Big Red's "A tale of two 5's"

[Big Red]

Hey all!

Thought I'd better post up what I'm doing with my cars, This will be sorta a build thread/dairy on what I'll be doing with the pair of roadsters I have.

I've been driving a Mazda Mx5 for the last few years & I have been loving every second behind the wheel!! Then about 12mths ago I bought a 2nd Mx5 as daily run about/project while I had my original off the road for repairs. (more information will follow soon.)

I bought my first MX5 stock off Carsales and it was stock 2 and a half years ago. Now its been modified a fair bit and now its boosted with a MP45 Eaton Supercharger & will be setup as a daily driver.

What my first car looked like when I first took delivery of it Rather rough looking


And after a little bit of elbow grease it looked rather neat for something that was not looked after very well.


My MX with Marty's "Blue Turd"


Witch also brings me to the other thing...... As known at the moment as "THE HACK" (for obvious reasons)

[Big Red]

Spec Sheet : Supercharged Daily

Engine
- JDM Import B6ze - 70k when installed
- Moss motors MP45 supercharger kit (HOT SIDE)
- Fujitsubo Legalis R Catback exhaust
- Cheep a$$ catch can
- Heat wrapped stock exhaust manifold

Chassis
- 3 point carbing front strut brace
- OMGPham Master cyl brace
- OMGPham reinforcement frame rails
- Na8/Nb8a Brake rotor & calipers

Electrical

Drive line
- Light weight 4kg cro-mo flywheel

Suspension
- King Springs (LOW)
- Koni Yellow adjustable dampers

Exterior
- Mazdaspeed MS-03 15x6.5 (Red Centers)
- Toyo Proxes R1R 195/50r15
- NB Mx5 Heritage edition JDM tan soft top
- BK Mazda 3 radio antenna

Interior
- JDM Bifold Eunos Roadster sun visors
- OMGPham 3 gauge single din radio fascia
- NB8a Pedal box assy
- Mazdaspeed cylindrical carbon shift knob
- Mazdaspeed carbon H/brake handle

[Big Red]

Spec Sheet : "THE HACK"

Engine

Chassis

Electrical

Drive line

Suspension

Exterior
Factory Hardtop w/removed soft top
Mazda 121 14" steelies

Interior

[Big Red]

Chapter 1 - The Begining.

I shall start my roadster story,

I bought my first MX5 off a female owner in Knoxfeild in Melbourne's S/e suburbs (not far from where I did work). Pure convenience for viewing after work had finished. That afternoon I test drove it & I fell in love with the little car even though it looked a little rough.
Two weeks later it was mine, I had took delivery on the 1/4/2011 yes..... April fools day... would this come back to bite me on the a$$??

A few hours after on the way home from picking the car up I started to notice the clutch was slipping. I was quite annoyed at myself that I did not pick this up on the test drive as it was actually raining the day I took it out and I could not actually push the car to its potential. I also noticed a few other things on the way home like the fact that she had not cleaned the car's interior at all & that the shock absorbers felt like I was riding a bucking bull in the corners (note to self.) Never think it's ok to buy a car off a female owner because some girls just don't have a blue clue on vehicle maintenance & regular service intervals!

Turns out I should have paid more attention when I bought that car *face palm*



After I got it home i cleaned as much of the human slime out of the car as possible.... the previous owner turns out to be a chronic compression smoker, the interior smelt like a ashtray for weeks (the car has quite a small cabin area) & there was dog hair everywhere!!! That following weekend I cleaned every nook & cranny I could to try and get rid of evidence of the original owner & also I gave it a cut & polish as the car was pink with oxidization.



The following week i had the car off to the mechanics to get a pre-roadworthy check & he came back to me with a small list

1. Wiper Blades.
2. Rear window to be replaced (fogged vynil).
3. Front brake shudder, Replace front rotors & pads.
4. Both sun visors missing.
5. Top up master cylinder with brake fluid.
6. Replace the shock absorbers.

After a week or so of fiddling about & purchasing parts it was ready for roadworthy, I was pretty happy that that was all that was wrong with it.




A couple of weeks later I had saved up enough money to get it registered! This was awesome having a convertible as a daily driver, many weeks I enjoyed driving home after work in warmth of the afternoon sun.



Six months later I was starting to get sick of the 23 year old original soft top with its foggy back window that had very little visibility out of. And its leaky cracks above the side windows from where the vinyl folds it let air in at 100kph and used to flap about & the water it leaked in any sign of rain.
I replaced it with glass back window soft top off a NB Heritage edition (Tan top).

This was much better it did not leak air @100kph, it improved visibility in the dry & best of all........ IT DID NOT LEAK!!!!!


And a couple of weeks after in installed the roof I replaced the exhaust with a custom shop made sports exhaust I bought off a mate & I also acquired some lowering springs. MOAR LOW & MOAR LOUD!!!!



Disaster struck for the 1.6L (B6ZE) a month later when it was using huge amounts of oil in a short amount of time & the engine was making a pretty nasty rattle from the bottom end. I knew this was going to be terminal damage for the original engine (more than 250k's on the clock) anyway..... So I bit the bullet & took the car down to ALLMAZ in Clayton to have the engine replaced. Usually I do all my mechanical work but this was a bit over my head at the time as I did not have access to a engine crane & due to work commitments I had the guys at ALLMAZ replace the engine for me. A week later I picked the car up with a 70km's B6ze out of a Eunos Roadster (Jap import).

While it was in there I got the rear main seal replaced, Exeedy HD clutch and a 4kg light weight flywheel installed. WOW.... This did make the car feel a lot more alive!!! The flywheel is half the mass of the factory unit & had made the thing a whole lot more lively without sacrificing a huge amount of drive-ability.
It still took me a little bit of getting used too though.




TO BE CONTINUED......

[HONKYTONK]

sweet thread mate, I'll keep an eye on this ride for sure

[Big Red]

sweet thread mate, I'll keep an eye on this ride for sure

Thank you HONKYTONK, when I get home tonight after work I shall write some more.
Makes me feel a bit warm & fuzzy to get it off my chest and it reminds me of all the highs & lows I've had with my little car =D

[HONKYTONK]

Oh dude don't get me started! my ute was palying up something shocking today!

got it on the hoist and removed the mudflaps, now it feels fine..... :S

stupid mud tyres lol

[Big Red]

Oh dude don't get me started! my ute was palying up something shocking today!

got it on the hoist and removed the mudflaps, now it feels fine..... :S

stupid mud tyres lol

haha yeah I can totally understand where your coming from with that stuff.... My GF's S13 Silvia (ca18de - Auto) is chronic for it! One day its runs like a trooper when I drive it.... Then the GF complains that something is wrong & it never seems to play up when I'm behind the wheel???

[Big Red]

Chapter 2 - Up's & Downs

I did my first ever Autokana and I rather enjoyed it, It taught me to use those memorizing/puzzle skills that I don't use very often & that its a pretty laid back way of doing any sort of motor sports. They even let young ones loose to compete (with passenger supervision) & the other thing is IT'S CHEAP AS!

Two weeks after the new engine install my alternator decided to think that life was all too much & die on me at Rockbank roadhouse whilst I was on my way up to Stawell to work up north for the week. I noticed that some of the electrics were not working too well (CD player was cutting in and out & the electric windows were not working that well). This was quite interesting because the alternator charge light was not illuminating to show a failure in the charging system, but then I had to push start my car because there was low voltage. I had a 3 choices.... stay put & call RACV, return to my home in Altona (30mins away) or push onwards to the auto electrician in Bacchus Marsh to (favored auto sparky that my boss uses in the area).

I decided to push onwards to the auto electricians, I could always call RACV if the car failed on this attempt. So i continued my journey & the car was driving as there was nothing wrong. So i arrived at "H & K Auto Electrical" and spoke to the sparky on duty & I told him that my alternator may be on the fritz, He replied "can you pop the hood?" I replied "no problems" as I popped the hood. He looked puzzled as he was looking for the battery..... Its in the boot I said.
as I popped the boot with the keyfob whilst the car was still running it all of a sudden the engine cut out.

Well at least it was at the workshop, Ive been stuck in alot worse places. As the alternator was the problem & they did not have a replacement item they could not finish the job until the following day. so my dog max & I had to catch the train home without my little car and I returned in 24hrs to pick it up the next day & continued my journey to Stawell.



A week after I had the brand new Bosch alternator installed I decided to investigate a belt squeek I had. As I was driving to Brisbane for the Christmas holidays the following week

Munted de-laminating loose Acc belt..... further investigation showed that the tensioner was at max tension! It was odd that the part number was correct, turns out it was stretched & de-laminating in 2" to 3" sections on the inside.

This is what I found, Picture shows the inside of the belt.


Somewhat glad I have replaced it myself...... bit pissed off that it had two chances to come off by two different workshops over the last month and a half.... & yet I have to pay mechanic to check this stuff whilst doing general maintenance in the area of the said part hell they even touched it! yet I have the balls to say it's buggered & change it myself >:/

TO BE CONTINUED.....

[Big Red]

Added blooper vid I found, I over rotated the car on the last cone & got lost

(the vids are off a freinds channel)

[HONKYTONK]

yeah lets not talk about alternators either lol!

I run a truck battery, interior neons, DRLs, High intensity Highs / lows and High Intensity Driving lights. Not HID but close.

Then add in a stereo with two amps, one draws like a pencil :S

I'd love to swing a car around at that track in geelong. I always see it on my way to melb. Small world mate!

[Big Red]

yeah lets not talk about alternators either lol!

I run a truck battery, interior neons, DRLs, High intensity Highs / lows and High Intensity Driving lights. Not HID but close.

Then add in a stereo with two amps, one draws like a pencil :S

I'd love to swing a car around at that track in geelong. I always see it on my way to melb. Small world mate!

Yeah I can understand with all that power draw.... I've seen some pretty impressive lighting setups on some fourby's before & i can relate to the issues that your having with alternators & power distribution.

The AutoX track is pretty awesome although I never drove on it as that the MX5 is a bit low for it. I remember when they built it years ago when I was younger (many moons before I even thought of getting behind the wheel of any car) must have been the mid 90's or something.

Indeed a very small world :P I used to live in Geelong when I was younger (before my parents split up)

[Big Red]

Chapter 3 - Long drive & holiday fun Pt1

After I got all the mechanical checks out of the road & I was happy with the way it was and there was little or no chance it was going to break down.
I hit the road with my little co-pilot "Max" & we were on the long haul to Brisbane for the Christmas holidays for a month of well earned holidays.

There were some interesting things I learned along the way like I was glad I re-gassed the air-con because it was icy cold and that the Na6 offers a great place to put your coke can when driving. Also not to leave Melbourne on the Western Ring Road @ peak hour in the morning while they are rebuilding the road in that area.


Best ever feature of the stock Na6 console!


Somewhere in outback N.S.W. there was a lot of empty flat open roads like this.


I passed a few road trains on the way up, quite a interesting task in a little naturally aspirated 1.6


Max & DOMO being all cute & stuff.

While on my travels up north the weather got hotter & hotter I noticed that my Nav-man GPS was starting to get a bit unreliable and was cutting out intermittently, I was too worried as that it had a good life & had served me 4 years of use. I got it when i was on my probationary license so it had served me well. So after that little issue of the heat & GPS the CD player was also being a pain but it was still sort of working.
I bought a MAP at a fuel station, I re-fueled my car and my belly & I was on my way again with the top dropped & the wind in my hair.






TO BE CONTINUED....

~I have some some interesting stuff coming soon..... in the next part :P