Ben Sale's white 1990 NA6

[broady]

Great stuff, Ben. Your car looks fantastic. I love the NA in fridge white.

[hks_kansei]

it's amazing how great this looks now!

the mods are perfect, enough to make people notice and think "wow, that's looking nice" but they are subtle enough to also have people still wonder what exactly it is that makes it look so nice.

[bensale]

Thanks Broady, I love the white too but I hate taking photos of white cars as you really struggle to show any depth in the paint in sunlight.

Thanks Nick Thats pretty much exactly what I was going for

[Guran]

She's looking good Ben. Any progress on hitting the track yet?

[bensale]

I've tossed up putting it on the track so many times and have essentially come to the conclusion that as it is my only car and I need it to get to work and uni its not really sensible to put it on the track regularly. And I wouldn't be able to enter standard class anymore without swapping the springs and shocks back over. So at this stage my race track ambitions are going nowhere, I figure I have my whole life for that and for the time being I'll go karting every now and then.

On an aside I like the difference one can make to a car in a few days.

[NMX516]

Looks really good Ben! White NA's are great, and that front lip is just the ticket - nice and subtle

[Guran]

Fair enough mate. Sensible decision if the car is your daily drive . I haven't dríven at any Victorian tracks but from what I've seen of them there's not a lot of safe runoff without obstacles. Wakefield Park is great in that respect because there's almost nothing to hit (although I still managed it!), so it suits those who want to hit the track with low risk. Karts are a lot of fun too!

[Juffa]

Nothing like a bit of lip to show off a MX-5. Looking good Ben.

J

[bensale]

Thanks Jeff, I'm really glad I grabbed that off you With the 14s on I wasn't so sure about the look, but with the wider 16s it looks perfect!

And also, anyone with dodgy A/C go and get it re gassed! The best $90ish dollars you'll ever spend on your car With 40deg weather I don't understand why people rip it out, I'm happy to have the extra kgs!

[Ando]

Wow. Looking great Ben. I'm a huge fan of the white NA.

[bensale]

^ Thanks mate

I've fitted the Lucas brake pads (stupidly easy job if anyone is considering doing it, took me 25 minutes) and bedded them in and as per Fattima's instructions. I got them extermely hot (to the point smoke was pouring off them and I had almost no brakes) and then let them cool by not touching them for 20 minutes while I cruised down the freeway.

Since then they have been amazing. I tested them out today with the sole intent of getting them to fade and check they were properly bedded in and found it impossible. After 8 or so exergency type stops from 100kph there was no fade at all and the distances the car was pulling up in were very impressive. They also work very well when cold and don't seem to squeal at all.

Great pads I highly recomend them for the price (aprox $80)

*Please note all testing was done on very quiet country roads with no traffic in sight and great visability. Don't try bedding brakes in like this in the city!

[green_comet]

Good to see everything is going well Ben, she is looking much better lowered with the NB wheels.

[bensale]

Hi guys, bit of an update Firstly, still very happy with the lucas pads, they pull up great. However, if you are looking at buying them keep in mind that they're quite soft and generate a lot of brake dust, if I still had the harder the clean na wheels on I would hate them! Also they squeal a bit, not too badly but noticably sometimes. Although they won't be staying in too long... I have a full set of na8/nb8a brakes sitting under the bed

I gave the car a bit of love today as it was about due for a service. Put something new in it thanks to one of my suppliers at work rather than its regualar diet of magnatec




The car seemed to run a bit more free when I took it for a blat today, considering it cost me only slightly more than magnatec (which is only semi synthetic) and its a better oil than the $90 Mobil 1 full synthetic I'm happy

I also had a start at cleaning my cam cover, it was pretty filthy... This is the start, the photo doesn't really show it up (its kind of a lighly polished finish... I guess more what it looked like 20 years ago) The bits I've done looks a hell of a lot better than they did. I did a fair bit more after taking this photo, just need to find the time to finish the rest. (I've also now done the AFM and intake manifold).



Also thanks to Juffa's generosity i've fitted a rear seatbelt tower brace. I kind of missed the wind blocker when I went down to Torquay on the weekend but the extra chassis rigitity is noticable and welcome. I can't wait to finally get a roll bar in eventually



Also on a side note to the guys with NA's. Remember to pop up your lights from time to time and give them a clean! I'm fairly good with mine but they were still pretty bug splattered when I cleaned them today. If you haven't done it for a while maybe its not a bad idea

[bensale]

I recently took the car on a 3000km trip up to Sydney the coast way and to Bathurst, the car ran brilliantly, although I was disapointed not to get the fuel economy down below 7l per 100 km, (the best I got was 7.1) however I think if I put the roof up and stick right on the speed limit it is definently achievable.

I also timed the trip so I was able to join the NSW club on a run up the old pacific highway Fun day with a great bunch of people! Nice road too

Driving around Bathurst was great fun, probably did at least 15 laps, some sections at slightly more than the speed limit The museum there was great too!

A couple of snaps from Bathurst!

[CheyneX5]

Great Shots! Car is looking stunning!

Just needs an OEM boot lip spoiler now IMO