MX5 NEARLY FINISHED! (pics included.) *UPDATE* 29th/oct

[RG.net]

now even though i feel like that is all i have left to do, i dont think ill ever finish it

ditto!

dont get me started on what i have left in a sence i like knowing that there is still a long while, until i complete my mx-5, i dont know what i will do with it once it is 'finished', everyone is different though.

it looks good mate, i wouldnt respray it, black looks tuff! also are you after nb8b rims? because you already have nb8a rims, on your nb8a

[RG.net]

also, try www.mx5plus.com.au they have number plate brackets at a very good price.

[MX5CHIC]

Quote ""well after a lot of money spent towards getting my baby running at its best (dont let women look after a car), i have come to the point where i no longer need to spend large""

Well, what can I say here? ..... perhaps you should never make such generalisations - I am a car enthusiast and a "woman", I too have ben restoring an MX5 (NB8A) over the past 3 years since buying the car from a "male" who had no idea how to keep his car maintained, should I say ("dont let men look after a car")?

I'd welcome you to check my car out, I have personally fitted a new canvas soft top, changed my clutch, my brake pads, my air conditioning condensor, fitted Morette Headlamps, a Chrome Style Bar, custom painted my wheels, changed my timing belt, assisted in the complete respraying of my car, designed and fitted a custom windblocker, completely removed and rewired a badly installed alarm system (originally fitted by a male!) etc, etc etc - I used to race big bore motorcycles, rebuilt engines and was very, very good at custom painting bikes for many guys and girls.
I have numerous female friends who can maintain, restore and repair their cars with incredible expertise, we girls do hate breaking a nail but it does not prevent us from knowing what we are doing!

If I wanted to uspset you I could refer to the "general opinion" that MX5's are Girls Cars! ...... but I am not so paranoind as to think all guys think chics are useless, because most of the guys on this forum do not think that way, which is why I have been a member of this forum for some years.

BTW, congratulations on all the work you have done on your MX5 ...... and it's definitely not just a chics car. :-)

[-alex]

Yep
WHAT SHE SAID..!

[MX5CHIC]

I was just have having a rant on behalf of all the girls who love owning and driving MX-5's, and I must agree with you in some part as my mother has never so much as washed her car!

What really does offend me big time? ....... mechanics who dare to call me "luv" ... after installing a brand new A/C Condensor and leaving the car with a mechanic to simply re-gas the system, I get a phone call saying that I needed a new condensor because the old one was leaking, "I can get you one from Mazda for $960 fully installed Luv"....... you can guess how that ended.

Take Care

[The Green]

It is good to hear of some more capable female drivers.
I must agree on that generally women can not maintain a car, not because they are a woman!!! only because majority of people growing up are taught that cars are for guys and clothes are for the ladies, blue is for boys and pink is for girls etc. if you know what i mean. I believe any one can maintain a car and I think people who can not maintain a car simply have a very small intrest in how the internal combustion engine works.

As for modifications.
I have a 1995 NA8 Laguna blue clubman.
I have changed the interior to NB8B dash/center console
NB A-Pillar plastics
NB8A door trims
Fitted black sheep skin covers to the seats
Replaces the entire cooling system
Fitted Mazda speed engine mounts

The rest of the running gear i will leave pretty much stock however the interior & boot are still being worked on.
I am Piece by piece painting/dying the NB interior white with laguna blue outline and will still have the ability to return the car to stock in the future as i have kept all the old interior in a box. I have not decided on what sound system will go in the back of the 5 but i managed to fit 2x 15" subs, 4x 6"1/2", 2x 6by9s and two big amps (3000wrms mono block & 150wrms per channel 4ch) in the boot of barina (not counting the rest of the audio equipment in the cabin of the car) so i should be able to fit something half decent in the 5 .

I am working on a cold air intake box at the moment, as next thursday i am having a shoulder reconstruction rendering me unable to drive for a good 6-8 weeks. plenty of time to pull the engine bay apart. LOL

It is good to hear that you are doing the work your self.
any questions please feel free to ask
Cheers The Green

[RG.net]

It is good to hear of some more capable female drivers.
I must agree on that generally women can not maintain a car, not because they are a woman!!! only because majority of people growing up are taught that cars are for guys and clothes are for the ladies, blue is for boys and pink is for girls etc. if you know what i mean. I believe any one can maintain a car and I think people who can not maintain a car simply have a very small intrest in how the internal combustion engine works.
Cheers The Green

i couldnt agree more, in general, its true, women cannot maintain a car, there are some women that can, my mother for an example is hopeless, my missus isnt that far behind and yet she drives an s14 with 200rwkw, go figure.

[marcusus]

I really dig that twin tip exhaust. Nice and simple, but looking the goods. Once I get around to doing exhaust mods, something like that is going on the tip of mine.

[The Green]

ive only taken the door trims and center console off about 2600 times. haha.

well i wouldnt mind restoring the interior to its original shine.. any ideas?

Mate i know how you feel about the pulling the car apart.
I have had my car with nothing but 4 wheels, a steering rack, a diff and the shell.

I managed the complete pull apart of the interior in about 3 hours. (First time ever)
and i put the NB interior in, in about 4 hrs but without the use of my left arm.
now that i have done it once i recon i could do it in about half the time.

You said you want to return the car back to its original shine.
Is there something wrong with the interior in the car? (Scratches, Not stock dash)???
i used some uv protecting spray shine stuff and it came up great.
There are many brands of spray you can use which i found over time they are pretty much all the same.
However when you choose your spray dont get anything with an acidic base.

Mate there is so much you can do to your car its not funny.
All you need to do is have a starting point (which you have) and a plan, and then the day will come where there is nothing to do to the NB and the urge to buy the next project will start haunting you. LOL

What sort of things do you want to do to your car??? (No matter how insane)

Cheers the green

[The Green]

Hahaha. I know, i think im already thinking of the next project! Which is high powered performance, however ill wait till i can legally drive a turbo in about 4 years

i want MORE power. All in time ;)

Cheers, jacob.

Yo mate. How old are you? did you just get your ps or did you loose your licence???

AS for the more power factor. you dont need power to win races and to have fun.
I use to race my mates who have commos and magnas etc in my little 1.4L sack of s**t barina and still win. (boy were they allways Pissed). Any way all i am trying to say is if you know your car inside out and know how she needs to be dríven you can keep up to the pack on a track day without the need for forced induction.
That being said, when money permits i will be buying another engine with vvti and will supercharge the bugger as i do believe for a well balanced mx5 a small amount of positive pressure in the intake is needed. (Nothing to big tho)

So to answer your question for power upgrades. WELL where to start.
First get your engine running to the best of its ability in 100% stock form (There is no point modding an engine that is not running well)
Get the motor breathing with some good quality high flow filtration (Cold air intake if you can)
change your timing belt and all your seals (NO power gain but more reliability and good engine TLC)
lighten your fly wheel
Get an LSD diff (no power gain but stability while powering out of the corners)
get some extractors/exhaust

There is not really that much you can do without having to do allot more things.
but if i went turbo/supercharge (intercooled) i would first (in this order)
Upgrade breaks
suspension
Under car full butterfly brace
Roll bar
Upgrade ECU
Upgrade to higher voltage ignition
upgrade fuel lines, pumps and filters
engine rebuild
Build a strong top and bottom end
bigger cam lobes
bigger injectors
Exhaust: Turbo manifold/extractors (Supercharged)
Turbo/Supercharger

you see just by saying the words turbo you have to first start with safety and work your way down the list.
In a quality turbo/supercharged setup the turbo should be the very last item to be fitted to the car!!!

Well thats my thoughts on the issue
there are so many details and specifics which could fill pages and pages but theres the general outline on what to do from my point of view and my point of view only. Many members on the forum have their ideas as well however it seems that safety is not the first thing on their mind.


Mate anything is possible with enough thought and money, how ever a lot of people stop at the stage when it comes to wiring and the electrics, throw their hands in the air and give up.

Any questions about anything even wiring feel free to ask. (one of the pros about being a sparky)

I hope this info was sort of what you were looking for.
If you plan the finished product before you even start the project you will save your self alot of time, money and having to do things twice because the first time turned out to be wrong.

Cheers the green

[The Green]

I thank you for your enthusiasm, and general concern.

Mate i only say all the stuff about safety because i understand that when you have a turbo car you naturally drive it harder and push your limits further. I know this because it is exactly what i would do. LOL

!!!LOOK!!!
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=croBCxHmQUc&NR=1

I wouldnt want to be in my stock NA8 and land on my roof.
Hence the rollbar and you will need the butterfly brace to stop and chassis twisting and any movement among the center of the car.

As for cold air induction.
Well if you dont mind cutting a hole in your car (only a small one in the fire wall. Nothing bad at all) you can pick up high pressure airflow coming from the bonnet up over the bottom of the windscreen (If i didnt have a Laguna Blue Clubman i would buy this kit). there is a simple kit you can buy from http://www.mx5mania.com.au on the net (If you want to trust them, as they have a habit on not sending out all the parts they said they would)
This has been said by many over the travels on the forum and this is only my thoughts however 33.333% of my dealings with them have been good. (I have only had 3 dealings with them)
Look on their web site and that will give you a general overview on what the parts are and how prices vary depending on what part of the car you are looking to mod..
E-Bay is a great place as well.
I am currently looking at customizing an air box so i may retrieve cold air from outside of the engine bay without cutting any holes or drilling anything. I am going in to have a shoulder reconstruction next thurs and will have a good 2 months of doing pretty much nothing. so as you do why not build something.

Filtration Well.
Depending on if you get that kit i was talking about which comes with the air filter or not, you should allways go with the people how make filters as their main product. like K&N.
If you can manage to get your hands on filtration specs tested & published by the maker you could compare them however true test results and not marketed results are hard to come by. Again you can all ways trust k&N

Sports exhaust.
the exhaust is something that if done wrong can change the true spirit of the mx5's motor. (Well any car for that matter)
the stock manifold will be good enough for now as if you plan to get a turbo you will need to replace the manifold anyway. if you were to go supercharger well i would get my motor engineered and scale drawings printed out so i knew exactley what i was looking at and then i would build the engine up according to the specs i want them to be and make a MX5 motor in to something you would run and hide from. Contacts through work means the engineering of the motor would not be that expensive and full 3d scale cad drawings would be provided. You see with superchargers you can make enormous amounts of power as long as the internals you built up can handle it. superchargers you can but for the mx5 have their limits but when you go to the next level of engineering custom superchargers and other parts will be a must thus costing more in the $$$ department but when the work is complete you will be able to sit back and say HOLY FCUK.

If you want just a cheep power increase just get your self a small turbo kit to bolt straight on from e-bay/Mx5 mania for around $1500

I hope i have helped in you quest to mod your 5
Keep me posted and feel free to ask any questions

Cheers the green

[The Green]

Oh i will, after i get some of the asthetic things done, im going straight to designing a new airflow filter with CAI, ill have my uncle help me as he builds drag cars anyway so he know a thing or to!

Ill keep you posted, thankyou for all your time.

Mate good luck with everyhting and keep in touch.
Cheers The Green