Targa Miata
MIATA BUILD
July 16, 2011 - Can you fit a 225/45-15 tire in the trunk of a Miata?
Yes, with the help of a big enough hammer. While I am allowed to carry a space-saver (and I might), I realized that if we did have to change a tire I'd have no place to put it. Since the trunklid is held on by pins, leaving the trunk partly open wasn't really an option. So I stopped for hammer time.
entry 876 - tags: spare
July 27, 2011 - Work is continuing on both team cars.
When we first looked at Nancy, the 2006 Grand Touring car, we thought there wouldn't be much to do. But there are a raft of details: mount the safety triangles, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, intercom, Terratrip and seats for example. Brandon, the crew chief for the team, has been combing through the regulations to make sure we have an easy time at scrutineering.
We also had to find a spare tire for the car. The 2006 and later Miatas come with a patch-and-inflate setup, which is fine for street cars but not so good for competition. You can buy an expensive spare tire setup from Mazda, or you can find one of the spares from a 1993-95 RX7. They're a sexy little alloy and are actually popular with the RX7 drag racing crowd as front wheels. A quick work with a bracket and it's ready to go.
On the Targa Miata, work continues. More details later!
entry 885 - tags: Nancy, spare
August 30, 2011 - Today was spent in packing and prep time.
The trailer got a few stickers so we can find it in a parking lot. Both cars got washed. All of the spares were gathered up and packed in boxes and buckets, with clear labels on the top so we can quickly find something without unpacking everything. With a large service crew, this is important! We even put a license plate on the trailer.
Everything was packed up by the end of the day, and I pulled out of the lot at 6 pm to head home. We're hitting the road at around 7 am tomorrow. If you see the big while trailer on the road, honk and wave.
entry 931 - tags: trailer, packing, spares