After trying three different cheap carpet pieces cut into the shape of the Miata’s floor mats we broke down and bought the real thing from REV9 Autosport. The Zeromotive Small Pattern Checkered Floor Mats in Black/Gray I ordered about a month ago had finally arrived from Japan. The box was sitting in my desk chair at work on Monday morning. Yesterday’s image was the big piece paper on top of the mats when I opened the box. It was translated by my cubicle neighbor David by snapping a photo and running it through a translation app on his smartypants phone.

Also included in the box as a thank you gift was a pack of Hi-Chew in White Soda Flavor. The candy, like the sentiment behind it, was very Japanese. Almost makes me want to order something else from there to see what I might get next as a bonus.

The mats are the final pieces of interior modifications to be done to the CTBNL. As a matter of fact, they are almost the final modification overall. There are only two left I’d like to do, get the fog lights to operate independently of the headlights and make a small wind blocker between the seats. I did the fog light mod on the Emperor to use them as my daytime running lights. The stock wind blocker had to be removed for installation of the roll bar, a replacement needs to be concocted so we can extend downward the outside air temperature for convertible driving.

Caution!!

Please be sure to read

Please do not laid on top of the mat on top of the mat that is laid already.
Matt, please firmly seated in the hook (Velcro), and the like.

In March of 2004 at the MMC Tech Day I brightened the otherwise vast expanse of blackness in a fellow Club member’s 2001 Miata interior with the random aluminum bits from the Emperor. Today I did it again to our “new” Miata with the help of Steve from Panic Motorsports.

When we sold the Emperor to Steve he said he’d give us a check for the sale amount, plus $50 in cash for lunch for driving it to him in Columbia. When we got there we got to chatting and forgot all about the cash. When I remembered, I sent him an email and said instead of the cash I’d take it in trade, the random aluminum look bits from a 2003. The very same ones I traded away 12-1/2 years ago. He said, “OK, next ’03 to ’05 that comes in as a donor car, you can have their stuff.”

Last week, such a car arrived. Friday on our way to Charleston we picked up the 4 air vents, the radio and shifter surrounds and the 2 interior door handles. Saturday they made their way into the CTBNL.

Two 8″ stripes in Matte Riviera Blue with a 4″ center gap. No ghost stripes here, that blue pops!