25 Years Ago – Issue V 1998

This article prompted me to buy what is arguably my favorite Miata modification, a shift knob. It made its first appearance in Miata number two, our ’95 Laguna Blue, and was the very first modification to Miata #3 the ’03 Garnet Red. When our second Miata was traded in for the third I actually went back out into the dealer’s lot and swapped the new car’s stock knob for the Voodoo knob. It was also modification #1 in the fourth Miata, the recently departed ’02 CTBNL.

On The Market

Product Reviews

FLYIN’ MIATA DUAL EXHAUST

Some modifications are made for aesthetics, while others bring a performance improvement. Once in a while a product even does both — such as the Flyin’ Miata Dual Exhaust.

It’s hard to ignore the visual appeal of twin 89mm tips sticking out from the Miata’s rear bumper. They’re not too big — no need to worry about gophers moving in — but it’s a clear statement nonetheless.

Of course, they can’t be seen from the driver’s seat, so do you know they’re there? Indeed: A mellow, throaty exhaust note comes with this system — not painfully loud, but definitely with presence. There’s no tinny overtones and no annoying resonance at cruise—the proof of a well designed system.

As to a performance increase, we have no hard numbers for this kit but the seat-of-the-pants impression is one of better power, especially at the top end. As with most after-market exhausts, the engine just feels more free; whether that’s an aural illusion or not, the fun factor’s undeniable.

Produced by Stromung for The Dealer Alternative, this system is stainless steel from the cat to the exhaust tips. An oversized pipe leads from the cat into a single muffler, from which sprouts two exhaust tips. A new hanger is included to bolt the new piping onto an existing mount below the bumper. The design weighs a few pounds more than a single-tip system but is still lighter than stock.

Of course, you have to be dedicated to the twin-pipe idea. Using a stick-on template provided with the kit, you must cut the left side second opening into your lovingly maintained bumper. It takes a lot of nerve, but is easier than it looks—a sharp knife will do it, and it’s easy to get it right the first time.

Conclusion
An aesthetically and aurally pleasing alternative to the usual single-tip system.The Flyin’ Miata Dual Exhaust isn’t exactly cheap, but there’s nothing else like it. – Keith Tanner

Price:
$580

Source
The Dealer Alternative
1-800-FLY-MX5S
[www.dlralt.com]

Shopping Around
We currently know of no similar products.

VOODOO KNOB


“It feels incredible in the palm of your hand!”
          “It should have been a factory design.”
    “It’s the best shift knob made for the Miata!”

Such are the type of comments that commonly appear on the Miata Listserv.

Okay, so maybe there’s a little hyperbole surrounding the nearly legendary Team Voodoo shift knob, but the reality is, fans of Voodoo Bob Krueger’s effort are rabid enthusiasts.

Why the rave reviews? Well, for starters, the Voodoo knob is the end result of an online discussion several years ago which debated the merits of different types of shift knobs. The “ideal” knob was actually designed by about 10 people in Compuserve’s Automobile Forum, and then Bob rose to the occasion and turned the concept into reality.

The result is an aluminum-billet knob with a round head similar to the type used by Ferrari. The height is much lower than the factory knob, which makes the overall shift throw shorter than the already minuscule stock throw. The spherical head also eliminates the hard edges of the factory plastic or Nardi wood knobs.

Bob has recently continued the concept by coming out with two black-powdercoated versions to appeal to owners who wish to keep the all-black interior intact. The textured model, in particular, has a finish that looks like it came from the factory.

There’s one minor idiosyncrasy with the Voodoo knob. Since it’s made of solid aluminum, it has very high thermal conductivity. Translation: It gets pretty toasty after the car has been running a while, and can be pretty cold on chilly winter mornings. My solution is simple: a pair of driving gloves.

Conclusion
A brilliant, bargain-priced solution to the various factory shift knobs’ shortcomings. — Gary Fischman

Price
$30 polished/$26 coated

Source
-Team Voodoo
[www.teamvoodoo.com]
-Crazy Red Italian
[www. red fire .com/crazyred]
-Most Miata aftermarketers

Shopping Around
Sola knobs, $30-40.
R-Speed, (888 551 0025)
Nardi replacement knob, $52.80.
Roebuck Mazda, (800 240 2121)

Copyright 1998, Miata Magazine. Reprinted without permission.

 

For The Want Of An Aerator

Because we are selling our house, it needed to be inspected by the buyer. The biggest thing on their “Fix This Stuff” list was a new water heater. I get that, it was listed on our inspection when we bought here 4 years ago. The dried up rusty looking drip coming from the front panel makes it look like it’ll go at any time. So we opted to go ahead and give the new owners some peace of mind.

We had our realtor rustle up a plumber for the job, because they can always get someone on short notice to do home repairs. The only day he could do the work was last Wednesday, but we were going to be out of town and not getting back until Thursday night. Our realtor arranged to let him in to do the job.

We heard nothing at all on Wednesday, or Thursday, so what we had was a Schrodinger’s water heater problem. Had it been changed or not, we wouldn’t know until we got home…

I had helpfully pulled out the washer before we left, so he would have easy access to the water heater and when we looked in the laundry area Thursday evening we knew that we had a new water heater. Our nice plumber had even put the washing machine back. Cool. When Donna tried the kitchen and hall bathroom faucets the flow out of them was pitiful. The shower in that bath was restricted some too. Everywhere else worked just fine. When I called the plumber he agreed to come over on Monday (he doesn’t work Fridays.)

Around 5 on Monday with no word from our wayward plumber I texted him and asked if he was coming over, he replied with bad day, can I come tomorrow? He said he’d be there around 11:00. By noon on Tuesday and still no plumber, so I texted, “Coming?” He replied, “Running late, be there in an hour.

When he arrived he explained because of our galvanized, 60-year old, pipes when the water gets turned off and then back on all the flakes in the pipes make a beeline to the first faucets turned on. He set about cleaning the troublesome lines. The kitchen was improved slightly, but the hall bathroom was kicking his butt. He took the whole faucet out and and did get a bunch of junk out. When he put the faucet back on the sink, it still wasn’t flowing great. He tried to get the aerator off and couldn’t get it unscrewed, but in the trying mangled the aerator screen. Now the water was coming out too hard and splashing everywhere.

He headed over to a local plumbing supply store and bought an off the shelf aerator. It wouldn’t screw into the faucet nozzle. By now it was late in the day and he said he’d be back tomorrow, Wednesday, with a different aerator. He was a no show. So around 11:00 on Thursday with no word, I texted, “Will we see you today?” “About an hour,” was his reply. This time the aerator fit and all was right again, so I wrote the check for the job and he left.

Later that evening, with the bathroom faucet dispensing nicely aerated water, Donna heard a dripping sound from under the sink. Sure enough when you turned on the water fully, from either tap, a small stream of water came out underneath, from the center of the faucet assembly! Crap, so I texted him. Below is the text conversation that followed:

Me: Well, nice try and fortunately the bucket under the sink was in the right place to catch the water. That aerator was creating so much back pressure that it over powered the O-rings that lead to the faucet output nozzle causing it to leak and the water comes out underneath.

Me: I broke the aerator out and the faucet works as advertised with no leak underneath, but it now still needs an aerator. Home Depot has one of the exact faucets in stock for $119 or there is a Phister Ladera in brushed nickel for $69 that would be an acceptable substitute. Go buy one and come over tomorrow to put it in.

Me: Option C s to buy the aerator from Delta online. RP101505 for $6.64 + $15.99 for 1 to 2 day shipping.

Plumber: I can do that but probably not tomorrow and you do realize it’s not my fault, all I did was replace the water heater. Your water lines are old and deteriorating

Plumber: But I would be happy to buy you another one and install it

Me: Don’t worry about it. I’ll buy the $69 one and put it in myself. Maybe next time you change out a water heater in a home that has galvanized pipes you’ll remember to flush the water lines through a hose into the tub or something, so the poor not so wise home owner won’t turn it on and clog their faucets.

Plumber: Noted. I want to buy it for you guys. I don’t like leaving my jobs on bad terms. I will call you tomorrow.

Me: OK

Plumber: Thanks

 
Today is Friday, his tomorrow, and all we got from our friend the plumber was radio silence. So our tomorrow, Saturday, we are headed over to Home Depot to get that $69 faucet and I’ll put in myself…

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

No Theme Edition of SORT
As of Monday, September 25, 2023 at 5:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1993 Autozam AZ-1 1957 Volvo TP21 1963 VW Type 2 Panel Van
This fits the Sport category because it has limited-slip, sport suspension, spoilers & weighs a mere 1600lbs. The Swedish military utilized these for radio command operations through the early 1990s. I wonder…we shipped a ’63 panel back from Guam, but sold it when it stranded us near Nashville in ’79.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 2006 BMW Z4 M Roadster Bid to $21,385 on 9/21/23
Off-Road: 2005 Jeep Wrangler X Sold for $16,250 on 9/20/23
Touring: 2016 Audi S6 Bid to $30,250 on 9/20/23

Scenes From The Outback

On the last road trip we didn’t take many photos other than of the eight post offices we set out after, these are them:

41,000km2 of Oregon’s Outback

This is a post about a road, OR31, something the Oregon Department of Transportation and its counterpart the Department of Tourism have designated as a scenic byway. This 150 mile stretch of road runs between La Pine and Lakeview and travels through some very rugged and beautiful high desert.

We really weren’t drawn to this road because of its destination, but because we could take a 350 mile 2-day road trip and take photos of 8 more Oregon Post offices. Sunday we headed east towards our first stop, Bly and then through Lakeview, the biggest town we’d see all trip, with about 2,500 people and onto the town of Adel whose population is defined as sparse. Then back to Lakeview where we had some lunch at Burger Queen, so named because, I guess, Burger King was already taken. Three post offices down we finally got on OR31 and headed north and west. The fourth and last post office of the day was in the town of Paisley home of the annual Mosquito Festival that raises funds for vector control.

Our stopover for the night was the Lodge at Summer Lake in the “town” of the aptly name of Summer Lake, population 80. The lake itself is nothing but a wildlife refuge with some sporadic marshy areas. I think the small pond behind the Lodge has more water in it than what’s in the refuge. Because it too has a post office we were going to get a photo, but the light was wrong, so we aimed to get it in the morning on our way north.

Monday, after a very good breakfast at the Lodge, we snapped that Summer Lake post office before heading to Christmas Valley. Christmas Valley is the largest town in this part of Oregon and was named after another dried up lake. The biggest attraction in Christmas Valley are their sand dunes east of town. We were going to drive over and look at them, but following our Delorme atlas, the road that was supposed to be paved turned out to be not, so we turned around we headed for our next post office in Fort Rock. After quickly visiting the state park day use area, by looking at what is left of a extinct volcano that was in a prehistoric lake which is no longer there. Our last post office of the trip was off OR31 in the town of Silver Lake that is once again named for a lake that no longer exists. Done with the photo taking we headed home from there on a meandering 50-mile road over to US97 where we turned south to get to Klamath Falls.

Somewhere in the town of Lakeview while driving around pondering our dining options, Mini #2 surpassed the 41,000 mile mark.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

I Got The Blues Edition of SORT
As of Monday, September 18, 2023 at 8:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2006 BMW Z4 M Roadster 2005 Jeep Wrangler X 39k-Mile 2016 Audi S6
Looking back it seems I pick one Z4 a year for SORT, so this is this year’s. I’ve picked 17 Wranglers over the first three years, this is the 2nd this year. This is only the fifth Audi over 162 weeks and the only one of the 6 series.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 2019 Ferrari 812 Sold for $377,000 on 9/14/23
Off-Road: 2005 Jeep Wrangler Sold for $37,000 on 9/13/23
Touring: 1961 Chrysler New Yorker Bid to $16,550 on 9/14/23

The End of an Era

This photo is from 2 days ago as I watched the new owner drive off.

For the first time in just shy of 34 years (or a little over a billion seconds) I don’t own a Miata. We just didn’t drive it much and if it got driven once a week it was lucky. Usually when it did go for a drive, it was short hops to pick up a pizza or a run to the cannabis store. We did take it a couple of times to get breakfast or a coffee at our favorite spot this summer.

We have probably been in Brevada over a thousand times in the four years we’ve lived here and are known by the owners and staff. It is not exactly like Cheers, where everyone in the place shouts our names when we come in, but close. Most of folks there do know what our usual order is and will start making our drinks while we are waiting in line to pay.

About a week ago one of the owners, David, was manning the register. He asked me, “How do you like your Miata?” I of course replied, “Love it.” “I’ve always wanted one”, said David. So I said, “Do you want to buy mine?” He responded with how much do you want for it and I threw out a figure that was a few hundred more than what I paid for it. “How many miles does it have on it?”, he asked. I told him it was 2002 with just over 83K. David said he’d have to drive it, but he’d have to run it by his CFO (his wife). I told him I’d drive it up on Monday, when we came in for breakfast.

Monday we went to Brevada for breakfast in the Miata. After eating, David broke away during a lull in customers and we went for a 15 minute drive. He had driven a Miata before, he and his wife had rented one on their honeymoon and both enjoyed the experience. The rental was of course a new fourth generation Miata. Mazda has steadily improved the car over the generations, without changing the essence of the car. David said that the second gen Miata, like the CTBNL, was his favorite looking one. He was smitten. Now if we can pass the wife test.

He mentioned that his wife’s car needed to go over the mountain to Medford tomorrow for some service and would I let him take the Miata and follow her over. Then they’d drive back to Klamath Falls together so he could get her to like it enough to let them buy it. Later in the day David texted me to say the wife’s car didn’t need to go over to Medford, but could he borrow the car to go on a dinner date with her. When they picked up the Miata that afternoon David asked politely could they take it the Lake of the Woods. Now, Lake of the Woods is halfway between here and Medford, so I didn’t have any problem. After all, I was willing to to let them take the car for 140 miles, so 70 was fine.

When they returned the CTBNL a few hours later, David’s “evil” plan worked to perfection. They wanted to buy it. Seeing how much they both enjoyed the car Donna said we would sell it to them a bit cheaper than my off the cuff price from before. So I sold it to them for a few hundred less that what we bought it for 7 years and 40,000 miles ago. Win, win for all concerned. David came over the next day with a check and we signed the title. I showed him how to use the cockpit cover, loaded up the trunk with a box of spare Miata parts, tossed in a couple of Miata coffee table books I had and, well the picture above tells the story.