Pam's sexy little NA6 - Seniorita!

[Pamex]

Alternator

This weekend proved to be an epic drama.

It started out with us doing Nik's brakes, and I was going to torque all of my suspension to get rid of a 'crack' sound when on full-lock to the left (It worked, by the way) and do the dreaded wheel bearings.

After realising I had to have the car ready by 2pm Sunday for work, I decided not to do wheel bearings this weekend, but next weekend, just in case I wouldn't have it back together in time. I'm very glad I decided to wait and that we took my car to dinner on Saturday night... as on the way back from Mordialloc where nothing was open and on our way to a different dinner location, I had the Check Battery AND brake light come on.

We weren't far from home, so I got us back to ours fine, where we then went walking to forage for dinner. (Mmm. Pancake Parlour at 1am)

I wasn't too worried as I had a presumably working alternator sitting next to my bed... just for this emergency.

Woke up on Sunday... gathered all the posessions... walked out the door... RAIN.

So I loaded everything into mine and drove to work, with Nik following so he could be the Queen Gopher if we needed anything.

I have to say I love being able to use the warehouse at work for times like these. It makes a huge difference to have a dry place to work in, rather than a cold, windy and wet driveway.

I was also super surpised. The alternator swap was easy as (besides squeezing belts over pulleys, but I always hate that). I was expecting stuck bolts like I had on my starter motor which caused a million tears a year ago. This was easy!

We finished up... car started fine! No charge or brake lights to be seen. I'm just going to need a spare alternator now for when it happens again. :-D A few days later and we're still running fine.

I bought the alternator second hand, so I have no idea how much life it has left. It has got me out of that problem though.

[Pamex]

Last update for the day, then I'll take some photos. :-D

Brake Calipers

When I changed my pads a few weeks back, I noticed that I had a fair bit of fluid coming out of the adjuster on the rears.

Ruh-roh... re-build time.

Using the directions on miata.net and a million brake rebuild books so I didn't completely screw it up (I had 3 days left until I needed to be at Wakefield Park, so I had limited time to fix errors) it was actually rather easy.

You can get the caliper re-build kits from James at MX5 centre. I'd actually bought one to keep on my shelves for an emergency months before, so was kind of glad to have it there.

One thing I can recommend, using the instructions it looks as though you need to take out the little circlip right at the back of the gears and piston. Unless you're sure you need to... don't bother. There really are no tools that can get in there that the regular person would have in their garage (unless you specialise in brakes). The only way I found to get it out was to use very pointy tweezers and a pick. However... once I had it out I discovered most times you won't need to touch it. It will only be if your calipers are in super bad condition.

The main seals you need to replace are in front of the circlip. Realising now that I didn't need to spend hours trying to get that circlip out, it's actually only about an hour job max to do these. The pistons in mine were in fantastic condition, with no marks or scoring. After taking everything apart, cleaning ruthlessly, swapping seals, re-assembling and getting the caliper and everything back on the car... no leaks! Hurrah!

Obviously we flushed my brake fluid afterwards (with rude commentary from Nik's dad over hearing 'Up. Down. Up. Down. Nice. Getting tighter, feeling very firm now, up, down'. Honest, we were doing brakes! Not being dirty!) and it all held fine.

The big test was Wakefield Park the following weekend, however... the brakes didn't let me down once. I'd certainly re-seal them again rather than just buy new calipers.

I'm foreseeing that they may not last as long and I may need to rebuild them in a couple of years time, but when the kits are only $20 or so, it's good economy.

[Mr nanotech]

After trying your shifter I actually took out the short throw today! I can't believe how much faster oem is, first thing I noticed was the lack of resistance. I think I'll join the club in saying that I'll never put a short throw in an mx5 again too. Though I've heard the 6 speeds go well with a short throw but that's hearsay so to speak so I'm not really sure if there is any truth to that (not having owned a 6speed).
Hope this doesn't make me sound like a Pamex fan boy now, but I'm trying to get my hands on a skunk2 as well hahaha. I actually didn't like the skunk2 because of the height when I saw them online but after trying one out, I actually prefer the extra height on it as it's closer to the wheel and feels more natural.

The car is looking good by the way! whens next motorkhana?

[-alex]

I love my skunk2 and short shifter kit in my na..! =(

[Mr nanotech]

I love my skunk2 and short shifter kit in my na..! =(

Yours probably isn't as nothcy as mine was. Mine was an ebay special lol. I got it on the cheap because I had to fix a turret leak and figured I'd buy a short throw and install that too since I'd be down there anyway. I'm really proffering the oem one, however I really loved my short throw as well. It's just that my car is a daily and The short was way to rough and actually felt slower to shift due to the increased force you need to put in the gears (I had to actually DIY some of the stuff in the kit to get it to fit too).
But I have nothing against them, I think at the end of the day it all comes down to personal preference.

[Pamex]

Photos will come in the next thread, when I take them on my lunch break.

It’s been a long time since an update, and this is a bit of a boring post so I can log what has been done and to shed some light on why some things were changed.

As some of you know, I’ve been restoring Seniorita over the past year. She was starting to show her age a little bit and to be honest, she was starting to feel like a complete mess.

Also, because she is fast approaching 400,000kms on all original parts, I wanted to get everything done before that milestone.

When I bought her, I knew she’d been well looked after. However, with not having any logbooks, I had no idea when things were actually done and what had been used.

The idea was to replace anything that had broken or needed to be replaced just due to age. All of those items that aren’t really in servicing tables, which make a world of difference on an older car.

The other idea was to get back to a happy ‘known history’ of the car. I tend to do a lot of things on the car when I have some time on my hands or some extra cash, so I’d gotten out of whack with knowing when stuff had been done. Now I can go by the odometer for most things that aren’t done pre or post track/ motorkhana days, which will make looking after her a million times easier.

So what has been done since October 2010?
- New Exedy clutch
- Replaced old bushes with Energy Suspension bushes
- New diff housing
- New air Guide and undertray:
These aren’t really necessary, and you can happily get away without them. I lost mine when a giant Benalla rabbit ripped through mine coming back from Wakefield late one night. The only reason I’m replacing them is because doing motorkhanas on mud/ dirt, your engine bay gets completely covered. It’s also to protect my under-carriage from rocks on any courses we do.

- New windscreen and surround
- Replaced with brand new bolts any that had been rounded off or were past safe use. I also replaced any necessary bolts that had been mislaid

- New Oxygen Sensor
This makes a big difference. Mine had never been changed. My fuel consumption test will be done when I go up to Seymour and back this weekend. I’ll report back.

- Converted MX5 Mania Cold-Air Intake to stock airbox
Why? Because it’s a lot easier to clean out the stock filter on a stock airbox after a dusty motorkhana that it is to remove the strut brace and take out the CAI. Just a few screws to do the stock one and bang it out or replace it if really necessary.

- Clutch Slave
- New Calipers
- Full fluid flushes. Diff, Gearbox, Brakes, Coolant etc. I have Castrol in pretty much all of them, like a good little Castrol fan girl. I have no idea when I last did diff and gearbox, so this was pretty important. Brakes I flush pretty regularly though, and the engine gets a new filter and oil every 5k. Pretty much before most motorkhanas.

- New plugs and leads
Standard NGK plugs and I swapped my old, unknown age/mileage Magnecores for just some Eagle ones. I have no idea how long the Eagles will last, we’ll see. The Magnacores are actually happily running Nik’s NB at the moment, as his leads failed in a dramatic fashion.

I have to say that’s pretty good. Well over 100,000kms on the Magnecores, lots of oil spilled on them, etc., and they’re still going strong. Highly recommended, particularly as they’re not that expensive compared to other cheap leads on the market. They’re certainly better than OEM leads which don’t last nearly that long.

- Timing belt and water pump
- Battery
I had an Odyssey in there for a year before it failed. Massively. If anyone wants it, it’s sitting in the driveway. I promise I only threw it once in frustration after getting it out of the car. They don’t bounce very well.

I’ve gone with an RACV battery. Delivered to my door by a lovely chap for $239.00. 36 month warranty with them. Considering the SuperCharge equivalanet is $240 at Autobarn, I thought this was pretty good.

- Painted interior and boot
This was done with POR15 paint. Utterly fantastic stuff, and very highly recommended. I’ll be doing parts of the MG with this stuff where any rust protection will be required. Like any paint, the success is all in the prep. Give yourself a weekend and do it properly, and I’m sure you’ll also love it. I took some photos along the way, so should do a write up.

- Steering wheel (Luisi Falcon)
My standard MOMO was starting to look a bit had it with some sun damage and cracking. I scored this Luisi from WASP when I was up in QLD one trip. Great steering wheel. Nik actually had fun installing this one and rigging up the horn. I used a boss kit I found on the floor at Allmaz (no, seriously), so I have no idea what boss kit it actually is, but it’s a Nardi pattern.

- Lubricated locks
This is a regular servicing item in the Mazda schedules. Most people use graphite powder, but the problem is if that is applied in great quantities, it actually collects and gums up the locks more after a short period of time. I’d tried WD-40 after mine completely stuck, and it works a charm. That said, I’ll use WD-40 in absolutely anything. I’m nearing the stage where I’ll buy it in bulk.

- New glove box
Mine was rattling around, as there were whopping cracks where the screws that hold the lock on guide into. I had a new one lying around, so put that on and no more rattles.

- New radiator hoses
- New Kumho KU36s
Thought I might as well add these in. I have stacks of tires I use for motorkhana duties, so these are my daily tyres until they are downgraded to the motorkhana stack. I had Marangoni Zetas on before these. Whilst the Marangonis are good, I’ve found the KU36s a great tire with plenty of grip, for the money. I’ll be going these again.

- Took out the antenna and put a plug there to stop the leaking into my boot
I’ve had a few leaks in the boot. It’s not coming from the fuel filler (that’s draining fine) and I doubt it’s the boot seal as the water is collecting on the right and left side of the boot. I’ve fixed the right side with this antenna plug hole seal (all of $3.50), and on the left I’ve now taped the floor, as I think the plugs aren’t sealing well. I’ll see how it goes.

And no, it’s not the rain rail, as I don’t have one. :-D I took my soft top out years ago, and I run with just the hard top now.

- New fuel filter
- New KYB shocks
- Converted to power steering as my tie rods and rack were completely gone. So new rack, tie-rods, pump etc.
I’d highly suggest this to anyone that has manual steering issues. It’s very hard to find the manual components in Australia, as they’re being bought up in Japan. A lot of wreckers are selling them back for very high prices. An entire power steering set-up will cost you $500, where as just a manual rack will cost you $600 used!

I used to be on the side of ‘I love my manual rack, I’ll never go power steering, you pansies’. However, having now dríven the same car with power steering it’s just an amazing difference.

It makes a big difference for motorkhana too. Less turns lock to lock, obviously, but also having to do very quick, close work in the car (handbrake around cones, etc.) you can just flick the wheel a bit, instead of having the wrench it around with manual.

Yes, you can all call me a pansy now. That’s fine.

- New alternator, new starter motor
- Wheel Bearings

There’s a few other things I need to do, but they’re not urgent, and some of them I’m purposely not doing yet. I have a brand new set of rotors to go on the car, but I want to get maximum value out of my current ones first, or I need a new cat, but I want to do my research on which one to get first, for instance.

It’s been a long and drawn out process. Ideally, if I were to do it again, I’d take a week off and just get everything done and have a massive party afterwards. :-D. However, I was trying to work at nights after work, (mmm wet driveway), or on weekends between motorkhanas/ and the other usual stuff, so it’s felt like a longer than necessary process.

It’s also been an extra long process, as I’ve been discovering short-cuts taken and plain bodgy work by others, which has just been frustrating. I’ve had to re-do work myself that should have been done correctly the first time, just to make sure it’s done right.

The only reason the car went to get some of the work done elsewhere was either due to not having time to get crucial things done before a motorkhana round outside of work hours, or because I didn’t fancy lying in a flooded driveway at 3am to get things done. However, when you discover that someone has done something terribly, you start to fancy that 3am bath. :-D

It’s been very worth it though. She feels amazing at the moment. Power is back to being very good and the drive is smooth.

We have a motorkhana on September the 10th, so that will be her big test. I’m sure all the work will prove to have been worth it, particularly with a newly tightened hand brake and power steering.

I know I’ve left some things out of that list…

I will post a photo of the big 400,000 on the odometer when I reach it in a couple of weeks.

Let’s see if I can get to 500,000 or beyond.

[Pamex]

Photo time.

This is way before my time even. Thanks Emex!

Way back when her former owner owned her.





Also, about 500ks off the big 400,000. I'm keeping my eye on the odometer like crazy, ready for it to flick over. There will be beers all round that night.

In other news, I've won some mirrors off yahoo Japan that will suit her perfectly.

My driver's side is currently held on by a giant bolt through the entire lot, after it snapped off in my hands adjusting it at a motorkhana.

The new ones...



There's a few options to what they could be. I'm hoping to hell that when I receive them, they have the M2 Corp stamp somewhere on them, as that would just be too damned cool.

[emex]

Ahhh the memories!!! Yes and Memphis parked next to her. Good memories there....

[Pamex]

Where was that taken out of interest? I think I can see the RTA logo there, so somewhere in Sydney?

[Pamex]

God, I didn't look at this for ages. I should reply to some of the above.

Alex: I had the Skunk2 on my short shifter and it was the only knob to really make a difference in shift. I'm not sure about the short shift kit I had... I think an IL Motorsports? Mine was bent as though. It's noticeably bent at about a 10 degree angle at the top. It makes a great bookshelf ornament.

It could very well be the kit I had, but I love my stock one so much I'm going to stick to it for a while. It feels weird saying it's one of my favourite mods... considering I'm going back to stock, though.

Josh: Mine was about as tough as yours was to shift. When I first got the car, I actually damaged my shoulder for the first 2 weeks. At one point I had to drive the 626 again for a while until my shoulder healed.

Maybe I'm just soft. :p

Also, next Motorkhana is Sept 10th in Bendigo. BUT... looks like there is a more relaxed one happening THIS SUNDAY at Avalon if you're keen! Entry is a whole $15 (you read right) but you will need a CAMS license. If you're still keen, I can assure you that if you go in, CAMS can do a really good turn-around on licenses. Maybe bribe them with chocolate though!

[emex]

From memory that was taken in *thinks* 2005-ish from memory at the Maccas in Castle Hill, just after visiting MX-5 Mania. Was the 1st time Memphis met Seniorita.

[CheyneX5]

Holy Moly!

I did not realise you had done so much in such little time. Your worse than me Pam

It's great to see your getting the good lady back on track, i bet the drive feels like a million bucks!

What else is there that needs doing?

[Pamex]

Emex: Woah, those photos are a piece of history for us then. Thanks for finding them. Particularly as I never took any photos before I started molesting her.

Cheyne: All the work has paid off. She feels pretty amazing at the moment, and fresh. Now I get to start doing some fun stuff on her, instead of just doing maintenance/preventative work.

I'm looking at refreshing the interior (I've become obsessed with M2 Corp stuff), replacing the cat, improving the lighting, stuff like that. All fun stuff!

I'm just a little bit conflicted on the direction I want to go with the interior. A lot of it I will be making myself, and some will be bought. I just need to pick a direction and plan it out, so it doesn't end up hap-hazard and looking like a car with a split-personality disorder. :p

[emex]

I liked the idea of what you were talking about the other nite, stick with that one...

Yeah alot of history there, but like all things, theres always another chapter to write....

[Pamex]

I think we do need a mex planning night when you're down!

You and Nik can both try and talk some sense into me. No easy task, as you well know. :-)