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

18,077 · November 16, 2020

Maybe some funky graphics cut in vinyl ? Not really too much of a concern just now as it’s still miles away from being finished
All of the panels are in black gel coat so I can add graphics and / or colour easily t any time - I had a random thought about a yellow camo design ? we’ll see how it looks when it’s done

18,077 · November 16, 2020

On 11/15/2020 at 1:49 PM, NorthernMonkey said:

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

Any use?

@NorthernMonkey unfortunately, no matter how much I want them to, I can't find a way of making those spacers fit with my wheels thankyou so much for the offer though, it is really appreciated.

10,972 · November 16, 2020

No bother...back in the spares crate they go 🙂

18,077 · November 17, 2020

today's plan was to drive through to Durham, have a nice run along the riverside then come back and get these shiny new slider pins fitted to the exo's front brakes

so I jumped in the mazda, pausing briefly to top up the coolant (again) and set off towards Durham.

half a mile down the road, I ground to a halt

symptoms were alarmingly similar to last year when the timing belt snapped - but surely it can't be ? a new belt should last more than a year ?

I rolled the mx5 up onto the kerb and jogged home to enlist the assistance of my neighbour, the civic and a towrope

sure enough once we'd dragged the mx5 home :

one year and two days since the previous time it broke !

at least I know where my mysterious coolant leak is now

I didn't change the water pump last time as I was living in rented flat and had to do my spannering in the street - now I have the luxury of a nice warm, dry, heated garage to do my spannering in except I can't get the mx5 in there 'cos there's a bloody half built kit car in the way

hey ho. parts are on order and I'll have it running again in a couple of days. still not sure why it would have snapped though, the idlers are both free spinning - maybe I over tensioned it ?

big thanks to Neil the neighbour for coming to my assistance - I'd have been putting an apb out to the chester-le-street massive otherwise

1,564 · November 17, 2020

That has to be a faulty belt, unless the leaking antifreeze caused swift deteriation or you have a binding part in its drive train..................... or covered around 50,000 miles in a year. Good job it's not an interferance set up.

18,077 · November 17, 2020

I've only done a couple of thousand miles in a year ( and a few trackdays ) not the end of the world, as you say - it's non interference - so easy enough to fix

I've emailed mx5parts, not to complain, just to let them know incase it is a dud belt and they've had others fail

3,532 · November 17, 2020

Jesus, that's not good! Imagine how you'd feel if that was a year old belt on an interference engine...

When I took the belt off the 940, and also the V70 for that matter both were circa 10 years old and looked fine, they felt as though I could hang my own weight on them without them giving way. Usually it's the tensioner or pump that go West anecdotally?

Can we ask what brand the best was so as we can avoid them?

18,077 · November 17, 2020

not sure on the brand, I'll need to check but it was the mx5parts budget option - I've ordered a Gates one from autolink this time, hopefully will be a bit better.

the water pump is driven off the alternator belt so shouldn't technically be under suspicion (although this one was leaking so may have contributed), the tensioners appear to be ok - who knows - like you say, glad it is a non interference engine

26,141 · November 18, 2020

20 hours ago, gm said:

today's plan was to drive through to Durham, have a nice run along the riverside then come back and get these shiny new slider pins fitted to the exo's front brakes

so I jumped in the mazda, pausing briefly to top up the coolant (again) and set off towards Durham.

half a mile down the road, I ground to a halt

symptoms were alarmingly similar to last year when the timing belt snapped - but surely it can't be ? a new belt should last more than a year ?

I rolled the mx5 up onto the kerb and jogged home to enlist the assistance of my neighbour, the civic and a towrope

sure enough once we'd dragged the mx5 home :

one year and two days since the previous time it broke !

at least I know where my mysterious coolant leak is now

I didn't change the water pump last time as I was living in rented flat and had to do my spannering in the street - now I have the luxury of a nice warm, dry, heated garage to do my spannering in except I can't get the mx5 in there 'cos there's a bloody half built kit car in the way

hey ho. parts are on order and I'll have it running again in a couple of days. still not sure why it would have snapped though, the idlers are both free spinning - maybe I over tensioned it ?

big thanks to Neil the neighbour for coming to my assistance - I'd have been putting an apb out to the chester-le-street massive otherwise

You should have given he a shout mate . I'm on back shift this week. If you need any help moving thing around, or someone just to point a finger.

18,077 · November 18, 2020

cheers, you would have been my first call had my neighbour not been available - I was just along at Waldridge village so could have almost pushed the car home (if only I'd had me weetabix ).

18,077 · November 22, 2020

the weather was kind yesterday so I got on fixing the timing belt and water pump

not many pics as I was racing against darkness but got it all finished just as light was fading

intersting* points to note here - use of a 24mm and 25mm spanner clamped by vice grips to hold the cams steady while I fit the belt, use of the dipstick down plug hole #1 to confirm top dead centre

filled up and bled

pretty colours

I took it for a good hoon round the back roads and all is well, the heater blowing such hot air that I got the roof down

1,370 · November 22, 2020

40 minutes ago, gm said:

the weather was kind yesterday so I got on fixing the timing belt and water pump

not many pics as I was racing against darkness but got it all finished just as light was fading

intersting* points to note here - use of a 24mm and 25mm spanner clamped by vice grips to hold the cams steady while I fit the belt, use of the dipstick down plug hole #1 to confirm top dead centre

filled up and bled

pretty colours

I took it for a good hoon round the back roads and all is well, the heater blowing such hot air that I got the roof down

That is a brilliant idea with the dipstick to find TDC, i will have to use that myself one day !

1,370 · November 22, 2020

So what do you think caused the belt to break ?

18,077 · November 22, 2020

19 minutes ago, camryv6 said:

So what do you think caused the belt to break ?

I'm still none the wiser - I'm assuming it was a dud belt. I contacted the supplier to see if they had seen any other failures but they hadn't heard of any. They did refund me the cost of the belt which was fair enough - might have been a very different conversation if it was an interference engine

18,077 · November 22, 2020

time to get these brake lines fitted :

step 1: remove exhaust manifold wtf ?

also had to remove the clutch and brake masters, coil pack, cam angle sensor and cam cover !

would have been so much easier fitting these before joining the chassis to the frame

just the rear end to sort and it will be time to bleed them up

couple of nice easy jobs to end the week

air intake sorted

and new pedal rubbers

18,077 · November 22, 2020

Brum brum noises

18,077 · November 23, 2020

The ‘end’ is miles away but it’s close to making its maiden voyage up and down the street, which is pretty bloody exciting

Vidos will be posted, of course

4,347 · November 23, 2020

That's bad luck with the belt, as others have said though, it's a good job it isn't an interference engine.

You probably know but thick spacers will put additional stress on the wheel bearings and effectively soften the spring rate, (greater leverage). Is it not possible to alter the arms that hold the mudguards, that may be a better solution in the long run?

18,077 · November 23, 2020

I wish I could just get rid of the mudguards altogether but (legally) can't get away with it I did think about altering them but there isn't much clearance between the bracket and the chassis so not much to be gained there.

A softer spring rate might not be such a bad thing as the car is significantly lighter than the mx5 and the suspension I had on that was already pretty stiff - hopefully, it won't be long until I find out if it is a problem, I'll look at buying different wheels with a neutral offset - I'm resisting doing that now as I want to have the option of swapping wheels between the mx5 and the exo. I already have a decent road and a track set plus several spares so I can chop and change tyres as the mood takes me.

And 0 offset wheels are either expensive or fugly (or both) !

11,939 · November 23, 2020

I think the back mudguards are fine.

The front's were good enough for my Dutton and Robin Hood, which says very little, but we even had a Dax Rush with those on.

18,077 · November 23, 2020

and it would appear that I have broken it

I've been fannying on with the exo's brakes for a while so it hasn't been started for well over a week - I thought i'd give it a go this afternoon - and the sodding thing won't bloody start !

a quick poke around turned up a loose ground wire, I sorted that and...nothing

the plug leads were a bit loose, I tightened them up and still nothing

turning it over with a plug lead disconnected gave me a good old shock, there would appear to be a decent spark so lets have a look at fuel then

a fair bit of head scratching has led me to suspect the in tank pump -

having a quick look at the non broken mx5, if I bridge the f/p and gnd terminals in the diagnostic connector, the pump can be heard running, doing the same on the exo does not.

the feed to the exo pump is live when cranking and/or the diagnostic is bridged, the ground is good but the pump remains silent

one last test, apply 12v direct to the pump ? nothing - dead as a dead thing.

so tomorrow, I shall nick the pump out of the non naughty mx5 and confirm my suspicions - hopefully a nice easy fix, it's far too dark and cold to be doing that sort of thing tonight.

naughty pump lives here