RB Type II Nose

I forgot to take a picture of it new in the box, so here it is in a test fit. The Racing Beat Type II nose costs about $500 with shipping (which has to be freight).	The nose I got was pretty clean, with some scratches but only a few bad ones. Others have complained about how rough theirs were and my buddy Harry's came cracked. Be comfortable with fiberglass work if you are going to do this job. I didn't want the Racing Beat logo so that was my first modification.	I sanded the logo out good with 80 grit and prepped it.	I used gel coat to fill it, but bondo would work fine.
Fiberglass resin is great to work with, but it smells!	Let's take off the OEM nose!	Remove all the lights. Two screws for each fitting and then just turn and pull the light sockets out the back.	There's a row of bolts along the top edge of the nose.
Two nuts are well hidden. Pull back the rubber cover to get at them.	The manuals say to remove the inner fender guards to undo these two nuts from under the car. But I just pushed the cover back and it worked fine.	Undo a couple of braces and you have the "skull" showing of your Miata!	Cool lookin' intercooler huh? ;-P
Test fit the new nose to make sure it is properly aligned.	Mine fit real well, but there was some mismatch between the fender and the nose. Easily fixed!	To adjust the fender to match the new nose, just loosen this bolt, move the fender, and retighten.	I wiped with a silicone and oil remover. Then I sanded the entire nose with 320, then shot it with a two part primer/surfacer. Make sure you use two-part EVERYTHING with fiberglass unless you don't mind star cracks around every rock ding!
Note I didn't get the the Racing Beat logo completely filled. Oh well, no prob...	This is the surfacer I used. I would have stuck with the full DuPont system, but the store was out of Fill 'N' Sand.	Hey, some guy was really NOT paying attention before shooting the surfacer!	This is TWO-PART glazing putty, not spot putty. Kind of like a smooth bondo.
The picture is blurry because I was trying to go fast before the stuff set up too hard. You have to be quick!	Ok, I found some more low areas.	Sand, sand, sand!!	Sand, sand, and sand again. Finish with 400 grit.
Note my high-tech spray booth. Two part paints flash so quickly that dust isn't too big of a problem.	Use good wipes and a final cleaner before spraying. Tack-rag JUST before shooting. I used an HVLP gun and the DuPont Chromasystem for paint.	First shot of base coat here. I should have shot nonsanding primer/sealer so the filler wouldn't blush through, but I just used more basecoat (not the optimal method in hindsight). You MUST practice shooting basecoat, particularly metallic. To little and it doesn't flow right, too much and it runs. If the basecoat runs, you will have to wait for it to harden and sand it off.	Here's a couple of clearcoats on. I did three or so and that gave me plenty of thickness to sand out any mild orange peel later.
Looks awesome,huh?	Some orange-peel is inevitable. Either you'll have it or you'll have runs...you can't win! In either case it isn't a problem if you have enough clear coat on. Just use 2000 grit with plenty of water.	Smooth and dull, just how it should look after the 2000 grit.	Some guys go to a machine for the last steps, but it's easy even by hand. I use Meguiar's Fine-cut followed by Meguiar's Swirl Remover, followed by 3M Hand Glaze. Whatta shine!
Now we need some hardware out of the old nose.	Unbolt the brackets.	Add them to the new nose.	I had to do a little fiberglass drilling to match a couple of holes. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN ANY BOLT ON THE FIBERGLASS PART!!! You'll crack the glass...
You'll need the side brackets too.	Oh yeah! That's what I like!	What's wrong with this picture? The black side sills make the car look nose heavy. Check out the Painting the Side Sills section to see how I fixed this [coming soon]. Sign the guestbook if you get a chance....