mx5cartalk.com

Hey guys ive been thinking about it and i thought it may be a good idea to comprise a list of 'dodgy mods' for everyone to share and add to.

I guess the only rules is that it has to be free or really cheap lets say under $10.

Reason i posted this is because ive been thinking of little things to do to make the car just that little bet better without spending heaps of money, and in a way its really satisfying.

Ill start with my dodgy debadging guide which can be accessed in the body section.

And to add something newer theres always the using mx5 badges that you have from debadging, or just lying around to stick with double sided adhesive to the interior. Ill add a pic tommorow to show you what ive done with the mx5 badgesx2 on the door speaker mesh. Thanks and hope to see some good ideas including someone whos made some homemade eyelids etc

My friend and I were scouting around Bunnings to look for some garage door seal to make a DIY front lip. No luck though couldnt find it. I got this idea from a link from our friends at miata.net
--> Click

Based on similar suggestions re using common garden products to create your own front lip. I got 100mm garden edging which is a very stiff plastic and trimmed it to 75mm and made my own clips to hold it on. Looks good and seems rigid enough. hardest part of job was that Bunnings only had green and not black in stock, so had to spray paint matt black. If not required to paint the whole job would have only taken an hour and cost $25 for 5 metres of the product.

* Use double sided tape to stick the front number plate on. (<$10)
Remove the bracket and find something around which to gently bend the plate so that it matches the curvature of the front bumper. Apply tape, stick in position. Don't stick it on hard until you are sure it is aligned perfectly.

* (looks best on a dark car) Tint the corner reflectors with a can of lens tint spray (~$15)

* Tint rear orange reflectors red with vinyl sheet ($2.50)

* Convert the centre brake light to high intensity LEDs (~$20)

*Bump the ignition timing on an NA. (free)

* (Before you get an alignment done) loosen all the suspension bolts and jiggle everything such that you can achieve maximum camber. (free - best for standard ride height)

* Remove all slack from the throttle cable, and any slack from the brake and clutch pedal links (free)
Gives best pedal response

* NA - turn the interior lights upside down for more useful light throw (free)

* Shave the raised lettering off the lenses (not much)
Get some wet-and-dry, 400 and 1500-2000 grit. remove lenses from car, wet sand til the raised lettering is flush. Follow up with the finer paper to remove the scratches. Buff out any remaining scratches with plastic polish (eg Plast-X)

* (NA and NB8A) - dismantle the front lights and remove the orange indicator filters. Replace globes with coloured, silvered globes.
The requires either smashing out the orange insert, or heating the light in an oven to soften the glue, then pulling it apart and unscrewing the offending orange lens and resealing.

* Play with tyre pressures to suit your desires of responsiveness, ride comfort and handling.
Don't believe factory recommendations. (which are quite soft)
Don't believe tyre shops and books (which will probably be too hard for comfort)
Don't think that the front and rear have to be the same pressure.

* Remove dead weight

Drill holes in the bottom intake box, free induction sound, without having to spend $100-$300, similar sound without the defects. Might not have the same "power", but it's free.

Cool topic, these are the cheap things i've done on my na6.

Bumping the timing and reducing throttle cable slack made a big difference for me.

I've tried the holes in the air box, I drilled 3 one inch holes on the cold side of the engine and two on the front. It was too loud for me and not really the noise I wanted so i've put it back to normal. However, it did seem that I had slightly better throttle response, i'm not sure if this was just percieved though. Its back to normal now.

I've also installed a little buzzer so that I cant leave the parking lights on with the car off.

Tyre pressures and seating position also make a massive difference. Metal valve caps seem to hold pressure in the tyres better. However, the biggest improvement has been in altering the way I drive, than being said driver training couses cost a bit more than $10...

philz wrote:Drill holes in the bottom intake box, free induction sound, without having to spend $100-$300, similar sound without the defects. Might not have the same "power", but it's free.

Can that damage anything?

Yeah im interested in the removing the amber lens in the headlights, but i think someone needs to write up a guide with pictures coz it seems a little confusing.

Also i was told that if you tighten the throttle cable you can snap it? True?

toe hook removal
break shield removal
removal of sun visors
paint cam cover ($15)
paint calipers ($15)

I have tightened about 1/2 cm of throtle cable hasnt snaped feels better.
Close the gap on the rear calipers (breaks feel a bit better)

crzymx wrote:

philz wrote:Drill holes in the bottom intake box, free induction sound, without having to spend $100-$300, similar sound without the defects. Might not have the same "power", but it's free.

Can that damage anything?

yea can we get some opinions on this - ive read elsewhere that drilling holes in your airbox is a bad idea

I also heard buying 10mm screw covers is a good way of covering up screws throughout the cabin i.e screws on the visors etc etc..

for the nb8b and nb8c owners out there, the lazy cupholder fix has got to be one of the most relieving fixes ever.

On an NA6 you drill the holes before the panel filter so that there is no danger of sucking in unfiltered air. I personally didn't like the sound once I had it for more than a few hours so my intake is back to stock.

crzymx wrote:Yeah im interested in the removing the amber lens in the headlights, but i think someone needs to write up a guide with pictures coz it seems a little confusing.

http://www.poweredbyzee.com/miata/headl ... index.html

Also i was told that if you tighten the throttle cable you can snap it? True?

Would only be a problem if you overtightened it. The pedal stop should (ideally) still be the limiter, not the throttle stop. That will prevent the cable from being tensioned by excessive foot pressure.

Yeah without removing the seal. I know people do it by breaking it but it would be nice to see some pictures because to me it just looks like an orange globe i cant tell. Does the bumper need to come off on an NB8A?