The Breakup (Miata build)

[drummingpariah]

Are you looking for a coupling nut?

EXACTLY what I was looking for, after several hours of puttering around on the interwebs last night, I found a decent-looking deal: $22.99 (plus shipping) for 70 7/16x14, 1.75" long coupling nuts. If that isn't enough to last me through every project I currently have imagined, I'm doing something wrong.

[walterclark]

Not as good per piece, but if you only need 2...http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/de ... ngMachine=

[drummingpariah]

Looks pretty good to me, but these are useful enough that I don't mind having spares on-hand. I have so many stainless m6 fasteners it's not funny - at some point I just got sick of trying to order the right quantities of the right fasteners. I've been accused of going overboard when solving certain annoying problems. I'm a software developer and systems architect, so my whole life revolves around solving problems ONCE and never having to look at them again.

I'm consistently finding that ebay is the least expensive place to find hardware. Slowly but surely, my fastener parts bins are being filled with well-sorted stainless, and my electrical connector parts bins are being filled with appropriate ends. Someday, I might actually be able to make something without constant interruptions and having to order more supplies.

[KevinGale]

I've been accused of going overboard when solving certain annoying problems. I'm a software developer and systems architect, so my whole life revolves around solving problems ONCE and never having to look at them again.

I can relate. I'm a software developer also. Just the other day I bought $50 set screw kit because for the third time in three years I lost a little set screw and spent forever looking for it. No more! Now I'll just grab another from the kit.

[walterclark]

Slowly but surely, my fastener parts bins are being filled with well-sorted stainless, and my electrical connector parts bins are being filled with appropriate ends. Someday, I might actually be able to make something without constant interruptions and having to order more supplies.

You would think that, wouldnt you?

What I have found is buying fasteners in bulk almost assures I will never have a call for that size again. Buying 10 when I need 4 insures my next project will need 7, or I will finally locate the extras I bought the last time right after I get home with the ones I had to run out and buy because I couldnt find the extras.

(Insert something here about a substantial portion of my kids inheritance, and my shop space, being tied up in odd fasteners and obsolete auto parts)

Dont give up though. Someday one of us will make it work.

[Mopar 151w2]

Suurree we will yep. Soon as we get this next mess sorted out, and get the new Mc Master Metallic Replicator wired into the plasma grid......

We need to hit Ace Hardware (& Speed) up to be the series sponsor.

[drummingpariah]

Slowly but surely, my fastener parts bins are being filled with well-sorted stainless, and my electrical connector parts bins are being filled with appropriate ends. Someday, I might actually be able to make something without constant interruptions and having to order more supplies.

You would think that, wouldnt you?

What I have found is buying fasteners in bulk almost assures I will never have a call for that size again. Buying 10 when I need 4 insures my next project will need 7, or I will finally locate the extras I bought the last time right after I get home with the ones I had to run out and buy because I couldnt find the extras.

(Insert something here about a substantial portion of my kids inheritance, and my shop space, being tied up in odd fasteners and obsolete auto parts)

Dont give up though. Someday one of us will make it work.

One more reason makeitlabs.com is so appealing to me, a shared space is much more likely to have 'generic supplies' onhand ... in theory.

Suurree we will yep. Soon as we get this next mess sorted out, and get the new Mc Master Metallic Replicator wired into the plasma grid......

We need to hit Ace Hardware (& Speed) up to be the series sponsor.

The problem is that I can ALWAYS say 'one more tool' and every time I say it, I'm right ... until I need just 'one more tool'. I like the idea of sponsorship though, do we have a process in place to accept sponsors? I know we like staying reasonably low-profile, but I imagine it'd be nice to have some sponsorships to cover stuff like tows, insurance, ambulance, etc.

[Mopar 151w2]

A lifetime spent in the poor & dirty end of motorsport & technology have left me with a serious aversion to certain types of people - like several local examples of track operators who fancy themselves promoters, "all game"salesmorons, and a couple creeps on the jeebus channel.
So, you need somebody that speaks biz and marketing to do the approach - I may be able to suggest a few targets like Ace, and I know a bit about contingency sponsors. Eons ago, we used to sell trophy sponsorshios by class, and "Marque" awards, i.e. quickest VW, long distance, etc. We have no formal structure or rates 'cuz what does come in tends to go to event sponsorships by the clubs. Some discussion of this over the summer could be a good thing - we should have some idea of what the costs to us would be to handle sinage and the like, and what we can deliver for a sponsor.

[drummingpariah]

A lifetime spent in the poor & dirty end of motorsport & technology have left me with a serious aversion to certain types of people - like several local examples of track operators who fancy themselves promoters, "all game"salesmorons, and a couple creeps on the jeebus channel.
So, you need somebody that speaks biz and marketing to do the approach - I may be able to suggest a few targets like Ace, and I know a bit about contingency sponsors. Eons ago, we used to sell trophy sponsorshios by class, and "Marque" awards, i.e. quickest VW, long distance, etc. We have no formal structure or rates 'cuz what does come in tends to go to event sponsorships by the clubs. Some discussion of this over the summer could be a good thing - we should have some idea of what the costs to us would be to handle sinage and the like, and what we can deliver for a sponsor.

It's always a challenge to find the 'right person' to manage this kind of thing. I have no concrete ideas for any of this, I was just curious as to whether it's been discussed in the past. I've dealt with event promotion in the past and dealing with cost/benefit for sponsorship relationships, but I'm fairly sure someone else in the community would be better qualified to handle something like that. I see several problems with multiple clubs running each event, and trying to manage both club AND sponsorship relationships at the same time. I'd like to be a part of the discussion and perhaps part of the implementation, just don't expect any decisions to come out of me. I'll think on it a bit.

For now though, I'm just working on securing my hardtop in a way that makes sense. I signed up for a membership at makeitlabs and my quality of life immediately improved. Instead of waiting for the golden hour and setting up a welding blanket all over my (rented) garage space whenever I want to do any kind of metalwork, I can just drive down to Nashua with my plans and take care of whatever I need. In addition, instead of trying to do EVERYTHING with angle grinders and a little flux-core MIG (FCAW, if we're being technical), I have access to a half dozen welders, a bandsaw, a chop saw, a dozen various bench grinders, a half dozen drill presses, a mill, lathes, cnc laser and plasma cutters/engravers, compressors, powder coating and sandblasting cabinets, a hydraulic lift, and a 3d printer. That amounts to a whole new world of fabrication possibilities for me, and I like having the layer of separation between 'home' and 'shop' as well as having an extra set of hands available at all times. It isn't MY shop, but that's a fine tradeoff in my opinion.

I grabbed a few old parts I had lying around last night and started putting together a prototype for the adjustable hardtop side latch. So far it's going well, except that the coupling nuts I ordered were 7/16-14 and I needed 7/16-20 to interface with the rod ends I ordered from Summit. Too bad I didn't check all the details, but the same eBay seller has the correct coupling joints at the same price, so I ordered a lot of those. Hopefully they'll be in next week, and hopefully I'll be able to finish up the mounting brackets for the ends this weekend.

The basic dimensions are there, but I want to reinforce both sides of the rod end. I had some problems bending the aluminum stock I have available, and I'm no TIG expert, so I think I'm just going to put together metal brackets and powdercoat them for now. The only component I'm missing is the partially-threaded fastener that goes through the eyelet. Do those have a specific name I should be looking for?

[walterclark]

Just hex bolts. Most follow a sort of standard format for thread length versus bolt length, but in reality it is all over the place.

Here is a table from Bolt Depot that is typical: http://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-infor ... ength.aspx

Best bet is to talk to someone at the supplier about what they have versus what you need.