relocating the spare on an NA????

[Daz 27]

I'm with Sab. Saves weight and makes more room in the trunk.

X3

X4

X5

[sab]

I've relocated the spare to a corner of my garage.

I replaced it with a can of tyre repair/inflation stuff. Takes up heaps less space and no mucking around involved.

hmmm i considered that, but the 'wotif' theory sprang to mind - wotif i jam a cut into my sidewall in the middle of nowhere - long walk to civilisation

You could always call one of your MX5 mates to bring you their spare too.

I only put the spare tyre in if I know no help will be available.

okay Sab - i shall paint your number on the side of the battery box for next time i have a flat.

i like the relocation idea - cant see why i cant make a heatshield or use heatwrap to be nice to my spare.

No worries. My number is: 1902 CALL ME NOW

[fig]

Mount the spare on the bonnet (like the Land Rover)
(OMG I'm Funny)

* Ducks and runs from Truros' flying swipe cards*

Please don't de-activate my card pass!!!!!!

[trader]

I've done the relocation and its very successful - was able to sit the muffler on its edge rather than flat hence and no need for a heatshield. Needed two hot dogs to stop the drone. Only trouble is if you are travelling and have a full boot the standard tyre will not fit in the space under the floor - in my case with 15 " wheels.

[Okibi]

Mount the spare on the bonnet (like the Land Rover)

My mates old Scooby Doo Sportswagon has the spare under the bonnet.

[rain902]

Mount the spare on the bonnet (like the Land Rover)
(OMG I'm Funny)

* Ducks and runs from Truros' flying swipe cards*

Please don't de-activate my card pass!!!!!!

thats a great idea roni - can we practice on your car? i'll bring my drill and grinder - see you in an hour...

there is worse things than deactivating your passcard - programming it to delete on next use, which means that rather than grumbling and finding another place to park, you will discover its deactivated when you try to get out of the carpark

[Caedrus]

Greetings. I am the previously-mentioned friend of Matt / Li7hium's with the NA. Excuse my lack of skill if this post doesn't work as well as it should.

How to get more boot space and a complementary mild performance upgrade for $200.

Objectives:

(1) Relocate the spare tyre in an NA MX5 and get more boot space.
(2) Make the MX sound a little richer, perhaps gain a kW or two.

I went into this mission with the expectation that it would be (1) Incredibly Expensive; (2) Incredibly Frustrating; and (3) Ineffective. I call this expectation “realistic”, but even so, I was very surprised.

To undertake this task, you will require the following:

A deep-seated sense of paranoia that makes you believe that you will inevitably have a flat tyre within three seconds of purchasing your spare-in-a-can, fine product though it may be. Free.
A big piece of cardboard or thin wood. Free.
One really, really long bolt (20 cm) with a wing nut. The diameter of the bolt needs to be small enough to fit through the wheel-stud holes on the spare. I had to buy the wing nut separately. $6 from Bunnings.
One really, really big washer that fits the bolt. Mine was a 5cm x 5 cm square one. If you are hyper-paranoid, buy two. $2 from Bunnings.

Parts Total: $8.

I will attempt to explain this undertaking step-by-step.

First of all, you need to find a place to put your spare tyre, and the only realistic place is on the passenger-side, under the boot. This means that you need to reroute the exhaust.

Step 1.

Get a piece of cheap, nasty wood (I used the back of an old bookcase) or cardboard, and lay the spare tyre on it. Trace an outline of the tyre, and mark the location of one of the wheel-stud holes. Cut the material to the same size, and drill / cut a hole to match the location of the wheel-stud hole. I just shoved a texta through the spare’s hole, guesstimated it to be vertical, crossed my fingers and hoped like buggery that I wasn’t being moronic. Let’s refer to this as the ‘template’.

Step 2.

Go to Exhaust place of your choice (I chose Wicked Exhaust in Newcastle, and I can’t say enough good things about them), and bring along everything, including your spare.

Step 3.

Patiently explain what you would like done. Show them the lovely pictures attached.

Step 4.

Wait for laughter to cease, and reiterate.

Step 5.

Pull out the carpet from the floor of the boot, and you will see a hole (about 7mm in diameter from memory) in the passenger’s side of the boot, about halfway from the front to the back of the boot. There may be a rubber bung in this hole. Remove this bung. Wonder who came up with the word ‘bung’. Say ‘bung’ to yourself until it sounds stupid. Tolerate stares of Exhaust-Shop guys.

Step 6.

If you’re really paranoid, you could drill a hole through the bolt at the thread end, about 2 or 3mm in diameter. This is not truly necessary, but allows for extra security. Put the bolt and washer down through the hole, so that the washer is in the inside of the car, not underneath the boot.

Step 7.

Place your wood / cardboard spare wheel template onto the bolt and ensure that the template would fit if the exhaust were rerouted. You may need to turn the template as you move it vertically towards the underside of the boot. Don’t panic about this – the rear bumper is concave, so there will be more space than you think. The hole should make for the perfect position for the bolt.

Step 8.

Ask Dave the Exhaust guy, really nicely, if he would mind welding the bolt, and washer, to the inside of the boot of the MX5.

Step 9.

Apologise for calling the exhaust guy Dave, tell him he looks like a Dave, and hope like buggery that you’re doing the right things by welding stuff to your car. If you are really paranoid, then ask Dave to weld the second washer onto the underside. This is not at all necessary, but you might want to. Up to you. I didn’t bother.

[Caedrus]

(cont)

Step 10.

Get Dave the Exhaust Guy to cut away your exhaust from after the catalytic converter to the back. At this time, you will need to decide on what diameter exhaust system you wish to have put on. Your choices are basically one of two: (1) You can put in a two-inch system, which, in my opinion gives a rich note without sounding oppressive or droning (this is what I eventually did, after experimenting a 2.5 inch system); or (2) Put in something bigger. If you do this, it is essential that you put in at least a 4 inch system, with a 16 inch chrome tip, and enough subwoofers to make dolphins explode from a range of three miles. This should liberate at least 60 kilowatts with a mild tune. Seriously, unless you are going with forced induction, then a 2-inch system is plenty. This is, of course, only my opinion. Your experiences may vary. Let discussion commence on this issue.

Step 11.

Get Dave to refer to the lovely pictures that I have provided for you. Make sure that the wheel template stays on the now-welded bolt. Explain patiently to Dave that you would like the exhaust to be as far from the spare as possible. Get him to route the exhaust, from the catalytic converter to the muffler, and thence to the exhaust outlet, following the path provided. Your vehicle may have underbody braces that need to be worked around. Dave should be able to manage this pretty easily.

Step 12.

Take off the template, and slide the spare on, all the while chanting “please let this work” like a mantra to the Gods of Not Screwing Up.

Step 13.

Heave a deep sigh of relief as the tyre actually fits. Secure it with the wing nut.

Step 14.

If you were really paranoid, you might have drilled a hole in the bolt, and at this time, you might want to put a little pin into the hole, to ensure that the wing nut stays on. Again, this is for the paranoid folks out there. Replace boot carpet when welds are cool.

Step 15.

Pay Dave and the rest of the exhaust guys. Mine cost $180 dollars, which included getting a new muffler. Like everything that you aren’t doing yourself, it’s always hard to hand over the cash, but I think that that much more boot space is totally worth the cash. Mine was press-bent in mild steel. You might want stainless, and you might want mandrel bent. You might want a flash chrome tip on the exhaust outlet. All of these will cost you more.

Step 16.

Enjoy exhaust note, do celebratory burnout, revel in the fact that you can put stuff in the boot now.


Hopefully there are gonna be some pictures below. If not, send hate mail to Li7hium / Matt.

If there are pictures, shower me in adulation.

Cam.

[Okibi]

Nice write up Cam.

Where's the photos ?

[Li7hium]

Stupid hate mail....

OK, OK, so we forgive Cam for his inability to post links to image files....

Cam attended the "Tim Allen" school of photography, so the photos are BIG. Arrr Arrr ARRRR!

Not sure how these fit into Cam's story but here we go...

Exhaust photos...









Matt

[Caedrus]

You know Matt, if you're claiming to be my alpha-geek, you'd think you would have the ability to decrease a photo in size.



Cam.

[Ajay]

i have a magnaflow 2 1/4 system.. will re-routing/modifying the exhaust change the sound/performance at all

Cheers
Ajay

[trader]

As Caedrus says, fitting a 2.25 system requires attention to stop the drone but I think that applies to all 2.25 systems. If you are able to use the Magnaflow muffler then it shouldn't make much difference. In my case I put a removeable baffle in mine to quieten it down ( I used a super cat 14\"x8\"muffler on its edge).

[SuperMazdaKart]

be rather annoying to repressure the thing if its always under the car.