Author Topic: Dylan's 1994 1.8L Mazda Miata - Good-bye :( (Read 7965 times)

Dylan780 · « **Reply #100 on:** December 15, 2018, 02:50:34 pm »

Went over to the storage garage to re-install the cluster and make sure all the lighting is good etc. with the new gauges. These faces made such a huge difference, makes the car so much more modern without taking away that classic look.

My apologies for the itshay photos but the lighting was no good.

Also, I really don't like the look of the stereo I have in the car. Would going with a double din screen take away from the "retro-modern" feel I am going for with this car? Usually I find a nice double din screen with no buttons really cleans up the interior of a car but I'm afraid it might be too modern for the look I am after.

What do you think?

diamondedge · « **Reply #101 on:** December 15, 2018, 04:07:00 pm »

I think part of the modern look is almost every single aftermarket DIN deck has a glossy piano black bezel, or a big gaudy illuminated chrome volume wheel.

Speed.Academy Peter did one of these style ones with his Porsche... Kienzle. Wow. So sexy.

Ambystom01 · « **Reply #102 on:** December 15, 2018, 04:38:01 pm »

Retrosound is an option.

Rathburn · « **Reply #103 on:** December 17, 2018, 07:29:59 am »

Get a Becker Mexico.

It's the only way to not uckfay this itshay up.

seat safety switch · « **Reply #104 on:** December 18, 2018, 08:47:00 am »

Crutchfield in the US sells a bunch of those nice-looking Blaupunkt single-DINs but they won't sell them to Canada.

Dylan780 · « **Reply #105 on:** December 28, 2018, 08:30:28 pm »

My Jass Performance stainless steel cluster bezel came in over the holidays so I brought my cluster and what not to work with me yesterday to get it all installed.

Installing the cluster bezel itself is very easy, this piece is cut so precise you don't even need any double sided tape or anything but I decided to use some (very, very thin scrapbooking double sided tape).

The difficult part and the part I screwed up on is removing the window from the cluster. The cluster separates into two pieces but then you have to separate the plastic window from the black framing for lack of a better term. Mazda definitely didn't ever want these two pieces taken apart cause it is very difficult. I ended up breaking the window into 3 or 4 pieces and had to order a new one off eBay.

If anyone has any tricks for this to try when my new one gets in please fill me in as I do not want to break it again. I used a heat gun and it did absolutely nothing. Maybe acetone or something?

Anyways, here is how the cluster looks now minus the window.

Oh, and I also installed the Jass stainless needle caps.

The pictures do not do it justice, it looks so much better in person.

And just to see how much has changed, here is a before and after.

the_saint · « **Reply #106 on:** December 28, 2018, 09:07:25 pm »

Wow, looks fantastic!

kehuynh · « **Reply #107 on:** December 29, 2018, 03:38:36 pm »

Building a racing sim as well?

Dylan780 · « **Reply #108 on:** December 29, 2018, 04:18:38 pm »

Quote from: kehuynh on December 29, 2018, 03:38:36 pm

Building a racing sim as well?

Huh?

kehuynh · « **Reply #109 on:** December 29, 2018, 06:27:16 pm »

Quote from: Dylan780 on December 29, 2018, 04:18:38 pm

Huh?

did you reserve a steering wheel at best buy? I think I saw your name on a reservation .

Dylan780 · « **Reply #110 on:** December 29, 2018, 07:24:27 pm »

Quote from: kehuynh on December 29, 2018, 06:27:16 pm

did you reserve a steering wheel at best buy? I think I saw your name on a reservation .

Hahaha yea I did! Going to pick it up tomorrow.

DaDuke99 · « **Reply #111 on:** December 29, 2018, 08:16:26 pm »

Weirdest spotting ever

kehuynh · « **Reply #112 on:** December 29, 2018, 10:44:29 pm »

Quote from: DaDuke99 on December 29, 2018, 08:16:26 pm

Weirdest spotting ever

Haha, I work the online order desk.

Quote from: Dylan780 on December 29, 2018, 07:24:27 pm

Hahaha yea I did! Going to pick it up tomorrow.

It's same day holds but I open so I can put it on hold for you again

Dylan780 · « **Reply #113 on:** January 08, 2019, 02:52:24 pm »

My "new" meter window hood came in from eBay today and I am very happy to say that I successfully separated the window from the black cluster bezel piece.

Since I didn't actually need the black piece from this cluster I snipped off the black lip around the entire piece, then with a very sharp blade and lots of patience I slowly cut away the window. You can see in the following photos how I had to butcher the "framing" to be able to get a blade in between it and the window.

Just need to hit this new window with some Plastx to refresh it then I can silicone it onto the cluster I have at home and the gauge cluster project will be complete.

Dylan780 · « **Reply #114 on:** April 05, 2019, 08:36:51 am »

Pulled the Miata out of storage today (grandparents garage) and drove it the few blocks over to my garage. I felt so bad driving the car through all the muck and rocks but now I can start getting her ready for summer.

Start with flushing and replacing all the fluids in the car and then I have a few small interior bits to install and she'll be ready to go once the roads clear up.

I had my battery on a tender all winter but it still needed a boost to start, is that normal or should a tender keep it charged enough to start? I even let the car run for nearly 30 minutes before turning it off and then I tried to start it again and it was dead. Do I need a new battery or do I just need to drive the car for a while and let it charge up?

diamondedge · « **Reply #115 on:** April 05, 2019, 09:23:28 am »

Quote from: Dylan780 on April 05, 2019, 08:36:51 am

Do I need a new battery or do I just need to drive the car for a while and let it charge up?

Drive it. Alternator output is basically zilch at idle RPM's. (~700) Gotta get those rev's up, drive it, drive it.

seat safety switch · « **Reply #116 on:** April 05, 2019, 10:36:33 am »

You do need to drive it more to charge the battery, but if you had it on a tender and it still doesn't start without a jump, I would think the battery is toast.

I've brought dead batteries 'back' for a little while with a tender before, so if it wasn't even maintaining...

darthekai · « **Reply #117 on:** April 05, 2019, 10:41:42 am »

If it was on a tender, depending on the tender it should be fully charged. Most tenders are trickle chargers with a float voltage between 13.5 and 13.8v.
So it should read 12.7v when you take it off the charger. If it can't provide the CCA to start your car without shedding all the volts, the battery's toast. You can test this by hooking up a light or a test load to the battery and watching the voltage. Should drop when you turn the load on but then stay steady. If it falls steadily (like 0.1v per second or every other second) it's mega borked

seat safety switch · « **Reply #118 on:** April 06, 2019, 03:29:54 pm »

I had some luck bringing back a Miata AGM by using Jory's Honda Optimate charger on "revive" mode or whatever. My Battery Tender Jr couldn't dent it, it would raise the voltage to 12.something volts and then it would immediately collapse when I pulled starter current through it, since one of the cells had sulphate gunk in it or something.

RockThePylon · « **Reply #119 on:** April 06, 2019, 06:44:38 pm »

I brought my Miata battery back to life with a CC charger. Just fed it 1.0A and ignored the voltage.

It bubbled a lot as it got close to 16v, but funny enough the voltage started dropping after a couple days in spite of the constant current.

Dylan780 · « **Reply #120 on:** April 08, 2019, 07:51:00 am »

I'm pretty sure she is dead. Drove the car for nearly two hours straight yesterday and the car still wouldn't turn on by itself after, oh well.

What batteries are you Miata guys running for the 1.8?

seat safety switch · « **Reply #121 on:** April 08, 2019, 08:11:55 pm »

I ran a Deka on my 1.6 and a leftover Mazda OEM battery from a parts car on my 1.8.

Dylan780 · « **Reply #122 on:** May 06, 2019, 08:12:44 am »

Well....the Miata is gone

I have bought and sold nearly 20 cars in my time and it's always a little sad to see them go but man did I ever feel ittshay watching this car drive away.

In good news, it is going to a home where it will be very well taken care of. A very nice couple flew in from Manitoba to buy the car as they are a self proclaimed "Miata family". Their father, mother, brother and the husband all have NA Miata's (all special editions too) so that makes me feel better about selling it.

One day I will hopefully pick up another one and I'm pretty sad but I had to make the mature decision and put other things before having a second car at this moment in my life.

On a positive note, with parting out certain pieces I ended up clearing $10k so I made a few bucks on the car.

jellynuts · « **Reply #123 on:** May 06, 2019, 03:47:04 pm »

That's really sudden $:-\$ Sorry you couldn't keep it.