Suzuki Cappuccino (Nopro) washer bottle install for NB (lite), Garage Star wiper cowl
*Note: This thread is about installing a Suzuki Cappuccino (Nopro) washer fluid bottle into an NB Miata. It is a shorter version of my article about installing the bottle into an NA where I detail parts and sizes. For more detailed information, such as hardware specifications, please consult my comprehensive NA article in the DIY section here: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....ve%29&p=150420.
I wanted to shed some light about my experience with this mystery bottle that exists partly between legend and partly under the hoods of very few Miatas.
The NOPRO name in the title is a bit of a misnomer because this is in fact, an OEM washer bottle for a Suzuki Cappuccino, marketed by NOPRO as an alternative for the Miata because it can be mounted inside the wiper cowl space.
Personally, I wanted it because I had no more room in my engine bay due to my supercharger and soon-to-be-installed, Thompson oil filter relocation kit.
Each of those add-ons required moving the stock washer bottle around until it finally got booted from the engine bay altogether. Luckily, there is a lot of space in the wiper cowl and the bottle fits like it was made for the Miata. There is also space for a small toolbox I wish someone would make but that's for another thread.
Owners of RHD Miatas will have an easier time installing and using this bottle. That's because there is a curvature of the wiper cowl floor that of course, provides for draining rain water to either side. Since the bottle's pump location is more toward one end, the fluid will rest more level in a RHD configuration, allowing it to be filled to capacity.
After installing the bottle on my LHD Miata, my first impressions are that it works fine, looks fine and I like it fine. That said, there are a couple of caveats.
First, LHD Miatas will require tilting the bottle a bit to overcome the curvature of the driver side cowl floor. Second, since one end of the bottle will be angled slightly upward from the pump end, it will have a bit less fluid capacity than with the RHD configuration.
Those minor annoyances aside, the bottle is still a success because it can be mounted with a couple of dollars? worth of hardware, is completely out of the way and still holds more than enough fluid for a few months? use before refilling, at least in my case. Combined with a wiper cowl cover, the bottle virtually disappears with only its fill cap showing.
This is a very niche product. In my case it solved a problem but for others, it is a very cool bling project or rather, anti-bling because nowhere will you spend this much but have so little to show for it and that's really the point. Done right, the engine bay opens up a bit and besides the little fill cap sticking out, there's nothing left to see.
I really love this mod and while the bottle isn't inexpensive, I'm glad I did it. Of course, I really didn't have any options left. Still, I would do this because it if only to clear some clutter out of the engine bay.
As for the installation, there is no official way to do it however; this is just how I did it without drilling a single hole. It turns out, the Miata, at least the NB that I did this on, just happened to have two mounting points that perfectly correspond to those on the washer bottle. There will be no holes to drill.
View of the bottle as packaged:
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/...20NB/1tank.jpg
The bottle comes with a tight-fitting mount molded into the side for the pump, grommet included. Here, a stock Miata pump is ready for transplant. I use a little grease here for lube and seal but some saliva will do.
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/...kMiatapump.jpg
Snaps right in, perfect fit. What are the odds of that happening?
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/...umpmounted.jpg
Now on to the hardware. Replace this bolt with a longer one so that a few millimeters of thread stick inside the cowl:
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/...erbolthere.jpg
This is how it looks inside the cowl:
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/...longerbolt.jpg
