Miata Mailing List: July 1999, Message #208

sponsored by

Will,
Someday, if we meet in person and you get me drunk enough, I'll tell about
changing the clutch in an old Alfa.  

Best of luck and take care.
Michael and Paula Whitehouse
Cielo (10th AE Miata #511)
CPT Midnight (99 Miata  blue leather)
whthse@c2i2.com

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> From: Will Brown <wbrown@miata.net>
> To: Multiple recipients of list <miata@realbig.com>
> Subject: Rollbar install: Phase II
> Date: Friday, July 02, 1999 8:35 PM
> 
> Lugged all my tools, rollbar, ramps, etc, over to the folks house - 
> planned to use a pulley system in the rafters of their garage to 
> hoist the rollbar up out of the way, drive the Miata under it, and 
> then lower the bar down to test fit, raise it back up, trim/cut/etc, 
> lower and test fit again.
> 
> Bar went up fine - a little heavy to pull with just one hand, but was 
> no problem with two hands.  On the second attempt, got the Miata 
> lined up pretty much directly underneath the suspended rollbar.
> 
> Now, imagine your favorite type of apple.  Granny Smith, Golden 
> Delicious, you name it.  Perfectly ripe - crisp cold and juicy.  
> Perhaps a little bit of condensation forming on the apple, since you 
> just purchased it freshly from the cold storage at your local 
> orchard.  You're about to take your first bite - you close your jaws 
> on the fruit, and it's so crisp it denies your first attempts - so 
> you clamp your jaws with increasing vigor to break into the 
> delectable item.  Then one of your teeth penetrates the outer barrier 
> with that sound that only crisp apples make when you bite into 
> them....
> 
> That's exactly what I heard in my head when I stood up to walk out of 
> the Miata, and smack into the pointy end of the rollbar mounting 
> plate with my forehead.  <thock>
> 
> Rollbar on a hoist - bad idea - but I continued... got over that 
> little incident, and trooper that I am, kept on with the program.  
> Got to lowering the bar in, to make sure where I wanted to cut the 
> rear deck - lowered the bar to about the top latch level (with the 
> top lowered of course) and it wanted to spin 90 degrees from where I 
> wanted it.  I was outside the car holding the rope, and couldn't 
> reach far enough inside the car to rotate the bar the way I wanted 
> it.  So now one of the rear mounting plates was 'caught' underneath 
> one of the top latches.  The other side was grazing along the topside 
> of the latch, threatening to rotate over the trunk.  Joy.  So while 
> holding the bar steady with one hand, tried to raise it back up with 
> the other.  Nope.  Remember the first part?  Hard to do with one 
> hand, easy with two?  Yup, so there I stand, everyone else had left 
> for the 4th of July Firemans parade, keeping the rollbar from 
> spinning with one hand, and keeping it from falling lower with the 
> other, not able to raise it back out of the way.  After about a 
> minute of contemplating what predicament my seemingly bright idea had 
> wrought upon me, I took a deep breath, and heaved with both hands on 
> the rope, as the bar broke free from the side where it was caught 
> under the latch, which put it in a definite spin, and I heaved for 
> all I was worth to get it well above the trunk before it spun too 
> much..... that worked, and was about the only thing that went well 
> tonight, if you call that going well.
> 
> Backed the car out, put the bar back on the ground, and went at it 
> the old fashioned way... lugging the bar in and out by myself in the 
> driveway.  Of course, I removed the center console, and left it at my 
> place.... why would I need that?  Power windows.  So there I am, 
> lugging this rollbar in and out of the car, just certain I'll graze 
> the upper corner of one of the raised windows and smash it to 
> hell.... but I did escape that fate.  I did have the doors open, I'm 
> not *that* stupid  :-)  
> 
> So to keep the bar from marring the sills and possibly puncturing the 
> carpet when I set it down in the floorboard (both seats are out, and 
> backing the Miata out of a garage whilest sitting in the floorboard 
> is something everyone should experience once!) so when I leave the 
> car, step on the sill area, terry towel folded double on a stainless 
> sill, as they say about Summit Point, friction is fiction.  Bad idea.
> 
> Don't know why all the raving about dremels.... damn useless in this 
> application.  Bought a $5 cutting wheel, and tried to use it to cut 
> the CPU mounting bolt.  Wheel was uselessly dull in 20 seconds, and 
> had to wrench the bolt off with my bolt-cutter-sized pliers.  Can't 
> imagine trying to cut out the rear deck with one of those things...
> 
> Which brings me to the one "high point" of the evening.  I did in 
> about 5-10 minutes, both sides, what some folks say took them quite a 
> while.  Did some rough measurements (oversized Hard Dogs recommended 
> slot per suggestions by fellow listers) and drilled a 3/8" corner 
> hole on each side, and then went at it with a 1960's vintage jig-saw 
> and a brand new metal blade (that is, a blade designed to cut metal). 
>  Total time, both sides, 10 minutes at the absolute most.  Bottom of 
> the line Skil brand jig-saws are $40 at your local home improvement 
> store.  2-pack of metal blades about $5.  Perhaps a good item for 
> local clubs to stock for their members to borrow.  Didn't look at the 
> blade, but I imagine it's barely spent.  Past experience says it cuts 
> the removable aluminum shelf like a hot knife through butter.  That's 
> the method I used when putting in the rear deck subwoofers.
> 
> So now the bar sits in there, needs to go rearward about another 
> inch, as per a previous email to the list tonight, my freaking ABS 
> sensor wires come up through the rear trunk tunnel area right where 
> the rear mounting plate is supposed to be.  At the moment both rear 
> mounting plates are sitting on a literal mound of body adhesive, or 
> whatever that stuff is they use when putting the front fenders on, 
> etc.  Whoever did my car was a slap-happy sumbitch.  The stuff is 
> maybe 1/3" high, in a circle about 2" in diameter?  gadzooks.
> 
> Those are the highlights - other logistic nightmares left to your 
> imagination (like leaving ramps and jack at home first try, not 
> having rubber inserts anymore in rhino ramps, so they slipped on 
> slick concrete floor, and so on, and so on)
> 
> \/\/
> 
>