James's SE

[james_p93]

I have been wanting to make a build thread for a while now but i always tell my self ive gone to far and cant start one now. but after some encouragement, well, here it is
bit about me-
Im james, 19, live on the sunshine coast and dont take myself very serious :p.I am very eager to learn an relise i dont know anything so PLEASE leave feedback on how i did something wrong and how i can do it better, or anything like that, I WANT TO LEARNNNN! . before my mx5 i owned a 83 madza 323 hatchback, and a not so old but still pre 2000, Seca. the mazda was my first car and so many memories made in that thing as anyone who remmebers there first car can relate to! the seca was boring and was just an A-B car. so the mx5 is my first Sports car, and im loving it. for a few months i looked into what car i wanted and wanted something different. after seeing the mx5 i didnt even bother with any other car. at first i didnt like the soft top at all. was going to get a hard top instantly. but now after having a soft top... best car ever!!!! so much fun... topless mountain runs or flying kites out of it, convertables are where its at.
so i have done a few things already so i appoligise i didnt start when it was stock as i didnt think i WOULD be going far with this car.
here are a few links to my threads of some of the things i have done.
Air Splitter
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=58391
a few interier things
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=57064
air intake
viewtopic.php?f=81&t=56994
intercooler
viewtopic.php?f=81&t=56323

also this is a pic of it before i gave it a paint job which i will touch on later :p

i think the only non stock thing there is the paint on the wheels.

and here in it as of today



yea just a little bit different. the paint is plastidip. and for those who have ot heard of it, it is applyed just like paint but can simply peel off. and before you think "poor car, what has that stupid p plater done". well i do about 200kms a day on shitty roads and park in the sun. so the amount of small stone chips i was getting was pretty high. not to mention that the sun would have a toll on the paint after a while. so why not keep the paint as is, and just paint over it with plastidip? i would much rather get stone chips in the plastidip coat that takes 2c worth of paint to cover up than my original nice paint. and when i want that nice red back i can peel the plastidip off and have it red again with all those months of stone chips+sun damage not even effecting it. plus i like matt black ;p. not too bad for $240 worth of plastidip.

Just been to my 2nd track day. it is the best fun i have ever had. and not a have a direction for my car. to shave seconds of my lap times each time i can get on the track. and i personally love race car looking cars and people who drive there race car on the road wheather it be a DD or going up the mountain on a weekend so my goal is to keep in registered and have a blast on the track while bringing something different to the table.


this is just a few thing i have done already
-boost Tee ( now running about 10 pound
-air intake with pod filter
-15x8.25 +0 xxr 527s
-added flares to fit the wheels
-BC BR coilovers
-Boost guage
-Angry Bird air freshner!( +25rwkw)


soon to be added( perchased but not installed) -
-full turbo back 2.5" Exhaust
-Rear ajustable camber arms
-325cc injectors
-wideband

[Lokiel]

Glad to see you've FINALLY started a garage thread James.

James has bought my FM 2.5" exhaust system and Innovate LC-1 wideband O2 sensor and gauge and we'd planned to install it tomorrow but the godz had other ideas and it will be postponed.

In preparation for this, and because I know that wiring can take time and end up looking like a tangled mess, I made a housing that simplifies all connections and contains the calibration button and LED.


* The calibration button and LED are connected to the circuitboard via the two 2-pin headers.
* The top left 2-pin connector is for the gauge output.
* The top right 3-pin connector provides power in and ground inputs - more on this below.
* The bottom 6-pin connector connects to the LC-1 6-pin harness.

Here's an annotated close-up of the internal wiring:


All plugs attached (only the LC1 6-pin harness are attached in this photo) :


This should make wiring a cinch and keep it all tidy - just need to figure out where to mount it!

The Power Windows 12V and GND will be tapped for power since this is a switched power source that is only active when the ignition key is in the ON/RUN position (ie. it's not active during cranking).
The ECU Sensor GND will be the source for the LC1 sensor GND (the white wire).

Innovate's documentation (see http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/support/quickstart/LC-1_Quickstart.pdf) recommend connecting their BLUE and White GND wires to a common ground but this is almost universally considered a bad idea since the Blue GND is a ground for the heater element whereas the White GND is for the sensor.
The heater element draws far more current than any sensors do so connecting both to the same GND point may adversely affect the sensor reading (the fact that the LC1 heater element's Red 12V Wire and Blue GND wire are significantly thicker than the other wires indicates this).
Even worse, if they are then both connected to the ECU Sensor GND, it may affect the readings of all sensors.
Connecting them to separate grounds prevents this.
Connecting the LC1's white GND sensor wire to the ECU Sensor GND ensures that it uses the same GND point as all sensors.

I also made an aluminium heatsink (couldn't find the original one I made), as recommended in the LC1 manual. Innovate recommend copper over aluminium but I have no idea where to find a nice thick piece of copper plate.

[james_p93]

waw looks amazing Simon! honestly cant wait to put this in now! you have just made this a whole lot easier. thanks again.

James

[james_p93]

so these came!


30mm spacers for the back. my back flares are pretty big for what i needed and it looks silly in my eyes with them so far in. will post before and after pics of this when i get them in

James

[james_p93]

yay done very simple and I LOVE IT!
120$ for a set of 2. and worth ever penny for me. looks 100% ^^
not quite sure what it will do for handeling, anyone have some light on this please share.
first a before pic-


and after :3





excuse the tyre that looks like i ran over knives repeatedly.
tell me what u think!


James

[hks_kansei]

Really should fix that tyre, and fix what's causing it, before it, you know, blows out on the highway and kills you.

[james_p93]

Really should fix that tyre, and fix what's causing it, before it, you know, blows out on the highway and kills you.

yea i have, it was when i drove like 5 metres when i first put it on :/ all good now :p

[meanmx]

Looks much better. Thumbs up

[james_p93]

Looks much better. Thumbs up

thanks very much

[charlie_91]

god this was such a nice car.. what ever floats ur boat i suppose.

[CaptainNate]

It still is a beautiful car, it's just a tad more protected and blackerererer.

[KevGoat]

god this was such a nice car.. what ever floats ur boat i suppose.

Think I'm getting old ... one side of me, I look at that first photo and think how much I'd really like that car ... geez - how much I'd like any SE!! ... Then I look at the second photo and that same gorgeous car looks like it's just been dragged off a farm ...

But ... at the same time I really like seeing people who are willing to do things differently and not go down that same route that's done to death ...

Yah ... on balance ... I give it points ...

Goodonya ...

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

[james_p93]

yes blackerererer. couldnt have said it better myself ^^
Went for a run up Mt. Nebo. was amazing havent been up there on my new wheels before tonight. gripped like a boss. always super scared of that death trap after the red sign. may be new skiddies there straight into the mountain? dont know :p.

[james_p93]

god this was such a nice car.. what ever floats ur boat i suppose.

Think I'm getting old ... one side of me, I look at that first photo and think how much I'd really like that car ... geez - how much I'd like any SE!! ... Then I look at the second photo and that same gorgeous car looks like it's just been dragged off a farm ...

But ... at the same time I really like seeing people who are willing to do things differently and not go down that same route that's done to death ...

Yah ... on balance ... I give it points ...

Goodonya ...

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

thankyou yea thats pretty much what im going for ;p

[Regie]

this thing is awesome!!

good to see someone doing something different