Hmmmmm nah... Don't paint it! It looks proper this way

Can you get some shots of the inside of the hardtop? I'm looking for one of these but was curious as to how the inside actually looks!

 

Yeah I will do. It's really well made - better than I wanted really as I just wanted the lighest possible way to keep my head dry. It's 2 proper skins, and the inside is a textured grey finish.

 

Nice car fella! Oh and I notice you're not too far from me, ive also used Ollie before, nice guy but really dodgy looking garage lol!

I'll have to keep my eye for this

 

FWIW I don't remember the heater being particularly heavy when I had it out whilst doing the wiring on my car.

 

Cheers. I keep removing things and thinking that they aren't actually too heavy. Lots of parts do seem well considered and fairly light. I think it's only in removing lots of parts that aren't particularly heavy that I'll get a noticeable reduction in weight though.

Will probably leave the heater and side windows until/ unless I can work out a solution for them that won't compromise functionality too much.

 

What about stripping the doors and making a set of fixed poly windows with sliders?

Roof is awesome, Like that mini heater idea!

Re light parts: I've got a box full of 'light parts' and it's a two man job to lift

 

I'll drop you a pm. Don't want to say too much until I've done a little more investigation!!

 

Damn double post!!

 

Ha exactly.

I did think about fixed poly windows, but think they'd bow out alarmingly at speed due to the frameless design.

Current thinking is a variation of this:

..taken from this thread: http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=44470&page=5

If you haven't already done so it's worth a read.

Essentially stock windows for normal use but easily 'lift-outable' for track use. Obvious downside is you'd either have to drive with them up or decide to remove them before setting off. With a car that you still use on the road it's all about where you compromise I guess.

Also on that thread Scho you can see the door bar removed that's mentioned in your thread.

 

Also on that thread Scho you can see the door bar removed that's mentioned in your thread.

Huh, I've never seen that before!!!

From wiki:

"For the 1994 model year, the first-generation MX-5 was freshened with the introduction of the more powerful 1.8 L (110 cu in) BP-ZE engine, dual airbags and a limited slip differential in some markets. The chassis was substantially braced to meet new side-impact standards, most visibly by adding a "track bar" between the seatbelt towers inside the car, but also to the front and rear subframes"

Could the fact that mine is a '90 explain the missing side impact bars?

Love that window design. Sure you couldn't work something out with plastic? The glass is pretty heavy!

 

It's absolutely that yours is a '90, it pre-dates those side-impact bars. I often miss my earlier 1.6 - it was definitley a much more lively car out of the box than my later 1.8.

The thing with the windows is you can just lift them out. Mising completely is lighter than plastic

.

Interestingly, the chap has now added a duct in his 1/4 to aid airflow into the cabin as he can obviously no longer wind the windows down:

Seems a sensible solution.

 

Just read this whole thread.

A great read, love some of the pictures. Snow and bike rack ones especially.
Looking forward to seeing how the car comes along next. Definately given me some ideas and inspiration on my mx.

 

as last post XL read and great ideas and mods,defo bottomless money pit if you got one ,,and where did that carbon hard top come from?

 

someone put it up for sale on here mate.

 

Really smart looking car

 

Thanks chaps.

On Thursday I had another fiddle with the ride heights. I did lots of measuring, adjusting, quick drive, more measuring, more adjusting etc. I finally got it so the balance is how I wanted it though. I've also set the cornerheights so that the right rear is slightly higher but sits level when I'm in the driver's seat. A poor effort compared to proper corner-weighting but it's better than nothing and feels better for it. Overall rideheight is now probably 15mm lower front and 10mm lower at the rear than it was before I started.

I also took my dash out.

I then cut the dash down so that it just consists of the top cover and the internal air trunking. Leaving the heater etc in I managed to remove another 7.3kg. Still loads more to go and I haven't started trimming the wiring loom yet - there's loads that can come out of that. Unfortunately I forgot to get a pic of the chopped dash back in.

 

Excuse the pics today - I didn't have a camera with me so they're off the iPhone.

Here's the chopped dash back in. Lots of tidying still do to but I wanted it usable again.

Today I had a drive out to the local VOSA weighbridge. (Handcross on the A23 if anyone local is interested).

Weights were:

540kg - front
430kg - rear

970kg - total

Heavier than I'd hoped, but at least I have a marker to work against. I still hope I can get under 900kg - but based on that and ensuring it stays a usable road car it's going to mean I have to be ruthless with my stripping.

I think it also highlights how much more 1.8s weigh compared to 1.6s. It also shows just how heavy a standard fully loaded one must be...

Things to bare in mind:

All the glass is still fitted
AC still fitted
PAS still fitted
Harddog bar is fairly substantial. I reckon a good T45 whole cage would be lighter
Harnesses and original belts still fitted.

No roof fitted for weigh in.

I'll weigh it each time I remove major bits from now on.

Also thought I'd get a quick snap of the new ride-height.

 

was it a whole weigh bridge or just an axle weigher, might get a more accurate weight out of a weigh bridge.

 

Yeah just does axle weights and then gives you a gross weight afterwards by adding the individual axle weights up.

I weighed a race car at the same place 7 or so years ago and it was very near to the weight it later achieved on the circuit scales at scrutineering.

 

Hmm, interesting document on the VOSA website about accuracy of their weighbridges...

+/- 150kg for the axle type that I used.

 

Hi Ste, for info the car was ~1030kg at Cadwell Park (3/4 tank, no driver, no spare wheel & jack).

I suspect there's quite a variation between scales though, so as long as you stick to the same place you'll be fine.

Keep up the good work

 

Thanks Will, that's interesting. I've weighed the parts I've removed and have them at 48.1kg. I was on 1/3rd of a tank of fuel today which probably accounts for the extra loss quite accurately.

Also as you say - as long as I return to the same scales I should have a comparable constant. The scales do only return a resolution of 10kg though so there's room for deviation there.

 

New rollers for winter road use. Crap iJesus pis again I'm afraid.

Cheers to Tye for sorting them at quick notice.

 

Over Christmas I took out another 8kg of random trim, including the commencement of removing the aircon system. I've removed the under-dash evaporator and replaced it with the non-A/C corrugated duct pipe. In addition to losing a bit of weight, the demister blower is now much more effective. Wins all around.

I'm now looking at every part with a critical eye, and have taken to removing anything not essential - or looking at how it can be improved (within budget constraints).

I sold the TH Monos as they were just way too heavy and made the car feel horrible to drive. I've agreed to buy the wheels I wanted from another forum member as soon as they become available (he's breaking his car and hasn't removed them yet). Will probably sell my Slipstreams too and use some of the 7j x 15" BBS RZs that I have as a road / wet set as the offset's more useful.

I've also been amassing a fair sized pile of parts to fit - will try to pull my finger out and get some time to work on the car to get it into a usable state for track. Have booked a Euro trip with some friends for April and have booked a track day at Spa and the 'Ring for while we're out there and want to get a few UK dates in prior to that to iron out any potential issues.

Jobs to do:
Fit 'Jass' lightweight hardtop fitting kit.
Install Tunerstudio on my laptop.
Fit wideband Lambda and set up.
Fit IAT sensor and remove MAF - remove factory induction/airbox and fabricate lightweight intake in front bumper.
Fit decat pipe.
Fit new exhaust.
Remove aircon.
Remove PAS and fit modified PAS rack that's been converted to manual.
Fit perspex 1/4 windows.
Gut doors / remove EW and fabricate window brackets.
Decide which front towhook is going back on, or fabricate a new lighter one.
In conjunction with the above fit / fabricate a new front plate mount that's easily removable for track.
Lighten rear bumper mount and cut parachute off bottom of bumper-skin.
Lighten front bumper mount.
Cut out any remaining brackets and non-essential metal work from the car that I haven't already.
Tidy dash area - fabricate switch panel

Stuff to buy and fit:
Better harnesses
Vindi bootskin - GRP or carbon dependant on time scale / cost.
New clutch - need to research my options. Current one slips on track or even after a few clutch kicks on a roundabout.
Maybe some ARBs - will be running wider stickier tyres and may need them?
New track rods and ends to fit when new rack goes on.
WIM for alignment when above is finished.
GOPro to capture some footage as I'm jealous of Scho's super clear videos.

I'd also really, really like to go forced induction. I contacted Rins about the coldside MP62 with water injection that he had for sale but had reservations and missed it when he ended up selling it to someone else. I'd like a hassle-free big pile of power though and am even considering a turbo at the moment (despite my usual hate for the things). Ideal would be a sorted MP62 kit, but I think I maybe need to get a ride in a sorted supercharger and turbo set up. Main concern is adding the power but not adding too much weight. I'd love to stay NA and keep the crisp throttle response, but I think even with very deep pockets I'd be disappointed with the result. I allegedly currently have 158bhp from the ported and skimmed Mk2 RS head with BP5A cams, 4-2-1 and the megasquirt but it feels very, very flat to me. Jenvey throttle bodies may lose weight and get me over 170bhp? But I think I'd still be disappointed, and would really need a high-compression proper build to get any more and that could easily eat vast sums of money. Nearer to 260bhp with FI, more weight reduction for circa 300bhp/tonne would make it fairly potent I imagine.

 

You're welcome to come take a ride in my turbo mk2 if you'd like mate, it is only 180bhp supposedly but it is very linear. I'll be selling a full jrsc kit soon from a 1.8 mk2 I'm breaking, if that's of any interest.
I personally much prefer turbos as they're easier to understand and when setup right, have no discernable lag.

 

Cheers Harrison. How come yours is 'only' 180bhp? I thought the kit you had would see you easily over 200?

 

The hks kit is designed for 0.4bar stock, which equates to approx 184bhp (according to hks pr crap). It feels ample to be honest, any more and it would be lairy in the bends.
Realistically, the turbo would take 1bar all day long (being a t25g), which with new management and injectors would probably see 250bhp+, as it does on S-bodies and other Nissan variants of the same engine capacity.

It does definitely give you a lot more in the way of torque than you could achieve with n/a, if you're ever in the area then give me a shout and you can see for yourself.