97 MXV's NA8 Gender Transformation

[Red_Bullet]

I didn't know that sparkley had a passport.

[bruce]

I am really not understanding any of your recent posts.

[Nevyn72]

I am really not understanding any of your recent posts.

I think you may need to consider the date of the post.....

[bruce]

The 2nd of April.

[Red_Bullet]

You wouldn't like anything by David Lynch then Bruce.

[97 MXV]

One can't be too careful when it comes to steering. UK Mx5 researcher Driftmonkey, said...Just because you get thru an inspection doesn't mean you're road legal.
Takumi Asahikawa also drives sideways so Yes if something is hidden then how will a tester know unless you tell them. Doesn't mean it's right.



You do years of drift days, inspected every year, but one day on your drive home it's breaks whilst doing 110 kph on the motorway, the wheel turns 90 degrees and throws your car into a bus carrying orphan babies, kittens, puppies and explosives, there's a giant fireball of death but your car and you survive, crash investigation finds the broken knuckle had been welded, the judge had a kitten on that bus, he's not pleased, you go to jail for life and are buggered with the broken welded knuckle everyday til eventually your insides prolapse and you die....True story.

Destructive Tests of the Steering and Brake Modifications - Steering Test Complete

I have yet to raise the cash for a rigorous destructive test of the Brembos, however the steering tie rod test is now done.

The threaded joint survived the deliberate test to destruction with a harmless failure mode, maybe bent but not broken !

Great Success....The tie rod bent before the joint pulled out.
The official test report co-authored with David Lynch or Peter Foster, both keen to test the steering with a 747 at full noise before publishing date of 1st April 2020 .

[97 MXV]

Good News is that Sparkley is back on the road with new clutch and bad oil leak fixed and new boy friend Takumi Fujiwara lit up by her gasoline.



Takumi was actually hired to road test the latest choice in rigid chassis braces....Ones that stiffen up the rear end of Sparkley.

Below are some examples of attempts at rear end rigidity .

IL Motorsports MX-5 Rear Chassis Brace



Some say this brace started out straight but bend down under the weight of the exhaust pipe also beaten down by the sound of Eurobeat and full noise engine torque drowning out the drumming sound accepted by Miata enthusiasts as Deja Vu.

Flying Miata Rear Subframe Brace

This one appears not so easily installed
These Swiss Cheese braces appear stiff in one direction and weak in compression (low l/r ratio)
They also mess with camber adjustment bolts and washers as these are needed for mounting it.

Ken Auto NA Rear frame end bar (DOSUKOI)

Rear Underrun Bar looks strong enough to protect against impact from chasing dogs submarining upon impact.
The idea ......explained in detail

Nielex Rear Lower Torsion Brace
Brace fitted together with OEM tie down points





Sparkley's Brace, Attachment & Carry Device) BACD
The tie down points are removed and the BACD fitted instead.




A range of lightweight mechanically fitted BACD attachments and carry modules will be prepared in due course.
These will fit neatly to the silver/chrome BACD coupling just below the centre of the rear parachute.

[97 MXV]

In these troubled times a necessary car health measure might be another triangular "warning sticker" to wrap itself around and under Sparkley's nice rounded full parachute bum. Its inspired by the famous "Mind the Gap", warning sign to promote a decent gap, aka "social distance" behind Sparkley's deadly exhaust gas.



The truth be told, the nicely formed triangular "sign" is actually an improvisation from the "exhaust side" of a British Railways Bikini Bottom matching the Bikini Top)


The improvised sticker also points down at a prototype BACD (BACD is short for Brace, Attachment & Carry Device) that Sparkley has now adopted. (Enough of the sticker, the BACD will now be given its own System Description).

Some say the BACD looks like an "Out of Print" tow bar. It mounts to the captive nuts where the rear tie down brackets fit.
These brackets need to be removed and discarded to make way for this "Bad Boy Brace".

Photos of "rare used tow bars" courtesy other forum members.




In fact, Sparkleys example has been lovingly transformed from a tow bar to a BACD by painful removal of its tongue and more robust mounting using higher grade and tougher design hardware to keep it gripped to the vehicle as a proper brace unable to flog itself loose.

Even Blind Freddy advised this Aussie Brace, the BACD looked much sturdier and stiffer than the imported braces showcased in the last post.
It has robust end mounts and is obviously significantly strong in all directions (even torsionally) to avoid structural fatigue risk at the centre attachment.



It is worth noting that this brace has no centre mount to the vehicle. All loads and deflections transfer to the end attachment bolts tightened to rust free areas of the vehicle.

People convinced by this taxonomy will make the classification: a "BACD" rather than a "Tow Bar", or a "Placebo"

[StillIC]

People convinced by this taxonomy will make the classification: a "BACD" rather than a "Tow Bar", or a "Placebo"

Thanks for clearing this up Keith. I was concerned that you really did believe you didn't have enough rigidity! I should have known.

[97 MXV]

A round steel tube stiffener across the back identical to a tow bar was selected for Sparkley because of its high bending, torsional rigidity and proven design under prescribed loads.

A rear end stiffening tube like Sparkley's BACD is a DOSUKOI (Dust Coy) as explained with Redhead Jap enthusiasm.



MX5 Mania sell them but Sparkley wanted something stronger and stiffer to go with her MX5 Plus Torque Box roll bar.

She is gaining weight a little and unfortunately there is no placebo effect when it comes to gravity and endurance under load of steel vs aluminium weldments.

[The American]

All we need now is a before and after test video similar to that produced by Ken Auto so that we can replay it repeatedly while using our imagination to precisely determine the change in chassis deflection brought about by the Aussie BACD.

My car was so much stiffer after installing the ROPS that all four wheels now leave the ground simultaneously when I jack up just one, such as when removing a wheel and nuts to check the threads of the wheel studs are still intact (I am surprised how few people do this regularly considering how essential the threads are for vehicle occupant safety).

[97 MXV]

Unlike the Jap method with a video, Aussie methods for measuring torsional rigidity and beaming of modified cars done statically exist and measured against Govt imposed performance standards.
A Google search will find the official Transport Dept info.

This link from a car magazine for Torsional testing methods is similiar and done with wheels off and using body stands to eliminate effects of suspension and tyre deflection.
The magazine claims stiffeners installed in the front or rear overhangs are ineffective.
This claim is true for beaming but is untrue for torsional rigidity because the positioning of tubular cross members on a stiff beam chassis is much less critical.

Having said all that techo stuff the Aussie BACD could be videoed Jap Style with the aid of a weighted pendulum hanging free from the BACD mountings as a vertical datum from which to measure steady state roll angles...



Next step will be to procure this nice shiny pendulum and hang it from the BACD ready for next track day.

[97 MXV]

What do you think about the two tone colour scheme for my new valve cover ?









Oops its a PrettyDodgy_Camcover......



The small bolt is hopefully occupying this space between cam gears.


Yet to be fitted and trialed. I am hoping Loctite and the plastic front covers will help stabilize the single bolt fitting.
However to be sure I will likely make up a discrete external bracket or an easier internal tricky threaded alloy spacer block with 2 hi tensile screws not one bolt.

Necessity is the mother of invention......What do you do with one cam cover broken in transit and one cam cover sawn off in transit or before.

Answer make one from two in order to produce a "two piece" cam cover making it easier to adjust JDM Tuner cam sprockets.......

Hmm........Maybe good if someone 3D printed the black piece saving one cam cover in the process.

[Alex 2550]

What about a Maruha timing cover Keith?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[97 MXV]

Thanks Alex, for those pics showing curvaceous Japanese copies of my original concept with those two ubiquitous speed bumps in front highlighted.


................

Admittedly Maruha cover appears less dodgy and exposes cam gears fully when slipped off and importantly, is genuine JDM Tuner.



Unfortunately all Sparkley is getting now is a fake sticker awaiting one day, Maruha's inspired equally sized implants I imagine are about Cup D1.