Miata Mods

Sayonara Mr. Coco

Yanked out the cocomats yesterday evening to vacuum the car and I left them out for good. I went ahead and put the tan OEM ones back in, even though they were slightly dirty.

I really loved the look of the black mats with the tan dots. Check this photo for a feel of them. The dark color broke up the vast expanse of light colored tan interior and the mats hid the dirt real well. On the downside, they shed short back fibers on the “carpet” and they started to come apart right where you place your first foot down when entering the car. The shedding I could handle and I worked around the fraying on the driver’s side by artfully snipping out the offending strays, but now that that malady has effected the passenger side too, it was time for them to come out.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 106

Pop Top

Back in October the Miata Club received an unsolicited email advertising something called a California Pop Top. They were offering Club members a 10% discount and if we did a group buy they would ship all to the same address for the cost of shipping one. Seemed like a good deal, but we had no takers. I know I’m the only regular user of a cockpit cover in the Club since Russ defected to the Black Forrest, but I was not interested because we had just replaced our aging unit about a month earlier. One other member did express a slight interest, so I told him if he bought let me know as I wanted to see if this thing worked as advertised. He never did buy on.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. Our new car cover mounted a different than our previous one and we never really got used to it. It might have been operator error but the hold down hooks kept falling off the wheel wells randomly. Donna asked about that one we had heard about before and maybe we should look at getting one. I wrote the contact at California Pop Top to see if the deal was still valid. Yep. I wrote the other individual who expressed a slight interest to see if he wanted in on the deal. Yep. Ordered them Sunday, shipped Monday and arrived yesterday.

I have put it on and taken it off twice as practice in the garage. Way radical. The first time was tricky, the second time went smoother, but it didn’t seem to cover the back of the cockpit as well as the others. Left a little sliver of opening exposed. Reading the instructions I think that is from me not pulling the cords in the back tight enough. I need more practice.

The Pop Top is made of Tyvek so it is lighter and more compact than either of the two previous cockpit covers I’ve owned. I like it that it is more of a one person job than the earlier ones too. The others could be done by one, but it took a couple passes to get it lined up and locked down right. Donna likes the one person aspect too. It is also supposed to fit top up or down, so if it turns out to be real easy I can use it nearly every time I park for an extended period of time.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 32

Cargo Net

Cargo NetOur glove box is full of maps. Really full. One thing of suntan lotion, a travel pack of Kleenex, a Big Chill Soundtrack CD (for the rare times Donna drives) and lots and lots of maps. Oh yeah, a small lighted magnifying glass for night map reading, plus more maps. There might be a pen in there somewhere near the bottom too.

Because you never know where you will end up once you start a drive in the Miata we have an Aiken city map and an Augusta city map. Two South Carolina state maps, a Barnwell county map, Columbia, Charleston, Sumter, Anderson and Greenville city maps. A Georgia state map, a Georgia mountains map, Atlanta, Rome and Savannah city maps, North Carolina state map and an Asheville city map. Florida, Tennessee and Virginia state maps. Plus a ratty old copy of one that covers the eastern US that I think we are keeping for sentimental reasons.

In an effort to create some room in the GB we decided to take out some of the maps from the further away places that really don’t need to be handy. My first thought was keep them on the counter in the garage that we walk right by to get in the car, but I knew we’d forget to bring them and then end up spending another $5 for a map we already had. My second thought was the winner. Mazda came out with a neat little cargo net for the back of the trunk. I had contemplated buying it a while back to hold the CB radio in that I use on MMC events, but never got around to it. They are like $20 and I think a nice bargain. Turns out they were on sale at Trussville for $15.60 and to top it off they are offering free regular ground shipping through the end of the year. Ordered it Sunday night on the web page and it was at my doorstep at 6 this evening.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/05: 380

Boxes

The Halloween look is gone from the blog. The vampire teeth are off the Miata. Time to return to our normally scheduled lunacy.

Tonight when I got back from Albemarle, NC there were three boxes waiting for me on the dining room table. 1) Plug wires from Rspeed, 2) air and oil filters, plus spark plugs from Trussville and 3) a cell phone from Tracfone. Boxes 1 & 2 are for this weekend’s 30,000 mile service for the Miata in my driveway. Box 3 is nothing but trouble.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/05: 345

Not So Much Undead As…

…snakelike. The Vampire Teeth are in and the more I look at the car with them on, the more I think it looks like a snake. So I guess I’ll toss out the Blood Bank background idea and start looking for a Reptile Zoo.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/05: 314

I Wanted So Much To Like This Knob

Several years back the MMC visited a local manufacturer that was making aluminum bits for the Miata. I bought their shift knob, hand brake lever handle and a cigarette lighter that was engraved to read “EJECT.” Their shift knob was shaped sort of like a toy top or tornado and had a nice rubber grip in the middle.

MGW Gripper Knob

I liked the rubber grip as it stayed cool in summer and warm in winter. Plus the combo of black and silver was a nice touch in the black interior. I just couldn’t get used to the flat top, so I bought the much beloved in the Miata.net community Voodoo shift knob.

Voodoo

I’d like to say I’ve never looked back, but I have. After a summer of cooking my palm on the solid ball of aluminum I wanted to incorporate the rubber piece from the MGW knob into the Voodoo. So I machined a horizontal groove into the voodoo that was the same size as the MGW gripper knob and melded to the two together. It came out just as I envisioned it, but I didn’t like the feel. Never got used to it and ordered a new Voodoo knob to replace the one I ruined. While I was at it I ordered the matching ebrake handle too. So now the only remaining item from the first trio of items is the EJECT lighter.

Last week while cleaning out a drawer at work and found the MGW gripper knob sans the grip. MGW is out of the Miata parts business, but still makes stuff for other cars, so I emailed them and asked if I could get a rubber gripper still. $5 and a replacement is yours they replied. While I waited for the postman, I decided to paint the aluminum Garnet Red. Three coats of red and two of clear and it looked pretty good. Yesterday a box came in the mail with not one, but two gripper rings. They had changed the mold so that there was now a key in the rubber to match a groove that must have gone in later knobs to prevent the ring from turning, so I had to dremel that out before I could put it on. Only taking out one little chip mounting the gripper I installed the knob in the car. I knew right away I had created another failed mod. I left it on for the day, but tonight it came back out and the Voodoo went back on. Still didn’t like the flat top and the red looked out of place in the interior because there was no other red to balance it out. It’ll make a nice looking paperweight…

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/05: 285