Have I Over-Powered the Miata???

If stickers add more horsepower, than this post is all about POWER!  This past weekend I did some vinyl work on the Miata while waiting for more parts to arrive before this coming weekend's major maintenance session.  A while back someone asked if I would black out the A-pillar (windshield frame) when I did the Mazdaspeed's graphics.  At the time I wasn't too keen on the idea, but since then it's grown on me as I've seen more cars, like the Club Sport edition of the last year of the third generation Miata.

Grabbed some blue electrical tape laying around to mark off the first cut without permanently damaging the vinyl.

I started off with a 36"x60" sheet of gloss black 3M vinyl (the good stuff).  I used some window cleaner to get the big bug chunks off the glass and wiped down the painted surface I was about to apply the vinyl to.  I could have prepped the surface even better, but it was only going to get so good on this car.

Big sheet of extra vinyl left for more decals!

I placed it on the windshield, mapped out a rough cut to remove the material over the windshield for re-use but left enough room for error around the frame before using painters' tape to keep it in place.

Almost done, lots of spare bits laying around, but beats prepping and cleaning up from spray paint!

Starting on the passenger side, I carefully peeled away the backing and started applying it to the painted area and worked my way around, smoothing it with a small squeegee as I went.  I cut away big areas of excess with scissors and then followed up with an razor blade to get the final cut.

Top down. Looks like a nice fresh coat of paint, but as easy and mess-free as a sticker!

As I worked around I realized that the vinyl was stretching and laying not quite how I intended, even with the excess amount of vinyl available.  I made a seam right at the center of the top of the windshield and had to make a couple of small patches by the time I got to the bottom of the driver's side frame.  Looks good enough from 10 feet!

The black frame helps blend in with the black soft top when up.  Hoping to add a black hard top to the car for track days.

At the supreme risk of over-powering the tiny car, I've got a boat-load of stickers from all of the different suppliers that I've been ordering parts from for the car.  The exponential power increase from these decals alone is frightening, so careful attention will need to be placed on where to locate all of these. I've got a few more local places I'm hoping to add.  Brace yourselves.

Racing Beat, 5x Racing, 949 Racing, SCCA, Mazda / Mazdaspeed, Good-Win Racing, and a couple fun ones. Hoping to add Panic Motorsports and Pro Auto soon.