Sad Miata update
My build has stalled, I’ve been seriously considering new cars/bikes and putting the Miata on the backburner until enthusiasm/money/garage stars align.
The break-in fucked things up. It’s so much more than just the money lost.
Seats, harnesses and rails were stolen. Among many other things.
Seats were red bride Vios III knockoffs. They were perfect for my needs. Looked good, nice and tight, safe, and not super hot like black leather. I replaced them with navy blue S2k buckets.... Which didn’t work at all. Sold the buckets, bought a REAL Bride vios III at 3x the price of a knockoff and... The fabric was lower quality. The seat sits higher. The back is a sparkly glitter like finish as apposed to the flat black of the knockoffs. Which is definitely a con for me. And lastly, for reasons I can’t determine, the real bride squeeks like crazy. It’s like the bolts are looses, but... They’re not. So I can buy another real bride to match perfectly at a rediculous price and deal with the shortcomings, I can sell the bride and my black seat and roll the dice with two more knockoffs, or I can sell everything and start over again looking for new seats.
I’m honestly leaning towards selling everything and trying to get two red knockoffs like I had before, and eventually getting custom upholstery for a higher quality fabric. But that’s expensive, time-consuming, and means I have to deal with knockoff dealers who are not the greatest in terms of communication and customer service.
Then there are harnesses. I had Schroth 4 point ASM FE’s, which are basically the only 4 points I would ever use. Street legal, accepted by all major racing bodies, and incredibly easy to get in/out of, and adjust. Comfy as well. Can take sub straps to be converted to 6 point at any time. But... They’re discontinued. I haven’t been able to find any left in stock. There’s a “new model” but it’s significantly pricier at $500 a piece... For 4 point harnesses. That’s insane. And no one I’ve contacted can tell me the difference between these “updated” harnesses and the old ones. I’d hate to pay that money only to get harnesses that are worse for my unique in-car setup. But I also hate the idea of a massive price bump for what is the exact same harness.
They stole the rails too. I replaced those with the same, but I’ve realized I need to just mount straight to the floor, and cut out the floorpan to get more space. Beat the transmission tunnel to get the seats centered... Just get a better fitment overall.
That’s just the seating. There are other areas that the bastards stole from that need to be addressed still, and tons of other projects that have been put on hold while I try to replace everything. The Miata is in rough shape, with practically every major system needing SOMETHING, and I’ve lost the enthusiasm to keep pouring money and time into it. Which makes me very sad. It’s still a blast on forest service roads, but I really don’t want to just watch it get progressively more and more trashed... I drove it hard, but I never thought of it as a beater. This is supposed to be the do anything car, from track days, to offroading, to carshows, to camping, to serving as the testbed for all sorts of fun parts and project ideas.
Speaking of which, I have tons of parts for projects still, and I can’t seem to make myself start any of them. My offroad/rally light project hasn’t gone past brainstorming, despite having all the equipment I need. I’ve got a full cooling kit—CSE triple pass radiator, a trick SPAL duel fan setup, coolant reroute kit, hardlines to replace hoses, aluminum overflow tank, hood extractors... And those have all been sitting for months on end in a box tucked away out of sight.
I’ve been looking at Volvos lately. Hanging out on Swedespeed, getting a feel for the community. Maybe a new platform—and a backup car—would help get my head in the right place. Maybe I need to bite the bullet and go full crazy with a turbo or engine swap. Or maybe just getting my old setup back is the only way I’ll be able to get past all this shit.
First day of Miata ownership for your time, swapping in an Amazon special radiator in the parking lot, using wrenches for the first time if you can believe it
And at its best, two weeks before the break in. Stereo had just been installed, and was by far my favorite project to-date. Finished all on my own, with lots of help from you guys. Washed, claybarred and polished, vaccumed and detailed inside. Compliments everywhere I went. The cooling work was about to be started, and then I would have moved on to forced induction after years of prep. I miss that wheel quite a bit, too.
TL:Dr - fuck thieves. Thought I was over it, I’m not at all