What about finned tire spats that could rivet to the front side bumper (put some aluminum bar behind the bumper material so it's rivetable) of an NA and fix the airflow around the front bottom of the tire? Anything that minimizes lift without increasing drag at that location would be a plus. I can't even count how many cars I've seen with splitters that leave this area stock.

What about a gauge pod that replaces the stock cowl over the gauge cluster?

Agreed that hood vents are always welcome.

I feel that there are a lot of possibilities in terms of custom tombstones made to order. Not everyone needs radios, HVAC controls, vents, etc but some do and want the ability to mount gauges that are easily visible from the driver's seat.

Or maybe make air vents with a lipped tube outlet so you can use them like normal or clamp on hoses and run them into a helmet or something.

G-lip vents?
Headlight lids?
Door window triangle window thing with 3" vent intake.
AC vent delete
Hazard and pop-up button delete
Cluster delete

I found this. I think this is what you were looking for.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...nts-nbhood.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...166b4743cb.jpg

Interesting, the NA and NB hoods have totally different low pressure zones.

I'm guessing methodology and instrumentation differences.

What about a coolant overflow, oil catch can combo.
ie. Have a single container that partitions half of the unit to coolant. And the other half to catch can duties.
I really want to consolidate the real estate under my hood, And this would help alot.

Also just to clarify, the container would be sealed so no cross contamination between the 2.

I think it will melt.

Well the stock overflow is plastic. I'm just not sure if the printed plastics have a lower melting point or not.

Yes yes yes yes this PLEASE.,

Also, looks like we got lots of votes for the vented headlight covers!

Jessto, I like your ideas, but like six said, they're all already available. I mean some of my other products are too, but there are things that 3D printing just can do as well as say injection molding or fiberglass, etc... If somebody else can make a better product for cheaper, it would make sense for me to devote my resources elsewhere. I would like to at some point print an entire front bumper, but I'm going to need a designated printer for that, and it'll take like a month to print, so it would end up being printed as a male for a female mold.

Six, hood vents are definitely doable, I've been working on some designs, but nothing concrete yet. Can you give me a better idea about what you're looking for, I really like the idea, just not sure where to start.

Broken, Spats are doable, just need to look into the aero/flow, if you have a link handy with data that would be helpful. I've been looking into doing a new gauge hood , but i'd like to scan in my dash area so I can work from the actual thing instead of ballparking measurements for a new one. Once I've got that, adding a gauge pod(s) would be cake. Custom tombstones are doable, they'd be printed in 2 pieces and fused. I think most people want to run something there, be it their HVAC controls, radio, or at least the hazards/pop ups, so I think the main interest is in deletes for specific areas to customize piece by piece, but I can do a full tombstone. I assume you mean a wing window vent, also doable, but I think the routing of the hose would interfere with either driver vision or driver escape. I could do a NACA duct with an outlet that could sit on the rear corner of a lexan hardtop window and route the air in from behind so it doesn't get in the driver's way.

Joker, Project-G already makes the windows for them, the actual vents can be found for like 5 bucks, mine would be 15 minimum, and not see through. headlight lids are in the works, vented specifically, regular ones can be had for super cheap from part outs on craigslist. Project-G already makes those, but I could make NACA ducts for lexan wing windows that would accomplish that idea, again, not see through. AC vent deletes are in the works. Hazard/pop up deletes would be a track only item (technically everything I make is), but I'm hesitant to make anything that interferes with safety equipment like the hazards, some kid would put in a delete, break down on the highway, get smacked by a car because they didn't have hazards on, and that would be on me, even if not liability wise. I assume you mean the full gauge cluster delete, presumably for custom gauge setups, that's entirely doable, again, 2 pieces because of the size, fused together. This guy: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2252864 already makes a raspberry pi race dash, and is working on a write up for install.

Mat, dope, thanks man

My though on the different zones would be what's in those places under the hood, If there's a big open area, air can flow in and fill it instead of squeezing through tight gaps quickly, bernoulli's principle. so anywhere you have a hole, you'll have a low pressure area. That doesn't account for the area in front of the engine, but I think the flow characteristics through there explain that, that air is still moving and hasn't stagnated, and more air is still pushing in, so air doesn't sit there. That said, it does look like those two were done separately, perhaps by different people, so take them for the trends they offer rather than the actual numbers.

008, The OEM plastics are thermoset plastics, whereas 3D printer plastics are thermoplastics. OEM thermoset plastics are made and you can't melt them down and remake them again, they just burn. 3D printer thermoplastics can be melted down and formed again with no change in molecular structure. As such, OEM plastics are formed at higher heats, and can withstand higher heats. Nylon maaaaaaaybe able to handle catch can/overflow duty, mostly because it has the chemical resistance too. I'm of course talking about a real catch can here, not a tube going into a coke bottle catch can, the temperatures they have to withstand are much different when they're fully sealed and offer a return. I like the ideas, but I think this is another instance of aluminum can do it better, safer, and for around the same price.

Balto, just need an hour of local access to a 3D scanner and it'll happen, I haven't had any luck finding anywhere that didn't charge out the ass. If anybody has one, I would drive several hundred miles to get it done for a reasonable price. Yeah, vented headlight covers are a go.

Awesome! As soon as the vented headlight covers are available let me know, I'll throw money at you for both sides. I'll also be able to test the extreme for you since I'm in SoCal and the 125F days are coming soon.

Same with the gauge hood, if you ever get it done, I'll throw money at you so fast.

Finished the prototype trunk/gas lever cover. Sending it to 008 on Monday for NB testing. Would still like to try it out on someone local who has carpet before I release them, but 008's test should tell me what I need to know about it. My levers are a bit bent as the top down photo can show you, but line up nicely with the part when pushed to the correct alignment as shown. Again, 008 will confirm that the part lines up properly and doesn't have any fitment issues. There are a couple different types of interior screws Mazda used, no idea which ones originally were used there as I have mixed and matched many times, but both common types fit in the holes. The domed ones look a little nicer than the ones with a flange, I think.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d5a79bed5c.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7991bc9e5d.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...008090faac.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...78401a9b9c.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9e0db42255.jpg

That's attractive

You need to google more. Most of that is already offered. We are trying to come up with new ideas.

Six, Thanks, It'll come raw like that unless people want me to prep and paint it for them, probably charge like $5 for that for the paint. I figure most people here are capable of using sand paper and spray paint themselves though. I do have a few different colors of filament though if people plan to keep it raw but want a different color scheme. I'll put together a small preview print with all the colors sometime here soon.

Brain, those are already offered, but even people very well versed in miatas don't know about all of the aftermarket options.

Your prints look really clean. What printer setup are you using (if you don't mind me asking)?

Prusa i3 mk3, it's a broken POS, get the mk2s or wait for updates down the road. I've disconnected half the machine to get it to run right, so essentially I spent an extra $300 frustrating myself. It's in an enclosure which doesn't seem to change anything except that I can't print PLA in it, ABS still warps and splits. PETG is my golden child, but I get lots of stringing. I print 0.2mm layers, anything lower sucks, the firmware needs an update for the volumetric flow rates. I figure print nozzles are like gauges, they work best in the middle of their range. so my 0.4mm nozzle prints best at 0.2mm layers. Prusa doesn't stock new build plates yet (backlogged for over a year) and my build plate is starting to get sketchy. The PETG has excellent adhesion, so excellent that it's pulling up bits of my PEI sheet much to my chagrin. They're like 10 bucks and 3 hours to replace them plus shipping from Europe. I want to find a glass bed that will work and I can just razor blade things off. Oh and I get lots of ghosting, probably a combination of my janky enclosure cabinet and poor design on Prusa's part. It's fairly quiet though, I sleep with it in my room.
As far as my print settings, I print 235C extrduer and 85C bed for the first 3 layers, then 240C extruder and 90C bed for the rest. I usually slow it to 85% on the printer because it gets better quality with only a small impact on time. 4 perimeters, 20% infill 3D hex pattern, support anything over 50 degrees overhang, rectilinear supports, 0.2 mm Z separation, 70% layer XY separation (need to go more). I slice with slic3r prusa edition (it sucks).
I use 91% isopropyl alcohol to clean before each print, acetone every 10-15 prints to refresh the PEI, gun oil to lube my linear rods and Z axis.
I've printed an extruder fan shroud to prevent unintended print cooling, and I had an updated print fan shroud for a while, but it warped and started dragging on prints, so I'm back to the stock one. Do yourself a favor and save up for a SLA printer if you want one, the world will be your oyster.

You must be doing a lot of cleanup work then, because all of your prints look great. I have not had all of those same issues, but I do have issues with ABS separating. That is the one that I have not been able to completely solve in my time printing so far.

I have never used PETG. Are the prints you show on this thread all PETG?

Mrmonk, Hmm I didn't get one from you, do you mind sending me another? I'll get you set up. I've got 2 more prints and I'll start churning out the lever covers for people. I assume you're NA, I've got the prototype out to 008 yesterday, so later this week we'll know more about NB fitment.

JD, I spend some time removing support interface layers that like to bond in place, and I usually have to clean up edges, and take a heat gun to it which shrivels up the stringing and makes it easy to remove. Everything in this thread is PETG, its super simple to print with, no warping or splitting issues, and it holds up way better to heat and stress, less rigid than PLA, less crystalline of a structure, so it absorbs blows better and the working heat resistance is 25C higher. I've spent a lot of time working on calibration and getting a perfect first layer, it makes a big difference in print quality.