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Thread: Suzuki Cappuccino (Nopro) washer bottle install for NB (lite), Garage Star wiper cowl

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    Suzuki Cappuccino (Nopro) washer bottle install for NB (lite), Garage Star wiper cowl

    *Note: This thread is about installing a Suzuki Cappuccino (Nopro) washer fluid bottle into an NB Miata. It is a shorter version of my article about installing the bottle into an NA where I detail parts and sizes. For more detailed information, such as hardware specifications, please consult my comprehensive NA article in the DIY section here: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....ve%29&p=150420.

    I wanted to shed some light about my experience with this mystery bottle that exists partly between legend and partly under the hoods of very few Miatas.

    The NOPRO name in the title is a bit of a misnomer because this is in fact, an OEM washer bottle for a Suzuki Cappuccino, marketed by NOPRO as an alternative for the Miata because it can be mounted inside the wiper cowl space.

    Personally, I wanted it because I had no more room in my engine bay due to my supercharger and soon-to-be-installed, Thompson oil filter relocation kit.

    Each of those add-ons required moving the stock washer bottle around until it finally got booted from the engine bay altogether. Luckily, there is a lot of space in the wiper cowl and the bottle fits like it was made for the Miata. There is also space for a small toolbox I wish someone would make but that's for another thread.

    Owners of RHD Miatas will have an easier time installing and using this bottle. That's because there is a curvature of the wiper cowl floor that of course, provides for draining rain water to either side. Since the bottle's pump location is more toward one end, the fluid will rest more level in a RHD configuration, allowing it to be filled to capacity.

    After installing the bottle on my LHD Miata, my first impressions are that it works fine, looks fine and I like it fine. That said, there are a couple of caveats.

    First, LHD Miatas will require tilting the bottle a bit to overcome the curvature of the driver side cowl floor. Second, since one end of the bottle will be angled slightly upward from the pump end, it will have a bit less fluid capacity than with the RHD configuration.

    Those minor annoyances aside, the bottle is still a success because it can be mounted with a couple of dollars? worth of hardware, is completely out of the way and still holds more than enough fluid for a few months? use before refilling, at least in my case. Combined with a wiper cowl cover, the bottle virtually disappears with only its fill cap showing.

    This is a very niche product. In my case it solved a problem but for others, it is a very cool bling project or rather, anti-bling because nowhere will you spend this much but have so little to show for it and that's really the point. Done right, the engine bay opens up a bit and besides the little fill cap sticking out, there's nothing left to see.

    I really love this mod and while the bottle isn't inexpensive, I'm glad I did it. Of course, I really didn't have any options left. Still, I would do this because it if only to clear some clutter out of the engine bay.

    As for the installation, there is no official way to do it however; this is just how I did it without drilling a single hole. It turns out, the Miata, at least the NB that I did this on, just happened to have two mounting points that perfectly correspond to those on the washer bottle. There will be no holes to drill.

    View of the bottle as packaged:


    The bottle comes with a tight-fitting mount molded into the side for the pump, grommet included. Here, a stock Miata pump is ready for transplant. I use a little grease here for lube and seal but some saliva will do.


    Snaps right in, perfect fit. What are the odds of that happening?


    Now on to the hardware. Replace this bolt with a longer one so that a few millimeters of thread stick inside the cowl:


    This is how it looks inside the cowl:


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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    This is a general idea of the hardware I used. Nuts, bolts, nylon spacers. After I figured out what I needed, I went back to the store to get fancier, stainless steel Allen bolts, fender washers and flanged nuts. It will be up to you how decorative you want to go and how much money you're willing to spend.


    The bottle will have to be adjusted for height on the driver-side end. This is so the cap won't hit the underside of the hood. Either you can be absolutely perfect or you can make it adjustable like I did. In order to do that, I had to trim a bit off the mounting tab to allow for up and down movement. You might not find it necessary.


    Trimmed and sanded tab:


    On to the brackets. I cut down the length a bit on each one, drilled a couple of new holes and rounded the edges.


    The longer bracket mounted to the pump end of the bottle:


    Now the other bracket (filler side of the bottle):


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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    Okay, the pump side is attached and now it's time to attach the fill side. Luckily, there was a hole for the pump side exactly where I needed it. Better still, there is a hole already in the firewall that conveniently corresponds to this end of the bottle, no drilling needed. This is where the brackets make sense because the whole bottle can now rock side to side to allow mounting the fill side and also to perform hight adjustment.

    Since the bolt is much skinnier than the hole, there is room for the bottle to move up and down but I'm going to need a washer:


    Applicaton note: Route the tube and attach it to the pump before mounting the bottle. It is nearly impossible to do after the bottle is mounted and you'll have detach the fill-side hardware and pull the bottle up again.

    Before I tighten the fill-side, I routed the pump wiring and tube to the driver side. My particular Miata already had a washer fluid bottle in the driver side, next to the exhaust manifold which is typical of Miatas equipped with ABS. Other Miatas have the washer bottle on the passenger side of the engine bay and will have to have their wires extened to Suzuki bottle's new location in the driver side wiper cowl. 18-gauge speaker wire will suffice perfectly here.

    All versions of left-hand-drive Miatas will need to have the washer fluid tube redirected to the driver side which involves detaching the clips under the hood and switching sides:


    Now to finish mounting the bottle. I need the filler cap to sit as level as possible to the top of the firewall. This is so the filler cap doesn't contact the closed hood but not so low as to reduce my fluid capacity, just even is perfect.

    I crouched down and just eyeballed it until it looked right: (You can also see the Allen bolt and fender nut I used which looks very nice in the engine bay)


    Then I finished tightening the fill-side nuts and bolts. I decided to use an acorn nut so I wouldn't have any threads showing as well as Allen bolts bor a cleaner look.




    No todo que es oro brilla.

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    The wiring is simple. Pull the original wiring from its previous location (varies by year) and resplice the plug using heat-shrink tubing. There are only two blade connectors on the pump and conveniently, they'll be sticking straight up for you. Pour in some fluid and test. If nothing comes spraying out, just reverse the wires:


    Wiring wrapped in plastic loom and tucked behind brake booster:


    As mentioned earlier, this bottle in LHD configuration will lose a little fluid capacity but not much. You can now more easily see the angle of the tank in reference to the fluid line:


    View from above:


    That's it, you're done!


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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    The Garage Star wiper cowl cover.

    So, the bottle is installed and looks great but I also got a wiper cowl cover, in this case a powdercoated black one from Techno Toy. This is a very nice and precisely machined, aluminum panel that covers the entire wiper cowl for a clean look and to stop the flow of heat from the engine bay into the Miata cabin. Of course, this is its own mod, made to be used without the Suzuki bottle but it can be with a little more work.

    Now that the bottle is installed, I had to drill a hole into the cowl cover for the bottle?s filler neck to poke through. I took a sponge, cut it to the size of the filler cap, double-sided taped one side and painted the other with white paint.

    Then I lay the cowl cover straight down onto the sponge which left a perfect, round paint mark. I used a 2.5" hole bit and drilled out a hole a bit larger than the filler cap.

    Here is the bit, the cutout and some extra pipe insulation I had lying around. More on that later:


    I started the bit into the center of the painted side then flipped the panel over and finished drilling through for a nice, clean cut:


    Now a little finishing work with a Dremmel and the hole is perfectly smooth. The cowl cover is aluminum so there is no need to paint the edge:


    I cut a thin piece of the pipe insulation and laid it on top of the filler neck and then mounted the cowl cover. Perfect fit:


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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    Application note: When installing the wiper cowl cover, start at the middle and install the nuts and bolts loosely. Then work your way out to either end but do not tighten anything until all nuts and bolts are installed.

    Now I mounted the wiper cowl cover using 5mm, stainless steel Allen bolts and small fender washers to maintain the look of my engine bay and this project is done! It hit me that it was a shame to spend so much money and time on the Suzuki bottle just to have a fraction of it showing but in the grand scope of things, this is perfect. It's a super clean install and looks factory or better.








    And finally, a gratuitus shot of my engine bay but where'd the bottle go? Damn, I know right?! :woohoo




    *I got a question about what I did with the old weather stripping which had to be removed to install the cover so I'll address that here. I removed the old weather stripping which is held on by little, butterfly anchor clips along the firewall. All you need is needle-nose pliers to pinch each clip and it'll come out. Do not get frustrated and yank the stock weather strip off. The rubber will tear off and the clips will remain. Besides, it's expensive and you may need it later.

    Then I lay down a thin strip of foam before attaching the cowl cover and doubled up by installing a half-inch strip to the underside of the hood. It'll be easy to know where to stick it because the stock weather stripping will have left a mark along the bottom of the hood. The materials I used were door and windows stripping from Ace Hardware.

    Here are a couple of photos:



    Now that the stock weatherstrip has been removed to install the cowl cover, I've placed a new one to the underside of the hood. It'll be easy to see where it goes because the stock weatherstrip will have already left a wear mark over the years.


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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    Super Moderator tsingson's Avatar
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    This was a very detailed DIY. One of the most detailed DIYs I have seen. Great job!

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    Admin / Pit Boss / Miataholic Phatmiata's Avatar
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    wow that is the best write up yet !! And props for a super CLEAN INSTALL !!!

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    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! WASABI's Avatar
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    Nice write up! Thanks! Can you please take a couple more pictures of your engine bay? I LOVE this car!!!!

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    Admin / Pit Boss / Miataholic Phatmiata's Avatar
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    I would like to see the NA write up you mentioned as well

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    Super Moderator atank's Avatar
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    Very detailed DIY AO!!!!!!!!!

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    Individual-1 ☚ ☻ ☛ Agent☣Orange's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phatmiata View Post
    I would like to see the NA write up you mentioned as well
    Here you go: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....ve%29&p=150420



    Quote Originally Posted by atank View Post
    Very detailed DIY AO!!!!!!!!!


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! dweikum's Avatar
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    Any chance of getting the photos restored for this DIY, please?

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    ^that

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    Individual-1 ☚ ☻ ☛ Agent☣Orange's Avatar
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    I know, I know. Photosuckit really demotivated me but this is one of my favorite writeups so now I have an excuse to dig out my old drive and start editing and uploading all the photos again. Thanks for the reminder.

    In the meantime, check out Revlimiter’s blog. Some of the photos there (yellow Miata) are the same as used here.

    http://revlimiter.net/blog/2011/02/nopro-washer-bottle/


    No todo que es oro brilla.

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