Sold the Mk2 tonight, so can start looking at getting the Mk1 back on track ... first step is get the Roll Cage in. Hopefully get that sorted before Christmas so I can start fitting parts and getting it back together
Russrll
Sold the Mk2 tonight, so can start looking at getting the Mk1 back on track ... first step is get the Roll Cage in. Hopefully get that sorted before Christmas so I can start fitting parts and getting it back together
Russrll
WASABI (12-06-2015)
Well the Mk2 went on Thursday night, in the most horrendous weather!! So with the cash burning a hole in my pocket a quick phone call Friday morning had the green Mk1 on a truck heading to the fabricators by lunch time. They are mocking up the cage today so hopefully it will go in next week once I've approved the changes I've asked for.
Russell
Sooo ... engines. Looking at how I'll power this track day beastie and there are a few options I guess
Currently has a Mk2.5 block with a Mk2 head. The Mk1 wiring loom and sensors are in place so it will run on a standatd ecu. That should be good for getting it road legal and at about 135-140bhp.
So then I'll want more .. which is where it gets messy. Basically this will be a track car. I need to keep the costs sensible but don't want to be the slowest car on the straights.
so I could turbo or supercharge it ... not an exciting option but would work. Worried about stressing the engine too much though, to get them really sorted for track use doesn't stay cheap.
Next option is engine swaps ...
Staying 4 pot I could go S2000 (sump / steering rack issues?) or I've been offered a 2.0 Beams engine, box & ecu which is 200bhp standard
V6 ... the 2.5 KL is interesting, keeps it light and again it's going to be around 200bhp once tbs have been added.
V8 ... the Lexus 4.0 is relatively light and cheap, 260bhp as standard. The Audi 4.2 lumps are interesting as well, again relatively light and cheap ... decisions!!
Russell
Go ECU and some headwork on what you have and make ~170whp. And get a 4.7 rear end.
I can't see me getting 170 at the wheels with that. I know some in the US have got that, but they usually get it by using E85 (not available in the UK apart from for stupid money) and measure bhp differently to the rest of the world, so get more power. Unless by headwork you mean heavy skim, aggressive cams, very extensive porting, polishing, reprofiled valves etc etc ... at which point an engine swap is cheaper.
I'll double check one of the 949 racing threads as I know Emilio has done some cool work with NA engines, I can compare his suggested spec to some cars in the UK (a few cars have followed his recipe) and see what I'd get to the wheels. From what I can recall, getting 170 at the wheels as measured in the UK would cost in the region of £1500, not including the ecu.
Russell.
Last edited by vindi49; 12-05-2015 at 05:36 PM.
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/59-...o-porting.html
This is what I had in mind, tuned on 93 octane. Dyno differences aside with a 4.7 rear end it will probably be a nice hassle free track setup and pretty quick.
Ha ha, I know the build and that's about £5k of parts he lists in the first post!! Maruha cams, Maruha headers ... that's £2000 before you start into titanium this and whatever else. I could buy a drive in, drive out 300bhp V8 conversion for less money.
Edit - I know it could be done for a lot less money than he spent, but to get it as bombproof as an OEM build at the revs needed to get that power and running on track all day would cost a lot more than I want to spend
Russell.
Last edited by vindi49; 12-05-2015 at 06:20 PM.
Vegard (12-07-2015)
Mini road trip to visit the legend that is Junk Yard Dog tonight. Junk yard used to work at an MX5 breakers yard, he's left now to drive trucks but has turned his back garden into a final resting place for rusty MX5s which he breaks / fixes in his spare time ... no idea how he got that past his wife!! He currently has 5 or 6 MX5s, along with a couple of old Triumphs, an Exocet (MX5 kit car), a Land Rover, a Rickman Ranger with MX5 running gear (nearly bought it ...) and a few old Bikes ... Brough, Harley and something else I didn't recognise. Good taste, anyway!
He had called me trying to ID a diff he had, and I decided to go have a closer look ... still none the wiser as to exactly what brand it is, but it's definitely a plated diff and looks like a 2 way. So I bought it, along with a set of wishbones / subframes, a gearbox, a radiator and a few other bits I needed. Fingers crossed I now have all the parts I need to get the car back on the road ... just the minor job of fixing / fitting them, all once it's back from getting the cage fitted!!
Russell.
WASABI (12-06-2015)
I love your enthusiasm Russell! Post some pictures!!!
One of these days I'll learn to say no, but not today apparently ... needed an exhaust, needed to keep the costs down ... well I managed to achieve one of them.
Russell.
More parts on the way from Japan ... my wheels arrived at the shippers, along with a Nopro vented quarter window. Probably paid well over the odds for a little vent in a piece of plastic, especially as I already have one, but this one says Nopro so somehow it seems justified.
More goodies on the way from the US as well ... it's like Christmas ... oh, wait ...
I'll post some pics of the diff as well, no idea what it is so maybe someone will recognise it!
Russell
Right, here's a bunch of pics of my diff ... I'll be honest, I have no idea what I'm looking at or what I should be looking for. I know if you take out the drive shafts and can see a straight hole through then it's an LSD whereas the open diffs have a bar you can see ... beyond that I don't have a clue.
I've been told this is a plated diff of some kind, likely 2 way, but how do I work out what it is? The strange bit is, from looking at various plated diffs on google, I was expecting to see a machined casing, where this one appears to use the original casing, which is cast I think ... if anyone knows what they are looking at, or which bit I need to take a pic of to help then let me know!!
Any clues would be great!! Oh, and here's a pic of the casing ... Junkyard who found me the diff gave me a nice painted carrier to put it in!
In separate news, I started stripping the dash out, getting everything out of the way for the cage. Only just realised that as the cage has a proper cross bar, I'll need to ditch most of the dash and somehow sort a way of either re using it minus the main bar that goes through it, or more likely, rip the dash to pieces and use the wiring I need and the speedo console in some sort of custom dash. Might make a mould and make my own top piece so I can keep it looking sensible ... more work!!
Russell.
It is definitely a clutch-type LSD; you can see the discs and ramps on the 2nd photo. No clue on what LSD it is though.
It might be a RX7 lsd
vindi49 (01-28-2016)
That's a possibility, not that I know anything about them ... I'll have to do some digging unless anyone has some info on how I can check
Had a delivery last night, the Fed Ex guy had lobbed a box into the neighbours garden, then left me a note to say he'd left it "behind the gate". I've ordered a bunch of stuff over the last couple of weeks, so wasn't sure what it was. It was raining heavily (had been all day), so I went for a look as I didn't want to leave it to get any wetter. Nothing behind our gate but I could see it next door. Unfortunately the next door neighbours are away at the moment, so I had to get out a step ladder to climb over into their garden to retrieve it. Managed to retrieve the soggy mass of cardboard and get it back into my garden without destroying it, and the label said some bloke called Emilio had sent it ... suddenly my day was a lot more interesting! I only ordered it about 3 or 4 days ago so wasn't expecting it to get here so fast, but I now have a shiny new exhaust, courtesy of Fujitsubo via 949 Racing
Russell.
Last edited by vindi49; 12-16-2015 at 06:05 PM.