new member mx5 1.6 conversion.

[philgroom]

Nice work m8 makes me feel like "will I ever get all this done on my project" a couple of questions going back a bit what was the sump you used from or originally sold for and have you a link for it, and have you any concerns with the axle or diff holding up to the extra power same for the brakes cheers for the inspiration and some of my problems being sorted

Thanks for the complement its taken so long to do that I thought a few times that the work will never end but once I got past the wiring stage and got in running and then driving I got a boost to sort out all the half finished jobs that I kept putting off.
I got the sump off eBay, I checked today and they are still on there. It's a Mazda 323 sump, the only thing to watch out for when fitting the sump is its very tight on the rear big end bearing cap. I filed the corners off them to clear the sump.
With the axle I'm not planning on racing or eratic driving so think it will cope, the only thing Is weather the ratio is going to be alright. Won't know till I take it on the road and if I'm forever changing gear then it will need changing. Probably source a sprint axle or something similar with a better ratio to Mach the gearbox.
Glad that I've been able to help if you want to know more just ask.
Phil.

[philgroom]

Today I got all the welding finished today, also finished replacing all the suspension bushes. Found a split in one of the steering rack Gators so replaced that as well. Adjusted the headlight aim and sorted out an earth fault on the indicators. When running the engine up to temp to do a final check for leaks it started to hunt when hot again. I've been reading up on this fault and a dodgy set of leads or plugs could cause it but in the worse case it's the coil pack which is a little pricey.

[philgroom]

So the time has come! Tuesday is test drive day! It's been a long time coming and I hope it goes well because if it does its time to book the mot.

[philgroom]

Managed to go for a very wet test drive today. Engine behaved perfectly and gearbox felt good. The brakes improved the more I drove it as the discs were de rusting themselves. Got an mot booked for 2 tomorrow so hopefully I will be all road legal after that and be able to enjoy driving again.

[tony g]

Good luck !

Tony

[philgroom]

Good luck !

Tony

Thank you. There's bound to be something that I've missed or forgotten about coz that tends to happen whilst doing a big project that takes a while.

[philgroom]

Car had its mot today. It was going to pass with flying colours till during the brake test the rear brakes stopped working then got stuck on. Had to release fluid from the slave cylinders to drive it back. Had to use the handbrake to slow down all the way back. The car drew a croud at the mot station always good when people appreciate all the work that went into it. Just need to figure out what's wrong with the brakes now.

[Triumph1300]

Rear brake flex hose defective?

[philgroom]

That's what I'm going to check but its not that old. I'm just wondering if when the old one failed bits of rubber ended up in the system so going to blow all the lines out and check. If its not that I will have to check master cylinder.

[GlenM]

If the push rod on the master cylinder is too short, then the master cylinder may not be allowing the fluid to return back after the brakes have been applied.

[GlenM]

Sorry, that should have been too long!

[philgroom]

Got the car on the ramp at lunch time today. I found that the slave cylinders had seized up. Took all the rear brakes apart. Removed pistons from slave cylinders and cleaned them up so that they will work properly. Going to put it back together tomorrow and see if it works.

[philgroom]

At lunch time I managed to rebuild the rear brakes and bleed the whole system and that fixed the rear brakes. Mot station managed to squeeze me in for re test and it passed. Clean mot with no advisorys. Drove it home tonight and it feels like a modern car going down all the country lanes and keeps up with traffic with ease. Now I can do a rolling restoration on the body.

[Mahesh]

Fantastic, sounds like you've got a lion in wolf's clothing.

[philgroom]

Fantastic, sounds like you've got a lion in wolf's clothing.

Compared to the old 1500 engine its a lot more torqie so it doesn't struggle up hills anymore and you can pull out in traffic and not worry about being hit in the bum coz it gets up to speed very easy.