gm's unhealthy obsession with mx5s - Exo is back on the road, new wheels looking great

[rainagain]

In my head all I could hear was the announcer from Demolition Derby on the PlayStation saying:

”whoa, you’ve blown your radiator” 

[gm]

3 hours ago, rob88h said:

Do you think there’s anything underlying with this car or that it’s just a bad part? I guess a bad part because if the system pressure was way up you’d be venting at the cap then maybe  only blowing a hose off as the weakest link, not exploding the rad! Header tanks are normally glass reinforced to stop them splitting like this, was it OEM?

Just a rad at the end of its life I think (it may well be the original in a 1994 car)  - with the new one fitted, we went straight out and did a good 40-50 laps, the gauge was rock steady and we weren’t holding back  

I’ll give the car a good looking over later on and see if there is anything out of place. 
 

[gm]

the first few laps out after fitting the replacement radiator

with rubbish camera angle and even worse sound  back end was bouncing about all over, could barely get any power* down 

[gm]

chasing @paulplom for a few laps

 

[gm]

Not much to report today, I nabbed a couple of these parts boxes at poundland and organised my nuts

Then set about fitting the upgraded antiroll bars that came on the donor.

Adjustable ball jointed droplinks too, it's so nice to be working with clean parts now.

An up to date progress pic

look at all that space next to the exhaust manifold - it's crying out for a turbo really  

[paulplom]

And?....

[gm]

been a bit busy this week so not much progress to report  

I can post pictures of a freshly painted fuel tank if anyone is desperate for an update but not much else has been happening 

 

[gm]

Anyone living near Blyton Park might see a few Exocets buzzing round the area this weekend as the owners club are having a track day on Saturday  wish I could go play 

[paulplom]

Not be long now.

[gm]

11 minutes ago, gm said:

been a bit busy this week so not much progress to report  

I can post pictures of a freshly painted fuel tank if anyone is desperate for an update but not much else has been happening 

 

 

exciting stuff ! 

 

it looks like I’ll need to fiddle with the fuel lines a bit so did some very shonky lifting and got it at a sensible height to work on

all I need now is some free time !

[paulplom]

Is the fuel tank visible once it's finished?

[gm]

Nope ! 

[gm]

Cheers, I can’t wait to get this thing running - not much work to do but I’m really pushed for spare time for the next few weeks.

Hopefully I’ll squeeze in a couple of hours tomorrow evening and get those fuel lines sorted, then it’s just* electrics 

[gm]

Remember those fuel lines i so carefully fitted while it was upside down ?

cocks !

there have been some backwards steps this week

the reason being this little bugger

the steering column just isn't reaching far enough into that universal joint for my liking  

The problem being those spacers on the brake pedal assembly should be on the other side of the bulkhead 

some (surprisingly neat) grinder work later 

and it's ready to go back on.

but first those fuel lines needed refitting once I'd fixed a few more P clips with the brake cylinder out of the way.

Currently it looks very similar to how it did last week but the steering is sorted and the fuel lines are connected at one end - little steps  

 

 

in other news, Teeside trackday dates have been confirmed for the next few events 

 

I'll see about booking a cheeky wee day off work 

[gm]

Time for a bit of an update - I've finally managed to fit in a bit of exo time over the last couple of days

we'll start with the fuel tank, fitted nicely into place

I made a bracket for the fuel filter from the glove box bottom rail

then test fitted the cover

the fuel filler needs work  

filler cap is missing in action ('cos some silly sod left his in the petrol station and needed a replacement  )

I won't be using the standard filler, there are some fancy ones available, I just need to decide which to go for.

last job of the day was to fit the air intake ducting - I'll need to sort out some sort of bracket for the AFM 

night, night, little exo, sleep well

 

 

 

 

[gm]

with the fuel tank sorted, the job I've been dreading edges worryingly closer

 

 

[gm]

But there's no point in doing the wiring unless I've got the cooling sorted  

this is the old radiator off the donor car, I'll be replacing it with something a bit beefier but it will do for now. I stripped the fans for cleaning and gave the rad a good scrub and flush out. 

Much drilling later

looks very exposed, I may need to make some sort of guard tray for the bottom. 

cooling fan fitted

but seeing as I still had the aircon fan, it might as well go in there too

a bit of wiring and we are fanny-tastic

suction is good

air intake back in place (need to find a neater solution than all that black plastic gubbins)

plan view

[gm]

And there's still this lurking in the background

[gm]

As further procrastination was required, I did a bit of colouring in

using a chopped up cotton bud and a steady hand...

I'm fairly pleased with that

 

[gm]

Big wiring box can wait for another day, it's time for tea  

 

[paulplom]

It's coming along great.

Will I buy you a new cap or will you be using a different type?

[gm]

3 hours ago, paulplom said:

It's coming along great.

Will I buy you a new cap or will you be using a different type?

No need, I’ll be fitting something else

[cort1977]

I saw one of these in Ballater at the weekend, it looked great.  Can't wait to see yours out on the road.

[gm]

right then, Pandora, let’s have a look in that box of yours..........

holy shit ! run away ! 

this may take some time, if I go quiet for a while, send beer / pizza / the men in white coats  

[gm]

Thankfully most of the labels are still legible, a careful couple of hours has created this mess

will it start ? 
 

you’ll just have to wait until after lunch to find out ! 
 

 

 

[paulplom]

Fingers crossed!

[big_al_granvia]

wiring looms are great when they are well made, tested and labelled clearly and legibly, not scary. mate makes his own looms from scratch for rally and high spec cars, work of art seeing them getting built on the wall/bench

[gm]

Nervously testing the electrix 

 

 

[gm]

Amazingly, the electrics all seem to be behaving themselves, so it's time to nip along to the garage and purchase a can of pez and we'll see what happens next  

 

[gm]

Fuel has been added.........