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

[gm]

todays task was to change the leaky gearbox seals

perhaps it would have been easier to drain the oil before taking it off the car ? 

the oil that came out was lovely and clean, must have been done recently

although the magnetic plug was a bit swarfy

I spent far too long puzzling out why the new seal didn't appear to be the right size for either of these

then I realised I was looking at totally the wrong seal and the one I needed to replace was in the cover plate - d'oh !

the old seal looks like it was fitted back to front so a bit of research was needed to verify that back to front is indeed correct.

job done, I moved onto the diff seals, ice of piss, had that ticked off in five minutes.

so took the mx5 for a quick blast round the back roads - much fun

  

[gm]

that manky intake manifold needed to be addressed

so off it cam. I tried masking up but that turned out to be a right pain in the 'nads so removed the fuel rail and did it properly.

big improvement

and to finish off, I refitted the engine mounts and alternator

[320touring]

That throttle body is crying out for a pipe from an intercooler and some boooozt

 

Good work on tarting it up

[gm]

give it time  

[320touring]

1 minute ago, gm said:

give it time  

You have two weeks:)

[gm]

that exhaust manifold is looking pretty shabby too - ideally I'd like to replace it with a shiny stainless one but that will have to wait. How effective is exhaust paint ? I could try wrapping it but suspect that would look quite clumsy at the 4-1 join

any tips, folks ?

[320touring]

The Halfords high temp paint is good if you go for the darker stuff. Sets well and seems ok with temp.

You can also get brush on versions which are not too bad

[gm]

sounds like a nice easy job for tomorrow then, cheers  

[garbaldy]

Just dont go for red on the exhaust as once heated it goes a nice shade of pink.

So the big question is have you decided which kit yet ?

[gm]

7 minutes ago, garbaldy said:

So the big question is have you decided which kit yet ?

I'm pretty sure it's going to be the Exocet (I haven't ordered anything yet so there is still time to change my mind) but I really want to go and have a good nosey around one in person. I've posted on the Exocet forum to see if any local owners can help but I don't think lockdown is helping my chances   

 

[The Moog]

Dont wrap the exhaust it makes them rot quicker. If you want really fancy stuff you can ceramic coat it, which keeps temps down 

I might have a spare ecu available at some point - either Speeduino or Megasquirt depending on which one I can get working. 

Look how easy it is to fit a supercharger -

 

[Tenmil Socket]

13 hours ago, gm said:

that exhaust manifold is looking pretty shabby too - ideally I'd like to replace it with a shiny stainless one but that will have to wait. How effective is exhaust paint ? I could try wrapping it but suspect that would look quite clumsy at the 4-1 join

any tips, folks ?

I tried wrapping my manifold but does look a bit crap.

Although I was still able to attach the heat shield.

I wish I did my inlet now!

[gm]

that’s how I imagine mine would look if i tried wrapping it - I’ll give paint a go for now, will probably buy a 4-2-1 manifold some time in the future  

the rest of your engine bay is looking smart though

[gm]

just spotted this for sale on the owners club page :

238 bhp must be terrifying  

I do like the black on black colour scheme, might be similar to the look I go for 

[gm]

Yesterday's postal delivery was disappointing, to say the least

there was also a Thomas Dolby cd delivered but I can't imagine that is interest to many of you.

so stuck for something to do, I wheeked off the scabby looking manifold

the factory heatshield will not be going back on so those tabs are surplus to requirements

whizz, whizz, grind, grind etc

and I think we'll call that ready for paint (when it arrives)

 

[gm]

today looked promising

a wee blue card told me that a neighbour had a parcel  

oh yes, that's more like it - shiney bits

the eagle eyed amongst you will have counted only three parts in that kit, the pilot bearing is coming separately in the post

except it didn't

todays delivery consisted of

bugger. 

even smoll jobs count as progress so I replaced the coolant pipes that feed the intake manifold - exciting stuff

with the missing clutch bearing due tomorrow, I got organised for a busy day

sonic screwdriver alignment tool prepared (craft knife and insulating tape)

release bearing and fork installed

let the dog see the rabbit 

should be a productive day tomorrow

 

 

[paulplom]

Apologies for the thread hijack.

What sort of roll bar are you using for the track days on your mk1? The proper ones are 4 times the price of the style hoops @£250ish.

I bought style hoops for my old mk2 but I'm not sure they'd be suitable.

[New POD]

11 minutes ago, paulplom said:

Apologies for the thread hijack.

What sort of roll bar are you using for the track days on your mk1? The proper ones are 4 times the price of the style hoops @£250ish.

I bought style hoops for my old mk2 but I'm not sure they'd be suitable.

Style hoops should be banned. 

Like fake carbon fibre and wooden brake pads.  

They have dubious structural reason to exist. And will do feck all in a roll over. 

[paulplom]

Agreed but chrome ones look nice.

[New POD]

There was a 20th Century industrial designer who originally coined the phrase "Form follows function" 

I think.  Actually Wikipedia says it was earlier. However I remember from school: 

Victor Papanek (died 1998) was an influential recent designer and design philosopher who taught and wrote as a proponent of "form follows function."

Unless you think "Shimmery shiny chome" is a function. 

 

[gm]

there are a few popular choices, TR-Lane, 5-Race, GCfabrications and Hard Dog, all similar prices at around £250-300.

Mine is a TR-lane but is an older design that has the harness bar built in. It is a solid piece of kit, if the worst happened, I am fairly confident that it would do its job and reduce the chance of injury. Has the additional benefit of stiffening the chassis as it bolts directly onto the chassis rails and braces the car horizontally.

I wouldn’t waste my money on style bars, they offer very little protection and could fold over towards the drivers head in a roll situation. 

In all the years I’ve been doing trackdays, I’ve only seen two cars go over (neither were mx5s) one was being driven like a dick, the other was plain unlucky. The only incidents I’ve been involved in are the occasional spin off when getting carried away or not concentrating  no harm done thankfully. 

This was a bit of a wake up call to calm down a bit

amazing photo though  

 

 

[1duck]

On 6/1/2020 at 9:35 AM, snagglepuss said:

Dont wrap the exhaust it makes them rot quicker. If you want really fancy stuff you can ceramic coat it, which keeps temps down 

I might have a spare ecu available at some point - either Speeduino or Megasquirt depending on which one I can get working. 

Look how easy it is to fit a supercharger -

 

turbo is even easier, having watched some of the videos on youtube...it just depends how you do it.

[gm]

if you need further convincing, there are some customer testimonials on this site (warning : contains photos of crashed mx5s)

http://www.bethania-garage.com/testimonials.htm

do not let your mrs see this, you will never be allowed on a trackday ever again ! 

[Fabergé Greggs]

Great progress!

All this MX5 chat is making me wish I hadn't sold mine ?

[The Moog]

As mentioned above Style bars are well for style. 

 

A proper roll bar is a hefty bit of kit, fitted with spreading plates. Even 2nd hand they are £250 and well worth the cash.  Pretty easy to fit as long as you are happy to chop up bits. 

 

I am getting quite jealous of your shiny bits. 

[gm]

No progress yesterday because postie was missing in action.

but today, he was here nice and early and brought me gifts

so I rushed outside and set up my worktable (a cupboard door screwed onto the planks of my aldi workmate)

and let's have a go at that manifold

a quick wipe down with thinners to degrease and on with the first coat

looks pretty good so far, we'll come back to that later on for another coat.

[camryv6]

On 6/2/2020 at 11:07 AM, gm said:

just spotted this for sale on the owners club page :

238 bhp must be terrifying  

I do like the black on black colour scheme, might be similar to the look I go for 

I bet you couldn't build one the same for that could you ?

[gm]

not a chance  there's another one just popped up for sale, non turbo for £8k. but what's the point in buying one ready built ? you'd miss out on all this 'fun' !

 

anyhoo,

now the pilot bearing has arrived, we can get cracking with that clutch.

alignment tool doing aligning

ooh, that slid on just nice

pressure plate all nicely torqued up

a lightly greased shaft

and let the mating begin

@loserone those bed slats came in very handy  

 

[camryv6]

On 6/3/2020 at 7:22 AM, New POD said:

Style hoops should be banned. 

Like fake carbon fibre and wooden brake pads.  

They have dubious structural reason to exist. And will do feck all in a roll over. 

Other than cave in on you and do more damage, although having an MX5 on top of you wont do you much good, there is a youtube clip of a mk1 upside down completely flattened the windscreen.

[camryv6]

1 minute ago, gm said:

not a chance  there's another one just popped up for sale, non turbo for £8k. but what's the point in buying one ready built ? you'd miss out on all this 'fun' !

 

anyhoo,

now the pilot bearing has arrived, we can get cracking with that clutch.

alignment tool doing aligning

ooh, that slid on just nice

pressure plate all nicely torqued up

a lightly greased shaft

and let the mating begin

@loserone those bed slats came in very handy  

May I remind you that you said halfway through your own build ?