.
==================================> THE NEW EO2K <=============================

Table of Contents
Page 1.... Meet EO2K
Page 2.... Hit the Road, Jack part I
Page 3.....Hit the Road, Jack, part II
Page 4.....Interior Mods, step-by-step
Page 5.....A Day At Brainstorm
Page 6.....Graverobbers!
Page 7.....Revolution Orange
Page 8.....The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of The Ding
Page 9.....Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Page 10.....Scotty, I Need More Power!
Page 11.....The Great Cam Slam
(Coming soon...)

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MEET MY MIATA. I call her EO2K (that stands for Evolution Orange, Year 2000). The original EO2K was a project car of Miata Magazine a few years back, headed up by then-editor Alan Paradise. He put his heart and soul into making that car the best orange Miata money could mod. Alan was an invaluable aide and commrade in the search for my very own Evo Gold Miata (as it's called in Europe), and when I finally got mine home he was kind enough to officially pass the EO2K torch to yours truly. Over the months (and probably years) to come, I'll be slowly turning this precious hunk of metal into something even more engaging than she already is. Every step of the journey will be brought to you here and in color (and in stereo where available). I hope you'll join us for the ride and make your comments known in the guestbook! -- Mojo

Here she is at Lake Hollywood Park in - you guessed it - Hollywood. California, that is. Movie stars. Swimmin' pools. Pimps. Junkies. Miatas.

See? I told ya - Hollywood! Man, that Evolution Orange paint sure looks nice in the California sun. Mazda should have named it California Gold! Maybe then they would have sold more than 644 of them.

My tan leather interior. Goodies I added were the chrome vent & climate control rings and a Voodoo shift knob (the ball feels great in your palm and makes shifting seem more precise). The previous owner added the white gague faces and steering wheel wrap. Note the Kenwood MP3 player. Yes, kids, you can replace the Bose head unit. Don't even need any adaptors, it just plugs right in. Changing the amp and speakers, however, is a major chore. The new head makes the Bose system sound almost good enough! [see page 4 for new interior mods]

She really looks like a classic, here. A nice, happy, friendly and - dare I say it - elegant car. The orange paint really does take on a life of it's own. And for those of you who think it looks like a girl's car...

...this chick's got balls! Ah, the many faces of a Miata. It all depends on the angle, folks.

From the back. Yes, I illegaly drove my car onto the grass because it made for a better looking picture. I did feel sorry about killing a few hundred, perhaps thousands of stalks of innocent grass, but look at it this way - Most lawns live and die in relative obscurity. At least this patch of grass has now been immortalized! Fauna of the world, rejoyce.

Holy smokes that car shines like the sun! How did he do it? First, I washed it with a healthy dose of Ivory dishwashing liquid and water (the acids in the soap stripped off all the previous wax, insuring a squeaky clean surface to start with). I then used Mother's clay bar to weed out any remaining dirt and impurities in the paint. Next was Mother's glaze & sealant to bring out a shine and finished off with Mother's Carnauba wax. And by Mother's I mean the brand, not my actual mom!

Here's a close-up of the paint. The whole cleaning process took about 5 hours over 2 days. Sure was a good workout, but thankfully you only have go through all this trouble maybe twice a year. The rest of the time I just wash it every few weeks. HINT: Most cars get dirty through the accumulation of daily dust. By taking 30 seconds a day to go over it with a California Car Duster (or similar product) it can stay looking just-washed for weeks. Thanks a ton to all the folks at the Miata.net forum for teaching me how to clean a car the right way.

Ah, is it even possible to get tired of looking at this beauty? It took me nearly six weeks of hunting all over the country to find a 2000 LS Evo Orange in this kind of like-new condition. Where did I finally dig it up? Rhode Island, of all places. And get this - she only had 12,000 miles on her. Perseverence sure pays off! Of course, I had to drive it all the way back to LA, but that's a story for page 2...