[Bilbo]

Just about caught up reading through the thread, coming along nicely. Those nut extracters for removing rounded bolts are a godsend, bought a set this week. Just wanted to ask what size belt you used after removing the AC pump? Much appreciated on the shorter bolt measurements!

Thanks mate I bought this, fits perfectly: http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/power-steering-belt-motorsport-mk1-25-without-p-3117.html

 

[Jambon]

Thanking you.

Coilovers looking great too

 

[Bilbo]

Thanking you.

Coilovers looking great too

No worries.

Thanks mate, it's kind of like polishing a turd putting them on with surface rusted arms and old bushes, but it's slowly getting there!

 

[Bilbo]

bought a thing last night:

Sparco Sprint V by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

A nice condition Sparco Sprint. It's the older generation one with the Sparco "S" emblem, rather than the current style. Was manufactured in 2012 so not that old, and feels solid. Comes with some weird metal brackets for passenger side installation, but I'll be taking those off and mounting to the driver's rails soon.

Such racekor, many speed.

 

[Bilbo]

Sparco Sprint fitting today. 5 minute job. Lol.

So seat out rail off:

Sparco Sprint fitting by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

The mounting points on the Sparco are similar, but not identical:

Sparco Sprint fitting by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

So rails out, and measured up:

Sparco Sprint fitting by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

The standard MX-5 seat bolt holes are 30cm apart, and the Sparcos are 27cm, so as everyone has said, 2 holes need drilling in the rails.

I made a template up out of a cut-off of plywood to make sure my measurements were correct. Bang on:

Sparco Sprint fitting by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Took ages to drill the holes, those rails are made of some strong steel, quite reassuring actually. Got it all drilled and put together. Super fiddly to do the bolts up in the new position as the rail sits over them. Took a spanner and some patience. Slight issue, the mounting point on the rear left of the seat has a dodgy thread so the bolt doesn't fix in correctly. I've fitted it for now, and it's very sturdy, but I'm going to address that issue with a set of side mounts. Can't skimp on safety.

And fitted!

Sparco Sprint fitting by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Sparco Sprint fitting by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Sparco Sprint fitting by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Yes I need to relocate the belt, I've just fitted it in to make sure it all fits first. Despite what people have said, I'm sat at least an inch lower than with the standard seat I'd say. It's really snug, holds you tight, and a real task to get in, and getting out is even harder!

 

[Bilbo]

Not updated this in a while now! Not a lot going on, many bills and not much money for car parts. Boo.

I've decided I'm going to do away with the stock rails and get some side mounts from Skidnation for the Sparco. The dodgy thread in one of the seat base holes isn't particularly encouraging, and I want something I can rely on in case anything bad happens.

I did make a small addition to the car:

Today I also washed it for the first time in ages! Going to take it to a local petrol station and jet wash the arches, just gave it a good once over today, scrubs up alright:

Eunos by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Eunos by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Short term plan is to do something with the intake. The DIY cowl intake is already in place, but it isn't as bwaaarpy as I hoped with the stock airbox, so I'm going to get some kind of enclosed filter and route it through that instead. Should add some more noise and clear up the engine bay a little.

 

[Bilbo]

An actual update with interesting happenings!

Behold, 13" wheels incoming! 13x7 ET-7 JBW Superlights in black with polished lip, dishy:

IMG_20180103_172635 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

IMG_20180103_172620 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

IMG_20180103_145935 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

IMG_20180103_145925 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr
Finger for scale yo

IMG_20180103_183231 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

5.4kg so not the lightest, especially for 13s. It will be fine though, they're still lighter than a lot of wheels out there so I'm happy.

So, with those bought I needed some tyres. Settled on some Falken ZE914 in 185/60/13.

IMG_20180103_131947 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Nothing special, but they'll do the job, were quite cheap, and B rated in the wet.

Finally got some side mounts for the Sparco as well. Big thanks to mum and dad, quality present. Skidnation sidemounts, well made, good price, and Samuel who runs it is a top guy as well.

Got excited and bolted everything up (find the error in this photo):

Mx-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Yep that's right, bolted them on around the wrong way, and installed them in the car. I was sat really far forward on max rear adjustment, very confused. I realised what had happened, and it started raining. Good times.

Anyway, got them in and secure:

Mx-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Mx-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Complimentary sticker stuck on at an angle for max scene points:

Mx-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Got some nice air vents from our boy Corders:

Mx-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Mx-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr
Also note the perfect sticker I found on my mum's Christmas card for the pop-up button.

Got to a couple of Sussex Brekkie meets too. Here's my personal favourite photo from the last few times:

Mx-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Anyway, getting help from a mate to put the wheels on as I'm going to need to roll the arches to get them to fit (don't worry we're using an arch roller, I'm not about that ghetto scaffold pole roll life). Can't wait for them to be on, will transform the look of the car, proper retro.

 

[Bilbo]

Got the tyres fitted to the Superlights yesterday

JBW Superlight MX-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Good thing about 13s is they fit snugly in the passenger side. I just had to remove the passenger seat and the door pull/arm rest. Not the definition of practicality but they fit so it's all good.

Had a bit of a delay on the arch rolling, but it's happening next weekend hopefully. I test fitted one of the rears to get an idea on size

JBW Superlight MX-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

JBW Superlight MX-5 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Looking pretty fat, but a roll will be needed to clear I think. The fronts are going to be tighter, but I've spoken to a couple of people who had/have the exact same wheel/tyre combo, and a light roll and a bit of fettling on the arch liner tabs up front should have them fitted with no rubbing issues.

Even though I only fitted one I can tell it will completely transform the look of the car, so excited to get them on now.

 

[Bilbo]

So the Superlites are now on. Arch rolling was a tough job in the cold, luckily a mate was a total legend and offered to help, which was great as he had done it before. The heat gun helped so much. Overall the arches were in alright condition, a tiny bit of filler on the left side but nothing too bad. Quite a bit of paint cracking on the lip itself, but we used the heat gun extensively to prevent it making its way onto the visible panels. I'm going to sand and treat the rolled lips to prevent any rust forming in the paint cracked areas.

I think they look great:

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Got myself along to Sussex Brekkie Meet, and being black they look better in daylight I think:

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

Some decent cars there too, some kit cars, Caterhams, a couple of Lotus Elises, some nice bikes, and a few others, as well as the 5s of course.

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

MX-5 JBW Superlight 13x7 ET-7 13 inch by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

All in all I'm pretty happy with them, and the Falken ZE914s feel decent so far. The tyre garage put 32psi in them, so I need to change that to 28 soon. Now just waiting for the warmer weather so I can enjoy it more!

 

[MR Wallace]

Sits nicely on the 13's, good choice!

 

[Bilbo]

Sits nicely on the 13's, good choice!

Cheers mate, I really like them. Plenty of other stuff to get on with as soon as the weather warms up.

 

[Bilbo]

Got a dyno run done today at Skuzzle Motorsport during the Mighty5s day. Got to say I'm well happy with the result:

IMG_20180224_162559 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

96.6hp at the wheels, so given the x1.2 calculation 115.9hp at the fly. Bang on the factory figure when new, so I'm very pleased.

Car's looking well after a jet wash too:

Eunos Roadster JBW Superlight 13" 13x7 ET-7 Falken ZE914 MX-5 mk1 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

 

[radmx5]

Looking great buddy! This thread made for a great read at work. Eagerly awaiting an update now, I feel like one is due!

 

[radmx5]

Suggestion: update the original post with a full parts list and source. Would be very handy, keep it up dude.

 

[Bilbo]

Looking great buddy! This thread made for a great read at work. Eagerly awaiting an update now, I feel like one is due!

Cheers mate, glad it was a good read. I have got a couple of bits to add which I will do shortly, MOT time coming up!

Suggestion: update the original post with a full parts list and source. Would be very handy, keep it up dude.

Yeah that's a good idea actually, I'll whack that up in a bit.

 

[Bilbo]

So MOT time is coming up and I know there's a few things which should cause a failure:

Fog light smashed (stupid bumper mounted one, may have caught a kerb when parking ).
Driver's seatbelt frayed.
horn button not working (horn wiring is fine).
Right side indicator lens snapped off.

So, safety first. I started with the seatbelt. Fairly simple job in all honesty.

MX-5 seatbelt replacement by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

As you can see this is in no fit state to be used. The fray sits right on the buckle when I've got it on, so it's only going to get worse. I'm not one for living dangerously when it comes to seatbelts.

As I said it's pretty simple, even with bucket seats in the way. The Skidnation mounts helped a lot, literally just unbolted the two rear side mounts on the seat and pivoted it forward to access the belt. The trim itself is just screwed in with one screw, and then it has a couple of metal push clips that go into the side panel that just pull out.

So I changed over the belt, as it is a Eunos it comes with the pre-tensioner electrical connector. This was the most annoying part as the connector clips together underneath the metal panel across the parcel shelf. I got pissed off at the prospect of having to remove the carpet and panel and just unbolted two of the bolts and bent the panel out of the way:

IMG_20180309_130115 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

You can see the white connector I'm referring to there. It bent back completely fine and was then just a case of looping the new belt through the seat hole and bolting everything back together. Job done:

MX-5 seatbelt replacement by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

An interesting thing I discovered during this job was that there's an access hole to the sill area behind the plastic shroud, just behind the door. I got my phone torch on and had a little look. Now this isn't the very rear of the sill, but it is still towards the rear of the sill area, generally where rust forms. I know that I need a new driver's sill eventually, as it is starting to show. However this photo shows that it hasn't spread along to here yet, looking very clean in there (the discoloured areas are just dirt, I wiped them away with my finger after this):

MX-5 seatbelt replacement by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

The photo doesn't really show it off that well, but there was very little rust to be seen here. I have an endoscope so I will have a proper look soon.

So moving onto the smashed fog light. I decided to ditch the crappy rear fog and re-wire it into the right side reverse light. I am in no way electrically minded, I've never crimped a wire, only soldered once (and almost set the headphones on fire that I was soldering) so this wasn't a job I fancied, but I bought a set of wire cutters/crimpers and a box of various spade connectors etc. and got on with it.

I cut the old wiring down, pulled it back through the boot hole, and then cut and crimped the existing reverse live onto the fog live. Started up and it all works perfectly, except my other reverse light wasn't working. I was gutted, knew I'd messed up. Anyway turns out the bulb was just blown, changed it and all good now. Just need to replace the fog with a red bulb as it's currently white, and then electrical tape over my crimped together wires.

No photos as my phone died, soz.

Last part of the update is that I'm getting a mig welder. I had a long think, and really a decent sill repair will set me back £360 after VAT with MX5Restorer, and to be honest I hate taking this car to anyone for work, even if the work they do is fantastic. I've done almost everything myself, so thought why not this as well? A basic setup will cost me about the same money, and after it's done I've got a repair, a welder, and a new skill.

Eyeing up a Sealey MightyMig150, which will run as low as 30A which will be ideal for thin bodywork from my research. Also there's a company near my parent's who are distributors of rent free cylinders, so I'll be getting some 95/5 mix Argon/CO2 from them. Planning to have all the gear in a couple of weeks, and then I'll get cracking on some thin scrap metal!

Bonus snow photo from last week:

Eunos Roadster MX-5 snow by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

 

[Zed.]

so the eunos have elastic-trickery attached to the seatbelts?

does that mean airbag-style controller somewhere or just a dash light? (that dont work on mine )

and goodluck with the welding, just practace & practace some more before having a go on the car :yes:

then practace some more :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

also, practace welding at odd angles & upside-down (real-world situations :blink: )

Rich.

 

[Bilbo]

so the eunos have elastic-trickery attached to the seatbelts?

does that mean airbag-style controller somewhere or just a dash light? (that dont work on mine )

and goodluck with the welding, just practace & practace some more before having a go on the car :yes:

then practace some more :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

also, practace welding at odd angles & upside-down (real-world situations :blink: )

Rich.

No idea how the pre-tensioner works, nothing on the dash that I can find related to it to be honest. Thought I may as well keep it plugged in.

Thanks, yeah the plan is to just practise until I get good enough to work on the car haha, and yeah good advice on the angle practise too.

 

[Bilbo]

Did a little bit of work on the car to get it ready for the MOT, fog light, seatbelt, and a few other bits and pieces.

Paid off:

IMG_20180316_185229_2 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

One advisory for corrosion to underbody, which he said was relating mainly to the rear sills. I'm happy with that, getting a mig soon to sort that issue out.

Also booked Japfest Silverstone tickets which is exciting, can't wait!

 

[Bilbo]

So "Project: learn to weld and sort the sill" is beginning.

I had this delivered last week:

IMG_20180326_194315 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

A Sealey MightyMig150. Ultimately a budget option but in all honesty I think it'll serve it's purpose well enough. Sealey had their Anniversary sale and they were £200 on Ebay, with the one-day Ebay 20% sale on top I got it delivered for £160. Not bad.

The side door hinges were broken on delivery. Not ideal but seems a pretty common issue from the reviews I've read. I'm really not too fussed about this though, it still has a lower clip to hold it in place. I've already changed the polarity for gas welding, and had a look over it. The wire feed mechanism is mainly plastic, the rollers themselves are metal. It feels quality in some places, but cheaper in others. For the price I can't really complain, it seems like it'll be up to the job.

I got an auto-darkening helmet, respirator, and leather welding gloves from my family for my 25th, so that was a few more things off the list.

I've bought an industry size dual gauge regulator with the hobby bottle converter, some impact resistant safety glasses, 0.6mm wire, 0.6 tips, and gas shrouds to suit. Just need to get a rent free cylinder from a local motor factors and I'll be good to go. Going to practice a load on some 1mm mild steel to get the feel for it, then crack on with the sill when I'm comfortable with the job.

Also got a Dremel 3000 for my Birthday which will come in handy for various tasks I'm sure!

So this is really a turning point for the car now, hoping to get it clean and sorted underneath by the end of the summer. I've done a fair bit of research, and I'm confident enough to give it a go.

Also went over to the Sussex Brekkie Meet today. Turnout is getting better now it's warming up, some cool stuff there:

IMG_20180401_103132 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

IMG_20180401_103139 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

IMG_20180401_104852 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

IMG_20180401_103229 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr

IMG_20180401_103243 by Chris Oldham, on Flickr