Mdw's Mx5

[mdw003]

As I had mentioned in my ke16 thread I have recently purchased a mx5,

well kind of... Its a jap import 1990 Eunos Roadster.

 

Here is what it looked like the day I got it.

 

So as you can see its bog stock optioned with a few factory upgrades, hardtop, ac, torsion lsd and "premium" audio :lol:

 

Once I had it home it took me about 5 minutes before I took off the spoiler... I don't mind little lip spoilers but

this one was doomed for the parts bin. And threw a headunit and some speakers in.

 

 

Honestly I have not had this much fun in a car in ages, the rolla is great for cruising and my ss sportswagon

is good for long haul driving and the occasional straight line squirt, but this mx5 is just mind boggling through

corners. seriously its bog stock and it feels like its on rails.

 

The future for this car is the standard car mods list,

Intake. (already on the way from the US)

Exhaust.

Coilovers.

Brakes.

Wheels & good quality tyres

Tints.

All while keeping the functionality and balance of the car.

Its not going to be 'stanced' or 'slammed' as I live in the spoon drain capital of the world so it couldn't get out of my street.

 

Ill keep the updates rolling

Cheers.

[carbonboy]

This is awesome. I'll bet you'll have a ball with the roads in your state! Bang-for-buck you'll be hard pressed to find much better, I presume yours is in relatively good condition. :)

 

This is what you can do in a pretty standard-ish one of these:

 

[mdw003]

yeah, some of the drives through the hills near me are awesome,

My car is in really good condition, only 158,000 on the clock and a full service history

 

 

This is what you can do in a pretty standard-ish one of these

 

That looks like so much fun!

[Mark90]

I've been waiting for this! Looks clean as and a great start. Can't wait for updates.

 

A guy I know had one if these recently and was selling his, wonder if you ended up with it haha.

[B.L.Z.BUB]

 

Had to be done.

 

Seriously: Nice whip, bet its fun as phuck. They can be made to look tough as guts too.

[mdw003]

Had to be done.

 

 

:lmao: Haha, Reed your a crack up.

 

Today's muck about saw me do a 400km round trip through a hills pass that's nearish to me.

Its called horrocks pass ( here's a vid of a truck going through it... to give you an idea... trust me if my gopro wasn't stuffed

I would have filmed myself going through.

Jump to 3.30 ish ;)

)

 

I tell you what the mx5 has damn good suspension from stock, I believe they are bilstein shocks and springs.

The ride on the highway to the pass was quite firm, not uncomfortable but you know it wasn't made with Australia's

roads in mind... but as soon as you turn into that first corner you know its at home, :D

 

To compare, A bloke was at the servo in his xr6t and laughed when I pulled up behind him... He asked if my girlfriend knew I

was in her car, I responded with "how much did it cost to fill that?" he smiled and asked if I was going to quorn via horrocks pass. I said yep ill see you there. he followed me out to the pass basically chewing off my rear bumper... until we hit the corners.... well ill save the long story but you can probably guess what happened :P .

 

while I was on my way home (70km highway drive) I had the beats going, as you do. and there was the faintest sound of crackling from the headrest. now I mentioned the mx5 had the "premium" audio system. so i played with the fader settings and to my shock I found this.

Massive 1" by 2" 3 watt speakers :rocknroll:

so this was not to my liking, you could put the fader all the way to any direction but the awesome little speakers were all ways on... not happy.

 

My solution was as I have recently found out, quite a common fix to this issue

stuff 4" speakers in there. The job took all of 10 minutes and the difference is HUGE!

its like having headphones on.

 

Any way that was a quick update haha

 

Cheers.

Edited December 20, 2013 by mdw003

[mdw003]

Had another crack at it today, a few bits arrived during the week.

 

First thing I did was change both accessories belts, the alternator belt was glazed and cracked so it would squeal.

next up I thew on my new intake that came from the US,

The standard airbox was sitting right next to the exhaust manifold (stupid design)

crap photo...

 

the new pipework moves the intake away from the manifold and sits it behind the headlight

 

I know the pod is an instant eye catcher so i'm going to swap it for an enclosed pod with a ducked inlet.

Also dropped the oil and put some new full synthetic gear in and changed the plugs while the oil was draining.

 

After all of that I got hold of a h4 upgrade kit the same as what I have in the rolla) and got those shitty old sealed beams out of there,

 

Old

New

 

I have got it booked in to have the brakes done,

I will play with go bits but ill let a professional do the brakes.

Suspension is next then a zorst aaaaand I'm still trying to choose some wheels.

 

Cheers.

Edited September 13, 2013 by mdw003

[B.L.Z.BUB]

Wow, who thought that air intake was a good idea (the old one)? Did it make a difference? When I put a ducted intake and enclosed my pod filter it made a noticeable difference.

Edited September 13, 2013 by B.L.Z.BUB

[mdw003]

It didn't add 100rwkw like the cops think it does, it made a noticeable difference in the mid range throttle response,

and smoothed out the overall rev range,

[altezzaclub]

All I can see is a 4-valve twin cam injected 1600 with a 5speed and an LSD all screaming..

 

PUT ME IN A KE70!!

[mdw003]

haha, I had it next to the ke16 and for a split second I thought, That would fit. I wouldn't want it in any other car, this is so lite and the motor loves a rev or two, ill keep it where it is + its heaps of fun in the wet ;) .

Edited September 14, 2013 by mdw003

[altezzaclub]

Is it a chain-driven or belt-driven cam setup?? I know the MX5 forums are full of mods for the whole car so you can really make them go, and with the great lack of modern RWD 4-cyl motors its a drop-in alternative to the Honda S2000 or Altezza motors, both of which are already old.

 

The newer MX5 has the Altezza's 6-speed too

[mdw003]

Its a belt driven setup, the 1.6 engines are quite simple by today's standards but have some problems with wearing out the keyway on the crank if its not tightened correctly after a timing belt change.

On the other hand they will respond well to a turbo/super charger, that makes me wonder if that's why the intake plumbing sits near the exhaust :lol:

 

as an alternative to an FC20/Altezza engines I would lean towards a 2001-2005 Nb mx5 for the motor, Its a 1.6 litre that has aprox

110 bhp (82 kW) @6,500

from standard, if mine pops that's the way ill be going. its the best designed 1.6 they make imo and the one most people boost.

Alternatively they make some torquey 1.8 -2.0 litres aswell.

I love the feel of the 5 speed in mine, The only thing I can compare it to is a Daytona racing game, its so tight and the throws are short... like 1.5" from first to second, no fuss it just clicks straight in every time. (and its better when your driving it harder)

[mdw003]

So I have been away and working and every other thing that can take up my car time,

and the mx5 has been the daily for the whole time,

the only dramas I had were a nail in the tyre and the plug leads needed to be changed due to being old and brittle.

 

Eventually the "stock" look and standard suspension were getting on my nerves so it came time to get it done

 

Random gumtree search provided these bad boys shod with 90% tread re001's... WIN

The rims need a paint and polish but for now they will do fine

 

 

This created a problem... it sat up like a 4x4 and made it wallow through corners and generally made it unpleasant,

sooooo....

 

 

They were in the box for all of a few seconds

 

 

I need to roll the lips to get it lower but until the coilovers settle Ill leave it at this height.

[azza91]

wheels suit it well. looks good now with some low as well. whats next for it?