Miatatude

After last night’s trip to see the lights at Hopeland Gardens (parking on a dirt road) and this morning’s shortcut to avoid a clueless driver (1.5 miles on a dirt road through horse country) I felt it was time to wash the car for the first time. After changing clothes, I headed to the garage to get my wash bucket. When I looked inside I realized that I had used the last of the car wash soap on the Laguna Blue when I washed it in prep for trading in. Sigh.

I took the hose and washed out the wheel wells real good and then used a wet sponge to clean off any dirt on the lower exterior. Dried with a towel and it likes shiny and new again (of course it helps that it is still shiny and new.)

Maybe over the Christmas weekend (Sunday is supposed to be near 70.)

Tried not to venture out at all today and managed to make it until 6 PM when my plans collapsed with a drive to the local Chinese place for supper. Tomorrow is supposed to be as cold, but I promised Donna a hike in the woods so that’s where I’ll be.

May try and change the oil on the car, it has 1010 miles on it as of today. I already have filters (bought a bunch for the old car and they are the same as on the new) and the oil. I will have to reuse the old crush washer from the drain bolt though, as they, unlike the filters, are a different size between generations.

The quiet metallic noises are still coming from the short shifter. Totally unnoticeable when the top is down, but like most things like this, now that it has been pointed out you just cannot make it go away. I may take the OEM shifter into work and get them to take about an inch off of it. See if that quiets everything down.

Of course I should actually put the OEM one back in and try it first. Maybe it is not the shifter itself. Maybe there is something internal that has been “adjusted.” But I probably won’t…

Finally broke down and bought some 75-90w oil to add to the shift turret. $3 a quart and if my figuring is right, that’s more than 900cc. The specs I found on Miata.net call for a complete fill to be just 90cc, so I’ll be able to fill it from empty 9 more times. I’m not sure how much I put in there and I’m not really sure where the fill to line is, but I’m thinking that the guy who fills the turret on the assembly line was picking a booger out of his nose when my car went by, because it sure seemed to take a lot of juice. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow morning if it squelches that little noise any.

Back to reality weather-wise today. It was raining and 40 something on the way to work and windy and 40 something for the trip home, top up the whole day.

After getting no takers in the Master’s Miata Club at $25 and then again at the Club Holiday party for free, I sold the extra Toyo T-1S on ebay for 24.99 + shipping. Wouldn’t have done me any good to keep it as it was a 195/50 x 15 and the new Miata takes 205/45 x 16….

Finally warm enough to ride home with the top down today. The weather has been positively January-like recently (maybe that means January will be February-like and so on.) The sun never really did make an appearance, so it kept the weatherman 3 for 3 in last three days on overestimating the high temperature. Today’s expected 65 was never reached, but 59 is nice top down weather….

The short shifter will stay. The small noise is not at all apparent with the top down and I just love the snick-snick short throws. I’m still going to add some more oil to the turret, maybe this weekend (got to go buy some.)