Miata Mailing List: February 1996, Message #240
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   From: Phredd 
Subject: Re: lighted mirror, or not
   Date: Sun, 4 Feb 1996 21:53:36 -0500

        +++  Kerim sez:
>
>In a message dated 96-01-30 17:17:51 EST, SORRENTINO@sscl.uwo.ca says:
>
>>I have seen a lot of complaints on the net about the
>>amount of light the two standard interior lights give
>>out. For those of you who aren't aware of the tech tips
>>issue (summer '95) by MCA, they suggested pulling out these
>>little boxes and putting them back in upside down. This
>>gives you a lot more light than the standard way, and
>>you may not need to invest in more lighting. I have done
>>it; it takes about two minutes, and it looks kind of neat.
>>
>>
>
>Well, that trick is neat, but useless on 1994+ cars, as they only have *one*
>light from Mazda, on the passenger's side. Even with the light twisted
>around, the position of the light would make reading a map useless (the light
>would be *under* the map) and the available ambient light inside (assuming
>top up, of course) is still feeble at best. IMHO, the lightes mirror or the
>MiaLite mod are *both* well worth the small investment in money and time. The
>MiaLites are really cool looking...as is the lighted mirror. Boy, when I put
>that mirror in, it was like WOW...I CAN SEE! :-)
>

        +++  The upside down trick sounds like it'd work great on the 
driver's side of a '93. It might shed some light on that moronically 
placed (at least on an air bag car) ignition switch. I tried to prise it 
off with a screw driver and only succeeded in popping the lens. The body 
of the light seemed too firmly attached to submit to any more poking 
around so I let it go for the time being. Can anyone save me the onerous 
task of breaking out the manual with a quick hint for removing the light 
socket?

        Those lighted rear view mirrors seemed like a good idea and I was 
prepared to order one until somebody made a post that they could only be 
actuated manually. Can't they be wired such that they will come on when 
one of the doors open -- or not, if switched off? They would seem fairly 
useless if not.

        Somebody else (Keith T., I think) that you could get another one 
of those dash lights and mount it in the console armrest face. Has anyone 
done this? On my car, it looks as if it'd just shine up in the air rather 
than lighting any useful area.

        Keep the Revs up!

        Phredd

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Fred Donour, Jr.
        Klassic Red XCIII-A 

        Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia
        License plate (rear only, of course): "MX-5"
        Team MCA ~ Team Voodoo (modified) ~ Team Toronto'96

        God's Miata is Red!