Josh's Na6

[Mr nanotech]

Well it's not like it hadn't occurred to me to start a build thread, but frankly I just haven't been bothered. It seems the days I'm in the mood for it, it's too late to take pics or they are trapped on my phone blah blah blah. So I guess I should throw a brief introduction and how I came to own my car!
Hello all, I'm Josh! Er... Enjoy my build thread and throw out advice wherever possible, I love positive criticism and new ideas!!

Anyway, Close to a year ago now I was looking for a car. Obviously we know the end result as I'm now registered to an Mx5 forum, but I can't say when I first began my hunt that this is where I thought I'd end up.
To begin with, I was initially searching for something cheap with a bit of go in it around the $4k mark. So it began with a few calls locally about a couple of TX3 Lasers I found in the paper. Though I always seemed to be one step behind, someone would always be there to scoop it right out of my arms. So I expanded my horizons. And thus expanded my budget!
I remember driving home one day from town to find an ae86 parked on the street a few blocks from my house. As I began to slow down, I saw the letters 'For Sale' across the back window. Immediately my heart raced. I'd always had a soft spot of the Sprinters! I knocked on the door to enquire about the car only to be greeted by an elderly woman.

*Very* elderly woman

She tells me the car is selling for $2k and my mind starts joining the dots. Even if it's a piece of gutless crap, I could blow the rest of my budget on working on this car. Barely able to control my excitement I drive home. Well, a lot of stuff happened in between but in short... The car was a dud. I found out later that 90% of the body was comprised of rust and body filler and the motor was shot. Would have been a nightmare if I bought it. Lesson learned, if something is too good to be true, it usually is.
So I moved on with my car hunt and began to look at s13's. I DID find a great one online. Though.. The way I phrased it is misleading and is very literal. It was great ONLINE, in the flesh the paint was flakey and looked pressure packed and the tranny was looooooong gone.
Many cars later I began to wonder if I'd EVER find something.
Then I stumbled upon this!


After one drive, I fell in love. Made a deposit and home I went! I'd never dríven anything like a Miata before. I knew my friend had one and I'd been passenger quite a bit but I'd never been behind the wheel myself. Oh my gosh was it a new experience. Straight away I felt the awesome handling. I still find it amazing how well equipped the MX5's came straight out of the factory.

And that's how I began my journey into the MX5 world!

[Mr nanotech]

So naturally the first thing I wanted to work on was the exhaust. Eventually this became a priority as the baffles had come loose and the weld had rusted around the muffler, exposing some minor leaks.
So after a lot of price matching and ringing around, I booked the car in to South Geelong Exhausts. Bad idea. At first I was happy, no more ugly baffle clanging and no more hole in the muffler. To be honest, the system DID sound good for the first few months. Then it burnt in.
You know, I was always under the impression they sound tinny for the first couple of weeks/months before they've properly burnt in and then they start sounding better. Somehow mine was the exception to the rule. It gained this ugly rasp which has gotten worse an worse. I've checked for leaks and so on and the hangers don't seem to be busted from what I've seen. It doesn't vibrate a lot either.
That said, its' pretty straight through and has no resonator. Lol, apparently the guy had to do the exhaust twice. he took 9 hours to finish the job since when he'd finished, he had to pull it all out and start from scratch because it was 'too loud'.
I never got to see that exhaust, it ended up driving off attached to a commodore. I can't help but feel it would have been better.





How small is it!!!!!! I'm not too much a fan of the mid pipe either. But what can you do. By the time I could hear the exhaust changing, too much time had passed. Damage was done and I was stuck with it.

[Mr nanotech]

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEELS!!!!!!

RS WATANABE F8!

[Mr nanotech]

I headed up to Melbourne a while back and picked up a set of Apexi 4-1 Extractors



They aren't complete extractors in that they were cut off another car rather than unbolted but I took them into an exhaust shop at had them rewelded and bolted into my car. In hindsight I think I should have gone with a stainless 4-2-1 setup as I don't have much in the way of off the line speed/torque. But top end seems to have increased. Noticed there was more pull around the 4500rpm mark with the headers. Though I did feel like it sacrificed some torque.
Either way my arm was twisted on this buy as I had to replace a cracked manifold. I Figured this would be more fun than replacing with the stock one.
I ditched the flange to expose the pipes, though I think I should have painted them before I put them in!!!! But hey it's not like I have the engine on display all the time. I do think I should take them in to be coated though. However I have higher priorities right now

[Mr nanotech]

Ok I actually need a little help with this one. A while back I bought a cheap pod filter for the car on impulse. After I installed it, I realised it was sitting right next to the exposed extractors, sucking up hot air! I know, idiot right? Also I had no means to hold it up, so I cable tied it to the air box.
I read that the air box is the biggest restriction with the air flow in the na's so I thought the pod would cut the middle man out to an extent.

I headed to Bunnings shortly after to look for something I could make a mount with. I started in the shelving isle but after much indecisiveness I got a staff member to come out and measure it up for me. I figured they'd have a better idea of what they'd have in stock to fit.
Well I was very very wrong. Instead of help me, he told me he hated my car and it was 'sh!t' and I should sell it off and buy a 'real' car. Then went on about how owning an MG has made him despise my 'kind'.
Yeah I know, what the hell??? Nonetheless, he reluctantly tired to help me. When I say tried, I mean he pulled out measuring tape, got frustrated, swore at me and told me it was stupid and he couldn't do it.
I don't understand some people. Why do I need to hear that, I can understand if it was constructive. But to be openly berated on my choices in life, I really can't stand that. So I told him I was greatfull for his help and left.

I still have the same problem with finding a mount. I want to get rid of the pod now and make a cowl intake. I've seen enclosed pods at Autobarn can understand what I need to assemble one, but the mounts still got me thinking. Then the next question, where do I move the water bottle??

[Nocturnal]

I like where this is going.

Any more updates you're holding back from us?

[Mr nanotech]

Hey a few actually! I'm trying to make up for 6 months of work on it in a couple of days so a lot is slipping my mind. I took some more pics so I can put them up today.

[Mr nanotech]

And then one day an old man felt the need to stop giving way and drive through a busy intersection


Was a 60km impact, I'm surprised the car lived through it. this was just before I put the wat's on. I'm glad I waited to get them powdercoated otherwise they could have potentially died in this accident!
After sending it to AAMI, I started to panic about the damage. It DID look pretty bad and I was scared the chasis would be warped and the car written off. Thank god though, it was only body damage and nothing structural at broken.
The biggest pain was getting it fixed though. The car is in the smash repairs place for a week and a half. They call me saying it's time to pick it up, so off I go.
I get there to be confronted with the dodgiest repairs I'd seen ever.
Get this, they'd tried to put a brand new bumper on but apparently they had trouble fitting it on and forced it into place. This resulted in the top and bottom (front passenger side headlight straight down) warping. There was a bow on the underside of the bumper and just under my indicator. I was NOT impressed.
On further inspection, they'd scrapped my number plate brackets and drilled the plate itself straight through the bodywork of the car!!!
NOT HAPPY
It took them another whole week to fix it and I still had to tell them to do it again! I finally get it back 3 days later and I'm still not happy with it and the number plate was still drilled into the bumper itself. I ended up folding and taking the car. I mean, what was I to do? I needed the car for work, I couldn't get to classes without it. It was starting to affect my life. 3 weeks without a car is a long time.

A few months later though, I was backed into while leaving the bank. As pissed off as I was, this gave the backside of my car a much needed respray I told AAMI about the subpar fixes to my car and they informed me that as part of their service, I can contact them at ANY time if I'm not happy with the repairs in my vehicle. So I made full use of it and got them to plug up the holes in the bumper, respray it and put the proper mounts in. The main reason I was so upset about it was because I always wanted to offset the plate to the side and couldn't do it if I had to gaping holes in the middle of the bumper!

But with good news comes bad news. They DID to the front of the car but they messed up the back. All they had to do was realign the rear bumper and spray it. They did a good spray, but the put the bumper on MORE crooked than after the accident!!!!
So another whole week later and I was back on the road with fresh paint!

[Mr nanotech]

By far one of my favorite mods

I know a lot of people aren't a fan of these but in my opinion they really make up for the lack of rear speakers. The only issue is that there is no bass at all!! Though I feel odd about putting a sub in an mx5, seems like it would be counterproductive. I want to still keep this thing light.

[Mr nanotech]

Soooooooooooo glad to have gotten rid of the STUPIDLY LONG remote control car aerial the mx5's come stock with!!

Thanks to Cosmo, I picked up this neat little guy! Screws straight into the hole and... See for yourself!


Sorry for the side shot, I uploaded it to photobucket without rotating the pic first. don't think I can do it on the site so just uploaded it anyway

[Mr nanotech]

In other news, I don't have pics of these yet But I'm expecting some new stuff soon!!!!

*Garage Vary front lip spoiler- shipping at the moment, hopefully get next week!
*Brand new Robbins glass window, demister soft top- Currently in garage awaiting fitment (Oh and if anyone knows how to install the motor for demister on na6, plz do help!!!)

*RS-R GT2 Exmag Exhaust!! - Hopefully shipped this week! Cannot wait!!!

**future plans** (stuff I'm going to do after the top stuff it out of the way)

-Respray pillars, mirrors and hard top in a low sheen black
-Tinted windows
- Tein superstreet's
- Wider wheels that fill arches (looking for that hella flush look) - Want Work Equip 01's but don't have the funds
- DIY cowl intake: made from enclosed pod, plumbing pipe, rubber seals and hose clamps
-Brown Davis CAMS approved steel roll bar
-Looking into body bracing but not sure what I'm looking for yet.
-Advance the timing
-LSD (currently has stock dif)
-Heavy duty clutch
-6 speed gear box
-Low profile headlamps
-Carbon fiber bonnet

****Dream plans**** (Things that I day dream about but will probably never happen)
-Sr20det or 13b swap
-1.8L conversion supercharged

[Mr nanotech]

UPDATE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been putting this off for a long time now. I've made a few additions to the mx5 and I'm certainly happy with the results.
I'd been looking for a new exhaust for a long time and finally my dreams came true. I ended up purchasing a used RS-R cat back from a forum member for a steal.
The day after it arrived, I headed to an exhaust shop and had it bolted on straight away. Though it was a good/bad news moment, I was stoked to pick up the car and hear it's new purr but sadly I found out my cat was dead and it'd need to be replaced asap. I rang around and got some quotes on a stainless 100mesh.
The best I could find was $400 so I ended up leaving the dodgy one in.
Though a few weeks later a mate on the forum buzzed me and I found out there is a place I can pick up a 1.5" stainless 100 cell cat for $150!!! So I'll be investing very shortly
In other news I took it up to a friend a met on the forum's place (Cosmo) and worked on the timing. I was planning to set it to 14 degrees but it turns out the previous owner already HAD bumped the timing up and set it to 16!! We mucked around with it but ultimately left it where it was. Now I'm running 98 octane just to be safe, since the car is pushing 260,000km's on the clock.

Another sweet new piece I picked up was my GV lip! I've been DYING to get one since I got the car. I remember back then I was more a fan of the OEM lip but since then the Garage Vary has grown on me... and ultimately my na6.



The car next to mine belongs to CheyneX5 and is looking awesome! Also compliments go to Cheyne for the pics.




The next thing I treated myself to was a Mania intake. I'm very impressed with the roar this thing gives though I think I may have drilled the hole a little too big since there is a bit of a gap around the intake and the firewall. I'm planning to put in a rubber liner in so I don't scuff the carbon fiber tubing and also minimise the sound of it vibrating.



Very happy with how the car looks after a long day of cutting, polishing, claying and waxing. Though after placement in balarat, the car looks filthy so this week I'm going to have to treat it to another clay and wax. I'm very happy with the results but getting that close and personal with the body of the car sadly shows off all the imperfections... Now I've seen scratches and nics I never even knew were there!!! Though I must admit, after polishing I realise just how much the hardtop and pillars need to be resprayed. Initially I wanted to black them out but to be honest, they're oxadised so bad that they're bordering on pink anyway so they need to be painted regardless. I guess now I have an insentive.





Lastly, can anyone tell me how to work out if you have an LSD or not? I thought my was just the standard open diff because there is no markings on the car and it wasn't advertised with an lsd when I bought but i've never been sure because sometimes it feels like it has.
So a friend and I took it out last night and decided to try something new. One of us would sit in the car and turn the wheel to full lock and burn off while the other person stands behind the car and watches the wheels. In theory if it has an lsd, both wheels when the car is burning left or right from the get go should spin. If it's open, one wheel will be going mental. Well we tried that and it seemed both span!!

So... does that mean I have an lsd???? I'm curious now but I really don't want to crack it's head open and look inside. I suppose the sure fire way is to open it up and look at the crown wheel etc. But... Like I said, not sure I want to do that.

[Pamex]

Good write up! What is up with the angry MG owner though? We should have a meet up in their car park

[Mr nanotech]

Yeah just some arrogant tool with an attitude. Probably just circumstantial and having a bad day at work maybe. That said.... It's not the only time it's happened.
Recently I parked at work and was talking to one of the bosses and had another MG owner feel the need to walk up and say he's been driving behind me and my car is too loud for his liking.
To me that is so self righteous to go out of his to make an arbitrary comment towards my car with the hopes of me changing it to make him happy. I don't even know him!!!

[bruce]

You shoulda said the to the MG owner, "I am offended by the amount of rust in your car".