Nice ass
Printable View
Nice ass
Since I had to remove things this morning, I took some pictures showing how the two bolts that hold the rear of the lower diffuser to the tow hooks are done:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4360/...d5609cf8_c.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4414/...ba075138_c.jpg
As you can see, the nut fits right inside when reversed. Nice simple solution for that. I went to Ace and got a couple of fender washers to use between the lower diffuser and the tow hook to spread the force of the bolts out a little more on the fiberglass. No real way to show that with a picture.
In order to mark the left side of the upper diffuser for my dual outlet tip I had to remove the muffler. Once that was out I taped the diffuser in place and then marked it for the cut:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4425/...5abb26a0_c.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4419/...f242f7a7_c.jpg
Once I had the mark I used my Dremel to cut it out and then sand it down:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4369/...347b0aa7_c.jpg
PSA, fiberglass is sharp. I managed to cut myself while brushing dust off after cutting it. Imagine slicing yourself with an Exacto knife, it's like that.
Cleaned everything up after making sure my cut was good (looked like it at the time, but once I had it fitted in place I found it was a little off). The top of the upper diffuser is held on the bumper cover with double-sided tape, so I cleaned the mounting surface with denatured alcohol and then put the tape on. Here is where it gets a little tricky. If I were doing it over again I would have put painter's tape on the bumper where the bottom corners of the diffuser would touch. As I was trying to get the piece in place (the bottom edge fits inside the lower diffuser) the tape on the passenger side stuck to the bumper where I had pulled the backing away a little to give me something to grab for mounting. While getting that off and moving the diffuser to where it needed to be, I got some small scrapes on the bumper cover. Not a big deal, they rubbed out, but something to be aware of. Managed to get things in place and then I had to drill 6 holes in the bumper cover. The four screws in the middle go through both upper and lower diffusers and the bumper cover. The two in the middle are really hard to reach to put the nuts in place, even with my long arms I was hard-pressed to get them in there. Once I had a couple started I went ahead and stuck the top edge down with the tape. Once the upper diffuser was mounted I tightened the lower diffuser and that was that. Here is the final result:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/...600763cc_c.jpg
Two things that I am undecided on. The first is if I want to paint any part of the upper diffuser body color, and the second is if I want to cut the bumper cover behind the screen in the middle. I may be missing a couple of red reflectors, there are recesses on the upper diffuser made for this (all the pictures I've seen have them in place) but I did not receive any. I sent Rev9 an e-mail asking about this.
Thanks to the Photoshop skills of someone on one of the forums, here is what it will look like with the upper section painted:
http://i.imgur.com/3qJpfDg.jpg
yesssss!!!!!!!!!!!
Unsure which I like better.
Looks good either way though.
^ that.
I'm not feeling that, think it would be too much of a disconnect between all the pieces.
Thanks for everyone's input. I've asked the guy who did this for me to do another with the whole upper diffuser body color. We'll see how that would look. No matter what I'm keeping the lower diffuser some form of black, that will be the easiest to take care of give its location.
So I couldn't do this right due to the low-res of the original photo, but here are a few versions. I also did two versions where the entire panel and diffuser were painted, and where everything but the fins were painted, but they looked so bad that I won't even post them.
I didn't spend too much time on this, which is why the colorized bits are a bit bland-looking, but it should help give you a better idea of your options.
Not Bad:
http://i.imgur.com/y16QFQh.jpg
Not Bad:
http://i.imgur.com/GaGypCS.jpg
Best (IMO):
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/...600763cc_c.jpg
I normally do not like the look of diffusers on Miatas, they look like someone was trying too much to prove a point. However, it feels right at home here, especially with the Mazdaspeed wing! Have to admit that that's one sexy ass! Well done sir!
Thanks for doing that. It helps me cement which option I'm going to use.
Thanks Harry. I can't really take much credit, all I did was buy the parts and install them. I speculate that the reason you feel the way you do is that most of the diffusers people have put on Miatas are repurposed Lotus ones. I agree, those seem like too much of an afterthought/over-the-top. Jet Stream did a nice job in my opinion in keeping it low-key while also making it look like it belongs.