build diary

November 24, 2004:
For those who want to skip to the end of a build, Grassroots is selling their "2 day" car.
Contact the good folks there for more information. As for myself, I'm gathering parts to build the wipers. All I need now is the cable to drive them and that's pretty easy to hunt down. I'm also considering building another windshield that's a bit lower but that's not too high on the priority list. Instead, I'll finish the wipers once all the parts have arrived and then move on to a couple of other things I wanted to try - an LED strip tachometer and an investigation into the effects of bump steer come to mind.
entry 702

November 27, 2004:
I've determined that my Seven causes rain.
It's amazing, every time I want to take it out! This isn't good, as instead of driving the car I'm spending all my time thinking of cool projects. I've just purchased the last pieces I need for the wipers off eBayand in the process, picked up some extra bits I'd already purchased! I now have 6 working "wheelboxes" instead of the two I actually need. I guess I could sell some. Still, my total investment in the wipers will be under $50 so that's not bad. The research for the LED tach is coming along well - Datatool makes one that's actually pretty close to what I want for a final result, but there are some small differences. Besides, I'd rather spend the $85 or so on something else. So I'll look into my own. So while I'm looking around for wiper cables from old British cars, I'm also looking for good sources for LM3914 LED controllers and the like. As my friend Eric has pointed out, I also need to make a grille for the car. He seems quite adamant about this so I'd better get on it...
entry 703

November 28, 2004:
It's stopped raining.
Instead, we have a fairly good snowfall. Enough that they've actually closed access to the flat-top mesa on the edge of town due to avalanche danger! 3 feet of snow over a weekend does that I guess. So I'm still inside and thinking of things to do. Of course there's the obvious, such as the wipers and grilles. But in the course of doing some research for an article, I started thinking about the potential of putting on a dry sump. It would be great to have the increased ground clearance and it would give a bit of a power boost and prevent oil starvation. But it's not cheap. Maybe I'll just raise the bottom of the oil pan by 1" or so instead. I wonder how that would work?

A bit more on the LED tach. It would actually be a two-stage setup, using an LM2917 to convert the frequency to a voltage, then an LM3914 or two to convert that to a series of LEDs. I'm at the dreaming stage right now, trying to figure how many LEDs I should have and when they should come on. Right now, I'm thinking of having them start at 4,000 rpm and light up one every 500 rpm, with a change to every 250 rpm above 6000 rpm. Or maybe something different. I don't want too many LEDs, as I'll probably want to be able to glance down and see how many are lit up. Also, the superbright LEDs get expensive in a hurry. $2.50 doesn't seem thatbad until you realise that I'll probably want 10 or 11. A couple of decent websites have me started: bike-oriented and from a Mini site. I'll probably add a couple of things to it such as autodimming ability. We'll see how carried away I become. I'd forgotten that DigiKey was a good source for things like this. I've also decided that the Hawker Genesis batteries would be an interesting addition to the Seven - they have a tiny model called the G13EP that puts out reasonable power and only weighs 10.5 lbs instead of the 25lbs of the stock battery. Not good for extended cranking but I can deal with that. They're even pretty cheap, only $45. Given that I'm currently running with a cast-off battery, this might be something I need eventually. I can use one of my myriad other batteries (such as the spare giant Land Rover battery I have) to jump it if I ever need to abuse the starter. See, it's bad when it starts raining...
entry 704

November 29, 2004:
Well, some of the wiper bits I wanted arrived today.
They're from a Series III Land Rover, but it appears that the outer diameter of the wheelbox is greater. This means I can't use the nice Midget angled bits that I have. No worries, there are a set of MGB wheelboxes on the way which should complete the set. Weird parts from everywhere.

No new progress on the tach front, but I have been looking at the oil pan. I think I'll cut 1" off the bottom and possibly add an Accusump to the system. It's not going to be an easy job as the pan is cast aluminum (time for some good cleaning!) and there's no simple cut to be made. Still, it'll give me some needed ground clearance. Luckily there are extra pans around the Flyin' Miata shop so I can do this without having to take the car off the road. Well, if it stops snowing anyhow.
entry 705

Random wiper parts!
These are from a Land Rover. Hmm, the diameter of the threaded section is smaller than my Midget parts. Good thing I have some of those arriving soon.
entry 706
The oil pan surgery.
Cut along the pink line...
entry 707

December 2, 2004:
A cold snap has meant that snow is staying on the roads, thus the Seven is staying in a cold garage.
Strange, last winter I was willing to work there in cold, cold temperatures but I'm less motivated right now. This doesn't mean I'm sitting still. A number of projects are in the planning (ie, thinking) stages. I'm waiting for the last wiper parts to appear. I'm thinking about how I'd like the tach to work and reading specifications on an enormous number of LEDs as I want them matched and visible in the day, harder than it sounds. I've made arrangements for a spare 1.6 oil pan to be hot-tanked so it'll be easier to weld the cast aluminum although a member of the GRM message board mentioned that some other cars use a steel pan that will fit. Hmm. The head will also be coming off the engine before too long for a valve job - despite a basically new engine, it seems to suck back some oil at idle and high-vacuum operation. Turns out the head didn't get new seals and guides when it was apart for the porting. I might also get a set of high-rpm valves and titanium retainers installed. Why? Because I can! I'm also thinking the upcoming FM supercharger prototype for the 1.6 cars should be tested on the Seven. Just to make the car a little more interesting.
entry 708

December 6, 2004:
A friend needed some tires, so I donated the set that was on my spare wheels.
This means I have four bare wheels just waiting for me to do something interesting. Trouble? Oh, of course! They're standard 1990 Miata wheels with the pesudo-Panasport look and light weight, perfect for the car. Being a child of the 80's, I want to paint them black with a polished lip. I've always liked this look and I think it will suit the car well. Ideally I'd match the paint on the front fenders but I don't know if I'll be willing to spring for more BMW paint. This thread on Miataforum has some good directions as well as photos of some nicely finished wheels. A bit of playing around with Photoshop has shown that this should look good. As usual, I am open to suggestions via email or the guestbook. These will end up as my normal street wheels with Azenis tires. I'll also have to do some repair on the wheels as the previous owner sometimes parked by feel.

On other fronts, the oil pan is being cleaned right now and I'm trying to decide on the valve springs. It's a reasonable price for me, I just have to suck it up and do it. I also received my remaining wiper parts and they'll do the job perfectly. It'll take some nerve to cut into that scuttle for the wipers but it really does need to be done eventually. I am also contemplating some changes to the suspension setup based on what I'm seeing in photos, most noteably increased ride height.
entry 709

Black wheels with a polished lip? I like it.
Here is the original with "stock" wheels.
entry 710
Not all the photoshop experiments worked out.
It's dramatic, but I think I like the polish better.
entry 711

December 8, 2004:
Yes, I should be working on something useful like the wipers or the tach.
But instead, I'm all excited about the wheels. They'll be black with polished lips when I'm done. First I have to strip off the existing paint and clean them up. Easy enough if I can leave work long enough to pick up some paint stripper. I figure I'll probably try polishing the lips by hand. Should be slow and messy. Once the wheels are done I can put on a set of good tires and stop using cast-offs and borrowed bits.

In terms of real work, I hope to put the wipers on this weekend. I'll make it easy to remove the motor because it's a heavy beast, but the rest will probably stay in place. I also need to get those LEDs...
entry 712

December 9, 2004:
For light entertainment, try reading the warnings on the back of a can of aircraft paint stripper sometime.
Yikes. I put on my brave pants (and solvent-proof gloves) and decided to go ahead anyhow. The first indications were promising with lots of bubbling paint that easily scrubbed off. But if you look carefully at a Miata wheel, you'll see that the rim and a face on the spokes is machined while the rest has a sand texture. The paint/powdercoat/whatever on the wheel is very well adhered to this textured surface. Four rounds with the stripper and I still couldn't get it clean. It may be time for some sort of media blasting. At least I did manage to remove a fairly copious amount of paint. Ever wonder why you never see a Miata with peeling paint on the wheels? It's obvious to me now!
entry 713

December 10, 2004:
The wheels with tires removed.
They're dirty with a few scuffs but I think they'll look great when I'm done.
entry 714
The first step in stripping the wheels - aircraft paint stripper.
entry 715
Looks promising, the factory paint is bubbling up nicely.
entry 716
After several rounds with stripper, this is the result.
The polished rim is mostly clean as are the polished edges of the spokes - but the textured part of the wheel is not giving up.
entry 717
My new oil pan is back from being hot-tanked.
At least something is cleaning up!
entry 718

December 11, 2004:
Finally, a decent photo of the car with the windshield.
I'm still considering building another that's a bit lower.
entry 719
Every time I clean the car, it rains.
The last cleaning - the best so far - caused record snowfall. So it's going to stay dirty for a while so I can use it.
entry 720

December 13, 2004:
Better stripper.
I've been told via email and the guestbook that my paint stripper was not manly enough. The key is to use the semi-gelled type that paints on. The paint shop that recommended the spray-on stuff was wrong! Once again, after finding the pros didn't quite have what I needed I headed for Lowes. A bottle of Jasco stripper cost less than a single spray can and it definitely did the job. Combined with a solvent-proof brush from Walmart, a Scotch Brite pad and a not-solvent-proof scraper I was able to make a huge difference to the wheels. Tomorrow I'll see how they paint. Thanks to Richard and Jonathan for the tips.

I was busy over the weekend driving. I brought a video camera along and I've put some pretty fun videos together. Nothing fancy (yet), just some back road driving. This will give you a hint of the sort of roads that we have right on the edge of town. They sure look fast in the little versions, holy cow. Want to see them?
entry 721

December 14, 2004:
Not the biggest installation, but a Voodoo brake handle has replaced the plastic one.
Hey, it matches the car. My titanium shift knob also made it onto the car. Why? Because I like it.
entry 722
A future installation - this net from BMW.
It'll go on the passenger's side of the transmission tunnel to corral loose papers and sunglasses.
entry 723
The gelled stripper did the job.
A couple of drops of water mar the finish here, but you can see the difference from the earlier stuff. That's a clean wheel!
entry 724
More videos!
These are some fun ones to watch. Watch the videos here.
entry 725
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