What have you done to your Miata today?

[bazooka joe]

Maff, you write that? Sounds like you!!!![emoji23]


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[aMaff]

Maff, you write that? Sounds like you!!!![emoji23]

Sounds like stuff I'd say. If I sounded Canadian, and not someone who's spent almost 20 years in the American south

 

[bazooka joe]

That's what I meant to say!


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[CTt3P5]

Yesterday I cleaned the engine bay. I was nervous as it was my first time doing this on any car I've owned but I'm happy to say that she fired right up and with no lights. lol

I used Purple Power and a mix of brushes/sponges. Definitely not award winning show clean but it does look much better. Will have to see what Mahk says. I'll take more time the next time I do it and work on getting in and around some of the tighter places. Only parts I covered with plastic bags were the alternator and the plug for the ABS. Seeing as how Mazda faced it upwards I didn't want to take the chance of soaking it with any product/water.

 

[CTt3P5]

Before and after from the DS.

 

[bazooka joe]

Before and after from the DS.

start over!(notcool)

no, JK...looks great....so hard to keep it looking hafway decent whe you drive all yr round...i know! (p5)

 

[CTt3P5]

Thanks. I did miss some areas but that was due to me being nervous spraying in and around certain areas. Now that I have a feel for it, I know I can do better the next go around. That damn filter box is driving me crazy now. Without thinking I grabbed a wire brush to get the sticker residue off, oh look nice white scratches in the plastic. So between that and the damn tubing I think a CAI is in my future. lol

Going to play around with using PS fluid to wipe down the hoses. Read online that it does a great job of giving them that new rubber look. We shall see.

Will def. be fun to keep up with it all year, NOT, but I figure if I keep up with it, it won't take as long to do each time I clean it.

 

[aMaff]

Some days I wish I had the patience and desire to properly detail. Most of the time I'm happy that I'm not possessed by that near-OCD level of attention to detail for dirt.

 

[bazooka joe]

Some days I wish I had the patience and desire to properly detail. Most of the time I'm happy that I'm not possessed by that near-OCD level of attention to detail for dirt.

as long as YOU shower regularly, thats fine!

 

[CTt3P5]

I hear ya and feel the same way. I've always figured the car isn't a show car by any means so why bother. At least this way if I ever want to pop the hood I won't be completely embarrassed. haha My buddy was getting on me about it too. He keeps his engine bay immaculate, then again, he bought the car new and has kept up with it at least once a month.

 

[aMaff]

I can count the number of times I've cleaned under the hood of any of my cars on my d**k (rlaugh)

Took the P5 to a car show many years ago with our local club. Before or after that? I just can't. I can barely be assed to wash the exterior of my cars more than 3 or 4 times a year. The interior and glass I'm pretty rigorous on, but everything else? No. I don't spit my hammers or angle grinders either. They're all tools for me. But I get why people do

 

[aMaff]

Livin' that winch life. I should have done this a couple years ago.

It's SO much easier to load up this way with the tight space I've got and the super-light flywheel.

 

[bazooka joe]

How long is that trailer Andrew ?


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[aMaff]

How long is that trailer Andrew ?


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16' deck, IIRC, including the beaver tail. To give the (pretty weak) 2500lb capacity Harbor Freight winch a little better torque on the cable, I cut the cable spool to 25', which is probably 5 or 6' longer than I need, but gives me a little more flexibility.

 

[CTt3P5]

Damn, that is tight Maff. Winch power FTW!

Now that I had a chance to get items put on, I'll attach some pics. One of the main reasons for cleaning up the engine bay was I wanted to paint the engine cover. Found this VHT Engine Metallic Titanium Silver Blue online and ordered two cans from the local Napa store and picked up a can of their primer and clear coat. The paint is damn near close to a perfect match for the car! Wanting to clean up the bay a little more I asked a guy at work if he could make an ABS module cover for me. So a template was made but I quickly found out that due to the connector and AC hard line I couldn't make one with a slit to clear the ABS lines, so two pieces were made. It looks ok but I'm going to try to clean up the seam on the fender side a little better, hopefully it will work. I painted both covers with three coats each of the primer, paint and clear. I installed the engine cover on Friday and have been letting the engine heat cure it during normal driving. Popped the hood tonight since I had a couple of minutes to install the ABS cover and found the engine cover "wrinkling". I am very disappointed. Guessing I should have used an adhesion promoter since the cover is plastic?

 

[bazooka joe]

That sucks! [emoji17]


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[aMaff]

On Saturday, I got to the event knowing the tires were basically on the way out. 3 drivers later and I knew that the next day's event would be the last on this set. After 2 drivers on Sunday, here's what I was left with.

My fast run Saturday was the last time I felt like the tires had any stick to them. After that it was just NO grip...with predictable results (rlaugh)

 

[bazooka joe]

Hey, in that last vid I'd swear it was me driving! Haha!


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[CTt3P5]

LOL

Called VHT earlier and they informed me that even with an adhesion promoter the Engine Metallic would not stick to the plastic. Really sucks because the color was perfect. On the plus side they are going to refund me what I paid for the two cans of color upon me sending in a copy of the receipt. Now back to square one and picking a color. Another plus was that simply hitting the paint with air from an air compressor ripped it right off. No sanding for me. haha

 

[CTt3P5]

Washed her this morning and found this in the DS front tire. :/ After lunch I drove over to the local tire shop to see about getting it plugged and they said they could not do it due to its location. Tires are at the end of their second season and have 4/32nds left. So it's time to think of new tires. While I'm at it, I guess I'll shop for some wheels too. Good thing I kept the summer setup from the P5. I'm going to mount those tomorrow in prep for the Sunday run with the local club.