Gregory the NA8 II: Project Apache Thunder-Fist

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Sat Jun 18, 2016 1:55 pm

Planning a bit of a trip in Gregory, so I thought it was a good time to sort out the fraying drivers side seat belt.
Originally I was looking to get it rewebbed in mazda factory grey. Turns out it was never originally grey:

That's a tan line to make even the Bondi crowd jealous.

Since I can't match them, I'm getting them both rewebbed in dark red to match the interior.

I have been quoted $115 a belt locally which I'm very happy about.

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Apu · Postby **Apu** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:17 am

That sounds good! Where are you getting it done?

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 3:26 pm

Seat belt king down in braeside (melbourne).
Can't say enough good things about them, extremely fast turnaround and I got both belts done for $220 (was supposed to be $230 but they didn't have change, although they made me promise not to tell anyone...).

It's a really good match for the interior, couldn't be happier. I popped them back in last night:

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bruce · Postby **bruce** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 5:10 pm

Nice. I must wander over one day and have a squizz.

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:27 am

I'm always up for a chat, Bruce, although the car has gone on holiday to see a good friend of ours.

And look at the picture I found on the office wall:

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Alex 2550 · Postby **Alex 2550** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:42 pm

Gregory is looking great mate, keep up the good work...... and updates with pics :mrgreen:

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:38 pm

Gregory had an internal makeover, in a place that is not near my place. In fact I shipped the poor guy more than 1000km away to see everyones favourite fabricator and three time ballroom dance champion, NitroDann.

So I had to fly up and get Gregory back, my girlfriend came along to keep me company and make sure I don't get into trouble:

The 10min Taxi from the Airport to Dann's shop cost almost as much as the flight itself, but being reunited with Gregory felt great. It felt really great when Dann rode shotgun for my first drive. I must have been twelve when I last smiled like that.

The drive back was uneventful, besides taking a couple of wrong turns and getting stuck in Sydney traffic at 5.30pm on a weeknight. Holy crap, never again. I will say however, that NSW truck drivers are extremely courteous (except that one bloke in Newcastle who decided to scream homophobic slurs at me from his Hino, no different to Melbourne) always keeping left on the highway and staying 5kmhr under the limit.

Took the Hume to Goulburn and stayed the night. Freezing cold over night:

Still started just fine when it was -2 the next morning.

The drive was pretty boring, the Hume is not the place to be putting your foot down. Police cars were regularly dotted every 40km along the highway in NSW. The extra torque did however make overtaking in fifth a breeze.

1000km in an MX5 is pretty taxing, and I fell asleep on a couch in the pub that night when I was out celebrating a friend's new job overseas.

All his mechanical skills aside, I can't say enough good things about how Dann conducts himself. I was updated in real time with photos and phone calls, everything was run by me, both good news and bad. He puts the big names in ECU tuning and fabrication to shame when it comes to treating his customers right. Well worth the money to have the car worked on by someone so far away.
If you're reading this Dann, thanks again.

I'll post all the good stuff later, but just like my favourite N64 game says:

Alex 2550 · Postby **Alex 2550** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 4:25 pm

Great to hear mate, glad you had a safe trip. looking forward to updates and pics when you get a chance.

as a side note i remember F-zero X lol

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 4:46 pm

LOL....another 220 RWkw VVT 1.8 upgrade.....

Everyone is going to be watching Mx5's They've all been turbo-ed. LMAO

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 4:54 pm

Thanks Alex

Not quite Stan, bit more of a straightforward job than that. Pretty basic compared to some of the epic builds comissioned by Dave Moore and BillyBunter.

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smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:56 pm

Went to New Zealand last week.
It looks like this:

It's also super JDM. Not 'JDM' like a slammed S13 in a Maccas drive-though, but JDM in that all the cars come straight from Japan, which means loads of practical light wagons with excellent names and fender mirrors:

I'd love a Honda Airwave as a daily, so much room in such a tiny footprint.

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Sat Aug 06, 2016 5:46 pm

Sorry I've been meaning to put the turbo pics up, but I'm struggling to cut down all the photos.
In the mean time, I stole an idea from another Victorian on MT.net to help clean up the ECU cables in the passenger footwell.
It's basically just a usb mount in a trim/bolt cover majiggy.

I'll give it a file and a coat of red paint. Fantastic idea, also could be used for USB charging or audio input.