Cars, Coffee and California...

[Gene Rodriguez]

To make you feel any better hehe, If I’m lucky I get about 180-200 miles out of a full tank

[oldgrayleather]

A couple weeks ago on a typical Wednesday night I was driving home from work, stuck in freeway traffic and averaging 8-9 mph when my exit came up. It has a nice long stretch of usually clear road before moving onto surface streets. Great chance to weight up the right foot, right? I was getting into a second gear pull when there was a funny sound, an usual shudder and the car felt like it had lost a lot of power. At every stoplight over the couple miles home I had to feather the gas to keep the car from stalling. When I popped the bonnet the small hose coming off the actuator had split. Looked like the small vacuum hose was binding or under stress from the silicone breather hose off the compressor inlet pipe.


Easy enough fix to trim the end and reattach but the erratic idling continued and I was fearing for the worst. Work was too crazy so waited until the weekend to check all the hoses and clamps but couldn’t find an air leak anywhere. Since I was nearing my 3k oil change I brought it to Integrated Performance so they could diagnose the issue. Alex found and fixed a major vacuum leak so was relieved it wasn’t more significant. It meant I had to miss a couple KINODs but frankly I didn’t want to bring another car and be unable to answer what was up with Benny. After a trip to Seattle I popped by IP and was very happy to pick-up Benny with a clean bill of health. The first tank of 91 I went through delivered only 16mpg so clearly must have been enjoying it.

With everything back to normal moved on to the weekend where youngest son joined me for the weekly washing up and decided to document it all.


As much as the Miatagasm header was hilarious in context at Laguna Seca, I just couldn’t keep it. I was having to explain it far too many times mostly resulting in blank faced responses. The last picture of it before I scrapped the windscreen clean.


At MRLS I met Ken from RetroModern at MRLS when he kindly hand delivered a couple parts. While we were catching up I was complaining how my RS Products HVAC fan control piece never worked. He said he could easily remedy that with a set screw but asked if I’d trust him to add a personal touch which of course I did.

He took it away, did his magic and set this back…


So happy now to have finally swapped out the OEM black plastic ring for a fully functional set-up. I have too many of these little things I need to take care of that I just keep putting off .

[oldgrayleather]

Last Sunday puppers and I went to a local cars and coffee event that had an interesting mix of Japanese classics…









was happy to park up next to this pretty Trueno


Followed by some more errands later that day – all was well in the world again…

[oldgrayleather]

I truly don't think I could ever tire of California's car culture. Beyond the seas of black, white and silver SUV's and cars there is always something that stands out. The climate really is so fantastic at keeping rust at bay meaning so many old cars can live long happy lives here. On the way into work on Monday I came across this rad little Chevy Step van…

Parked right in front of this custom truck… (can’t say I’ve ever seen Caddy fenders on a work vehicle?!)

[oldgrayleather]

I really had decided it was time to simply enjoy the car but I was given the heads up that after years and years of holding their prices flat, to combat increasing costs including materials and others that as of December 1st Zoom Engineering was reluctantly increasing their prices. The price increases weren’t insignificant either. Beyond the fuel lids, starter buttons and bumper there have always been a bunch of products on my wish list so felt the need to reach out to Yoshido-san in Japan so I didn’t miss the chance to secure the *savings*. Their service is exceptional and the order was placed and shipped by EMS the next day. I’ve now taken to having my Japanese packages delivered to the office which 1) provides greater peace of mind since everything has to be signed for by our mailroom and 2) they tend to brighten any given day in the office when the deliveries swing by to drop something off. Some weeks are just more awesome than others. This has been a spectacular week on that front…



From my earliest imaginings of my interior I was always torn between the Nakamae center console and the Zoom one. The former I think is sportier and I loved that it was inspired by the M2 set-up. The Zoom reminds me of the first Lotus Espirit and many 60’s/ 70’s Italian exotics. It also seems to work really well with the Nakamae’s and the arm rest is in the perfect position with the lower seats and is surprisingly comfortable.


Another bucket list piece has always been the wide room color-matched Monaco mirror. It’s asymmetrical and inspired by the Ferrari F50’s mirror, but at a bargain price ;). It’s taken a little getting used to as cars really are closer than they appear but the expanded visibility is amazing. No more blind-spots on the passenger side.



“Winter” is coming so KINOD felt a little lighter on attendance last night but as always loved the drive and camaraderie with such a fantastic group of people.

[Roadster7]

I get excited anytime I see this thread updated. Love every bit of it.

[oldgrayleather]

I get excited anytime I see this thread updated. Love every bit of it.

You are too kind my friend.

[Sharpie]

The van with Caddy fenders is a remake of van from Cheechnand Chong’s Up in smoke.

[— Phatmiata —]

this thread delivers!!!!

Love the zoom center console, and that color matched rear view mirror, it all flows perfectly!!

Super Jealous of the old school JDM classics you guys have out there, ugh

[druz]

Zoom console looks like the right choice, seamlessly blending in.

I better put in my Zoom order before too long. I need some of their Vitaloni lenses.

[oldgrayleather]

this thread delivers!!!!

Thanks Randy

Now please tell me, how the hell do you remove a Hayashi vent? The shoelace method for OEM vents clearly does not work...

[— Phatmiata —]

Thanks Randy

Now please tell me, how the hell do you remove a Hayashi vent? The shoelace method for OEM vents clearly does not work...

wire coat hanger works best

[oldgrayleather]

Finally got the powdercoated valve cover on that Ryoku Rob had passed on to me.


It’s getting tidier in there and hopefully should finally get the Cappuccino washer bottle relocation in this weekend (need clips for the ones that broke and have to drill through the firewall since the 1990 isn’t pre-drilled). Since I won’t ever put an airbag wheel back in the car probably time that I removed the unnecessary bits as well.

Being spoiled with more than one Miata means when new parts come in there’s a chance for hand-me-downs. Took the opportunity to move the KGW mirror over to BERG and installed a new set of Zoom “tan NA” shift boot and handbrake handles that came with the other order. Before and after…



I think I need to swap back in the black RS Products HVAC panel as the silver one just looks too jarring. The seats are also in a horrible state but haven’t figured out what to do just yet. Just when I think I should be running out of projects... haha

[oldgrayleather]

When my nephew drove down for MRLS I discovered that early Canadian models that didn’t have an airbag had different/ straight stalks and lost the additional cover on the top of the steering column cover. It looked really tidy and I appreciated the subtle change.

Well I got home super late last night after work and he and his dad had kindly sent of a care package.



Along with a pair of softtop protective covers that my car had since lost (and of course were out of production)! He also remembered to return the wire strippers he’d borrowed while he was down ;)…



My middle brother Steve has always been so incredibly thoughtful and also my biggest Lego inspiration. That Lego Space set came from him and he’s been a big supporter of Benny. Never surprised that he managed to find a card to include that captured the essence of this wonderful little roadster…


Now who would hazard a guess as to how plug and play this *should* be in a US spec NA6?

[bogaut]

weird seeing no clock spring. let me know how that swap works out, might as well polish that stock while its out of the car too!