What have you done to your car today?

Took the 55 out for some vpower.

Then washed all the salt out of it, Aqua waxed it and greased the boot and roof hinges. Loving my xpipe/cat delete setup, sounds beautiful.
 
Went to BLiNK Motorsport in Winsford today to get some suspension issues looked at...the ride heights and alignment seemed wonky and there was a strange popping noise coming from the front, after I had taken it elsewhere for an alignment about a month ago....

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A total pain in the backside to free up all the alignments bolts, replaced a couple but I will be going back after Christmas once I've sourced all the bits I need. Once everything was freed up (with lots of heat, plusgas, swearing and violence), had the ride heights set to give 1cm rake which seems to work best on MX5s, corner weighting, and a custom alignment. Handling is much improved now.

I am a bit disappointed in the place I went to for alignment before though (A-line), they claimed to have adjusted everything and did give me a 'before and after' chart, but I'm not sure how they did it given so many of the bolts were seized, and once the nut was was loosened, the left front camber bolt in particular could not be tightened up sufficiently to stop the wishbone wobbling...this was pretty obvious, but seemingly ignored. I did go back to them but they checked, said everything was tight and that was that..even though there was a problem.
 
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I haven't been there before, its quite a way from me but the motorsport garage I originally wanted to use locally didn't seem keen to take on the work, and I wanted to get the car looked at before Christmas day as thats when the coilover warranty runs out...good service from these guys though, happy to explain everything as they went along and with good attention to detail. I would happily go back!

They deal mainly with the earlier MX5s, maintaining various race cars in the BRSCC series, but they are increasingly doing stuff with Mk3s. For suspension and alignment work in Cheshire I would definitely recommend them - they have a (six monthly) calibrated perfectly flat floor and lift for alignment and corner weighting, and the latest Hunter Hawkeye alignment gear.
 
Clarkey said:
Are you suggesting that the guys at Aline lied about adjusting your car?
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You draw your own conclusions...but I am not too impressed, this is what happened.

Car went into A-line end of October for a 4 wheel alignment, with no suspect noises from the suspension. They said some of the bolts were tight but did not highlight any areas of concern during or after the alignment beyond this.

Car leaves A-line and a popping noise/creak from the front left becomes apparent, I take it back two days later thinking there is something they have left loose, they swing on various bolts and say everything is tight, problem is nothing to do with us, might be the top mount or coilover locking collar loosening they say...

The noise persists...so (after I have had the car off the road for 3 weeks due to an unrelated engine issue) I go to Blink.

They discover the front left camber bolt is corroded onto the crush tube and has been left slightly loose and this is where the popping noise/knock has been coming from. Simply trying to tighten it up more risks twisting and damaging the bush, it needed to be freed up properly...never mentioned or highlighted by A-line who worked on the car before.

Today Blink spent literally hours trying to undo/free up seized alignment bolts, the full works involved here, induction heater, air tools, lump hammer, brute force and lots of swearing, all to get the different bolts to move to a degree they are happy with to get an acceptable range of adjustment.

Would you be pleased at A-line in this case?

I dont blame them for everything corroding and getting stuck, its an aging japanese car after all, its the norm :( but as an alignment specialist I would have hoped they would have noticed the issues and discussed/highlighted them, rather then let a car go out with knocking suspension. I'd have rather they told me stuff was seized/jammed or could not be tightened up without twisting the bushes..

I have used A-line 5 times previously....always been happy with their workmanship before, but this time its clear they missed the issues with the car and left it in a state where the wishbone could move due to loose bolts, and thus the camber would vary as the car moved, apart from the noise it created when it shifted. Somewhat defeating the point of an alignment, no?
 
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Washed all the dirt off, applied more aqua wax. Just keep topping it up until after winter now when I'll do some more major bits.. It's too cold to use a machine on it :')
 
I drove it! First time in 8 weeks! My withered clutch foot/leg makes for (much) slower shifts, but it felt good nonetheless! After replacing the battery it started first time. Don't much like the feel of the winter tyres, but will increase the pressure to try to improve the handling. Also installed lovely moisture traps for all this wet weather.
 
Balm or colourant kit????

Em3bbs said:
Bit more leather done with the headrests (still drying a bit), my kids have been ill this week so not really had much chance to go in the garage. Hoping to finish the back seat backrest early next week and then do the fronts.

Before:
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After:
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I think what amazes me most is that it really seems to feed the leather and any cracks seem to heal up, especially on the seams which I thought would need work but they look perfect now.
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I just emailed the furniture clinic today regarding a colour match and the guy who got back to me told me I needed to buy the colourant kit and not the restoration balm. I have N6TT Grey leather by he way. I guess all car leather is similar??? Did you find the right balm ok?
 
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