Ben Sale's white 1990 NA6

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:38 pm

That would have been an interesting thing to watch!

If I'm ever doing the drive over two days or with two drivers I might give that one a go Guran, sounds like a lot of fun! Will be interested to read the article =)

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:27 am

OK, here's the original article from October 1971 ...

Wheels1971-10-26-27 by Guran5, on Flickr

Wheels1971-10-94 by Guran5, on Flickr

And here is the 25th anniversary article from October 1996, which tells the story behind THAT photo (and several other GTHO Phase III stories too).

Wheels1996-10-78-79 by Guran5, on Flickr

Wheels1996-10-80-81 by Guran5, on Flickr

Wheels1996-10-82-83 by Guran5, on Flickr

Wheels1996-10-84-85 by Guran5, on Flickr

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:49 am

Awesome!!! Fantastic reads, thanks for that =)

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 8:46 pm

Had some time today so gave the mx5 some much needed love in preperation for interstate challenge at Wakefield on the 23rd of October.

First job was replacing the tie rod end, as you can see below it was much needed.

This isn't a hard job providing you have the right tools. Firstly you remove the pin out of the castellated nut with a set of pliers. The loosen but do not remove the nut. Then undo hold the tie rod with a set of grips and loosen the lock nut on the arm (I found this step a bit difficult as the nut was pretty well stuck). Mark the position of the tie rod end so you know how far along the arm to put the new one.

You'll need a ball joint puller for the next step to pop the ball joint out. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a good one which made the job easy. Make sure the castellated nut is still on the thread as when the bearing go's pop (I wasn't expecting it to be as violent and loud as it was :shock:

) you want the nut to stop the tie rod end flying out and potentially doing a lot of damage.

And then it's all removed, installation is the reverse of removal.

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 8:58 pm

After changing the tie rod end I then did an oil change and then gave my plugs a clean and checked the gaps. Below is as they came out of the car, slightly rich but overall quite good.

Chris at MX-5 racing was kind enough to give me a set of floor mats the other week, they're some fairly rare eunos mats in the checkered pattern. They needed a good clean but the quality of the carpet is fantastic, so thick and heavy.

However, I decided to remove them from the MX-5 and fit them to my Alfa which may raise eyebrows among some with them being a rare JDM part... But i think they look fantastic in the Alfa.

The final job for the day was drilling some holes to fit the eyelet bolts for the harness Chris and Owen Boak gave me. The harness setup is a bit frankenstein, 4 point sparco shoulder and side belts and buckle, rpm sub-strap from the MX-5 centre to make it a 6 point and OMP shoulder pads. Looks the goods though! =)

Final random picture is of my Japanese battle flag fuel cap. I did this a while ago now and love it.

tobias · Postby **tobias** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:25 pm

Man am I jelous about them bloody floor mats, I just have my boring mx5 ones, booo, how's the car running now?

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:51 pm

Lol, they're good aren't they! To be honest, I have a set of normal black floor mats with mx5 written in red and I think they look just as good (although not as interesting) in the car.

Didn't really take it for much of a drive today, just ran it to check the oil etc. Will get a wheel alignment from Phil tomorrow and then will drive it to work / garage cafe =)

davidau · Postby **davidau** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:52 pm

orangemx5 wrote:Man am I jelous about them bloody floor mats, I just have my boring mx5 ones, booo, how's the car running now?

same here nice mat ben I was looking at them and they are rare!!!!

tobias · Postby **tobias** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:55 pm

Are you taking the mx5 to the photo shoot?

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:35 pm

Yeah, I don't need lights tomorrow so i can just fit all the video gear in the mx5. The photography bag is small ;) I have 2 days filming in syd prior to interstate challenge, fitting all the gear in the mx5 for the drive up including film lights will be interesting... At least I don't have to take tyres (thanks mr & mrsB!!)

I've only remember seeing one set for sale quite some time ago and a forum search didn't find much. Interesting and pretty cool I think!

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:00 am

Haven't had much time to update this thread despite a lot happening with the car lately... Will get to it when I have time.

Some of the reason I have no time is below. Enjoy !