gm's unhealthy obsession with mx5s - squeezing in a few last drives before Exo goes into hibernation

[gm]

obviously a test hoon was in order 

oh yes, i’m liking this even more now  

 

[gm]

so i popped round to see me mam, she insisted on coming for a test ride

at 76 years old, she was surprisingly nimble getting in

ready for take off ?

and she was still smiling when we came back 

fortunately i didn’t have the camera handy to witness her graceful* exit but we both had a bloody good laugh about it 

[gm]

on the way home, i noticed a bit of a noise from the front of the engine - better check that out asap

turns out that 75% of the bolts holding the crank pulley on had made a bid for freedom 

lucky the last one didn’t give up out in the middle of nowhere  

i found some in my box of spares but managed to shear one when tightening them up 

time to go shopping (but not at mx5parts prices)

i’ll see what the mazdadudes down in darlington can do - they’re usually very helpful.

in the meantime, i’m hoping that the three that didn’t snap will stay put with a good dab of loctite on them

[gm]

and as it is apparently quite warm today, i took advantage of gods air conditioning 

everyone seems to love this thing - loads of waves, thumbs ups, chats at traffic lights, an old boy came over when i was fuelling up and shook my hand ! he asked how much for me to build one for him - and he almost sounded serious until his wife beeped him to get back in the car   

 

 

[gm]

i came back via the Tyne tunnel but it was too busy for a proper hooning  

at least the website recognised my reg number

this surprised me 

i have NOT been taking it easy  

[loserone]

It's got added lightness, imagine what it'd be like with a B3 conversion 

[gm]

no way - i’m not putting myself through that again ! 

although i won’t rule out some sort of turbo / supercharger nonsense in the future  

[loserone]

That won't help the economy!

[gm]

i got in touch with andy at mazdadudes and he had a pulley in stock

hmm, a bit scabby, let’s see what we can do with that

first thing is that i only need half of the double pulley - the ribbed section drives aircon and power steering on the mx5

so some careful cutting with a thin grinder disc then a particularly dodgy set up to clean up the surface

a dab of paint and it’s good as new

except there’s a locating pin missing from the hub 

now where would i find one of them ? 

i didn’t expect this to work but

4mm pin as required

a drop of epoxy and we’re all set

all i need to do now is fit it to the car (but there’s a couple of other jobs i’ll do at the same time so will need to wait until next week)

shame no one is ever going to see it  

[gm]

that’s me off work for a fortnight so time to get busy with the spanners 

one crank pulley hub with snapped bolt

not a chance of drilling that out in situ, off it comes

no idea what the numbers signify but it looks the same to me

a fair bit of weight saved compared to the old pulley

while the radiator was out, i fitted the silicon hoses i bought back in may but couldn’t be arsed to do

the coolant is only a few months old but minging

thats it all bled up with fresh stuff and the fans are kicking in when they should, just to make sure i took my neighbour liam for a quick blast - as a former mx5 owner, he’s been watching the build with interest - and was very pleased to finally get a ride in the exo  

i’ll do an oil change at 1000km, i’ll be curious to see what that comes out like having seen what happened to the coolant.

 

[hairnet]

hooligan

what does mev stand for again?

[gm]

mills extreme vehicles apparently  

[hairnet]

will mam be nicking the keys and not telling you for a coupla days at some stage

 

[gm]

i’m not sure about her nicking the keys but she has hinted about having a drive, even just round the supermarket car park on a sunday after they close.

 

[gm]

i’ve noticed a few times that when i’m signalling to turn off a roundabout that other drivers don’t appear to see or take notice of me indicating - maybe the front mirrors isn’t the best place for indicators ? 

i had a look on ebay for something fairly discreet and again found myself looking at bike parts

certainly discreet once fitted

but pretty bright in use

i’m happy with that  

[gm]

while i was messing around with wiring, i fitted a high level brake light on the roll bar

also has indicators

not much use if you brake and indicate at the same time though 

 

[hairnet]

when yer on the a68 yer not gonna be doing them together tho

 

[gm]

7 minutes ago, hairnet said:

when yer on the a68 yer not gonna be doing them together tho

 

now how would you know i’d been there this afternoon ? 

[hairnet]

lucky guess

helmsley stokesleys bit far awa' like

 

[gm]

out and about in the Exo again today, i stopped for fuel and the chap at the next pump started reminiscing about his Dax Rush kit car that he built when he was younger - had a cosworth engine and could spin the tyres at 70mph ! 

then i had a nice run along the coast and stopped at the Sage in gateshead for some pics - a bloke who was waiting for his lift came over and was very enthusiastic about the Exo, asked me if he could have a sit in it for his photo taken ! then his phone battery was flat so i had to take it with my phone and send him it  nice bloke, although mildly pissed ! 

he chatted for a while then his lift arrived, and i got the pics i was wanting

 

[gm]

29th July 2020

29th July 2022

happy birthday Exo !

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Result on getting it on the road and the niggles sorted!

What's your wheel/tyre setup? Unusual to have gone for steelies when you're saving weight - they look the part though!

[gm]

cheers. the steelies are off a Bini, 15x5.5 with 195 50 15 nankang ns2r tyres, not particularly heavy at around 15kg inc tyre, i just like the look of them. they’ve got whopping big 35mm spacers on which won’t be helping matters but it drives pretty well  i may nick the alloys off the mx5 and see what difference it makes 

 

[DVee8]

I popped down to chat shite with @gm, and to take the Smart out for a spin. Coffee was drunk and we took the Smart out for a spin around the ring, the Waldridge ring.   I popped my Smart car cherry,You know it's alright for a little car.

Then @gm, noticed that it had stopped raining and the sun had made an appearance.

"Let's take the Exo out" I don't need to be asked twice. If you back the car out I'll lock up behind you. hahahhahahh. and so he did except I forgot to get out of the driving seat.

Out around the back roads we have around here, we have the best driving roads, heading back  home we encountered a Ford Fiesta ST , now this must have been a copy with a 1985 1.6 diesel engine in it, because if I had been driving it and an Exo came up behind me, I would have been off  "lets see what this has". But no, driving miss daisy.

It was that slow we ended up driving the ring again. Back to my house junior V8 came out for a chat that turned into a blast around the back roads, I said the Mark can you drop Ben off at his grandparents in the next street. Now FiL was a little pissed off when I turned up as MrsV8 was already there as he wanted to watch the football, till I said Ben was getting dropped off in the Exo, 40 mins he spent talking to Mark. Now Mark parked next to a brand new Porsche 911 Carrera targa 4s, the lad who owns it stopped in his tracks at the Exo and said I bet that's fun.

 

 

 

[gm]

we do have some cracking roads round here - shame that fiesta got in the way, @DVee8 was certainly enjoying himself  

With every mile, I'm getting more confident in the way it drives - Ben was grinning from ear to ear when i took him for a blast round the back roads, no miss daisy getting in the way this time ! 

 

[gm]

what’s going on here then ? 

that silhouette looks a bit different 

spoiler alert  

there’s plenty of adjustment, i shall tit around with it for the perfect angle 

i’m not sure how much downforce it will generate but (more importantly) it looks mental  

[DVee8]

Ahhhh much downforce for the back roads we have around here for MUCH hoooooooning.

[gm]

i’ve had my eye on a registration for a while now but it would appear that some chump has bought it  

this chump !

how good is that ? 

 

[MorrisItalSLX]

Could this get any better?

[gm]

how about an illegal 3/4 size stick on plate for the front ? absolutely