Miatatude

Back to the pattern. Put the top up for the morning commute, put it down for the return trip. A busy day in Miataland. Took the makings of my switch/light panel to work and wired it up. After work I installed it.

Looks good, still need to fill about an 1/8 below the HU. I may try and butcher up most of the silver trim piece that came with the radio…

The blue 194 bulbs were a waste of $3. They are real blue when out, but on they look white with a hint of blue, so the ODO is still white. Gotta find them blue bulb “condoms.”

The 2″ Barndoor Fan Club stickers came in today. That’s the good news, bad news is that they aren’t exactly right. Emailed the place I got them from (websticker.com) and they said they’d check into it. They are almost good enough, but after going through 4 different proofs and thinking you got it right, they come in with the image smaller and slightly off center.

Started down, went up and now down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 22

Usually the Miata sits on Sunday, but today was different. Donna’s mom didn’t want to lunch out, so we got to drive the Miata with the top down. After eating we went grocery shopping for the week. I had to revert to actually planning where the grocery bags go and in what order, etc. instead of just tossing them in as I get to do with the Honda Civic. No problem, now 2 weeks worth of groceries might require some real planning and maybe even a bag at the passenger’s feet.

Finally bought switches and lights for the console. Ended up back at the place I went to on lunch Thursday. Radio Shack had more kinds off toggle switches than you could shake a stick at, but they were all pretty black or colored plastic…I wanted plain old silver. The other parts stores only had one switch like I wanted and no lights. Tomorrow night I’ll take the console out and see about mounting the stuff and wiring it up. While I was at the store I found some 194 bulbs in blue. I bought two and will stick them in the dash and see if they will make the ODO numbers blue.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 20

Really nice day here, upper 60’s not at all like winter. Drove over to Wagner to meet Ron and sell him the CD changer. We met at the Dollar General and he led us out to his house, a lot easier than him trying to give me directions. He and wife Chris and daughter Stephanie live in a new modular home north of town. Really nice place, cathedral ceilings through out and the thing probably has more square footage than our house. The only downside is it is 1/2 mile in on a dirt road. Ron is mechanically minded, but not so electrically minded, so I was going to show him how I had set up the changer in my car. He already had the console out of Steph’s car. Seeing as the car was already disassembled it was easy to just install it as I showed him how. We wired it up and tried it out – worked like a charm. He had picked up a replacement front center console from a salvage yard to replace her damaged one. It was nearly brand new. We figure the previous owner must have put a new after market radio in the car just before he wrecked it. When he pulled the console out to put in the new radio he must have broke the original and then replaced it with this new one. The after market radio was gone and the OEM one was on the front floor. All he had left to do was put everything back in place and drill 4 holes to mount the unit in the trunk.

I showed him my new install with the toggle switches in cardboard and he said, “I got just what you need laying on the living room floor, I was going to throw it away.” Sure enough, he had pulled out the spacer from under the after market stereo that was left in the car and it is just what I needed for under my new head unit. Cool! I offered to give him $10-15 off the price of the changer and he said, “No, helping me install was worth that much.” Thanks Ron.

Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 20

There was a 20% of rain in the afternoon and it sure looked higher than that on the way back to work from our lunch at McDonalds. So the top went up and down an extra time today compared to the last 5 days. I forgot about the lunch “date” with my wife, so Radio Shack will have to wait another day. Driving to Wagner tomorrow to drop off the CD player and give some pointers on the install, hope the prediction of mid 60’s holds….

Started down, up, down, up, now down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 20

Made a lunchtime run to the auto parts store to shop. Two bucks a piece for the lights, your choice green or yellow and $3 a piece for toggle switches for a total of around $20. Going to check Radio Shack tomorrow. Now I need to figure out what to make the panel out of….aluminum sheet or can I get some plastic with a similar grain at a stereo install shop? For now the cardboard stays in.

Five days in a row, same pattern, started down, went up, now down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 16

Dull February day here in Miataland. Got some more ideas for the toggle switch labels from FillG over on RoadsterChat: Smoke Screen. Nails on Road. Passenger Eject. Only other news is I’ve got a buyer for the CD Changer I yanked out of the trunk. A fellow Master’s Miata Club member wants to put it his daughter’s 90 Miata.

Once again, started down, went up, now down.
Top Transitions since 02/01/02: 14