Woo Hoo! I just got my Miata back form the dealersip with brand new
carpet installed for free under warrantee!
Last year, at the Seattle National Tour, my gas pedal finally found out
how to take charge. It stuck to the floor on one of my final runs, that
was certainly shocking. fortunately it came unstuck after only about a
second or so.
In impound I pored over the car trying to figure out what happened. I
looked at other Miatas and asked "Um... has your gas pedal ever stuck to
the floor?" most of the Miata guys would shrug and say things like "I
dunno, it's hard to tell in one of these things".
The next week was the Seattle Pro. I figured the sticking was a one time
thing. I couldn't replicate it on the street. I went throuh the Pro just
fine. Qualified for the Challenge (woo hoo!) started advancing through
the challenge rounds just fine. On the quarter final round, my gas pedal
stuck entering the final slalom of my first race. It stayed stuck through
the slalom and through the finish. Very scarey. It happened again in the
final. I finished second , but not because of the sticking gas pedal. I
nailed a cone with the center of the front bumper of the car. D'OH!
At a later race, I devised a nice duct tape pad to prevent the pedal from
sticking. It looked like hell, but it worked great.
I later went to the dealer to have them fix it. They removed my duct tape
masterpiece and ordered a new carpet for me.
Later that week was a race. I had a codriver for this one. you guessed
it, the gas stuck on him. He came back to the pits looking a few shades
whiter than normal. :^)
Butt it's no longer a problem, because I have a new carpet. The car
needed vacuuming anyway. and that cat urine was starting to get pretty
ripe.
I'll be installing the duct tape gas pedal pad this weekend. I'm even
going to match the color on this one. The huge grey patch looked pretty
ugly.
Bret "no baling wire, yet" Dodson
'96 Miata R TLS # 27
Seattle, WA
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