pup has been getting all of that money. haha
 
Interesting, I didn't know you could upgrade a pup. WHat kind of parts are you throwing at it?

Good one Bruce! No upgrades to the puppy, more like maintenance, or should I say high maintenance, for allergies and GI tract issues. Love him like crazy but without all the vet bills I could have a set of Ohlins and a header on the car for what I've paid the vet in the last year. (gah)
 
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Yesterday I swapped out the old JVC h/u for a JVC KW-M740BT and I'm using a Cruz SWRMZ-64C to retain the steering wheel controls. Nothing was wrong with the old one, I just wanted to upgrade to a h/u with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for when I use Waze and Spotify.
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I prefer to not have cables hanging out in the open so I cut a hole in the coin pocket and planned on using a rubber stopper to hold the Apple lightning and Android USB-C cables in place, similar to what I did in my son's Mazda3. In his, I connected the phone cables to the USB extensions, taped them off and tucked them under the center console. This is what I was hoping for.
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However, my h/u has only one rear USB input even though the description lists "rear USB inputs". I checked the description for the h/u in my son's car and it lists "dual rear USB inputs". So I used the rubber stopper to hold the USB extension cable in place and will just have to swap out the phone cables depending on which phone is plugged in. Not perfect but it will work.
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Yesterday I swapped out the old JVC h/u for a JVC KW-M740BT and I'm using a Cruz SWRMZ-64C to retain the steering wheel controls. Nothing was wrong with the old one, I just wanted to upgrade to a h/u with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for when I use Waze and Spotify.
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I prefer to not have cables hanging out in the open so I cut a hole in the coin pocket and planned on using a rubber stopper to hold the Apple lightning and Android USB-C cables in place, similar to what I did in my son's Mazda3. In his, I connected the phone cables to the USB extensions, taped them off and tucked them under the center console. This is what I was hoping for.
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However, my h/u has only one rear USB input even though the description lists "rear USB inputs". I checked the description for the h/u in my son's car and it lists "dual rear USB inputs". So I used the rubber stopper to hold the USB extension cable in place and will just have to swap out the phone cables depending on which phone is plugged in. Not perfect but it will work.
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Nice jeff! Just installed CarPlay in the Miata yesterday. Took about 2 hrs to take everything apart and install the new cables and usb hub, and put it all back together. CarPlay works great!
 
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