HarryB's Strato blue NB2

[NCGreasemonkey]

Just my .02 cents. But the silver centers are not the ticket. You want subtle try anthracite in a rattle-can first.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...bb91e8ed712fH0

[RustRat]

That actually could work. Looks really close to the black/gunmetal/bronze or whatever it is, Watanabes are commonly found.

[NCGreasemonkey]

The silver is just to harsh against the dark blue. Something deeper. Antique bronze also.

[HarryB]

Has been a while since I updated this because, well, it has been a while since I updated anything on the car, besides some squeak/rattle hunting, idle droop issues and a leaky trunk. 90% of those are resolved by now, and have a planned idle system rebuild/cleaning once I got hand of some flanges for my peace of mind. In the meanwhile I totally eliminated my hardtop sealing issues...by buying a second hardtop.



It is a different colour code to the body, so it needs respraying, but it is in a much better condition than my previous one.

I also designed a bunch of parts in CAD to be CNC'd soon(ish), including various braces, reinforcements, interior bits and wheel spacers for my Watanabes. Speaking of, here's how they sit on 5 and 7.5mm spacers.

5mm:





7.5mm





5mm ones works with tuner and Watanabe lug nuts, while 7.5mm would require extended thread lug nuts or longer studs. I think I will go with the latter and ET lug nuts, any thoughts?

Last little bit, I covered the inside of my glovebox. Bought a roll of leather-like material, which is foam backed, and installed it.



Needs a few spots with double-sided adhesive tape, and it is not the best of jobs, but hope it will do the trick. If it does, I will re-do it out of black, as brown does not match my interior.

[HarryB]

So today I received an awesome package from the other side of the pond!



Randy was a massive help in sourcing those flanges, collecting them for me and shipping them over. Moreover I now got two AWESOME T-shirts, and a bunch of stickers and cards! Thanks Randy, I really owe you!

In addition, I found some time and re-did my glovebox, in black this time.



Turned out a million times better. Surprisingly, this thing does a good job of stopping things rattling around, so tomorrow I'm gonna cut some pads for the bottom of cupholders and the armrest compartment!

[HarryB]

On Sunday I had a chance to catch up with Peter (RustRat), drink a coffee together and talk Miatas; amazing how many things two seemingly strangers can share! I also got a small package...



Rakuten Cappuccino washer bottle and JDM folding sun visors. The latter were showing their age... Of course I could not install them that way, so they had a mini restoration. Took the arms apart (already missing in the 1st pic) as they had a fair amount of corrosion. I initially planned to paint them black, but being stainless I knew I could polish them.



Before:



And after:



Not a 10/10 job and I could certainly do better, but I called them OK. The fabric and vinyl had accumulated tons of dirt as well. Autoglyms' interior shampoo to the rescue!



Guess you can tell the clean one from the dirty! Plastic caps washed with hot soapy water and treated with vinyl & rubber care:



Ready!

[Demon I Am]

That stuff seems to work well!

[RustRat]

Good job restoring them. I remember how they looked when I received.


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[BRGNA8]

awesome stuff!

I never used my visors at all so I just plugged em up.

I might invest in one of those visor plugs with the light in the middle. There can be more light to be had inside the miatas cabin

[HarryB]

That stuff seems to work well!

Yes, it does. I have maybe 1/4th of a litre left, as I have been using it a lot. Cleans up well, it is not harsh with fabrics, plastics or dye and smells good. Will be buying it again.

Good job restoring them. I remember how they looked when I received.

Yeah, they were messy, but extremely cheap. Thank god they turned out great. Have to install them tomorrow.

awesome stuff!

I never used my visors at all so I just plugged em up.

I might invest in one of those visor plugs with the light in the middle. There can be more light to be had inside the miatas cabin

Thanks! Might be easy to DIY a set by repurposing old visor plastic caps with LED bulbs, would make a fun project.

In other news, I won a MOMO Super Indy on an eBay auction. Wanna refurb it to match the rest of my interior wood, and I am also thinking black spokes, IMO they look so sexy!



The issue is I can only think anodizing, and submerging a wooden rim into hot fluid does not seem like a great idea... Anything else that could work?

[HarryB]

So today I installed the JDM visors, removed the side HT striker plates, put back the plastic trim, found and fixed a small rattle, replaced a brake light bulb, removed and washed the intake tube, changed air filter, washed the engine and engine bay, and tried to replace accessory belts. The latter did not quite work, as I had only my "small" ratchet set with me (I am visiting my parents), which did not work with the stubborn bolts. Oh, well, some other time...

Before:



After:



All intake plastic bits were washed with hot soapy water, as well as various plastic mounts:





The whole cleaning saga had a purpose; there is (are?) an oil leak again somewhere, needed a clean engine to locate it....Bonus, it pleases my OCD.

Also, when removing the intake tube, I found out that the exhaust side vent tube has hardened and cracked right at the cam cover. Wrapped it with electric tape, which will do the trick till I order a new one. Might be the culprit for my idle issues. Also checked the lambda sensor bung, was intact.

[Greasemonkey2000]

You have been keeping busy, Harry! All the little details that seem insignificant to some really make a difference especially after years of taking care of a lot of little details. The Momo will look great even as is, imo. Keep up the great work!

[HarryB]

Thanks Chad! Details do mean a lot, but I have to tackle more of the "big fish" soonish!

[HarryB]

As you should have memorized by now the car is my DD. So I had every intention of keeping my airbagged OEM wooden Nardi, which I love. However, I was looking around eBay, and an auction for a used MOMO Super Indy came up. I bidded and forgot about it expecting to be outbidded...but I did not! So here it is!

Extremely well-packaged:





The (Japanese) seller also included an origami; a nice little surprise!







That makes the steering wheel a full year older than I am! The condition is far better than expected, so much that I have doubts over if I should strip the clear and re-do it in a darker hue to match my current wooden bits or not. I was also thinking about brushing the spokes, but it looks sooooo good in person that I do not want to mess with it. Honestly, I would love to swap it with a beaten-up one, as I would rather not damage a great looking part.

[Demon I Am]

Gorgeous!