you got quite a lady

 

Yes, I do thank you. I have another inspiration and will use her airbag as a fallback. I just measured the chrome flying m emblem on the back of her Miata and it is an exact fit for the logo on the wheel (2.25 X 1.75). So, I am going to order the emblem and see if I like it affixed over the current flat logo on the wheel. It will be 3D (only slightly raised) and the same size so I think it will look pretty cool. Upscale cars (think Lexus, Mercedes) have a raised logo like this on their wheels so I think I may be on to something here.

If not, the wife unit's airbag goes on the car

 

How much do the Miata steering wheels normally go for?

 

Usually in the $150 range without the airbag. There is a brand new one on eBay (without airbag) in the $190 range.

If you want one, just keep looking on eBay and on the Mazda Miata sites I posted and you'll find one.

 

off subject i have been reading through your 20b build thread, holy crap!!!!!!!! im on page 19 of 119. hows it running for ya? iff ur ever in central illinois let me know. i would love to see it, and you can check out my jdm fd (legitimate jdm (imported))

 

It's finally (sort of) on the road thanks to Jesus Padilla in Orlando. A few thousand more pages and you'll get to that part Drove the car up to Deals Gap Rotary Rally a few weeks ago and had a great time.

As the car was shooting flames out the back from a too rich tune, I took the car back to Jesus to fix the issue and to repaint the front and back bumpers. Also adding a little bling to the engine bay with some polishing and some powder coating. The painting is done so it will be a week or so before everything else is back together.

 

My chrome emblem came in and it is going to look great. I found out though the "flat" logo on the wheel is not exactly flat, it has a curve to it. So, I either had to shape the new chrome emblem to the curve of the current logo or do something else. As all of my specialty tools are packed away for the move to Asheville, I decided to remove the current logo and make a new insert for the wheel.

What I will end up with will look like this:



I did purchase the carbon fiber inset in the above pic from eBay. It is an inset for the chrome emblem I ordered. So what I will end up with is a pretty cool looking emblem for the wheel. Should stand out. Haven't decided if I will paint the carbon fiber black. The only other carbon fiber I have on the car is on the tail pipe exhaust guard so we'll see.

I removed the current flat logo from the wheel and found out the plastic under it was rounded also so I am going to use an razor knife to cut this away. This will leave me with an surface ring that is inset a bit so the new logo should fit very nicely. Will post up some pics in a few weeks as the part I ordered will take two weeks to get to me.

 

All the pieces to my project came together and I am very happy with the results. Will install the wheel on the car in a few weeks once I am back from vacation.

As a recap, I bought a Miata/Protege wheel off of eBay for $62. I then sourced an airbag for $50 off of a Mazda forum. I didn't like the scratches on the aluminum Mazda plate/badge on the front of the airbag so I decided to retrofit a 3D Mazda flying M logo on the wheel. I bought the chrome emblem for $20 and then scoured a carbon fiber insert for $18 total. Total cost for the wheel and all parts - $160. Compare that to the $400 - $800 for a RX7 Nardi or Spirit R wheel.

First, I removed the logo and found this:



I then used a razor knife to cut out the plastic middle. Sliced my fingers a few times before I found the best way of doing this - gloves and a putty knife to protect the airbag. Here is the result:



A few of the nicks around where I cut out were due to my stupidity but they don't show at all under normal light so I am okay with it.

I then cut out a plastic disc the size of the hole and used this as a mount for my chrome emblem. I used silicone adhesive to affix the chrome emblem to the plastic disc and I used two-way tape to affix the plastic disc and emblem to the airbag. Note I also used silicone to affix the disc to the airbag cover so if the airbag deploys, the chrome emblem and airbag cover will deploy properly. Finally, I bought a rubber o-ring and used this as a "sealer" around the chrome emblem. The o-ring gives the emblem a nice finished look. My end result?







Again, the flash magnifies the scratches I caused with the razor knife and also the dust on the emblem. In person, it looks great and I really like it. Will take pics once the wheel is installed.

 

FYI - There is a killer deal on a Miata steering wheel on eBay. The wheel is $39! Looks like it is in okay condition. Might just need cleaning.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MAZDA...#ht_573wt_1591

Buy one of the airbags and you are good to go for under $200 total. That would be a steal.

 

wow!! great heads up......thanks dude.

Too bad it doesn't have the cruise control buttons

 

Yes, but neither do the RX7 wheels. You have to go the Miata/Protege route for this.

 

So I now have the wheel installed and am loving it! For me, it's a very nice upgrade to something more modern looking.

Before:


After:


As I have previously posted, my total cost for the wheel, airbag, and new modified Mazda center emblem was under $160, compared to $400 - $800 for new FD wheels. I also have working cruise control which I don't believe is available on the FD wheels.

I want to thank Brent for his write up on the other forum which was invaluable to the wheel install. We reused all of the old FD connectors to make the job easier. All connections are crimped and Raychem shrink wrapped. It did take us about 2 hours to complete the job. As we wanted to reuse the old FD connectors, this took some time to be careful so we didn't damage them. We then had a bit of an issue fitting in the FD connectors into the back of the Miata airbag. The FD connectors are pretty large and are positioned to the lower left of the FD wheel in a space that is not available on the Miata wheel. With a little cutting of the FD connectors (the parts not used by the Miata wheel) we did finally get it all to fit. I guess it might have been easier to cut the connectors off and just splice the wires together but I think we ended up with a nice OEM quality job.

Pic of Angel, Kilo worker, reading Brent's instructions:


Side-by-side comparison of the FD wheel on the left to the new Miata wheel on the right. The Miata wheel is smaller in diameter to the FD wheel and IMO feels much better when driving:

 

FD connectors on the Miata airbag:


More connectors:


Snipping plastic connector pieces so it will fit:


Note the trimming on the top part of the blue FD connector:

 

Installing the wheel:


Bolting the new wheel on. The FD wheel came off easily. We just wiggled it off:


That's it!

 

Someone asked if it would work on an FC...

It didn't for me. My buddy snatched a miata/protege wheel from a junkyard. It didn't fit his application, so he gave it to me.

My S5 TII steering column was tapered, round, and fairly large. I believe it had a shear pin to hold the wheel. The miata wheel's female had a tapered pentagon. We grinded a **** ton off the wheel, then decided it was sketch, and tossed it.

If you have an FC, It's not worth the try. I wonder if the steering columns are similar length and mounts? FD column -> FC?

 

Is that a newer Miata wheel? Do those not fit any more? It's not as original looking as the Nardi, but it has both the cruise and the stereo controls on the wheel.

 

That's a Mazda 6 steering wheel and it won't work.

 

the girlfriend has a nardi wheel on her 2000 miata i might steal it lol

 

I just did exactly as David and tried to hook up a protégé air bag, but I have a question. I hooked up the air bag correctly but my horn does not work. Was I supposed to hook up the wire from the orange connector to the red wire on the steering wheel?

 

You need to make sure the green or ground wire is installed and grounded to the metal. That is what makes the horn work.

 

Yes I took the green wire and connected it to the red wire on the steering wheel. From the looks of it the red wire is soldered to the metal in the steering wheel it self. Do you think this would be a sufficient grounding point? Is there a fuse or something that could have gone wronge?

 

oops! The connector on the horn itself fell off, alls well now.

 

What are you guys using to clean your steering wheels with, mine his showing quite a bit of age.

 

Meguiers leather cleaner for me. It's the stuff in the black bottle.

 

Anyone have some pictures that work? I just got a 2003 Protege wheel and want to install this.