build diary

March 29, 2004:
Snipping three hog rings makes it easy to access the lumbar support of a Miata seat.
entry 199
Since there's no room for the rake adjustment, I've bolted the seatback directly to the frame on the outside.
The other side uses the existing pivot that attaches it to the seat cushion.
entry 200
The passenger's side doesn't have as much room and the seat is too wide to fit between the rails.
entry 201
How to make a seat narrower - use an 8000 lb Jackall jack!
It worked beautifully. The base was "modified" with the help of a small sledgehammer. I used a different technique on a Corbeau seat a few weeks ago...
entry 202
The passenger's seat in place.
It's a nice tight fit for me right now, but I'll take out some foam in the bolsters for a little more room.
entry 203
The stock Miata instrument cluster is getting modified so it can snuggle into the dash without looking like an afterthought.
entry 204

March 30, 2004:
More foam-ripping fun!
It's easiest to cut seat foam with a serrated knife, by the way. A bread knife works very well. I'm almost done with the seats now, with only a bit of sewing on the base for the passenger's side. I'm very happy with the way the seats have turned out. They look good, are comfortable and should offer great lateral support - at a decent price! They won't be adjustable but that's not really a problem for me. I know that GRM wasn't happy with the Miata seats in their build but they also didn't take quite as long to fit them properly. One of the downsides of a two-day build...
entry 205

The driver's seat went in fairly easily.
I cut some foam out of the back for more lateral support and the bottom has also been lowered. I've also put a slot through the seat cushion for the harnesses. The cloth cover has a slot sown in it now as well. This is a comfy setup.
entry 206
The passenger's seat after trimming and ready to be reupholstered.
An interesting note - the void near the top (by the red discolouration) was a bubble in the foam from the factory. It had been slit open and a piece of green foam shoved into place, then taped up. Obviously a factory job.
entry 207
Tools of the trade for upholstery.
It's easy to use zipties, but the hog rings can dig new holes if required.
entry 208
Cutting a slot for the harnesses.
You can also see the trimming to the foam on the side of the seat base to fit the narrow tunnel.
entry 209
Harnesses in place with a sewn seat cover.
This was done by hand.
entry 210
The seats are almost done.
The bump in the side of the driver's seat is actually just a part of the black frame visible behind the black seat. And no, that wheel isn't attached!
entry 211

April 4, 2004:
Enough with seats for a while, it's time to play with steering!
I've extended the steering shaft. It'll get reinstalled tonight, then I can make the rack move with the steering wheel. Once I adapt the wheel to the column, that is. The tie rods will wait until my new rod ends are delivered.

I've also been working on my Cadillac. It got a new Rochester carb off my parts car to replace the Carter it had, but it turns out the carb needs a rebuild. Sigh. At least I found out why the seat wouldn't move - there were some flares jammed underneath. The manufacture date on the flares is 1978. I'm not sure they were built with a 25 year service life!
entry 212

Step one in extending a steering column.
Cut it in half!
entry 213
A tube is welded over the stock shaft.
It's welded around the end of the tube as well as spot welds through a couple of holes.
entry 214
After the shaft is fitting to the car, the tube is cut to length.
The splined end of the steering shaft is welded into place.
entry 215
The final steering column, ready to reinstall.
entry 216
...and for something a little different, here's why the seat in my Cadillac wouldn't slide forward! Some flares were wedged underneath - flares from 1978.
entry 217

April 8, 2004:
Well, the steering shaft is in place.
It's the perfect length. By that, I mean that if it was 1mm longer it wouldn't have worked! Whew. I might still move it slightly to move the steering wheel closer to the driver. There's adjustment in the column to lengthen it if I need to. At full lock, there's a bit of flex in the column that is not good. I picked up a teflon pillow block yesterday to help out here. I also got my big red starter button and I've been spending more time looking at the dash and pondering. Switches may end up on the transmission tunnel. Hey, if it works for a WRC car...

The driver's seat is bolted in place now so I am making some progress. The Cadillac now has a newly rebuilt carb, too. There are a lot of parts in a four-barrel with an automatic choke!
entry 218

April 11, 2004:
The welding is done with the steering, and I should have it fitted in a couple of hours.
The teflon pillow block will also be going on. It's hard to hold a teflon ball in a vice to drill it! The work has gone well, with the tie rods going together well once I had all the parts on hand.

Still no indication of what the parts coming from CMC might be or when they'll show. That fuel cell was supposed to ship back in December...
entry 219

The driver's seat with harnesses.
There's no really good place to install the shoulder straps. The cross bar that CMC installed is not as strong as I'd like and the square cross section makes it a bit ugly for wrapping straps around. Using the tube that's provided for a bolt puts all the stress in the wrong place - my tube was welded in the wrong place.
entry 220
Time to make some tie rods!
The Miata ones are obviously too short thanks to the shortened rack. With the front wheels parallel (measured off the brake rotors), I centered the rack and then checked the length of tie rod needed. Much to my delight, the measurement was the same to the millimeter on each side.
entry 221
The first modified tie rod is on top.
The pipe in the middle has the threaded fitting pressed into place (awaiting a weld) and an unmolested stock Miata tie rod is on the bottom. I left about 6" (15 cm) of the stock tie rod inside the tube for extra strength and put a few spot welds along the length.
entry 222
In order to fit the 7/16" bolts into the tapered ball joint bolt in the steering knuckle, I drilled the hole out to 9/16" and put in some bushings that we use for a Flyin' Miata part.
They're a nice snug fit and the stainless steel will resist wear nicely.
entry 223
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