More than a decade earlier I had purchased a red NA6 for my best mate (with his money!) and he still has it and I guess I felt that it was about time I had my own.
So I went ahead and purchased Trixie back in November 2013. Now that I look back, I really knew very little about MX5’s. Sure I understood the basics but I had never gotten to know them like you do when you own one, pull it apart and put it back together again.
Trixie is red, manual, with air con, came with a hardtop and has had a recent replacement soft top fitted.
No mods except for some chrome 17s, all with different tyres, worn out brakes and worn suspension, a poor quality stereo install with some ugly 6x9’s on risers mounted on the parcel shelf, an alarm that didn’t work and some dodgy door locks. To top it all off the engine was filthy!
So I started with the free stuff and removed the alarm and the mess of wires that went with it, removed the 6x9s and re-wired the stereo.
Ran some Upper Engine Cleaner through the TB and changed the oil, oil filter.
I then replaced the exhaust manifold gasket and bumped the timing up to 14 degrees.
Trixie felt happier straight away but I knew there was still much more to do.
I drove her round each evening and on weekends enjoying my new toy and at the same time making a list of all the issues that needed fixing.
The battery was a cheap and nasty normal non vented type and the hold-down brackets were nonexistent; The alternator had wires coming from the vents going to a voltage drop box; Horn didn’t work; Air con needed gassing; Central locking didn’t work properly; Stereo would lose power and none of the speakers worked, well I think two crackled; The head-lights would turn off when using the indicator; Cracked side oval reflector. All reflectors incorrectly installed front were on backs and vice versa; Thermo fan was disconnected and air con fan was wired to thermo fan wires and on with ignition; Exhaust manifold gasket needed replacing; Bunch of wires the size of a football under the steering column; Slow windows and temperamental switch; One soft top latch lacked tension; Brakes vibrated and felt worn; Suspension had sagged and shocks were buggered.
I then did what most Sydney based new MX5 owners do. I went to Mania and bought some bits
The list was long and my budget was small, so I started with the following parts to get me going;
Alternator, battery with brackets and tubing, new brake discs all round.
I lost the picture of the new brakes, sorry.
January 2014, I joined this forum and started scouring through the classified section.
I came across a NA8 that was being parted out in WA by a nice guy named Danny and negotiated a price for the following bits and pieces;
Steering wheel (Factory Nadi) with Boss
Seat belt tower brace with bolts
Plastic covers for seat belt bolts
Heater knobs - slide left and right (x3)
Combination switch
Front and Rear Bumper reflectors - Oval shaped (x4)
Plastic screw covers (x7) (from black plastic panel under wipers/windscreen)
Soft top latches (x2)
Power window switch
Electrical plugs – from thermo and air con fans (loom side and fan side)
Door locks x2, Boot lock, Ignition barrel, centre console lock & key
Boot release mechanism with cables for fuel as well.
Flasher unit
Horn
Door to glass rubbers x2
A week later the parts arrived and I went about installing them. I also cleaned and lubed the window tracks whilst I had the rubbers out, as I was hoping to increase the speed of the window winding. Then I drove her some more
The window speed winding has increased but replacement regulators are on the cards.
The used part buying bug had bitten me and in following months I went on a rampage buying many random parts, starting with the following;
Stock NA6 Momo, NB window regulators, clubman Bilstein shocks with King springs. Unfortunately the springs are standard height (not what they were sold to me as) so I ended up spending more dosh and sourced some lowered king springs to suit.
Next on the list was a set of 15 inch wheels. I ended up going for a set of 15x8 +30 SSW’s that came with Archilles ATR Sports tyres
At a cost of $1,000 for new wheels and tyres, with an advertised weight of 4.7Kg per wheel (however probably closer to 5.5Kg – will eventually check when tyres need replacing) they seemed very reasonable.
With the new wheels fitted, I noticed the difference in acceleration immediately but still believed my car was down on power...
Regarding the tyres, I’ve found them to be quite grippy on the street, wet or dry. Some people have told me that they are a crap brand but I’m very happy with them, especially for the price and the driving that I do.
I then paid to have the front and back wheels aligned (before I sourced the lowered springs) and have been too busy enjoying how much more comfortable the car is now that the shocks and 17 inch wheels have been replaced.
Next came a compression test and the replacement of the following parts.
Fuel filter, coil packs, leads, plugs, AFM was tested, fan switch sensor, coolant temp sensor, O2 sensor.
Based on my butt dyno, the power increased slightly when replacing the coolant temp sensor.
Back to buying more parts, I replaced the exhaust with a 2.25 custom jobbie from the cat back and fitted a set of hurricane headers.
Sourced a high flow cat from a young bloke in Melb. Was quoted as being either a 2.25 or a 2.5in high flow cat that bolted to hurricane headers . Unfortunately I failed to check the diameter of both the inlet and outlet and was not happy to find that the inlet was 1mm smaller in diameter then standard! When I get the time, I will cut out the smaller pipe, replace and fit larger flanges.
N
ow looking for a bit more oomph I went ahead and purchased a Simota filter (like the mania set-up) and cut an oval in my fire wall to feed a 100mm tube in for the CAI.
On cold days I would notice a slight improvement (for a short time) but generally the CAI seemed to make overall performance worse. Oh and the noise! I hated it, was the loudest and most annoying thing I’ve experienced in the cabin. Impressive for the first five seconds but after that it was just another level of drone.
I then reverted back to stock intake and started looking into forced induction.
I was reluctant to turbo as we already had two other modified turbocharged cars. My favourite being my 1984 Rx7.
I did compare the prices of a Built N/A to slapping on a disco potato and thought about how the car would behave. As much as I’d love a Built N/A, I just can’t justify the expense at this point in my life.
Then a 2nd hand nitrodann turbo set-up became available and I was a bee’s dick away from purchasing it. I had negotiated a price for the full kit including IC and piping. The buyer called me a couple of days before I was scheduled to come pick up and pay and he had decided that he would sell to someone else for more money and asked me if I would match the price! I politely declined and as it turned out that prospective buyer was not genuine and the seller lost out.
I pressed on and started looking into supercharging!
(Is worth noting that my engine has travelled in excess of 250,000Kms and I’m half expecting it to go pop.)
I knew I wanted a hot side install so that I could run a cooler and was very curious with the Toyota SC14.
I even found later model units that come on jap-spec Tarago’s. What I couldn’t figure out was how to fit the SC neatly and still retain the Air con.
A solution presented itself in the classified section again. A M45 SC from a Bini with brackets, 10psi pulley, tensioner, MX6 320cc injectors etc. So I bought it and started planning my build.
Now I needed a ECU and was leaning towards a MS2 that Dweezel had for sale. After quite a few back and forth messages with both Dweezle and Gslender, I was more than comfortable to go ahead with the purchase. (Turned out that Grant had built the ECU that I was buying!)
Thank you Grant for your time and no doubt I will take you up on your offer to assist in future!
Dweezel was extremely helpful and went to the trouble of plugging the MS2 in and proving that it works then took me through some of the many features of the MS2. Unfortunately a lot of it went over my head (I’m not a techie) but he is a great guy and I wanted to share my great experience.
There are plenty of other parts that I’ve purchased on my frequent spending rampages. I will try to list them below but suspect I may miss a whole heap as I haven’t kept a written record
Some of the parts are; KAAZ clutch pack LSD, Flush headlights, vent rings, track dog radiator panel, Toyota COPS, COP bracket, Innovative wideband, coil over sleeves, HVAC unit & 40mm Boss extension, 52mm ASI radiator, SE intercooler and piping, number plate bracket and SE front strut brace.
Now back to the supercharger.
With the bracket bolted to the side of the head and the supercharger sitting in place, I soon realised that I was missing something and would not be able to bolt the tensioner in position.
Trixie has air con but no power steer. So my AC tensioner is in a different position to the PS tensioner and also a completely different bracket.
I needed to remove my AC tensioner and bracket and purchase a PS tensioner bracket.
Thankfully a gentleman in Perth came to the rescue and the bracket and SC tensioner was on the car within a week.
Unfortunately the TB to the SC fouled on the AC lines, so I had to mod it a little. Nothing a little cutting and welding wouldn’t fix.
Then came the intercooler and piping. With the SE IC dummied in place with cable ties, I found that I was able to use the stock pipe from the IC to the TB with no modifications. The other pipe was not so easy. I used one 90 degree bend and made the rest from 2.25 inch mild steel bends to match.
After much umming and arring I decided that I just don’t have the space to run the IC piping straight down from the Supercharger outlet behind the radiator. With the AC compressor, AC lines and sway bar in the way, it just looked too tight.
So I swam upstream and designed the IC piping so that it comes out the factory hole in the radiator panel . It’s basically two 90 degree angle bends with two 45 degree kinks at the end. Works out to be a fair bit shorter than the traditional method of going under or around but obviously also has its downfalls. When I upgrade my IC I’m limited to how wide I can go but fortunately I can still go wide enough for my needs. The dent in the pipe is temporary until I make up a proper pancake pipe.
What is left to finish the install?
The supercharger is now bolted in position and I no longer have any clearance issues.
From here I need to purchase a belt, a few meters of vacuum line, air temp sensor, silicone joiners and clamps. Plug in the ECU, load the map, get a longer accelerator cable made, setup the wideband, fit the air filter and ducting and fit the injectors.
Once she’s back on the road and a reliable tune is confirmed I will move on to fitting my lowered springs and a whole bunch of other stuff as well as purchasing the few(ish) remaining parts to finish my original vision of the car.
Those remaining parts being; a coolant re-route, a pair of sports seats that sit me lower and maybe a roll bar and sway bars, ooh and a glass rear window soft top.
So far I’m looking at some Bride Low Max reps with that 50 shades of grey material for $280 each. Should give a bit of colour to the rather drab interior and I don’t mind the look.
That’s it for now but I’ll be sure to post up new stuff as it happens.
Steve
