The Zero7Four Mx5 Mk2 Build

[Randy]

Oooh shiney new things, get all the cars sorted and then more bbqs in summer again, yaaaay summer

Sounds good.

[JohnRaff]

Great packaging haha :P

I wrapped it with everything i could get my hand on at the time ha!
Bet of luck with it now man, didnt know it was you who bought it off me!
Car is looking great!

[Randy]

I wrapped it with everything i could get my hand on at the time ha!
Bet of luck with it now man, didnt know it was you who bought it off me!
Car is looking great!

Cheers man. Will have another update soon.

[Randy]

So the car is currently getting these few bits fitted to it by a trusted mechanic:

Timing belt kit



New waterpump (so shiney):



diff oil seal:






Was having an issue with the water pump, so I decided the best thing to do would be to get the whole timing kit done at the same time. Must say I like the quality of the parts.

The mechanic also decided it would be a good idea to replace all the gaskets, as the head was going to be off the engine anyway. So I was advised that this would be the best chance to paint the rocker cover.

This is it before I went anywhere near it:



Shit pic, but you can see just how in need of some attention it was.

After a power hosing and drying:



The tools for the job:



Next step was to degrease it. Did this a few times to make sure all the dirt was lifted:



Next job was sanding. I almost had the thing way too smooth, and was kind of tempted to keep going to a polish finish, but I didn't want to be at it for half a week, and already had the paint bought:



So after sanding, it was pretty to be sprayed.

First coat:



2nd:



after 4 coats and one empty can later:



I think it turned out pretty well, as I haven't sprayed anything in years. Going to get a friend to full in the letters for me though, and probably going to go with red paint for them.
I'll get a few pics of it fitted next weekend when I get the car back and after giving the whole bay some much needed TLC.

[martycturbo]

good job,, you going for a thicker headgasket then??

[Randy]

good job,, you going for a thicker headgasket then??

Nah keeping it stock, but I wanted to replace it as well as the pump and timing kit. Looking back I probably should've gotten a thicker one though.. Still, the engine's going to be a lot healthier now.

[martycturbo]

Nah keeping it stock, but I wanted to replace it as well as the pump and timing kit. Looking back I probably should've gotten a thicker one though.. Still, the engine's going to be a lot healthier now.

thicker one would of been a good job lowering compression for your turbo conversion,, still though ,,if youre not planning on running big boost you cant go wrong with a new one,,

[Randy]

thicker one would of been a good job lowering compression for your turbo conversion,, still though ,,if youre not planning on running big boost you cant go wrong with a new one,,

That's my thinking. I don't need insane boost from it. Doubt I'll go higher than .7

[Randy]

So got the car back over the weekend there, with a sh*tload of work after being done to it.

Here's a quick list of the top of my head what the mechanic has done:

replaced timing belt kit
replaced water pump
replaced head gasket
Got the head skimmed and pressure tested
compression tested the engine - Engine is 110%
sprayed the manifold - Must've been cheap paint, as it didn't last, but it still looks awesome now
replaced all seals and gaskets
Tidied up the bay
Had the car valeted

So quite a lot of stuff. Must say it feels like a completely new car, and there is a serious gain in power. One cylinder was down on power before, and this was where the head gasket had gone. It was a good thing I was thinking about getting this done anyway, because at the time I was only concerned with the water pump. Good thing I got the gasket too.. Now all I have to do is pay the man, and he definitely knows how to charge..
Here's a pic I took last night to try and show the new dash lights:



I also got MaGingle to do in the letters in red for me on the Rocker Cover. Must say it turned out really well:



Pic of the bay and stamp:





So that's it for now. Heading to Poland next week, so I won't be spending money/updating this until March again, but the first and foremost thing to do is to get that f*cking scratches sorted.
Thanks for reading.

[Randy]

Quick update:

A few pics of it covered in snow, in the brief winter that Donegal got:





It's sitting pretty high right now, and looks even higher without the front lip.. but once it's through the NCT next month it'll come down an inch or so and the lip will go back on when the panels are sprayed.

Decided to have a crack at removing the charcoal canister today, and used this guide for it:

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15120

The only difference between that guide and what I did was the nipple on the throttle body was in a different location. I follow the rubber hose and it was underneath, rather than on top. I also didn't have any of the rubber nipples from the rear lights, so I left a bit of the hose that was already on it, and blocked it off with some cable ties and a screw. Seems to do the job, I managed to tuck it away nicely, along with any other hanging bits, so it cleared the area up well.

Before:



After:



It tidies the bay up nicely I think, and I gave that area a bit of a clean with some degreaser. Worked out well, and overall I was only in there for around 30 mins.