Emily's 04 VR SE

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:19 pm

Got the letter from RMS yet?.... It's great driving weather out there..... :wink:

emily_mx5 · Postby **emily_mx5** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:53 pm

Nevyn72 wrote:Got the letter from RMS yet?.... It's great driving weather out there.....

Unfortunately not, they were not very impressed lol.
The rules in NSW are extremely murky, as far as I am aware each car is still at their discretion rather than a set power to weight.
So yeah big fat denial letter

Luckily an elderly neighbour who doesn't drive anymore had an empty garage offered me the spot free

So it is covered and protected, and I go and start it once a week.

Its not rego'd, as that would be a waste, so i'll get a blueslip when I'm due for fulls.
That means I have to keep it stock to not have any troubles with the blueslip :/
(not dealing with a "dodgy" blueslipper again lol, enough stress was had the red NA8)

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:32 pm

Sounds like your's is a bit like mine at the moment, resting in a garage and getting started once a week while it can't be dríven, although for different reasons..... :wink:

ED_MX5 · Postby **ED_MX5** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:52 pm

Hey Emily,
Well done on all the work you've done on the cars.
I remember when you first started on it, I used to work at Auto One Chatswood(I used to give you all the discounts for shopping regularly). Now at Burson Brookvale.
I'm now looking at a NB MX5, series 2( I like the headlights better).
Its your car that made me think of going MX5, so well done.
I've seen some clean cars in my time in parts, your is up the top.

emily_mx5 · Postby **emily_mx5** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:36 pm

haha thanks man, yeah of course i remember, i work at repco now! Do bursons have many mx5 spare parts? We have next to none

emily_mx5 · Postby **emily_mx5** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:45 pm

Ok so this car has sold now, but I realised I never really finished the build thread for it, so here it is in one big lump haha.

NB interior swap.

Consisted of an NB8A dash, centre console, seats, gearknob, doorhandles.

NB8C door cards and auto window switch. NOTE: when wiring in window switches, dont use USDM wiring diagrams. Unless you want a auto up/down passenger window. Ask me how I know LOL.
another note, this was not a straight forward process at all. Apparently its easier with series 1 NB door cars, but I think they are ugly as lol.
In the end, got it lined up perfectly, and installed central locking in the process.

I even got an NB dead pedal! (all this stuff was missing for no good reason)

So here it is ready to go for blueslip. I would like to thank all my mx5 friends for lending me all sorts of bits to get this ready and legal for the inspection haha :wink:

Passed!

Unfortunately had to hand in the awesome red custom numberplates

Just got some slim white ones instead, and a nice offset bracket.

So now that it was all good mechanically, I could start focusing on aesthetics.
The plan:
JDM NA6 rear garnish and shorty mudflaps.
New front bumper including debadge.
New mirrors and paint.
GV lip and Feed sideskirts.

In the meantime decided to refurbish an old set of SSR 265 I had lying around.

Home made spray booth lol.

I had the centres sand blasted as they were extremely corroded, then rattle canned the primer/paint. Powdercoating was too expensive for wheels that were weak sized and temporary haha.

I also plastidipped my brg hardtop white to match.

Hated it instantly lol, so satin black they went.

Finish came up really nicely, and the car looked alright, but it was just a bit to ricey/boyracer for my liking, maybe if they were like 15x9 with flares it would have looked better haha.

White I was waiting for the various body parts to be shipped to me, I did some more servicing and fixing up.
Repainted the black stripe that had worn off.

Replaced everything, rad, sensors ect, including a set of NB silicone hoses (as the engine was from an NB8A). Everything fitted, just needed the top rad hose cut.

Also attended to the brakes, that had some weird crystals growing inside the reservoir. Spent a good hour cleaning it with some rags wrapped held with tweezers and constantly flushing it with new fluid.
Bled the clutch too.

Rocker and inlet covers came off for sandblasting and wrinkle black coating!

Love the little oem "ITBs" haha.

Also sold off the entire exhaust and replaced with Empire extractors and a Racing Beat twin tip exhaust, as the bumper was already cut for a second tip.
Also sourced an early NA8 rocker cover (with chrome breather tube and bolts) and stock air intake with a hi-flow foam filer.

Next came all the exterior stuff!
Got a new bumper, had the number plate and badge holes filled and painted.
The jap garnish, mud flaps and mirrors all arrived (were already red thankfully)

Clear indicators went straight on the SE, so I shaved the oem orange ones.

This meant I needed oem front turn signals as the USDM ebay crystal clear ones had no parking light provision, and i was using the clear front reflectors with a bulb wired in as the parking light.
So i grabbed a pair of oem indicators, and cooked them. Yep 100 deg for 10 mins. Come apart really easily and removed the ghastly orange reflector.
You just need an orange globe, I used the same chromed globe as brg NA6 so there is no orange reflections at all when off.
Looks fantastic, honestly one of my favourite mods I've ever done!

Fitted the NA6 numberplate lights wasnt that easy, lots of cutting and drilling lol. Was worth it in the end though, I hate the "euro" style NA8 garnish.
Drove around with no garnish for a while, with the p plate cut out and glued to the light. Very clubroadster spec haha.

GV lip from ebay fitted well. Car was low...

Next was wheels: 15x7 +5 Weld Racing Draglites.

Picked them up on here for $200! ditched the crappy bald Chinese tyres and transferred over my KU31s.

Poke!

Rolled the guards lol.

Last thing was a new set of genuine floor mats. Note the pink chakly swirly paint.

Now it was complete aside from a good detail.
Wash
Clay bar
Wash
Cut
Pollish
Wax

(Sideskirts came the day before I sold it so never put them on)

Here it is in final form

Postby **Okibi** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:16 pm

Great write up, did you want to start a new one for the SE and let me know what you want this one called?

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:29 pm

Great stuff Emily, good to have some closure on the the old one!

Can't wait to see the evolution of the SE with all the stuff you have planned for it..... :wink:

Obiki, I'd leave it here as an ongoing thread, some of the history the SE is here already and it's a great story of Emily's continuing passion for MX5's as she progresses from one car to next! :mrgreen:

emily_mx5 · Postby **emily_mx5** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 11:12 pm

Thanks guys

haha Dave the SE purchase was a tad premature, so its been sitting in storage with zero attention for the last 7 months

The thread will be SE from now on, its actually up at Danns now getting some shiny things put on.

Nevyn72 wrote:Can't wait to see the evolution of the SE with all the stuff you have planned for it.....

Neither can I!!! I will be much more organised with the thread too, put pics up each time i do something rather than wait till its done haha.

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 2:31 pm

I know that some people prefer the simplicity of the NA's interior but I think the NB interior is still the best looking of any MX5 so far (the "too-much shiny plastic" look in the NC is the worst IMO) and your efforts look fantastic - I hope the new owner appreciates your efforts and considers a flat-bottomed steering wheel, that would make it even better.

Love your work!

ED_MX5 · Postby **ED_MX5** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:16 pm

WOW, now that's a lot of work. If only they built NA's like that from factory.
Emily, I know you work at Repco. You still had to come buy paint off me because they didn't sell it.
Yeah, I have a few MX5 parts. We are mainly a trade store, so we don't have to waste space with seat covers etc etc. Just the good stuff.

emily_mx5 · Postby **emily_mx5** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:51 pm

Sooooo I have the car back

Long story short is that it went into storage for a while due to not being P plate legal, lol 'cause its sooo fast :roll:

Bye bye

Then it came back!

Missing a bonnet, as it had some deep scratches and I had sourced another oem VR replacement unit to avoid respraying.

Large update pending

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:18 pm

emily_mx5 wrote:Large update pending

..... and long overdue too..... :mrgreen:

emily_mx5 · Postby **emily_mx5** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 6:58 pm

First thing first, very boring, oil change.
Poor thing had 10,000km / 1 year old Magnatec rubbish in it

Oil flush, and some nice fully synthetic Castrol Titanium Edge 5w40.
Oil filter was done at the mechanic, because how the actual ƒü¢k are you supposed to get at it, with the catch can oil drain and the inlet mani brace in the way. :roll:

Also noticed some leaks around the rocker cover, most notably the breather tube was split and spraying out an oily mist.
I carefully slid the oem braided shielding off the split tube, and secured it to my new piece with some black heatshrink-tube. No electrical tape

If anyone has any tips on how to clean the oem wrinkle finish that would be greatly appreciated!