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

[gm]

works well on a vinyl roof, I usually set fire to the polish in the tin so it melts and goes on nice and smooth. 

[Jim Bell]

That's definitely better than setting fire to it after its been applied.  

[paulplom]

Will it work on my fabric roof?

[gm]

5 hours ago, paulplom said:

Will it work on my fabric roof?

I think you need to buy the proper stuff for a fabric roof - renovo from mx5 parts - although there's probably stuff you can get to waterproof tents etc from a camping shop that would work just as well. I wouldn't do yours in boot polish though, could get messy  

[gm]

10 hours ago, gm said:

works well on a vinyl roof, I usually set fire to the polish in the tin so it melts and goes on nice and smooth. 

be careful when handling molten boot polish ! 

clumsy get  

[paulplom]

It's gone quiet. Any progress?

I'd hate to think you were lying stuck underneath with a gearbox on your head.

[djoptix]

On 7/29/2020 at 10:58 PM, gm said:

One more pic from today - this has to be the most picturesque industrial estate in the land - seriously, this is the view from Exocet HQ ! 

 

I have done a gig in that church

[gm]

17 minutes ago, paulplom said:

It's gone quiet. Any progress?

I'd hate to think you were lying stuck underneath with a gearbox on your head.

progress has been........well........a bit shit, really  

 

 

no updates yesterday as I didn't want to be posting in a bad foul mood - I spent the day stealing the Torsen diff off the mx5 which turned into a pig of a job - a good couple of hours got me this far

thats the power plant frame off the mx5, not the one off the kit - took a lot of dismantling

the two prop shafts are of differing lengths, I was expecting that

but what I wasn't expecting was the Torsen output flanges are wider apart than the Viscous flanges

which means the half shafts also have to come out. 

keen viewers may recall that when I was doing the CV joints, one half shaft was stuck in the hub  

so that needs swapping over too. but it has one of my nice new pollybushes fitted - I'll need to order a replacement for the swapped over hub now (can you feel my mood darkening ?)

after a lot of effort, the vlsd is fitted to the mx5  but by this time I was really fed up, then it started pissing down and I was working outside. I got the mx5 down off the ramps (no exhaust fitted yet, sounds dreadful) and chucked the tools in the garage

went to shut the garage door and knocked over one of the ramps which couldn't just land on the floor, could it ? 

on no, the little bastard took a chunk out of the freshly powder coated exo frame

I'm sure you can imagine just how angry I was at this point (the neighbours probably don't need to imagine)

so I locked up and opened a beer

fucking cars ! why do we bother ? 

 

 

todays tasks - fit an exhaust to the mx5 and start wire wheeling the diff etc ready for paint. 

my (frankly ridiculous) plans to have the chassis rolling by the end of the week are well and truly stuffed. 

 

 

[Fabergé Greggs]

8 minutes ago, gm said:

progress has been........well........a bit shit, really  

 

 

no updates yesterday as I didn't want to be posting in a bad foul mood - I spent the day stealing the Torsen diff off the mx5 which turned into a pig of a job - a good couple of hours got me this far

thats the power plant frame off the mx5, not the one off the kit - took a lot of dismantling

the two prop shafts are of differing lengths, I was expecting that

but what I wasn't expecting was the Torsen output flanges are wider apart than the Viscous flanges

which means the half shafts also have to come out. 

keen viewers may recall that when I was doing the CV joints, one half shaft was stuck in the hub  

so that needs swapping over too. but it has one of my nice new pollybushes fitted - I'll need to order a replacement for the swapped over hub now (can you feel my mood darkening ?)

after a lot of effort, the vlsd is fitted to the mx5  but by this time I was really fed up, then it started pissing down and I was working outside. I got the mx5 down off the ramps (no exhaust fitted yet, sounds dreadful) and chucked the tools in the garage

went to shut the garage door and knocked over one of the ramps which couldn't just land on the floor, could it ? 

on no, the little bastard took a chunk out of the freshly powder coated exo frame

I'm sure you can imagine just how angry I was at this point (the neighbours probably don't need to imagine)

so I locked up and opened a beer

fucking cars ! why do we bother ? 

 

 

todays tasks - fit an exhaust to the mx5 and start wire wheeling the diff etc ready for paint. 

my (frankly ridiculous) plans to have the chassis rolling by the end of the week are well and truly stuffed. 

 

 

Oh man, I've had days like that... It always comes good after a rest and a beer though!

ONWARDS! 

[paulplom]

What an utter bastard. 

[gm]

I’ve wrecked the exhaust I took off to sell - arse ! 
 

[paulplom]

That'll weld won't it? Is that the loud one?

I need a new one for mine. It's too boomy now.

Have you sold your roll bar?

[gm]

You can have the exhaust for nowt if you want to get it welded, might be ok without the decat on ?

rollbar is available,  180 AS price ? 

[paulplom]

Great.  I'll have both please. Does it include fitting? ?

[gm]

You don’t want me anywhere near a toolkit today !
but I’ll show you how and which bits to drill etc. takes a good couple of hours so check the weather forecast  

[gm]

how about seats and harnesses ? 

[paulplom]

I wasn't really looking for them.  Partner drives it now and then and there's (ahem) no fucking way she'd fit, unfortunately.

[gm]

More wire wheeling and painting today

the CVs are in good condition (thank fuck) so they can make do with a clean and a lick of paint 

 

that’ll be three days since I collected the kit and I have literally done nothing with it yet  really need to get my finger out and get cracking next week 

[gm]

and I bought a big stupid spoiler in case the exo doesn’t look ridiculous enough already  

[320touring]

Will the output flanges not just pull out the diff? So you can put the output flanges from the donor car into the diff for the exo?

Though I suppose that then leaves you with driveshaft issues for the black mx5?

[gm]

In theory, yes, but it turns out that the halfshafts are thicker as well as shorter on the Torsen so need to stay with the diff. Sorted now but I wish I hadn't wasted all that time on the cv boots on the viscous shafts. Hey ho, keep telling myself I enjoy this  

The mx5 still doesn't have an exhaust - really need to sort that out tomorrow 

 

[paulplom]

If you can wait. you can have the one off mine once I have yours fitted. I think it's original to the car and has a nice shiny tail pipe.

It doesn't blow, it's just a bit too loud for my liking.

[djoptix]

On 7/29/2020 at 2:58 PM, loserone said:

Hold down the chord of C
Pluck a fretted bass string
With the thumb of the right hand

Always makes me think of the closing sequence of Spaced. Very bittersweet.

[gm]

a bit more of a productive day - first off @paulplom came round to collect the roll bar for his mx5 and I took advantage of a spare pair of hands to flip the exo chassis over so I can get started fitting the floor panels 

then I turned my attention to the currently immobile mx5

what I am needing for the exo is this

which I can replace with this

this is the one with the shaft that will not come out no matter how hard I hit it

so up on jacks, wheel off etc

and fit the hub / shaft combo

and discover that I am a complete helmet and can't tell my right from my left  

yes, I've just spend over an hour dismantling the wrong side of the car !

somehow managing to laugh it off I cracked on pulling the other side of the car apart (doing battle with the tightest bolts in the world - the notorious 'long bolt' which always seizes in place)

eventually it was all back together and I replaced the old asbo exhaust with a standard one I picked up a few weeks ago, even refitted the catalyst.

look, a pea shooter !

i took it for spin and it sounds normal terrible - maybe I'll stick an eBay cone filter on for a little bit of noise.

good news is that the viscous diff still works, doesn't lock up as well as the torsen did but can still kick the back end out on the roundabouts  

so that's the mx5 pretty much back to standard now, ready for whenever I do decide to sell it.

But not yet, there's still trackdays to be had - anyone on for Monday next week ? 

[gm]

more to get them off the living room floor than anything else, I test fitted the floor panels for the exo

there‘a going to be a very tedious day of drilling and riveting next week

90 of the little sods !

top notch tech drawing skills  

the brake and fuel lines need to go on while it’s upside down, I really do need to get them ordered ASAP  

[primeradoner]

Do you have to make up the brake lines from scratch or can you get them ready made to length and shape?

[gm]

The kit comes with a roll of copper pipe but rather than fannying on making my own, I'll be ordering a full set of braided flexis - these run direct from master cylinder to the callipers so save a lot of hassle.

 https://freakyparts.co.uk/collections/mazda-mx5-mk1-mk2-na-nb-brakes/products/hel-braided-brake-hose-kit?variant=7289960333357

i've not figured out a solution for fuel send and return but hopefully something similar can be found 

 

[paulplom]

You can buy drill bits like this for that impact driver I gave you.

I prefer using an impactor. They seem to be lighter and more accurate. Especially with the amount of holes you need to drill.

It's about a 1/4 the weight of this.

[gm]

I’ve got some shiny new drill bits ready but the battery on the impact driver is knackered - shows fully charged but conks out after a couple of minutes. I’ve had it apart and reckon I can replace the individual cells so it will live on and come in handy I’m sure   

[paulplom]

Apologies. 

I've had quite a few dead makita batteries. I just binned them. I didn't realise you could revive them.