Sharka

[★ revlimiter ★]

I got to this point and took a step back. Sharka was disassembled again. The car was only together for a day. A day. That’s all. I couldn’t even go 24 hours.

I have a problem.

Hi, my name is Adam. I’m addicted to Miata projects.



When I took Sharka’s bumper off for paint, the radiator shroud I’d cobbled together kinda… self destructed. Years ago, I did a blog post about a temporary side shroud for the rad. You know how temporary things turn into permanent? Yeah. These sad plastic panels have been on Sharka for 5 years.

I tore out the OEM tray and made a better sealing one out of Coroplast. That’s what you see at the top of the pic. It bolted in on the front, zip tied on the back, and the edges were sealed with aluminum tape. It was super ghetto, but it worked really well.

The only problem, aside from being super ghetto, was that this rad shroud would pretty much come apart every time I needed to get access to the bottom.



When I got the car apart for paint, I spent an hour making a new prototype coroplast undertray. I wanted a one piece duct that would seal well on the front, top, and bottom. I wanted a nice seal around the intercooler hoses. I wanted something that wouldn’t self destruct when it needed to be removed.

I had just enough spare 1/8″ ABS to do it.



First, I got the holes in the right spots. That was not as easy as expected. The ABS is a bit harder to work with and force into place than coroplast.



How to do the bends? A heat gun makes ABS nice and pliable. It’s a little tricky to get it flexible without bubbling the plastic, but not too difficult. Plus, this is just an undertray. It won’t be seen too often.

I used the little step in my garage to get the 90 degree bend. Once I was happy with the angle, I cooled the plastic with a quick water bottle spray. A minute later and it was ready for test fitting.


Driver's side done.


Bending the passenger side.


Finished!


Intercooler hole.

It’s not extremely glamorous. I’ve definitely seen nicer ones on Miataturbo. But this shroud? It’s a hell of a lot nicer than what I had. I was embarrassed by what I had.

I cut the intercooler holes big on purpose. I didn’t want the ABS sawing through FM’s nice silicone hoses. A little edge guard makes for a nice fit. The driver’s side fits tighter than the passenger, but both are a lot nicer than the previous versions.







DONE! It mounts up with the nose in place and fits pretty well (miles better than the OEM piece). This is a huge improvement.

I have to unbolt the intercooler hoses to take it on and off. There’s enough room in the mouth to do this, but it’s pretty tight. And I used some longer bolts on the front to make mounting easier.

And I used zip ties on the back. Don’t judge! They work really well back there. I might seal up the back edge with some aluminum tape… not sure yet. It’s not bad to peel off each time. I just didn’t want to ghetto it up for blog photos.

Another item off the list! Now Sharka can drive around in the summer heat.

I need to seal up the back of the hood next. That cowl induction thing is harshing my mellow.

[Greasemonkey2000]

My favorite part of Sharka is your DIY approach to so many aspects, anyone can buy parts and bolt them on but using the old noggin for some critical thinking is more challenging and rewarding in the end.

[TNRooster3]

I... umm...., words fail me on how good your car looks now, Adam. As usual I am late reading up on some of these blogs. Really, really good job of your paint blog with amazing pix. Also nice one on the ABS shroud DIY you just posted. Can't wait to see the epic photoshoot of the "new" Sharka you plan to do.

[TNRooster3]

"And I need to do an epic photoshoot somewhere."

Still waiting with anticipation!!!???

[★ revlimiter ★]

Sorry, I've not had much time to drive the car and no time to setup the shoot. I had to put a lot of orders and products on the back burner while painting the car. I'm trying to catch back up.

[★ revlimiter ★]

I just noticed the tag cloud. Thanks for the additions. I've never actually added any tags to this thread.

[★ revlimiter ★]

I think nearly everyone in the universe has seen this post in my blog. But... gotta add it to the build thread.


Garage Star delrin door bushings.


They're awesome. Not everyone agrees apparently, but I've been super happy with them.

To read more, hit my blog. If you drive a Miata and have managed to not read that particular post before, I'll amazed. I'm also totally not sure what to do about it. I've received actual hate and discontent due to this blog post.

[★ revlimiter ★]

Ryoku Rob Type 2 tow hook!

Sharka had the Type 1 before. It was a lovely hook, but it scraped on everything. Like... everything. It just hung down really low.

The Type 2 fixes that problem.


Hookless


Hook installed.

Since Sharka had a tow hook installed previously, the install was seriously minutes of work. Seconds actually. Torque down two bolts. DONE.

This hook works for both the R-package rear lip and the factory bumper without a lip installed. And there’s a whole bunch of other holes for higher mounting. It probably looks quite good with a trimmed bumper as well.


Look at that tight clearance.


Changes.


THAT is what I’m talking about. The new tow hook gives slightly greater than 2″ of extra clearance. Like 2.125″ if I remember correctly. That’s huge. That means not scraping unless it was a truly enormous bump and I hit it way too fast.

This tow hook is every bit as strong as the last and can be used as a jack point. There are photos floating around the internet of this. I didn’t shoot any because Sharka’s ass was already up in the air.







Love it. This one is staying installed.

[Corifto]

I did not know this... Lol

[★ revlimiter ★]

Elise seats, out again.

I must be getting old. The Elise seats that used to feel so good on my ass? So supportive and awesome? Now they feel kinda like torture devices. Similar to sitting on a wooden crate. Not good.

Maybe the seats are getting old?

Anyway, it was time for action. I really like the Elise seats. They fit me well. They USED to feel pretty good. I’m not sure what happened…

I can make them feel good again.



This is a roll and a half of Kemmler’s SHOCKtec Air2Gel foam – a half roll of the 3/8″ HD and a full roll of the 1/8″ HD. There are threads about it on the Lotustalk forum, but they mostly deal with the more-common 2005 non-Probax seats.

Hit the Kemmler website to read about the foam in depth. Basically, it protects you from ever hitting the object on the other side of the padding. It absorbs and then bounces back. And it’s also impressively firm. Most of the Lotustalk comments are about how firm the padding is.

You know what’s firm? A fiberglass seat. This padding HAS to be an improvement.


Starting at the base.


Just peeling with my fingers.


Peel peel peel


Cushion removed.

I might be one of the first to tear apart a Probax seat. Or at least one of the first to post about it. I couldn’t find much information about what’s actually inside these seats and no photos. I know others have gotten into them to install crotch strap passages and reupholster, but I couldn’t find much actual info.

The Probax are pretty much considered the pinnacle of Lotus seats for whatever reason. They sell for more than the 2005 (non-Probax) seats, had articles written about how miraculous the padding is/was, and have pages upon pages of posts proclaiming how awesome and comfortable they are. And yet, no one seems to have torn into one.

Getting the seat to come apart is extremely simple. The Probax cushion (the center piece I’m pulling out) is just glued on, and not very well. I didn’t use any special tools. I just carefully peeled with my hands.

And here’s the big reveal.



Open cell foam – and not much of it. At the butt, where your ass hits the seat, there’s about 1/2″ of foam. At the front where your knees rest, there’s like 4″ of foam. Just a huge amount for the knees. For the butt? Nothin.

No lumbar padding.

Not much back padding. Nothing.

There’s another name for this type of foam – couch cushion foam.

I’ve been punishing my tailbone with a fiberglass seat and a half inch of couch foam for six years.



To restate what I bought – a half roll of 3/8″ HD foam and a full roll of 1/8″ HD foam.

If you have a solid plan and know what you’re doing, you could do four full seats with this much. I did not have a solid plan, so I had some waste and cut a few different configurations. I cut, sat, and tested. I snipped, I fitted, I tested.

The seats are totally transformed with this foam.


Final configuration


Can't even tell.

I could type several paragraphs about the various permutations and iterations of padding I sat on. Instead, I’ll not bore you with it and just say this – sitting on the seat in the garage is quite different than sitting on it while taking corners at speed. What felt really nice in the garage felt rather overstuffed and plush in the car.

I drove a lot. I adjusted a lot.

I ended up with 1/2″ of foam on the butt (a nice 3/8″ section all the way up past the tailbone with 1/8″ on top) and a sort of stepped 1/2″ back pad made out of 4 sheets of the 1/8″ foam. I also have a 3/8″ lumbar support (marked L) that I spent a week adjusting to get it in the perfect spot.

If you check out this post on the Lotustalk forum, you'll see some dimensions. My inserts are the same width, but the height varies a small amount. http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f92/...el-foam-25711/

Seriously, the result is incredible. Sharka is SO much more enjoyable to drive. The seats actually absorb impact instead of transmitting it straight to my spine. The Air2Gel foam combined with the XIDA shocks have really transformed the car.

Anyone reading along with Elise seats should consider adding some of this foam and spending a week getting it just perfect. I can’t believe I didn’t do this earlier.

[★ revlimiter ★]

Another day. Seats out of the car again...

Disclaimer: Anything you read in this blog may or may not kill you. I’m not suggesting you follow along or modify anything in a similar manner on any car anywhere. This is simply a documentation of my own choices with my own car.


Yeah.

This is not a new or groundbreaking mod. These little Elise seat harness slots have been around for years. They are super controversial on the Lotustalk forum. Because of that, there’s a little disclaimer at the top of this post.

Honestly – I don’t think any badness will happen from these harness slots. The Exige harness slots are in exactly the same spot (while having larger wings to provide larger harness holes) and none of the structural area of the seat is touched. However, lots of things can happen and I’m REALLY not advocating that anyone should do this mod. Since I’ve already voided the warranty on my seats with the Kemmler foam, I felt it was time to make some holes for harnesses. I’ve had the grommets for years. They finally got to come out into the light.

While there are tons of post about this on the intartoobz, there’s not much in the way of step by step actually showing the seat cutting. Even the official Sector111 instructions don’t go much in depth about the actual seat cutting. It’s more about measuring before hand and cutting the seat material (leather) after.

So. Here’s what I did.





Figuring out exactly where to cut is the hard part. The slot’s outer lip doesn’t allow you to be too close to the actual seat backbone (thick part in the center) or too close to the seat edge. And the seat has a pretty good curve to it on the shoulders. I discovered there is exactly ONE place that the seat grommets fit.

After tracing the inside of the slot hole with a pencil, I sliced with the dremel. Accuracy is always important with this sort of thing, but the hole needs to be enlarged quite a bit over the inner slot diameter. Accuracy isn’t really huge on this step. I used a reinforced cutoff wheel to do these cuts.



And this shot is the result of about 30 minutes careful work with the dremel sanding drum. That tool turned out to be the best thing to carefully worry away on the fiberglass. The burrs and metal cutting bits didn’t do nearly as good at this as the spinning sandpaper.

The hole has to be big enough for the large side of the seat grommet to pass through. I discovered this on the first seat (you’re looking at the 2nd). I got my hole all perfect so that the back half of the grommet pressure fit… and then I discovered the front half was way way bigger. Heh – back to work.


The seat grommets are not sided. In other words, the “large” half pokes through the front of the seat on one side and the back of the seat on the other. It’s really hard to get it to poke through the back half while arguing with the fabric. I had the idea of gluing the fabric down temporarily to let me install the slots. It was kinda brilliant.

After I got the grommets installed and “done,” I sliced the visible fabric edges with an X-acto knife. It’s not really visible on the back anyway, but I wanted clean edges.


The receiving (larger) half poked through the back. This wasn't really possible without gluing down the fabric.


Same thing on the other side, but poked through the front.

Another thing I discovered – the grommets are mated pairs. Maybe it’s because mine have sat together, pressed together, for like 4 years? But my 4 grommets ONLY fit into each other in a single combination. I discovered this when I went to snap my first pair together and found that they didn’t fit. I had to pull them out of that seat (I’d already taken each pair of grommets apart) and test fit all of the halves into each other to find slots that would work together.

Annoying.

Also – fiberglass gets everywhere. Every time I stopped sanding a hole, I’d turn on the shopvac for a second to suck up the fiberglass dust. This wasn’t just to make the pix look good, it was so I could see what I was doing. The sanding drums really love to send dust everywhere.









They came out very symmetrical. The slots also hit at a nice spot right above my shoulders, right where they should.

Now I just need to do the anti-sub passage.

[—tsingson—]

Why the hate on the Delrin blocks?

[Oldekamp]

Looking good! I like the seats even better with the harness slots!

[★ revlimiter ★]

Why the hate on the Delrin blocks?

I have no idea. The Nutz moderator who went after me personally and called me a marketer was the most shocking. It's kinda taken some wind out of my sails as far as reviewing things.

Looking good! I like the seats even better with the harness slots!

Thanks! Just one more hole to hack and I'll have finished my Elise seat updates.

[—tsingson—]

That's crazy. I have read some reviews on it and just need to pull the trigger on some. I thought your review was great.