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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 13:31:27 GMT
I'd thought I'd start to somehow document the build process of my Mk1 I've been going a bit crazy with it in the last few months, and whilst documenting it on instagram is fun, having it all in one place like this seems more logical Back in late October I'd just left my IT job where I'd been working for 14 years, so had to hand my company car back. My friend was selling his Mk1 for a pretty decent price, I needed a car.... so seemed like a great idea! Now cut to March this year, and we all know what happened. I work in the live sound business, and overnight, the entire year worth of bookings just vanished  On the positive side, it finally gave me time to work on my car on all the jobs I've been meaning to do. With having no job, I had/have all the free time in the world... So here's what the car looked like back in late October last year It's the "S" version, so I have all mod cons like ABS, power steering, CD changer, power windows, leather seats etc... Also came with the hard top, as I intending on this being a daily driver, this was a great addition What it looked like the day I got it on the 29th Oct  The very first thing I did was install some LED side light bulbs, as the ones from factory look very dated now  Some of the panels were a bit faded, so gave it a once over with some polish   A great start! |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 13:39:04 GMT
After using the car for a few long journeys, I soon discovered that the CD changer was jumping on virtually any of the CDs So managed to pick up a older Alpine double din head unit from ebay for £180 The original owner paid almost £900 for this a few years ago Built in sat nav is super handy as well as At the same time I also added the large armrest dual cup holder, which is awesome, would fully recommend it to anyone I'm only 5'8 so my legs don't bash against the cups, so if you're not as short as me, you may find it annoying I did have a crazy issue with it to start with, when I plugged it in, I had nothing coming out of the front speakers To cut a long story short, in order to get audio to come out of the L&R speakers, I had to disconnect the wiring plug to the headrest speakers. No bare in mind that I don't even have headrest speakers, and this plugged was connected when the factory unit was plugged in  That took a while to figure out, and ended up doing two very long journeys without audio as I simply didn't have the time to figure it out then  I also added this nice little socket so I have easy access to plug in USB sticks to the head-unit   |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 13:41:07 GMT
I'd seen people raving about the delrin door bushings, so for a small amount of money, seemed like a nice little mod   Also, at the same time, I was getting frustrated with the complete lack of illumination in the boot. So fitted the Jass performance boot light  |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 13:45:52 GMT
The silencer that came with the car was fine, functional, but looked pretty tatty and rusty So rather than replace it with an OEM one.... picked up a Cobalt backbox from Moss, and a silenced de-cat from MX5parts  There's an MX-5 specialist near my parents, so had it fitted whilst I was visiting  Definitely looks the part, and sounds it!  |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 13:53:30 GMT
So now the end of March, beginning of April rolls around, and we all know what happened.... Practically overnight I went from having a full booked year, to an empty one... not being disheartened I decided to start doing all the jobs to the car I'd been meaning to do I started out with some basic stuff with the EVAP can delete  Super easy to do, and cleans up the left side of the engine bay  Also, look how bloody dirty it is .... that is going to change in the coming months ... |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 13:57:50 GMT
The car came with the pretty rare factory fog lights, but I wasn't a fan. They just looked odd and out of place. But I realised their 2nd hand worth, so removed them to sell, in order to buy parts I actually wanted!   |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 14:03:35 GMT
The electric windows in the car had always been a bit rubbish to say the least The left window would maybe open 1cm, whilst the right hand side would open about 10cm What with the amazing weather we were having in late April 2020, I decided enough was enough!  It became pretty obvious why the windows were being so slow at going up and down    After scraping out the 25 year old grease, giving it a full clean and degrease, then applying plenty of new grease, I finally have working windows! That go all the way up AND down. Crazy Also at the same time I replaced the window bushings with the delrin ones...but don't have any photos haha |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 14:13:01 GMT
After never owning a car with induction kit, I always wanted one ! Now being very much aware that the airbox sits basically on top of the exhaust manifold, I wanted to get something with a heatshield So the JDM works one seemed to fit the bill The supplied heatshield  Thought I'd add some reflective foil, it may, or may not work, but makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside haha  Because my car has ABS, the bracket required a little fettling to fit..   With the unit fitted  Very happy with the noise! Yes I know the engine bay is dirty haha... |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 14:22:22 GMT
At the same time as fitting the new induction kit, it seemed appropriate to help it try and breath as best it can So picked up some TSIs from Moss Before  After!  The wiring to get it all to work with my silly ebay LED headlights was straightforward enough, didn't do a very good job with the wiring job, but that's something I'll eventually get to   Little demo of it working here |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 14:51:02 GMT
Because of the age of the car, I wasn't 100% certain on the age of the various fluids, apart from the engine oil, which I knew the old owner had changed within the last year So decided to change the coolant, the diff fluid, transmission fluid, shifter turret fluid and the power steering fluid Went with the Bofi racing suggestions  If I was changing out the shifter turret fluid, it seemed madness to NOT install a new short shifter.... so that's what I did! Once again Moss supplying the necessaries The existing rubber surround on the previous shifter was also looking a bit sorry for itself too  But no matter, as I have a full compliment of goodies to swap in! Including a new bronze bushing   The fluid that came out was a bit nasty !   The PS fluid I pumped out was like treacle I know I've not got it all out, but every few months I'l just repeat this process   Gave the coolant overflow tank a bit of a clean as it was filthy     |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 14:53:41 GMT
This fluid transfer pump made things a lot easier!   Also, standard "transmission fluid stinks" 100% drove smoother afterwards, and the new short shifter is ace! |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 14:55:11 GMT
More ever so exciting mods...new numberplates! The old ones looked, well, that ! Very mid-90's Nice to have a 6 digit plate by chance as well, looks a touch cleaner   |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 15:03:39 GMT
The standard speakers are again, very early 90's So picked up a set of these. Nothing amazing, but will surely be better.   Old vs new   The result is that they're much much better than before, but they make the doors rattle like something else. Which is another thing I need to tackle at some point, most likely using flashing tape to line the inside of the door |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 15:07:30 GMT
The advantage of living in Sheffield is that you have the peak district right on your door step The weather throughout May was spectacular, so was able to do this kind of thing  |
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Post by sinai on Aug 19, 2020 15:10:19 GMT
Earlier in the year I replaced the factory orange side markers with these 2nd hand clear ones What I didn't know was that they looked pretty nasty  So replaced them with the IL motorsport ones that light up with the sidelights, like the USA model car  Also changed the side indicators to these to match  |
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That took a while to figure out, and ended up doing two very long journeys without audio as I simply didn't have the time to figure it out then 
