dimlight65 Posted June 3 Report Share Posted June 3 22 hours ago, KELMO said: The roof rack is a path I would like to go down. Yeah, I friggin' love the roof rack! I'm glad I bought an extra set of "roofies" when I got these because they don't seem to be in production anymore. Quote Link to comment
datsuntech Posted June 5 Report Share Posted June 5 Bill Cosby ruined the name for everyone. Just like the aftermarket company ISIS. They had to change their name to ISR after 911. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted June 5 Report Share Posted June 5 2 hours ago, datsuntech said: Bill Cosby ruined the name for everyone. Just like the aftermarket company ISIS. They had to change their name to ISR after 911. There was a diet supplement called Ayds back in the 70s and 80s. Needles to say, a certain immunodeficiency syndrome created issues for that marketing department. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted June 16 Report Share Posted June 16 (edited) Yesterday, we were trying to get motivated to do... anything productive and decided "Paint the crossbar for the inside of the roof!" was the go. A couple coats of wrinkle black... and it's looking "verrruh nice-uh"... Once we have some foam to go between it and the roof, it'll go here... Then, over lunch, we were discussing how much window regulators (see the Dajiban thread to know why that came up today) and crash bars weigh. I could swear that I remember a bar similar to the one we just painted on the inside of the doors. Well, after consulting this very thread, it turns out that I was not as correct as I could have been... So, next week I have to wear a T-shirt that says, "John was right, I was wrong!" Edited June 16 by dimlight65 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted June 22 Report Share Posted June 22 While not digging through the trash pile for the spindles and hubs we took off the Dajiban, I decided to make brackets for the Wink Mirror... And, it sits a little something like this... The passenger side sits a bit lower, so I think I'm going to remake the driver's side. The angle doesn't bother me from the driver's seat, but through the windshield it's pretty obvious. Then I took some pictures of its static ride height... Because Baja baby! 3 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 24 Author Report Share Posted June 24 On 6/22/2024 at 2:44 PM, dimlight65 said: The passenger side sits a bit lower, so I think I'm going to remake the driver's side. The angle doesn't bother me from the driver's seat, but through the windshield it's pretty obvious. So is it not going to have black vinyl covering the top 1/4 of the windshield? 😁 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted June 24 Report Share Posted June 24 9 hours ago, datsunfreak said: So is it not going to have black vinyl covering the top 1/4 of the windshield? 😁 No, it probably will. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 On 6/22/2024 at 2:44 PM, dimlight65 said: The passenger side sits a bit lower, so I think I'm going to remake the driver's side. And today I did... And then John painted them... And now it sits more level... Up next... Wing mirrors! 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 As mentioned above, we decided on some wing mirrors. I bought another pair like the ones on the Dajiban... and decided on a spot in line with the front axles... We drilled the fenders and mounted the mirrors... And the view from the driver's seat... With these and the Wink mirror, I should have no blind spots! 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 I got tired of the seat moving around when I was trying out the mirrors yesterday... and general "sitting there making racecar noises," of course. So today I did a mockup install of the driver's seat. John, what year/generation Miata seats are these? It sits a little low for rally/Baja car... but I might just leave it. I will definitely mount the co-driver/navigator seat as low and far back as possible... because rally/Baja, of course. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 5 Author Report Share Posted July 5 14 hours ago, dimlight65 said: John, what year/generation Miata seats are these? These are the early 2nd gen seats, specificially 1998-2000. The 2001-2005 version (also 2nd gen) is slightly different (beefier shoulders). 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 6 Report Share Posted July 6 With a successful test-tickle of the driver's seat, it was decided that paint was in order... plus acetone and cloths... Disassembly... and scrubification... Then application of the vinyl spray began... reassembly and more spraying... netted us... And and example of the harness I intend to use... The seats are currently "baking" in the back of the Dajiban, mainly to keep the shop cats off of them until they are good and cured. We bought the mounting bolts for the seat and harness when we broke for lunch. I will probably go install said harnii tomorrow. 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 7 Report Share Posted July 7 On 7/6/2024 at 2:08 PM, dimlight65 said: We bought the mounting bolts for the seat and harness when we broke for lunch. And here they are... /\ | Harnesses | Seats \/ I ran a tap through the hard points to clean up the threads... and bolted the harnesses in... The shoulder anchors are still loose until we set the final adjustment... which we can't do until the seats are installed and sit-on-ably cured/dried. Stay tuned. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 (edited) I came up with a better mounting solution for the basket on the roof rack. I will use two of these kits (photo is ONE kit, by the way)... bolted together at 90° to each other... at the four corners. Loosely attached, for fitting porpoises... And finally, all hunkered down tight... The overall gestalt of the thing didn't really change, so all I took were closeup shots. Edited July 14 by dimlight65 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 So, as I was looking at the purple harnesses, I remembered something I had planned for this car's color scheme. I have red for all "safety" items... Red calipers... Red "tow hooks"... red release straps in the doors... red hood pins... and red switches... (And there should be a picture of the master kill here, but I literally just remembered it while typing.) So it stands to reason that the harnesses should not be purple, but red. And they are, now... They are clip in and came with eye bolts... So they got installed today... at least the driver's side did. We also installed the crossbeam on the center of the roof, after adding some foam to prevent rattles... It really stiffened up the center of the roof making it a lot less drummy. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted August 3 Report Share Posted August 3 We dropped the seats in place today (not bolted though)... and I really like the red harnesses on the purple "leather" (is it still leather if it is coated in vinyl paint?)... of course, John had to take a better picture for me... We have them covered in garbage bags and some spare carpet to keep the stray cats off of them. We'll get them fully installed next week... maybe. 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 Yesterday, all my troubles seemed... wait. That's not what I want to say. Yesterday, I decided to go ahead and install the submarine straps and seats. We got the driver's seat in and I popped a squat to try out the harnesses. The shoulders and submarine straps were too long. Shoulders, no problem... Submarine strap... problem. With it pulled all the way in, it still extended all the way to my chest. This, and the alarm going off telling us we were done working, caused us to put the rest of the seat work on hold. Today, I drilled yet another hole in the floor under the seat and moved the submarine strap. Oh, it's still too long (I didn't go far enough back under the seat), but it pulls up just almost enough. I'm prepared to be OK with it. I readjusted the shoulder harnesses and... Now, I feel the need to warn y'all, the next two pictures feature some prominent belly extrusion around the belts. It's not pretty... I, obviously, don't have the shoulder straps pulled up tight, but the lap belts, obviously, are. With the shoulders pulled up tight, the submarine strap snugs up against my dingus and I feel totally secure... or something like that... I don't know. Go away. 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 While sitting in the freshly installed driver's seat yesterday, I noticed that the steering wheel was way too high... So today I ran to the store and bought longer bolts (and didn't take pictures of them... besides, you've seen bolts before) and then made some spacers... These, I used to space the steering column down... Don't worry, that "Disturbance in the Force" all you painters felt a little while ago was me spooging on a layer of black paint. The bolts still stand out, all GOOOOOOOOLLLLLD and stuff, but the spacers are black now... and the wheel is in a much better position. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 (edited) The other day, I was putting a Dodge Avenger (pronounced "ah-vahn-ZHAY") into inventory at work, and noticed a cool thing. The radiator fill was in a splice piece in the top radiator hose. Instead of hose clamps though, it had some heat shrink doohickeys. I sent John a text raving about how cool they were and he pointed out that he told me about them two weeks before. I said, "Those would be cool on the Chickenhawk's upper radiator hose where we had to splice it together!" He pointed out that he told me THAT two weeks before as well. Huh, weird. Anyhoo... Once they dust up and stop being so shiny, I think they are going to really tie the room together. I might go "belt and suspenders" by putting a third one over the gap, we'll see. Edited September 1 by dimlight65 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted September 7 Report Share Posted September 7 (edited) With the driver's seat and harnesses installed, I fingered it was time to install the footrest thingies... We also came up with a way to mount the headlight protection screens. First, we bent out the tabs to conform to the grille... then drilled holes, and trimmed the legs... and forgot to put the "contrast paper" underneath for the last photo. Oh well. I think Jaun can still see what's going on. We only got around to doing the driver's side and we're not ready to mount the headlights yet. Therefore, pictures with the headlights will have to wait. Edited September 7 by dimlight65 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 I started thinking about where I wanted to mount a fire extinguisher. Driver or passenger roll cage? No, too hard to access. One of the roll bar down tubes? No, even more difficult to access. Crossbeam? No, it might go askew on the treadle (and there really isn't room between the harnesses). Passenger A-pillar? Very tempting, but once y'all see the mount I ordered, you'll understand why this won't really work (short version: it would stick out too far). Transmission tunnel ahead of the shifter? Well, duh! I don't know why I didn't see that first. The extinguisher (and mount) that are on the way, should fit and fill that area quite nicely. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 I mounted the extinguisher today. Using these tools... to install rivnuts... the mount looks like this... and with the extinguisher... from the driver's seat... and with the wheel in place... I intentionally put the release handle on the passenger side figuring that I know where to reach for the thing, but a passenger might not. Seriously, I didn't buy the wrong mount and am trying to justify it. When shopping for it I thought... oh, never mind. Y'all are never going to believe me, and the more I protest, the less credible I look. 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted yesterday at 02:10 AM Report Share Posted yesterday at 02:10 AM On 9/1/2024 at 4:49 PM, dimlight65 said: Instead of hose clamps though, it had some heat shrink doohickeys. I had to do that building my custom radiator hoses, allowed me to clock the bends to go right where I needed them. The insert unfortunately had that little collar that didn't let the hose ends mate up nice & flush, so the joint is obvious. The heat shring used is for underground electrical systems and have an adhesive to boot. I figure that'll hold up good enough without having to put clamps there. On 9/14/2024 at 1:00 PM, dimlight65 said: Using these (rivnut) tools... Those damn cheap-ass tools, at least mine, friggin' wore out after only a handful of aluminum rivnuts. Got me a good one a week or so ago courtesy of Lord Bezelbubs speedy delivery machine... Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted 14 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 14 hours ago 11 hours ago, EDM620 said: Those damn cheap-ass tools, at least mine, friggin' wore out after only a handful of aluminum rivnuts. Got me a good one a week or so ago courtesy of Lord Bezelbubs speedy delivery machine... FYI, I like to use these wrench-driven tools instead of the pliers. It's a bit fiddly to learn how to use it, but works soooo much better once you have the action down. https://www.mcmaster.com/products/rivet-nut-tools/wrench-driven-rivet-nut-tools/ Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted 14 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 14 hours ago 11 hours ago, EDM620 said: The insert unfortunately had that little collar that didn't let the hose ends mate up nice & flush, so the joint is obvious. That's what bench grinders are for. 😁 Quote Link to comment
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