I can hardly believe it myself, but the MX5 is finally outside after sitting (not neglected, mind you) for the best part of a year. IIRC, I think it arrived home on the 6th of October 2020.
Anyway – Since I managed to Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory, life got in the way. 6 booked weekends with family stuff. Almost a full week away from home doing work stuff, extended w/e away from home for Mom and Dads 50s Anniversary. Countless evenings spend planning some light entertainment for said anniversary and even more evenings doing a sign for it. Note:1
Still – this Friday, despite not feeling all that great, I managed to get the new housing for the water pump installed, got the prettied up subframe mounted (I honestly can’t believe I didn’t take a single picture of that) and got the new center console delete piece with switches for the power windows installed: Note:2
Odds on that part coming out again any time soon to be prettied up and color coded?. Slim to none most likely. The fit is ok and most importantly, the windows work. Go me!
So another Saturday away from home and then:
one MX5 leaving the garage under power, it’s own even, on Sunday the 26th:
I’m a huge fan of loud pipes. Bikes, cars: something fast passing me on the highway doing illegal km/h makes my hair stand up. And the old saying: “Loud pipes save lives” – I’m a fan. Now the Japspeed 2½” stainless cat-back system is borderline ridiculous though. I don’t think it’s any louder than the stock, but has a bit of a burble that the stock one misses. I’m ok with it though. It doesn’t attract attention and it will definitely help give that vital good first impression come inspection date.
Anyway: I must have done something right because it feels awesome, it really does. I think the word I’m looking for is “tight”. Everything feels somehow solid and connected and not nearly and harsh as I had feared/expected with the HSD COs with 12 and 9kg springs (stock is 8/6). Mind you, they’re set to the softest position as they should be according to the manual for the first couple of hundred km but I was still expecting a much harder ride when adding 25% to the springs. It’s in no way plush like the stock MX5 (and no comparison with our VW up! at all) but I’m still surprised how it feels going over imperfections in the road.
Combined with the 3kg saved pr. corner going from 17″ to 15″, new spark plugs and spark plug wires, it also feels quite a bit sprightlier than before.
More plus: I really think my alignment is better than just ballpark. It tracks completely straight. Going left or right feels exactly the same – except opposite. When hitting the brakes hard with no hands on the wheel (you know what I mean), it doesn’t deviate. Just goes straight. Yes, the brakes are awesome too ( :
Only issue after the initial test drive to see if it would kill me or catch fire, or both, was the t-clamp on the top coolant hose that needed 1½ turn to stop the coolant pissing out. Refill and all was well.
And I did it all by myself – I could not be happier!
Note:1 I don’t do standard, so my take on a sign for a 50th Anniversary looks like this:
Note:2 I’ll get to the center console delete piece with the switches soon. Also Note:2 – if you want to take pictures of parts on the underside of your lowered car, do it while it’s sitting on 35cm tall blocks – not when it’s on the ground. Truth Fact!
If you didn’t know better, you’d think some schmuck put in a roll bar, slapped on some 15″ wheels and dropped it 25mm… (that’s exactly what I did, more or less)
Something Something MX5 