Minhtam's NB8B Build - Meet Bev :)

Rob · Postby **Rob** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:41 pm

Looks like you're having lots of fun, which is what it's all about! :NB8B:

mx5002 · Postby **mx5002** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:59 pm

Looks mad. I like that height in the photos. My nb is low on 16s and I'm about to buy some 15s also. Probably go a 195 though on mine.

Aussie Stig · Postby **Aussie Stig** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 4:24 pm

mx5002 wrote:Looks mad.

minhtam · Postby **minhtam** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 9:58 pm

Thanks guys, too bad i sold the wheels a day after. Put them up on Gumtree for a steal so someone picked them up the next morning haha.

Back on the stockers for now. I didn't like the impracticality of it being so low and damaging my undercarriage everywhere even though it looked the goods. I couldn't stand hurting Bev anymore !

Now im on the hunt for either 16's or 15's with nice fat rubber. I love the look of 6UL's on MX5s, so i'm definitely keeping my eyes peeled. Also picked up a Garage Vary front lip off another forum member. It was in good condition and saved me from ordering one from Tetsuya Garage (which was what I was going to do). Sanded it down with a few mates on night and gave it a fresh coat of satin black.

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Jacked her up for an easy installation. Looked like a space ship !

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The paint quality turned out so good, and made such a big difference to the front off the car. Making it look more defined and less 'bubly'. Almost gave it an RX7 feel too

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A photo of the car as a whole with the lip.

Gotta be a bit more cautious now when entering/exiting steep driveways which is a pain but oh well.

Thanks for reading. More updates coming!

shuey · Postby **shuey** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 10:02 pm

.. ah, so that's where the GV lip went.. nice. :beer:

how's the fitment, was it hard to attach?

minhtam · Postby **minhtam** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:42 pm

shuey wrote:.. ah, so that's where the GV lip went.. nice. how's the fitment, was it hard to attach?

Fitment is spot on, couldn't have wanted better. Just used a bunch of self tapping screws and was all sweet. You looking to order one in for your car too?

shuey · Postby **shuey** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:08 pm

Probably not gonna concern my 4WD spec car :mrgreen:

,does the GV lip drop the car much lower? Am considering getting it if it doesnt cost an arm and a leg cos it does look quite nice, although black prolly doesn't match silver.

minhtam · Postby **minhtam** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 9:45 pm

Not much has been happening. After selling my wheels I've been rocking the stock wheels for a while. As some of you may have seen i picked up a white hardtop from another member off the forum. It's in white, immaculate condition with all mounting hardware.

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Fit on perfectly as it should and made the car much stiffer. (Or maybe it's just a placebo effect).
Plans are to paint it black professionally with all the seals removed, reapplied etc. or to keep it white plus paint my pillar white to match the hardtop and get a set of white rims to match.. Not too sure which direction to take yet.

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Also installed the fire extinguisher bracket to the car from the group buy. Looks and fits pretty good thanks Regie!

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mloo · Postby **mloo** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:30 pm

Wow so clean! Enjoyed the read. Was it just the low ride with the sprints?

I was really considering those set of wheels. Did you get them from nemoto?

minhtam · Postby **minhtam** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:27 pm

mloo wrote:Wow so clean! Enjoyed the read. Was it just the low ride with the sprints?

I was really considering those set of wheels. Did you get them from nemoto?

Yeah i had to go really low to pull it off. I got them from a store nearby called otomoto, grabbed a good deal because i got the nemotos and coil overs

Grabbed myself a set of 15x9 6UL in black recently.. Always loved the fat tyre and wheel combo for that track look so I couldn't resist for the price I got them for. The condition is absolutely immaculate and wrapped in 225/45 semi slicks just sweetened up the deal even more.

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Comparison with the stock NB8B wheels:

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Fitted them on, spent a night adjusting my coil overs so the car would sit a bit nicer. Raised the rear left as it was a little higher and raised both fronts.

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minhtam · Postby **minhtam** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:52 pm

What they looked like after all that

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Extremely happy with how it ended up looking ! One problem I found was that due to how wide the wheels were, on full lock the front would hit onto the coil overs so I just grabbed some 5mm spacers and was all sweet.

I felt like the black on black needed a bit of a kick so to add to the track stance look I (my mrs) spent an afternoon painting the tyre lettering. My mrs painting the lettering with her OPI nail polish (the women will understand)

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Here's how it turned out

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Final result

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A mate also got my a HID kit for no apparent reason.. Here's the comparison with a stock bulb.

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I know you guys love all these photos! Stay tuned for more

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:27 am

The white tyre lettering looks great, please provide updates on how the nail polish holds up, I think you're the first to try it (also if it has any chemical reaction to the rubber).

Also, consider painting the hardtop black. I don't like black rims but black hardtops look best IMO.

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:38 am

Lokiel wrote:The white tyre lettering looks great, please provide updates on how the nail polish holds up

shuey · Postby **shuey** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:53 am

.. very aggressive, but i like.
now you need to get a grille. like a Lockwood or something

minhtam · Postby **minhtam** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 5:43 pm

Lokiel wrote:The white tyre lettering looks great, please provide updates on how the nail polish holds up, I think you're the first to try it (also if it has any chemical reaction to the rubber).

Also, consider painting the hardtop black. I don't like black rims but black hardtops look best IMO.

Nail polish held up okay, some parts began to flake off whereas others stuck on. had to do a few coats though because it became too transparent. But i've also given the tyre pen from Supercheap a go. I'll see how that holds up in comparison.

I have also been meaning to get the hardtop/pillars painted black. Although i keep putting it off in the hope of finding someone who has a white or red mx5 who wants to swap

. Also I tried my best not to buy black rims as i dont like them either because they just look like nothing in the dark.. but i could not resist for the price !