There was a single show in 2018 left on the Calendar and foolishly I thought I would give it the royal treatment. I pulled many pieces off of the car, polished it with high speed buffers and turned my hands and face into a filthy mess.
Unfortunately the idea to wax the sheetmetal afterwards was a mistake. It left streaks and dulled the image. In future I wont be waxing the car… actually I have decided to wrap it after getting its new engine.
Surprisingly the trailer fenders really respond well to being polished. They shined like crazy! Who would have thought that a Galvanized boat trailer fender could look so good?
When I started I had collected the entire Miata wiring harness and related plugs/modules. First I removed all of the wire wrap and used a gallon or 2 of degreaser to get the years of adhesive off. Using several wiring diagrams I managed to identify and remove over 35lbs of wire and sensors that I didn’t need anymore. Things like power windows, wipers,emissions crap etc all hit the scrap pile.
Admittedly I was afraid because I didn’t know exactly what the engine and ECU would need to run. I left a few extra wires and plugs when I was unsure.
Wiring Harness before modification
For the taillights I did not want to use anytime similar the original or Caterham- both of those solutions use RV taillights. After looking around I managed to find some LED’s that would light up in multiple colors.
First step was to buy some Aluminum blanks.
From there I turned them down to provide a small lip and allowing for a piece of glass between them. The lights are able to light up Red, Orange or white.
The coolest part is they will hold red but flash orange if a turn signal is lite up. White for reverse lights obviously.
Here is a shot of the turn signal on. I mounted them as high as possible and they are very bright which I hope will help with awareness.
Unfortunately the idea to wax the sheetmetal afterwards was a mistake. It left streaks and dulled the image. In future I wont be waxing the car… actually I have decided to wrap it after getting its new engine.
Surprisingly the trailer fenders really respond well to being polished. They shined like crazy! Who would have thought that a Galvanized boat trailer fender could look so good?
