Mechanic woes

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:00 pm

Yeah I agree. I don't like leaving things. I always tend to fix something as soon as I know its wearing, costs me more than necessary most times but makes me feel more secure in knowing it's right.

I need to work out what direction I want to go and stick to it this time! Faffed around way too much so far with Mexie and now this one,with no real end plan in mind.

If rebuild this one, I can think about improving power. I've always been more if a n/a person than forced, but there's a real temptation to drive it over and hand the car to Dann and let him work his magic ...

Part of that decision is also my back and leg health problem and how that affects me driving this car. We've (wife) already talked about the possibility of moving to an auto NC, as the clutch is causing me issues. Depends how well I recover, but taking a long time.

Some thinking to do .....

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samx5 · Postby **samx5** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:17 am

Hi Kev,
You have a pm.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:48 am

samx5 wrote:Hi Kev,
You have a pm.

Thanks mate ... one back at ya :wink:

thehillsarecalling · Postby **thehillsarecalling** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:10 pm

Hey kev, Let me know if you want a hand switching out the motor

track_addict · Postby **track_addict** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:46 pm

^^^^ What he said.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 7:45 pm

KevGoat wrote:Yeah I agree. I don't like leaving things. I always tend to fix something as soon as I know its wearing, costs me more than necessary most times but makes me feel more secure in knowing it's right.

I need to work out what direction I want to go and stick to it this time! Faffed around way too much so far with Mexie and now this one,with no real end plan in mind.

If rebuild this one, I can think about improving power. I've always been more if a n/a person than forced, but there's a real temptation to drive it over and hand the car to Dann and let him work his magic ...

Part of that decision is also my back and leg health problem and how that affects me driving this car. We've (wife) already talked about the possibility of moving to an auto NC, as the clutch is causing me issues. Depends how well I recover, but taking a long time.

Some thinking to do .....

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Kev I will not comment on the mechanics but the NC auto I will. I have dríven a few and a mate - an older bloke pushing 80 bought it because he figured it would be his last sports car. He has had more cars than you could point a stick at. He was an expert on Austin Healeys and a mate who knew him suggested that I speak to him - I was thinking of buying an English classic. Long story but he gave me a spin with me behind the wheel of his NA up in the local ranges. When we returned he smiled ruefully and said why would you buy a TR6 than an old Brit. He told me and I now know it to be true that most of the wives hated the Healey- hot and bloody uncomfortable and very expensive to purchase.

Any way he had an NC auto with factory hard top and I drove it- not far but I was very impressed. It drove so well and so easily and a partner can drive it too. I tend to get a bit tired and like the idea of sharing driving duties. Mates don;t get that - but it also makes for a sports car that is easy in the traffic and anywhere. Another mate has one and loves the paddle shifters. I would like to have one for a week or so to see if its boring but one thing for sure around the burbs in the traffic it will be good. They do not all drive the same.

Still if you have a bad back its still the same to get in and out of. I am over the machismo thing- I could not care less about being a man and changing the gears! Today I bought 3X5l litre containers of oil and an air filter - the bloke found a box and carried it out to the car for me- no complaints from me.

regards

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:02 pm

Hey! Thanks guys ...

For the time being, I'm just running it as before. I only had it checked as I was sick of the sound of it, then I kinda got paranoid about the engine spitting parts all over the road. Then I just started to get p'd off in general with the car and lost all enthusiasm. Came close to just getting rid of it!

It has pretty much just sat unloved since having it checked. Then the other day I washed and polished it to try to get back to it. Yesterday my wife suggested taking it out and we drove over 300+ kms, top down all day

I wasn't soft on it at all, revved the crap out of it at times, long sections sitting on 110 kph and it just doesn't seem to have any affect. Doesn't burn any oil, temperature stays normal, just nothing apart from the noise. It's now done at least 3500kms sounding like this and hasn't got any worse.

Two of the mechanics told me not to worry, just drive it and get something done if it ever gets worse. Both said they've heard engines like this one and they've lasted for years!

So anyway, thanks to my wife, that drive yesterday with the top down all day, seeing all the club MX5's, plus most importantly my wife's genuine enthusiasm for these cars, completely renewed my passion I'm pleased to say

All I am going to do for now - drive it, enjoy it .... oh yeah ... and add the rest of the SE bits I want

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track_addict · Postby **track_addict** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:50 pm

I had a Subaru Liberty I did 50,000kms on with rooted big end bearings. Did everything, high revs, road trips, sand.... Didn't get any worse but I swapped the engine to sell it. I don't know what the secret it but you might be as lucky as I was.*

Gotta love getting those kicks of motivation. I had a very similar experience with my old NA and my missus 8 months ago. Went home that night and bought some black RPF1's haha :oops:

I hope it works out for ya!

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 10:06 pm

Mr Morlock wrote:Still if you have a bad back its still the same to get in and out of.

Missed your post just now for some reason ...

Strange thing with my back is I've been able to get in and out fine. It's been the pressure on the nerve from the clutch. Been a lot better last couple weeks, but after a drive like we did yesterday (300k's) my hip and back take a fair while to settle down. Don't want to let it stop me enjoying these great cars ... only just found them

As mentioned, my wife is now very keen on an NC after seeing some up close at a local MX5 Club run yesterday and she's also very enthusiastic about the cars. Don't know if we'll end up with one, but we will start looking around. I'll be looking for an auto to take for a decent drive to see what I think. I don't drive them all that fast anymore. We just enjoy them for the day's like yesterday ...

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Red Dragon · Postby **Red Dragon** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 10:17 pm

You will find the NC auto very friendly to your body and especially the cruise control on long stints on the highways/freeways at constant speed

thehillsarecalling · Postby **thehillsarecalling** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:33 pm

Hey Kev,

If you ever manage to catch Alan from the MX-5 SA club he has a Red NC with flappy paddle shiftyness, and has commented on how good mannered and responsive the transmission is.

If you think about it - it makes sense. Autos & DSGs are where the R&D dollars have been spent for the past 5-10 (maybe more?) years. I would dare say that the technology of pure traditional clutched manual transmissions hasn't changed much recently compared to autos.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:20 pm

thehillsarecalling wrote:Hey Kev,

If you ever manage to catch Alan from the MX-5 SA club he has a Red NC with flappy paddle shiftyness, and has commented on how good mannered and responsive the transmission is.

Did he own an SE a year or so ago? Is his auto an NC1 softop with a removable hard top? There was a red NC1 with a removable hard top fitted that looked real nice and a soft top red NC at Wellington on the weekend. I was showing my wife the differences in the lines of the soft top, removable hard top and PRHT. It was interesting how much color plays a part in the way the cars looked. The PRHT lines don't look great in lighter colors but the lines of the roof work in the darker colors.

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samx5 · Postby **samx5** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 5:27 pm

As well as the NC with removable hardtop, Alan also has an SP with a few extra horses under the bonnet. He has said to me that he is very impressed with the auto in the NC and not to discount it as a viable option to the manual. Everyone has different opinions on this of course, but we could be looking at an NC auto ourselves in the near future as we do a lot of urban driving. Not many around for sale at the moment though, so haven't had the opportunity to drive some.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 5:49 pm

samx5 wrote:As well as the NC with removable hardtop, Alan also has an SP with a few extra horses under the bonnet. He has said to me that he is very impressed with the auto in the NC and not to discount it as a viable option to the manual. Everyone has different opinions on this of course, but we could be looking at an NC auto ourselves in the near future as we do a lot of urban driving. Not many around for sale at the moment though, so haven't had the opportunity to drive some.

It may be Alan who I met when I still had Mexie. He came round in his SE ... think I sold him my FCM top mounts or something ...

Yeah not many Auto's locally that's for sure. There's a really nice NC2 for sale near us, right colour, low mileage, but it's a manual. Thought of going to check it out anyway, just to see what we think. Maybe a nice quick test drive down Clarendon Road :wink:

We're not quite ready yet. Probably mid next year, unless something too good to pass up comes along ...