Back in a 5!

  • Thread starter Thread starter mk1_salami
  • Start date Start date

mk1_salami

mk1_salami

I sold my red turbo'd little monster a about a year ago now and having had a nice bike and an immaculate MR2 Turbo, I still had an itch to get another MX5.

Well I scratched the itch yesterday and bought a mint - and I dont use that word lightly - black 1.8 Eunos Roadster. It was imported by Dandycars in 2006 and I have the purchase receipt for £5,800 which included a full underseal on entry into the country.

The drive home was uneventful and rainy, and my first sideways action. Great fun ...... but it's bloody slow. The car is pretty much standard with the exception of an ARC Intake and some sort of exhaust. I've got big plans for this one. I spent a little fortune on building my old 250bhp MX5 and if I'm honest I started with the wrong car. The bodywork wasn't great and the car just wasn't a good example.

So now I have what I think is the right base car, the mod list looks like this: (it might take some time!)

* Fit red mohair roof
* Fit some sort of roll bar (no style bars)
* Elise seats / lightweight bucket seats
* Coilovers - I'm currently debating whether to drop the money I have spare right now (around £800) on P5 Sportdrive, Gaz gold pro or some cheaper alternative - It is a LOT of money for me
* Wheels
* 949 Racing Corrado brake brackets
* Megasquirt ECU & Injectors
* Turbo, Manifold, downpipe, exhaust, wideband, intercooler & pipework, Radiator
* 6 speed box

There's no huge rush, and I'm going to try and do it on a bit of a budget this time and do the megasquirt DIY instead of the MSPNP. I'll also try and find cheaper injectors from another car rather than pay for the RC Engineering ones. I'm also pretty set on going the 'Chinacharger' route, so something pretty similar to a GT28RS or GT2871 specs.

I'm aiming for a perfect little sportscar and gunning for around 280bhp until an eventual engine build. With great bodywork, strong power and a good handling I think it'll be awesome.

It feels good to have a car I'm happy to spend money on again. It's good to be back.

Watch this space :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Spent some time cleaning & hoovering the car so thought I'd update the thread with some pictures. Nothing much to see but will be nice to keep a running picture diary of the progress.

Enjoy.

4696785667_003542a383_b.jpg


4697419502_2181357fb4_b.jpg


4697419296_78ecae8524_b.jpg


4696785131_1d8e1b7e7f_b.jpg


4696784907_45f80e6d39_b.jpg


4696784511_5894678f7f_b.jpg


Sorry about the quality of the phone pics. Will do better next time!
 
Got lucky and picked up a Flyin' Miata cast manifold for a 1.8. They're like hens teeth over here and beats all the Ebay junk.

I'll be purchasing the turbo next. I'm planning on going the Chinacharger route, and something similar to a GT28RS.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah its a shame, I've never been in a supercharged one either.

I guess a turbo is a lot like yours, only loads more torque, loads more power and no whine ;)

Just winding you up lol.
 
Been busy ordering things recently, and so far I've got:

New wheels (quite excited about these). I was saving up for 949 Racing 6UL's, but at £700 without rubber it was taking too long. So I stumbled across a set of OZ Superlegerra in 15x7 in a gunmetal grey colour and did a deal. They'll be delivered shortly and should help me look like this:

2ae.jpg


06.jpg


I've also received / paid for:
* Turbo manifold from Flyin' Miata
* Some swish 550cc injectors from RC Engineering
* Devils own water injection kit
* Energy master bushing kit from 949 Racing
* 949 Racing big brake carriers (for corrado 280mm discs)
* Full stainless 2.5" exhaust
* A cheapy eBay central locking kit
* And finally...... a new gearknob and gear gaitor :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Quick update. I've received a few bits and bobs in the post recently, so thought I'd keep track of the items in here.

Got some OZ Superlegerra wheels, but the tyre profile is too thin imho. Next on the list is lowering the LOL-ride height.

4775558960_be45f4c3c1_b.jpg


Also received a shed load of bushes to refresh the suspension. I'm really not looking forward to fitting these / the bill to fit them. I've not decided whether to try to fit them or not. Opinions? There are also some brackets in that pic to allow the use of 280mm brake discs.

4775557760_fe8e5754dd_b.jpg


And finally I got this today. Should keep things nice and cool.

4774921923_68aae62445_b.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok a little update to the thread, but a huge update to the way the car handles.

I received my Gaz Gold Pro kit from MX5Parts and opted for the 400 front and 300 rear spring combination. This was the middle of the road option between road car and track weapon, so I thought I'd give it a bash. I've been playing about with the damping settings, but I've not had enough time to make a proper decision on what ones I like best.

I would say that the ride is very firm, and possibly a little bit too hard for the road. I put up with it for the option to be faster on the track, and for when I'm really pushing on, but I'd recommend sticking to the softer springs if your car won't see any track time.

Here they are all shiny and new:


IMAG0202 by mk1_salami, on Flickr

Here's the car awaiting her new suspension :)


IMAG0203 by mk1_salami, on Flickr

How I set the ride height:


IMAG0214 by mk1_salami, on Flickr

And getting the wheel alignment done:


IMAG0204 by mk1_salami, on Flickr

I used the setting Tony from WIM PM'd me, and the car seems to handle well. I would say the steering input isn't the sharpest, but I guess this makes it more stable at speed. When upping the speed in the corners the amount of grip available is incredible compared to before. Accelerating mid corner seems to shift the weight to the rear wheels and offer even more grip than before rather than moving into oversteer like you'd expect. I'd have to be going silly silly fast to loose traction without provoking it in the dry and even after arsing about, the transition from grip to sliding about is pretty natural and not scary at all.

It's really confidence inspiring and I can feel myself being able to carry a lot more speed into corners without the car rolling about or losing traction.

So now the car has new bushes on all the Wishbones, ARB's and drop links, as well as new Michellin Exalto PE2's and finally the Gaz Gold Pro's. They all add up to a fantastically balanced and grippy chassis.

Now bring on the power upgrades!
 
Some people in the past have expressed an interest in how much it'd cost to turbo an MX5. I've been keeping a running diary on what I've spent on the car and to say it's scary is an understatement.

Here's how it stands at the moment. I'll keep it updated.


Running total for MX5

Consumables & Maintenance & Repairs

Oil ~~~ 15/06/2010 ~~~ 30.00
Spark Plugs ~~~ 15/06/2010 ~~~ 4.00
Car mats ~~~ 4.00
Lower wishbone ~~~ 19/06/2010 ~~~ 11.75
Lower wishbone #2 ~~~ 25/06/2010 ~~~ 30.00
Front brake discs ~~~ 26/07/2010 ~~~ 45.00
Rear brake discs ~~~ 26/07/2010 ~~~ 30.00
Steering rack gaitor ~~~ 26/07/2010 ~~~ 23.26
4 x Michelin Exalto PE2 ~~~ 28/07/2010 ~~~ 225.00
Wheel Alignment ~~~ 06/08/2010 ~~~ 70.00
Oil ~~~ 09/08/2010 ~~~ 25.00

Total Consumables & Maintenance: £498.01

Upgrades
FM Manifold ~~~ 15/06/2010 ~~~ 105.00
550cc Injectors ~~~ 17/06/2010 ~~~ 141.45
2.5" Exhaust ~~~ 23/06/2010 ~~~ 150.00
Devils own W.I. + Delivery ~~~ 23/06/2010 ~~~ 180.00
Energy Bushes & Corrado BBK ~~~ 25/06/2010 ~~~ 308.71
Central Locking kit ~~~ 27/06/2010 ~~~ 25.00
Gear gaitor & gear knob ~~~ 27/06/2010 ~~~ 12.00
Superleggera Wheels + Delivery ~~~ 29/06/2010 ~~~ 313.00
Import Duty for W.I and Bushes ~~~ 08/07/2010~~~ 89.00
Gaz Gold Pro Coilovers ~~~ 04/08/2010 ~~~ 604.00
Bride bucket seat ~~~ 05/08/2010 ~~~ 185.00
Front bumper painting ~~~ 06/08/2010 ~~~ 120.00

Total Upgrades: £2,233.16

Spent on car: £2,731.17
Cost of car: £1,650.00
Total spent: £4,381.17

So to summarise, £2.7k spent in 2 months. Yikes. :trigger:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Fitted a new roof today, so here it is. Black mohair roof with heated glass. Excuse the poor quality pic.

5002596238_a1c6bd8dee_b.jpg
 
HurfDurf, pretty much what Alex said is true. There's nothing particularly wrong with the kit, and its a cheap option for boost. But if you want big power you'll end up replacing a lot of it.

I kind of cheated with this roof. I saw the MX5 behind it for sale with a slipping clutch and got it for £780 with this brand new mohair roof. So I took it home and figured out there's nothing wrong with the clutch, but the bite point was too high.

I adjusted the rod behind the clutch and brought it down a bit, and swapped the roofs over, complete with the frame.

WIN. :D
 
Thought I should update the thread!

No huge changes to the car yet, I'm slowly acquiring parts when I have the money spare each month. I'm trying to stay away from the credit card :) I hope to have the car finished by July. Oh and I also painted the valve cover a spangly new GOLD :cool:

I also need new tyres soon (already??!) and I think I'm almost certainly going to try out the Federal 595 RS-R's. Does anyone know the best place to buy them from?

Since the last update I've bought / fitted:

Fitted MSPNP ECU
Fitted Magnecor 8.0mm leads
Bought Forge Blow off Valve
Bought T28 Turbo from Pulsar GTI-R
Bought T28 Turbo Compressor gasket
Bought T28 Turbo Oil Drain gasket
Bought Group buy 52mm Radiator
Bought Ball and Spring manual boost controller

Still to buy!

* Downpipe (might bite the bullet and get a custom 3" job)
* Wideband (going to try the Innovate MTX or AEM UEGO. I'nm undecided)
* Cone filter
* Turbo oil feed, return feed and hose barb for sump
* Clutch
* Intercooler + pipework
* Boost gauge
* Turbo Inlet + Outlet adaptors
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Never heard of that mate, but I'll look into it. I'd quite like a gauge to monitor the AFR though.

And sorry Saitrix I didn't reply to you about the roof. Fitting was pretty straight forward, but I replaced the whole frame so it was easy. Not sure I'd like to fit the hood to the frame myself.
 
Went a bit mental today and ordered:

* Inconel manifold stud kit from Trackspeed Engineering
* Innovate MTX-L Wideband
* Intercooler + All pipework
* Oil feed line for turbo
* Oil drain adaptor
* Clutch

Yikes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom