Rat Retardation Dec 18, 2006
Over the last year or so, our Rat miata has gone from being a really gross, smelly, sticky place to spend time, into a pretty nice daily driver. Sure it won’t win any beauty contests (unless there are a bunch of Capri XR2s around!), but it serves us quite well in day to day use. We decided to give the little car a bit more attitude recently by spray painting the wheels a lovely shade of flat black. This extra attitude came in heat resistant BBQ paint form. We have learned that when doing paintwork, a little extra prep, and cleaning time pays large dividends in the final product. We started by sanding, and cleaning the wheels thoroughly, and then removed whatever was left of the gunk by using a bit of Acetone. Once the surface was sanitary, we masked, primed the wheels, and applied the paint in even, light passes from about 6 or 7 inches away from the surface. We ended up putting 3 coats on each wheel. The finished product looks great, and makes the Miata look a little more like Soundgarden, and a little less like Morrissey.
While we had the wheels off we inspected the rotors and pads -- well, what was left of them! Brake help was needed, and came in the form of new vented and slotted rotors supplied to us by Disk Brakes Australia. What sets these rotors apart, besides the super cool chrome colored boxes they come in, is the painted heat indicator strips embedded in the rotor. These painted lines change color as heating temps increase. The Green line becomes white above 458 degrees C, the Orange line becomes Yellow at 550 degrees C, and the Red strip turns white when the rotors surpass 630 degrees. This simple color coded system makes general temp readings an easy task at a glance.
If you have never changed Miata brakes before a word to the wise: Do not compress the rear caliper piston with a C-clamp, or vice. This will end in you breaking things, and scaring the neighborhood children with profane language. Instead, check out miata.net like we did. There is a small allen screw hidden behind a bolt on the backside of the brake assembly. Once this screw is accessed, the piston moves easily to make room for the new pads. This is also the e-brake adjustment screw.
Now that the Miata is looking a little more butch, and has a nice firm pedal, and fresh pads (stock Mazda pads), we will be looking to upgrade the hopelessly worn out suspension on the cheap. All told, this car has still had less than $2,500 spent on it, including purchase price! We will keep the low cost in mind when choosing the next step. Stay tuned!
A bit less Ratty Oct 2, 2007
It's been a while since we last reported on our aesthetically challenged Miata. This is mainly because we have been too busy driving the wheels off it! Mileage is up over 174K now which means we have put almost 10K miles on the Miata since we rescued it from an ugly death. During it's time with us, the Miata always starts, runs, and produces smiles from the driver regardless of the destination. Sure it isn't perfect cosmetically, but that just means we don't mind driving it to work everyday, and occasionally leaving it in long term parking at the airport during our frequent trips. Heck, we even park in the front spaces when we go grocery shopping! Sometimes it is nice to drive a car that getting scratch, or ding isn't cause for despair.
It was after one of these out of town trips that our beloved little Rat decided to display some hilariously erratic behavior. We had just flown into Orlando from a week long trip, and as is usually the case, we didn't' arrive at the long term parking until late. (1 am or so) The drive from the Orlando airport to Ormond Beach is an easy hour and a half. This late at night, the drive usually is smooth sailing. We were tired from the trip, and ready for some rest. The Miata though, had different plans. The Miata started fine, as usual, and we dropped the top as we always do if the weather permits. About 5 minutes into the trip, the headlights began a crazy dance. The headlight buckets started popping up and down continuously, and we couldn't get them to stop. We tried pushing the button on the dash that usually keeps them up....no luck. The light switch would turn them off, but as soon as we gave them power, the crazy dance would continue. We stopped at a gas station trying to figure things out, but our sleep deprived brain couldn't quite figure out the problem. "Well, we thought, the highway is pretty well lit, and cars sure to get the heck out of your way when your lights are flashing like crazy", so we pressed on. Funny part was, the lights didn't pop up and down simultaneously. Each light had a mind of it's own, making the road appear like the dance floor of a disco. Groovy, but not so groovy when it is late, and way past bedtime. We drove this way for about 20 minutes, with the lights popping up and down, and the other cars on the road giving us crazy glances, until they magically stopped, and stayed in their upright position. We were able to get home safely without further incident.
Well, we would love to tell you that we found the magic bullet, but we didn't. The headlight mechanisms looked fine, and we never encountered the crazy popping headlight party again. Must have been the full moon! One thing we did notice was that the nut holding the headlight prop rod was a bit loose. Because of this, the mechanism had jumped a notch on the bolt spline. We removed the radiator overfill bottle for easier access to the nut, and with the headlight bucket in it's fully raised position, we reinstalled the nut. Now our lights were on line, and the bucket lines up nicely with the hood, and raises to it's full height.
We have also been continuously improving the interior of the Rat, and we recently installed a new shifter boot to replace our very tatty old one. Now, all we need is a quick trip to the auto parts store, or junkyard to fill in the cigarette lighter hole to make the Miata's interior very un-ratty.
Soon, we will be upgrading the worn out tires, and installing new (to us) suspension that we bought on the cheap. And we may just head down to our local witch doctor to cast a spell on our mysterious dancing lights!