Round 2 - Back in an NB8B after 5 years.

[SileNceR]

Using this calculator: https://robrobinette.com/ConvertToeDegreesToInches.htm and an overall diameter of 23.26in (205/45r16) I get .1 degree = .0405" or 1.02mm toe in each side; Am I calculating that correctly, and they've just completely assed it up?

[Magpie]

Correct TOE is measured in mm not degrees and is TOTAL toe.

GENERALLY SPEAKING
Toe in - gives stability, but sacrifices turn in
Toe out - twitchy feeling at high speeds but good turn in.

With the amount of toe in (total 6.3mm) I would expect a very stable straight line stability. Personally I would not do 2,600 road kms with that much toe in the rear. If the car is mainly used for road then zero toe front/rear. Or MAX 1mm total toe in F (helps keep the front from following bumps in the road) and MAX 1mm toe out in the rear to help with turning in. Effectively the car has zero toe.

For example I run: Front -3.5 camber and 1mm toe in, 7 deg caster and Rear -3.0 camber and 1.5mm toe out. My alignment is considered to be very aggressive for street but OK for the track.

Yes you will get more camber when you lower the car, but bump steer will also increase. You can get alternative tie rod ends to eliminate some of the bump steer when lowering but if you go too low bump steer will become an issue.

[SileNceR]

I've got them picking the car up to re-do it tomorrow. I'll just ask them to zero the total toe on the rear; they're miles off my original request anyway at .3 degrees instead of .1 so it shouldn't matter that I want something even more different.

I'll see if they can trade off more caster for camber in the front also. If they're not willing/able to do that, I'll just get the toe fixed and get it re-done by someone more specialised when I get back (or when I lower it down the track)

[Magpie]

Good outcome!

[SileNceR]

Just talked to the bloke briefly on the phone, he says to get close to 0 toe on the rear the camber will come back significantly (probably less than -.5 degrees)

Is this normal with standard suspension height?

He said it's maxed out as is and the reason for the high total toe is a result of trying to achieve my desired camber result.

When my green car was done years ago it was very low; so I imagine the camber gain purely through sitting at that height allowed them to fine tune the camber/caster and rear toe within a different window of adjustment.

[Magpie]

I'm not sure what the standard alignment is on a MX5

The alignment person should have contacted you and let you know that your specs could not be achieved and then recommend something based on what could be achieved and your intended use.

[SileNceR]

Better. The front still doesn't have enough negative camber, but the back is spot on. I took it with a full tank of fuel this time - maybe the reason he struggled before? I still need to find somewhere better to do future alignments, but this will do for this trip at least (and probably until I lower the car)

[speed]

I'm not sure what standard is

Fixed Magpies comment ;)

[SileNceR]

had an issue today which I think is probably CAS - car cut once on the black spur but I was going downhill so I just eased off and it came good, did it again on the reefton spur and came to a complete halt. Managed to turn it around by pushing it up a hill through a three point turn on my own and once rolling downhill and able to cool off it came good again.

It only does it if I've been revving it pretty hard for at least 5-10 minutes prior.

[Magpie]

Try this solution courtesy of certified cable technician John Pham...

[SileNceR]

So I've been back from my 2200km road trip for a week now, probably about time I put some of the photos up here - I drip fed a few onto the Facebook group, but facebook in it's typical fashion destroys them, at least on a forum I'm able to direct link to my flickr images and they stay as intended.

I started out the first day by driving from home (Warrnambool) to Daylesford via Ballarat, then across to Broadford, Strath Creek, Flowerdale, over to Kinglake then down through Kangaroo Ground to North Warrandyte where my cousin and his wife live, to stay the night. Nothing particularly attractive in the way of landscape (that I haven't seen before, anyway) to stop and photograph - Daylesford is better in the autumn when the trees have some colour.

Day two, I drove to Healesville, then toward Marysville on the Black Spur, turning shortly after the Black Spur Inn at Narbethong I discovered what seemed a delightful little tar sealed road - to my dismay it turned to dirt about 15-20 minutes down (I followed the signs for Warburton, as I wanted to drive to Marysville on the way back without double-doing any roads) - anyway, I figured it's only dirt - it'll wash off, and continued on - eventually coming to Acheron's Gap.

Acheron Gap:



Turns out this is Acheron way - I've been to Mt Donna Buang before and the drive to the summit was on my trip list, hence this route (despite not realising what road this actually was!) - with some surprise I arrived at "Gate Corner" half way up; I always wondered where the dirt road took you, and now I've dríven it (in reverse)

Mt Donna Buang, Warburton:






From here I continued on to the Reefton Spur, where what I assume is my CAS caused me some frightful minutes after the car stopped on an uphill section between two mostly-blind corners, and wouldn't move under it's own power - when I tried to do a 3 point turn and was blocking both lanes!! I managed to push it uphill to complete the three point turn and once rolling again it fired back up and I continued on my way.

Reefton Spur:


- previously painted rims really highlight the curb rash from the previous owners. I really need to get that fixed, in the meantime I might get some touchup paint made up in the wheel colour and apply to the curb rash to make it less evident from a small distance.

I grabbed lunch in Marysville and continued on. Let me say here, I didn't go via mancefield, and perhaps should have - the drive from Marysville to Wangaratta is frightfully boring! If there's a better way, anyone attempting this trip should take it. Since I was doing so many kms in such a short number of days, it was quite difficult to focus on longer, straighter sections of road.

I arrived at Wangaratta (my intended overnight destination) to see massive storm clouds brewing overhead. The petrol station attendant told me they were expecting 40-60mm of rain overnight. I thought I should continue on to Bright as it was still reasonably early in the day, and there was nothing to take photos of in Wangaratta, and I'd miss the opportunity to do much at all if it was raining.

I got to Bright, again much earlier than expected, so tackled Mt Buffalo - which was on my to-do list at the recommendation of some friends.

Mt Buffalo:












I must say, if you enjoy Reefton, Mt Buffalo in the spring (or probably any season when it's not snowing) is really something special! Plenty of switchbacks, some great corners and fantastic views. I wasn't super prepared for the dirt section which is the "horn road" and only the last 3km of road to the summit, however as the car was already dirty from Acheron earlier in the day, I continued on anyway. I wouldn't recommend it - the road is very corrugated (unlike Acheron) and if my car didn't already have rattles by virtue of being a convertible, it certainly does now.

Bright:



Bright is beautiful, but I didn't take many photos as it started raining after I arrived back in town, and I was a tad knackered. I booked accommodation via Wotif (from just around the corner), then checked in and went to grab some Pizza. The local pizza (italian) place was OK, but the tripadvisor reviews looked pretty bad. After being there, I can sort of understand. The owner is a bit abrupt (although nice enough, I guess) and it's a bit like you see on the Gordon Ramsey TV shows with passive-aggressive signs everywhere - "Due to health and safety regulations do not lean on this counter" next to about 4 other signs saying the same thing in different words.

Got up the next morning and immediately headed to Falls Creek, in the midst of a reasonably steady downpour. These roads were amazing even in the wet - I hope next time I am here they are dry!

Falls Creek:





Then, back from Falls Creek to Bright. My GPS showed I could continue over the dam to Omeo, however I'd been urged by the same friend who told me to do Mt Buffalo and Falls Creek roads to do Mt Hotham, and on the basis of the quality of the other two roads he recommended, I went back the way I'd came. The Falls Creek road was even better in reverse. I hit Bright then continued to Harrietville for a bite of lunch before continuing to Hotham. A cautionary tale for others - there is no fuel in Harrietville. Or Hotham. Or Dinner Plain, according to google maps - OMEO is the next stop some 2+ hours from Bright. After lunch I proceeded back to Bright and got fuel, then back to Harrietville and on my way. Interestingly, I now understand that the best roads in Victoria have Vicroads "Classified Hazardous" signs, and orange line markings.

Mt Hotham:






The road to Hotham was great, however very, very foggy all the way up. I stopped off at the top for a toilet break but with no real views to photograph, I soon continued on toward Omeo. Almost immediately, the fog was gone - the road opened up toward dinner plain and at some point I stopped to put the roof down - it looked like maintaining the 80-100kph pace required to stay dry in the rain was now possible. I believe immediately after this (and while accelerating back to 100) I passed an unmarked police Mercedes SUV - phew, I was probably doing 110 prior (downhill and NB8B seem to love 110 more than 100 in 6th)

Past Dinner Plain:




The road from Omeo toward Bairnsdale is really great, following the river and nice wide corners that can be taken comfortably at the speed limit (but then what corners can't, in an MX-5?). Some minor roadworks, the quality of which was excellent, meant some delays. Ultimately I was close to the end of the Alpine road sooner than I thought, so I tried to go across to Cann River. On the third set of extensive roadworks, I hit a "no line markings" sign - sure indication of fresh spray seal asphalt. No thanks. Turned around and headed back to Lakes Entrance where I got a good feed of Fish & Chips and checked into a motel for the night.

Lakes Entrance:



The following day I awoke and headed via the scenic route to Wilsons Promonetory. Wilson's prom was fogged out. Initially I'd planned a day of photos here and to stay in Warrandyte again. Instead I headed for Geelong, caught up with some mates and then continued home. 730kms in a day, in fog, rain, traffic through Melbourne (google maps routed me off the freeway because of traffic issues) and I arrived home about 9.30pm.

Final numbers, except I've guessed the litreage for the return trip (educated guess based on the other logs of 8l/100km and averaged fuel price of $1.448/l) - total travelled 2263.2kms using approx 193.992l of fuel and $281.58 in fuel cost.

Would I do it again? Definitely.

I've got a new CAS here, however the Cable Tie trick Magpie recommended (although costing me $30 for some cable ties and side cutters in Bright) seemed to work - I had the issue twice on the Black and Reefton spurs, but not at all on the following day or the final trip home.

[ManiacLachy]

Great trip, those roads look fun.

[SileNceR]

So I haven't really done a lot to the car other than driving it to and from work; I did fit an amp for the jaycar response kevlar 6.5" speakers I put in the door which has improved clarity at higher volumes (to contend with wind noise) - just generally driving to work top down even in the rain; get some funny looks along the way

I've had a few spots where the roof material has shrunk or is wearing out, especially around the edges of the glass - I've coated the inside of the areas where I could see light/get water through from the inside with gorilla glue which seems to actually be doing a decent job of halting the degradation and remaining flexible as advertised.

I've ordered new tension cables and springs which are here but not yet fitted (because I know how much of a bastard job it is) because both sides leak when it rains (one of the cables is actually snapped as I can see it when the roof is half way down).

I replaced the CAS and haven't had any ignition issues since; I also had to get the windscreen replaced as it got hit by a rock and cracked from one corner right across the passenger side of the screen to the centre - thankfully after getting showered with rocks a few times on the way back from picking up the car, I added windscreen protection to my insurance as I figured it would only be a matter of time before one did some damage - so it cost nothing to get a replacement. The replacement has a dark strip across the top which initially worried me because of how tall I am; but in reality it is easy enough to look through when I need to have my eyes up that high and it's actually a handy thing when you're tall enough to not be able to comfortably run the car with the sun visors fitted - you just sit up a tad when the sun is in your eyes and you can look at it through the darkened strip which isn't something you can even emulate with a visor.

I made a straight through muffler-less tailpipe section using the factory exhaust, but removed it from the car after about a week of annoying the living daylights out of my neighbours. Maybe I'll re-fit it for a day on the Great Ocean Road or something, but definitely not a long term thing for this car!!

The car ticked over 130,000km this week so have given it a bit of a birthday.

New genuine spark plugs, oil change with magnatec pro 10w30 and a genuine filter, diff oil replaced with nulon mineral LSD SAE90 and gearbox fluid with Nulon 75w90 full synth gear oil. Bushes all look to be OK, Tyres seem to be wearing fairly evenly which is nice. One of the rear shocks is sweating a bit and will probably need replacement, although I don't think I'd be using OEM to replace so that's a planning process...

Front brake pads are low (2mm) so deciding what to do there, rears have 4mm left so probably not that far off being done either - may as well buy a full set and do all pads and a fluid flush. The drive belts are also looking a bit cactus (just old age) so will require replacement soon enough.

In general the car feels pretty happy, I'm just a tad worried about the roof with all the little spots starting to perish as we're in the process of building a house so I can't quickly summon the funds required to replace it if it has a big tear. Fingers crossed it makes it through winter watertight.

[Nevyn72]

gearbox fluid with Nulon 75w90 full synth gear oil.

Did you find any change (better/worse) in how the gearbox feels with the new fluid?
Which version did you use? GL4 or GL5?

I haven't heard of anyone using the Nulon brand before and was wondering how it went given how sensitive the Assin 6 speed appears to be to brand......

[SileNceR]

The Nulon stuff in the gearbox is horrid. The shift is way worse than it was before I changed it and it doesn't seem to get much better even when it gets properly hot.

I'll be replacing it with something else - probably Mobil GL4 - once I've paid for the bendix general CT brake pads and Gates drive belts I've just received.