hahaha!!! Nice.
I probably won't get that dash in until April or there abouts. Too cold to spend much time in the garage. Well, to ENJOY being in the garage anyway. I need a heater out there.
I should have another update in a few weeks once I get the holes punched for those gauge cups and the crash pad comes back from getting worked on a bit.
Small update. Got a new battery.
For both of my Roadsters.
The battery in my 2001 has been getting weaker and weaker. I've been nursing it along with a trickle charger. The other weekend, I forgot to put it on, and the battery died completely. 11 years is pretty good.
Sharka's battery went all at once. Suddenly, it was just dead and wouldn't be recharged by the alt. So... battery time. I just wanted some stock replacement batteries. A little research revealed that O'Reilly's had something awesome.
It's a gel cell OEM replacement. The part number is MIATA.
Mazda vs O'Reilly
WTF? Iron Man is not pleased.
This is the battery that came out of Sharka. It was in there since I bought the 95 chassis a few years ago. I never really inspected it. Just saw that it said Mazda and assumed it was good.
but...
Not good.
It's a standard flooded cell battery. Acid. It requires maintenance. It can explode. And it bears the Mazda name. I was totally fucking flabbergasted. I had no idea there was ever a Mazda wet cell battery. Somehow I missed this bit of trivia.
Gel cell. Maintenance free. WOOT!
This is much better. This is what came in Sharka back in 1995 and what I pulled out of Bucky's trunk just this past week. AGM. Sealed. Won't explode.
And check out the spiffy little protrusions on the top. They're little braces for the stock battery tie-down to touch. I was far too impressed by this.
So. Sharka has a battery again. And a new alternator that I didn't take any pix of.
Man even your trunk is squeeky clean.
It's very clean in that corner. I spent an hour cleaning and neutralizing the acid from that old battery.
Nice find on that battery! I've been thinking of replacing mine since it's getting pretty old. I have 3 spares and none of them hold charge very well lol. Love that part number.
Paul | IG- @psulja
Build thread:
1991 Mariner Blue - Built 1.8 swap, EFR, Fab9Tuning, Tii drivetrain
one of my all time favorite miatas!! WOW! but you see.. the problem here is when i see a thread like this (and im sure this happens to a lot of people) i wanna get my roadster lookin this good RIGHT NOW and its so upsetting! and a lot of people dont realize this took YEARS!! AND a rebuild!
but again. bravo. perfect
Classic RED 90'
cowabunga dudes!
Love your car....
I want to see the new dash
It's in my office with a bunch of crap on top. I'm still working on it.Originally Posted by friday
FM's badass fan kit and my little Koyo.
Nude radiator
This nicely bent piece of metal is the backbone of the FM airflow kit. It’s the fan shroud. It holds the fans a nice distance away from the radiator to try to get air flowing through it as efficiently as possible.
Anyone can add big fans to a radiator. Anyone. But maximizing their efficiency with a nicely machined shroud that fits on multiple aftermarket radiators? That’s not easy. But FM seems to have done it.
Fitment was spot on. Every little slot lined up with every mounting boss on the Koyo. I’m very impressed with how well these two unrelated aftermarket parts fit together.
Weatherstripping installed
Fan shroud bolted in place
FM includes enough of these small spacer bushings to put two per boss. However, my Koyo has really long fan mounting bosses, so I only needed one to space the shroud at the recommended distance.
Did I mention I was really impressed with how well this stuff fit? Cooling parts NEVER fit this well. Ever!
I could write a paragraph right here about how much I love my double-jaw ratcheting crimp tool and the perfect crimps it makes every time. I could go on about how much more secure they are than solders, especially with a nice heat-shrink splice connector like I used here. But I don’t really need to do that. It’s evident from the photo above. =)
Splicing the OEM fan connectors on was very easy. Just match up the black wires on the Spal to the black wires on the OEM connectors. The colored wires connect to each other. Not much can be easier than that. Still, I made sure the fans spun in the correct direction before closing the hood and calling it done.
FM’s installation tip sheet mentioned taping up the edges of the fan shroud to maximize their efficiency. Sounded like a good idea to me and I had a huge roll of nice tape in the garage with me, so I sealed everything up.
Annnnd… the first time the radiator heated up, the tape came free on every edge. So I ripped it off and threw it away. Bummer, huh? I might try to re-seal it again in the future, but I’m quite happy with just the weatherstripping for now.
There’s a ton of room there. I think there may actually be more room with FM’s badass fan kit than there was with the stock fans. There’s CERTAINLY more room for my blowoff valve to live in. Before, it was kinda tucked into the supports of the air conditioning fan. Now, it has a bit of room all around.
But how the heck do the fans work?!?!
I’ve not had them in long enough to give a decent report. They’ve driven all of 50 miles. In the winter! That’s not much of a test. I’ll gather some data and post a short follow up in a couple months. So far, I’m really impressed. But I want some data!
I’ll report back.
T-bolt hose clamps! They're not just for boost.
Overkill? Maybe. But I’ve had a devil of a time getting my stupid lower silicon radiator hose to seal on the motor. The constant-pressure worm-gear clamp I was using just didn’t cut it. So I bought a bunch of these snazzy t-bolt clamps to get every hose in my cooling system sealed as perfectly as possible.
Yeah. I shopped at Jegs. What of it?
The Miata cooling system uses 1.25″ ID hoses. So, you want the hose clamp in the middle. The 1.5″ hose clamp on the left is too small (even though Jegs recommended this one for 1.25″ systems). The 1.75″ hose clamp on the right is way too big. The 1.625″? Perfect. I needed 6 of them.
In-line Drain Kit with 1/4 NPT plug.
Which would you rather have?
Fits an OEM hose perfectly.
You might remember how I spliced two long hoses together back when I put together my coolant reroute. I hacked up a pipe and crudely machined a few grooves in it. It did not leak for most of the summer. No lie. Then, something gave way, and a slow drip started from that connection in the fall. Not much. Maybe a teaspoon of coolant was lost every week. But it was enough to bother me.
So, I upgraded.
That fine black piece of machined aluminum is meant to be an in-line hose drain. It comes with that little brass petcock installed. I unscrewed it and measured the threads. 1/4 NPT. I then ordered a nice black plug to go in that hole (along with the rest of the t-bolt hose clamps I needed) to delete the drain. I really just wanted this piece to serve as a nice coupler between my two coldside reroute hoses.
Pesky lower radiator hose clamped.
Awesome t-bolt clamps everywhere. Ninja approved!
Isn’t that coupler so much nicer than my old piece of pipe? I’m very happy with it. And I can report that it holds pressure perfectly. It has about 50 miles of use on it at the time of this writing.
The only hose clamp I didn’t replace with a t-bolt is on the back of the engine under the coil pack. That one isn’t leaking as of this moment. I’m sure since I’ve shored up every other connection, it will be the next to weaken. But I’m hoping for the best.
(Yeah. I know. I’ll be cursing at it next weekend for sure.)
Awesome post! Link to said crimp tool and butt connectors? I too am a believer in the strength of a proper crimp.
You're engine bay, no, your whole car gets cleaner every time I check this thread! Keep up the good work man, truly inspiring.
Boss Performance Shift Knobs!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
adamvanxxx: I just realized the S in your logo is a header.
hippari: my mind is so blown right now.
I believe someone here got new shoes for Sharka, and needs to show it off. xD
^lololol this. I SEENT IT!
I knew it had to be Sharka when someone else, wrote new owner is in New Mexico!
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