Miata Mods

Four For Tuesday

1) This morning I finished up the travel sticker/poster jigsaw puzzle that I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks.

2) After lunch I went for a 2-1/2 mile walk around my favorite local trail around the Salish Ponds Wetlands Trail. The picture above is the west pond.

3) While searching for something to watch today, I discovered that A Complete Unknown was available for free on Hulu, so I spent the next 2 hours and 20 minutes planted on the couch.

4) The radio for Bucky with its newly installed Bluetooth module was deposited on my doorstep this evening. Tomorrow I will install it.

Club Badge

Back in October 2024 when I was adding a bunch of mods to the new blue Miata I was visiting the the local dealer’s parts department quite often, the same guy was always behind the counter. We got to talking as car guys do (he has a tastefully modded Mazda 3 hatch) and on my 3rd or 4th visit HE came back with the part I ordered and another item he thought I might find a use for, an official Mazda Miata Club badge. His manager had asked him to throw it out because it had been sitting around so long and there is really no demand for it anymore because it was on only certain Miatas in a 3 year span a decade ago.

The third generation Miata ran from 2006 to 2015 and in 2013 they replaced the Touring trim with a Club trim that was more sportier than the Sport trim (really the base car) and harder core than the Grand Touring trim level. The Club got a limited slip differential, some different shocks and a nifty badge that went on the driver’s side front fender. This badge was my gift from Mr. Parts Guy.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do it at the time. When the fourth generation car came out in 2016 the trim levels were again called Sport, Club and Grand Touring. The Club trim was the still the “sportiest” version of the Miata, but they weren’t putting the Club Badge on them anymore. This meant that I didn’t want to put the badge on the new car because it was the Grand Touring trim and that seemed a little like sacrilege to do so.

Fast forward to January and I was now the proud owner of second generation car and that version of Miata didn’t ever have any trim called Club, I felt that is the car I could put the badge on. After all I’ve added new shocks, springs and a freer flowing exhaust to make it more Club like. I put the badge on the left front fender like it would have been on those 2013-2015 cars. In Mazda parts bag along with the badge there was a template on where to put it on the car. Of course the different generations made the template not exactly right, but I fudged it and I think it looks good where I stuck it.

Those early cars only had the one badge, but I thought if I could find another one I’d have badges on both sides. eBay to the rescue, I found one for sale and bought it, it came today. Bucky is now ambidextrously badged.

Bucky Update

Maybe a side stripe?

For some reason both seat belts had a short section on them that was frayed, making it hard slide the tab to put it in the slot. Not only that but it kind of weakens the the strap. Yesterday I pulled both seatbelts out of the car, boxed them up and mailed them to a company in Massachusetts called Safety Restore for them to re-web the seat belt mechanisms. The stock belts were black, but the interior is a tan color so I ordered the new belts in a beige color.

On Saturday’s post I mentioned that I wasn’t sure what kind of mats I was going to put in, well, I went ahead and ordered a set of the #91 Jaspe (AKA Calico).

I also said I’d probably just use the $15 Amazon Bluetooth gizmo, nope. After a real day spent with it on Sunday it works, but the volume of the “Connecting to Bluetooth” then shortly later “Bluetooth Connected” is too loud and you can’t turn it down. The real issue is the same thing that happens in most aftermarket sound things, there was a background whine that changed pitch as the RPMs changed. This morning I yanked the radio out and UPS’d it Bishop’s Vintage Car Stereo Repair for the addition of a Bluetooth module. As it would have it, this item also going to New England. Mr. Bishop is a one man operation in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Making It Mine

First order of business was to wash the dirty car. It crossed the country, probably three quarters of it along I-80 in January, on an open car carrier and then spent a month in a car mechanic shop.

Next up were a couple of quick and easy modifications that I waited to do until I got the car home. I changed out the stock one-piece sun visors with a set of the old school folding ones for the 1st generation car. This is one of the first things I did to the 2003 when purchased new. Also back then, I put the Voodoo shift knob on the car in the dealer’s lot, but this time I did it half way home from Eugene. I wasn’t going to, but I think I will add the matching e-brake handle.

Then I put in this nifty phone holder that goes into an eyeball vent from Etsy.

I pulled out the OEM floor mats because they were filthy and the script Miata was faded to nothing. I’m not sure if I’ll buy Coco Mats for the car, but I will get some new mats.

I was originally thinking that I would pull the stock stereo out and send it off to have a guy to put a Bluetooth module internally, so you can keep the stock head unit. Now I’m thinking not. I bought a little gizmo that plugs into the cigarette lighter and transmits to the radio. I’m sure the audio is crappy, but I’m riding in a convertible listening to mostly all familiar music so all I need is 50% data recognition factor and my brain fills in the rest.

I put a RevLimiter’s Retro Shift Plate on. The stock knob has the pattern on it, while the Voodoo does not. I would say the odds of this being actually needed an almost infinitesimal, but it came in handy for the fellow who drove the open car carrier that brought the CTBNL from Aiken to Klamath Falls because that car also had a Voodoo knob.

My last mod of the day was adding an official third generation Mazda Miata Club Badge on the front left fender. The parts guy at the dealer gave it to me. He said his manager wanted him to toss it out, but he thought it was too cool to do that to it. I had been purchasing a bunch of OEM parts from him for the Blue Miata so he offered it to me. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I thought it was cool too.

New Tires On Old Wheels On New Miata

Well, I gone an done it. I mounted new tires on some 25-year-old Miata wheels to put on the new 2024 Miata. And I for one think it looks fantastic. Before I could take the above picture, the car needed to be washed, so I pulled out the Griot’s Garage Foaming Sprayer and gave it a bath. After drying off the car I took a drive for lunch and headed out to a local spot to take some photos.

Brownsville

Brownsville – 97327: Just a quick tuck off I-5 to capture a Post Office on my way home from Eugene with the old tires and wheels off of Bucky. (2/21/25)

Today was the first time I drove to Eugene and FTW Tuning and turned right around and came home. I just went down to pick up Bucky’s wheels and tires. The tires looked good from a distance, but 25 years can take a toll. When I was lifting them into the back of the Mini I noticed every tire had a long crack in them, one or two of them were almost around the whole circumference.

I am going to mount some Ultra High Performance All-Season tires on the stock 2001 16″ wheels to put them on the New Miata (see this mock-up.)

Maybe I can sell the 17″ wheels and tires that came on the New Miata to somebody in the local Miata club. There is one wheel that has a bit of a curb scrape, but I think a little black paint will take care of that. Now I have to go join Facebook just so I can contact folks in the Mt Hood Miata Club.

Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone

Because I have bought new lightweight 15″ wheels and some summer rubber for #6, AKA Bucky, I wasn’t sure what I’d use the the 2001’s stock wheels for after I get rid the 1/4 century old rubber that is mounted on them. My first thought was to put some snow tires on them and have them handy for winter time use. But then I ran into a picture someone had added to a thread on the Miata Forum, this fellow has a dark colored 3rd gen Miata that he had put the 16″ OEM Miata wheels on. I did a rough draft by adding a bright blue to that image:

Hmmm, I think I like that better than the stock 17″ wheels of the New Miata. I think that they looked better when the car was that Aero Gray color, but now that it is blue…