From Mexie ... to MXSE ...

[shuey]

SP's came with one but not the SE.

Is your's polished or brushed finish, can't remember. I'm kinda holding for some other bits at the moment, but drop me a pm and maybe a photo and I'll see. Always a sucka for new bits

Ah, I see. I got it off a VRSE that MrsB parted out some time ago. Perhaps it originally came off an SP? But not sure.
It should be polished (I'll pm you a photo later tonight), cos the brushed finish..that's something like on the NC (from memory), no?

Car's being sent in for RWC tomorrow, keeping fingers crossed all goes well

[KevGoat]

So ... shuey convinced me I needed the chrome fuel cap from his ex

Still wasn't sure if it would look too "blingy". But after fitting it, with the combination of the chrome around it - frankenstein & plate, antenna, reflector surround, even the colour of the wheels - it works quite nicely.

[shuey]

So ... shuey convinced me I needed the chrome fuel cap from his ex

Still wasn't sure if it would look too "blingy". But after fitting it, with the combination of the chrome around it - frankenstein & plate, antenna, reflector surround, even the colour of the wheels - it works quite nicely.

.. in life, we sometimes need a little bling. Dang, it really does look nice. It's so shiny, make sure you wear some shades when you head to the servo

[billybunter]

I always knew it would

[KevGoat]

Need to see more photos of MXSE, Kev!

Well, I did manage to find a sunny day a week or so ago in amongst this crazy weather, and with a change of intake filter from K&N to a UniFilter (just a personal preference) I took the car out for a drive ... so any excuse for a photo ...

[KevGoat]

You'll need something like a Mass Loaded Vinyl...

I'm interested to see how you go with it, I think there's capacity to quiet things down a little, while not completely muting the intake.

So just a bit of an update. After reading up on what mass loaded vinyl is I ordered some recommended for cars. Not cheap stuff! Anyway, took the intake box out again and found that the adhesive on the vinyl was pretty crappy and wouldn't stick properly. Managed to get enough on to try it out ...

Took it for a drive ... and ... it made no difference whatsoever

... so took most of it out again ...

Seems to be a theme going here

One good thing that happened was after I contacted the supplier about the problems with the adhesive he refunded my money! So didn't end up costing me anything!

[ManiacLachy]

Damn! I was hoping something like MLV would be the answer. Thanks for testing it out, I guess it's just something we're going to have to live with.

[KevGoat]

Yeah after all I read on the stuff I was expecting more as well.

Bit more radical but I wonder how much difference it would make by moving the hose connection from the bpv down the piping further away from the filter?

Here's a quick image of the adhesive problem I had...




Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[KevGoat]

Great weather in Adelaide today, so I gave MXSE a quick clean, checked tyre pressures and took her out for a decent drive ...



Spotted a white ND, a white NA and a black NC PRHT during the run, so a few out enjoying the sun and first warm day for a while. Had a pretty good run traffic wise for a change and managed to push pretty hard (for me anyway ). Wouldn't say the car runs perfectly smooth but it would appear the FM02 and TPS mods are doing their job pretty well!

Recent changes have been a UniFilter replacing the K&N, refitted the Turbosmart MBC set to ~10psi, and replaced the Turbosmart Dual Port BOV with a GFB BPV. Pretty impressive packaging for the GFB!! ...





What I didn't expect from these changes, but is very cool considering my failed prior efforts - the blow off noise through the CAI is now so much quieter!! Still get the nice intake growl and turbo whistle, but the annoyingly noisy fluttering noise that was there on nearly every gearchange and deceleration has changed to more of a "whoosh" and is a LOT! quieter and happens a lot less than it use to!! Made my day

[Okibi]

TinyUrl is a redirection service, it doesn't work when inserting pictures. Use the direct link.

[KevGoat]

Oh OK sorry about that Dave

[KevGoat]

So, since I've been wearing glasses full time, I've been noticing it's slowly becoming more difficult to read my red instruments at night. I started reading up and found that different coloured instrument lighting helps with different types of vision so decided it was time to start experimenting. According to what I read, blue seemed to be the best for my vision. I recalled that Lokiel had changed his to blue and looked up his thread and ordered some of the same LED's as he'd used. Arrived next day! After doing my usual Saturday chores, I went outside and took the instrument panel out and experimented.

This is my dash in daylight with the stock lighting ...



First off I changed to some white filament bulbs I had in my light bulb box ...



Much brighter even in daylight and easier to read, but a bit boring.

Then fitted the blue Neo Gauge LED's ...



These look great! Sitting in the car in the carport in daylight these look very clear and much brighter than the stock red condom lighting!

Only trouble is my VDO instruments and HVAC are all red ...



So have ordered some more T10 and some T5 and will change my VDO gauge lighting as well as the HVAC lighting to match and see how all that goes ...

[Lokiel]

You should add the chrome instrument rings and needle caps too, blue LEDs and chrome really look good together and the chrome gives the cluster a classy retro look:


Here's my KG Works cluster with the chrome rings and needle caps (actually polished billet aluminium) for reference, unfortunately I can't find a photo with the LEDs on:


Rings can be found at MX5 Mania or http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/chrome-instrument-rings-vintage-style-mk2-p-69.html.

For the needle caps, DON'T buy the Mania or mx5parts versions, they're just chrome plated plastic and look cheap. Instead, consider these: http://www.topmiata.com/shop/needle-caps/
"CNC machined aluminum needle cups with perfect fit & finish are provided with the set. No glueing/sticking needed, as they perfectly slip and hold over the needles."

Expensive yeah, but you see them every time you're behind the whee, it really does feel retro and classy (vs the OEM plastic cluster with poorly imitated chrome surrounds on the large instrument rings).

Initially I just bought the 3 small chrome rings which just made the faux-chrome surrounds on the large instruments look even more "chintzy" so buy all 5 rings if you decide to do it.

[KevGoat]

Lokiel, you preempted some questions I was going to ask about yours

I've thought about adding the rings to the instruments, but as the rest of the dash and other instruments are all black I'm not sure it would fit in. I'll see how the lighting goes first ...

[Nevyn72]

Yep, blue lighting is definitely my preferred option too, looks good at night.



Also went with the chrome rings but not the needle caps.

For me the rings were enough to dress up the standard cluster, plus the Speedhut boost gauge in the cluster and 3 gauges in the HVAC would have missed out if I went for needle caps so a bit unbalanced.
Note: I only got the 3 accessory rings in chrome and left the speedo & tacho rings in the factory silver. I was a bit concerned at first but I think it works well.