takai's Just Wants To Have Fun - NA Track hack/club reg fun car

takai · Postby **takai** » Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:34 pm

So this is what happens when you have a couple of months to accumulate parts before being able to start work on the car, pretty much 90% of the parts for the initial build have arrived.

Just waiting on time to be able to get stuck into it. Knocking off a few other little jobs to clear out stuff before getting into it, and hopefully can bottle up the 140L of barrel aged beers that is currently taking up floor space between kegs and the empty bottles that need to be filled.

But hopefully can get into it this weekend.

Until then, anyone able to pick the problem with this sucker?

Postby **Okibi** » Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:53 pm

No vent

takai · Postby **takai** » Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:09 pm

Okibi wrote:No vent

Yup... thanks Rev9 for the best design evar.

Will be solved with a -4 weldon and an AN fitting. Will make the upper fitting into the vent (again with AN bits)

apsilon · Postby **apsilon** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:35 am

takai wrote:So this is what happens when you have a couple of months to accumulate parts before being able to start work on the car, pretty much 90% of the parts for the initial build have arrived.

Wow, and I thought I was doing well having ordered, full exhaust, new exhaust studs and nuts, strut brace, braided brake and clutch lines, new pads and rotors for all corners, coilovers, wheels and some fluids and filters. You're definitely ahead LOL.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:25 pm

I got the same reservoir off ebay US - pretty cheap too.
It can fill but not return any coolant - the top barb does not have a pipe reaching down to the bottom of the tank. Like you said, have to make a fitting at the bottom.
Haven't test fitted so I wonder if the mounting tags are in the correct spot?

takai · Postby **takai** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:03 am

bruce wrote:I got the same reservoir off ebay US - pretty cheap too.
It can fill but not return any coolant - the top barb does not have a pipe reaching down to the bottom of the tank. Like you said, have to make a fitting at the bottom.
Haven't test fitted so I wonder if the mounting tags are in the correct spot?

Yeah, it would be difficult to fill too, as it is pressurised too, so will only be able fill to a certain pressure, and then will vent pressure back into the cooling system. Very much not good.

Ill try and test fit it this weekend to see what happens, but pretty fail sofar. At least it was cheap.

takai · Postby **takai** » Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:52 pm

Had a bit of time between the rain on Saturday arvo, so i fitted up the wheels (mainly to get them out of the garage)

Need to let them settle a bit.

Then i started doing some general automotive archaeology:

Spare chips and change under the seat.

Half a central locking system

Someone who actually cared about their car audio install:

And someone who didnt care about the concept of gaskets:

Finally the reason i bought Hella Supertones

Air compressed truck horn thing that takes about 2-3s to charge before it makes any noise. Sure, its loud, but that soccermum in the people mover has already run over the bonnet by the time it makes any noise.

Then it started pouring again, so i shifted to cleaning the garage instead to bring it inside.

But got distracted, and mocked up this one:

Today i finished cleaning the garage up, so i could bring the car in, and then finished off a basic bracket for the mirror:

3mm Alu is a bit overkill for it though, so i might make it again out of something thinner. Also not sure on how i want to finish it, whether it is brushed or painted black, or even covered in carbon vinyl. Whichever option, it is already a damn sight better than the stock mirrors that drooped over every bump (drivers side), or folded up at 80km/h (passenger). Plus you can already see more out of them as they sit at a much better location.

Finally i pulled the rear garnish off to see if i can fix up the number plate bracket, and perhaps fix the cracked bit.

Now it is in the garage i will be able to do the cage and other bits without having to put the soft top up and down every 30s when the showers come over. Plus I figure I may as well just pull the dash out to fix that at the same time as rewiring a few bits and fixing the central locking. Its certainly a damn sight easier to do that than being contorted around to get up under the dash.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:04 pm

Looking good.
How many dollars in change were under the seats? If found about $2, melted Skittles and a UHF radio (which I fleabayed for $80).
Just black the base of the side mirrors and move on.
All the beaver panels get brittle and eventually crack (mine is faded and am afraid to touch it).

takai · Postby **takai** » Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:09 pm

bruce wrote:Looking good.
How many dollars in change were under the seats? If found about $2, melted Skittles and a UHF radio (which I fleabayed for $80).
Just black the base of the side mirrors and move on.
All the beaver panels get brittle and eventually crack (mine is faded and am afraid to touch it).

About $5 so far, but climbing. Might actually silver the mirrors, just to blend the much larger panel in with the rest of the door.

But as for the rear beaver panel the main reason i took it off was the hideous number plate mount you can see in the earlier photos. Someone had tried to remove it in the past but had stripped the head on the philips head screws. Hence taking it off to be able to screw it out from the back.

Then ill make up a little form to put in the crack and bog it up. Have a vague thought about putting chopped fibre mat into the back of it too as reinforcement.

takai · Postby **takai** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:53 pm

Completely brain dead this afternoon, so i headed home early and did some work on the car. Pulled the old cracked dash out:

Massive pain in the arse, as you take the entire dash, reinforcement etc out as one piece. Sure makes for far fewer bolts, but its a pain. Will let me pull the carpet out and actually clean 25 years of crud off it. Just a pity that none of the aftermarket carpet people make one for the MX5, as having nice fresh carpet would be nice.

Also found that the shifter boot is pretty perished, so that will need to be replaced

Now to tidy up some wiring and stuff, and finish off the half arsed AC delete. Might replace the heater core too while I have the entire dash out, cant hurt.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 6:00 pm

takai wrote: Just a pity that none of the aftermarket carpet people make one for the MX5, as having nice fresh carpet would be nice.

http://www.knoxautocarpets.com.au/mx5-1/

Haven't used them, so cant say what they're like.

But i know Knox carpets are a pretty common choice in the classic car scene.

takai · Postby **takai** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 6:27 pm

hks_kansei wrote:
takai wrote: Just a pity that none of the aftermarket carpet people make one for the MX5, as having nice fresh carpet would be nice.

http://www.knoxautocarpets.com.au/mx5-1/

Haven't used them, so cant say what they're like.

But i know Knox carpets are a pretty common choice in the classic car scene.

Oh so they do. I couldn’t find it on their site before. I’ll go get one then. Had them in my last 4 road cars.