Lachstock and Four Turbo Charged Cylinders ['04 NB SE]

[ManiacLachy]

Ah gotcha!

You know, I'm going to persevere with the poly a little longer. I have considered one day returning to the plush rubber bushing life, and my 550/350 springs, but for now I'm going to be stubborn! The first drive back in my car after driving my girlfriend's bus called a Mitsubishi Outlander was fantastic and invigorating, but I know after a few days in traffic I'm going to be over it, the drive to Bundaberg (4hrs or so each way) will be a test of my resolve. I really need to keep this car as a weekender and find a sensible daily.

Automotive Plus has stepped away from supporting the mod-life, but in this case it was simply finding a spare bolt and helping out a loyal customer, and I appreciate that. I also understand why they've stepped back, though I wish they were embraced it still - I'm a little jealous of the folks who have MX-5 Mania local to them. It's a little ironic that Danny has just turboed his ND

I think the issue with the caliper was just too much crap and gunk in the slider pin cavity in the bracket. A lot of brown was washed out with the brake cleaner and various probing instruments.

Delrins would be great, maybe SADFab could help us out? In a few weeks I'll need to drop the sway bar again to get the long bolt out (RB re-enforcement blocks are in the way), but before I do that I'll disconnect the endlinks and check how free/sticky the movement is now.

[KevGoat]

Quite a weekend's work!

Interesting you had same problem as I did with the passenger chassis rail bolt. I also realised I had one bolt inside the seat mount hump and tried for ages to move that rail far enough forward to get that bolt in front of the hump but just could not get it to fit! I did manage to get a bolt on in there without hacking the mound at all but was fiddly.

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[ManiacLachy]

2 weekends actually. And one week night to break the slider pin

I realised the positioning was off too late to try re-positioning. I'd already drilled 3 or 4 large holes. I think it'll be just fine without that one bolt.

[speed]

I leave the forum for 6 months or so and your car is a completely different beast.
Great work as always.

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[Gladiator]

You have been busy mate. You didn’t mention any of this work on the Nasho run the other day.

I meant to ask you, I noticed you had your tonneau cover on. Did you have to modify it to go around the rollbar? The reason I ask is mine doesn’t seem to fit too well with the rollbar.




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[Magpie]

Delrins would be great, maybe SADFab could help us out?

Feel free to call in on the weekend and you can see for yourself exactly how free the movement is with delrin. Gladiator did when he called in!

[ManiacLachy]

Well, crap!


Just in time for storm season!

The tear looks to be from simple wear, it's 14 years and 190k km old after all, and has gone up and down thousands of times. Unfortunately it's too close to the glass window to be able to temporarily patch up with some heavy use of duct tape.

Guess I'm working from home for the next couple of days as the forecast is for rain and I have to park in the open at work. Hopefully I can turn this around quickly.

Some other updates to mention in detail when I get around to it. I put in new V8Roadsters FUCAs the other weekend at Magpie's Dodgy Day. In general, I'm very happy with how the car is driving, both power and handling right now.

[Okibi]

Until you can get a new top, some black silicon would help keep the water out.

[ManiacLachy]

That's not a bad idea. Maybe back it with some duct tape inside and fill the patch with silicone. I do have some on the shelf from my frame rail install. Thanks Okibi.

In the meantime, it's got me thinking about hardtops. I love being able to drop the roof, but hardtops look so cool. And coming into summer the roof stays up more than down.

[KevGoat]

Hard tops look good on NB's. Also gives more of a feeling of security when parked some places. I'm always paranoid someone's going to rip the soft top some day. I'd probably use mine a lot more if it was easier to put on and take off by myself and store it close to the car - and that thing that we can't just drop the top anytime we feel like it .....

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[ManiacLachy]

Yeah, they look great. And probably a good option in summer to keep my pale skin safe from the UV.

Just finding one is the tricky bit. Auto+ have one, pricey and no defroster, but local and the price will include paint and fitting. Just missed one in Coffs Harbour. There's a great black on in Perth, but I don't know about shipping something that big across the country.

[KevGoat]

Personal preference, but I reckon a black hardtop would look better than color matched on yours.

On the defroster, I've always found using the aircon on warm does a better and faster job anyway.

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[SKYHI]

Skip the hardtop and go straight for the fastback

I'll definitely be getting a hardtop/fastback of some description for mine at some stage, just not sure whether it'll be a OEM hardtop, Lightyear CF or fibreglass hardtop, or fastback.

[ManiacLachy]

Fastback is more of a permanent solution. I'd still want to run topless from time to time. I think it's OEM for me. And I'll replace my soft top at a slower pace, or go a bikini top

[apsilon]

FWIW when someone cut the top on my original car to break in (despite the doors being unlocked ) I did similar to what Okibi and ManiacLachy
suggested but I also stitched it roughly closed first to take any stress off and risk it tearing further. Then placed black gaffer tape in the inside and smeared black silicon over the outside. Looked very ugly but didn't leak for the month I was waiting for the new top.