Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 So last weekend Zelda got a new clutch, shifter rebuild, and fresh "Unicorn Tears" in the six-speed. Man, does she drive sweet! "Blazing Yellow Mica" 2002 SE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 12 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said: So last weekend Zelda got a new clutch, shifter rebuild, and fresh "Unicorn Tears" in the six-speed. Man, does she drive sweet! "Blazing Yellow Mica" 2002 SE Very cool! Please explain Unicorn Tears. That’s a new one for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderRiverCowboy Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 8 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said: Very cool! Please explain Unicorn Tears. That’s a new one for me. Expensive "special Trans Fluid" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 8 minutes ago, PowderRiverCowboy said: Expensive "special Trans Fluid" There are many jokes that come to mind…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderRiverCowboy Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 15 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said: There are many jokes that come to mind…. Especially being a Miata and me being a Educated Rectum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted November 8, 2023 Author Share Posted November 8, 2023 1 hour ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said: Very cool! Please explain Unicorn Tears. That’s a new one for me. "MOTORCRAFT XTM5QS Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid" Like @PowderRiverCowboy sez, it's a really good - and pricey - transmission oil that Miata's thrive on. Rock Auto sells it for the lowest price I've found, $22.79 per quart and other places charge up to $35. Hence the name "Unicorn Tears." The li'l car takes two quarts. The original throw-out bearing was loose and chattering - the reason we pulled it - but it still spun freely; however, the input shaft pilot bearing was frozen solid. With over 154k on the clock the original clutch disk and pressure plate were in surprisingly good condition - "Dad, you're not doing enough burnouts!" sez Sassparilla Kid (my son and chief mechanic). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Excellent Hardpan! Glad you got her running better. I am curious, how do you rebuild a shifter? I have a strange issue with my Miata. When braking at low speed there is this strange clicking soun coming from the front left side. Brakes look good. Nothing is loose in the suspension and brake system. It’s a head scratcher. And the weird noise comes and goes. I’ll figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted November 9, 2023 Author Share Posted November 9, 2023 4 hours ago, Pat Riot said: Excellent Hardpan! Glad you got her running better. I am curious, how do you rebuild a shifter? I have a strange issue with my Miata. When braking at low speed there is this strange clicking soun coming from the front left side. Brakes look good. Nothing is loose in the suspension and brake system. It’s a head scratcher. And the weird noise comes and goes. I’ll figure it out. Dang, but that's still a sharp-looking ride, Pat! Love the color. Mighty curious about the brake clicking ~ that's the kind of thing that I'd be laying awake in bed at night staring at the ceiling pondering.... Ya might check with https://forum.miata.net/ ~ lots of helpful and knowledgeable folk! On the "shifter rebuild," basically for the 6-speed manual it's packing with grease and replacing spacers and bushings, the inner- and outer-boots, plus four thick layers of felt "sound-deading" insulation. The latter helps, but the tunnel still gets hot in the summer. The shifter had worn and was sloppy; now as crisp as she ever was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 40 minutes ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said: On the "shifter rebuild," basically for the 6-speed manual it's packing with grease and replacing spacers and bushings, the inner- and outer-boots, plus four thick layers of felt "sound-deading" insulation. The latter helps, but the tunnel still gets hot in the summer. The shifter had worn and was sloppy; now as crisp as she ever was. Thank you for that explanation. Thanks for the forum link as well. I took the front tires off and checked everything over. I looked for loose fittings, loose caliper and pads, defect in the disc. After that I took the rear tires off and looked it all over thinking maybe it was coming from the rear. I have screwy hearing. I couldn’t find anything there either. I even recruited my wife to lightly apply the brakes as I spin each wheel. That was fun on a muggy day. Haha I think my next step is taking it to a brake and alignment shop. It’s funny. I love the color of your car. I have always liked bright yellow cars and motorcycles. The one thing about my car and the paint is when get a rock ding the whitish gray undercoat shows through. My car has a bunch of little tiny dings on the front end. They don’t look bad but they bother me. I refuse to put one of those “car bras” on it. My wife was going to buy me one. Thankfully I heard her talking to my son-in-law about it and I asked her not to waste money on one. What color is the top on your car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted November 9, 2023 Author Share Posted November 9, 2023 2 hours ago, Pat Riot said: What color is the top on your car? Pat, the top is black. I bought the car about eight years ago; she was already 13 years old but had only sixty thousand miles on 'er. I'd been looking for a while, cruising ads and the usual auto sales places online. Late one night I hit Craigslist (for the third time that day) and there she was - I immediately sent the fella a message, and he called me a few minutes later: "Dude! It wasn't three minutes after I posted the car when I got your message!" I arranged to see it first thing the next morning; the car had a few issues (she was not new!). Anyway, he said he wanted six grand for her; we shook hands on the deal and I came back the next morning with cash. He'd had a bunch of higher offers, but was an honorable fella and stuck with the price. So, when I got her, the passenger window would not work, there were a few tiny dings, and there were other minor faults. The worse was that some lowlife cretin had decided to break in by taking a knife to the new, expensive fabric cloth. This was made worse by the previous owner effecting a totally okie repair with silver duct tape. Aarrgghh...! Being the original "Mr Fixit," I set out to mend the top. Ripped off the duct tape, cleaned most of the adhesive off with a variety of concoctions, sutured the slices, and had the Kid stitch a "bead" of black silicon to seal them. Then I literally painted the fabric; after eight years it's still watertight and doesn't look bad. I'm the third owner. The fella I bought it from in Fresno had her for less than a year; he'd wanted an "economy car" to commute from Fresno to Coarsegold, and finally decided he really needed a truck. He'd found the car in Berkeley (Yikes!), where the original owner was a flight attendant who'd bought it new, early in her "career." But I think that the absolutly worse experience was the night a bunch of us came out of a Boy Scout Commissioner meeting and one of the ladies saw her for the first time - she pointed, and gleefully exclaimed "Lookit! Someone has a Barbie Car!" I was mortified. By the way... I frequently tell folks "she's nimble, but she ain't nearly as fast as she looks like she thinks she is!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 4 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said: But I think that the absolutly worse experience was the night a bunch of us came out of a Boy Scout Commissioner meeting and one of the ladies saw her for the first time - she pointed, and gleefully exclaimed "Lookit! Someone has a Barbie Car!" I was mortified. By the way... I frequently tell folks "she's nimble, but she ain't nearly as fast as she looks like she thinks she is!" I had a silver 2005 that I bought brand new for $25K. It was the fully loaded model that also came with the $1200 scam windows. You know, the ones that are etched to prevent theft… I sold it in 2013 and regretted it almost immediately. Anyway, in 2020 I had decided to give my pickup truck to my grandson and I needed some new wheels. My wife couldn’t/wouldn’t ride on my motorcycle but there were so many nice places to ride so I considered buying another Miata, but then I saw what they went for new. One day I was looking for used trucks online and I am not sure how I ended up on this site for a place called “Car Mart LLC” in Costa Mesa, CA (yes, blatant plug). It’s a wonderful place to do business, by the way. No BS and they actually tell the truth! Amazing. Anyway, I spotted my car with a price of $12,000 firm. It had 26,000 miles on it. Garage kept. Original owner bought it in Arizona and moved to California. Too hot, I guess. The car was immaculate. The only thing wrong that I could find were some scratches on the leather drivers seat. I forgot to mention that the other reason that attracted me to this car was the interior wasn’t black. It’s more like butterscotch colored. I hate black interiors in a convertible. Right away the owner of the shop said “The price is firm. I do not haggle. Please take it for a test drive and then we’ll talk. So I did, then we did and I bought it. I love this car. It currently only has a tad over 50,000 miles on it. It is still garage kept, but I do drive it in the rain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 @Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Above you mentioned that lady’s comment about your car. I have heard quite a few snide comments, but mostly from men. Men with little tiny appendages with big mouths and not much backbone. Most women that have commented on my Miata’s are always positive comments about how much they like it. Some guys however think that I need to hear what their opinion of my car is and I usually walk away laughing. My favorite was the drunk guy that climbed out of the passenger side of a big 4x4. A man and a cute woman got out of the driver’s side. He said in a snotty mocking tone “Awwwweee What a cute little car.” I quickly responded “Said the passenger.” The couple started laughing and the guy said “Hey Billy, he got you there. You don’t even have a car.” Billy shut the hell up. Since we were all headed into the same restaurant/ bar Billy couldn’t stop glaring at me. I finally walked over and handed him a beer and told him that I didn’t like the way he looked at at me and would he please stop. He apologized and he did stop. I had twos guys at a gas station laughing and commenting on my car. Pretty sure they were drunk. One of them asked me if I was gay. I smiled and responded “Nope…why? You lookin’ for another boy friend?” That shut him up. The guy with him started laughing. They got into their truck and left. I have had guys say things like “Hey, why don’t you get a man’s vehicle.” And I respond with things like “How the (blank) would you know what a man’s vehicle is Sparky?” Or “That’s funny! Do you know that I have met many many more (homosexuals) driving pick up trucks than I have roadsters?” That usually really pizzes them off, but it’s meant to. I had a little boy come up to me and say “I really like your car” he motioned towards the man standing 25’ away “My Daddy said that’s a sissy car.” I smiled and said “Well, your Daddy should know. Look how he’s dressed.” Daddy was not amused. The little boy laughed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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