Cars, Coffee and California...

[oldgrayleather]

At about 63k miles my clutch was showing signs that it wasn’t long for this world... first there was no immediate torque in switching up to 4th then the same started happening into 5th. On March 20th I was driving up a hill onto a roof top car park and couldn’t get it over the lip (just the nastiest grinding sound in either 1st/ 2nd with no forward momentum at all). I felt lucky to get Benny home and knew it shouldn’t be on the road other than to get it to the shop. I really wanted to do the clutch myself but had far too many weeks/ weekends of work and travel and didn’t want to have it parked for that long.

I did a lot of digging and all evidence pointed to the clutch despite the relatively low mileage. Then I factored in its age as well as teaching a 16 year old to drive stick over the last six months and it all started to make more sense.

From all the insights and testimonials here landed on an ACT HD clutch, 13.5lb lightweight flywheel plus replacing the rear main seal, new slave and master and a new clutch line. Of course since I’d decided that was the only route I was going it turned out the clutch was on back-order. So Benny was going to be parked until the parts came in. I also had another quick work trip to the UK (sadly no time to see James or any other MX5-nutters this time around) but it helped take my mind off being roadster-less…



London’s still one of my favorite cities.. especially when blessed with exceptional spring weather.


I had some help procuring the parts thanks to an awesome guy from KINOD…



…and the car finally went into Integrated Performance first thing Thursday morning.



About 9am I got a call from Alex to let me know I’d ordered the wrong flywheel. Clearly got my wires crossed but had thought their Street Lite flywheel would work with the 1.6 clutch but no. Didn’t want to go lighter (eg. Fidanza) so had the OEM flywheel resurfaced.

Still managed to pick up the car super late on Thursday night. Clutch was well and truly worn…


But I finally had Benny back! The bite point took a little getting used to as pick-up was immediate but took all of about three four way stops for me to be loving it.

Back just in time for one commute to work before flying out on the red-eye to Palooza!!!

[— kung fu jesus —]

Friction material on the clutch was glazed, huh?

[oldgrayleather]

Friction material on the clutch was glazed, huh?

Yeah, poor picture but that and it had been worn past the little metal fastener things. But thanks again for your assessment on the HD clutch, I'm loving it more and more every day!!

[theothersawyer]

Man that is a beautiful car! Glad it's up and running again!

[oldgrayleather]

Man that is a beautiful car! Glad it's up and running again!

Great to have met you at Palooza (the next update)! Shame Benny couldn't have made the trip..

[theothersawyer]

Great to have met you at Palooza (the next update)! Shame Benny couldn't have made the trip..

You too! Would have been nice to see the car, but that would be quite the drive!

[— kung fu jesus —]

Bummer about the ACT FW. I knew they didn't make one in 1.6 sizing, should have mentioned that.

[oldgrayleather]

Warning, there is a ton of rambling in this post…

Palooza bound! Original plan.. Delta redeye from LAX direct to TPA leaving Friday 10:30pm, arriving 6:06am Saturday morning. Perfect! Time to snooze, land, get to the hotel, shower and get over to the stadium to help Randy, Adam and anyone else set-up before gates opened at 10. Direct return flight Sunday night giving me two full days in Tampa. Absolutely perfect!

Then Delta had a different plan. That flight got cancelled so they re-routed me through Atlanta which had me landing at 9:39am. New plan.. hustle like hell, freshen up on board in the cramped bathroom and get there for gates opening. Not ideal but still totally manageable. Of course, son #1 was more than happy to offer up his services in taking me to the airport knowing Benny was back on the road and that I wouldn’t be needing him over the weekend.


Pleasant flight, beautiful views


Then Delta had a completely different plan.. when I landed in Atlanta the airport looked like a war zone. People had been sleeping there over-night given all the flight cancelations. Much tears, many sadness. Then this happened!



They rebooked me on an outbound at 2:25pm landing at 3:15.. except not until SUNDAY! Miss Palooza and land just in time to catch the return flight from TPA to ATL back to LAX. Renting a car didn’t even look like a viable option given the event was wrapping up by 6pm.



I waited for two hours to speak to a Delta rep and told them about the family reunion I absolutely could not miss that day (I still hold to the fact this was a family reunion, only better). They got me waitlisted on a flight that got me into TPA at 1:30. In the taxi to the stadium I kept spotting Miata’s everywhere. Ahh, warm feelings inside. I was tired and disheveled. Flustered about arriving late and not being able to help out where I’d offered and as a result did a piss poor job of taking pictures.

But on entering the stadium the magic took hold. Totally by coincidence I immediately ran into an old KINOD friend who’d moved to Florida with Space-X and his Lexus V8 equipped NA. Met his new-to-him BRG NA, was shown directly to the “awesome JDM parts store” (yes Alex later robbed me of some monies) and then went to Rev’s booth to finally meet Adam, Corey and Rick. So incredible to be meeting people that previously only existed in static images!

For me, I first think of people’s cars/ builds.. then their forum names. Eventually I maybe get to a real name and for very few a face. So great to be coming at it from the other way around, makes me wish we all lived a lot closer!

Getting to sit in Lobo and look at Corey’s custom gauges in person.. jpg’s just can’t compete! Noir was there too – too much staring, not enough picture takin’!



I recognized Phat’s and Hammerhead’s LE’s as well as Rooster parked next door at the MR.net booth (how I didn’t capture more of any of those cars is beyond me though seeing them in the flesh was fantastic). Randy and Alex were hanging out at the booth along with Ray (and Mrs. S). Since I arrived so late clearly missed out on the goody bag but Mrs. S kindly took pity and let me have hers.



Seeing Rooster and sharing a day full of Miata stories.. wow



Saw some more special cars I'd only seen a few pics of...




Lots of comments about Spinnywhoosh’s new decal kit, especially the hair dryers..


LRB

Beefy

Green

Smurfs


And lots and lots of Miata Nutz...


Got a ride back to the hotel to experience Lobo’s boost (!!!) then thanks to Rick's hospitality had a quality catch-up over a few beers and then finally made my way out to dinner with a bunch of Nutz, the Other Sawyer and a nice couple from the ATL Miata club (not on here). Great reminiscing about this exceptional community, some of it's history and the amazing car that’s at it’s center.

Later that night Adam asked me if all the travelling had been worth it. I didn’t even need to think about my answer, I'd do it all over again just to make some of these connections.

The return flight hassles also killed any plans I had for spending more time with Corey and petitioning Randy to show me the warehouse ;). In total, 20 hours in Tampa and almost 30 to get there and back. Atleast I wasn’t on United…

Thanks Randy for putting on such an amazing event!

[— Madaboutmx5s —]

Great work Pete. Looks likes good event. It must be really interesting seeing cars from both sides of the pond. I look forward to the next updates.

[oldgrayleather]

Thanks mate. Have some ambitions for where I want it to be by KINOD's anniversary meet in June so gotta get crackin'!

[Corifto]

Was great to meet you, and I'm glad you were still able to get here given all of the flight troubles. See you in a few months!

[oldgrayleather]

Between the clutch, traveling to the UK and Palooza It had been far too many weeks since Benny had been to KINOD so was excited about Friday night’s blast up to the City of Industry…



A few shots courtesy of JonB




Saturday morning’s sunshine was the perfect excuse to get out for some more top down driving…


And what kind of Easter isn’t complete without colorful eggs, flowers and bunnies.


Plans (and orders) are underway to make sure I’ve got a few updates ready for KINOD’s 11th anniversary in June with some bigger ambitions planned for MRLS in October. Looks like some of the awesome MR.netters are going to make the trip out this year. Cannot wait!!

[oldgrayleather]

For my pilgrimage to Palooza I was most excited about two things. First was the chance to connect with more of you fellow nutters, in person. Second was to find a way to give back a little by helping those that have done so much for the community at large. Given this wasn’t Randy’s first rodeo he’d lined up staffers early but I managed to get to RevLimiter to offer up my time. My flight delays made it next to impossible to being of much use but despite that Adam was still happy to bestow me with a LevRimiter staff shirt he’d personalized (along with the others) with my very own SSR Mk2’s!



I’ve referred to Adam before as the patron saint of the Roadster community. That makes sense to me as by definition it’s “the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family or person”. This nation, clan, family of Miata enthusiasts. The advocate of the craft/ activity of enhancing our Roadsters both with his own carefully designed and crafted wares as well as sharing his “how-to’s” in detail that have inspired so many of us and helped get our projects right the first time.

I still don’t feel worthy of the shirt but it’s just another of those proof points of Adam’s exceptional passion and creativity that he puts into every aspect of his work.

Sorry for all the gushing, just me being thankful we have such a great community...

[oldgrayleather]

I am so far behind, I really need to catch-up. For starters, its unsurprising that after teaching my eldest how to drive stick, there’s been a massive increase in the frequency of his requests to borrow the keys. The duration of his jaunts have also been getting longer and longer along with the uptick in the odometer. When I’m using Benny, he usually hits up Mrs. R to borrow her Sunburst and though he’s thrilled to have any car to drive agrees that its not quite as much fun without the Xidas, grippier rubber, lower seats, et al. “Perfectly stock” as she says ;).

I’ve been a car nut since I can barely remember and it’s mostly great to see the shared passion grow and to be a part of it. Mostly. For me there really is mixed emotions watching your car drive away. 1) it’s actually kinda great to appreciate seeing your car in motion and from different angles but 2) hmmm, someone else is driving my car.


Mrs R. and I love our NA's. A lot. Both seem more irreplaceable than anything we’ve driven before…


The two being dropped off together at Integrated Performance for a tuneup


So given statistics, SoCal drivers and the luck we’ve had so far, Mrs. R and I have come to the conclusion neither of us feel particularly great about sharing our Miatas. We really need to do something about that..

[TNRooster3]

Soooooo by what you are saying I think I see a nice NA in your eldest's near future...???