hustler

iTrader: (6)

Cover your anus because the gays will poz-rape you. Considering you're Canadian, open your diseased **** hole and welcome the sin.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

UnknownPerson

Car has been tuned, will have a full tank of gas by the end of the day, has been washed, has fresh oil, has fresh coolant, and has new wipers. I also picked up some octane booster just in case and I will be bringing a laptop to tune if desired... mostly read to go.

Next question: How long I should be expecting to take to install a soft top that is already on the frame by myself? I am picking up a used soft top with frame on Wednesday 9:00am (on the way back from dropping the kid off at her grandparents' place) and need to be at the ferry by 2:00pm that day. My alternative is to put the roll of black duck tape to use.

Saml01

iTrader: (9)

3 maybe 4 hours.

Though I would recommend you leave the miata at home. 15 hours in a match box sized car is going to be hell on the both of you. Whats the longest you ever driven it?

18psi

iTrader: (76)

3-4 hours is if you go ultra slow/never done it before, etc.

I'd say 2 hours working steady, not rushing, but also not wasting time.

Its pretty simple, but all the tiny little bolts holding the rain rail and whatnot takes time. Doing it by yourself is not good either, I usually ask a buddy to at least help set it on and hold it in place while I fasten the 3 bolts on each side holding the frame.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I've had the complete top off and on a couple of times by myself. It takes a bit of upper body strength when you life the assembly out and drop the new one in, but it's not all that difficult.

Tip: go ahead and remove the plastic panels around the area of the seatbelt towers ahead of time, along with the carpet on the rear deck behind the seats. This will make getting the old top out and the new top in much faster.

Also, it's not necessary to remove the rain rail from the car unless it's already been fitted with an aftermarket top that has a captive rain rail. You can just remove all of the nuts and then, one by one, peel the inner section of the rail out enough to slip the top fabric free of it. Be gentle, as the old one is probably a tad stiff and brittle. Leaving it in reduces the chance of damaging it (even with all the nuts removed, the rain rail will "want" to stay in the car as it will still be hanging on all of the studs that go through it.)

I was apprehensive about doing the top the first time I did it, but it turns out to be spectacularly easy.


And +1 on just leaving the car at home in the first place. Six hours from San Diego to Phoenix was enough to nearly paralyze me. I can't imagine 15 hours.

UnknownPerson

I have never taken the top off before, so 3-4 hours is a bit too tight for me. Perhaps I will take the top off tonight and put the new top on before heading out on Wednesday. Assuming its 50/50 for taking off the old and putting on the new, 2 hours max seems reasonable.

The longest I have driven in the Miata was 3 hours non-stop and I found that fine. Our trip is also going to be broken up: 4 hours, 8 hours, 4 hours - on the way down. On the way back might be a bit worse: 10 hours, 4 hours.

I find the Miata far more comfortable than most cars I drive, especially our option (Aveo) which gets my back hurting 3/4 of the way through our regular 3 hour drive...

Savington

iTrader: (31)

92 octane in Washington and Oregon, 91 octane in California. Plan accordingly

Saml01

iTrader: (9)

Id still take the Aveo.

In fact, I would probably pull the front passenger seat out in the Aveo so the passenger can sit in the back seat and have a place to stretch out fully.

UnknownPerson

Interesting. You tall? I'm 5' 8", my wife is 5' 3"...

I heed your warning. I still think that I'm going to end up taking the car that actually drives straight, has no wheel wobble, can take over take minivans on the highway, and will enjoy the windy roads. Wife gets car sick too - convertibles fix that

Thanks for the warning though, I do appreciate it.

UnknownPerson

For those of you interested...

We made it back to Canada finally and have learned several things... my Miata hates the dry California and Oregon heat but doesn't mind the night air in the slightest, I LOVE driving at night in California as the heat doesn't bother me or the car like the day does (no A/C), that car shakes a **** load more than I would like it to at highway speeds, the use of the secondary fan kills my battery enough to stop the starter from working (bump started the car 7 or 8 times the entire trip), and my car is loud.

I'm glad that we did the road trip and that we did it with the Miata (considering the alternative) but I would probably never do it with the Miata again. Cargo space was, oddly, not much of an issue but most other things were not great. The lack of consistent starting made the trip much more stressful (as it was frightening to stop the car with the possibility and often probability of it not starting again) but the abundance of assistance and friendliness from random people was astonishing. The windy roads were awesome until we hit the 299 towards Redding with the top down in the blazing sun and crazy temps with the wife getting car sick. No relief for her, just 2.5 hours of windy roads (they were awesome, just not fun due to road sickness). The car is loud and droney and the use of earplugs really helped.

If I was to do the entire trip again, I would (a) give myself more time... aka no 15 hour drives from Napa to Portland, (b) do it in an air conditioned highway car with more room, like a 7-series. No regrets though.

dk wolf

California is Dope