My era of MX5 ownership! Twilight Blue NB8A

[hks_kansei]

ok, had a few bursts of sunlight earlier, i'm glad to report that the colour match is damn close.

[hks_kansei]

[Pamex]

[hks_kansei]

holy crap!!??!

that dude at the front is flying!!!

[Pamex]

They've heard the news you're back and are running away.

(Back on topic... good to have you back. :-D)

[hks_kansei]

ok, installed the clear indicators just before.

Passenger side went it easily, remove old, swap the plugs, shove it back, voila, done.

the drivers side (with the broken clip) required some thinking. Now, anybody who looks behind the guard will probably have a heart attack, but meh, it's in, and didnt fall out after a drive. (however it's not as secure as I like, it may still fall out or come loose in future.
anyway, it was fitted with the help of a hacksaw, some foam rubber, a piece of plastic sheet, and a hose clamp. Dodgy as hell, but it works.
And all the uglyness is behind the panel, from the outside it looks great!

anyway, pics.




btw, this is the dodgy one.




also, thanks must go to Cheyne for selling me the indicators, they look great!

[hks_kansei]

some more stuff, Motorkhana preparation!

not much prep really, just need to get the rear tyres swapped over.

current road tyres are Federal 535 or something in 195/50/15

the tyres for the rear are Bridgestone Adrenalin RE001 in 195/55/15 (Jap made)


I was going to swap all 4, but I CBF and it's cheaper to just swap 2 over

the higher profile will mean I will essentially be running a slightly taller ratio, which will mean less gear changing.......... but the real reason is that the 55 profile is what I picked up really cheap ages ago.

the basic plan is to run the Federals on teh front, and the Bridgeys on the rear, front pressure I'm thinking about 35psi, rear about 40 to 45psi (I wont really know until I get out there and feel how the car behaves)

so yeah, booked in to get the tyres swapped on Tuesday, and here's a shitty pic.

[hks_kansei]

So, I pulled the wheels off ready fo being re-tyred. A few hiccups along the way.

#1: my jack stands are too tall for the car, when the car is jacked as high as my jack could go, the stands still wouldnt fit.
So I had to do a dodgy and put a block of wood on the jack to give me a bit more clearance, it worked luckily, and I was able to safely support the car.

#2: after removign the wheels, I found a couple of unwanted suprises........ one of my rear tyres (road tyres) has a bloody nail in it, still holds air, but I'll need to get it patched. Not too fussed, the tyre's goign to be removed for Deca anyway, just get it patched while it's off the car.
I also noticed the inside of the rear tyres is pretty chewed, my guess is combination of camber + age (according to the sidewall, the tyres were made in week 27 of 2007)


so yeah, wheels are off, ready for the new tyres to go on.

oh, and for the record, an NB8A rim including 195/50/15 tyre is about 15kg.

[Jeo]

I had the same problem. Ended up convincing Dad he wanted to swap jacks with me

[hks_kansei]

ok, had a motorkhana/skidpan day yesterday, and learned a heap!

#1: I suck and need a heap more time to properly learn to drive RWD , co-ordinating handbrake, clutch, accelerate, and steer is a bit much all at once.

#2: Federal 535s have almost no grip at all, look at the brake pedal and they lock up!

#3: Skids are 100% more fun in RWD!

#4: MX5 CAN indeed put on a smoke show.


seriously it's huge fun! it's amazing how sliding a car around can bring an infectious smile to one's face.


I also learned that the rev limiter works

[hks_kansei]

installed vent rings from Ben Sale's group buy.

they look amazing!


ties in the look of the car with the voodoo and roadster surround.


sweet!


the finish on them is great!


and yes, in the end I caved in and put on the hazard one as well, it was too nice to leave off.

[bensale]

Glad to see you put them all on! They look amazing, the match with the gear knob and the gear box surround looks really good!

[hks_kansei]

meh, some shitty phone pics of how the car sits atm.













ignore the missing gauge hood, I'm in the middle of fixing the gauge screen up so the hood's off for the moment.

[hks_kansei]

number plate now on the side.

looks a bit better than the stock position, but nowhere near as nice as no plate.

[hks_kansei]

I want a Mania style intake...

the Problem:
Mania Intake is $300 or so, not paying $300 for a $50 pod and a piece of pipe.

so I decided "hey, it's just a pipe on an enclosed pod, how hard is DIY?"

anyway, after much searching I couldn't find any enclosed pods with a filter surface area equivalent to, or larger than, the OEM panel.


so I can get nice big pods, just no covering, I decided "hmm..... perhaps I can make my own enclosure, it's just a metal can afterall!"

so I was thinking of metal cans that would fit a Pod..... then I remembered....... you can buy huge tins of Milo.....

so yeah, the plan atm, big pod in big Milo can, with some PVC ducting to firewall.

(of course I would paint the lot satin black, or maybe crackle finish)

so yeah, thoughts?