Nice catch on the Mazdaspeed parts, I nearly had you on the trap timer, your wallet out did mine
I do like the mats, havent seen those before, are they NA/NB specific?
Nice catch on the Mazdaspeed parts, I nearly had you on the trap timer, your wallet out did mine
I do like the mats, havent seen those before, are they NA/NB specific?
hoodedreeper (10-18-2017)
Did someone say Trap Timer?
benpopham (10-17-2017),HarryB (10-17-2017),hoodedreeper (10-18-2017)
Phatmiata (10-18-2017)
Ive been hunting around and finally found out the mats are NB. The fit is ok but overlaps onto the foot rest. I'll fit an NB one and fingers crossed it'll sort it out
benpopham (10-18-2017)
hoodedreeper (10-18-2017)
This car looks amazing!! keep it up! Great score on the ArtWorks Dewa cluster!! They really are works of art to see in person!
hoodedreeper (10-18-2017)
An MX5Nutz member kindly sent me an original owners handbook
I also had another book arrive,this time from Japan and purchased through JDMparts Rupewrecht
The Mazdaspeed obsession continued when i stumbled across a damaged A-Spec Type 1 bumper only a couple of hours away
The middle of the bumper is paint flaking off and adhesive tape from the number plate,the damage is in the corner
It had the lower rubber lip and air damn included, the parts that are always sought after for this. Luckily the lip was there,because thats whats keeping it all together lol
Me and the other half took both cars out for a drive to a local meet,would have been rude not to take a photo together
benpopham (11-17-2017),Hammerhead (11-17-2017),JamieH (11-17-2017),MiataQuest (11-17-2017)
For a month or so I've had problems with the Purple MX5 not starting and the battery going flat. I originally put it down to lack of use and the cold weather. The battery died again last weekend so I fitted a new one and it still wouldn't start. So I got the car up in the air and found the culprit
Made up a new earth strap,and after fighting with the only bloody bolt, it was back together and it fired up first time with no hesitation....winning!
Next on my to-do list was to find some decent headlight bulbs. Working at a Motor Factors I've tried most bulbs we stock/can order in and I've never found anything close to HIDs. HIDs have been ok in the past,but the high beam has always failed no matter which kit i buy.
A few friends have suggested buying LED bulbs, I've always been on the fence about them because of the 'lack of beam pattern'. So i took a chance and ordered a pair of Night Eye bulbs. The base comes apart, so the base is fitted first with the retaining clip,then you insert the bulb and twist to lock it in place. The bulb bases have a heat sink fan to draw out the heat,these are a little noisy but the supercharger and iPod its hard to hear them
I've done some comparisons to a standard halogen, Ring 150% and the Night Eye. I didn't realise till afterwards that the Night Eyes were 180* out,so were effectively on high beam.
Something I've been wanting to do for awhile was yellow tinted headlights. Lamin-X was my first option but after seeing the price and size of the tint sheet,i gave it a miss and went with a cheaper eBay equivalent
With the Night Eyes flipped round 180* so they're pointing in the correct direction, I took some photos with the tint. Not as bright, but such an improvement over what i had. As always, its hard to photograph the true light
benpopham (01-14-2018),HarryB (01-13-2018),JamieH (01-13-2018),MiataQuest (01-13-2018)
I guess the term 'daily driver' should be used loosely now, as the car has turned into a project in itself lol
You may remember us picking up the damaged Mazdaspeed Bumper. The original intention was to have a go repairing it myself, but lack of time prevented this so I dropped it off to a local body shop. Expectations were certainly exceeded and they've done an incredible job!
Photo again when we got it....
While the bumper was being repaired we finally got the car into another bodyshop to have the rear arches repaired. The piece that joins the rear section of the sill were very bad, but its solid now
You may remember the rear bumper being replaced by a fibreglass item. I found out the bumper is a potential copy of the VIS Racing Magnum kit. After fitting it the rear corners seemed to poke out. After finding out what it was, noticed it should have matching arches. Luckily the guy i bought it from had the matching front arches but not the front bumper (which i'm not keen on anyway, hence the Mazdapseed bumper)
So with the original arches repaired the fibreglass ones were fitted and semi-blended in. While it was there I also got the VIS Racing Magnum rear bumper repaired and primed aswell as all the dings,dents and scratches filled and primed
I trial fitted some 20mm hubcentric spacers to the driver side and although it helped a little bit, the wheels are far from being flush. I then tried an additional 10mm on the front and it was better, and it'd probably suffice due to the weak specs of the Watanabes
Hammerhead (02-09-2018),JamieH (02-09-2018),MiataQuest (02-09-2018),MX5Wisher (02-09-2018),oldgrayleather (02-22-2018),Phatmiata (02-09-2018)
coming along nicely mate!
hoodedreeper (02-09-2018)
With the dilemma of the wheels spacers, I thought it'd be best to sell the Watanabes and buy another set of wheels. As much as it pained me to advertise them, they sold within a few hours and I got the full asking price.
So I spent today playing around with wheels and seeing what would fit. Started off with the 15x9 ET0 Rota RKR from the Purple MX, knowing they'd be waay too wide for these arches.
Guess I was wrong....
This obviously wasn't a straight fit The rear coilovers were wound up 15mm and the lips of the fibreglass arches/flares were shaved. The fronts are untouched but are currently catching.
I'm hoping to cut the original front wing/fender and hope its enough clearance. I've already got a set of 195/50r15 Yokohama Parada Spec 2s sitting at work which i'll be using. Don't really want to run any more stretch and cambered front wheels look awful.
New wheels have been picked and hopefully ordered tomorrow. Will keep that a secret until they arrive.
benpopham (02-11-2018),JamieH (02-12-2018),MX5Wisher (02-11-2018),oldgrayleather (02-22-2018)
We finally got a day off with some decent weather so got a chance to have a look at the front arches/fenders. At first glance it was quite obvious what the problem was...
The lip had folded out on itself and was cutting into the tyre. I tried to cut the original metal higher,but I couldn't get me and the grinder in with enough visibility to cut it smoothly. So I opted for cutting the lip off, flush with the fibreglass. Smoothed off the surface and gave it a coat of Zinc primer followed by black Underseal.
(photo before the zinc primer and underseal)
The new wheels arrived, Rota Grid V 15x9j ET0 and I fitted my Yokohama Pada Spec 2 195/50r15s too. It kills me to sell genuine wheels to get copies but unfortunately we don't have the money to buy 'real' wheels at the moment.
MX5Wisher (02-18-2018),oldgrayleather (02-22-2018),Phatmiata (02-22-2018)
Never minded Rota wheels anyway though myself... I think the look and options (and attainability) make them a better option than the 'real deal'. Either way, looking good!
hoodedreeper (02-19-2018)
Circumstances change and to be fair its all my fault for being impatient with the arch rolling
MX5Wisher (02-22-2018)