PT's NB8B

PT · Postby PT » Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:48 pm

Hi All,
Having owned this car for 5 year, and it being my third MX5, I thought I'd finally do a garage thread.

Those of you who have been round these here parts for a while will remember I sold my SE to buy a MINI Cooper S and missed having an MX5. So I bought this one for the wife to use as a daily driver and my weekend toy. I left it stock while she was driving it for a few years. Almost 2 years ago she got rear ended, it was only a very slight tap but needed the rear bumper to be repainted. I took advantage of the opportunity and had the whole car bare metal resprayed and almost all badges deleted. I am a perfectionist so wanted it looking right.

Shortly after this, with the car looking brand new, we bought the wife a new car and the MX5 was rendered to toy status only... that's when I started to play with it.

I have done the following mods/work to the car:

Exedy Heavy Duty Clutch
MX5 Plus Twin Hoop Roll bar
Pair of Sparco seats
Achilles 123S Semi Slick Tyres
Pedders Extreme XA Coilovers
Stainless Steel Braided Brake lines
Hawk HP Plus brake pads F&R
DBA T4000 heat treated slotted rotors
AEM Carbon Fibre Ram Air Intake
OMGPHAM Frame rail braces
Voodoo shift knob
Faux Carbon Fibre tombstone

I think I've got it all covered.

It's my little toy, it's not a supercar, but it's my version of one.

PT · Postby PT » Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:56 pm

Couple more pics...

The one through the mirror has an interesting story behind it. The wife and I were out for a run on our own in the car and came across a group of Lambo's and Beemers and Aston's etc. We followed them for a while around Mt Mee when they stopped we asked what the go was? They informed me they were on a run with the Brisbane Super Car Club but they were lost... they needed to get to a certain destination, knowing the area I offered directions and then lead the way out. My little 1.8L MX5 then lead the convoy through the mountains on the way out.

PT · Postby PT » Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:50 pm

Quick time lapse video of new brakes being installed.

Battery went flat on the GoPro too quickly :-(

AntHarmer · Postby **AntHarmer** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:32 pm

Great looking car. What headlights are those? They don't look like the standard SE ones?

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tescoking · Postby **tescoking** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:21 am

AntHarmer wrote:Great looking car. What headlights are those? They don't look like the standard SE ones?

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should be this one

PT · Postby PT » Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:16 am

That's them. They are absolute rubbish as far as headlights go. I've spent hours and hours tuning them as they are designed for LHD. They look good but do not perform well. I've got them to a level now that they are somewhat satisfactory but are not a headlight upgrade.
I bought them as my original headlights had gone opaque on the inside. I've got them apart at the moment and when I get a chance I polish the inside. When I'm happy with them I'll put them back together and reinstall into the car.

AntHarmer · Postby **AntHarmer** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:46 am

That's a shame, I have looked at those and they are a great looking light. Not worth the hassle if they don't work properly though.

timk · Postby **timk** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:35 am

I've seen those same lights for sale but to suit RHD cars sold here:
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/headlamp-blac ... -2411.html

A friend has them in his SE and he happened to be driving behind me last night, they seemed to be cutting off properly.

PT · Postby PT » Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:11 am

Next job for me is to mount a 12v power source on the rear parcel shelf behind the roll bar.

I've picked up a gopro skeleton housing which allows me to power the camera while recording to stop the battery going flat.

I'm yet to sort out a camera mounting method, per my question in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=56437

Is there an easy access method from the rear parcel shelf to the battery compartment?

NMX516 · Postby **NMX516** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:27 am

PT wrote:Is there an easy access method from the rear parcel shelf to the battery compartment?

Yep, lift the carpet and all will be revealed

The tunnel on the drivers side beside the fuel tank is the easiest path for some wiring, and then there is some bare sheet metal panels which can easily be removed if necessary. It's easiest to just lift the carpet from behind the seats and on the parcel shelf, take out the boot lining and then have a look around from there...

PT · Postby PT » Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:43 am

Awesome, thanks for that.

Now to find someone who can help me take the hardtop off

kalt · Postby **kalt** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:53 am

Build your own hoist?

http://www.bunnings.com.au/rope-hoist-l ... b_p4210048

Hardtop weighs much less than 40kg I think.

PT · Postby PT » Sat Jan 18, 2014 7:57 pm

So today I wired up and installed a 12 power supply on the bulk head behind the seats. Waiting for my ram mount gorpo roll bar mount and then I can power the gopro while recording so that the battery doesn't go flat.

timk · Postby **timk** » Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:37 pm

Good choice, I have that mount and it's awesome. Here is a video of me testing it with a cheap Kmart camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjBhpBhL9O4

PT · Postby PT » Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:23 pm

Thanks Tim, I was actually only watching that video of yours last night. I subscribed to your channel ages ago.

Good to know the mount works. Where have you attached it?