Cars, Coffee and California...

[oldgrayleather]

When I got home I’d decided I also wanted to swap out shift knobs (putting the joyfast in Berg so I could put the Nielex M2 style shifter I picked up at Karuizawa into Benny). Of course what do we all do when we want to try out a shift knob?? Yes, we run the gears (and possibly make some vroom vroom sounds). First , Second , Third Wait.. where the hell is Third?! No Fourth either?!?! What the bloody hell. It didn’t even want to go back into first all that smoothly. Damn. Better start the engine to see. Slowly let the clutch out and… reverse?!?!?! Something very wrong is going on here. Crap. Everyone hates a setback but atleast I had Berg to drive with its new intake while Benny could get trailered over to Integrated performance. I feared the worst. A thirty year old transmission coupled with 50% more hp than factory may have done it in. Crap. Given holiday rotation et al it was going to be there for a little while but a week later Alex confirmed it was just the reverse light switch. Yes. A switch that lets a little metal pin pop out and join up with the drive shaft to let the light go on. It didn’t pop out. And that? That can make it feel like the entire transmission was completely shot. Apparently not a very common problem but seems it has happened before.

Side note. On one of my trips I came back to the car to see this. Wow, didn’t really think about it before but so hard to imagine that the Z3 was ever seen as a much more desirable alternative to an NA when it was introduced in 1995 (I mean with a significant amount of promotional dollars it did become a Bond car and all). I know I’m biased but sure seems that one of these cars certainly aged better than the other.


Anyways, getting Benny back is always fantastic and a good cause for a nice clean up. The roundels were already discolored at the tops and some cracks were showing along the swage line. My dear friend Adam kindly furnished me with a replacement set at what I think may be the optimum size (17” vs the prior 20”, first ones were 14”) so avoided any particular caution with the pressure washer which made it a lot easier to take them off.

And now? Benny looks naked to me without them. The doors will need a good polish to remove any of the reside so am going to have to run it like that for a while. We’ll see.



I have a little time to figure out what I’ll do and to get the paint work sorted out. Well a couple months actually as I got Benny registered for the annual Japanese Classic Car Show again this year. I’ve also coerced Woolery and a few others to bring their cars so hoping the Roadster presence is strong. It’s an amazing celebration of JDM that previously was limited to 1985 though they’ve since broadened the range so that Maiti aren’t only by special invite any more. It’s Sept 21st in Long Beach in case anyone else can be tempted to make it.

https://www.japaneseclassiccarshow.com/

[oldgrayleather]

Friday brought about another great KINOD meet where Mike Gaite brought out his always inspiring red NA along with a few of his fellow Mutineers from the Philippines. Connecting with new folks that have great stories and share petrol fueled passions is one of the things that makes KINOD such a staple for me.



Which left the weekend to long overdue maintenance projects. Kevin so kindly gave me a bottle of VuPlex which is highly regarded for cleaning plastic softtop windows.


Sadly the one part of the Sunburst that is a little too OEM is the sun faded rear window…


After working to polish it up with a drill and buffing pad it cleaned it up a lot but unfortunately the scorching marks were impossible to remove. The top itself is in great condition so hate to swap it with a Robbin’s and go through the whole stretching process again.


Since that wasn’t quite as satisfying as I’d hoped I wrapped up the day with finally polishing up the exhaust tips. Such a quick job that I’d neglected for too long. Always great to end some car work with those instant gratification jobs

[oldgrayleather]

When Mazda first opened the drawing for the 30AE I felt there was a really good chance I would *need* one! I was already pumped up on Mazda covering our cars as part of their 30th celebrations. Dan’s Fiat was also orange but the Fiata didn’t hit the mark for me. Truth be told I wasn’t really in the market for a new car at all but I knew there was no downside to a fully refundable deposit. There was a chance, albeit slim, that Linden might have been ready to buy the BRG from me (when we picked it up I promised him I’d sell it to him for what I paid if and when he came up with the cash). Even though he got there with his savings he didn’t feel like he needed a car at college and didn’t feel he’d be able to afford the gas, maintenance and insurance given all the costs of school. Man, how did I end up with a son so much more responsible than I would have been!?!? (haha)

Mrs. R continues to be ridiculously supportive of all my Roadster pursuits (the road trips, KINOD every Friday night, the constant stream of new parts and opportunities to further enhance, etc, etc) but everyone has their limit. She said she would support me getting a 30AE but that it required our total car count didn’t increase. So I’d have to get rid of one of my cars. Not Benny, not Berg that I’ve been enjoying so much lately. Not the 997. Since her favorite color has always been orange thought I’d have her join me when I went in to collect my deposit. And to see the car in person. And to see if it tugged at her heart strings.

We showed up at the dealer thinking it might be parked out back but no such luck. There it was on display looking glorious in all its orange splendor. A bold Sold sign sat behind the windshield which was reiterated by the sales associate who wanted me to be sure I knew it was already spoken for.


I had to let him I suspected it was the one I’d put a deposit on and that I was in to decline the opportunity. While waiting for his boss to come talk to me we had a further look around. The Rays, the Recaro’s, that orange piping. There’s no better modern roadster on the market.. in fact there aren’t really any at all. Shame I didn’t really *need* one.

And then? And then I noticed this little detail. This tiny little detail. This one was what was originally intended to be the last 30AE ND for the US. Number 500.



That was over a week ago and it took me that long to get over it. This morning I finally cancelled my order. As much as I love the ND as a modern roadster at this stage I wouldn’t trade the character of either the boosted or naturally aspirated NA’s and am not ready to give back the 997 just yet. I’m guessing someone one the wait list is gonna have a very special surprise sometime soon…

[Greasemonkey2000]

Lots of fun stuff, as usual , that I am jealous of Pete!


On the plastic window. I've been doing a TON of research on detailing cars lately and just watched a video from AMMO NYC about restoring plastic windows on soft tops!

I'd go back and clean it with cleaner again and clay bar it and then try polishing again(on the inside as well). Larry commented that polishing these successfully is typically highly dependent on how clean you get it.

You could even try a Magic Eraser aka melamine pad as it is the equivalent of 5k-6k sandpaper. If you do obviously use good discernment in regards to pressure and how much you use it.


Geez getting number 500 30AE would have been pretty awesome!

[HarryB]

Awesome write-ups once again Pete; it weird how many people can fit in a two-seater when you write like that!

[oldgrayleather]

On the plastic window. I've been doing a TON of research on detailing cars lately and just watched a video from AMMO NYC about restoring plastic windows on soft tops!

I'd go back and clean it with cleaner again and clay bar it and then try polishing again(on the inside as well). Larry commented that polishing these successfully is typically highly dependent on how clean you get it.

You could even try a Magic Eraser aka melamine pad as it is the equivalent of 5k-6k sandpaper. If you do obviously use good discernment in regards to pressure and how much you use it.

Thanks for the tips Chad! You've just given me the motivation to take another run at it!!

[Greasemonkey2000]

My pleasure Pete! Again if you use the melamine pad, be cautious as it can/could create more polishing for you but may help on the really bad areas and use water or something to lubricate.

Also you might give something like Meguiars PlasticX compound a try for the polishing portion. I know nothing about the VuPlex but it is highly possible it is meant to be more of a maintenance polish vs a restoration polish, so it may not be aggressive enough. If you put the VuPlex on your finger and rub your fingers together and there isn't any grit then I'd say it isn't aggressive enough for a window that bad.

[oldgrayleather]

A combination of Eldest son’s last summer before college, missing our closest friends from the UK (not surprising after nearly ten years of living in Europe where 2/3 of our boys were born and all three did a lot of their growing up) and not having taken a family vacation in a loooong time culminated in biting the bullet and booking a trip to Portugal. A couple weeks in the Algarve to truly relax, I couldn’t feel more lucky. The night before we were flying I had a business dinner down in Irvine but wanted to drive Benny since I’d be swapping the Roadster life for some underpowered Fiat diesel station wagon (to be fair, atleast I could spec it with a clutch ).

Turns out it wasn’t a terribly well thought out plan. 42 miles on a Thursday afternoon (reportedly the worst day of the week for traffic between LA and OC) and right in the middle of rush hour. Two hours and thirty-ish if I was lucky. High 80’s/ low 90’s. Stop and go the whole way. I’d just gotten onto the 73 south with about five miles to go when the clutch pedal went straight to the floor with no ability to select any of the gears. Dang Slave cylinder, ugh. 38 miles away from home but atleast I managed to get it safely onto the shoulder. Tow truck reportedly was only 90 minutes away so could be worse, right?


At that point I also wasn’t feeling too too sorry for myself given all the extra ventilation in the car while I waited for the tow (more on that later).


No one seems to know how but the first tow truck was sent to the wrong address. Off the freeway and they claimed they couldn’t drive the extra mile to the freeway to get the car. Hmm. Ugh, oh well. Second one was dispatched and the driver calls to confirm he’s 15m out. But I learn he doesn’t have a flat bed despite that it was documented in my request. Hopefully third time’s a charm?



As the sun went down the blazing heat was traded off for the cold.


The Flatbed call finally came in and shortly after up we went onto the back for the drive home.


With Portugal so close it was really hard for anything to spoil my mood. I first called in just after 5:30 and we pulled up to drop the car at the house just after 10pm. Had to bring it home as the garage was locked up so another short trip to schedule the following morning but Integrated were expecting it. The wait time also afforded me the ability to research a little as I wanted to find something that would last more than the couple years the Exedy set-up lasted. Popular opinion suggested OEM was the way to go so I figured I wasn’t one to argue. A quick turn around to the shop, packed some bags and then we were off to LAX. Uneventful flights and as expected, the decompression began almost immediately after arriving…

[oldgrayleather]

So a while back, Car Make Corns US had imported an immaculate MazdaSpeed hardtop. Kadin had reached out but I passed as at that time I only ever used my OEM top on track. Earlier this year after finally getting my top properly color matched I ended up never taking it off truly falling in love with the coupe-esque experience. The upsides (rigidity and truly effective AC) offset the downsides (slightly reduced visibility and some unwanted noises).

As Bayley was deciding it was time for him to pare back some of the parts he’d collected I was lucky to be first to put my hand up when he decided it was time for the top to find a new home. There was the small issue of the distance between Washington state and California but he decided that since he had some other parts coming south a road trip might be in order if I’d chip in for some of the gas. Done. Timing was briefly in question but it turned out he would be arriving the weekend before we left so no need to figure out some way for a friend to take custody in the interim.

I have to say I’ve never really been more excited by someone else’s posts, Bayley was getting close…


And on our drive…





There are two things I really love about this top…

LIGHT. Like I can carry it myself light! I’ve put it on and taken it off a couple times. So easy. No Frankenstein bolts to mess with. Just on. Off. Carry. So fantastic.
QUIET. Something I never expected this top is whisper quiet. Despite replacing the latch caps, rear mounting plates and gaskets my OEM top wasn’t without rattles. The seals hadn’t yet been replaced but that was going to be my next step.

The paint is in fantastic shape so I still haven’t decided if I will eventually color match it or just make the A pillar black and keep it like that. As eldest son left a few days early that meant he could pick up Benny so I’ll be happy to shake off some of the jetlag with a welcome drive as soon as we’re home in just a few short days.

[Greasemonkey2000]

Congrats, Pete! So did Bayley get rid of the fastback?

[MaRcOp01o]

Dam Pete a great write up as usual. I am beyond jealous of the hardtop haha. I would leave it that color for a month or so to see how you like it because my Red NA8 had a Montego hardtop even though that is the craziest color combo ever it grew on me and looked amazing in my eyes over time.

[oldgrayleather]

Congrats, Pete! So did Bayley get rid of the fastback?

Thanks Chad! Bayley sold the fastback to fund the purchase of the MS top. I think he actually sold it to someone local when he drove down to pick it up.

[Roadster7]

I love every bit of this, even if it's not news to me. Can't wait to see this in person next week!

[MaRcOp01o]

I must plan a trip to see all you CA Miata owners.

[HarryB]

The top looks the part Pete, congrats on the purchase! Also, really surprised that's quiet as you described. How about the vent, does it work well? Regarding paint matching, I have had a black HT on my car for a year and I was OK with it, until I bought a color-matched one IMO color matched looks more refined and "finished" rather like a work in progress.