build diary

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

December 15, 2004:
I'll be painting the wheels with Dupli-Color "High Performance Wheel Coating", whatever that is exactly.
It's available in clear, silver, graphite, bronze or satin black according to the website. Well, I decided to go with satin although it's hard to find. My local NAPA put in an order and bronze showed up. The part number was correct, the paint just wasn't right. So for fun, I had them ship two cans of "bronze". Guess what? It's black. Not satin but flat black. Since the clearcoat will add a bit of gloss I decided to go with this. It was a close call, I almost decided on graphite. Let's hope it turns out well. For the record, order part number HP104 for black and HP105 for bronze. First I have to polish the rims - and by that, I don't mean the entire wheel. I mean the actual rim of the wheel. The popular vernacular seems to have lost the distinction. But I digress. Some kerb marks need to be removed and then it's just a matter of making everything super-shiny. I'll put clearcoat over the polish too because I'm lazy. Thanks to Jonathan Adams for much advice on how to do this.
entry 726

December 16, 2004:
Well, the painting comment was premature.
I have to finish polishing the wheels first. Or would the more appropriate term be "start"? Anyhow, I'm going to put the Seven on a lift and use it as a 130 hp lathe to spin the wheels for me. That should help to get a nice even finish on the kerbed sections. I've tried hitting a test spot with a Scotch Brite doodad (looks like some sort of sphere made out of blocks, used for porting heads) on a die grinder and while that works a treat, it also has the effect of slightly flattening the area. Not a problem when it's painted but it will make the polished section look dented. Okay, they're not the best wheels to start with but there's no reason to exaggerate that. So I'll try a couple of other tacks. I just need 1) the enthusiasm and 2) access to the lift. This weekend.

While it's up in the air, I'm going to raise the ride height a bit. I forget that all of my "eyeballing" of ride height has been done with the car empty. With me in it, the rear is sinking by 1/2" or so. With two on board, it's worse. So I'll compensate for that. I'm also going to cornerweight the car and see if I can get it nicely balanced. The only question is - set it up for one or for two?
entry 727

December 17, 2004:
A bit of polishing tonight.
I put the Seven up on the lift and used it as a lathe. That works pretty well but it's hard to get right in to the corner by the spokes without your fingers going bonk bonk bonk. I don't have the perfect mirror finish yet - it's still more of a satin - but it's looking pretty nice. It's the shiniest thing on the car by far right now! I first hit the spinning wheel with the Scotch Brite bit on a Dremel to bring down the high points. I don't think I can dig it down to the point of removing all the marks but it looks much better. Maybe some coarse sandpaper? The bit was followed with a Scotch Brite pad and then polish, but this still left some "grain". I tried again with 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper left over from when I finished the paint on the Cadillac then hit it with the Meguiars polish. Much better. I think I need one more intermediate step with something a little more aggressive than the Meguiars but even as it is it would look blinding in the sun.

I added a short short video clip of what it's like to pass on a country road. Pretty quick! The videos are now in a more Mac-friendly format, my apologies to those of you with OS X. This weekend is supposed to be nice, I'll head back out again with the camera.
entry 728

How do you polish wheel rims? With a 130 hp lathe of course!
entry 729
You can see the current finish on the rim along with the worst of the kerbing.
Ouch.
entry 730
Hey, Grassroots put a photo of their car in the magazine with tires that wouldn't clear the fenders.
So I'll go one bigger. Actually, several sizes bigger. That's a Goodyear 23x10 race slick. Nope, it's not even close. I'll need a spacer just to clear the spring.
entry 731
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