Steve-O

Sorry just trying to catch up with current events hence the late post! I have a stormforce luxury fitted cover for mine - it sat for 3 months on my drive last year through winter in all weathers and high winds etc. The paint was absolutely perfect underneath when it came off. Remember had recently had a respray so i was looking very carefully. The main thing is it is a tight fit and has straps that run under the car. Its got nowhere to go. The outside is is waterpoor but breathable and inside its got a softer layer that hugs the paint. Theres little movement to be had as its not loose. The absolute main important thing is have the car spotless and well waxed before the cover goes on. And make sure theres no crap on the underside ahead of fitting. I am going to be putting the cover on mine inside the garage this weekend and i will probably just disconnect the battery. I have a s**t hot CTEK smart charger which reconditions batteries so i will just drop that on for 12 hours when i want her out and away i go.

These days theres no need to import forced induction kits or parts. Theres an increasing market at the moment and loads of people are doing installs and parts in the UK. The stuff i have imported has mainly been stuff that you cannot get in the UK, crank overlay and the zoom console being two of the main ones. You just cant get them so in my mind makes it worth the agro

Sorry Rich forgot to respond to this. I have brought a couple of things from Japan and the US for the car - US is pretty easy but the Japanese websites require some perseverance often direct emails as their online stores don't cater for paying and setting UK delivery addresses! The console is from Zoom engineering. So i had time to tinker today and got the new console in for the first time and got the power wired up, added a small switch to turn the gauge back lights on/off which also dims the boost gauge at the same time, I spent 3/4 hours over last week getting a loom made up and i also added in a PC motherboard style connection so it can be removed easily without disturbing the wiring in the car. The console itself is black feux leather which against the dash and the flocked crash pads adds a bit more detail and looks almost OEM. Also took the time to replace the gearstick and handbrake gaitors with black suede versions with red stitching. Its a small detail but i think its great.

I fitted the dynamat on the doors themselves and used a 1inch wallpaper roller to get it stuck on nicely. I did it primarily to make the door speakers work better and go louder without farting and buzzing. The positive side effect is the doors feel more sold to close and it cuts the road noise down a bit. The yoko low energy tyres on the lexus are terrible for picking up road noise at times. Goodyear eagle f1s on the other hand on the audi were very good at insulating.

not entirely sure i think its more for drafts!?

I bought it from halfords but you can get it cheaper online i think. I have read people using roofing stuff from b&q with similar effects but might smell a bit I put the plastic sheet over the top but its missing on drivers side. I cant say its made any difference having it not there!

If you want to further improve the doors - add some dynamat. Makes the doors a bit more solid sounding and it helps road noise a bit and makes the speakers work better. Less buzzing too. I done mine ages ago along with some ex demo JBL GTO speakers from halfords for £15 and the improvement was superb.

Yeah i think thats why i love it so much - i love the muscle car period. Going to try and get some nice black bezel/black face analogue gauges that match in which should really look the part. Tone : yeah love a gadget. I wasnt going to do gauges but i have decided that having oil/water temp and boost will allow me to monitor a few things without the tablet in place = cleaner setup. Becuase its a new panel i might be able to squeeze in a discrete volt readout as well since the car is sat for long periods its good to know what the battery is like when i hop in. Picked up some nice black suede/red stitch handbrake and gearshift gaiters the other day. They will be going in as well at the same time just to add an extra bit of sportyness to the interior

Yeah i only get an hour here and there to get things done so even these minor things turn into mini projects. I am enjoying it though as i have a thorough knowledge of the car now.

Cars back together but putting in the track dog tensioner became a more tricky job that what it looks like on paper! Ended up having to adjust the supercharger from scratch to line the belt up on the pulleys again, but one of the bolts that secure the charger to the head and also serve as adjustment bolts decided to round off. I later learned the heads are tapered hence my 14mm spanner that was correct slipped. Lesson learned! I had to take the charger off entirely to get at the bolt and luckily it had enough meat left to pop a socket on and get the bolt out. That could have been a nightmare scenario if it was stuck. i ordered some irwin bolt extractor sockets but luckily these werent required. Some nice new bolts were used when it went back on! Went out for a drive the other day in between torrential rain and its driving well. Eliminiated some terrible belt slip noise due to not enough tension and just as i thought i had it nailed, the belt jumped off gunning it up onto the a41. No big deal just need to adjust the supercharger back. We are talking 1-2mm of adjustment though which is tricky. Once its there though thats the end of it. Enjoying the journey though - this is definitely the case of improving upon any weaknesses found as i go. Also - i have ordered a couple of these Zoom Engineering center consoles from japan. Mine will have black centres though : This is to allow some gauges to be installed since i just wasn't happy with slapping them in pods - just doesn't look right. I have ordered one in leather and one painted and i will see which one i prefer. After that i will put the other one up for sale. Suffice to say they are like rocking horse s***e in the UK so shouldn't have an issue moving it on!

I dont know much about the IACV but if you want to spray into that then i guess it would be sensible to have it out on the bench and give it some TLC. I've not had any issues with mine so its not an area i have looked at I run my meisters on full soft for daily driving At the moment its a battle to get it out the garage though.

That paper roll - its not kitchen roll as such - its seen as a heavy duty all purpose roll. Its massive overkill for the kitchen! Its tough as old boots. Great for working in the engine bay and mopping up. Binding rear calipers can cause the car to pull also. Think about it if the right rear is sticking it will want to bring the car over to the right slightly. If you used Autolink or a decent motor factor you should be good tbh but it wont hurt to familiarise yourself with the differences. Check this out : http://www.mazdamenders.net/~mazdamen/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=1695&start=10 If you have the aftermarket chassis rail bracing you can use them for stands with no issue. I wouldnt use them otherwise. I think mine idles around 700-750 so sounds like you are in the ball park. It wont hurt to give the TB a good clean witth carb cleaner. I dont think it matters if the spray goes in it might cause rough idle and a bit of smoke for a while after but it should settle down. I chucked loads down my old 106 Gti with no ill effects other than a smoke screen for a bit Oh and run a bottle of Redex through and give it an Italian tune up. It'll thank you for it

When changing the oil filter the only thing you can do really is place a load of tissue under the filter and get the thing off fast. I always get it snapped off ready and then go for it and get the filter off and turned upright asap. I'd dropped mine before as i got oil on my gloves taking it off and trying to contort my hand and filter out the small gap between the inlet manifold and engine bay- that was a messy business! I was thinking i might get a cat litter tray, line with tissue and cut to fit and slide that in ahead of swapping filter next time. I also recommend this tissue for any workshop work : I have rolls of it all over the place and its brilliant. Very strong. Its on offer atm at co-op - 2 rolls for £2. A roll last me weeks. With the calipers - its a common issue to get siezed rear pistons. I have replaced my rear calipers with geuinine refurb units 4/5 times in my ownership. Thats probably a caliper once a year on average! These days i park with handbrake off in the garage and leave in gear with a brick behind the rear wheel. Supposedly that helps stopping things get stuck. Only time will tell. Word of note : be very very cautious where you get refurbs from if you do try them. Theres a load of cheap chinese copies floating about which are shocking quality and downright dangerous in some instances. Theres some tell tale markings that can help identify genuine calipers. I only just saw that pic with the axel stands on the rear bracing. f**k that. Wouldn't catch me using that !!

In the past i have jacked from the sides and slide an axle stand in tight against the jack so that its on the reinforced section of the sill. i have also placed stands on the lower wishbone at the inner bolt that secures it to the chassis. That said you can probably use the cross member if you can get to it. Worth noting that regular jack cups will bend the sills slightly. I used a bit of wood in between to reduce the stress a bit - but i think the hockey puck with a groove carved out is the way really so it lifts the car either side of the sill and doesnt place load on the sill itself. As far as i know you have the nominated points for a jack and that area is reinforced either side- how much of it behind is reinforced i dont know but i wouldnt be using just that inner side to prop the car up - will probably go through the floor or something.

thats pretty hardcore!

save it for the track or at least go along and see if for yourself ahead of committing

Bedford is a proper track built from the ground up for corporate days - hence why its got loads of run off and the safest track in the UK (in my opinion). No risk of any nails there Its not th ebest outright track for an mx5 if you do the full length version but its the ideal place to do a first track day. Theres no camber or elevations to worry about that adds another dynamic into your car control. fair enough if you are thrashing someone elses wheels on an airfield go for it but i'd never set a wheel on one again.Its all really coarse concrete with huge stones embedded in it which envivitably work loose and then flick up on the paint or scrub the s**t out of your tyres. The north weald one they have some kind of fish market on there or something so half of the space is really slippery and half of it is just grippy but rough.

Oh yeah don't take yours anywhere near an airfield!!

Sounds like there's probably a few brown pants moments there!The last vaguely interesting incident was leaving cobham services on the m25. Long left hand bend, wet, loads of diesel down = crossed hands almost and some raised eyebrows from behind (maybe a round of applause) lol I left the bend giggle like a girl and that's why she's still with me 5 years on

Personally I would steer clear of airfield days. Loads of rocks and debris around and will destroy your tyres in short order. First and last airfield day I did I got a 5 inch nail in a brand new toyo. Get yourself on a proper swept track it will be so much better.

That catalog is lethal. Stay away from the nutz group buys page as well!

It doesn't get any more ideal other than checking if you have an lsd. A different brand of rubber might help in the wet but at least this way you can touch the edge of adhesion without going mad. You should try driving a supercharged one with Yokos (s***e) in the wet. It keeps you alert

Cheers dude Clear side repeaters from MX5 parts - one of the first mods i ever did to the car back in 2010 I think those were about £17 back in the day and £19 or so now. Bumper reflectors i held out till a second hand pair came up - i think i paid about £35 for the set. They can take side marker bulbs but not fussed wiring them up - its a bit of a american thing.

No its not normal - might have been a piece with some inpurities in or something. Either way i felt the effort of fitting the beast track dog one was worth it for peace of mind. Yeah i am loving that photo shame its in the garages - i'll get a proper photo session on it one day hopefully. She scrubs up alright

Its been a while since i posted an update So back in june i took a road trip down to Le Mans again for the 24 hour race. I serviced the car before going and the trip down was flawless. On the way back whilst negotiating the traffic through Rouen i had a bang/thud as i pulled away from some traffic lights in a assertive fashion. I felt the power steering go so assumed the belt snapped and didnt bother to stop. I then drive another 110 miles or so back to calais and pulled into the Eurotunnel waiting area for our train. I took the time to just confirm my suspicions. However what i found surprised me ! Basically the actual tensioner bracket had snapped in half and sat on the undertray for the last 100 miles! Anyway so i set about getting a replacement from Moss, which they very kindly sourced from the US and sent to me. This took some time however so i ordered a Trackdog tensioner as a posisble solution. in the end i had both sat on my table so i was able to compare the pair of them closely : 2 piece assembly versus 1 piece : Comparing brackets - Trackdog significantly thicker but heavier buy a few hundered grams. Both made from billet aluminum i believe (i know track dog is 100%). Pulleys themselves - Moss are nylon one piece - bearings not servicable. As you know i had to replace one already that started making noises. Track dogs are steel pulleys with replaceable bearings: In the end i weighed it up and decided that although fitting the moss one again would be the easy fix i wanted to try the beefier (and slightly heavier) track dog as it looked like it addressed the two previous failures i experienced (bearing and bracket). This is what they look like fitted (not my engine bay) : Suffice to say i had massive fun and games fitting this. I had to re-orientate the power steering hose to allow room, remove some intercooler pipe work and also develop bendy hands to try and get the nut on the back of the power steering pump that secures it to the block. I also managed to split thin a coolant pipe whilst struggling in the tight space - it must have been brittle as it didnt take much for it to start weeping. So i ordered a 9 piece coolant hose set to replace the damaged hose, and put the rest in when time allows: I got there in the end however! So car is now back on the road. The charger and belt needs re-aligning now though as its slipping but its drivable Lastly i thought after all that i thought i'd give her a clean before putting it back into the garage : more soon...