George's '89 NA6

two40 · Postby **two40** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:20 pm

Spent the day cleaning the underside followed by an oil and spark plug change.

I still haven't washed all the bugs off from the drive up from Melbourne but did a quick photo shoot anyway. I've got one more day off from work tomorrow so a nice wash might be in order.

two40 · Postby **two40** » Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:16 pm

Had a little helper today while changing the gearbox and diff oil. He's turning a 10mm spanner fixing his bike. Crazy how much they copy you. I had no idea he was doing this.

hmd · Postby **hmd** » Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:27 pm

At this rate he will be able to do some work on the 240

two40 · Postby **two40** » Mon Aug 14, 2017 1:32 pm

hmd wrote:At this rate he will be able to do some work on the 240

Mate, I'm so slow with the 240. At this rate he'll be finishing most of the work... :lol:

Gearbox drain plug before and after. Not a lot of chunky metal but lots of sludgy gunk. The diff was the same.

before.jpg

after.jpg

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:47 am

Looking good mate. I particularly like the cassette deck.

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two40 · Postby **two40** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:51 pm

Not very exciting for you maybe but installing the original air box means this car is now 99.something % stock.

Now to start with some subtle and reversible mods! I always intended to collect all the original parts first and then slowly modify it for enjoyment with things like exhaust, coilovers, wheels etc. Nothing drastic and nothing irreversible.

two40 · Postby **two40** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:53 pm

Oh, can someone please take a photo of the hose clamp on the left (engine) side of the AFM? Just want to see what type it is as I need to source one.

Cheers

two40 · Postby **two40** » Thu Aug 24, 2017 10:13 am

A month after bringing my little beauty home and servicing her to a good baseline, I got to go out for a nice Sunday drive. The weather was horrible this weekend with fierce winds bringing trees and branches down and leaving many homes without power all around South Sydney. Our fence decided it needed a break from standing up but that was about the worst of it fortunately.

Everything changed as soon as I decided to go for a drive on Sunday. The winds stopped, the sun came out and birds sang overhead. With the top down I made a beeline for the excellent B roads of the Royal National Park. On a weekend it's packed full of street Rossis' on motorbikes, mad keen bicycle riders with a death-wish, track day bros who lost their way and lots of families out to enjoy a picnic. None of those groups move at the same pace and they certainly don't mix well. Despite this, it's always a lovely drive at whatever pace the traffic allows.

The car felt great if a bit soft and I suspect the suspension is due for an upgrade soon. I've got my eyes on you MCA Blue's. Otherwise she points well, stops on a dime, is nimble and induces many grins. This was the first drive I really enjoyed as I slowly get to know her and I'm looking forward to many more.

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Last night I serviced the shifter with a complete kit.

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DO NOT use a hairband to repair anything on your car. I know it's a hairdressers car and all but still... Guessing a previous owner had the centre console off to do something unrelated and noticed the shifter boot had started to split. What does he do? Why, take a hairband out of his long flowing hair and bam! Instant repair. No.

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The other photo is of the washer that sits in the turret. Mine was literally sitting IN the turret which just happened to be bone dry. Yep, not a drop of oil in there. If I had to guess, the oil simply evaporated. Surprisingly the shifting didn't really indicate a problem. Feels much better now though.

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Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:48 pm

two40 wrote::
DO NOT use a hairband to repair anything on your car. I know it's a hairdressers car and all but still... Guessing a previous owner had the centre console off to do something unrelated and noticed the shifter boot had started to split. What does he do? Why, take a hairband out of his long flowing hair and bam! Instant repair. No.
:

This is the universe's way of telling you that you need to "go the Man-Bun" to achieve "the full MX5 hairdresser ethos" (MX5s aren't just about Jinba Ittai).

speed · Postby **speed** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 6:28 pm

George, the car looks great.
Good luck with the exhaust tomorrow.
I look forward to meeting you on one of your organised meets.
Steve

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two40 · Postby **two40** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 8:46 pm

Cheers Steve. Looking forward to it as well.

Here's a video of the 2.25" Magnaflow exhaust I put together. In hindsight I probably should have gone with a 2" system as I have no real intentions of modifying the car for more power. It sounds good enough for some smiles though and that was my sole reason for doing it.

The original system looks like it has held up well so I've put it aside for restoration and potential future use.

speed · Postby **speed** » Sat Sep 23, 2017 8:27 pm

Sounds great. Especially hearing it from behind, drive by, in car and in a car park.
Is louder in the cabin than what I was expecting but it just made me smile.
Will have to pick your brain on cameras and mounting when we do meet up. I'd love to be able to film mine on something better than a phone.

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two40 · Postby **two40** » Sat Sep 23, 2017 11:41 pm

speed wrote:Sounds great. Especially hearing it from behind, drive by, in car and in a car park.
Is louder in the cabin than what I was expecting but it just made me smile.
Will have to pick your brain on cameras and mounting when we do meet up. I'd love to be able to film mine on something better than a phone.

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That's not what it sounds like in cabin. It'd drive me crazy if it was that loud.

For the driving clips I had an external mic and stupidly mounted it on the rear license plate near the exhaust. A bit too close.

Will try it in the cabin next time. ;)

two40 · Postby **two40** » Sun Oct 01, 2017 6:20 pm

Managed to get a somewhat better video of the exhaust.

Also just spent the whole day going over and servicing a friend's NA. He picked it up last week and is very pleased with it.

What an awesome way to spend the day! Sadly it ended on a bit of a downer. My brake resorvoir leaked fluid at some stage over the last couple of weeks after I changed the brake pads. Rookie mistake.

Paintwork is damaged down to metal in some spots so I'll have to address it very soon.

Where can I source a spray can close to factory colour?