|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Sept 7, 2019 15:50:57 GMT
Progress of sorts ... managed to buy the remains of a Mk2 RS, missing the engine, box and various other bits but the LSD, ecu and speedo were in it. I can combine this with the Mk2 RS engine out of the turbo car I'm breaking, to give me a decent 140 ish bhp in my green car. That'll be enough to get me on the road, and get a few miles covered. It's been off the road since 2015, so I'll need to shake it down & work on the general setup
After that, who knows but I'm in no rusb. The LS swap idea does sound fun, but so does the K24 swap!
The other change is another new car on the horizon ... a Mk3. They're getting really cheap, so I thought I ought to try one again and see what I can do to it ... Spoiler maybe?!
Russell
|
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Sept 13, 2019 23:00:31 GMT
New car joins the fleet!!  It's as cheap a Mk3 as I could find, only a base model 1.8 but the engine seems decent which is the main thing ... I'll have a play with a few ideas and see what I can do to improve it! Russell |
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Sept 21, 2019 17:43:23 GMT
Well this escalated quickly, bought a bunch of bits for the Mk3 ... wheels, arches, intake, some interior bits ... hopefully they'll come together a bit like my inspiration ... Russell  |
|
|
|
Post by wannabe on Sept 21, 2019 22:03:19 GMT
LOL Good stuff - should look ace!  |
|
|
|
Post by thruxton on Sept 22, 2019 7:33:46 GMT
That looks badly "over-tyre" size Russell.
Ok I guess if your just going for looks.
But for handling there is no need to go above 215 wide.
In fact the handling starts to drop away after that.
Anyhoos.
Have a great time with it.
The MK3 is a real eye opener.
Regards.
Rich.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Sept 22, 2019 13:04:00 GMT
That looks badly "over-tyre" size Russell. Ok I guess if your just going for looks. But for handling there is no need to go above 215 wide. In fact the handling starts to drop away after that. Anyhoos. Have a great time with it. The MK3 is a real eye opener. Regards. Rich. I can only assume it's the angle of the photo or something, because that car was all about performance, not looks. It was a track car built by Mazda, for the Sema show and it was one of the more subtle cars on their stand. There have been multiple tests done on Mk1 and Mk3 MX5s, 225 are faster than 205. 245 are faster than 225. 275 are faster than 245. Not sure if anyone has gone wider, but this is data taken from multiple cars testing different wheel and tyre setups back to back. If you don't change your geo to suit the wheels and tyres, or if the person setting the geo doesm't know what they are doing, then yes the handling will suffer but that goes for any change you make to the car, it needs to be done properly. My Mk1 had 225/45/15 tyres on several years back, when it was still an NA 1.6 with about 125bhp. The geo was done by Wheels in Motion and it was spot on, the tyres made the car so much faster that I was beating supercharged cars around Curborough purely because if the cornering speed. It was my daily, and it was 100% fine, no tramlining or heavy steering. It was better on a and b roads, not just on track (I only ever did 2 track days on it), just so sure footed, the confidence it gave to push on was such a leap forward from the 205s they replaced. Don't forget, the standard tyres on a Mk3 are 205 or 215 depending on the model, so going up to 225 as on the car in the picture isn't exactly a big leap. The Mazda engineers involved would have gone bigger, were it not for the looks as they wanted to keep it subtle. Russell |
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Sept 22, 2019 13:15:01 GMT
To clarify the intentions with my Mk3, it will be a road car and will hopefully cover a fair few miles ... so my own changes will be 99% for looks, and to keep it useable / cheap. So although I've gone for the same style of wheels as the Sema car, I've gone for 17 x 7.5 to keep the cost down. Tyres will be fairly generic fast road tyres, whatever I can get at a decent price.
The only bit I'm not sure of is which car they'll get fitted to! The 1.8 is a nice cheap car to mess with, but if I do lots to it, I won't want to do it all over again if / when I change to a 2.0. I hadn't realised just how much of a difference there was between the 1.8 and 2.0 ... 124bhp vs 158bhp. If it's a Sport, then it's also LSD, 6 speed box and nicer interior etc. I think I can get into a 2.0 Sport for about £1000 more than mine, so I'll see if I can trade up once the V5 arrives
Russell
|
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Oct 7, 2019 21:59:20 GMT
Strange day on Saturday, the Elise headed off to Holland to become a track car ... and nothing took it's place in the garage! It's a bit strange having so much space, but I'm using it to pull everything off the shelves and have a big sort / clear out.   The Mk2 RS has now been stripped of the wiring and a few other bits ... so that's ready to go to it's new home. It also means that I've got all the basics I need to start putting my Mk1 back together and get it running and MOTd I'm not in any rush to get it done, maybe in time for the first Breakfast Club of 2020 at Shelsley Walsh? I might need to find some new seats as the lovely GT3 seats I've been holding back don't quite fit!  Russell |
|
|
|
Post by wannabe on Oct 14, 2019 15:12:02 GMT
Finding 'sports' seats without massive wings is a PITA - I don't like 'wings' anyway, as I find they push my shoulders forward and hunch me over!
My spine is made of bone china, though, so it's a constant hassle to maintain proper posture... (he says, hunched over his laptop, lol).
|
|
|
|
Post by scottydugg on Oct 15, 2019 9:08:57 GMT
I got a set of cobra clubmans and they are quite wide at the top and surprisingly comfortable.Could be worth a look into. Perhaps to wide at the top as you still move around a bit, but I'm sure a harness would solve that. Pictures in my build thread of clearance in the car etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Oct 15, 2019 9:55:00 GMT
I may well buy a set of Corbeau LE-Pro, designed for the Eliae so fitting in an MX5 is no problem! The other option is Recaro SPG, bit wide but they're a stunning seat. I'll have another go with these seats ... see if I can adapt the mounts to fit a bit better
Russell
|
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Oct 23, 2019 18:26:18 GMT
Minor progress possibly... but I now have a radiator! Need to fit the engine next, hopefully get started this weekend ...  And found some new seats ... one a short drive away  And one I managed to get posted  They aren't a matched pair, but they'll do for now ... got loads of random bits on the way as well, from a bonnet latch that I've somehow mislaid to an exhaust coming from the US. Russell |
|
|
|
Post by Vindi (Russell) on Oct 25, 2019 15:11:34 GMT
Ok, looks like one is a Vios and the other is a Leos type RZ ... will have to see how they work in the car  Russell |
|
|
|
Post by wannabe on Oct 28, 2019 1:16:30 GMT
They look markedly different in size!
|
|
|
|
Post by FFS Corders on Oct 28, 2019 11:01:33 GMT
Will the one on the right even fit?
|
|
le sigh