Things I Now Want
An old iMac and a cat. Why? This is why;
GabeXXX
Love/hate
I never take pictures of my cars. I constantly say I’m over it. It’s a love hate thing.
Thanks Henry for the picture of the Miata and for hosting it.
For the record…
I grew up in a very nurturing environment. I was raised in a family that was deeply rooted in Catholocism, and even went as far as becoming a confirmed Catholic myself. I used to believe in “God,” until around midway through high school, when I started to ask questions and think on my own.
That being said, the idea of not associating with a church is nothing new, particularly among my peers. However, there’s something that has manifested itself within my head. Being apathetic about everything does have its ups, but not showing any concern, feeling, or general care can show signs of immaturity. The older I’ve become, the more I began to care about what I never cared about. I’ve grown out, for the most part, of poking fun of religion in a childish manner. Instead, I try to have a more logical outlook, considering why someone would need this in their life, why someone needs “God,” or whatever a god would be for that person.
For what its worth, it simply isn’t for me. However, often times people put blame, rely, or seek help to a being that may very well not exist. Whether “God”, a god, etc, there is praise being sent to something/someone that isn’t. The same goes for those who are on the fence or who do not give the same logical thinking as others — poking fun at people because of what they feel is right never works.
We all have our own way of coping with things, and for some, it is to fall onto “God” when things are just too much to bear. We all need something to believe in. For some, it may very well be “God.” It could be music, art, nature…At the end of the day, we’re all different, yet all can abide by the same basic ‘rules’ to living. At the very root of any logical thinking person, values remain the same; be an honest, caring person. I’m sure that’s something we can all agree on.
Safe,
Gabe
Good Win Racing rollbar install
After having the Miata for 2 years, it was about time to get a rollbar. To my luck, the one day I actually look on Craigslist for local NC parts, I find someone selling their rollbar for a discounted price. I had to jump on it. This as detailed as I could get with the install and it can be done with simple enough hand tools, unfortunately I did not keep track of the sizes of the sockets in correspondence to the bolts.
Anyone that has been following this knows that I have just bought a set of FD Rx7 wheels along with a set of 225/50/16 Yokohama SDrives. The change in the car is literally night and day. I will include directions of what I did to install my rollbar. Also, to view larger versions of the pictures, simply click on the image.
Here is the Good Win Racing Bar. Included with the bar was a fiberglass piece that is meant to cover up the cutting that will be done for the trim pieces. It is not photographed here separately, rather, already installed at the end of the post.
Here are the dinky stock hoops that it will be replacing.
Start by removing the trim pieces. There are little circular clips that you can pry out with your fingers or a flathead screwdriver. Be careful as these are very easy to break. These clips are found along the backside of the seats. The plastic door sills pop right off, but require a little bit of force.
Next remove the hoop covers. The front portion pops right off, but you will need a screwdriver for the rear.
Behind the cupholders, simply pop off the plastic piece. This will expose two screws that you will need to remove in order to pop off the plastic backing. Also, in order to pull this off, you will need to remove the handle that releases the top when it is opened.
Now that you’ve removed the plastic backing, you will see the entire factory rollbar. Go ahead and remove the bolts, along with the seat belt guides.
Remove the bar. Before putting the bar in, you will need to get shorter bolts for the lower guides right above the base of the rollbar. The thread pitch for these bolts are 1.25, so you will need shorter bolts as the factory bolts WILL hit the new rollbar once threaded through.
The car looks so naked without any rollbars.
Here are the two bars side by side just to get a comparison.
At this point, you will simply reverse the process of unbolting the old bar. You will need to do some trimming, so tape up the bar as to not scratch it when figuring out how much to cut from the plastic pieces.
Once you’ve got everything marked off, cut away! It took my friends and myself a bit to get this portion done, but it will eventually line up. Don’t be afraid of making ‘ugly’ cuts as it will be eventually covered up by the provided cover.
Reverse the whole process of popping in the plastic pieces and tabs. It may not fit the first, second, or even third time, but with some patience and more cutting, it will fit just fine. Before popping all of the pieces together, make sure that the top can open and released properly to avoid having to uninstall an entire interior. After putting on the fiberglass cover, I had to make a couple of more trims, both to the plastic pieces and the cover itself. There are plastic rivets provided to help with the installation.
Here are some pictures of the finished product, along with some pictures to show the rear view.
Thanks for reading and happy motoring!
Safe,
Gabe XXX
FORTS!
Everyone that knows me understands that I’m pretty much a big kid. I like cartoons, I am still enthused by Legos, and apparently, I still build forts. I got really bored and was tired of writing my religion paper, so I built a fort in my dorm. If you don’t enjoy forts, then we’re probably not friends.
Before;
After;
‘I wish I could be like Peter Pan forever.’ Yeah, I wish so too, but if I can’t, I’ll still never lose my youth.
Safe,
Gabe XXX
