NB HVAC + Bucky Update

Bucky Interior

Bucky Interior

Here’s someone who’s not been on the blog for a while. With moving my house and shop, little Bucky hasn’t had much action lately. Also, the not commuting anymore has me pretty much reaching for Sharka’s keys any time the need to drive presents itself.

But I’ve worked a bit on Bucky lately and he needs the spotlight.

You might notice the steering wheel. I missed my tiny Prototipo. The feel, the 310mm size, the SMELL of that old leather. It’s lovely. I’d never tried it in Bucky, so a few minutes of swapping bolts later, we were scooting around with a wheel more suited for a kart than a real car.

heh, “real car.”

And that meant I had no more view of Bucky’s gauges.

Enter the Prototipo gauges.

Enter the Prototipo gauges.

Beautiful Asymmetry.

Beautiful Asymmetry.

When I first got this wheel and put it in Sharka, I designed a set of gauges to work with it. I (very imaginatively) called the gauges “Prototipo.” The zero points on the speed and tach are rotated to give the most view through a small wheel. The rotation feels a bit odd at first, but it works great. Your brain gets used to 80 being at 6:00 pretty quick.

I have a ton of gauge clusters rattling around the shop and garage. I grabbed a few of the worse NB ones and built up a nice NB2 cluster to hold an extra set of gauges for Bucky. I don’t know how long I’ll use the tiny Prototipo wheel, so putting them in a spare cluster seemed the best choice. Plus now I can swap the cluster and wheel into the car together whenever I feel.

So now Bucky has two gauge clusters and a fresh set of Prototipo gauges… but didn’t the blog title mention something about an NB HVAC?

BOOM!

NB HVAC panel!

NB HVAC panel!

The inserts for this little panel have been on my back burner for YEARS. I’ve tried to make them at least a dozen times. My machinery and materials were never up to the task before. Either the edges looked poor or the surface wasn’t strong enough, or it was too thing or (insert other problems here).

But my new laser cut Gen3 gauge materials and machines? Yeah. It works. At long last, the NB folks can enjoy a matching HVAC panel for their gauges.

Roadster HVAC

Roadster HVAC

The panel shown here is called the Roadster HVAC. This design is meant to be universal and work with any of my gauge designs. It was originally the ONLY design I had for the NA and there’s thousands of them out in the world. It was the first one I tried to turn into an NB design.

And I think it came out great! The panels are so small that there’s not a whole lot that can be done, design-wise, but even just swapping out old yellowed stock parts for fresh ones is can be a huge change.

Actually making these is… so annoying. The pieces are super small and hard to get into the printer. Takes forever. But being able to make them at all? SATISFYING. So very satisfying.

Bucky center stack

Bucky center stack

You can see the NB HVAC panel offerings at the revlimiter Store here. I’ve got four designs to start with and will likely have many more to follow. I hope they were worth the wait.

Time to zoom around in Bucky a bit more.

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  • Denny says:

    Hey man, I always loved your attention to detail. I truly look up to you and have to say you really have an eye for detail . Or ocd , if your like me , heh . It’s a. Crux.

    I’ve eye balled your build a long time ,

    I’ve had a few setups .
    My favorite was the old m45 . With a smaller pulley and I/c I was pushing a easy peasy blast from instant mash of the gas… I started to realize two screws are not cheap or easy to maintain and was kind of saving up for a solid turbo build .

    I’m looking for solid advice who has clearly invested a lot of time and money into an older car as I plant to do … please help me .

    I’ve always wanted to have a ls swapped miata it’s my end goal , at some point between countless hours budgeting and working with my shop we came across the jv6 miata kit from mini Tec ( little known fact that needs to be more well known , they offer a 3.6 or 3.8 dif gear.) any way 280whp lots of tq from a 3.5l Honda v6 with 36k miles .. Sign me up and I’m saving tons on my budget . I get to pay attention to all the details .. the interior is completely out atm and the motor hasn’t even been turned over yet. But I’m already all over the place ….

    How do you stay focused ?
    When it comes to a major build when do you know to really dot your i’a
    This is a street build first , daily.
    I’m choosing comfort and reliability on every decision.
    Hopefully will have enough left over for cosmetics ..

    Putting big money in these cars seems stupid but it’s such a passion …

    Any advice from some one like you would really make my day…

    Does nobody sell a set of just rings for each gauge chrome or black …

    Glass would be amazing . There’s no cheap way around this is their ?

    Found a cheaper round chrome shift ring from me gasket that fits perfect btw ..

    Steering wheels are grants durable ? I have my eyes on a nice retro suede grant do I have to spend a million dollars ? … I’m a fan of acantara call it what u want it’s juet microfiber faux suede it’s durable and feels awesome .

    What glues do you like ? If I was to cover say the tombstone in the faux suede … and maybe the gauge hood ..

    Seats… are any of the replacement covers actually any good ?

    Hardtop . What’s the best knock off ?

    Dash, is the na6 worth it in my na8 more room , spot for gauges .

    This got winded man . I hope to hear a response . My heads spining On this build … I have an exterior budget and a very low interior budget .. maybe you can relate ..

    Please help ..

    • revlimiter says:

      I managed to not see this till now. Sorry. Email is always the best way to get a hold of me.

      Easy and reliable power – a turbo is it in my experience. Specifically, the FM kit. It might be a bit more expensive than some others, but not having to constantly fix or tweak things is super worth it.

      Grant wheel – no. Sorry Grant fans. I’m not one. Look on ebay for a used Momo or Nardi from the 80s or 90s. They’re fantastic, sometimes inexpensive, and far better than anything sold today. $150 should get you an excellent wheel.

      Knockoff hardtop? Um. Get a real one. Sorry to be blunt. You’ll be able to sell it for exactly what you paid or maybe more. A knockoff hardtop may fit like crap and cost $600, where a used OEM one will be just a couple hundred more.

      I hate suede. It gathers dust and fibers in moments and looks terrible when not perfectly clean. I prefer any other surface finish to flocking or suede.

      As far as the other stuff… it seems like you’re trying to get the cheapest possible things on every item in your list. I’d suggest doing the opposite. Look for the BEST possible version of any particular item you’re looking for. You’ll only have to buy it once and it will last for the life of the car or longer. I have many parts I installed on my first NA still working and looking great.

      Don’t build in order to have a pretty pic to post on instagram. Build for you. Build for the enjoyment of driving.

      Don’t be in a hurry. Life is long. It’s not a race. Enjoy it. Enjoy building your car.

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