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Thread: Sharka

  1. #691
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    What could be in this battered red box?


    Silver Watanabe Falcon and horn button!!!

    What do I even say about this? Words fall short. It’s a black and silver steering wheel, but so much more. The legendary Watanabe Falcon.

    Car guys swoon. (Well, those into esoteric JDM unicorns.) Normal people look confused. Aficionados write blog posts.

    A wheel of legend? Yeah, that’s not hyperbole. That’s pretty accurate.



    Mine came with this fine little chrome horn button. It is new. There’s no scuff marks on the terminal and it looks to have never been mounted. It was very likely made just before the wheel left Japan rather than being New Old Stock. It was made VERY well. The red is an exact match for the Watanabe red. The artwork is very crisp.

    It’s perfect for the wheel.



    A few words on the Falcon. These wheels were made in the mid 80s. They’re Italian, though commissioned by Watanabe of Japan. Either 250 or 300 were made. 250 is the most common number I’ve read in my research. They came in either black or silver. Silver seems to be less common. I say this because most photos on the net are black spoke models.

    Nearly every steering wheel collector lists this wheel as his crown jewel. Guys with dozens or even hundreds of wheels elevate the Falcon to the top of their collection.

    I had to know why.




    Thumb pads


    FALCON


    340 mm

    Features of my Falcon steering wheel:

    - 340mm width. This is something I learned only after having the wheel in hand. I’ve never found an accurate measurement anywhere online.
    - Soft leather. So soft. It’s like heaven. Like a baby’s butt.
    - The grip is nice and thick. Not TOO thick, but it’s not Nardi-thin either. It’s fantastic.
    - The thumb pads are softer than the rest of the wheel and have a slight indent for your thumb to rest in. It’s extremely subtle. It’s also not worn in like this. I’ve got a ton of Falcon close up photos saved and all have a slight indent on the thumb pad.
    - It’s almost new. There’s no evidence of wear on the leather. The screw holes have no marks. The wheel has been mounted at least once as there’s a shadow of hub mounting wear on the back.



    This was the most surprising feature of the wheel – the angled grip. It’s super hard to capture with a camera. I added some arrows to help indicate the angle.

    The grip is oval rather than round. The steering wheel itself is round, but the grip has an oval cross section. And it curves inwards slightly. That makes the entire steering wheel an anatomic handle.

    This is completely unique. I’ve got a few wheels with oval grips in my collection, but none angle like this. My other wheels just have an oval grip to make the cross section thinner and allow better gauge visibility. The Falcon seems more concerned about how the wheel FEELS to hold.

    And it feels amazing. I could babble for another dozen paragraphs.





    From other owners of this rare wheel, the most common statement posted was “mine is too nice to mount.” Sometimes followed by “I just take it out of the box once a year and hold it.”

    I mounted mine about a half hour after I unwrapped the package. I wasted NO time. I wanted to play with my new toy.

    And it’s amazing. Using the Falcon is unlike any other wheel I’ve ever held. The finger grips, the thumb pads, the 340mm size. And that angled oval grip! It’s an experience.

    If I happened to test drive a car with a wheel that felt like this, I would buy that car immediately.



    I even went so far as to buy a new shift knob in a brushed finish to match the steering wheel. My polished Moddiction knob is taking some time off. The Falcon demanded it.

    And, with that, I now have ten steering wheels in my collection.

    Ten.

    I need some help or an intervention or something. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I have a problem.

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  3. #692
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    2008.

    Seven years ago on November 18th, 2008, I stopped to fill up Sharka’s tank. Gas was below $2, which was a first in many years. Sharka posed in front of the sign and I snapped a pic.

    The next morning, this happened. It was a bad day for the little striped car.



    Seven years ago. Seems like longer. Seems like a lifetime.

    In many ways, Sharka’s destruction was the best day of my life. It didn’t feel great at the time, but it proved to be something I needed very badly. I came close – not that close, but a little bit close – to death. If not for a bit of the right type of foam on my rollbar, I’d not be typing this. I’d be fertilizer or a veggie-rev. $20 in padding let me walk away. And thanks to that rollbar, the truck that hit me didn’t come into the cabin.

    I discovered a lot about myself that day.

    I discovered I really loved life and wanted to live it. That’s what I got out of taking that huge freeway hit. It wasn’t that I was suicidal before the hit or anything. I just… didn’t LOVE life. I felt very blah about everything. I had things I enjoyed, but I was just going through the motions. I was sleepwalking my life away.

    I wasn’t living each day to the best of my ability. I wasn’t living.

    Sharka’s destruction and my small brush with mortality brought life into focus. The important things in life were immediately brought to the front of my mind. I grabbed them and didn’t let go. The things that were not so important fell to the side.

    I transformed that day.



    I think about that photo in front of the gas station sign fairly often and the day that followed it. Every time gas falls below two bucks, I think about posing again and recreating it. That original shot has developed into a bit of a stigma in my mind… I’ll not lie – I’ve been more than a little afraid of retaking it.

    Pure terror really.

    Mostly just irrational fear that Sharka would go away again if I recreated the shot… That I’d have to rebuild again.

    So much work. So much time.

    But… You know what? So what.

    If it happens again, I’ll fix him up again. Sharka is my soul in physical form. A rolling, four wheeled part of myself. I’ll build him again. I’ll rebuild as many times as I need to.

    When I snapped the photo this evening, I felt free.

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  5. #693
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    I put a set of the Version JNC gauges in Sharka’s dash a few weeks ago. The design is just so pretty… and I’d been waiting to post it for sale for six months, I couldn’t resist.

    But Sharka gets gauges all the time. Far too often one might say. I decided it was time to do something a little different.

    A wild HVAC appears!





    This is something I’ve never done for myself. Customers order matching HVAC faces all the time, but I’ve always left Sharka’s Roadster HVAC in place. It’s a nice design that matches or complements nearly every gauge set I sell… but mine was amber lit. I wanted to convert Sharka’s interior lighting to all white incandescent.

    It’s not so easy to change out the HVAC panel. Gauges? It’s about 30 minutes. But the HVAC insert requires removal of a lot of interior pieces. It’s just something I don’t want to do every few months when I decide to change gauges.

    But these JNC gauges? They demanded it. They told me that they were worth the work.

    I agreed. Who am I to argue with a gauge set that suddenly started speaking to me?



    The warm glow is just so nice. I’ve had an amber interior for the past 5 or 6 years. As much as I liked the amber, this white/gold vintage glow is just… it. It’s what I wanted to go to.

    I also went to the trouble of removing all the little amber bulb condoms from the other gauges and clocks and stuff.



    Sorry for the bad photo. I managed to not shoot another before trying to blog about this. But the pic shows the effect.

    It’s really nice. Thanks to the shorter days, I get to drive at night a bit more often. Sitting behind the warm white glow of Sharka’s new interior lighting is quite satisfying. It was a bit of work to change the color, but it was worth it.

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  7. #694
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    This is a part that’s been on my want list for a good 4 or 5 years. It’s more quilted loveliness from Nakamae. I added their quilted transmission tunnel cover years ago and made my own quilted leather door panels, but I’ve held off adding more quilted stuff.

    I didn’t want Sharka to have the Full Coffin look, you know?

    And then a quilted headliner appeared.



    This piece comes from Ly (who works at Pann Auto and is also known as aarrow on this forum) who was parting out his NA for some ridiculous reason. I sent a PM and some cash and received this lovely slab of quilted vinyl just a few days later.

    The attachment method – lol. Nakamae apparently uses sticky tape to keep the headliner attached. Ly very carefully applied backing to the tape for transport. I… cannot imagine the time this took. All of the tape was fine and able to be applied to Sharka’s top.

    Thanks for the awesome service Ly. You rock!


    The Before pic


    In the house for mods


    HDHCDD damage

    I took the HT off and moved it inside. It seemed easier than trying to struggle against gravity. I mean… the roof comes off… why not take advantage of that fact?

    You can see the rollbar damage on the OEM headliner on the corners. My old Hard Dog touched the top at those edges. After a decade, it rubbed most of the headliner off. No damage to the fiberglass, but the headliner took some wear.

    To make absolutely clear – this damage was NOT from my Blackbird Fabworx bar. That one does not touch top and sits a bit farther back. The damage you see came from my old HDHCDD. Because Sharka can’t just have one rollbar, right?



    I’ve never actually cleaned the OEM headliner. No better time than immediately before covering it up forever, right? A bit of rubbing alcohol to remove any oils seemed like the right choice.

    Amazingly, there was very little black stuff on my white microfiber after I finished cleaning. I guess the bottom side of a hardtop stays clean pretty easily. Who knew?



    I took the opportunity to add some extra tape to the headliner as well. I have a ton of it around the shop and figured it couldn’t hurt.

    If the tape doesn’t hold and the headliner starts to sag, I won’t have any worry about breaking out the Dap Weldwood headliner adhesive. That would keep the top and quilted goodness connected until the end days. We’ll see if that level of stickiness is required over the next few months.


    Installed


    OMG


    Nakamae

    What you don’t see is 10 minutes of careful measuring and positioning of the headliner before sticking it down. Many thanks to my wife for the help in this tedious job.

    I tucked the front edges of the headliner under the HT latches. The material seemed like it was shaped for it to do this.

    Once the headliner touched the top? Brilliance. Angels sang. Unicorns shat rainbows. Stars filled my eyes.


    I have to hit you with the Before pic again.

    because



    More angels singing. How did I not get this piece years ago? I have no idea why I waited so long.

    The weather was warm enough that I got to take Sharka out of the garage, drive a bit, and shoot the interior in a little nicer location than the boring garage.


    Driver's side


    Passenger side

    It adds so much depth to Sharka’s interior. Driving with that beautiful quilting above my head is… different. I never noticed the roof before. It used to just be a black area that my brain would ignore. Now it has this texture and shine.

    So beautiful.

    I’m so happy with this.



    The warm weather can return now. I'm done with this winter stuff. I wanna drive my tiny turbo car every day again.

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  9. #695
    The Technical Guy RuckkehrMiata's Avatar
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    This car, after the Kimochi Cruiser, is quite literally the largest inspiration for why I choose to wait on nicer options instead of what I can find cheap. Sharka will always be my hero.
    `89 NA build: 二回目 My (defunct) `92 NA build: Ruckkehr

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  11. #696
    Idling - Listen to it purr... Delboy's Avatar
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    How the hell did you even find a Falcon wheel! Wow! not something that is easy to pick up. Loving the new additions to Sharka.
    spoilt for choice
    › to be unable to choose because there are so many possible good choices

    My NA8 Pit Crew Build

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  13. #697
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! Greasemonkey2000's Avatar
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    Post #692 pushed me that much closer to a Blackbird Fabworx NB SD roll bar.....

    Quote Originally Posted by RuckkehrMiata View Post
    This car, after the Kimochi Cruiser, is quite literally the largest inspiration for why I choose to wait on nicer options instead of what I can find cheap. Sharka will always be my hero.
    QFT.
    '01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
    '97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
    Instagram: @greasemonkey2000

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  15. #698
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift theothersawyer's Avatar
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    What I love most about your updates, is the fact that in every post we learn just a bit more about you as a person and how much Sharka means to you!(and to the community) As always, beautiful work and Sharka looks very happy with his newest additions!

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  17. #699
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power freedomgli's Avatar
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    I will just say what is already plainly obvious: your writing is entertaining to read and your car is something very special. So happy you're part of our Roadster community dude.

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  19. #700
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power freedomgli's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Delboy View Post
    How the hell did you even find a Falcon wheel!
    bo_gaut

  20. #701
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the kind words.

    Quote Originally Posted by Delboy View Post
    How the hell did you even find a Falcon wheel! Wow! not something that is easy to pick up. Loving the new additions to Sharka.
    And as Kyle said, I got the wheel from Bo. bogaut on the forums and, I think, www.bosgarage.com

    He's actually had 2 for sale recently. A black one came up after my silver one sold.

  21. #702
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power Flyin 92's Avatar
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    I miss the side stripes.
    Quote Originally Posted by zacatac View Post
    If I said the things in my head I would make a lot of enemies. All I wanted to say was "Isn't the fact that your double chin is resting on your tits enough motivation?"
    Link to the most lack-luster build in MR history

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  23. #703
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Paul B's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Flyin 92 View Post
    I miss the side stripes.
    Amazing write up and photos as always. Makes me want a headliner now.

    Idk about the side stripes. There is nothing wrong with Sharka. 100% perfect car...but....Adam how come no side skirt? I sure you have perfectly good reason for never doing a side skirt such the Project G kit. I think something down there to cover the rockers helps all NA Miatas down there in a couple of ways, especially if they are lowered and have front and rear lips.

    Just curious!

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  25. #704
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone RustRat's Avatar
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    I liked the stripes, I liked it without the stripes, dunno. The colour is stunning, and the interior is in a totally different level of awesomeness.

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  27. #705
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Although Im very new to MX5's, I do know quality and attention to detail when I see one. Sharka is a really amazing car!

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