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

[gm]

A bit of reading up on the Exocet forum pointed me towards the power feed to the headlight motors which is live when in dip and beam use - guess which one it is ? 
 

 

yep, white / black - that’s going to be a bugger to solder onto. Time to break out my handy new removal keys and pull that stump out

these are the worst quality chinesium but have proven handy on several occasions.

new terminal and wire fitted and we are fog tastic 

stays on with dip and beam, goes off with sidelights. Still not quite Iva compliant but certainly a step closer 

[hairnet]

finga oot

 

[gm]

Right, I've just about had enough of sodding wiring for a lifetime  

this is what we started with

this is what we were aiming for

and this is what we've ended up with

it all still works so I'll be leaving it alone for a good while 

i want this thing moving SOON 

[gm]

I fitted a couple of sockets for phone charging and the tyre pump

even did nice trimmed edges

then made a 'bracket' to hold the afm (not quite up to binky standards  )

but there is a problem - the air filter is too fat to fit between the strut and the manifold - time to hit that ebay

 

[gm]

such helpful advice here from the exo fb group - thanks, richard, for taking the time to reply 

 

 

[Tenmil Socket]

15 hours ago, gm said:

I fitted a couple of sockets for phone charging and the tyre pump

even did nice trimmed edges

then made a 'bracket' to hold the afm (not quite up to binky standards  )

but there is a problem - the air filter is too fat to fit between the strut and the manifold - time to hit that ebay

 

Could you fit an elbow and keep the airfilter in the position you're holding it? 

[gm]

yep, that's the plan - got one coming from ebay - I'll cobble together some kind of bracket for the filter to hang off away from the manifold.

[camryv6]

1 hour ago, gm said:

yep, that's the plan - got one coming from ebay - I'll cobble together some kind of bracket for the filter to hang off away from the manifold.

No you should of just said "yes" 🤣

[gm]

the exo has been sitting "up on blocks" for a good long time but today I need those wheels off

which took a ridiculous amount of fannying about with jacks, but now it's hovering nicely 

and the reason for this apparent backwards step is this little sod

which needs to fit behind the hub (which I thankfully hadn't torqued to 170nm as per my handy reminder) 

obviously nothing is ever straightforward and I had to re-drill the holes to get them to line up but eventually it was on

and alarmingly close to the upper wishbone  time for a wee tickle with the grinder

that's better  

I did remember to torque the hub nut to 170nm  

the other side was slightly less fiddly, only holes to re-drill, wishbone clearance was better on that side

 

[gm]

the reason for fitting the mudguard brackets is so I can finally get some brakes on this thing

the discs and pads that came off the donner were pretty recent so I'll reuse them for now, everything got a good clean up and was reassembled ready to fit

 

still regretting yellow but it's too late now  

but they do look pretty good fitted

I know they'll be minging by the time i even get to the test centre, obviously i'll have to bed them in    

[gm]

so lets bung the wheels on and see how she looks

hmm, something not right here

oh for cocks sake

curse you, stupid high offset wheels - more £££ needing spent on spacers  

perhaps my maiden voyage is doomed to be made on Timmy wheels

(note : yellow foam padding preventing those mudguard brackets from stabbing me in the 'nads (again))

[gm]

in other mazda related news, it would appear that my non broken mx5 may be running a tad rich  

[gm]

I've been planning to use bini steelies on the exo to keep costs down (and I like the look of them) 

but it would appear that I need to fit wheel spacers 

^&^*^%^&^*^ing how much ?

might be time for a plan B

[hairnet]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-MX5-Mk1-or-Mk2-Hubcentric-Wheel-Spacers-4-x-100-20mm-Thick/263729568968?hash=item3d6781dcc8:g:zLkAAOSwYUZcN3Rf

 

[NorthernMonkey]

6 minutes ago, gm said:

I've been planning to use bini steelies on the exo to keep costs down (and I like the look of them) 

but it would appear that I need to fit wheel spacers 

^&^*^%^&^*^ing how much ?

might be time for a plan B

I think I’ve still got some spacers that came off my NA when I bought it. 
I’ll have a look tomorrow...if I’ve still got them, you’re welcome to them 🙂

[gm]

22 minutes ago, NorthernMonkey said:

I think I’ve still got some spacers that came off my NA when I bought it. 
I’ll have a look tomorrow...if I’ve still got them, you’re welcome to them 🙂

that would be excellent - it looks like they need to be fairly thick, bini steelies have an offset of +45 and I need to get quite a bit nearer to zero. do please let me know if you still have them  

[gm]

time for a look at the back brakes - let's see if this is any easier ?

as with the front, the mudguard brackets need to be fitted at the same time as they share a mounting point with the calliper frame. the other side needs a hole drilling in a handy bit of casting on the the hub

easy enough so far but bring the calliper into the equation and they are fighting for space

time for the grinder again

a quick dab of chassis paint and you'd never know  

that'll do (none of this would be necessary if I'd upgraded to the larger 1.8 callipers but the build fund is currently low and there is nothing wrong with these 1.6 brakes)

 

we're also going to need a longer bolt, my policy of not chucking anything away paid dividends here as the former power steering pump bolt is the perfect size)

so that's one end of the bracket fixed, how about the other

I need to drill a hole through that random lump sticking out the side - the hub is in the way to the front and the shock at the rear  

thankfully, I hadn't torqued these hub nuts yet

now a hole for a nut and bolt would be adequate but I'm feeling ambitious today - let's have a go with that tap & die set I got for Christmas ten years ago and haven't used

with a good bit of wd40 in lieu of cutting oil I cut my first thread (plastic tub is to protect the bearing from swarf)

 

nice and straight, very satisfying

 

and after years of fighting with those stupid pad springs, I discovered an oh so simple solution - just clamp the pads in place and you no longer need four hands  

just the other side to do and we've another job ticked off the list 

 

[gm]

I had an offset of perspex lying around so made a lid for the wiring tray - it certainly tidies everything up but might need a lick of paint (can you paint perspex?) 

the bonnet will cover it once fitted anyway

[NorthernMonkey]

Managed to dig the spacers out this afternoon...they’re 20mm thick.

Any use?

 

[gm]

They might work with the alloys off the mx5, I’ll check what the offset is and get back to you, thankyou 

 

apparently I need to have between 0 and 10 offset to clear the mudguards so if the alloys are 30 or less, they would be ideal 

[hairnet]

40 offset if theyre the type on mine

 

[gm]

Damn, that’s exactly what I have  

[The Moog]

I think we have few sets of 14 inch daisy wheels, a steel Bini wheels and I have got the white enkeis on the turbo if any of them work?

[loserone]

The daisies are about the lightest you can get, no?

[gm]

23 minutes ago, loserone said:

The daisies are about the lightest you can get, no?

there is a set of 14" enkeis that came on a few limited edition imports that are even lighter than daisies - I used to have a set on my current mx5 but sold them when I fitted the mk2 alloys  ideally I'll stick with 15"ers as the tyre choice is a bit better, if I do go for spacers then I can swap road & track wheels between the two cars (although I can't imagine I'll be taking the mx5 on track much once the exo is finished) 

 

 

https://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html

 

(edit) it looks like 40-45 is fairly standard for a Mazda offset so unless I go for aftermarket wheels, I'll be on spacers anyway 

[gm]

Right then, time for a bit of problem solving :

It would appear that in order to fit my wheels of choice, some sort of spacer is required. But how big ? Rough calculations guesswork suggests 40mm might be appropriate - let's have a look and see if it will work out 

I'm sure I could have just done a bit of careful measuring but where's the fun in that when you've got POWATOOLZ  

No need for a commentary here, enjoy ! 

 

So 40mm is ideal, I might even get away with 35mm - the smaller, the better as it's  all additional unsprung weight 

 

 

should i give it a coat of silver paint and stick it up on eBay ?  

[camryv6]

Cover in tin foil maybe ?

[gm]

a quick trial fit of the mudguards - how dreadfully shit do these look  

 

they’ll be getting shoved back in the spare room until it’s absolutely necessary to fit them 

[gm]

Lol etc  
 

[New POD]

32 minutes ago, gm said:

a quick trial fit of the mudguards - how dreadfully shit do these look  

 

they’ll be getting shoved back in the spare room until it’s absolutely necessary to fit them 

They do look nasty to be fair. 

Could you take a glass fibre mould off an old tyre? 

Or shape some alloy sheet ?