"Arrivederci" (arrividerci)
11/22/2019 at 09:47 • Filed to: None
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"Arrivederci" (arrividerci)
11/22/2019 at 09:47 • Filed to: None | 0
| 9 |
Two (mostly aesthetic) needs my 2009 Miata has include a replacement top and new front bumper cover and both will arrive around the same cost of about $1000. Which should I do first?
Small boi at work
I’d be upgrading the OE vinyl top with a Robbins canvas top, so it’ll be a nice upgrade there. The front bumper was repainted at some point in the car’s life and the paint match isn’t even close. It’s a much brighter white than the stock Marble White on the rest of the car. My plan with any NC I bought would be to upgrade the front bumper cover to that of the NC3 Club, which looks like this:
I think it modernizes the car nicely and since I have a NC2, it requires less parts than the NC1 for the conversion. It’ll net me an updated car and a paint matched bumper.
I patched the top with a vinyl repair kit and since it’s parked in covered parking that’s not a huge deal, but a new top would be a nice upgrade to the car. Additionally, the updated bumper would be a nice upgrade as well. My wife has approved the top and I think would approve the bumper in lieu of the top. I strongly doubt she’d be in enough of the holiday spirit to let me do both!
Which would you pick?
Tripper
> Arrivederci
11/22/2019 at 09:56 |
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Top first, get it out of the way. I feel like the bumper is more visually rewarding
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Arrivederci
> Tripper
11/22/2019 at 10:02 |
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That’s my lean as well at the moment - it’ll be visually rewarding as well to get rid of a faded vinyl top with a nice black cloth one. I’ve already got a shop lined up to install it too.
wkiernan
> Arrivederci
11/22/2019 at 10:03 |
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I’d do the top first, but then I don’t have covered parking and I live in a place with a lot of rain (Florida).
Are you planning on installing the top yourself? I don’t know about replacing the top on an NC, but I do know that it’s quite a task on an NA or NB, and there are lots of ways to screw it up. When I replaced the leaking top on my ‘04 Miata I had a pro do it, which was expensive but the top fits perfectly.
Also, see if you can get a top where the rear window unzips, if they make such a thing for the NC
. That’s a nice feature, that gives you that top-down feeling even when it’s raining.
412GTI
> Arrivederci
11/22/2019 at 10:27 |
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I was going to say bumper first since you have covered parking. However, that might be a rewarding upgrade down the road after spending some time with it. Idk I guess, but I do love the look of that Club bumper.
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Arrivederci
> wkiernan
11/22/2019 at 10:36 |
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Hell to the no on doing it myself. I have covered parking but not a garage, so I can’t afford to not get it done quickly. Tops are also pretty expensive, so I’d want to get it installed by someone who knows what they’re doing so as not to potentially ruin it.
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Arrivederci
> 412GTI
11/22/2019 at 10:37 |
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I love the Club bumper too and I wouldn’t even be thinking of it if the paint match wasn’t rather bad and the repaint on the bumper is also of poor quality (it’s chipping in places). But I think the top is the right call.
Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
> Arrivederci
11/22/2019 at 11:04 |
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Top. The bumper is an aesthetic thing. Even though you fixed the top , what if it leaks again? IMHO this is an easy decision. Get the top. If you still want the bumper down the road you can get it, but in the meantime you won't ever have to worry about the what if with the top again.
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Arrivederci
> Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
11/22/2019 at 11:21 |
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That’s certainly a fair point - I probably also should’ve clarified that this is a third car for me, so I have the option of not driving it in rain and leaving it under covered parking at home. But I do think getting the top taken care of is the right call.
Captain of the Enterprise
> Arrivederci
11/22/2019 at 15:13 |
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Probably top, you don’t want moisture getting into your interior and molding in there.