mx5cartalk.com

As my nic suggests, I started out with a Grace Green 98, pristine with 18k kms in January 2000 - the Green Machine. Kept stock it for a few years, then started the downhill slide with a MX5 Club track day. Hooked. Long story short, the original GM became a seasoned track warrior with club track day pots and the NSW Supersprint 2B Class win plus 2nd in Type 2 in 2006. Sadly, GM Mk1 died a track warrior's death at PI, pushed off by a Nissan, then taken out by a Lotus. It was replaced by GM Mk2, which also did stand-in duty for the race car.

Enter the new car. Happened to be in a workshop talking to the mechanic working on an SE. He asked if I was interested in one, as his mate was selling his. No way says I, knowing what these are bringing. Then he named the figure his mate was looking for. Hmmm ... I have a six-speed, LSD, spare BP engine, plus my existing NB8A - that pretty much covered the cost ... a week later I was the owner of a 100k km 2004 Velocity Red (ugh) SE, heavy 17s, slippy clutch, no cat and an imitation rear muffler (lovely noise, but attracted Plod from 10kms away).

First up it went on the hoist to look at the clutch/TOB (slip was adjusted out, but pedal had a bad buzz), fluid changed in diff, gearbox and engine, long wheel studs, Singular brake ducts and a filter relocation and a new clutch. 17s are for sale. The noisy exhaust has gone, replaced with a 3in from the dump pipe initially to a SMB 2.5in muffler. Nice note, legal even, but replaced with a 3in muffler to remove any back pressure from the smaller diameter SMB.

Next step is a new ECU, stage 8 kit, and a bigger intercooler. Car will run 98 on the road, E85 on the track. Yes, the plan was for the racecar to be sold, and the SE to run in 2018 as a Clubsprint Time Attack car. It will not be a front runner, but a bigger turbo and built engine ...



more to come ...

(A heads up to anyone who has been following my MTnet thread: you have already the above and the next couple of posts )

The dreaded 'bog' soon made its appearance, hastening my determination to chuck the stock ECU. I was lucky to pick up an Autronic SM4 from a supercharged NB, and to access a local Autronic guru for tuning. With a Nitrodann CAI, PWR intercooler, 40mm Cooling Pro alloy radiator, AFR500v2 WB with NTK sensor and the full 3in system, an easy 140rwkw was on tap - heaven on a stick! Revs flow easily, excellent torque, but I had to turn down the rev limiter to 7k as I wasn't totally confident that the engine had the easiest life, and I wanted to do a build on my timetable, not as a result of unexpected engine failure.

Now I am waiting on Dann's Skunk TB elbow to arrive in order to install the Skunk2 TB: I've been lucky with the broken TBs so far, the screws have done nothing more than mark the bottom of the head, but with a turbine wheel sitting there to catch one, I need to ditch the stock TB before disaster strikes, not afterwards.

I am deferring the injectors, fuel pump and flex sensor for 'stage 2'. This was locked in when inspecting a stripped down SE engine, with a rod in multiple pieces, great groove ground in the big end journal, and detonation marks all over the piston. Sure the stock rods are on the weak side, but running a manual boost control, on a stock ECU with no adjustment for fuel, and what do you expect?! I need to start stripping my spare BP and seeing whether it is a rebuild proposition ...

Oh, and I got some Advanti S1s in silver, 15x8 with 205/50 Federal RSRs as road wear. Rides a lot better than the 17s, not fair to compare grip as they were shod with Chinese imitation tyres, but the new tyres have so far proved totally stickable. I must be getting old.

Before I sold the GM Mk2 I removed the MR tall angled short-shifter, so that has also gone in.

There has been a bit happening lately, had first track day and got into low/mid 11s at Wakefield (~2sec off the racecar's best), it is certainly a very different beast to the racecar! Brakes didn't seem to be confidence-inspiring, but at least I got some seat time.

Also, very pleased that it sailed through rego inspection with the 3in DP-to-tip exhaust, I was expecting to have to change it but though I would roll the dice, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Second track day! Down to 1:10.0, a few tenths off the racecar time. I might have got there but the piping to the air filter was pulling off the filter neck, probably due to a failed LH engine mount. Rather than risk things further, I called it quits.

This time the car was much more planted, the brakes seemed much better, and when the tail began to come out, it was easily managed. Since nothing has changed on the car since its first track outing, I think it was the driver getting more confident, and more familiar with the car around the limit.




(Photos by Wilko - thanks Rob!)

Now to get cracking on some of the bits that I have stockpiled for the car, oil cooler, ducting, bushes ....

The car is currently up on stands, lots of things happening!

A 3litre can was purchased, and a washer bottle relocation kit from Mania. The can was opened up, divided into two, top filled with scrubbers, welded back up, and the bungs rearranged. It has lost a bit of capacity, but now fits neatly where the washer bottle was. Cam cover was drilled and a 10AN fitting installed, the passage inside also drilled out. Cam cover needs to come off again, the copper scrubber has now arrived after three weeks waiting - someone is getting a poor rating for that! Hopefully all that will slow down the gas and not too much oil will come out with it, what does will be caught in the catch can.



The PWR oil cooler has been mounted on the intake side rear of the radiator. The SE twin fans have been replaced with a single stock fan. Between this and being a tracked turbo, cooling can become an issue, so the next step was to make sure that all the air coming in the intake goes out through, NOT around, the radiator - cue radiator ducting. I have to say, on looking at the gaps, it is amazing that these cars are not overheating all the time

The rad ducting on a PS and AC turboed road car is a right pain. I have sealed the sides to a fabricated bulkhead in the nosecone, sealed the bottom of the crash bar and underneath the aluminium part of the nosecone (where it bolts to the car near the top of the radiator. The radiator will be sealed to the side, and the last bit to be done is the area where the AC piping runs down beside the radiator. My fab skills have come a long way with this job, now approaching the level of a ten year old! Aluminium angle, pop rivets and rivnuts FTW!!

These two photos show my final arrangement for the sealing of the upper front of the inlet volume. In the first photo, the horizontal bit mates with the bottom of the plastic crash bar. In the second photo my solution for sealing the area under the top of the nose cone can be seen. All require finishing with aluminium tape and adhesive backed foam.



This photo shows my amateurish sealing of the RHS of the intake/radiator.


More photos to come of the sealing of the nose cone, the radiator/oil cooler, and the valve cover.

just to finish the job, Dann is making me an elbow to mate the stock piping with a Skunk TB. I have lost too many throttle plate screws to have one go through the turbo . When that arrives I will remove the piping and the intercooler, and paint it black - as well as (theoretically) making it more efficient, more importantly it will lose some of the 'come and book me for something' look

So what's your beef with Velocity Red?

Just don't like red?

IMO, it looks fantastic in the flesh when the sun's out, it seems to glow with the metallic flecks in the paint - unfortunately photos never do it justice and look like any other flat red.

Make sure you replace ALL the intercooler plumbing pipes - they're just iron and painted on the outside and you'll find the coldside near the intercooler accumulates moisture and rust which may be flaking. This was another half-arsed (and unforgivable) thing Mazda did with the MSM/SE - the pipes should have been aluminium or stainless steel - you don't want rust flakes getting into the cylinders. Maybe they figured they'd be sufficient for the warranty period of the car? In the short term, you can just clean that inside end with a wire brush.

Thanks for that reminder about the rust Lokiel, I knew that but had forgotten all about it .

The red - yes, I just don't like it for my car. It is too attention-grabbing for my taste. My paint is in relatively poor condition too, which doesn't help either.

This all sounds so familiar (except for the dislike of the red!)
So looking forward to the evolution of this one

Don't forget with your ducting to make a turn up in front of the bottom of the radiator to seal the gap, otherwise you'll have an almost 2 inch gap between the rad and the under tray. I made mine from aluminium the same size as the black plastic gap filler that goes from the front bumper to the main under tray.
This part made the biggest difference to cooling when I did my ducting in stages. (bottom first and then sides later).
I would link a photo, but my garage thread has been destroyed by photobucket....

RR, that is the bit that appalled me the most when I looked critically at the air paths. I bolted a piece of angle to the undertray, and used a push-on rubber sealing strip to complete the seal. The other big one was the air path out from the intake through the sides of the nose cone. I cut a sheet to fit around the bottom and sides of the intake, to act as a bulkhead against which the side pieces will seal. Photos of both these are coming.

In other developments, I have ordered an Ecliptec shift light. This has an (extra cost ) feature of offering three warning lights, and so my intention of a separate warning light panel will hopefully be redundant. I was planning warnings for oil temperature and pressure, water temperature and pressure. The intention now is to have separate warnings for oil temperature and pressure, and a combined warning for either water temperature or water temperature and use the gauges to see where the problem is.

You've been a busy little vegemite Ed!
Some of that metalwork is vaguely reminiscent of a rather large wing that I recall from a few years ago :-)
It will be interesting to see how the SE turns out.

Good to see you making progress on the car. Very similar car with very similar intentions, so will be following closely.

Disturbing how quickly the "to do" list grows once you read a few threads here and on MT.net

Yes, the list just keeps growing.

In that vein, David, funny you should mention a rear wing ... stay tuned

Today I just got the sealing done around the radiator fan and the oil cooler - a slow day!

greenMachine wrote:In that vein, David, funny you should mention a rear wing ... stay tuned

Your local airports have been put on alert to watch for pilferers. You won't get away with a Cessna wing again :-)

greenMachine wrote: In other developments, I have ordered an Ecliptec shift light.

I use to run one of their earlier versions and it worked well. I contemplated buying another, but then I think I'd just be better putting the money towards an Race capture Pro and tablet or Raspberry Pi3 display. Decisions, decisions....

I had one of those too, I guess I got rid of it when I got the Racepak gear for the racecar. It is nowhere to be seen anyway, that is certain.

David, too late, it is sitting on a shelf in the workshop, so the Cessnas are safe

Today I pulled the cam cover off (again), as the copper mesh had arrived. Opened up the hotside chambers, and started cutting it up and placing it, when I realised that when cut it was leaving lots of tiny copper fibres everywhere - just the sort of thing you want getting into your oil - not! I think I will forget that idea, and just rely on the enlarged ports to discourage too much oil to come through with the vapour. What a waste of time!

Photo shows the intended application of the mesh.


Photo of the ducting as seen when the nosecone is attached


The sealing of the nosecone floor to the side pieces (a bit of tweaking required here)
Right


Left


Radiator and oil cooler