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

[DVee8]

2 minutes ago, loserone said:

I honestly don't know how you haven't bought an MX5 yet @DVee8

I would love one, but I have no where to put another car. There is 4 on the drive and 1 in the garage.

[gm]

great fun on the way home, as we left a section of roadworks on the washington highway, @DVee8 came absolutely hooning it past me with the biggest shit eating grin imaginable - properly giving it the beans  mighty mazda sounding as much of a hooligan as the loon behind the wheel !

exo rose to the challenge and the poor abarth was left in the previous postcode !

another great little gathering at washington tonight, friendly folks as always and a diverse selection of metal on display 

and for once, mine wasn’t the scruffiest mazda  

not as nice as this one though - you could eat your dinner off the sills  

team photo

 

 

[stuboy]

57 minutes ago, DVee8 said:

moist

[gm]

 

 

[gm]

another car meet tonight at Karting NorthEast, Warden Law, near Sunderland

Exo was upstaged by this weird thing

based on a Ford model T with a Pontiac engine, had a lovely burble as he drove it in.

 

[gm]

and on the way home, i had a play in the dirt

need to take a cameraman next time 

[gm]

On 5/13/2020 at 12:17 AM, gm said:

the very next day, this happened

hi-vis neighbour wasn't as pleased as I was  

three years ago to the day ! how time flies when you’re having fun  

[Back_For_More]

23 hours ago, gm said:

another car meet tonight at Karting NorthEast, Warden Law, near Sunderland..... 

 

Black flagged there in the 2 seater.... My son was 5 and already driving here in juniors. He loved it and asked me to hoon it - we kept lapping people and they told me to lay off...... Spoilsports

Must get back for this years Seaburn show I think 

 

[gm]

i finally got round to fitting the new discs and pads on the mazda that i’d bought back in october !

bit of a crunch when i went to jack up the front  

oh bugger !

on the bright side, the brakes are much improved now  

[Back_For_More]

So there's a shortlist of RetroShite and you when I need a donor for the Lada....😁. 

Is the rest of the car worth the welding being done? 

[gm]

it’s mechanically spot on, despite me and @DVee8 mercilessly thrashing it round the track at the slightest opportunity - i’ll take a run down to see the mazdadudes in darlington and see what they say. 

worst car scenario i break out the mig and do it myself.

definitely worth saving though, it’s such a good car to drive  

[DVee8]

@gm, not only a track, the odd hoon has been known. A couple of Nissan Qashqai or Juke sill blanks will fit nicely.

[gm]

not much to report, just enjoying the good weather in the Exo. stopped to take pics at the entrance to the Lambton Estate

still goes like the clappers and puts a massive grin on my face, the back end is delightfully light and gets kicked out at the slightest opportunity !

 

 

[gm]

there’s a few trackdays coming up soon, i really need to get this thing down to teeside and have some fun  

[paulplom]

Remind me on and I'll join you with the TT.

[gm]

out for a hoon in the Exo and was saddened to discover someone has dumped a whole load of gravel on my dusty playground 

so took a couple of pics 

and did a massive dusty wheel spin in protest  

[gm]

then found some logs to pose in front of

unfortunately i sunburned the shit out of my dome, otherwise great fun  

 

[hairnet]

if you went to the september 25th one

id cough for fuel if i could shotgun.........

 

[gm]

12 hours ago, hairnet said:

if you went to the september 25th one

id cough for fuel if i could shotgun.........

 

you mean in the mx5, i presume ? quite happy to share the driving seat in that one, not so sure about the Exo though - i’ve not had it on track yet myself so not sure about handing over the keys 

[gm]

[gm]

i found a cup / bottle holder lying around at work - i presume it has fallen off some sort of pram / buggy thing - and thought “i know where that will fit nicely”

[GMcD]

Ingenious! 

[gm]

the sun was shining so i took the exo for a hoon, had a right good time chasing an mx5 round the twisties  

then it was time for a bit of maintenance — last week i got a delivery

time to get busy - nice easy access here

updated the “service history”

just over 3000km and look at the nick of that !

just the mx5s to do now  

 

 

[gm]

this photo was two years ago

this one last week

yes, i bought the green one back ! will be back in daily service once the merc is sold 

[gm]

so the green car had a persistent EML showing 

reading the codes gave 

and a bit of google-fu led to the ECU

so i pulled back the passenger footwell carpet to find it was wetter than an otters pocket  

and has been for some time 

the kick panel is held in with two security bolts - one succumbed to an irwin extractor but the other needed to be drilled out. 

with the panel removed, things aren’t looking too clever

i took it indoors to have a closer look - thankfully not too bad inside the case

but wait a minute - what’s this ?

something not quite right with that little blue wire 

chances of refitting it to the crusty pin are low so we need a bodge

all back together - let’s bung it back in the car and see what happens

battery hooked up, turn the key and…..

good as new !

there’s just the matter of that soggy carpet to deal with now  

[gm]

i was thinking i might give the rusty kick panel a coat of paint before sticking it back in but it turns out that it is identical to the one i removed from the mk1 mx5 that i broke to build the exo  

 

[hairnet]

On 6/12/2023 at 11:11 AM, gm said:

you mean in the mx5, i presume ? quite happy to share the driving seat in that one, not so sure about the Exo though - i’ve not had it on track yet myself so not sure about handing over the keys 

nurrr

shotgun 

exo

not bothered about having a go

 

[gm]

at the request of nephew gm, exo was on prom duty last night 

shame he’s too young to drive it but his time will come.

we went as a daft punk tribute act  

sister gm followed in the mighty mx5

she had problems with the wipers and indicators being on the “wrong sides”

a simple fix  

 

[gm]

tinkering with the mk2 today

the roof catch on the drivers side has a habit of pinging open if you look at it the wrong way  

problem is the button should be locking with the handle - here there is a bit of a gap

the solution is fairly simple - knock out the pin

punch the end of the catch

drill a wee hole for a screw

snap the screw as the hole is too wee

drill out the remains of the screw and fit a slightly bigger one in a correctly sized hole

reassemble

and fit back in the car

the roof now locks solidly, i gave it my funniest look and it stayed defiantly shut  

the passenger side is fine so has been left well alone.

a set of new wipers to celebrate

 

[gm]

out enjoying the sunshine on our beautiful back roads 

found myself at Barnard Castle so stopped by the Bowes Museum for a couple of snaps