We picked up this NC3 in Zeal Red back in October, over the Winter I developed an itch that eventually resulted in a red rash which spread rapidly
After seeing this wheel on ‘miata.net’ I decided to go for a change, I had thought the original wheel was thin and wanted something more suitable for the car and like this one a lot, I had already painted the stick on spoke covers but took the opportunity to spray the actual covers on the new wheel.
Other modifications include an ‘Ultragauge’ again common in the States but I have not seen one in the UK, I have the intermittent wiper control from my previous car, and the gear knob which received the red rash too, the door speakers have been replaced with Pioneer custom fit 8x6’s. My NC2 trim that I took out of the old car before selling it came in handy, it provided donor parts to allow colour coding of the door handles, door pulls, gear lever and speaker bezels.
We have the one touch roof which is expensive for a little box of electrics but really is a good addition to the car, now Spring is here I can stop fiddling and get out in her more.
I bought a pair of black roll bar covers and used high build filler primer to take away the texture before painting them red, the Lexan wind deflector was swapped for a piece of tinted glass and its painted brackets satin black to match the mount.
The ‘gopro’ mount on the unused centre speaker cover proved to be a bit wobbly so I will be using a suction mount for our trip up the Col de Turini and through France.
I have kept all the original parts so nothing here is permanent should I need to revert to standard, further plans include the ‘Kuro’ diffuser and a lengthening to the IL Motorsport back box tips as they will be too far back.
‘Progress’ springs for a half inch drop and their anti roll bars as well if I can fit them in my luggage, then all I need is £6000 for the BBR Turbo
A company called Piro design off e-bay, saw it first on a Scandinavian car, then a couple in the States, a bit expensive but so much nicer than standard.
That steering wheel really is the dog’s doo-dah’s just fitted a 340mm Raid Airbag wheel to my mk2.5 to get almost the same effect, but at almost twice the price.
I’ve now sourced a spare dash panel so I’m going to get rid of the piano black in mine. I know there are various write ups for removing the panels in the mk3, but I’ve not seen anybody post about doing it in the mk3.5/75 with the newer dash. Was it difficult to do? Also, the write ups I’ve seen were on soft top cars Is panel where the buttons for the roof are located easy to remove - ie is there plenty of slack on the cable?
It is pretty much the same as the 3.5, you don’t touch the roof switch panel.
Centre console needs loosening, radio area side trims removed and radio pulled forward a little to access the two screws on the front, one more into the back of the trim panel accessible in the glove box.
Thanks for the comments, as has been posted by “harco” the “SmartTop” roof module is a great addition, we were in the south of France last week and a few localised thunder showers allowed us to use the full potential of the roof, I have set mine to work up to 24 mph, any more than that seems a little risky.
Several other Mk3 PRHT cars had to stop to put the roof up, the worst time being on return from France approaching the Dartford tunnel where it hammered down, as we approached the toll booths the roof went up while we were still slowing down, stopping in the queue would not have gone down well with all the other motorists.
Have you calculated how much each up/down has cost you? I reckon that each time I’ve raised the roof in rain it’s cost me twenty quid so far. The price should come down eventually though.
