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02-16-2015, 01:19 PM   #1546
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QuoteOriginally posted by r0ckstarr Quote
Yep. All factory stock body panels. The only thing not stock is the exhaust and the brakes.
I kinda like the refinements to the shape they made somewhere along the line there, They seem fairly good to work on, too, between my neighbor's one and the Mighty Car Mods guys' project car. Well, at least if you're small: there were actually a few occasions where neighbor needed my skinny finger or me being able to get under the dash, Kind of makes me wonder what it'd take to make a conversion to a hardtop like MGB-GT style. Of course I might be the only one kooky enough to want to de-roadster a roadster.

02-16-2015, 01:43 PM   #1547
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ratmagiclady Quote
I kinda like the refinements to the shape they made somewhere along the line there, They seem fairly good to work on, too, between my neighbor's one and the Mighty Car Mods guys' project car. Well, at least if you're small: there were actually a few occasions where neighbor needed my skinny finger or me being able to get under the dash, Kind of makes me wonder what it'd take to make a conversion to a hardtop like MGB-GT style. Of course I might be the only one kooky enough to want to de-roadster a roadster.
Some aftermarket companies make hardtops for them. You can still find the OEM Mazda hardtops for sale too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=miata+hardtop&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=923&source...ata+hardtop+nb

Yeah, you need small arms to change the oil filter. It's awkward to get to it, but not impossible.
02-16-2015, 02:58 PM   #1548
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QuoteOriginally posted by r0ckstarr Quote
Some aftermarket companies make hardtops for them. You can still find the OEM Mazda hardtops for sale too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=miata+hardtop&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=923&source...ata+hardtop+nb

Yeah, you need small arms to change the oil filter. It's awkward to get to it, but not impossible.
Aha, it does look like someone had similar ideas with the 'fastback conversions.' I really like one of these: did have in mind something aiming more toward MGBGT shooting-brake quaintness /a bit of practicality, but this looks like a mini Jag or something: Velocity Red MSM Fastback Photos

I could deal, though. Maybe in white with some bit of striping or dove-grey.

Heh, looks like they actually made a coupe, JDM or something. I did not know that.

http://pacificcoastjdm.com/node/191

I think if I were in Japan I might just want. (Then again if I were in Japan I'd have a crazy amount of choice about what I wanted, ...they dont' care for used cars on average so some of the coolest stuff just doesn't cost much at all. )

Which got me to thinking of what I'd drive in Japan cause-they-don't-have those here, then got to thinking of 70's Skylines and then back to America where I actually had one of *these*

[IMG]//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/%2776_Toyota_Celica_GT.JPG/512px-%2776_Toyota_Celica_GT.JPG[/IMG]
'76 Toyota Celica GT [Public domain], by Bull-Doser (Own work), from Wikimedia Commons

A very kind gift from a friend when I blew my Duster's engine. Only needed a windshield, but while looking for one of those I instead found and bought a parts car for said Duster and did that rebuild with the smallblock and 4-speed.

But I always thought it was one of those vehicles that really suited my personality. (Mine was a brown one, as were many Toyotas of the day, but I like brown. )

Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 02-16-2015 at 07:48 PM.
02-16-2015, 10:04 PM   #1549
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QuoteOriginally posted by r0ckstarr Quote
Yeah, you need small arms to change the oil filter. It's awkward to get to it, but not impossible.
I always remove the support piece for the intake manifold.

For the same 1.8L displacement engine, the SLK250 takes 8 quarts of oil and the filter is maybe three times the size.

QuoteOriginally posted by Ratmagiclady Quote
I kinda like the refinements to the shape they made somewhere along the line there, They seem fairly good to work on, too, between my neighbor's one and the Mighty Car Mods guys' project car. Well, at least if you're small: there were actually a few occasions where neighbor needed my skinny finger or me being able to get under the dash, Kind of makes me wonder what it'd take to make a conversion to a hardtop like MGB-GT style. Of course I might be the only one kooky enough to want to de-roadster a roadster.
Maybe not the only one. The new AMG-GT kind of goes in that direction. I have seen renderings of what an SLK might look like if they tried the same thing. The almost-tempting part is the construction of the car with its folding roof means that everything from windshield header to trunk lid folds itself into a little stack in the trunk. It seems possible to design it to remove a few bolts and unplug some wires and lift the whole thing off. Then pop on something else. It would probably cost as much as buying another car, though.


IMGA2303
by just1moredave, on Flickr

02-16-2015, 11:15 PM   #1550
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QuoteOriginally posted by Just1MoreDave Quote
I always remove the support piece for the intake manifold.

For the same 1.8L displacement engine, the SLK250 takes 8 quarts of oil and the filter is maybe three times the size.
I never saw much harm in 'more oil.' (Kind of a nice side benefit of adding one of those filter relocating kits or an auxiliary cooler, actually. Perhaps your Mercedes even has one of the latter.)

QuoteQuote:
Maybe not the only one. The new AMG-GT kind of goes in that direction. I have seen renderings of what an SLK might look like if they tried the same thing. The almost-tempting part is the construction of the car with its folding roof means that everything from windshield header to trunk lid folds itself into a little stack in the trunk. It seems possible to design it to remove a few bolts and unplug some wires and lift the whole thing off. Then pop on something else. It would probably cost as much as buying another car, though.
With Mercedes, possibly. I don't know if those folding hardtops add a ton of weight but they seem like a pretty livable option for those not really able to use em in the Sun. Suppose I do kind of miss T-tops, though. I also may someday restore function to my Volvo's moonroof. (It's not leaking so I haven't messed with it yet. I've some reason to doubt the tracks are quite right. ) But the seller gave me what he says is a functioning motor. (Also apparently the cranks from earlier models also could fit right in. ) I suppose it might be worth a try now that I've got access to a carport if anything should somehow get complicated.

Also considering those fog lamps again. Seems my local Autozone has a pair of something suitably-retro for cheap, those yellowish rectangular ones. May see if they're very junky or actually decent and just out of style. There's still more-important things to do but sometimes I want little projects for times when I *can't* really do anything very important with confidence. Also suppose I want to try something on for concept before even thinking about trying to pick up some Hellas or something. (There's actually fog around here fairly often, I'm just not even sure how often I'll encounter it. ) At least I think I'm comfortable with my idea of style and placement. Just can't get enthused about sticking something more modern in or on there somewhere, so I'll imitate the 740s a bit, I think. Also it's a bit more of shiny stuff to put on even if I'm not using them. (Which may sound odd, me adding shiny things, but a little more visibility wouldn't hurt pulling out on my street. Might add some European fender lights, just for pulling out onto the road. . Even considering an old Euro number plate to add something reflective-white to the bumper.

Anyway, till the weather turned was actually getting things done, having had a few dollars for parts. And having had a nice weather window this January, even nearly got a good start on my suspension work. (I'd been hoping to get poly strut rod bushings in but learned she's getting too old to not-have-a-breaker-bar. (Obtained one this month, as well as, finally... Metric freaking wrenches. (I'd been falling back on sockets and the car's own toolkit, which has very thin ones. ) Settled for putting in pretty blue sway bar end links which actually sorted out a lot of suspension wierdness, as the old ones had been overtightened and then *hardened* that way. Much more civilized and actually cornering much better.

Should be a productive year. Been gathering parts and tools bit by bit, waiting for spring to do engine front end stuff and other not-very-interesting things to talk about like water pump and hoses and spark tune-up parts (I guess the idea with Volvos there is 'Don't try to get fancy, they did it right the first time,') Should hopefully be able to sort out worn suspension parts as well, maybe put load-levelling springs in the back, (less a fix than a very useful upgrade, I think: apart from sometimes carrying heavy things, the big reason the current Ratmobile is a wagon is I may wish to depart the South with some belongings. ) And get all my fluid changes in somehow. (A lot of things have become doable with just a little cash.) And in between there's cleaning up the paint properly, (possibly painting the middle of the roof silver to control heat and deal with said paint: I've been contemplating an A/C delete but I'm told I may as well just disconnect the belt and I might just want to actually make it work later,) probably finally putting in some of the window tints I'd gotten some time ago and not been able to install (cause macadam driveways, surprisingly, aren't very suitable for this. )

In other news, I've... Finally replaced the missing third brake light cover that I'd occasionally been trying to make out of various pieces of TV dinner packaging. (So many nearly-tidy solutions, it was a bit irksome. ) Ended up at last finding one on Ebay that was cheap enough to trouble with, prepped and painted with lawn-furniture plastic paint (which is awesome, btw, same as I used on my grille blackout: I'd be tempted to do one of my two-tone interior jobs with the stuff if more black were a generally good idea in this clime. ) Also expecting a straight exhaust tip to replace the double-bendy pipe Volvos tended to come with.
Hope that would pass inspection if I went to a state where they actually *do* inspections, at least since I removed the third seat, but short of replacing the whole exhaust for no pressing reason, I think it'll satisfy my niggling fussiness on that count.


(And there's a bunch of my talkative coming out at once. May be a bit of cabin fever. (Also have been keeping watch through an ice storm, not that I can do much about falling trees, but I think it's letting my housemate sleep. )

Also, hey, is that your Merc? Recovered from hail damage, I trust?

Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 02-17-2015 at 02:13 AM.
02-21-2015, 07:57 PM   #1551
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Hey, Southern Hemisphere, I know we have a Saab guy down there. I've got a friend interested in a 95 for a daily driver who needs me to look said vehicle over soonest. Mostly he just needs this vehicle to go and be reliable, but I need to know what to look for, especially because unlike old Volvos, I don't think they bought a lot of Saabs down here. (At a guess it has an automatic transmission, though I don't know why anyone would go to all the trouble of buying a Saab in these latitudes if they wanted that anyway, really. I do know they had rust issues in the Northeast, so I should be sure ...this car doesn't look like it's been in the Northeast, but past that I have only been so far into them. )

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04-13-2015, 07:38 AM   #1552
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*creaking and threadbumping.*

Yer friendly neighborhood Ratlady's been turning wrenches, and doing fussier things. Hit a bit of a milestone in that the Ratmobile's down to only throwing one error code on her charming early-90's tech computer thingie. Coolant temperature sensor, which is on da way. (Good time to do that would be when I drain coolant anyway for water pump, also to be sure this coolant's fresh enough,) and between that and some other details I've been tending I should have gotten the ol' gal toward the next stage of ticking over well, after sorting out more electricals, Made progress on suspension work, with some new bushings, some polyurethane, (Ratlady might have been glad to have burlier friends around for that, but it's dooed,) And I put in a lower front chassis brace to get her closer to sport suspension specs and for general strength, ..also cause it was an easy thing to do when weather wasn't too cooperative. Big improvement already.

Actually looking at a to-do list with much crossed on it. A few more with parts ready.

May be a lot of rainy-day type things to do this week, depending how wet the carport gets.

(Not much to look at photos about there. Not much visible except for a few missing interior bits that were only conspicuous by their absence, some blue things underneath for the kitty to look at, etc.) I've May try getting some tints in, *finally,* while the pollen's going to be kept down, though, and I got some door edge guard coming today I may try shrinking on and fitting, mostly just to cover where the clearcoat's chipped or damaged (apparently before and after someone tried that before, really.)


Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 04-13-2015 at 07:49 AM.
05-22-2015, 11:50 AM - 1 Like   #1553
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In my happy place:

Theta Image
05-30-2015, 08:28 AM   #1554
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I did some stuff on my car today.

I finally got around to tidying up under the bonnet so it looks a bit nicer (to me anyway)

Here's how it started (well, when I bought the car 5 years ago)


And here's how it is as of this afternoon:




The painting I did maybe 6 months ago, today was just rerouting the intake. Next on the list is to get some aluminium sheet and build a box to go around the filter etc.
The goal is to make it look like it may have been factory to the untrained eye.



Apart from that nothing much, I took the muffler off and put on the old one again since the local police have been picking up a few of the louder cars locally and putting defective vehicle notices on them, so I figured I'd stop pushing my luck.
05-30-2015, 08:08 PM   #1555
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QuoteOriginally posted by hks_kansei Quote
I did some stuff on my car today.

I finally got around to tidying up under the bonnet so it looks a bit nicer (to me anyway)

Here's how it started (well, when I bought the car 5 years ago)


And here's how it is as of this afternoon:




The painting I did maybe 6 months ago, today was just rerouting the intake. Next on the list is to get some aluminium sheet and build a box to go around the filter etc.
The goal is to make it look like it may have been factory to the untrained eye.



Apart from that nothing much, I took the muffler off and put on the old one again since the local police have been picking up a few of the louder cars locally and putting defective vehicle notices on them, so I figured I'd stop pushing my luck.
I'm trying my darnedest to ID this car but am stumped! Based on the longitudinal mounting of the DOHC inline 4 and the headlights, I'm guessing some kind of Nissan. Like a 200SX or whatever you call it over there.

Here's my latest ride, or at least a part of it.

05-30-2015, 11:12 PM   #1556
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnmflores Quote
I'm trying my darnedest to ID this car but am stumped! Based on the longitudinal mounting of the DOHC inline 4 and the headlights, I'm guessing some kind of Nissan. Like a 200SX or whatever you call it over there.
Nah, not a 200sx (they were called 200SX or Silvia here, 200SX for locally sold ones, or Silvia for the ones imported from Japan by private owners)

But yeah, mine's just a 1999 Mazda MX5 (Miata to you guys)

05-31-2015, 06:10 AM   #1557
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QuoteOriginally posted by hks_kansei Quote
Nah, not a 200sx (they were called 200SX or Silvia here, 200SX for locally sold ones, or Silvia for the ones imported from Japan by private owners)

But yeah, mine's just a 1999 Mazda MX5 (Miata to you guys)

Ok, now I'm properly embarrassed. I owned a 1990 Miata. And a 1999....
05-31-2015, 06:20 AM   #1558
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnmflores Quote
Ok, now I'm properly embarrassed. I owned a 1990 Miata. And a 1999....
If your defence, not much goes wrong with them so you don;t really need to open the bonnet that often :P

My other half has a 1990 one that's currently being re-assembled after having been stripped down to a shell so she could restore it. (She's a mechanic and spends her days restoring old MGs and building gearboxes, so she wanted that "fresh resto" feel on her car)

She's finished most of the stuff underneath, just needs the brakes put back.
the wiring in in progress, and then it's a matter of her saving up the money to have the body resprayed (we've got the equipment to do it at home.... but not the expertise, or the space...... the neighbours would go mental if they saw a cloud of paint overspray pouring from the garage)
06-03-2015, 06:08 PM   #1559
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnmflores Quote
Ok, now I'm properly embarrassed. I owned a 1990 Miata. And a 1999....
Hey, you did not tell me you had a Miata. I have one too. 1999, emerald green. Some mistake it for British Racing Green. A little bit neglected though. I blame photography.
06-03-2015, 07:23 PM   #1560
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rmel26 Quote
1999, emerald green.


QuoteOriginally posted by hks_kansei Quote
I did some stuff on my car today.
Nice! I have a 2004 LS.

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