Hehe ;)
Hehe ;)
Well, I know I've said no new parts till I install the pile I already got, so I started moving my ass a bit. A while back I had purchased a set of door handle covers from topgaiters. They did sell only the covers, which needed trimming and gluing to fit. I did not wanted to ruin my handles, so I started looking for a spare set. Thankfully, at the same time, Peter was parting out his NB2 interior that was once installed in Rust Rat, so I got those. Thought a bit of DIYing, but as of pure luck I went to ask a guy that owns a leather shoe repair shop down the street for some advice. He was intrigued by the project, so he decided to help me (during his off time, and using his shop) to trim those. Finished items pic:
I think they turned out pretty awesome! Cannot wait for the weekend so I can install them on the car.
Demon I Am (01-14-2016),Greasemonkey2000 (01-15-2016),Paul B (01-14-2016),RustRat (01-14-2016)
So, I have been thinking on potential color schemes for my wheels (when they finally arrive, fingers crossed), and the image of the BRG NB2 I posted on the "retro NB" topic kept coming in my mind. Therefore I decided to put my -rusty and fairly limited- photoshop skills to good use! Thankfully, the F8s on this car look pretty similar to RS8s. The end result(s)!
Silver, as per the green car:
Presumably these are 16"s, so I made them slightly smaller.
A bit darker grey:
Bronze/gold-ish:
And darker bronze:
So what people think? I am leaning towards the dark grey, however I would love to hear some opinions.
Last edited by HarryB; 01-16-2016 at 03:06 PM.
Greasemonkey2000 (01-17-2016),Paul B (01-17-2016),ueru (01-17-2016)
My suggestion, 15" in bronze, and maybe polished lip. It's a nice contrast against the blue, and goes well with the tan interior and the woodem bits.
HarryB (01-17-2016)
Darker bronze!
My miatas:
2004 MSM Velocity Red - in
1990 Mariner Blue Turbo - sold
HarryB (01-17-2016)
For me...I like how bright silver just pops on darker exteriors. I even liked it on red. Something about the pop and matching the headlights' pop.
But...that and dark bronze are my votes
Demon I Am (01-21-2016),HarryB (01-17-2016)
The first picture, the lighter silver
HarryB (01-17-2016)
I like the "bit darker grey" in 15.
HarryB (01-17-2016)
'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
HarryB (01-17-2016),NCGreasemonkey (01-18-2016)
I am old school so bronze/goldish ties up your interior and gives that mature and confident attitude. Having that polished lip and gold center also screems reto IMO.
HarryB (01-17-2016)
Dark gray is my favorite! Or something close to watanabe magnesium color maybe? I think the light bronze/goldish would look great with a polished lip though...
flickr
instagram~ @100yenrainbowmountain
HarryB (01-17-2016)
tsingson (01-28-2016)
Actually surprised with the polished lip - was against it at first... I'd vote......
Straight silver
Darker grey, polished lip
Darker bronze
Darker bronze, polished lip
Demon I Am (01-21-2016),HarryB (01-18-2016)
As you might recall, I had some issues with my HT sealing. Then accidentally found out that Mazda changed the design of their latches from pointy to blunt sometime at 2003. My car is a 2004, and the HT (and latches) were from a 2001 NB, so I blamed those and started looking for appropriate latch caps. The issue is that those "late-spec" caps are discontinued. Managed to find only one set in Europe, at an extreme price, so I decided to order 3 for virtually the same price from Miatamecca, and have some spares. BTW definitely recommend them, great service and good prices.
Said parts:
Trouble begun when I removed the actual latches in order to change the caps. As it seems, they are not interchangeable, as the metal part is exactly shaped like the cap, and the pointy ones are slightly longer. Therefore the blunt-edged one would not fit correctly.
Decided to ditch the bolt and reside to silicone clue to hold the cap in place and fill in the voids. Since I was on it, i bit the bullet and bought brand-new HT seals, in case my old ones had deformed and they were the actual issue. Test-fitted the HT, and no, it was worse than before... So I decided to swap over my soft top latches, which I knew they were right for the car. This however did not changed a thing... well, it did, now the HT would not seal on the top of the windscreen as well. Removed the windscreen strikers/grab plates, put a couple of shims underneath and put them back, that fixed the windscreen gap. However, the initial issue (gap between car, HT and door window) STILL remains!
Photo as it stands:
Any ideas on what might be wrong? Do I have wrong seals? Is the HT crooked? I am getting so desperate that I am about to sell the damn thing and just keep the soft top! Help please!
Besides my HT troubles, I managed to do some minor stuff during the weekend, like installing my leather-covered door handles. Since it was extremely cold, I had to take the door cards off and in the house, so I decided to take advantage of the heat of my living room and do a proper job. Took everything apart and used warm water, green olive soap (THE best mild cleaner I've used, plus it is free as my grandma makes it ) and a soft brush to wash over the vinyl, taking extra care not to soak the backing by regularly wiping them off with a clean microfiber towel. They cleaned up nicely and treated with vinyl & rubber care before re-assembly. I also removed the tweeters, as their mesh cover rattled a bit, fixed it and used rubber grommets in their plugs and mounts. Some of the pop mounts for the door card were missing their felt-like sticker, so I used some little felt pads with adhesive backing, cut in half, to fit instead. Also, I put some thinner velvet-like material on the back side of the door card, where it meets the door frame as it squeaked a bit before. On to pictures!
Just removed door card; easy to see that it was FILTHY. Their texture and colour makes proper cleaning next to impossible when on the car.
How an ΟΕΜ door card pop mount should look (the black "ring" is the OEM felt material):
And my DIY solution...
...cut in half and install.
Velvet-like material on the back side:
Rubber grommet on the twitter plug:
Also washed and treated the door cups, turned out like new!
Installed with brand new ΟΕΜ hardware
Before:
And after:
I also took the a-pillar cover off, since some clips have broken off and it rattled like crazy, and fixed that as well. The end result is so awesome! Car is now almost completely rattle-free, apart from an exhaust-related rattle which I will hunt down next.
tsingson (01-28-2016)