Joel's Kyusha inspired Laguna Blue na8

[—atank—]

Joel, you know what I think..............

[Joelioooo]

Looking awesome. How did you know what center caps to buy? I bought some for my MKIII's awhile back and it seems they were the wrong size (I measured before ordering!).

I didn't know, I assumed that they are all similar, it turns out the ones I have probably suit 13inch wheels. Unsure since Mk1s have been manufactured for so long that there are probably variances in the center bore over the years. What I did to make them fit was warp the bottom with pliers so the base is bigger and jam them into the holes.... ;)

Joel, you know what I think..............

I have no idea what that means, but, thanks?

[— fwdtamiya —]

I'm thinking the photo he attempted to hotlink got replaced/redirected.

[Ihatecars]

I have no idea what that means, but, thanks?

I'm glad I wasn't the only person that was confused by that.

[Joelioooo]

Went to a track day and someone asked if I wanted some pictures taken. Of course I said yes.

[iRoadster]

Both my car and I envy the hell out of this car.

[Joelioooo]

^thanks man!

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So on Boxing Day (day after Christmas in NZ) a lovely cop pulled me over and pink stickered my car, the pink sticker is known throughout Middle Earth-land as the worst thing that can happen to your car, basically it deems you car unfit for the road and cannot be driven again until it is returned to standard or your modifications are certified by a specific mechanic and meet an extremely strict amount of rules, if you pass then all your modifications are printed on a plaque that you stick to your car and if you decide to change anything that is listed there (say going from 14x7.5 to 14x8) your car isn't legal anymore and you have to pay the ridiculous fee ($650) to be rechecked.

Here it is looking sad with the sticker.



So, the list of things I believe I need and what rule I must meet in regards to them are the following,

ISC 1.5" top hats
- The coilover springs must have 0 preload, you must be able to turn the spring while it is under no load but it mustn't be able to be moved vertically.
- The lowest possible height you can be certified on is 280mm distance between the middle of the hub and the fender, this is obviously what I want but I cannot have captive springs at this height meaning it is uncertable

Locator Rings for adapter to wheel and adapter to hub
- Self explanatory really but because my adapters weren't made specifically for my hub I have a friend who is going to give me some rings for that.

Garage Star/FM Frame Rail bracing
- Any chassis damage is a red flag and mine are bent up, Yunosrodosuta said that they are just floor stiffeners which is fair enough but considering the state of mine I don't want to take any chances.

Things that I kinda SHOULD fix but can hopefully get away with

185/55r14 Falken ZE912 not certable on a 7.5j wheel
- There is a stupid tolerance for all tyres and how wide of a wheel they can be mounted on, 185/55 ZE912 are only certable up to 7j wheels

Camber specs must be within 1 degree of factory
- Having a car this low obviously introduces natural camber, more than I can adjust to the legal -1.5ish, so offset bushings have to be bought but I will try and get around this another way.

Everything including the cost of the cert is expected to be around 1.2k, how fuckin dumb is that? Just to get my car back on the road

[Joelioooo]

As of now all the parts have been purchased, locator rings are lost in mail it seems (hello paypal chargeback? haha) and the Garage Star rails are shipping this Monday

What came in first were the ISC top hats, the hole where the shaft fits through needed modifying but apart from that I found it to be a good product and has worked very well, at it's lowest setting with 0 preload this is the result. 30mm from the frame rails/floor stiffeners. Cool!

(Picture below is only to show what settings i had the on coilovers before top hats and those settings unchanged with the ISC tophats, preload has been adjusted to 0 accordingly)




I am having problems with uneven shock heights with the rear right side being 15mm taller than the rear left side. Both coilovers are identical in shock body length and preload setting and the upper arms look fine. I have had suggestions of loosening all control arm bushings, adding load and re tightening and checking the subframe mounts but does anyone else have any suggestions on where to look?

[Ihatecars]

I can't image living in a country with such strict car modification laws. Move to Texas and run however much preload as you want!

Glad to see your cars almost on the road again.

[riefdaddy]

I had the same issue with ride height. The only solution that worked was to loosen the bushings. Basically, what happened in my case is the bushings were binding and not providing full suspension travel. Even though only one side wouldn't meet the height I wanted, I did both. After doing that, I had to adjust both sides.

[Joelioooo]

I can't image living in a country with such strict car modification laws. Move to Texas and run however much preload as you want!

Glad to see your cars almost on the road again.

Dude, right?! I recently saw Zeb from Riverside's car get stickered. It sucks that we are like a second Japan with all the cool imports but have such idiotic laws. Another rule is that the tyre tread must be inside the guards/fenders but there are countless hotrods and 4WDs that have their entire tread exposed and don't get inti trouble. Huge hatred towards japanese modified cars here

I had the same issue with ride height. The only solution that worked was to loosen the bushings. Basically, what happened in my case is the bushings were binding and not providing full suspension travel. Even though only one side wouldn't meet the height I wanted, I did both. After doing that, I had to adjust both sides.

Okay so that's twice this solution has come up, feeling good about that, might do that today but I have just realized that there may be something bent. I noticed that the driver's door has been replaced and the right rear fender resprayed, ugh, crash history.

[Joelioooo]

Still waiting on parts from both Driven Performance and Garage Star (hubcentric rings and frame rail reinforcements respectively) to help with my cert but I did manage to pick up a few parts made by a friend who is building an MX5 of his own (Fully built 1.8 ITB and Turbo).

Licence plate bracket that attaches to the front factory tow hooks


Radiator Cooling Panel (Before/After)
I'm sure the benefit to this part will be negligible for a car that doesn't see the track but it definitely pretties up the engine bay and gives me a place to put cool manufacture stickers




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I had the car entered into 4 & Rotary (NZ most popular car show) but due to a delayed flight I couldn't make the setup day on time, it was a mad dash with my Girlfriend and I getting the car cleaned but ultimately it was in vain.
Here are some shots of the afternoon after the clean.

[—atank—]

Nice and Clean!!!!!!!!!!

[Joelioooo]

A friendly person gave me a spoiler today, thanks guy!





90% of the feedback from NZ MX5 owners so far is that it doesn't look good on my car, fuck 'em I like it.
But other, more cooler roadster people (KawaiiRoadster & yo_low) suggested slit spoiler. Works perfectly imo, you can't really tell from the photo but it fits almost perfectly with the curve of the bumper.





The R package rear lip and the spoiler will have to be removed for fit it but I am keen to try.

[Ihatecars]

Man, that's going to look so damn cool. I can't get over how well the kyusha theme looks on your car.

I'm jelly.