well, you have exactly one year since this idea has already been posted on a public forum to file for that patent or your rights to it are gone. you can approach them with an idea without a patent, just make sure that you document thoroughly all communications to/from them, it really doesn't have to be as big of a deal as you think it does. but hey, its your idea

 

Legally, yes that's right.

But financially, any company will march right past you and steal your idea. Then if you cry foul, they'll say 'sue us, we don't care' since patent law cases are very difficult to win and expensive and they will outlast you. Nine times out of ten nothing will happen to them, and when they lose it's never as big as the money they made.

It's a mean and arbitrary game, patent law.

Dave

 

i just realized you said "cup holder"... wtf?!? you let people have beverages in your car? good lord man!

on a more serious note, would you settle for something that could drop into where the ashtray snaps into the center console? i could bring it up and over to the passanger side so-as to not interfer with the driver's elbow?

 

Whats missing from the stock FD?

Good lighting. Its an issue that keeps coming up, but only a few have done anything about.

I've solved my own problem, but for many FD owners the passenger hand grip is also a weak point- we can expand this to many parts of the interior as a whole.

 

if i were building a gauge mounted radar detector, i would put it in a pod that goes in the center channel speaker location - this is a good spot for a radar detector already, and i would definitely base it off of an escort or maybe v-1 detector. escort already has an awesome remote mount unit, shouldn't be too hard to bastardize, but you'll have to remote mount the sensors, so you're probably better off hacking up an escort passport 8500. if you use escort, i'll buy it for sure.

 

I wish I would have seen this thread earlier. I just tossed a radar detector in the trash that started giving me bad readings. It would go off all the time for NOTHING! I would have gladly donated it for tear down, I mean product research and design....

 

I wish too

 

What's missing from the stock FD?

.Nothing.







"Awwwwwwwwwe"

 

Scented exhaust fumes. French Vanilla would be great...but ill settle for potpurri or Orange Citrus.

 

This is possible. There are gas additives that you can add to a car w/o cats that can actually make your exhaust fumes smell like anything from strawberries to pie. (serious)

They sell it in the Summit catalog.

 

Sweet! Think it'll work on our rotarys? and will it hurt its performance id like to do a few runs at strip while maintaining my vanilla smell?

 

It would be funny to fail smog for excess vanilla emissions

 

Reliability?

 

check it out:
http://store.summitracing.com/eprodu...4914635+304323

I think I might try "Full Blown Bubble Gum"

 

First, an adjustable pedal set to replace the stock set:

1. allowing adjustment of the distance between the seat or firewall and the pedals

2. allowing adjustment of individual pedal height

3. allowing spacing adjustment between pedals

Adjustments 1 and 2 have the higher priority here.

Second, a telescoping steering wheel column.

I have no idea how to make these, or how hard it would be to make these, but I'd definitely like to have it all.

 

I'm actually thinking of making some adj. pedals. I seem to have a problem with tapping the gas while im hitting the brake with certain shoes because there so damn close. My father owns a machine shop so I'll prlly start here soon while my car is sitting for the winter. Plan on making them along with a few other goodies for my car.

-Alex

 

i'm not touching the steering column, i do not want to be responsible for someone's steering going out in the middle of a high speed pass or on their way to work.

 

and other parts, how about parts that mazda charges $$$ to replace?

I think I had the bracket for a clutch fork break once, it was cast and I wonder if it would of been more durable had it had been machined?

likewise the driver side exterior door handle. one of the flanges holding the pivot pin broke in both cases.

or how about a wire harness where the insulation and connectors can withstand underhood temps?

 

Tera Patrick

 

Great idea; best one here by far.

pugg57, do a quick search and check out the number of us who have had a clutch fork break. This is the perfect candidate for a machined steel part and would not be nearly as complex as some of the other ideas here. Without a doubt a stronger clutch fork is truly needed. I'd buy one.

 

alrighty Damon... does anyone have the left-over pieces of a broken one that i can use as a basis for modeling/dimensioning?

 

i wish the accelerator and break werent so close together....

 

how about a bell housing to mount a T56 tranny out of a SVT Cobra/Viper/Camaro/Firebird to get rid of the shitty Mazda 5th syncro (and if i remember correctly, people complaing about input and output shafts breaking)

 

what about machined sway bar mounts? i've heard that the stock versions are damn weak

 

Please make a tough and sturdy passenger interior grab handle. Mine broke like it was a breadstick. =(