WTB: deployed NA Miata passenger airbag

[david.valeri]

I'm looking for the dash cover in black. If you have a deployed bag sitting around, I'd love to take it off your hands.

[ferris]

... did you set fire to your interior ... why do you need all these replacement pannels?

How did the passenger door pannel work out?

[david.valeri]

How did the passenger door pannel work out?

It is still sitting on my work bench.

I decided to replace the stock hardtop latches with the spec Miata plates. I got one phillips head bolt part ways out and said, this head is going to strip before this bolt comes out. So I went to put it back in. Totally stuck part ways out. So I took my trusty impact driver to it and it still wouldn't budge. By then the head was a mess so I went at it with an extractor bit. The extractor bit grabbed it hard and then just spun in the chuck. So I went at the extractor bit with a wrench and then the extractor broke. So then I drilled out the remaining part of the bolt and cleaned up the threads with a tap. Then I read on the Internet that Mazda used a generous amount of blue loctite, which is supposedly removable by hand tools, on all of the hardtop bolts.

I then purchased a pinpoint torch, since I figured my regular torch would set fire to the interior, and torched the remaining bolts. Once you smell burning, the bolts are ready to come out with a regular screwdriver. If an impact driver that can drive a 3-inch phillips headed wood screw through lumber without a pilot hole couldn't bust the bolt loose, I call BS on the hand-tools part.

Make a note that stuffing yourself into awkward positions in a Miata with burning hot metal pieces hanging overhead is not a fun way to spend a Tuesday evening.

So 2-3 hours later, I saved a pound or two of weight and spent twice as much money as I had planned to. So that is why the door panel is still sitting on my workbench.

[defylogik]

When we went to hard top brackets on the miata it took about 2 hours to get the factory screws out of the brackets. What i ended up doing was dremmeling in a channel into all of the screws and using a very large flat blade. Once they started to back out, i tightened them back in, then back out more, then back in. That was the only way to get them to come out without stripping the screw heads. Why mazda thought it would be a good idea to use phillips head screws is completely beyond me.

Wish i had that cover for you, but ours didnt have a passenger bag. Just thought i'd add to your pain though