Miata Washings

Morning Walk

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This morning’s sunrise appeared like normal, but after breakfast and I stepped outside to go for a walk, the unusual higher temps turned that into a lot of low level fog. By the time I finished my 2 mile trek around Salish Ponds the fog was gone. And the sun sort of came out, there was scattered blue to be seen. After making a coffee I hopped into a Miata and went for a short drive east of here where the roads have more curves.

After lunch I went back out and gave both the boys a bath, even though the rains returns tomorrow and will probably reverse the cleanliness in short order.

Making It Mine

First order of business was to wash the dirty car. It crossed the country, probably three quarters of it along I-80 in January, on an open car carrier and then spent a month in a car mechanic shop.

Next up were a couple of quick and easy modifications that I waited to do until I got the car home. I changed out the stock one-piece sun visors with a set of the old school folding ones for the 1st generation car. This is one of the first things I did to the 2003 when purchased new. Also back then, I put the Voodoo shift knob on the car in the dealer’s lot, but this time I did it half way home from Eugene. I wasn’t going to, but I think I will add the matching e-brake handle.

Then I put in this nifty phone holder that goes into an eyeball vent from Etsy.

I pulled out the OEM floor mats because they were filthy and the script Miata was faded to nothing. I’m not sure if I’ll buy Coco Mats for the car, but I will get some new mats.

I was originally thinking that I would pull the stock stereo out and send it off to have a guy to put a Bluetooth module internally, so you can keep the stock head unit. Now I’m thinking not. I bought a little gizmo that plugs into the cigarette lighter and transmits to the radio. I’m sure the audio is crappy, but I’m riding in a convertible listening to mostly all familiar music so all I need is 50% data recognition factor and my brain fills in the rest.

I put a RevLimiter’s Retro Shift Plate on. The stock knob has the pattern on it, while the Voodoo does not. I would say the odds of this being actually needed an almost infinitesimal, but it came in handy for the fellow who drove the open car carrier that brought the CTBNL from Aiken to Klamath Falls because that car also had a Voodoo knob.

My last mod of the day was adding an official third generation Mazda Miata Club Badge on the front left fender. The parts guy at the dealer gave it to me. He said his manager wanted him to toss it out, but he thought it was too cool to do that to it. I had been purchasing a bunch of OEM parts from him for the Blue Miata so he offered it to me. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I thought it was cool too.

New Tires On Old Wheels On New Miata

Well, I gone an done it. I mounted new tires on some 25-year-old Miata wheels to put on the new 2024 Miata. And I for one think it looks fantastic. Before I could take the above picture, the car needed to be washed, so I pulled out the Griot’s Garage Foaming Sprayer and gave it a bath. After drying off the car I took a drive for lunch and headed out to a local spot to take some photos.

Car Wash Day


I got a nice mountain bike ride early this morning around Moore Park and I really should wash that thing (and then re-lube the chain) because it is quite dusty from the very dry trails. Instead, I washed both cars this afternoon.

Choosy Brians Choose Jif Peter Pan

I was aware of the Jif peanut butter recall for possible salmonella contamination, but didn’t really pay attention to it. We’ve had a jar of Jif in the cupboard, but it was half used up and neither of us has gotten sick. If it was bad, we surely would have had a problem by now.

When the local paper published the the product codes yesterday Donna asked if ours was in range listed. I shrugged (once again we have had no issues.) So she went and looked at the jar. Sure enough ours was smack dab in the middle of the recalled numbers. So, better safe than sorry, into the trash it went. On today’s grocery shopping trip we picked up a jar of Peter Pan.

The Miata has been driven 3 times since the last update. It was driven a whole 4.9 miles to go fill up the tank with premium unleaded on Monday. This was the 130th fill-up for me with this car and it took 9.347 gallons at $4.49 per1 returning a 26.08 MPG. For reference the very first time I filled up the CTBNL was on September 2nd 2016 and at that time it received 9.856 gallons at $1.699 per2 for a MPG of 25.9.

The Miata was driven to my doctor’s appointment this morning for a round trip of three whole miles. The only real drive of consequence it took was a 25.7 mile evening cruise yesterday. Because it was dusk and the temps were in the upper 70’s the bugs were out in full force we managed to collect quite a few on the nose and windshield, so this afternoon it got a bath in the driveway.

33.6 miles on 3 trips.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 28

 

At The Car Wash

Took advantage of the next to last nice day (tomorrow probably is the last nice day until spring) to wash both cars. The CTBNL needed it because we recently parked under a tree and there was lots of little sticky sap spots all over it. The Lady Bug needed it just on general principle (looks like the last time it got a wash was May!)

The next time the Miata gets washed will probably be April. The next time the Mini gets washed it will be at a local automated place.

Busy Bee

Yesterday afternoon I decided to wash both cars. First up was the Mini. I backed it out into the driveway, unfurled the hose and filled up two 5-gallon buckets (one with soap and water and the other with plain water.) After I finished washing and drying Ladybug I let it roll further down the driveway to pull out the Miata.

As I walked back into the garage I noticed that right smack along the middle seam of the RaceDeck flooring it was buckling up an inch or so. The sun was beating down on the first few feet into the garage and I guess the heat was causing the plastic tiles to expand. Odd that it was right in the middle, there is at least and inch gap between the wall and flooring on both sides for it to move into.

So I moved the Miata out and tried to stomp on and slid the edges outward to flatten the floor in the middle. Not that it really is a problem it would only happen on a sunny warm day with the garage door up for more than a few minutes, but it did upset my uncontrollable need for order. I have been thinking about moving the 24 carpeted tiles from between the two designated parking areas for a while. The carpet gets dirty from car tires hitting the edges and debris being blown in by the westerly breezes running straight up the driveway.

Now would be a good time to do it. Instead of washing the CTBNL I spent the next few hours rearranging the interlocking plastic floor tiles. First I started by basically breaking the floor in half, right up the seam where it was buckling. This gave me access to the middle “aisle” of carpeted flooring. Then I broke apart the inside extended section where the RaceDeck flooring stops by the second door, this was the replacement for the 2′ wide by 12′ long section of carpet. The carpet was then formed into a 3′ by 8′ area to fill in where the CircleTrac style tiles were.

 
This afternoon the CTBNL received its slightly delayed, but much needed, washing. I just started using the 2 bucket wash method here after I bought an orange Home Depot bucket to compliment my blue Lowes bucket I brought with me. It is probably overkill for the 18-year old Miata, as it came with plenty dings and scratches all over. And I’ve added more. But the paint on the newer and fewer miles Mini is in better shape and might benefit from it. I don’t think I’ll go as far as buying grit guards, but this should protect the finishes of the cars some.