Member Spotlight

Barbara Feinman talks to NASA’s orbiting Miataphile Mary Ellen Weber.

Mulling over how I’d describe Miata-driving astronaut Mary Ellen Weber, only one adjective comes to mind: down-to-earth. And you’ll have to forgive the pun, because that truly is the impression I was left with after our very pleasant conversation.

An honest-to-goodness Shuttle veteran with a 1995 mission good for 142 orbits to her credit, Mary Ellen now works for NASA and lives in Houston, Texas. In her spare time she skydives, scuba dives, and enjoys her MX5, which she’s owned since 1990. Revealingly, even after experiencing some considerably more powerful modes of transportation, Mary Ellen is still as enchanted with her red 1990 as any of us. “I love driving my Miata,” she says proudly, adding “It’s never in the shop.”

I have to admit it: At first I was a little nervous to be talking with a genuine, been-in-space astronaut. I’ve interviewed everyone from movie stars to senators in my line of work, but never anyone who’s orbited the Earth.

Almost immediately, Mary Ellen put me at ease. She was even gracious enough to act like my dumb questions weren’t all that dumb. “Is there any similarity between driving a Miata and traveling in a rocket?” I asked.

She explained that the experience of space travel is, well, different, but that “…we also fly T38 jets as a part of our training, and that does give you the same sensations. You sort of ‘fit’ into the Miata, (and) you’re surrounded the same way in a cockpit.”

Interestingly enough, neither NASA nor the Miata were goals that she’d planned on. Back in graduate school at UC Berkeley (where she earned a PhD in physical chemistry), Mary Ellen used to drive a Plymouth Horizon. But when the Miata started appearing on the road, there was no shopping around—she knew it was the car for her. Mary Ellen chose a red one, and after three or four years had it painted emerald green. (She jokes now that she’s gotten a little bitter—her custom-chosen paint is now offered from the factory, making her longtime ride a little less unusual.)

Unlike a lot of NASA’s spacefarers, Mary Ellen didn’t always dream of becoming an astronaut. But, she believes, that’s mostly because it had simply never occurred to her as an option.

“When I was a little girl I never even considered it,” she confessed. “I didn’t even think it was a possibility. It wasn’t until college—when I got into aviation and skydiving—that I decided to give it a shot.”

Mary Ellen’s official NASA bio doesn’t get into her Miata dabblings, but it does points out that she’s logged over 2500 skydives since 1983; was a silver medalist at the US National Skydiving Championships in the 20-way Freefall Formation event in 1991 and ’95; and that in 1996 she was part of the current world-record free-fall formation (297-way).

Skydiving, the space shuttle, flying T38 training jets…. So, I asked, how does she fare with speeding tickets? Mary Ellen responded by saying that she really doesn’t go over the speed limit. “I have on occasion pushed the envelope in the Miata. (But) I drive the way I fly, and that’s very precise, by the book. I just don’t feel the need to take chances.” But doesn’t a car (even a Miata) pale in comparison to traveling through space? “Being up in space is certainly a spectacular experience,” she agreed, “but I enjoy many things: riding on a rollercoaster, skydiving, scuba diving. Just because you’ve had one great experience doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate others.”

I thought that would be a nice note to end our conversation on, but then I remembered the pressing question my editor instructed me to ask: “Is space food really as yucky as they say?”

Mary Ellen laughed, ever the good sport. “We get to pick our whole menu—(from) shrimp cocktails to fajitas…to fresh vegetables. There’s just about anything you can imagine. I’ve eaten better food on the ground, but I’ve also eaten worse.”

 

Back in 2015 I did this the easy way on our previous Miata. I bought a $20 stripe kit from Advance Auto and spent a couple hours carefully trimming and squeegeeing tiny air bubbles out of the vinyl…

Blackout

Paint and body wizard Andrew P. Schank covers a fast but
major tweak you can make to your MX-5’s visual character.

As a paint-and-body guy, the first thing I notice when I see a Miata is the windshield pillar. Mazda had to make it strong, and that meant they also made it big. So in bright colors especially, I think that wide, bodycolor header rail makes the car look like a 1/43rd-scale model—it just seems out of place. The solution is surprisingly simple: Paint the A-pillars and header rail satin black. This dark, nonreflective color visually shrinks whatever it touches, leaving the whole Miata looking lower, sleeker, and more exotic. It’s a minor cosmetic operation that makes a major difference in the customized look of the car. Here’s all there is to it:

1. The header rubber and A-pillar seals are all one piece. To remove it, unscrew the top latches, take off the rearview mirror, and loosen the black-plastic trim on the inside of the header rail. Also loosen the sill plates. Now pry out the two plastic plugs holding the seals to the header at the top corners of the windshield—there’s actually a special tool for this, but you can also get them out with gentle coaxing from a large flat-bladed screwdriver.

2. Now degrease the A-pillar and windshield header inside and out using a commercial degreasing solvent and lint-free paper shop towels (both are available at your local auto paint supply store). Repeat this process two or three times before proceeding—this is a greasy, silicone-laden area, and it won’t take paint until all the goop has been removed.

3. After degreasing, mask off the exterior windshield beading with a very tight strip of 1/4-inch tape (also found at your paint store). Err on the beading side if you have to; the last. thing you want is a sliver of red or white paint showing after you’re done. Now move on to the bottoms of the A-pillars, where you’ll run a straight, horizontal masking strip about an inch below the dashboard line. For a clean, factory look, close the doors and peer into the crack: If you can’t see the tape, your cutoff line is far enough down the pillar. Finally, mask off the inside of the header rail well below the level that will be covered by the interior trim.

4. After taping off the beading, header rail, and pillars, use 320 to 360 grit sandpaper to rough up the surfaces you’ll be painting. This will give the new color something to grab onto. When you’re done with the sanding, degrease and clean the entire area one more time.

5. Here’s the critical part: Mask off just about the rest of the car. Overspray is insidious stuff, and it gets almost everywhere. I like to throw an old car cover over the body from the seats to the back, then protect everything else with broad, top-quality masking tape and professional-grade masking paper (again from your paint store). One short roll of 18 inch paper will be plenty. Oh, and never use newspapers for masking—modern solvents go right through them, and the newsprint creates a lot of lint.

6. Now you’re ready to start shooting paint. If you’re lucky enough to have your own spray rig, I recommend a professional two-part primer like PPG DP90 with DP402 hardener. That means wearing a mask and cleaning a lot of equipment, though, so second best is a rattle-can of top-quality, extra-durable flat-black primer from your auto-paint supplier. (In truth, you can skip the primer step altogether and go straight to the color coat if you have to. Primer greatly increases the final coats’ durability, and this area does get a lot of chips and dings—on the other hand, satin black is a snap to repair, so longevity may not matter to you. Just fogging in a few light coats will re-cover any blemishes without seriously altering the finish.)

7. After you’ve shot two medium-thin coats of primer and allowed them to dry, you’re ready for the color coats. I like to use Mar-Hyde Satin Black trim paint for this job, though SEM makes a similar rattle-can product that seems just as tough—what you’re after here is any extremely durable, professional-grade paint. In any case, all satin-finish spray cans require a whole lot of shaking. Because of the heavy flatteners inside, when the directions say “shake for two minutes after the ball starts to rattle,” they’re not kidding around. An incompletely shaken can will only give you the light, thin solvents at the top, and waves and fish-eyes will result.

8. Satin finishes are also very sensitive to spray density. It’s definitely better to shoot three or four light, fogged-on coats than trying to hose on a single heavy layer. If you build up too much paint too fast, the finish will be shinier than you want and not very durable. It’ll also be glossy where you really puddled it up and flat where it’s thinner—that’s why multiple light coats give a nice, even finish.

9. After your final color coat has dried about ten or 15 minutes, take off all the masking tape. Don’t let it go too long or you might lift off a chip of paint while removing the tape. The painted surface should be left indoors to cure and harden overnight before reinstalling all the trim and weatherstripping.

10. Once all the masking tape and papers are removed, check all around the car for overspray—it may appear as nothing more than a slightly rough finish to some previously smooth panels. To remove any overspray, try wiping the area down with bug-and-tar cleaner first. This may dull the shine, but it won’t hurt the existing paint—you can just re-polish the area later if you need to. Tougher over-spray can be removed by rubbing out the affected area with a medium-grit cleaning or polishing compound.

11. After the header and pillars are totally dry, re-install the trim parts and you’re ready for the road. As with most painting tasks, there’s nothing terribly difficult here; all it takes is careful preparation and scrupulous attention to keeping everything clean. Best of all, your Miata will suddenly stand out from the crowd—not a bad afternoon’s work!

 

There was a four page article written by Tom Matano, the designer of the the first generation Miata, which at first seemed promising. But, as it turned out, it was a rumination on the early cars that were owned by his family and his first car. Well, his second car really, because the lead photo of the article was of Mr. Matano as a child behind the wheel of a metal pedal car.

Night Reading

a vroom of one’s own
Barbara Feinman’s column

“The gearshift, sensitive to my touch, responding like an eager lover. I’m strapped to a speeding bullet; I’m not driving–we’ve both been shot from a cannon. Never so fast. Never so sure. There’s pure adrenaline in the fuel tank….”

I wake up with these words humming in my brain. I can’t remember whether it was a passage from a book or whether I’d just dreamed them or if someone had spoken them over the phone. The receiver is off the hook, on my pillow. Whom had I been talking to? I listen for sounds of life. No baby crying. No water running. No radio.

I feel like I’ve just come home after a long trip. I remember sweating in the California desert, but everyone I met had an Irish accent and was drinking warm Gatorade in pubs.

“Hello?” I yell out. I slowly walk to the bathroom. Taped to the medicine chest is a note: TOOK THE PUMPKIN FOR A WALK. BACK SOON. STAY IN BED.

I pick up the remote to channel-surf, but decide against it. On the nightstand, next to the Pepto Bismol, is a novel called No Brakes. The cover sports two hazy film noir-ish photos: one of a woman engaged in something unrecognizable but most assuredly erotic, the other of a car. The blurb says “Narrated by Mary Jo, a middle-aged American serving both as navigator and lover to Ludo–a seductive young lothario who also happens to be her son’s best friend—No Brakes is full of hidden surprises and dangers lurking beneath the surface?’ I remember it was set in Northern Ireland during a three-day car rally, but had no idea what page I was on or what the hidden surprises and dangers were lurking below the surface. I start flipping through it for a random racing or sex scene.

We’re safely strapped in and doing 80, pothole jumping a scary amusement-park ride….

Kind of like my life; we’re safely strapped in doing 20, avoiding potholes, a scary diaper happening in the infant seat….

I spin the wheel and steer into the ditch. Shaking and sobbing, I climb out and throw up.

Hmmm, more parallels. Well, not the ditch part.

Suddenly I remember whom I had been talking to on the phone. My brother had called during one of my fever dreams.

“Hello,” I had gasped, knocking the base of the phone off my nightstand.
“Hey, you sound awful.”
“This stomach flu is killing me.”
“Did you go to the doctor yet?”
“I keep having all these nightmares.”
“Did you GO to the DOCTOR?”
“I’ve lost nine pounds in three days. I had to be rehydrated intravenously.”
“Wow.” He sounded impressed. “When I used to race in the desert I could lose five pounds in 45 minutes….”

He proceeded to recount a long story about car racing in the Mojave, sweating and Gatorade and electrolytes.

I hear the front door.

“Honey?” I yell.
He comes upstairs and stands in the doorway. “You look like you’re feeling better.”
“You know what I’m in the mood for?”
“What?”
“A drive. Let’s go out for a spin.”
“Okay,” he says. “I’ll get the Pumpkin ready.”
He turns to leave, then stops. “Perhaps we could stop by a pub for a spot of warm Gatorade.”

Panicked, I think for a moment the fever hasn’t broken, that I’m still delirious. Then I remember my habit of babbling in my sleep. I hear my husband chuckling as he pads down the stairs.

 

In 1998 they started publishing six issues a year. I don’t remember exactly where in the year they came, but for the purposes here they will show up on the first of the even numbered months.

Got Milk?

By Norman Garrett
Founding Father

Among my favorite words after nine each night are, “Honey, do we have milk for the morning?”

Maybe only a Miata owner can understand, but any excuse for a short road trip is cause for glee in my book. Call it spontaneity in my otherwise predictable world.

Me, the moonlight, my Miata, and a short errand. Time to drive with the top down and the radio off. A little island of serenity at the end of a long, probably hard day, Sort of a half automotive yoga/half runner’s high kind of thing. Me and five speeds, no schedule, no ETA. A good excuse for a senseless drive.

And Candi knows it as well as I do. Maybe more, bless her.

Because the fact is, this drive is much more than senseless. As the cool night air tumbles over the wind-shield and my hair gets tousled, perspective falls back into place after 15 hours of absence. I smell the crisp mid-winter woods in hibernation. The cold air on the back of my shift hand feels tingly. The shift knob vibrates with a harsh-er tone over the cold trans-mission. The exhaust echoes against the naked trees, pinpoint stars dot the black winter sky. Hardly senseless, this trip.

In my small way, I’m out of the loop. I come into the store independent of the usual pressed schedule. Others are clamoring to get their weekly shopping done and get home. I’ve already been home. I’m neither here nor there; off the grid for a few minutes.

I stroll past the magazine rack, take a few minutes or ten to catch up on the rest of the automotive world. A little fix for my automotive habit. On to the dairy case, through the express line, back to the parking lot. I’m the only one getting into to a convertible — out of the responsibility loop again. Sure it’s cold out, but hey, I’ve got a heater…

Going home, mission accomplished„ my brain co automatic but in a good way — like a NI-Cad must feel on full charge. I follow may headlights along some yellow lines across familiar roads, bat peg my apexes and shift points flawlessly. Second, third, fourth, then back down again. Tap the brakes, drift the back end — it’s the sort of driving I never do during the day. Nighttime is the best for this, when you have no time to keep.

For me, an excuse to get out after the kids are down and the world is finally quiet is a coupon for peace of mind, a dose of the best kind of medicine. One hundred cc’s of Miata and everything is all better. I wonder if we need eggs…

 

This was a “special” edition of the Miata Club of America magazine that introduced the second generation Miata to members. I think, but can’t be sure, that news of the remodeled car was already out there before this was published and distributed in late November of 1997. The car went on sale in February 1998 as a 1999 model.

Virtually Informed

By Gary Fischman
Founder & owner of Miata.net

LEAKS IN THE NET
The new Miata has been a topic of conversation, speculation, trepidation, and mediation on the Internet ever since Mazda’s top brass announced there would be “some minor changes” in ’98. Some looked forward to these changes, while others simply prayed that the new car would retain everything that made us rush out to buy the original.

Worldwide Rumors
Most of the early M2 information circulating on the net was learned from Mazda managers who’d been shown a concept video in the fall of ’96. This is when we first learned about the new car’s curved doors and fixed headlights, for example.

Soon after that, the electronic mailboxes at Miata.net – the clearinghouse site for online Miata info – began filling up with letters claiming knowledge about the various features or design decisions being incorporated into the new MX5. Some even came with graphics and introductory text vouching for their authenticity.

These images could invariably be traced to an artist’s conception gleaned from some obscure foreign car magazine, and in every case they turned out to be unfounded. One very popular early image was sent to Miata.net in December ’96 by an anonymous Asia source accompanied by a cock-and-bull story about it having been acquired from a “Mazda insider.” A bit of magnification proved it was a hoax; someone had simply taken an M Speedster photo and electronically added a few new features. Even so, it was enough to pique lots of online interest. That’s part of the Internet’s nature; since anyone can publish, anyone can try fooling you.

Eventually, as Mazda’s concept video was circulated to the company’s various regional offices and was seen by many dealers, more and more information dribbled out. With it came the inevitable worried online exchanges: Will it be an improvement? Will it make our first-generation cars look dated? Will it be another case of a carmaker caving in to its marketing department—after all, who buys a Miata because they need space for two sets of golf clubs?

The Video Gets Out
Mazda’s secret video eventually made its way to a dealership in the south-eastern US that didn’t understand its confidential nature. As a gesture to the local MCA chapter, they showed the video to some club members, and one enthusiast—eager to share the discovery with his equally enthusiastic friends on the net—asked if he could make a copy off the tape. Pointing his camera at the TV, he captured fuzzy, yet easily recognizable, footage of the new MX5!

By morning a few frames from his camera were posted on his personal web page and he had notified Miata.net where the pictures could be found. Just a few hours later, word of the leak had found its way to Mazda headquar-ters in Hiroshima, and Miata.net was immediately asked to hold off publishing the pictures.

The “perp” was also asked to remove them from his site, which he actually did. But information on the net simply can’t be controlled that way. In those few hours, some 300 hits were registered on the spy shots—enough for at least a half-dozen major car mags to find and download them for imme-diate publication. (And we thought we were the only ones who cared!)

The Real Thing
After the Great Video Debacle, it took a bit of time for the online world to regain the trust of Mazda’s PR folks, but that’s the way the informational cookie crumbles now. By the time official photos of the new MX5 were appearing on mainstream magazines’ websites, the leak was older than yesterday’s news. When rumors and real facts both travel at light speed, there’s always something newer to get excited about.

 

One of the sporadic features the Miata Club of America Magazine was a Chapter Corner which highlighted one of the chapter/clubs from around the country. My old club was too small to make the magazine or perhaps all we had to do was to submit one, but never did. This one is about the club that is located around Cleveland, Ohio. They are still active with both a Facebook group and a standalone website.

Chapter Corner

Northcoast Miata Club

Back in June of 1990, about 30 enthusiastic Miata owners gathered in Kathy Lyle’s garage for the first meeting of the Northcoast Miata Club, so named because of our location. The chapter encompasses the northeast corner of Ohio, on the south shore of the Great Lakes in a region fondly known as the “North Coast.” Our logo shows the shoreline of Lake Erie with a Miata driving down a winding road bordered by a checkered racing flag. A static cling of the Northcoast logo is given to each of our club members to display on their car window. We currently have about 150 Miatas sporting the cling and our monthly meetings are now held at our sponsor dealership, The Cascade Auto Group in Cuyahoga Falls.

Almost right from the beginning we’ve struggled with this dilemma: Is the club too social or is the club too technical? Do we spend too much time planning picnics and outings, or is too much emphasis placed on racing and performance? We try to stay balanced.

The social activities are varied and extensive. Our premier event, which has been held annually since 1991, is the Roadkill Rally. This is an all-day activity that teams Miata members to compete for prizes by completing a predetermined list of events captured on film by members of the team within the allotted time and to the specifications of each photo opportunity. In other words, it’s just a crazy good time. We have had as many as 40 Miatas participate in this popular event each year.
Our club boasts 10 members who compete in SCCA racing, including two National Champions. We have several Northcoast members who have taken their Miatas to drivers’ schools at different tracks, including Mid-Ohio and Summit Point. We recently hosted a restricted practice
weekend at nearby Nelson Ledges Road Course, where our experienced SCCA drivers assisted novice drivers on the ins and outs of the track. After that weekend, one club member wrote, “IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE LIFE” Not to say that I lead a mundane life, I have my share of excitement just like the next gal….but this was not excitement….THIS WAS ADRENALINE!!!!!*

We have several weekend trips each year, including some repeat events. Northcoast Miatas have become a regular sight at Lake Chautauqua in western New York where we enjoy the Chautauqua Institute and fine dining at a favorite B&B, the William Seward Inn. We have also become regulars at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the¬Lake, Ontario. In addition to the theater, we have discovered some excellent wineries in the region. Many bottles of Pillitteri wine have been toted across the border. We consume this fine Canadian wine on “newsletter night,” an evening when several members gather together around editor Beth Kramer’s PC and provide assistance in producing articles for “The Exhaust Notes.”

Our club is steeped in culture. We have attended several theater outings, including interactive theater and a Murder Mystery Weekend. We’ve attended concerts at Blossom Music Center and an opera dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was there that we discovered the real meaning of the word “Miata.” As quoted by member Jim Simmelink in an article in our newsletter, “The historical truth is that ‘Miata’ is an Italian word that does not translate well into English, but I’ll try. The first part is short for Mama mia! and is always followed by an explanation mark(!). The -ata part is a sigh of mixed emotions of pleasure and anger. All of this explains why the lead singer of a little-known Italian opera shouts out ‘Miata’ during the final scene as his new little roadster drives off center stage and over, a cliff with his mother-in-law still clinging to the wheel.” Our club is an eclectic collection of interesting characters!

The “Northcoast Competition Team” was formed in 1996 by a group of characters who regularly participate in autocrosses in the Cleveland/Akron area. Several members participated in the slalom race in Toronto, and we’ve been invited to Columbus for Solo II racing hosted by the Buckeye Miata Club as well. Our club members have formed friendships with several other chapters. We have joined the Trillium Club on their annual Victoria Day trip to Vermont, and have shared events with the West Penn chapter and the Buckeye Chapter. Several NMC members are active on the Internet and keep us informed about what the Miata network is up to.

Members from our chapter have attended each national event since the first one hosted by the Indy in ’92. In 1995, we hosted a national event —the Rock-n-Roll Rally. We spent nearly two years planning the event, originally scheduled to occur roughly 3 months after the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, construction delays postponed the grand opening until Labor Day Weekend, one week after our national Miata Event!! Panic ensued, but through the persistence of the club’s president (at the time Tom Stan, we were able to get a preview tour of the Hall
of Fame. In fact, the Rock Hall staff used our group to pilot traffic flow for the opening weekend crowds. In addition to that, our venue included hot laps at Nelson Ledges, tours of Amish country, a dinner at the historic Crawford Auto Museum and a scenic boat ride on the Cuyahoga River. Oh, yeah, also a very long food line at a drive-in movie!

We’ve held a number of tech sessions covering everything from oil changes to brakes and timing belts. They always attract many members. We met at a Goodyear dealer in Akron where the we were able to watch as one of our members had a computerized four-wheel alignment. We also had a meeting at the Dent Wizard, where one lucky winner had a small dent removed from her silver beauty. Club members have held oil change parties, speaker installation parties; we even had one member who had a party to install his super charger! We’ll use any excuse to party.

And we use any excuse to drive our Miatas. After reading another chapter’s newsletter last year, we decided to try an evening ‘Bug Splat Rally.” First, we taped paper targets to the front of each car (placement determined by the driver), enjoyed a leisurely dinner while waiting for dusk, and then drove through the buggy dark along some of our favorite country roads. After a pleasant drive, we stopped at an ice cream stand to compare targets and see who had the best splat—we had some very interesting bugs!

We frequently engage in mystery tours. These are gatherings where the host designates a meeting place, then picks some curvy, hilly roads for a caravan of Miatas to drive on. Generally, at the end of the line is a favorite restaurant. As time goes by, we have discovered that an ice cream stop is also an important part of each mystery tour. We firmly support that Miata motto (perhaps by the Trillium Chapter?) “We drive to eat, and eat to drive!”

Towards the end of the Ohio convertible season, which always comes too soon, we find a good location for our annual Fall Foliage Tour. We have both one-day and weekend drives, winding through the countryside of Ohio and Pennsylvania appreciating Mother Nature’s color schemes. The finale of each year is a holiday celebration with a Miata gift exchange and officer elections for the following year. Our club is ever-changing, but always ready for a good time. We look forward to many more Miata events, including the Miata Cruise and the 1998 Miata Mountain Madness in the Poconos. Keep an eye out at future events for the fun-loving “Northcoasters”; we’re the “shy” ones.