Tree's V8 Roadster

Re: Tree's Roadster

I go pretty regularly as well and this is the first issue I've had.

I was waiting at the package delivery place for the guy to come pick up the 5 lug set up. I was walking back to the car to put a dollar in the parking meter since they were running late. On the way to the car I was cornered by 3 homeless men all bigger than me (I'm 6'2 btw). The one grabs me by the neck of my shirt and pins me against the wall and the other 2 are moving in to come pat me down. The guys moving in are saying things like "this n***a gonna pay for my meals today." The guy holding me by the neck had me completely pinned to the wall saying "I'm not gonna give you no bull****, we gonna make this quick and take off. We need da money."

Then he took his hand off me for just a second to check my pockets and I took advantage of not being held down. I bolted to the car. Put the dollar in the meter and bolted back to the package place taking the long way around the block.

Then the eBay buyer calls me saying his cousins (they were picking it up for him) were just around the block, stand outside so he can see me. As I'm standing there the 3 guys come back. My heart drops again. I moved out of my way to avoid them and they followed me across the street. Once I went inside the building again they left me alone and took off down the street.
Then the cousins showed up and they purchased the 5 lug set up and I got the heck out of there!

I'm so lucky he let go of me for that split second! I was contemplating about fighting my way out but there was probably a very slim chance I could have taken all 3 on my own.

Re: Tree's Roadster

Here are the pictures of my new parts. It was like an early Christmas gift to myself. I felt like a little kid opening all his gifts.

I also ordered a Harddog roll bar from MossMiata. Just waiting for them to take the money from me. I got a Technafit SS clutch line as a free gift from Moss Hopefully it'll be here before the Christmas break is done and I'm back to school.

OEM heatercore from Treasure Coast Miata. It's a little bit dirty, but nothing that Simple Green can't fix. The tubes are flawless.
OEM Heatercore by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Slick Auto mirror mounts.
Slick Auto Mirror Mounts by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

My custom Revlimiter gauges that I won during his Sharksgiving sale. I decided not to open the package to reduce the risk of the gauges getting debris on them. If you look really closely you might be able to see what they're like.
Revlimiter Gauges by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

And last, but certainly not least are the APR GT3 carbon fiber mirrors. These things are SUPER light. I tried to get a picture of how blue the lenses are, but I wasn't able to get them to turn out.
APR GT3 Mirrors by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Re: Tree's Roadster

Quite literally one dollar at a time. :lol:

I went to remove the door panels today. Never, ever, ever buy a car from an old man who talks about Miatas being super fast and tries to fix things himself. The previous owner is such a hack! I remove the 4 screws from the door panels and undo all the clips, go to pull the door panel up and off only to find out it's still stuck. The hack of the previous owner decided to duct tape the door panels on despite the pop rivets still working. Not just a little duct tape either, a lot! This picture only shows a small portion of what there really was. The speaker covers were duct taped on as well and ALL 4 POP RIVETS WERE STILL THERE!
Hack Fix by Austin Rajki, on Flickr
Hack Fix by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

I took the door panels off to make new ones, and reuse the uppers. Literally half of the mounting tabs on the uppers are broken. I looked into buying new ones, but these things are expensive. I'm just going to figure out a way to repair the mounting tabs.
I'm ranting a little bit right here, I'll just take my time and fix his mistakes one at a time...

Door Panels Removed by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Re: Tree's Roadster

I put a little bit of work into the door panels today. I brought a big piece of cardboard home from work and made a template for my new ones. They'll be exactly like the OEM ones, but I am eliminating the speaker cover so I extended it. It will be using all the same mounting points as the OEM ones as well.
Stripped and Copied by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Then I went to Home Depot for some material. Originally I was going to use 6mm lexan, but the price for enough material to cover 2 panels isn't worth it. It was $119... I spent some time looking around for different options. I was considering 5mm plywood, but figured that would be too heavy. After wandering around the aisles carrying my doorcard like a fool I stumbled across the perfect material. It's called white hard board. 1/8'' thick and comes in 24''x 48'' sheets for less than $5 each. It's really close to the OEM material- a little bit more sturdy, and smoother which is nice since I won't be using a foam backing with the new fabric.
Material by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

I traced my template onto the new material and dug out our jigsaw. Unfortunately the garage is pretty cramped and my parents would kill me if I cut it in the house. I hope tomorrow is nice outside so I can cut them. That's all for now.
Ready to Cut by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Re: Tree's Roadster

I got an email saying that the rollbar arrived at the package place today! I'll be picking it up after Christmas. Maybe Sunday, we'll have to see. Hopefully people don't try to mug me this time. :lol:

I did some more work on the door cards today. I took the sheet of hard board outside and cut them to size with the jig saw. Once they were smaller I got rid of the terribly unlevel table and used just the taller one.
Nice and Level by Austin Rajki, on Flickr
Cut by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Once the shape was cut I moved into the garage to do the next step. After spending some time with the drill I ended up with this:
Almost Ready by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Everything looks to match up perfectly compared to the OEM card. When mocked up to the door everything looks good. I'm really pleased with the results.
The only thing I have left to do is buy a larger drill bit to finish the larger holes where the OEM clips will be inserted.
I'm currently trying to gather a few supplies for the door pulls before I cut any other holes and order the fabric.

Re: Tree's Roadster

Thank you, Accented. Hopefully I don't mess them up when it comes to the fabric...

Yesterday afternoon my Dad and I went to Detroit to pick more parts up from the package place. The border patrol officer asked what I was picking up. When I told him it was for the Miata he asked about what motor I am putting into it. When I told him the build plans he told me he would love to see it sometime and got talking about cars and work and stuff. Super cool guy.
This is what I picked up
Big Box! by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

When we crossed back into Canada the officer on that side asked the usual questions and asked what was in the box, and how much it was worth. I told him the value and he replied "Usually we'd charge you customs on this, but I'll let it slide. Merry Christmas"
SWEET!
Inside the box was my Harddog M1 Hardcore Hardtop Double Diagonal bar with built in harness bar which I ordered from Moss. There was also a smaller package separate from the bar which was my Technafit SS clutch line that Moss included as my free gift. Just wanted to give a shout out to Chris at Moss for her assistance. The service and shipping was top notch! I'll be ordering from them again.
Rollbar by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

I got to work installing it right away. I marked out the area to be cut.
To Be Cut by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Then I cut both sides and placed the bar in the car. These are cut to the sizes that Harddog calls for. I wish I would have done my own measurements for it to be a little tighter to the bar. Oh well, it's easy enough to fix should I want to. It's not nearly as large as it looks in this picture.
Cuts Made by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

After reading about the fitment issues that most bars have where at least 1 hole that doesn't line up, I am happy to report that all 4 lined up perfectly to where they should be. Unfortunately it wasn't without a hitch. The spacer that goes on the seat belt towers wasn't perfect. One of them fit perfectly, the other was too large.
Does Not Fit by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

I ended up shaving 3/16'' off of it. After that minor set back it fit perfectly and all the bolts threaded as well. My car is dusty.
All Fixed by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

Next up was drilling all the holes for the mounts and bolting the feet down to the chassis, and the install was done!
Installed by Austin Rajki, on Flickr
Installed by Austin Rajki, on Flickr
Installed by Austin Rajki, on Flickr

All that is left on the bar is to bolt the seat belt guide to it. I'm feeling pretty productive.

Oh! I also got the proper size drill bit to finish up on the new door panels.