Cheers and what a coincidence, just worked my way through your thread over on Nutz last night... I love what you've done with your front bumper!!!Originally Posted by smac
Russell.
Cheers and what a coincidence, just worked my way through your thread over on Nutz last night... I love what you've done with your front bumper!!!
Russell.
I kept thinking of random things I ought to do before the MOT at 11, so got up early to do a few things before taking Reuben to school...
- Fixed the wings onto the bumper properly, had to bend the bumper out about 1.5 inches to get it to meet up as the wings are wider... at this point the wings are growing on me...
- Charged the battery just in case
- Fitted the inner wheel arches
- Attached the coil pack properly in place
- Fitted the child seat!
Got Reuben off to school and on the way back we got a new rear numberplate... wrong size but its all they have and I can get the smaller one later!! Back home and once Lawrence was happy playing, went out and worked my way round the car again... just checking bolts etc!
Started the car... well eventually I did anyway! Took a lot of coaxing to cough into life, but once warm it idles nicely. Left it running for quite a while, then got Lawrence ready... drink, books, cars etc!
So I guess thats us ready to go?
Russell.
Last edited by vindi49; 10-15-2012 at 08:36 AM.
So the drive to the MOT station... well even considering I had Lawrence with me so was taking it slowly, it was the first proper drive I've had out on the open roads... so I took the long route! First stop was the petrol station, but then I took a 10 mile route round country lanes to the MOT place, timed so I got there about 11.25 and the engine would be as warm as it could be to help it idle! It behaved really well, the Diff is really harsh (acts how I guess a welded diff must) but it goes well... really well!! I need to find a few rattles and squeaks, but the Geo is obviously still fine... damn I've missed driving this car!!
Got to the MOT place and managed to find the guy as he was taking my car in, explained about the diff so he said he'd road test the brakes rather putting it on the rollers. He looked at my car then back at me and said "I may be some time..." He wasn't taking it slow as he went up the road either ha ha!!
So then I sat in the waiting room with Lawrence, playing with cars etc and gradually getting more and more wound up...COME ON I NEED TO KNOW!!!!
Russell.
Good luck!
So after a very long road test (He'd noticed I had Yellowstuff pads and "wanted to warm them up" for me, honest!!) he came back, and then carried on with the test... nervous? Me?
Eventually he came out and its a fail, I'm not hugely surprised considering its been off the road for 18 months and had:
New engine
New Diff
New ECU
Jenvey Throttle bodies
Different Brakes
Different wings
Interior stripped
etc etc...
What did surprise me is the fail list...
1 - Handbrake. He said straight away it would pass easy enough if I just get the surface rust off the disc, it just hasn't been used for too long and won't grip quite well enough.
2 - Side Repeaters. As in it doesn't have any and it should have... so standard wings or cut these ones? Easy to solve either way
3 - Headlight alignment. I had changed one of the lights and forgot I never lined it up.
Errrrrmmmm, and thats it! Just got to book a retest for friday and I'm rolling!!!
Russell.
So back to me in my garage then... job one, take off the white arches and put some standard ones back on... ones with side repeaters! I could have drilled the fibreglass ones easily, but I wasn't 100% happy with them anyway. Made a start tonight and ones back on anyway:
Stupid thing is, it looks so much better just being the same colour! I've taken the wide one off the other side, just need to grab the donor wing off the new arrival on the drive... talking of which:
Yep, I seem to have bought another MX5...Looks nice... and it is! Really solid too, so although we are pulling most bits off it to make into a TR3 Replica build (its a long story!), there's a plan forming to get this one back on the road at some point... although in a very different guise!!
So I've got another wing to swap over tomorrow, and I'll probably nab the boot off this one as well (can't remember where mine went!). After that, I need to rub the rear discs down a bit and thats it... drop the car back to Chemix on Monday morning and they'll adjust the headlights and do the retest about lunchtime.
Russell.
Well after spending about 6 hours swapping the passenger side wing over last night, I dropped the car off at 8.30 this morning. The idea was they would fit the retest in around other jobs when they had the time, but I got a call an hour later to say it had passed... and could I collect it around lunchtime and take the MOT tester out for a spin in it!!
Pleased does not even begin to cover it, this has been 18 months of hard work and its finished just in time for the big meet in the Peak District. My only concern is that there is Snow forecast from thursday onwards in high areas... so that'll be the Peak District then!!
Anyway, back out to the garage now... I have some serious mapping to do before the weekend... and I think I need to refit the undertray and sort out some kind of air filter!!
Russell.
Congratulations on passing the MOT! It can be a real pain trying to chase down issues, when you've done so many different tweaks to a car.
Cheers, its been a long 18 months and my plan keeps changing all the time but it all seems to have come together... well most of it! Big drive on Sunday so I need to get all the little jobs sorted before then!!
Russell.
Congratulations! Nothing like having that weight off your shoulders. I'm gonna take Sharka in for testing tomorrow...
Good luck!! They are hardy little cars though, I couldn't believe how little needed doing to mine condsidering its 21 years old and hasn't moved under its own steam for 18 months!!
Russell.
Here's how I got on last night... through a mixture of things (ill kids and late nights at work) I didn't manage to get anything done off my list... then we went to Oxford for a few days, didn't get back until about 7.30, then had to get the kids settled and have tea... so it was probably about 9 before I even started on the car!
First things first, fit the undertray, wheel arches and wheel arch liners. Jacked the car up and started into the undertray, easy enough so i contimued with the inner wheel arches. Completed one and then realised I was out of the plastic screws you need to attach them... oh well, any puddles will just have to be on the right or in the middle, not on the left.
Decided it was about time to fit the strut brace, I've had it for ages and thanks to Steve (Raydar27) I managed to borrow a reinforcing brace for it and get some made up.... so on it went, along with some new Nyloc nuts for the suspension
Yep, a bit more purposeful
Next to the inside, I cut out a piece of carbon to blank off where the stereo and cubby was... a job I've been meaning to do for at least 6 months!
Then on to my latest toy, the crash pad. Didn't take much tweaking and it was fitted, the speedo surround, vents and radio console wedge it into place nicely so it doesn't actually need any fixings to hold it on!
As I've only got a single gauge I decided to make up some blanking plates:
Useful to have a load of carbon lying around from another project!!
One in...
and the other one... held in place by Blu Tack but hey, no one will ever know!!
Getting late by this point, so decided to do one last job on a similar theme, so here's another piece of carbon I had lying around...
OK this ones not exactly lying around!! This was a real pain to fit, as the holes to get to the back of the bolts are way too small and in the wrong place. I ended up supergluing the washers to the nuts, and then using Blu Tack (again!) to hold the nut / washer on to the spanner while I tried to manipulate the bolt through the hinge and bootlid.. and all the while holding the boot at the right angle with my forehead... it worked though!!
I had wanted to fit the roll bar as well, but that would have to wait for another day... finished off by loading a bunch of tools into the passenger footwell just in case. Bit of an insurance policy really, pack them and you usually don't need them!
Russell.
Had a day at home with Reuben today, and now that the car is back on the road he's been asking to go for a drive in it... seemed like the ideal chance to take a few pics with a backdrop that wasn't my garage!!
The route was chosen by Reuben, he wanted to go to a forest... so out with the map and he pointed out where he wanted to go. Managed to find a quiet end of the car park and Reuben wanted to sit in the car and show off his new Angry Birds hat:
He then decided I ought to be in a picture... his pic came out ok, considering he's only 7 and hadn't used the camera before!
Got it home and thought I may as well continue, seeing as its "finished"
Think it needs a wash though...
And the interior, which is where a lot of the work has been done recently:
It was really nice to be going for a drive with no particular aim (apart from finding a forest), and no timescales to follow... Reuben made a funny comment when we got back as well, I asked him if he'd enjoyed the drive and he said yes, then pulled one of his "I'm thinking" faces and said "It sounds like the orange one did, but a bit nicer". The orange one (a 7 style kit car) was sold about 3 years ago, and he only once went for a drive in it, but it had Jenvey TBs on and did indeed sound similar!!
Russell.
Last edited by vindi49; 10-29-2012 at 12:34 PM.
Love the comment from your kid! I bet it does sound nice! Good work, and the works (?) are nice! The ducktail looks massive :O In a good kind of way.
Cheers, he's a smart kid... and obviously has good taste!! The wheels are Works RB, good spot! I think its mostly the angle of the pic for the ducktail, but I am making a bigger one as my next project.
Russell.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
