Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Carbing Tow Hooks
Front and rear Carbing tow hooks from Tetsuya Garage (http://www.tetsuyagarage.com/) showed up today. Should add a nice touch of Japanese fashion/flair to the Roadster. Pictured below:
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Spotted In Tokyo
No, we did not paint our Roadster already. This awesome Roadster was spotted and photographed in Tokyo. The paint, body kit, wheels, and so much more give it a totally old school look. When the owner spotted Chris and I gawking and snapping pics, he gave us a dirty look and drove away. Maybe he was upset we didn't ask him to pose!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Top down!
Today was the first day that I was able to drive the Roadster with the top down. It had been forecast that the weather would be roughly 50F today, just above the, I believe it's, 41F mark Mazda recommends for keeping the top up.
Being this is the first convertible that I've ever driven, there were a number of things I noticed. For one, as a driver, your range of vision is GREATLY increased. The ability to glance left or right to observe the surroundings is wonderful and puts you even more in accord with this car. Secondly, I have gotten a sense, even more, of the extremely low stance of this car. Looking, literally, at a 45-degree angle up at someone driving an SUV puts this right into perspective. Finally, driving with the top down inspires even more confidence on the part of the driver. We have a road which runs around a reservoir. In general, this is one of my most favorite stretches of pavement in our area. It is not large at all, but one can drive it, at a somewhat zippy pace, and have a great time. Driving the Roadster with the top down allowed me to observe my surroundings with even greater attention and made me feel that much more comfortable.
On another note, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by this morning while Dad was detailing the car. The Roadster looks stunning. Dad put a nice coat of wax on it and detailed the interior. He cleaned the leather, conditioned the dash and door panels, and cleaned the steering wheel. I feel so much better when there's a coat of wax on a vehicle, it makes me feel like there's at least a layer of protection between the auto and the harsh reality of pavement, road salt, and anything else a tire can spit up at you at 65mph.
I took my grandfather out for a drive and he thoroughly enjoyed it. We went up and around the block for a few minutes. He's the most dedicated car enthusiast that I know. I suppose it runs in the Rozewski family :-)
Below are some shots of gramps and I today.
PS- Plans to install last week’s parts look like they'll need to be postponed for a few weeks due to inclement weather.
PPS- We're going to be taking a vacation to Tokyo and Kyoto Japan this upcoming week. Hopefully there will be some nifty Roadster shops to pick up some goodies :-)
Being this is the first convertible that I've ever driven, there were a number of things I noticed. For one, as a driver, your range of vision is GREATLY increased. The ability to glance left or right to observe the surroundings is wonderful and puts you even more in accord with this car. Secondly, I have gotten a sense, even more, of the extremely low stance of this car. Looking, literally, at a 45-degree angle up at someone driving an SUV puts this right into perspective. Finally, driving with the top down inspires even more confidence on the part of the driver. We have a road which runs around a reservoir. In general, this is one of my most favorite stretches of pavement in our area. It is not large at all, but one can drive it, at a somewhat zippy pace, and have a great time. Driving the Roadster with the top down allowed me to observe my surroundings with even greater attention and made me feel that much more comfortable.
On another note, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by this morning while Dad was detailing the car. The Roadster looks stunning. Dad put a nice coat of wax on it and detailed the interior. He cleaned the leather, conditioned the dash and door panels, and cleaned the steering wheel. I feel so much better when there's a coat of wax on a vehicle, it makes me feel like there's at least a layer of protection between the auto and the harsh reality of pavement, road salt, and anything else a tire can spit up at you at 65mph.
I took my grandfather out for a drive and he thoroughly enjoyed it. We went up and around the block for a few minutes. He's the most dedicated car enthusiast that I know. I suppose it runs in the Rozewski family :-)
Below are some shots of gramps and I today.
PS- Plans to install last week’s parts look like they'll need to be postponed for a few weeks due to inclement weather.
PPS- We're going to be taking a vacation to Tokyo and Kyoto Japan this upcoming week. Hopefully there will be some nifty Roadster shops to pick up some goodies :-)
Friday, March 2, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
New Parts Purchased!
In preparation for next weekends project I picked up the following items today. 4x Denso Iridium spark plugs, Fel-Pro valve cover gasket, gasket maker, and blue Dupli-Color engine enamel. Next weekends project is going to be to replace the valve cover gasket and paint the valve cover.
There were quite a few options when it came to gasket maker when I was at the auto parts store; blue, black, grey (possibly a few others). I settled on the grey because of a blurb written on the back of the packaging, "Engines with closely spaced bolt patterns (typically foreign) exert higher torque loads on gaskets..."
You may be wondering why I went with the Deso Iridium plugs versus a standard spark plug. The element used, Iridium (Ir), has advantages over high performance platinum plugs. "6 times harder, 8 times stronger, and has a melting point 1200 degrees higher than platinum" (http://www.densoiridium.com/faq.php). Denso also uses a U-groove technology which produces a more concentrated and hotter flash. Read more about their technology on the above site. Also, have a look at their racing involvement here (http://www.densomotorsports.jp/) and here (http://www.densoaftermarket.com/). Not to mention the Denso Supra that races Super GT, is beyond amazing.
There were quite a few options when it came to gasket maker when I was at the auto parts store; blue, black, grey (possibly a few others). I settled on the grey because of a blurb written on the back of the packaging, "Engines with closely spaced bolt patterns (typically foreign) exert higher torque loads on gaskets..."
You may be wondering why I went with the Deso Iridium plugs versus a standard spark plug. The element used, Iridium (Ir), has advantages over high performance platinum plugs. "6 times harder, 8 times stronger, and has a melting point 1200 degrees higher than platinum" (http://www.densoiridium.com/faq.php). Denso also uses a U-groove technology which produces a more concentrated and hotter flash. Read more about their technology on the above site. Also, have a look at their racing involvement here (http://www.densomotorsports.jp/) and here (http://www.densoaftermarket.com/). Not to mention the Denso Supra that races Super GT, is beyond amazing.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Rear Window Restoration
Our rear window was one of only a handful of flaws that we have learned the car had. In an attempt to remedy the problem, we were recommended Novus polish (http://novuspolish.com/) by the fine people at miata.net. Dad spent half an hour applying the product this afternoon. Lo and behold the results, they truly speak for themselves.
Before:
After:
The results are simply stunning!
Before:
After:
The results are simply stunning!
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