Just another silver NB....

[Greasemonkey2000]

Are you referring to me? I can't see myself doing FI. Last time I had FI, the car was down more than I drove it. I am at the point where the drive is more satisfying than how fast I can get there. I know others love and that's cool but I just want reliability and no headaches. I have enough stress at work. Trying not to let my stress relief cause anymore.

What forced induction setup did you have Anthony? Making what kind of power? It seems that it is typically turbocharged setups, more times than not, that leaves people feeling this way. Maybe a supercharger would get you the extra power without the issues. I love turbos but being realistic they have more things that can go wrong with them versus a supercharger.

I can't see myself being able to go to stock power after the m45 on Misfire has proven what I had always thought and that is Miata's should have had 180hp or so from the factory putting them at 150+whp range. Plus the supercharger is so linear and has plenty of low end torque but still pulls at highway speeds in 5th gear. Of course for a little more money one could have a mp62.

[—tsingson—]

Mine was a factory 4AGZE. I knew this debate would happen but it's just not for me. I know things have changed and gotten a lot better but I can enjoy the car without it. For others, that may be your thing. I am not hating on anybody. I love it all. Just for me, my NB is just fine naturally aspirated. Slow as hell. I can live with that. I love reading about your guys' builds with turbos and superchargers though so you guys don't stop.

[Greasemonkey2000]

I hear you Anthony and totally respect your view point. All that matters is you enjoy your Roadster. I personally enjoy all types of builds, induction types, etc. Keep up the great work, Anthony!

[—tsingson—]

Believe me man. It does take a lot of resilience to not pull the trigger. I actually almost bought a supercharger from Chief (Mike?) before. Couldn't come up with the couple of hundred that we were off on price. I love reading about your builds though. Different territory, different perspective. I hope I keep you guys as interested in my build as you guys do with yours.

[—tsingson—]

Another package came in this morning. This time from Moss Motors.

What could it be?







New floormats, OEM PCV valve and grommet. My floormats are horrible. They are a light gray, dirty and won't stay still even with using the little clip on points. The new ones from Moss are plush and so nice and clean. Will take pictures later. My old PCV valve and grommet have some oil residue near the opening so I am wondering if this is where my oil smell into the interior is coming from. I am trying to source a valve cover to clean up and paint to replace my current one. Might as well do it all at once while I am in there.

Also....



Signed up for the first event of 2020 and my first event ever. Ethan (SigmaX) will be co-driving the event also. Looking forward to this.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Good on you for testing the HPDE waters. Enjoy!

[—tsingson—]

Good on you for testing the HPDE waters. Enjoy!

Close. Autocross. Looking forward to the school session and instruction though.

[MaRcOp01o]

Autox! I am going this weekend in the BRG!

And the mats look great.

[—tsingson—]

So I went to work on the valve cover.

Here it is during the removal process:


Off:




Took off the old paint with aircraft stripper:


Here it is after 2 light coats of primer:


Here is after a couple of coats of Gloss Marigold:




Here is after 6 coats of Marigold and a couple coats of pearl clear:




After 4 coats of pearl clear:


After 6 coats of pearl clear:




After 8 coats of pearl clear:


After a coat of clear lacquer:


After 3 coats of clear lacquer:


After 7 coats of clear lacquer:






And here it is installed:






Not sure if you guys can see the pearl in the pictures but in person and in the sun, the valve cover pops. I put a lot of coats because I have had problems in the past with using only a couple of coats of clear and the slightest wrench touch will chip the hell out of it. I am hoping this helps with it. Now the rest of my engine bay looks terrible. Maybe a squaretop manifold with a nice paint job is next....Just glad to get the car ready to go and back out on the road. I have to take pictures of the engine compartment in the sun and also the new floor mats.

[—Martin—]

Well, that livened things up

Me likey.

[—tsingson—]

Thanks Martin! I have been looking for a nicer oil cap also toclean things up but there are a lot out there that are ridiculously expensive. One will come along sometime.

[MaRcOp01o]

Jeez that looks wild and I love it!! Just might do this for the BRG.

[— kung fu jesus —]

[—tsingson—]

So a package came in from Garagestar. I have never seen anything packaged like this but it works.



Man, my wheels look like crap but what could it be?



The Garagestar cowl cover in wrinkle black and the Garagestar front tow hook designed by Artcentermiata (AKA Jeremy).

Before:



After:



Cleaned it up real nice. I love ordering from Garagestar. Ken is awesome to speak to and definitely makes you feel like giving more of your money to him.

So I had more paint left over from my valve cover and after it turned out what I thought was great, I figured I would try to paint the tow hooks also.















I actually didn't like the way it looked when completed so I decided to strip them down and just go brushed aluminum. I used some aircraft stripper and then a wire brush on a drill attachment to get the paint off. It was hard to get the crevices so there is still some paint in there but whatever. Not many pics of the process but here is the final results.





Also, another package arrived from Spinnywhoosh. I wonder what this is....



BAM! Fly Eagles Fly. With an upcoming autocross and Miata Reunion in Oct, I figured I would need some numbers because I have never been a fan of the blue painters tape for numbers. I reached out to Spinnywhoosh (one of our forum sponsors) and boy did they come through. I asked for my number in the Philadelphia Eagles font and he worked it out.

Here is the result:


I also ordered some Enkei decals because the ones on my wheels were starting to peel. Spinnywhoosh gave me a Sour Patch Kid chew also so that made me even happier.

Here the roundels are on the car:





You can see the other roundel on my cabinet in the background. I haven't pulled the car out of the garage yet so I didn't get to put the other side on. I need to get the car out into the open so I can get good pictures of the interior with the new carpets. That's it for now. Don't be surprised if more pictures of items appear.

[—tsingson—]

Ok, last update of the day. Finally finished up the tow hook situation. Screw the baby teeth. There was one bolt that was slightly covered so you will be there for a while if you don't have a ratcheting box end. Those suckers are heavy for what they are.

Out with the old:



In with the new:





And here is another picture of the rear:



And speaking of rear, when I put in the new to me mid pipe, it shifted the muffler and it was covered partially by the cutout. I didn't like it so I fixed it as best as I could.

Before:



After:



Looks good to me.

And here are my old floor mats that I removed:



Absolutely disgusting.

I love the way the interior looks now.







Not sure what else I can do. I have been looking at stereos again but I am very picky since this JVC stereo has been awesome.