project_fail

- Reinstalled wiring for defroster on hard top

I had removed the pigtail for the defroster on the hard top a while back while cleaning up the top, but since the weather is turning cool again it seemed like a good idea to put it back in place so that I can use the defroster in the mornings.

Today is my Miata's 13th birthday! So Happy Birthday, Amanda-po-panda Miata! Let's hope that she does not become rebellious and troubled during her teenage years. (^_^)

- Removed the old horn button and installed the new one

The new horn button works great, and I was able to take a look at the insides to get a better idea of how I can probably fabricate something to make the old one work properly. Hooray!

$57.12 - Nardi horn button from Crowder's Customizing via eBay

It turns out that the spring I fashioned for my horn button does not work reliably enough. It seems to be intermittent at best, so I decided to plunk down the money for a brand new horn button assembly. There were some less expensive options available, but I wanted something brand new (to avoid having to replace it again any time soon) and I was also leery of a handful of replacement horn buttons coming out of China that I suspect are counterfeits of possibly dubious quality, so I spent a little bit more to get a new unit that I am certain is authentic.

$90 - Joyfast tall shift knob and some stickers from Tetsuya Garage

As reluctant as I am to spend so much money on a shift knob, I've been having difficulty finding one that has the dimensions I would prefer, and especially not at a decent price. I could probably make one but I'm not sure if the effort and any investment costs would ultimately be worth it. I'm also not sure how acceptable the quality of the final result would be. The Joyfast pieces are a high quality item made of stainless steel by a small company (man) in Japan. Rumors are also circulating that the knobs will soon be discontinued and no longer available. Purchasing this knob also supports the enthusiast community as all parties involved in the transaction (except for the postal service) contribute to the community (unlike many of the vendors and companies flooding the market with poor quality parts, knockoffs, and counterfeits). So there is an additional small measure of silver lining to the dark cloud of expense in that respect.

- Removed stock steering wheel w/ airbag
- Installed Nardi wheel w/ NRG hub and WorksBell quick release

This was not quite as straightforward as I had expected. I was able to depin the aribag/horn connector pretty easily, but the NRG hub material was thicker than I expected and left very little room for anything to fit (which complicated my plans a bit). I initially routed the horn and airbag wires through the hole in the hub and planned to tuck them into the base of the quick release, but the hub seated so far down that the shaft bolt actually inserted into that cavity which didn't leave much room for the wires and the airbag resistor. I ended up removing the hub and tucking the airbag wires and resistor in the cavity on the back side of the hub and only bringing the horn wire through. Even so, it was still a tight fit for everything. Eventually I got it all bolted up though and went for a test drive. WIN! I couldn't believe how much difference a good steering wheel makes. The steering wheel is slightly smaller diameter (5mm) and more responsive in that respect, but the biggest factor I think is that the stock plastic wheel had so much give/flex in it that the steering felt somewhat disconnected and lethargic. Steering is now crisper and more responsive and provides more feedback. Feedback is still somewhat limited due to the power steering, but it's still even more of a joy to drive than before.

I still need to decide what, if anything, to do with the seatbelt fold that was designed as part of the SRS system. There are several schools of thought on the necessity of removing the fold, but the general consensus it that the wise choice is to remove it. Still, it's a bit of an irreversible modification, so I haven't yet committed myself to doing it. I also still need to look into removing the plate under the steering column that prevents it from collapsing as quickly. As the airbag is no longer in place, this plate no longer serves a potentially beneficial function.

- Removed naca duct vent windows
- Installed new windows cut from the lexan

I actually did this a couple of days ago, but I decided to remove my naca duct windows and sell them to a guy on ClubRoadster. I think I'm going to try out the snap-in style aircraft vents, so I went ahead and cut some new windows from the lexan to put in rather than using the stock glass windows.

-$50.00 - net yield from selling the vent windows

$99.00 - NRG Short Hub Adapter for Mazda Miata from dnamotoring.com via eBay

I took some measurements and decided that the NRG short hub is the best choice for me as it is the shortest (even the Works Bell short hub is taller) available option. As I understand it, I will have to de-pin the airbag and horn connectors on the clockspring in order to feed them through the hub, but I have practiced on a spare clock spring and feel confident that I can do this without any issue. I will also have to put together my own airbag bypass resistor/jumper, but once again I feel confident that I can do this without issue.

- Bent new spring for Nardi horn button
- Tweaked horn button and retaining spring
- Attached Nardi wheel to Works Bell quick release

I received my steering wheel yesterday and discovered both some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the optional trim ring was included after all!  The bad news is that the horn button was missing parts. (ಠ_ಠ)  After scratching my head for about an hour trying to figure out how it was supposed to work, I decided that it must be missing a spring inside the button.  A fellow Miata owner (Adam/revlimiter) on ClubRoadster kindly confirmed my suspicions.  So today I picked up a spring from Lake hardware and used some pliers to re-shape it.

Unfortunately, when I went to assemble the button with the new spring, I discovered that it was too stiff and also that my plastic button was warped. I used the heat gun to soften the button and press it back into a more rounded shape and I also used a chisel and hammer to mildly bend the retaining tabs on the ring to provide some additional support.  I bent the spring into a softer coil and reassembled the button, and now it seems to work pretty well. I wouldn't call it an elegant fix, but it seems to work and there is no visual indication that the button is anything but original.

Once the button was fixed, I attached the wheel to the quick disconnect and attempted to insert the horn button.  After a gentle tweak to the bends in the horn button retaining spring, I was able to properly insert the button.  Now I just need to select a hub and I can start enjoying my new-to-me vintage style steering wheel!

$0.98 - Spring for horn button

$28.51 - Fuel

Actual Miles Traveled: 334
Actual Fuel Consumed (Gallons): 12.189
Actual Fuel Economy (MPG): 27.4

ScanGauge Estimated Miles Traveled: 331
ScanGauge Estimated Fuel Consumed (Gallons): 11.7
ScanGauge Estimated Fuel Economy (MPG): 28.2

ScanGauge Estimated Average Speed (MPH): 50
ScanGauge Recorded Total Driving Time (Hours): 6.5

Gallons: 12.189 @ $2.339
Current Mileage: 132,300
Cost of Fuel Per Mile (@ Replacement Cost): $0.085

$23.26 - Fuel

Actual Miles Traveled: 283
Actual Fuel Consumed (Gallons): 11.080
Actual Fuel Economy (MPG): 25.5

ScanGauge Estimated Miles Traveled: 278
ScanGauge Estimated Fuel Consumed (Gallons): 11.1
ScanGauge Estimated Fuel Economy (MPG): 24.8

ScanGauge Estimated Average Speed (MPH): 24
ScanGauge Recorded Total Driving Time (Hours): 11.2

Gallons: 11.080 @ $2.099
Current Mileage: 131,966
Cost of Fuel Per Mile (@ Replacement Cost): $0.082

- Finished fabrication of front bumper camera mount

I've been tinkering with various camera mount setups for a while and yesterday I started on a revised bracket to attach my camera mount to the front bumper. I took some scrap steel (purchased up from Angleton Steel Supply for $0.58), welded two pieces together, drilled a few holes, and painted it black.  I was able to bolt it to the bumper support where the old license plate bracket had attached.  Unfortunately, the bumper support core itself flexed too much which made the camera mount very shaky.

To stabilize the bracket, I made some support arms from 3/8" brake tubing.  I cut the tubing to length, pounded the ends flat, and drilled a hole in each end to bolt them to the car and the bracket.  After a test run with the camera, this seems to have done a good enough job that the mount will work pretty well as long as the camera is zoomed all the way out.  It still gets too shaky if you zoom in at all, unfortunately, but this is hard to avoid when hard mounting a camera to a car (especially one with a firm/stiff suspension).

$0.58 - Scrap steel
$4.28 - Brake line

$150.00 - Nardi Classic/Classico Steering Wheel (360mm, black spokes, black leather w/ white stitching)

I finally bit the bullet on a steering wheel.  This is a used wheel that is in extremely good condition and at a comparable price to similar wheels in much worse condition.  It's exactly what I've wanted (although it does not include the optional horn trim ring), and in good enough condition at a low enough price.  I may order the trim ring at a later date, as that would really complete the look, but since that's merely a minor aesthetic goodie  there is no real rush on it.  Now I just need a hub adapter and then I can start enjoying my new steering wheel and quick-release!

- Painted license plate bracket
- Installed license plate bracket and license plate

I used a 2" OD fender washer to clamp the bracket to the tow eye.  This is a somewhat dubious prospect, since the tow eye has a 2" opening, but it should work fine.  I might keep my eyes open for a larger fender washer or even use some more scrap steel to make one later, but for now it will just have to do.

- Fabricated a front license plate bracket that attaches to one of the front tow eyes

I took some scrap steel and cut a piece about 25cm x 8cm, drilled holes for mounting the license plate and attaching to a tow eye, and bent the plate into a right angle shape.  I did a test fit and decided to drill two additional holes so that the plate can be rotated and kept horizontal when the bracket is aligned to follow the curve of the bumper (for either left or right side of the bumper).  By making the bracket 8cm wide, it is substantial enough  to feel pretty sturdy despite the fact that it is just a bent piece of sheet metal.  To be honest... it turned out much nicer than I had expected, and I'm kind of proud of it.

Unfortunately, since the scrap steel had plenty of surface rust before I started working on it, I decided to prep it with some Rust Reformer spray before I paint it in order to minimize chances of the rust returning. So now I have to wait 24-hours for it to cure before painting it. ::sigh:: I hate waiting! (e_e)

- Removed front bumper cover
- Used heat gun to "repair" the waves and dimples in the bumper cover from the front license plate
- Removed front Mazda logo badge
- Used polishing compound to minimize badge "ghost" and scratches from front license plate
- Replaced "baby teeth" tie down hooks with tow eyes from Rennen Metal
- Reinstalled bumper cover
- Sprayed white lithium grease on headlight retract rod heim joints

The weather was fantastic today so I finally got around to pulling the front bumper cover off and using a heat gun to soften it up and push it back into shape where it had been deformed by the front license plate.  It's not 100% perfect but it is significantly better.  I also took this opportunity to debadge the bumper cover and to replace the tie down "baby teeth" with tow eyes from RennenMetal (I traded David some body panels from the 93 for some of his tow eyes and a couple other small odds and ends).

I think that I will fabricate a new bracket for the license plate that locates it off to one side of the bumper mouth.  I have a rough idea for how to construct it, but I haven't worked out all of the details just yet.

- Applied orange film to turn signals

I received the smoked film the other day and comparing the different options (orange, smoke, or orange+smoke) decided that I would probably apply the orange and then a layer of smoke over top of it.  However, as I applied the film to the lens and hit it with the heat gun, it began to lose some of the paleness and become more vivid/intense in color.  It actually looks much closer to the orange of the sidemarkers than I had expected, and so I may just leave it be and not apply the smoked film.  I'm sure I can find other uses for the smoked film if I decide not to use it on the turn signals.  I'm just going to leave the orange on by itself for a few days and decide how much I like it.  If I decide that it's not quite right then I can always add the smoked film on top of it later.

- Wired up power line and fuse holder for horn
- Finished wiring the ground wires for hi+lo beam headlight mod

I caught a break in the rain and finished up the wiring tasks from the past couple days.

- Created secondary headlight harness
- Modified headlight harness adapters to add additional parallel harness
- Connected secondary harness to former horn relay

I decided to wire up my headlights to keep the low beam on when the high beam is active.  To do this I've hooked up a wiring harness in parallel with the factory headlight harnesses that triggers a relay to power the low beams when the high beams are activated.  I may throw a switch inline for the trigger wire to make this a quick-and-easy mod to enable/disable, but I haven't decided yet.

It started raining and got dark before I was 100% finished though, so I still need to connect the additional grounding points for the harness. I also need to hook up the new power wire for my horn. I suppose that I will wrap it all up tomorrow if it's not raining too heavily.

$8.45 - 10-ga wire and inline ATM fuse holder

- Installed new (OEM style) relay for horn
- Rerouted wiring to new relay

I used a 4-pin 20-amp OEM relay that I had pulled from the 93 and mounted it in place on the relay box near the brake master cylinder. I created an adapter from the pigtail for that relay so that I could plug it into the horn relay harness and avoid cutting the factory wiring.  I then re-routed the horn wires from the current relay to the new relay.  All that's left is to run a fused power line from the fuse box to the relay.

The primary motivation behind this is not only to simplify the horn wiring circuit but also to free up the other relay so that I can use it for a headlight modification that allows me to keep the low beams on while the high beam is active.