Spider The Slider...

streeto · Jul 4, 2013

Hi thur,

So, kinda caught the drift bug in a semi massive way. Was gonna save my money till crimbo and pick something up but then i saw a little mx on ebay and tbh it looked alright. Popped down to check it out last week and turns out it's a pretty damn clean example imo, but without further adoo may i introduce spider...

She's a little 1.8 eunos, and i plan to make her into a touge style road car b2b drift slag for weekend fun. I have to keep the name spider as the 5 yr old son of the dude i bought it off went mental when his dad told him i'd bought it "NOOOOO bu bu but SPIDER!!!", so spider it shall be in honour of lil Will. It has suffered a recent scrape with a hedge ( i think this killed the owners midlife crisis dream) but other than bumper damage i cant really see anything else but will have a proper look over this weekend coming and report... I wont lie i'm new to the mazda make but have owned various modified jap cars in the past so hoping it wont take too long to adjust.

Noteable extras so far are

Meister R zeta-s coilovers

MX5 Parts Windblocker

MX5 Parts stainless-steel cat-back exhaust

New Pipercross panel filter

Timing advanced to 14 degrees TDC

Initial plans are wheels, steering lock spacers, hub modification, tr lane roll bar, usual tow eye/strap, brake pad upgrades, undercar bracing.

Long term plans are Throttle bodies, arch flares, dented panels

Look forward to sharing the progress of my car and my drifting with you fellow nutz!

Jxx

Matt_L · Jul 4, 2013

Nice, looks very clean!!

LeeMutz · Jul 4, 2013

Very nice! I want a MK1, just need to sell/swap my MK2 for one haha

Triki · Jul 4, 2013

Sweet little purchase

streeto · Jul 4, 2013

Cheers guys, it really was one of those buy it now or pay more for less down the road vibes..

LeeMutz said:
Very nice! I want a MK1, just need to sell/swap my MK2 for one haha

Do eeet, tbh i did think about the el1evens mk2 but kinda assumed the mk1 would be lighter...

streeto · Jul 7, 2013

So as the weekend was nice was able to do a few bits to the car and take it out for a little test drive. Didn't get quite as much as i wanted to get done due to a lack of bungage and some stubborn bolts on the mud flaps but really was just glad to get out in it and see what i've taken on.

First impressions were good, the front end did feel a little flighty but i'm not sure if thats due to me being so used to fwd, and it did go a touch when i hardend the susp but still not 100%. There is also an occasional knock on the left hand side when going from full lock but i've got a set of camber arm bushings and eccentric bolts so will get those on and see if it clears that up after some realignment... Anyway few piccies

I've put the original 14's back on it, as i plan to run this size but wider..

cheeky bit of stitching!

Bonnet appears slightly crooked

Hopefully be a bit more exciting next time!

Hope everyone had a wicked weekend

Zarndo · Jul 12, 2013

This looks like a nice example, well done on a good find.

Cheers

Alex.

alexevans · Jul 12, 2013

Loving the name spider the slider, made me chuckle.

Mr Slow · Jul 12, 2013

Pull the steering wheel cover off...

smobey_sutton2 · Jul 12, 2013

Looks very clean mate! Good buy from the looks of it!

Drewcole81 · Jul 12, 2013

I liked the other grey wheels you had fitted, think they really suited it.

Nice looking car though.

Tom Holdaway · Jul 12, 2013

Your bonnet isn't crooked, somebody has been clumsy and leant on the headlight cover.

Open the bonnet, and pull the back of the light unit upwards. It'll lift the unit back into place.

robd · Jul 12, 2013

^^This!

Looks like a nice clean example, also like the story behind the name too! Maybe just don't drive past his house after you've been drifting it!! :lol:

alexevans · Jul 12, 2013

robd said:
^^This!

Looks like a nice clean example, also like the story behind the name too! Maybe just don't drive past his house after you've been drifting it!! :lol:

Yer don't do that... drive past his actually drifting! Arse out Arm out with a little wave.

streeto · Jul 14, 2013

Cheers for the comments guys, other than the couple of issues mainly being the suspension knock and bonnet its really clean!

The bonnets defo twisted, the lights sit nice n flush currently, have tried twisting it a bit but just doesnt seem to want to sit right so will look into getting a second hand one. Havent done anything this weekend, kinda waiting to get it into a mates workshop to trial fit some wheels and tidy up some odds n sods but will make sure i slide past the old owners house in the near future!

Might have a few bits up on the for sale thread but need to post some more i think before i'm allowed... These bits would be :-

Great condition tonneau cover

Standard momo wheel

Mohair roof in a1 condition - looking to swap for hardtop if anyones interested.

Hope a good weekend has been had by all

streeto · Aug 5, 2013

I think it's key to mention that with any project car there is always a stupid amount of frustration when you have a car but are waiting to do things. I am currently suffering such frustrations lol but good things come to those who wait i guess..

Had the car for a couple weeks, now taxed and insured so been driving it to work. I dont want to say i feel slightly disappointed but compared to a lot of write up i've read on here, my 5 defo doesnt feel right

Hoping that sorting the wishbone bushings and eccentric bolts followed by allignment should sort the "flightyness" i have on the front end. After that i'm hoping a manifold and decat pipe should at least make the thing a little more responsive below 4k revs.

Next update should answer my handling worries, and feature new wheels

J

branty · Aug 5, 2013

Hey streeto, I'm new to the mx5 also and I can only cross fingers its this simple for you but on my Dads other halfs mk2 her tyre pressures were up at 32psi! made it feel like it was trying to take off all the time. Lowered them down to 26 and all was well. Like I said only hope its that simple for you.

wheelspinner · Aug 5, 2013

Where the heck is Nunney Vegas?

Nice ride by the way.

streeto · Aug 5, 2013

@branty - cheers for that. I'm pretty sure they were inflated to around 30 psi so i guess it could be a problem.

@wheelspinner - cheers dude, i'm down in the southwest, near frome vegas

streeto · Aug 7, 2013

Trial fitted some 15"bullet wheels last night, they looked wicked but lack of spigot rings meant driving back home on standard wheels..

Obviously the car has just come down from the ramp here so isnt settled. Think once my spigots have turned up i'll roll / flare the rear arches for fit and maybe tap the inners away to stop scrubbage.

progress, kinda of.

alexevans · Aug 8, 2013

Fitted a set of those to a friends 5, he has it pretty damn low and didn't need to roll the arches, if that's any help.

Also what didn't you think of the quality of them? As is wasn't that impressed.

streeto · Aug 8, 2013

Tbh dude i didnt really cast my eye over them too hard as i was only trail fitting them. Initial thoughts were they were kinda heavy but being steel centered i guess you kinda have to expect that. Main reason for buying is they're not costing me the earth currently.

What offset was he running as the rears on mine defo go passed the arches??

Also think i might have figured out what my "clunk" on the steering might be, will have a play with the rack lash tonight and report laterer....

streeto · Aug 11, 2013

So no wheels yet, but been a week of fiddling and getting to know little spider. Still no massive progress as i'm toying with the idea of buying some steelies off a guy on here but done a few little jobs. I've had a look at the steering rack and there seems to be minimum play there so defo leads me to believe the clunk is bush related, but we'll see once it's got new shoes. Got round to fitting a Sparco Veloce wheel and stainless shift knob, the smaller wheel has proved to be a massive improvement!

This weekend i got the mud flaps off, sorted the bonnet and removed the shattered stick on number plate. I also noticed one eve that my main headlight has gone, so went to change it today only to find that they havent been replaced since import and are still the sealed unit. Does anyone have any suggestions for replacements?? I have seen a set on auto link but wondered if there were any yellow tinted ones etc about?

And some pics... allow the dirt!

flaps off!

wheel and shifter change..

Bonnet sorted - only needed to undo and re tighten the right hand side bolts!

Hope everyone had a decent weekend

streeto · Aug 29, 2013

Been a couple weeks since the last update, mainly due to me being out and about enjoying the car. Managed to eradicate the mystery clunk, sent it off to the chaps at Vallis autos in Frome as i just couldn't figure it out. Picked it up a couple days later and after their tightening and fiddling the car is 1000x better and is minus the donk!

It still has to go in for a full geo but already it makes me smile so hard. So hard infact that i had a gig in stoke last saturday and turned down a paid hotel so my production partner and i could go for a super sized midnight run with the roof down! On the way to the gig i stopped off for a chat with Stewart from Freaky parts and to pick up some working lights. Was pretty jealous of his garage full of space framed mx5 powered race cars tbh.

Anway, some more tweaking occurred over the b/h, removed the rusty standard tow eyes from the front which cleaned up the front nicely, and played with the bonnet some more which seems to have worked a touch.

So time for some piccies, even tho they're rubbish lol!!

Front end looking alot cleaner, but hang on... whats that purple flash in the bottom corner??

Thats right i got some new wheels!!! 14x9 on the rear and 14x8.5 on the front, a lovely set of purple banded steelies bought from a chap on called Ben... The day of picking these up couldn't have gone much worse tbh. Got back to the carpark after a day at work to find i'd left my sidelights on, turned the key and nothing. Asked numerous people in the carpark for help and a few people we willing give me a charge with some jump leads but each time i tried there was again no life. After much head scratching and rollie smoking i peered into the fuse box only to find my 80a pal fuse had randomly blown! So cue the aa and a bodge to get me home, and mission up to Londres in my daily st. With girlfriend in tow we ended up getting back to nunney vegas at 2.30 in the morn so i have spent most of today in a zombie state, although i still managed to fit a new fuse and the wheels without passing out. The things we do for our cars eh!

Gonna look at winding down the meisters over the next week or so, and possibly fit some over fenders if i really feel it necessary but love the way the foot print feels now, would actually say it's made the rear end a little more progressive.

Thats it for now, joint and bed time is me! Until next time...

streeto · Aug 31, 2013

Went round to a mates today seeking some lows, for the purpose of this thread it shall be called garage J. Seeing as it appears i'm talking to myself i'll keep it brief today and just post some pics....

Jay is currently running a forged s13 with around 320bhp.. It is also currently for sale as he's looking to upgrade to an r32.

Cheeky bum shot....

and with the new lows, will eventually go lower but need to roll the arches first

deeman · Aug 31, 2013

nice!love the bumper sticker!an old skool skater too?I intend to do some drifting in my 5 when it's up to spec,wish I had meister r's too,I'd be ready!

Spider The Slider...

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