Back in June when I was dreaming of a 2016 Miata I was also dreaming of what color I make it with a vinyl wrap. I went so far as to order some samples and stick them on the trunk lid of the Emperor. Well, I’ve ordered some more samples. This time it is not going to be the whole car, just two 8″ stripes with a 4″ gap in the center. Donna and friend Jackie picked the outside blue (Satin Perfect Blue S347) while I picked the one on the inside.
This afternoon when we walked out after work Dona said it really didn’t matter which one as long as it was blue. So we peeled off the other 3 colors and left my pick the Matte Riviera Blue (M67). Tonight as we left through the garage to go out to eat, I looked at the one lonely 2″ x 4″ sample and thought, that looks familiar, the blue painter’s tape that surrounded the windshield a few days ago. I pulled out a roll I had in the garage and the painter’s tape is actually a little darker than the vinyl. But I can’t get that image out of my head now.
So I have my criteria, blue for her & matte for him. Back to the color chart and look, there is another slightly darker matte blue available – Blue Metallic (M227). Now, that number sounds familiar and sure enough, it was one of the colors that were applied to the Emperor back in June. Back then it was the inner left one. Looking at it now, that color in that photo doesn’t look any different than the Matte Riviera Blue (M67) on the CTBNL does right now. Maybe we should go with the Satin Perfect Blue the ladies picked or maybe I should buy a couple more rolls of the blue tape…
Put the original wheels back on the Miata. The 16″ wheels did look better, but turns out the 4.4 pounds more of unsprung weight at each corner was noticeably detrimental to the ride quality. I think I could eventually learn to like the look of this combination, while Donna feels just the opposite. Right now we are going to try a relatively inexpensive fix of chrome lug nuts instead of the black and paint the center caps silver and add some of RevLimiter‘s retro Mazda logo center cap inserts.
The velcro on the roll bar was a resounding success n the passenger side, so another trip to Walmart was made to pick up another package of the 2″ x 4″ pieces. The red mats were not so loved, they looked good peeking at them from outside the car, but they didn’t really lighten up the atmosphere of the car once you sat in the seats.
So on our visit to Walmart for the velcro we also revisited the “cheap accent rug” aisle scouting some lighter colored options. We found a set that we had dismissed the first time and decided to try something different with them and see how it looked. The mats in the car are 18″ wide at the widest and 27″ at their longest. These second attempt rugs were 21″ x 37″, so they were big enough and there predominate surface was a nice light gray/dark gray mix, but there was a 3″band of the dark gray all around the perimeter. This meant that it was impossible to have a single solid 18″ wide block color(s), so I had to incorporate the 3″ band of solid color along one side of the new “mat.” To make things sort of even I also left the 3″ band at the bottom and made sure to put the side band towards the outside of the vehicle. Not bad looking, but the problem with these and the red before is what they are made of, very thin with a slight rubber backing, so they slip and slide during ingress and egress. Not the perfect solution for sure. Stayed tuned…
The new Miata is fantastic, but not perfect. What David did to this thing when he first bought it is right out of the text book on Miata improvements. The addition of the roll bar was icing on the cake. Although roll bars are foremost thought of as primarily a safety improvement or a necessity for track usage, a huge benefit of one is it tightens up the rigidity of the open top car to near that of a closed one.
None of our previous Miatas had a roll bar and while they do have tremendous benefits, we have been contemplating taking this one out. One of the nice thing about the installed Hard Dog Ace bar is that allows full seat travel and tilt. It sure does, but it doesn’t mention how noisy it is while doing so. The seat goes all the way back, but the top of the seat rubs the top of the bar and the upper back of the seat rubs the diagonal brace of the bar. The vinyl back of the seat squeaks in both places. Our only remedy so far is to move the seat back up one notch towards vertical. And this is a very weird feeling for both of us who have spent the last 13 years in the Emperor with the seat back tilted one inch further back. Physically that is not much, but psychologically it is miles. I feel like a little old man scooted up to the steering wheel so I can see over the hood. Donna feels like she is in a smaller car.
Also contributing to that smaller car feeling is the near total lack of any color except black. Our first two Miatas had all black interiors, but again we have been spoiled by the baker’s dozen worth years in the light beige (Parchment in Mazda parlance) interior of the previous one. It is not too bad with the top down, but when it is up, and you guessed it, it has a black underside, even I think we are going to need more than the silver shift knob and e-brake handle to cut the dimness.
Last night we took a couple small steps to fix both issues. A trip to Walmart netted us some 2″ x 4″ strips of black velcro hook & loop fastener tape and a cheap 2′ x 4′ piece of red, gray & black throw rug. Tonight I stuck the fuzzy side of the tape in three places on the roll bar where it was contacting Donna’s seat back. Sitting in the seat in the garage there were no squeaks, hopefully a road test will turn out the same way. If it does, we’ll buy some more for my side. The carpet was subjected to Brian’s patented Presto Chango treatment and came out the other side, dun, dun, duh – Miata Floor Mats. Garage testing these was a little less conclusive than the roll bar squeak issue, better, but probably not enough.
The Emperor started his exile today, we banished him to West Columbia. Well not really an exile, but maybe a thoroughbred retiring and being put out to stud. Naw, that not it either, he’d just getting a new kingdom to rule over.
I sold him to Steve Bartok the owner of Panic Motorsports. When we first talked he was thinking that it would make a nice start on a Spec Miata race car, which I thought would be a nice hobby for his retirement years. But the last email I got from Steve yesterday said that he thought it might be his new daily driver for a while. Today when we dropped it off he said it might be a project car.
Donna thinks for sure he is going to use it as his daily driver. The very first time we took the Emperor to Panic for some service work Steve effervesced over the Garnet Red color. He said he was going to paint his next race car that color. And he did.
Whatever happens, we know the Emperor is in good hands.
I made a quick run to Home Depot on Sunday afternoon to pick up a couple items and seeing as I was trusted on the errand all by myself I had a chance to get up to some mischief. Ssssh, I pulled around behind the building and backed the Car To Be Named Later close to a blank wall, I jumped out, with the engine still running . . . . . . . . I took a picture.
It is so much easier to do this without Donna present. Not that she isn’t usually a good sport about skulking around behind shopping centers and hopping out of the car while I photograph it. But when I start wandering around aimlessly looking for the right angle and sitting on the ground or leaning in then getting in the car again and backing it into a spot a foot away, then dancing looking for that certain approach and maybe moving the car again with the car to get a different angle and taking a picture and then turning the wheel and backing up and…well about then she starts fidgeting.
Here is a photo with the Emperor’s old wheels actually on the CTBNL instead of just rolled up next to it. I think they look real good there, just not sold on the road feel, yet.
On July 29th I ordered another Blipshift T-shirt, yet another Miata design, another reprint of a shirt I already have, but with a difference. This shirt besides being long sleeve it has an NB image, AKA my kind o’ car on it. This.
Orders were stopped being taken on August 1st and a week later the shirt was on its way. Everything was going along smoothly until the USPS got a hold of in outside of Atlanta. They sent it southeast instead of due east. When it arrived in Valdosta they realized quickly it was in the wrong spot. Here is where it got weird, according their tracking it went to Augusta, then Tallahassee, then back to Augusta in 16 hours. It was in our Aiken mailbox today, so maybe one day late.
| Aug 8, 2016 | ||
| 7:40 PM EDT | UNITED STATES | Electronic Notification Received |
| 7:57 PM EDT | UNITED STATES | En route to DHL eCommerce Distribution Center |
| 9:26 PM ET | Secaucus, NJ, US | Arrival DHL eCommerce Facility |
| Aug 9, 2016 | ||
| 12:06 AM ET | Secaucus, NJ, US | Processed |
| 8:17 AM ET | Secaucus, NJ, US | Departure Origin DHL eCommerce Facility |
| Aug 11, 2016 | ||
| 9:15 PM ET | Forest Park, GA, US | Arrival Destination DHL eCommerce Facility |
| Aug 12, 2016 | ||
| 5:46 AM ET | Forest Park, GA, US | Tendered to USPS |
| Aug 13, 2016 | ||
| 7:13 AM ET | Valdosta, GA, US< | Arrival at Post Office< |
| 8:04 AM ET | Valdosta, GA, US | Missent |
| 7:49 PM ET | Augusta, GA, US | Arrived USPS Sort Facility |
| 9:04 PM ET | Tallahassee, FL, US | Processed Through Sort Facility |
| Aug 14, 2016 | ||
| 11:15 PM ET | Augusta, GA, US | Processed Through Sort Facility |
| Aug 15, 2016 | ||
| 4:26 AM ET | Aiken, SC, US | Arrival at Post Office |
| 9:24 AM ET | Aiken, SC, US | Sorting Complete |
| 9:34 AM ET | Aiken, SC, US | Out for Delivery |
| 2:14 PM ET | Aiken, SC, US | Delivered |
