Parts Parts Parts.. And vacation!

I've been absolutely awful about updates lately, for a couple reasons.

1, Sanding, sandblasting, de-greasing, and brake-parts-cleaning things isn't very exciting.

2, We also just got back from a week long roadtrip vacation in "Frog" our Miata up through Maine, New Brunswick, and around Nova Scotia, including the Cabot Trail. We had a great time, and thoroughly enjoyed the seafood!

Now that we're back, things are starting to come together.
We got our Group N motor & transmission mounts, TGV to intake & block gaskets, Injector seals, OBX "front" LSD, placed a massive Subaru OEM parts order- STi Oil pan, valve cover gaskets, CV joint boots, lots of exhaust related gaskets, etc etc.

We also have finally been making progress on cleaning up parts in a way that feels rewarding. All the calipers are cleaned and painted with the VHT caliper paint, which looks great!

 The axle parts are all cleaned out from LOTS of old grease packed in there. Hint: Degreaser & a rag first, then when it's almost all out, use WD-40 as a solvent to finish, it worked better than brake parts cleaner to thin the grease.

We also painted the OEM header with another VHT product.  Before & After:

We also took another trip up to FFR to check out the new options, sit in the 818S that wasn't available last time we were there, and see the new red R car.
We knew we needed to get a better idea of what to expect with the kit, and it was a valuable trip.

Things we figured out:

• Wipers are an option, not included. We'll probably have a go at setting up our own, but FFR's kit looks pretty nice.
• The trunk kit is decent sized, and most of the way ready. We'll probably make our own to fit around the AWIC kit that we've decided to go with.
• Body panels are not perfect, but they're pretty good. We think we'll be OK with some wrap.
• Seating and steering positions are pretty good for us, for me, I'll need a rather low seat mount to pass the "broomstick" rule. 
• Kits will be coming with the "old" gas tank for a while still.
• Shifter as delivered isn't mushy at all, if anything, it's a bit too mechanical feeling, it'll take some time to get used to. It also sits really high if you don't undermount it in the tunnel.