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Post by scottydugg on Nov 27, 2020 10:38:02 GMT
Little update, garage is finished, floor doesn't seem to have lifted yet but the car came back and went straight on jack stands, so hopefully that gives it enough time to set. Car came back after 7.5 weeks away, having had the drivers rear sill and a small hole mid passenger sill repaired. I've known about the drivers sill since I got the car so that's 3 years we got out of it before we had to open it up, after plating it. Passenger side:  received_399111984787321 by Scott Reid, on Flickr I've bought Dinitrol to convert and protect the internal sills so that's on the list of winter jobs, passenger rear sill is still solid so didn't need any work. Paint finish isn't great, but that's in keeping with the rest of the car, I will now be fitting my side stripes I've had for 2 years finally! After I change out the doors for my replacements. I've since pulled the head of the car again, the Supertech vavle stem seals were installed by an engine shop, leaking straight away, I would warn everyone DON'T BUY SUPERTECH VALVE STEM SEALS, stick to OEM. Ordered the OEM seals and just waiting to drop it off again with the shop. Opening up the engine again it's a good chance to check some of my work, I hadn't sealed the camshaft caps correctly at the front so there was a small leak, I'll get that fixed next time round.  IMG_20201117_184035 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Just to show how much the Supertechs leak, every single one leaked from what I saw:  IMG_20201117_185813 by Scott Reid, on Flickr  IMG_20201117_185823 by Scott Reid, on Flickr  IMG_20201117_192127 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Also bought some door bars to try out on the car, as expected these don't fit with the metal framed Cobra's, so I'm going back to standard seats and door bars and selling the seats (sold) and Willans Harnesses (still for sale), Cobra's were good, but not my ideal solution so I'm repurposing funds elsewhere in the car. I have missed having speakers in the headrest and sitting a little lower. Would have taken a lot of persuasion to get these to fit, would have been easier to lose weight and get a narrower seat.  IMG_20201123_182009 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Somewhere else that needs similar attention is the HSD Dualtechs, having not driven it in 7 weeks, I'd forgotten how stupidly stiff they are. Considering picking up a second hand set of Meister or Teins, if some pop up whilst it's off the road. Anyway, cars now in bits in the garage, SORN'd until spring (I'm guessing?) With a list of jobs that seems ever growing with project creep. Oh and I'm collecting bits for the M62 but I'll post another time about that. Thanks for reading. |
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Post by batou on Nov 27, 2020 14:06:25 GMT
Nice progress mate! I've got a box of Bilthamber stuff to slap under mine over winter... need to buy a better garage heater though. Torque GT have the Tein Flex Z on sale for £632 at the moment, I only paid a little less than a few months back (using a big voucher discount elsewhere). www.torque-gt.co.uk/tein-coilover-suspension-mx5-na-nb.htmlOn full hard they are not really suited for the average uk road but ride really well set somewhere in the middle (I have them at 8 clicks from full hard front and 10 clicks rear), if it wasn't for this years bullprarrie canoe and you were close I'd say come for a drive ah well. |
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Post by suggs84 on Nov 27, 2020 14:20:48 GMT
Good to see it finally back Scott, the door bars look good - and very purposeful! When i said my old car was away 7 weeks last year, that was to make you feel better.... but you made it to 7 and a half!! Just wow! I would defo have done the same with the seats, just keep the originals for now  |
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Post by scottydugg on Nov 27, 2020 15:48:44 GMT
Nice progress mate! I've got a box of Bilthamber stuff to slap under mine over winter... need to buy a better garage heater though. Torque GT have the Tein Flex Z on sale for £632 at the moment, I only paid a little less than a few months back (using a big voucher discount elsewhere). www.torque-gt.co.uk/tein-coilover-suspension-mx5-na-nb.htmlOn full hard they are not really suited for the average uk road but ride really well set somewhere in the middle (I have them at 8 clicks from full hard front and 10 clicks rear), if it wasn't for this years bullprarrie canoe and you were close I'd say come for a drive ah well. Yeah the bilthamber stuff gets a good write up and it came with the nozzles etc. I used Waxoyl on the underside last winter, seems to have held up ok, I'll have a look at it again this time round. Thanks for offer I'll need to try find someone local, are they close to Meister-R? the HSD Dualtechs, I don't know if they've got uprated springs or what, as they came with the car, but they're solid on full soft.....literally bounce down the road. Good to see it finally back Scott, the door bars look good - and very purposeful! When i said my old car was away 7 weeks last year, that was to make you feel better.... but you made it to 7 and a half!! Just wow! I would defo have done the same with the seats, just keep the originals for now It's back, paint finish isn't the best but that's in-keeping with the rest of the car. 7.5 weeks is slightly ripping the rear canoe out of it. Door bars do look really solid, I'm hoping combined with everything else it'll make a difference. In terms of the seats, I think I'll stick with these for now and only change them out for Lotus seats. It was pretty nice driving with a harness though. |
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Post by batou on Nov 27, 2020 16:19:17 GMT
Nice progress mate! I've got a box of Bilthamber stuff to slap under mine over winter... need to buy a better garage heater though. Torque GT have the Tein Flex Z on sale for £632 at the moment, I only paid a little less than a few months back (using a big voucher discount elsewhere). www.torque-gt.co.uk/tein-coilover-suspension-mx5-na-nb.htmlOn full hard they are not really suited for the average uk road but ride really well set somewhere in the middle (I have them at 8 clicks from full hard front and 10 clicks rear), if it wasn't for this years bullprarrie canoe and you were close I'd say come for a drive ah well. Yeah the bilthamber stuff gets a good write up and it came with the nozzles etc. I used Waxoyl on the underside last winter, seems to have held up ok, I'll have a look at it again this time round. Thanks for offer I'll need to try find someone local, are they close to Meister-R? the HSD Dualtechs, I don't know if they've got uprated springs or what, as they came with the car, but they're solid on full soft.....literally bounce down the road. Thats what the Flex are like set to full hard, literally feeling like the chassis is completely rigid, no doubt this will be good on track. Wound down from 16 to 8/10 clicks made it less feel a lot less harsh than the Bilstiens that came off so I was well happy, so haven't bothered to put it onto full soft yet. I haven't tried the Meister-Rs on this car but everyone seems to be happy enough with them. In that price range you're probably not going to see a huge variation in performance but shame about the HSDs, is this normal? I nearly went for those too. |
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Post by scottydugg on Dec 1, 2020 9:43:37 GMT
Yeah the bilthamber stuff gets a good write up and it came with the nozzles etc. I used Waxoyl on the underside last winter, seems to have held up ok, I'll have a look at it again this time round. Thanks for offer I'll need to try find someone local, are they close to Meister-R? the HSD Dualtechs, I don't know if they've got uprated springs or what, as they came with the car, but they're solid on full soft.....literally bounce down the road. Thats what the Flex are like set to full hard, literally feeling like the chassis is completely rigid, no doubt this will be good on track. Wound down from 16 to 8/10 clicks made it less feel a lot less harsh than the Bilstiens that came off so I was well happy, so haven't bothered to put it onto full soft yet. I haven't tried the Meister-Rs on this car but everyone seems to be happy enough with them. In that price range you're probably not going to see a huge variation in performance but shame about the HSDs, is this normal? I nearly went for those too. Yeah the Flex and Meisters seem quite comparable, I just hope they'll be night and day in comparison to the Dualtechs. Maybe they're just shot and need replacing. Do Tein last well or do you need to coat them in ACF50 like the HSD's? |
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Post by batou on Dec 1, 2020 10:27:14 GMT
Thats what the Flex are like set to full hard, literally feeling like the chassis is completely rigid, no doubt this will be good on track. Wound down from 16 to 8/10 clicks made it less feel a lot less harsh than the Bilstiens that came off so I was well happy, so haven't bothered to put it onto full soft yet. I haven't tried the Meister-Rs on this car but everyone seems to be happy enough with them. In that price range you're probably not going to see a huge variation in performance but shame about the HSDs, is this normal? I nearly went for those too. Yeah the Flex and Meisters seem quite comparable, I just hope they'll be night and day in comparison to the Dualtechs. Maybe they're just shot and need replacing. Do Tein last well or do you need to coat them in ACF50 like the HSD's? They come with a ZT coating which is there patent rust proofing on the threads I think, dampers are all powdercoated. I've not had them long enough to give you a definetive answer I'm afraid. Something else to note is they come in heavier than the meisters so thats also something to consider (theres a post in my project thread with exact weights I think). |
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Post by scottydugg on Dec 1, 2020 10:55:26 GMT
So over the past couple months I've made a few posts regarding supercharging the 5, trying to get a plan formulated in my head for what would be required. Decided that supercharging was the route I wanted to go, as opposed to ITB or Turbo, as I like the linear power delivery, predictable power through the rev range, the whine! and the simpler install (supposedly). Also our next family cars likely to be turbo, I've had turbo before, I wanted to try something different. So which route to go: M45, M65 or M62? I'd read a lot about the M45 charger, even going as far as getting an inlet from Facebook, but after reading you can get the same power (if not more) from an M62, that won't need to work as hard or produce as much heat, I sold the inlet and changed plans. Picked up a pre-fab'd inlet and outlet for an M62 from Facebook again, plan is to get the remaining charger to head bracket from Garage42 who does a couple kits, nice guy, worth a look into if you're planning the same as me. Hunted through Ebay for an M62 in the correct configuration (Part number: A1110900380), couldn't find one, had a mild panic I'd chosen the wrong FI route, then managed to pick one up for 140 at auction (bargain?). Have since found out it's missing most of the electronic clutch, what clutch parts it has have been drilled and tapped for some obscure reason. So I've spent the last few months sourcing a replacement stock pulley/clutch assembly, which I've recently picked up. The plan is to go stock pulley (4psi roughly) with a charge tube initially, until the car is setup and running. Followed by a reduction pulley (68mm) and intercooler setup (over the rad), further down the line. I'd split the charger to have a look inside, it seems in ok condition, I'll replace what seals and bearings I can, it'll get a full service once it's proven on the car.  IMG_20201129_193859 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Pinched Seal:  IMG_20201129_192937 by Scott Reid, on Flickr  IMG_20201129_192322 by Scott Reid, on Flickr  IMG_20201129_192317 by Scott Reid, on Flickr  IMG_20201129_192306 by Scott Reid, on Flickr I've got my Speeduino ECU to fit along with my AEM Wideband, as well as some yellow RX-8 injectors I managed to pick up from a local guy. I think, since I need to change my rear crank seal, I may try and upgrade the clutch whilst I'm in there with a BOFI/Skuzzle unit, with the head off it's nice and easy to get access into all the gearbox bolts. On a side note, started taking the wings off to swap both the bonnet hinges and the doors.  IMG_20201129_210335 by Scott Reid, on Flickr What a pain the front bolt is and the internal bolt when running wing braces! |
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Post by suggs84 on Dec 1, 2020 15:20:17 GMT
VERY interested to see how this goes, i can't even imagine the parts list for the conversion but should be awesome when done. The whine off my old big spec R53 Mini when giving it some hard right foot was addictive, i get what you mean!
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Post by scottydugg on Dec 1, 2020 16:27:41 GMT
VERY interested to see how this goes, i can't even imagine the parts list for the conversion but should be awesome when done. The whine off my old big spec R53 Mini when giving it some hard right foot was addictive, i get what you mean! I don't think the parts list is as extreme if you fill it out with kit parts, but it's all the unexpected bits that are adding up. The mx5 supercharged group on Facebook has been invaluable though, how else do you find the pulley assembly for a supercharger off an old Mercedes or a guy that'll service an M62. One of the biggest hurdles will be getting the Speeduino ECU in and running happily I think, that'll be a challenge for me. Ideally get the head back on and get it running stock ECU before installing. Good thing about the mx5 is there is always someone who's asked the question/done it before, so you're never completely lost at sea. |
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Post by suggs84 on Dec 1, 2020 20:33:13 GMT
The mx5 supercharged group on Facebook has been invaluable though, how else do you find the pulley assembly for a supercharger off an old Mercedes or a guy that'll service an M62. Absolutely! Without groups like that, many many projects wouldn't even get off the ground! |
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Post by scottydugg on Dec 1, 2020 22:57:54 GMT
The mx5 supercharged group on Facebook has been invaluable though, how else do you find the pulley assembly for a supercharger off an old Mercedes or a guy that'll service an M62. Absolutely! Without groups like that, many many projects wouldn't even get off the ground! Very true, we're all in this together, with our daft projects, like a support group! Essentially the same reason why I predominantly only post on here, for the help I've gotten. |
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Post by suggs84 on Dec 2, 2020 12:15:51 GMT
Agreed, that's the thing with these cars, as you mentioned above there is literally nothing someone hasn't seen or done before. Comes with the age of them I guess and how many there are around. I've got mates with brand new cars, like a Megane Trophy for example, and there is basically nothing available as it's so new. That is boring to me, i love these where you can select from a world of upgrades and plug and play bits. My wallet isn't so keen however  |
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Post by scottydugg on Dec 11, 2020 9:28:09 GMT
Quick update: Just been to collect the head, machine shop cleaned it and installed the OEM valve stem seals for 20 quid and some biscuits.  IMG_20201211_084445 by Scott Reid, on Flickr Another cracking job, cleaned it up really well, I'll need to clean my pistons again now. Anyway, they gave me back the used Supertech valve stem seals along with the head, advising that all have either split or torn in two....what utter prarrie canoee!  IMG_20201211_084440 by Scott Reid, on Flickr PLEASE NO ONE BUY SUPERTECH VALVE STEM SEALS, learn from my lesson  |
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Post by Zed. on Dec 11, 2020 10:14:52 GMT
I'll need to clean my pistons again now. why? the carbon buildup acts as a heat barrier that keeps the energy away from the aluminium of the piston, and they'll become covered soon enough anyway  looking at the carbon build can tell you how the engine is running, both fuel / air mixture and the actual combustion itself Rich. |
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le sigh