new member mx5 1.6 conversion.

[tony g]

Hope youre well enough to get cracking again phil, Im enjoying your build

Tony

[philgroom]

Hope youre well enough to get cracking again phil, Im enjoying your build

Tony

Had about 3 weeks off and started work again this week so on the mend till the next time my back plays up. The strange thing is I was more comfortable driving dolly than my wife's modern car with a bad back. I will try and remember to get a load of pics now I've got a better camera. Seems like the other mx5 conversions have stopped at the moment. Would be a shame to see projects that don't get finished.

[geeksteve]

Had about 3 weeks off and started work again this week so on the mend till the next time my back plays up. The strange thing is I was more comfortable driving dolly than my wife's modern car with a bad back. I will try and remember to get a load of pics now I've got a better camera. Seems like the other mx5 conversions have stopped at the moment. Would be a shame to see projects that don't get finished.

Mine is still crawling along. Another update soon. Sneak preview though: engine is mounted, custom air intake in place, MG F radiator fitted..

[philgroom]

Had about 3 weeks off and started work again this week so on the mend till the next time my back plays up. The strange thing is I was more comfortable driving dolly than my wife's modern car with a bad back. I will try and remember to get a load of pics now I've got a better camera. Seems like the other mx5 conversions have stopped at the moment. Would be a shame to see projects that don't get finished.

Mine is still crawling along. Another update soon. Sneak preview though: engine is mounted, custom air intake in place, MG F radiator fitted..

Can't wait to see update to see how you've done things and hope that my project has helped with some of the problems that pop up when trying to fit things and make them work. I've just been trying to sort out a new insurance policy coz it's modified I'm finding it a little harder. The cheapest so far is £454.37. It's cheaper and a better policy than Lancaster are offering me to renew next month. It's with fluxdirect, do you you know of any other companies that would do it?

[geeksteve]

My insurance quotes have all been more than £1k! I'm with fluxdirect for my Morris so I will have a chat with them. Dreading insurance given going from a 1500 to a Mazda 1.8 is doubling the BHP.

[philgroom]

My insurance quotes have all been more than £1k! I'm with fluxdirect for my Morris so I will have a chat with them. Dreading insurance given going from a 1500 to a Mazda 1.8 is doubling the BHP.

If you do it online then call them you can get it cheaper. It's only £100 more with the 1.6 Mazda lump than the 1500. The highest quote I got online was over£10,000. Don't know why someone would pay that!

[Carledo]

My insurance quotes have all been more than £1k! I'm with fluxdirect for my Morris so I will have a chat with them. Dreading insurance given going from a 1500 to a Mazda 1.8 is doubling the BHP.

If you do it online then call them you can get it cheaper. It's only £100 more with the 1.6 Mazda lump than the 1500. The highest quote I got online was over£10,000. Don't know why someone would pay that!

That's their way of saying "you must be joking mate" with a sharp intake of breath in front!

Go on Retro Rides forum for advice on insurance companies that cater to modified cars!

Steve

[philgroom]

Finally got to spend a bit of time on the car today. Didn't do anything on my to do list though. I tightened up the diagonal struts so that it didn't feel like the rear axle was going to come off going round corners and tuned the engine a little so now it's not gasping for air! I adjusted the air flow screw on the throttle body and adjusted the throttle position sensor. Now it idles smoother, runs quieter and has a bit more torque at lower revs. Kept spinning the rear wheels pulling away coming home! If I can find someone willing to look after my daughter whoes covered in chicken pocs on Saturday I will start working my way through the to do list.

[philgroom]

So after tuning the engine a little yesterday it hasn't used as much fuel as it has been. When I got to work everyone asked what's happened to my car as it's not as noisey and has a nicer exhuast note to it. Think I could get it running even smoother if I spend more time tinkering.

[philgroom]

Just a small update. Decided to give the dolly a clean as it was very grubby after all the work I'd done on it and most of the paint has a shine on it now as well as the alloys. Also took the instrument panel out to investigate the speedo not working and found the end of the Mazda cable has snapped off, probably coz it's plastic so need to get a new one or try and modify the dolomite one to fit the gearbox as they are a much stronger cable.

[philgroom]

I have finally ordered a new speedo cable. Could of got a second hand one for £25 but thought I would spend £40 and get a new one as I know the drive cable won't be worn. With the broken one I'm going to try and fit the triumph drive cable in the Mazda outer section and keep it as a spare. Because if you keep spare parts you will never need them.

[tony g]

. Because if you keep spare parts you will never need them.

True that
Tony

[philgroom]

Havnt been on here for a while so thought I would put a little update on here. Fitted new speedo cable so now I know roughly how fast I'm going. I had a problem where the brake lights stopped working, it just turned out to be a loose connection on the brake light switch. Also rear lights went dim and found the earth on the light units had a bad connection so cleaned them up and that fixed the problem. Engine still hasn't missed a beat and starts every time without fail. On a funnier note the other day on my way to work and had a young lad over taking me in his noisey corsa, so when he was next to me for a laugh I put my foot to the floor and I don't know weather it was the look of shock on his face that an old car could pull away from him or the fact there was a car heading towards him that made his face drop. After that he didn't bother trying to get past.

[philgroom]

Is anyone able to tell me the dimensions of a rear anti roll bar and if it makes much difference to the handling as I'm thinking about fabricating one. If the body still rolls alot with a standard diameter one will make a bigger diameter one.

[tony g]

I may be wrong Phil, but some people remove the rear one for better handling it seems... If no help on dimensions I'll measure up for you on the weekend

Tony