Arya Ebrahimi

When are you guys coming back? Mazda, you realize my bday is tomorrow and you pass right by me http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/wink5.gifhttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif My parents will be in town, you should stop by and say hi, I'm about 10 mins off of 81 @ exit 118C in Virginia. Arya

One more thing, I would leave a few rivets in place as you go along so that the aluminum doesn't just come loose and flap around while you remove the rest of them. Just a few along the top edge so when you're done removing the rest of them, you can just go back and zap them out and have the whole thing come loose at once. I think it would minimize your chances of damaging the skin that way.

You might consider applying a thin foam weatherstripping to the aluminum where it contacts the frame. This will do several things. First, it will eliminate the possibility of any rattles, second it will prevent the aluminum from vibrating against the steel chassis and wearing the powdercoat off over time, and third it will prevent any debris from accumulating between the aluminum and powdercoat which would be hard to clean and would also cause abrasions in the powdercoat. You can get the weatherstripping at Home Depot and the like. I would use a weather stripping with an adhesive backing and stick it to the aluminum as I went along.

Looked them up for ya. They're available in black powdercoat and chrome from quadratec.com for 42.99 a pair, but there are cheaper places out there. I just wanted to show you what they look like. Also, the stock ones are plastic, whereas the aftermarket ones are steel. Link: >http://www.quadratec.com/products/13104_103.htm

You might consider scavanging the hood latches from a '97-current Jeep Wrangler. Should be able to get them from the junkyard pretty cheap, or if you want chrome, there is plenty of aftermarket for them too.

MP3 computer? http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smiley2.gif Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA I think he means the ECU, but I know he does have plans for a PC type computer as well. Mazda, you should make an indentation in the dash so you can put your hand around the shifter in 1,3, and 5 gears http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smiley4.gif Or reconfigure the shifter a bit. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smiley2.gif Are you gonna have the aluminum anodized or powdercoated or anything? I was thinking black anodized would look really cool w/ maybe a brushed texture. That might be $$ though, dunno. Arya