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

[gm]

4 minutes ago, hairnet said:

why dis m9?

 

 it is registered as a new car so the first mot is after three years - by which point it will barely resemble the car which passed the iva ! 

[DVee8]

What a cracking drive out yesterday, the weather was just right.

Wrap up warm, was my instructions. I look like the Michelin man.

I have said for along time we have some of the finest driving road around here, and boy were they driven yesterday.

The  2 old dears sitting on the next bench along were somewhat bemused by the going ons, the Dutch couple in their gold  opel kadett were quite excited when we overtook them.

Then to round off a cracking day, many beers were drank.

[hairnet]

are ya in next sundi

[gm]

6 hours ago, hairnet said:

are ya in next sundi

working all weekend  

[gm]

during yesterday’s hooning, i managed to bottom out the Exo a couple of times - so i thought i’d better check underneath for any damage

hmm, bit of a scrape on the exhaust there 

i have a decat that i’m planning to fit so might as well take it off the car for a better look

hmm, that’s pretty bad

almost looks like a hole - better give it a prod 

bugger

fetch the mig 

fetch the grinder

add a sacrificial plate over the top

and then notice the true extent of the damage

yep, that’s fecked !

i’ll see if there’s any kind of warranty as it’s only been in use for a few months, only snag being i bought it off another exo builder, not direct from mev. 

if not, i’ve got a lead on a local custom exhaust place that may be able to help.

[gm]

in the meantime, here’s some pretty pictures from this afternoon’s hoon

(the gates were open and no one was about, how could i resist ?)

got to be a calendar shot there, surely ? 

 

seaton delaval hall

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/seaton-delaval-hall

 

[hairnet]

🤣🤣🤣

thats where i was going (and other places) on sundi

 

[gm]

7 hours ago, DVee8 said:

 

these lads were great, presumably father and son, they must have spent a good five mins having a good look around then called mum over from across the road, she seemed less impressed and dragged them away  

[hairnet]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275310287711?hash=item4019c59b5f:g:OW4AAOSwgzZd-SpS

 

 

 

[Mally]

The Stainless box will weld up easy. Happens all the time with Stainless.

Just needs a couple of triangular plates for extra strength.

My Robin Hood did the same.

[Matty]

Just now, Mally said:

The Stainless box will weld up easy. Happens all the time with Stainless.

Just needs a couple of triangular plates for extra strength.

My Robin Hood did the same.

Plus one on that. Useless fragile awkward shite. On the plus side its reasonably rot proof (dependant on grade), but other than that little to say for it (I work with it a lot cos paper Mills and wet humid environment. Makes you look like a welding god though!

[loserone]

I went over the top to Teesdale this afternoon, but I used the road a couple of miles to the west of the one you did.

Reckon the exo would be OK on this?

 

[hairnet]

did mammy get a go drifting it round 167 roundabout

 

[gm]

2 hours ago, loserone said:

Reckon the exo would be OK on this?

it wouldn’t just be the exhaust i’d need to worry about  does look like fun though 

[gm]

i wanted to keep the exo mobile - desperate times call for desperate action ! this is the standard mx5 exhaust i kept just in case 

might need that hanger ‘adjusting’

sorted !

ridiculous and probably not legal but will allow me to drive to the exhaust place without sounding like a bell end 

[gm]

but as it was pissing down, i chucked the broken bits in the boot of the mazda and headed for exhaust mania in bishop auckland 

looks like i’m in the right place 

do you do repairs, mate ? 

yes, very good ones, as it happens

i’m taking it back next week for him to weld in a flexi joint - he wasn’t happy doing it off the car, wants to get it perfect. 

i nipped into lidls on the way home and picked up a can of high temp paint, might as well get the centre section looking right before it goes back on 

https://m.facebook.com/100057579252971/about/

 

[big_al_granvia]

tig welded??? looks great

[gm]

11 minutes ago, big_al_granvia said:

tig welded??? looks great

certainly is, took him no time to do it, obviously a skilled chap.

when I went to the cash machine to sort out payment, I picked up a big box of donuts for him and the lads, seemed to be appreciated  

[big_al_granvia]

Wise move, pay the business and bribe the workers

[gm]

so with the back box repaired, time for some more hooning ! 

unfortunatley this involves being stuck behind a shit throwing farm tractor at one point  

i think i got off lightly  

many back roads were hooned upon then i somehow found myself in newcastle city centre - the new buildings up at the university are pretty impressive, better stop for a couple of pics 

i bet that looks even better at night, must go back with a decent camera

[gm]

and stopped for shopping on the way home

got the essentials in  

the beers were a bit foamy by i got home !

[gm]

a post appeared on an mx5 group from a lad down south who is restoring a mk1 and wanted a boot lid without a spoiler 

i jokingly replied i would swap mine if he didn’t mind a four hour drive  

turns out, he didn’t mind at all !

 

much better  

 

[gm]

when I first put the Exo together, I fitted a de-powered steering rack. this was fine but then I found a proper manual steering rack and fitted it instead. now I've done a decent amount of miles, curiosity got the better of me and I wondered which I would actually prefer (apparently the racing Exocets have a preference for depowered, slightly fewer turns lock to lock so a bit quicker)

so with some careful measuring 

I centred the depowered rack

centred the steering wheel

and 'clamped' it in place (this worked much better than it had any right to)

and whipped off the manual rack

and with a not unreasonable amount of fannying about, got the new rack on and set up with millimetre precision

only one thing left to do...

head for the hills and commence hooning

and the verdict is...

yeah, they're probably right - it's a bit heavier at low speed but it definitely reacts just that little bit quicker when pressing on, especially when the back end goes light on cold track tyres  

great fun !

 

 

[gm]

I was out for a drive a few days ago and it got dark earlier than I expected - not a problem in the mx5 with its futuristic led headlights but not so good in the Exo with its piss poor candles in a jar

even with night breaker bulbs, these just aren't much cop - time to find an alternative

look at these and try no to think of the Minions   a set of motorbike headlights might work, the bowl looks to be just about the same size as my current set up

one week later

should be a straight swap

not quite a straight swap but with a little bit of fettling

apply volts

more volts

they provide dip and high beam, not by clever optical manipulation or extra banks of leds but by simply driving the full array brighter

I'll knock the garage lights off and see how they look 

pretty good but how about the all important beam pattern that caused so much trouble at the iva ?

hmm, not quite what I was hoping for 

I guess I'd better keep hold of those 7" halogens, just in case !

bloody bright though  

I just need a combination of dark / not at work / not pissing it down and I'll get out there and test them properly

 

 

 

 

 

[gm]

dark / not at work / not pissing down occurred tonight so a night time hoon was hooned  

a dark section of empty road was obtained and i did my best to adjust the fancy new headlights 

and the verdict is : total pish ! 

they look to be pretty impressive in the pic but on an unlit section of dual carriage way doing 70* mph, they are woefully inadequate  same story on the back roads, the beam is too narrow so corners are pretty much guesswork. 

not to worry, there is a plan C (or is it plan D? ) 

watch this space  

on the bright side, the roads were empty and some decent hooning was done, at least in the sections with streetlights ! 

[gm]

a kit car group i am a member of decided they would gatecrash another groups meet on tuesday night

we met up at a shopping centre

and, in possibly the noisiest convoy ever, headed to a local pub to find we outnumbered the other group by 10:1 

so the one person who had turned up is now a member of our group too  

turned out to be an excellent evening, will certainly be back for more next year 

[gm]

a blast down the A19 in the dark amply demonstratored just how pish those headlights are - something needs to be done pronto 

[big_al_granvia]

way too narrow beam of light, raid the piggy bank and have a look at tweeks. shite legal halogens for the ministry man and rally lights for driving

[gm]

i stuck the old ones back on for now, they’re not great but better than the leds 

a suitable dark empty road was located for testing 

and then a cheeky hoon, just for the fun of it  

[gm]

with a track day tomorrow, i bought myself a bucket seat for the mx5

getting it home was fun  

all i need to do is swap the runners

which was a massive pain in the arse

after several failed attempts, i knocked up some adaptor rails

job’s a good ‘un

forecast is for rain tomorrow so i’ll be taking the mazda, the exo will have to wait until next year for its track debut