Miatatude

I Hear You Knocking

Noticed some engine knock (AKA pining) this weekend when driving in the mountains. Then today it was noticeable on some of the inclines here in town. Naturally I suspected the knuckleheads at Rader didn’t set the timing right. Easy to do if you don’t RTFM, as the ’95 Miata’s timing marks are different from every other years (I wish I knew what Mazda was thinking there.) I came home and hooked up my timing light and it was set to 11 BTDC which in spec, should be 10 plus or minus 1 degree. I guess I owe them a mental apology, but I’m going to hold on to it at least until this belt makes it further than the first and they get me check for the $61 towing charge.

Purchased Today: $0
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2510.30
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 259

420 Miles

The trip to Asheville and back was a partial success. We found the May event hotel and picked out what range of rooms we would like to stay in. An OK place. Used to be a Hilton as that is what it is called on the Asheville map we have, but now it is a Holiday Inn. A short trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway was frustrating on 2 levels. The leaf peepers were out in full force and they were traveling at a very slow speed most of the time. The colors along the road seemed to be at their peak as there wasn’t any green to be seen, but the colors were very muted, all shades of brown and what was red or yellow was not bright at all. We didn’t even stop at any of the overlooks for both those reasons.

The weather was great, perfect convertible weather, sunny, low humidity and lower 70s. The Miatas we spotted were a perfect 9 for 9 with their tops down. C5 Corvettes were 1 for 2, as were the Porsche Boxters. A Toyota MR-2 and a Honda S2000 had their tops up. Mustangs were 1 for 4 and Chrysler Sebrings were 2 for 4.

Purchased Today: $23.00 in gas
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2510.30
Started down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 258

They Didn’t Need Me

At 12:15AM this morning I turned out the TV and the lights and went to sleep. It was the middle of the 11th inning. The Red Sox hadn’t scored in the 10th nor did they even threaten. After they went in order in the eleventh, I sensed they didn’t have it, they would have to lose or win without me watching. Turns out they didn’t need me watching to lose, bottom of the 11th and a Yankee hit a home run to end it. What the hell am I going to do with my Cowboy Up T-shirt now? I guess to wipe away some of the tears so that my beer won’t get so salty tasting.

Day trip to the mountains of western North Carolina tomorrow. Heading up to Asheville to do some advanced scouting on a couple of things. Should be mildly amusing, probably won’t get many fun runs at the curvy roads as they will clogged with leaf peepers in RVs.

Purchased Today: $0
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2487.30
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 255

Early to Blog, Late to Watch

Dumped most of a whole quart of oil into the crankcase and got the ol’ dipstick lubed up to the F-word.

The UPS man pulled up just as I was going out to make a Staples run. He beeped and then disappeared into the back of his truck. I have two things coming, coco mats for the car and the Cowboy Up T-shirt. When I checked the mat order this afternoon it still just said, “Order submitted. Check back later.” So I figured it had to be the shirt and wouldn’t it be great for me get that thing and then the Red Sox lose the game. I have already risked the wrath of the baseball gods by buying the thing in the first place, but then to wear it before they have actually won the series – oh, boy. I’d never let me live that down.

Purchased Today: $1.91 qt of oil
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2487.30
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 255

Happy 27th

Rainy day today, so we dodged showers on and off while out and about. Dined at Outback for dinner tonight to celebrate our 27th anniversary (2 weeks late.) Went hog wild and even split a dessert. Woohoo.

Must be time to change the oil, the valve clatter sticks around for 5 secs or so before quieting. I just did it at 120,200 and I’m at 122,427 right now, so that is only 2,227 miles. Plus I’m down a little more than half a quart, you shouldn’t lose any during a timing belt change…

Purchased Today: $0
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2485.39
Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 255

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

My thoughts on my 4 days with a 2003 Miata…

The Good:
1) That new car smell. There is just something about the aroma given off by the outgassing of still solidifying plastics.
2) That new car feel. Everything is still tight and rattle free.
3) Black leather from the factory. Finally Mazda has eliminated the need for having an ugly exterior/interior combination just to get leather seats.
4) Round Knobs for the HVAC controls. The sliding levers of the 1st generation Miata are so 1950’s.
5) Remote electronic trunk release. – This may have been inevitable, see the bad #1. Coupled with a gas strut this would be awesome.
6) No zip back window. Eliminates a step in putting the top down.

The Bad:
1) The keyhole for opening the trunk is too low. It is hard to get the key in and turn without squeezing your fingers.
2) No zip back window. Reduces the headroom, so tall drivers will now hit the fabric panel used to automatically raise/lower window.
3) The speedometer is calibrated in 20 MPH increments with little ticks every 2 MPH, this makes it hard to tell your speed at a glance. I don’t know about your town, but where I live, we have speed limits of 25 & 45, not 22 or 48.
4) 6-speed transmission. Always seems like I needed to shift. I know with more use I would have adjusted to it, but why didn’t they leave the 5 speed ratios as is and make 6 a real overdrive? (At least here in North America.)

& The Ugly:
1) Splash Green Mica. Who you kidding, it’s teal. Looked odd but interesting in the mid 80’s on other cars, but why now on a Miata? The color grew on me, by the end of the 4 days I no longer gagged when I looked it.
2) You call that carpet? This stuff can only be charitably called floor covering. Makes the cheap loop carpet of the 1st generation Miata seem like a $50/yd plush Saxony.
3) Where the heck is the exhaust note? When the Miata first appeared they had an ad that ran in magazines about how they tried 100s of mufflers to get just the right sound (and they did,) but it is all but gone now from the factory.
5) Plastic brushed aluminum trim. Looked exactly like what is was, an afterthought and tacked on. The interior door handles would have looked a lot better in that finish had they did the cups behind them that way too.

Purchased Today: $0
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2485.39
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 251

Newly Lubed Up

Went over to John’s house this afternoon so he could help me swap the old dirty oils for new fresh ones in the transmission and differential. When I say help me, I mean he did most of the work. Rudy was there too, so I hardly did a thing. You’ve heard of Click & Clack of Cartalk fame, well these two guys billed themselves as Clunk & Thunk. What we did is not hard, but requires a couple of things that my chintzy tool box doesn’t contain. Actually the hardest part is putting the new fluids back in. They are fairly viscous and the fill holes are up inside the car. John rigged up a squeeze bottle and some tubing so one person could hold the tube in the hole and another could squeeze. Really would have been nice to have a pump.

Purchased Today: $13.50 in gas
Money spent since 03/03/03: $2485.39
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 251