Loz's MX-5

Well here's the replacement for the MG ZS, she's a 1995 UK spec 1.8iS 5 with a confirmed 69,000 miles on the clock, 2 lady owners the last being a MX-5 OC member from new & full service history from new including all the receipts & MOT's. The sills have been repaired in the past but have been done to a good standard. The paint work is good for a 17 year old car but could do with a little tidy up although I am thinking of a respray in Honda pearl white. I love the OEM wheels & they are in good nick but I will get them refurbed this winter.

Some quick pics...

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Engine the right way round & proper wheel drive. :amuse: Sticker on the slam panel confirms cam belt was done 2010 at 67,000 miles.

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Full tool kit including a pair of pliers a screw driver & spanners, though I've not found the jack yet.

Got a few bits stocked up already too... :amuse:

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Lightweight JDM spec yo! What is it with Jap cars having bare inner boot lids. Even my mates Evo 8 MR has nothing, how much was that car new!!??
 
Lol it true, I love the story about the Toyota MRS, the story goes that the MRS didn't get a boot because the designers didn't want you the customer upsetting the balance of the car. It's probably chuff but I like the story. :D

I think I'll have someone make me up some carbon fibre inserts so I don't do it again!
 
Prince said:
If it's any help I know of a decent body shop in London. I know that's a bit of a treck though!
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Thanks Prince but I think I'll try & find someone local. I've done the long distance thing before & I've had enough of driving for hours & then having to get the train home & back again, I think I'm getting old. :embarrest::lol:

So older MX-5's gear change can get rough/ notchy over time & the console starts to get warm the usual reason is that the two gaiters around the stick perish with age & the rubber hardens & gets brittle.
Fortunately the parts are easy to access & replace. :D

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Whipped out the centre console to reveal the first gaiter, as you can see it's seen better days.

Remove the gaiter, it's easily done there are four bolts the thing pretty much disintegrated around the gear stick.
Now the second smaller boot is also in equally bad shape this ones job is keep the oil in the turret.

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Whip that off & you can lift out the gear stick, making sure you put it in neutral at the start, revealing the oil reservoir full of dark manky oil.

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I used a syringe & a length of plastic tube to remove old oil, the oil was full of microscopic metallic particles.

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New lovely clear gear box oil in.

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Pulled the old components of the gear stick cleaned it up & replaced with new boot & nylon spacer doohicky on the bottom.

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Better!​

Quick test drive revealed a lighter gear shift & even though it's improved it can still be a little notchy, possibly the clutch may be due for a change I shall have to find out.
 
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If the clutch does needs changing Loz will you replace it with an OEM item or a performance upgrade version?
 
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T9 man said:
If the clutch does needs changing Loz will you replace it with an OEM item or a performance upgrade version?
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Indeed Sir I will be, along with a lighter flywheel. I've also got a full length braided clutch line & new slave cylinder to replace the 17 year old one when at the same time. :D
 
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Went for a blat up to Cheshire today to see the guys at Blink Motorsport & get the old girl a full geometry alignment on their rather spanky Hawkeye rig.

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Initial readings proved the car was all over the show probably never having had a proper alignment in it's whole 17 years of being on the road. The front wheels had no camber at all & the left rear had masses of camber (well spotted Waynne) & the right rear had almost none!

The Hawkeye rig can also measure just about any aspect of the car in relation to its wheels, Rick showed me how you can see how the front & rear axles sit in relation to each other & how parallel they are too. The operator Rick said he was dreading the day when he gets a car on the rig & has to the owner the chassis is bent like a banana! :lol:

The only downside to the Hawkeye is it's a little too accurate & you can end up chasing hundredths of a degree for no reason. :lol: That said I'd take too accurate to not accurate enough any day of the week.

I let them choose the best set up for road driving but they would have happily used my own settings had I any, or could have dialed it in for my own driving style ie. make the backend more likely to step out for sideways fun etc.

It was great talking to them & the really appreciate it when people make the effort to drive a good distance for their services, I've come away more knowledgeable & I have one or two things to ponder for the future. ;)

I'll definitely go back there & I've got the promise of a mug of tea if I'm ever in the area. :amuse:
 
Haven't had a good drive to tell yet, came home in heavy rain and traffic yesterday. I shall find out on my run to work tonight. :D

I didn't go mad on the settings because I wanted to get to know the car properly first. I'm hoping to do some car control days in the near future too. :D
 
Good plan. Few MX-5's at Rockingham, mostly track beaters though. Went well in the corners but did see a couple facing the wrong way lol.
 
Yay! Got round to fitting my speakers.

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Goodbye 17 year old tired speakers.

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Hello new spanky blue ones. :amuse:​


Bought a pair of Blaupunkt Blue Magic TL170's fitted them on a 6mm mdf spacer & used a pack of 10x10 Dynamat on the door. Finally Gorillaz, Dare sounds like it should!
 
Nice mate,

Always good to have a banging stereo...do you recommend these speakers then? I want to replace my front door ones because the sony ones i bought years ago aren't as good as the rest of the stuff..... so would be nice to know :)

Looks good all the same the car does mate.. really nice... enjoy it :)
 
jarrus said:
Nice mate,

Always good to have a banging stereo...do you recommend these speakers then? I want to replace my front door ones because the sony ones i bought years ago aren't as good as the rest of the stuff..... so would be nice to know :)

Looks good all the same the car does mate.. really nice... enjoy it :)
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Cheers mate. :D

I've bought lots of brands over the years and I've always been impressed with Blaupunkt kit. The speakers sound great and are a huge improvement over the old ones and they didn't cost the earth either. I'm impressed with the Dynamat as well, its the first time I've used it and there's a discernible improvement in the lower frequencies.:D
 
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Just booked the car in for the 6th of July for something very exciting, but I'm not going to tell you what until I get it back a week later.
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Loz said:
Initial readings proved the car was all over the show probably never having had a proper alignment in it's whole 17 years of being on the road. The front wheels had no camber at all & the left rear had masses of camber (well spotted Waynne) & the right rear had almost none!
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Booya - I'm good! I bet it's much more fun that everything is properly set up.

What's next then and what is your long term plan?
 
Loz said:
I won't tell you the main bit but it will include an Exedy clutch, an 8lb flywheel & a full length braided clutch line. ;)
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That's just crazy talk! :blink: You've only had the car a pair of minutes and already its starting to look more and more like a potential monster is developing :blink: Keep up the good work buddy :bigsmile:
 
jarrus said:
Does this mean that there will be more power involved in the future then?
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May be a little, as far as I can tell from the cars history it's still on it's original clutch & talking to someone on the phone confirmed my initial suspicions that it's on its way out.

waynne said:
Booya - I'm good! I bet it's much more fun that everything is properly set up.
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It's definitatly made an improvement & as a bonus it's nice to know all the bits adjusted did so easily & didn't seize or fall to peices. :amuse:

waynne said:
What's next then and what is your long term plan?
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Not telling. :amuse:

T9 man said:
That's just crazy talk! :blink: You've only had the car a pair of minutes and already its starting to look more and more like a potential monster is developing :blink: Keep up the good work buddy :bigsmile:
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...& I've already spent more than I've paid for the car. :embarrest:

jarrus said:
Turbo? Supercharger?................

V8?.....................

All been done before....
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I'll be keeping it simple & everything that's done will be to improve what's already there while attempting to keep its drivability... although a V8 does sound tempting & front sub frames can be bought ready made for the job. :amuse:
 
T9 man said:
That's just crazy talk! :blink: You've only had the car a pair of minutes and already its starting to look more and more like a potential monster is developing :blink: Keep up the good work buddy :bigsmile:
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He has learnt from the best! ;)
 
I think Prince is referring to the full kit, Jackson Racing & TR lane are make S/C kits for the Mazda & they both use the Eaton unit if memory serves me correctly, but there are also 5's running other makes too including Roush superchargers.

Prince, Just looked at the Downing Atlanta site & it says they've stopped making your kit looks like you were quite lucky to get one. :D

http://downingatlanta.com/downingatlanta/da_superchargers_new.htm
 
Rouch get theres from Eaton as well :) Eaton makes roots chargers, and they now do a line of Screw type ones as well,

Kenny Belle, Whipple, Lynsolm make twin screw,

Rotrex and Vortec make centrifugal
 
IMO Twin screw type superchargers are the best because they have the pros of the roots with more top end flow and less of the cons...

But the big con is price...they are expensive in comparison to a roots and centrifugal
 
jarrus said:
Eaton pretty much are the sole supplier of superchargers for the OEM market...

Mercedes , Chevy, BMW, Jag, VAG just to name a few....
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I know that! But the company Downing Atlanta also produce a Mazda supercharger (as well as the one they produce for my car).
 
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