bizness stuff....
Poor Man's' Watch Forum
More bizness stuff....
Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date:
Sunday, 3 December 2006, at 4:28 p.m.
> From: "Ray Woods"
> Subject: Re: My sincere thanks for all the good advice! >>
> Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 22:01:10 -0500
>
>..you still gonna hold down the job at S&N (til)
> you start making..custom wheels for Miatas?...But of ceurse!
> Man, I was joking about the "dark side" stuff but goin
> as far as to buy your own CNC machine so you can make
> custom Miata parts is way *beyond* dark side!! I think
> you're goin for full blown Sith Lord!! ...
You know me, Ray. "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth over-doing", that's me motto.
> right out of Lois McMaster Bujold's "Miles Vorkosigan"
> ..the worm skeleton on the desert planet...right out
> of "Dune"...)Oh yeah. But, to be fair, Lucas never claimed SW was anything ground-breaking. He saw it as the Flash-Gordon type Space Operas he remembered as a boy.. only on meth.
Hey, I never did do a book report on the 'Far Horizons' tome you loaned me.
) Anyway, the novella in that anthology is awesome! Ties up the whole series tight. Finito. It's as if Benford's saying "NO MORE! I'm DONE!"
> All I can say is "Good luck!!" You're a braver man
> than me! Of course with my chosen field I can't think
> of any way to really go out on my own except as..Except comin' over to see our shop and, oh BTW, making sure we're wired for VOIP / Internet / 20 GBS Local Data Net / etc. while you're here..
> ..a consultant or a contractor.
Well, contractin' to a wild Scotsmen such as meself can be lucrative. Shoot, that job could be 5, 6 cases of Harp.
> after retirement gig is a limousine service featuring
> 50's vintage limos....I specifically want a (you'll
> love this!) 1956 Chrysler Crown Imperial Limo. Saw one
> once and fell in love with it. It's what sparked the
> limo service idea.If you did THAT, you'd be The Sith Lord Of Limo Drivers!
And MY personal hero!
> only other problem I see is that at $5k for a one off
> I guess it's back to the hack saw and file for me to
> get the weird cam made for the reel to reel tape deck
> I got...or the mounting for that tuner wheel on the
> old stereo......Dude, I am *t*i*r*e*d* of hearin' about that tape deck cam. AND the tuner transport wheel!
Damn.
You can't even FIND the one.
> Back to the mechanic idea..
No, no, I'm not done with this vintage stereo parts thing. Look, find that stuff and put in a safe place. I PROMISE that I'll make it the first project on my CNC machine. Ok? Now hush!
> ..don't see why it couldn't work. I just took Ryan's
> car to a guy that was running a small shop out of an
> old gas station that had a three bay shop. Dude had
> more work than he could handle. Impressed me as being
> very honest too. Took Ryan's car in there expecting
> about $600 to change valve seals. I mean, I never saw
> a spot of oil on the driveway under the car...no
> indication that it was leaking. They guy at the shop
> checked the car over before he would give me an estimate..
> ..he found a broken oil pressure sensor that was leaking
> ...$50...so far that looks like it may have been the
> problem....That's a great story! (And, oh, I wanna hug ye for FINALLY givin' that wee Mopar some TLC!
) > Probably gonna let him do the front seal (and timing
> belt and water pump) on Melissa's Honda..And see! You're going back to him! Now that's the kind of shop I wanna run. Be honest with the customer, do honest work, and Repeat Business will send the kids to college!
> ...and the guys at R-Speed have more business than they
> can handle and they specialise in Miatas and Minis...so..
> ..if he's good...they will come...... (oh..might want toYep, that's why I want to specialize. Miata and S2000. O' course, that means I gots to buy an S2000, strictly for business purposes, ye ken.
Gots ta' have a test mule! Hmmm.. Damn, it could even be a legit tax write-off! };-) > hit them up to sell some of your specialty parts....they
> might even be able to give you some requests...)Good idea, that. Ray, what are YOUR ideas on Miazda Specialty Parts? What are you itchin' to buy?
> hmmm....you mentioned the tuner crowd....If between the
> two of you, you can come up with a hot custom tuner car..
>..you machine some wheels and other bling..No, no, Ray. I ain't machinin' bling! Well, maybe some. If there's money in it.
I'm thinkin' I could machine turbo adapters from solid Hastelloy, w/ billet Titanium bracketry, then wholesale the turbos and St Stl tubing from the low bidder. I think I could assemble a turbo kit at $600, maybe $700 wholesale. Retail around $1,800...
> .and he does the tuning...hit the shows and street races..
>..good advertising......Right, you're readin' me mind, my BFAM!
> please...just no dubs on the Miata..OK?
I promise!
Hey, call me crazy, but this is, I'm determined, gonna my first Miazda product.
Hey don't laugh! 'tis a damned good idea, and I'm gonna make it work!
Call the DNA Miata Connected To Life Kit!
Remove the passenger airbag and.. err, dispose of properly. Crap, see, there's the only downside of this. Liability for removing the SRS doesn't bother me. I mean, manufacturers offer 'off switches' now, right? But the installation. Man, I dunno if the Average Joe is up to a
project like that, or no.
Anyway, screw the legal BS! This is too good an idea NOT to do! Puts the radio right at your fingertips:
Think about how techno-gizmodo folks are goin' today. I'm betting that there's a hard core of 'em that, when they understand they can have their GPS Unit, Blackberry, iPod, etc. (and multiples thereof! Imagine this setup with THREE stalks poppin' outta the dash!!) at their beck and call. And that all they've gotta do is lose the SRS and have this kit professionally installed.. well, I'm bettin' they're the kind with the disposable income that will let them overlook the $1,299 list price.
Hey, some might buy it just for the gimbal-mounted cupholder!
Seriously, I'd do this right. Minimum design criteria are;
1- Bay door to have pop-open, fold FW and down, locked tray-table capability, but will also be
2- easily removable, with no tools, and be capable of behind-the-seat storage
3- When closed, bay door will offer little or no indication it's anything other'n an OEM airbag
4- Minimum of three attach-points for the RAM Mounts and..
5- A custom foam box that will custom-fit The Space Formerly Occupied By The SRS Airpag, and gently coddle the Yuppy's electronic gizmos, when they're stowed.
That last's going the extra mile, and will make for a pro look, I think. And yet it costs pennies.
You DIDN'T laugh, right?
I dunno. Remember, I'd do this in my typical overkill fashion. Solid machined-from-Titanium-billet hinge brackets and RAM Mounts, good step-by-step photo instructions, etc.
Whaddaya think?
-Ricky
Messages In This Thread
bizness stuff....
(views: 100)
(views: 15)
..(or 'wimpy', if we forget to be PC ) to lose the airbag.
But 'tis a much inferior solution, IMHO.
First, there's no solid mounting point behind the location of your smaller circle. That's all thin plastic and, oh yeah, some cars have optional gear already installed there from the factory. To make this work you'd have to engineer some kind of stout bracket that tied into the main dash frame (This RAM Mount gear requires solild-as-a-rock attachment!), and that would NOT be easy. Would, in fact, probably require the temporary removal of the airbag to install it!.
The second, larger circle is little better.. yes, there IS a metal bracket behind the plastic there. But it's a cage that holds your HVAC controls, your radio, and some vent ducting. Start bolting things there, you'd interfere with the fitment of that gear.
Third, not only can't this layout be 'stealthed', as can mine, but
4- there's no storage space gained with your layout. You'd almost have to own
a Miata to really understand how key that last is. But, trust me, Extra Space
For Your Stuff is a very rare and precious thing for Miata owners!
Oh, and 5- (and don't underestimate how important this is to a certain kind of owner!) My system isn't a permanent mod. You could return the car to stock, unmodified condition fairly easily. Cut up that plastic/modify the underlying steel in the areas you indicate, and there's no going back. Not easily, in any case.
-Ricky
