Hugo the Eunos

These cars are dangerous!

2012-02-02T11:17:00.001+00:00

That may be a bold statement, but I think its true. Not in a sense where you may be injured by wheels flying off or brakes failing as you hurdle down the country lanes, but rather they consume time and money.

My car has been part of my family for just over a year now, and I am not ashamed to say that it consumes me. I think about how much fun the day’s drive was as I drift off to sleep, and I wake up with new ideas of how to make the car more fun. My wife sort of understands; she has a great time whenever we go somewhere in Hugo, but I don’t know if she comprehends the depth of the obsession. When the weekend comes, I am torn between several options: laundry, wash and wax for the car, or a drive to the pub.

I have a very large stack of laundry.

When we bought the car, I wanted to keep it fairly original, there is a certain amount of joy in owning an ‘unmolested’ version of a timeless car like this. It shows respect to the designer’s intentions and the realisation of dreams – I can only imagine how it must feel to have been on the design team for this classic motor. But with every car I’ve ever owned, the more I look at it, the more I want to make it my own. It certainly isn’t any disrespect – I don’t believe I can improve on the design – it’s more that if I do this, I will leave my mark.

I come from Canada originally, and the huge American culture of customisation has certainly leaked North – every car I’ve ever owned has had a bit of work done to it, as well as all the cars of any of my friends. This culture has created some amazing and some absurd pieces of rolling art, but what is horrible to me is awesome to the owner. And regardless of whether or not I think a modification is tasteless or not, I will always give respect to the owner – they are leaving their mark, making their ride their own.

I’ve attended a number of events with the Owners Club, and I am always in awe of the lengths some people go to, making their car unique. Engines so polished you can eat off them; custom finishes that catch the eye, roll cages stuffed in and engines tweaked, stereos that pound the earth – they are all candy to my eyes, and demonstrate just how affectionate people can feel towards their car. We’re in a club, after all!

So, I knew there was no way I could prevent myself from adding my own stamp of ownership and fondness. The car was lowered. Clear side marker lenses and chrome mirrors show off the outside. The stereo was replaced and a small amplifier installed, letting us hear the music as we drove with the top down. And white clocks replaced the black, with the Momo steering wheel left to expose its yellow horn button. A new air filter housing installed.

But more than the cosmetic things, I have enjoyed studying and working on the mechanical underpinnings. An engine tune up, new brakes all around, ball joints replaced, and new bushings in the gear selector help make the car run and feel like new. But as I’m sure other drivers with greasy thumbs know, once you start doing one thing, you keep finding more. And this is where the danger comes in.

When I replaced the front wheel bearings, I noticed the need for new upper ball joints. And I could imagine how the brakes would improve with braided lines installed. And the control arm bushings look a bit rotten…

It doesn’t end. There is no such thing as a ‘rolling restoration’, where you drive the car regularly and then fix the bits as they break and replace the bits you want to improve as you go. This process will never end, and I’m sure you feel the same. You can stand back and look at all you’ve done to your car, making it ready for the track or for the coolest MX 5 Competition, relishing in the way it pleases your eyes and your senses as you drive; but you are already imagining how much better the car would look if you did one more thing to it. Just one more thing. So as you drive along, with the top down and the wind in your hair and that instantly recognisable smile on your face that can only come from driving a 5, you realise that even after you consider how much money you have spent making your car yours, you don’t regret a penny of it. Which allows you to justify spending more, and driving further.

You see? These cars are dangerous.

Detango!

2012-01-31T14:26:00.000+00:00

Right. I've finally sobered up from New Years Eve, so I can post something new.
Actually, its been very difficult since November, when I last posted. I haven't had any time to do fun stuff on the car; Christmas takes up a lot of time and energy. I also have been very busy with school work - boring!
I have found myself thinking more and more about what I want to do to the car. It's all generally minor stuff, with no real unique ideas taking shape. I was trawling through the internet and came across a post on an American car audio forum, where a chap from Belgium was fabricating an install. The bits were not really my cup of tea, but I was really struck by the attention to detail - this guy was completely no-holds-barred. The detail is... incredible. The devotion is... ridiculous. But man, what a job!
Here is a link to the craziest build I have ever seen.
I will likely never reach this level of detail, as much as I want - life just gets in the way!
But the seed was planted. I wanted to get out there and do something...
I decided to do a bit of de-tangoing. This involves removing the orange reflector from inside the front marker lights, so the lens only sees clear, with no colour. I've seen it done, and didn't look too difficult, so I thought I'd give it a go.
Here is a before picture, complete with orange lenses:

Not a bad look, but I think it could make a big difference when changed...
I started by removing the light assembly (duh!) and bringing the bits inside. At this stage, I made sure the missus was alright with me using the oven; thankfully she was. I put the oven on it's lowest heat setting (it's gas, so even that was pretty warm), and set the lamps in a tray and started cooking.

I left them in for about 5 minutes, and thought I'd have a look to see if there was any progress. The point was to make the glue that held the clear plastic to the body of the assembly melt enough that they could be pried apart. I had a quick tug, and realised I should have taken the screws out completely...
Realising that it might be a bit smoother if I took my time, I took one out and cooked just one. I let it sit for a few more minutes, and had another go at pulling the lenses apart.

After a few minutes of teasing and pulling, I got them apart - but not without paying a price. Some of the tabs that hold the lens in place broke off, leaving large pieces of clear plastic in the housing. Not a pretty sight. The groove the lens sat in was also full of soft plastic, and the lens edging was covered in it as well.

Once I got one apart, I started cooking the other. I let it get a bit warmer this time, which helped. I took it slow, and returned it to the oven a few times to keep the glue malleable. The second one went much easier, but I still managed to make a little crack in the lens.

When both assemblies were separated, I took out the offending orange reflector - much better already! There was a metal shield around the bulb, and I contemplated leaving it out, but I thought it must be there for a reason. If it prevents the plastic from overheating and melting, then that's a good reason. To that end, I left them in place.
I then took on the arduous task of cleaning the lenses and the assembly of all the remaining glue. It has gone hard by this time, but that was not a problem. I just sat and watched a bit of telly, with a sharp utility knife in one hand and a lens in the other - I whittled away all the old adhesive. After a while, I realised I wasn't going to get them any cleaner, so I gave them a quick wash, dried them off with paper towel, and used a tack cloth to make sure there was no dust on the interior of the housing. I know it's not airtight, but I didn't want any fingerprints or smudges to show up.
So, here they are, ready to go back on.

Not perfect, but certainly good enough. Please ignore the horrible dents I put in the mirror coated surface of the plastic assembly - this was my first attempt!
I had some translucent bathroom sealant/adhesive sitting around, so I filled the trenches with the stuff - lots and lots. I figured any excess would be fairly easy to remove and would be better than having lights that got wet inside.

Very carefully, I placed the lens back into the assembly, taking care to fit around the two screw guides. I squeezed them together until I heard the 'click' of the tabs going home, and had a look. There was no adhesive squirting out anywhere that I could see, and it looked like it had sealed well. I left them for about twenty minutes, and tried tugging - they weren't coming apart.
The adhesive stuff said two hours to dry, so I left them sitting on the worktop overnight, and went to bed, dreaming about how much faster the car will go after my weight reduction regime... well not really.
The next day, slapped them in, and low and behold, they look good....

Here is a comparison of before and after for effect:

Cool, no?
Now, I have to think about the next level of mods. There are some essential maintenance things I need to do (such as timing belt), so that may come first, but right now, I like to just let my mind wander as to what will happen next to this thing....
Oh, and what I said at the beginning about just sobering up now from new years? That was a joke.
I'm still not sober.

Dashboard and Gauge facia Install

2011-11-15T13:40:00.000+00:00

Okay, so I had a bit of birthday money, and I thought I'd do something a bit fun. After paying for the stripper, I decided to buy some bits for the car!
Just kidding about the stripper.
I was trawling through the AutolinkUK website (the place I got my front wheel bearings from), I came across some custom gauge faces. I thought they looked cool, so I thought I'd give it a try. I got two kits; one for the gauges (speedo, revs, oil, fuel, temp), and one for the HVAC.
I sat in the car, last Sunday, a damp and chilly afternoon. It wasn't too bad, though, as I quickly worked up a sweat tearing the car apart.

Okay, a bit of history: I've ripped the dashboard apart a few times now. Don't ask me how many. I'm getting good at it, but I'm also getting equally proficient at losing the screws down in between the seats. I took off the center console, pulled out the dash vents, and unscrewed the radio / HVAC panel, revealing the lovely wiring inside!

I removed the four screws holding down the cover plate for the heating controls, which loosened it up.
Next I tried to pull the little knobs off the slider controls. I wrapped up my pliers in a cloth to prevent scratching the plastic.

They weren't going anywhere. I pulled and I pulled and then I pulled some more. In a moment of frustration, I pulled off all the old facias, ignoring the possibility that I may not get the new ones on - to hell with it, it's going to work!

Okay, lets try putting the dial bit on. I pulled the cover back a bit, and after removing the back of the double sided tape from the new facia, I gently put it into place.

I pressed it down, and voila - it's in.

Okay, these facias seem quite robust. I figured maybe I could put the new facia around the sliders, without having to remove the knobs.
That worked!
That looks better!

Okay, on to the gauges.
This kit came complete with instructions, which was brilliant. I read them over, and promptly discarded them. Honestly, how hard can it be to put the faces on? The instructions said something along the lines of letting the car run for twenty minutes or so to 'warm up the gauges'. What? That doesn't make any sense! What a load of bullocks.
I pulled the cover off the gauges, the large plastic hood thingy. Now because this car is an import, it originally had a km only speedometer facia, so I knew at some point someone had already taken the bits apart. So, I give it a good yank (after pulling out the two screws from the bottom and also removing the cover from the steering column) and it fell apart in my hands. The plastic was brittle to begin with, and half of it was left behind, still in the clips. I noted that there was a fair amount of glue in there - whomever was in there before had broken the cowling and did a quick fix. It didn't last. Okay, I'll try glueing it again... I tried taking a picture, for all you viewers (both of you), but the batteries conked out on my camera. Sorry guys.
Okay, so out comes the gauge pod. I had read that some people had difficulty getting the speedo cable off, but mine came off very easily. There is a little tab you press, and off it comes!
I brought the gauge pod indoors, as I didn't want to lose any little screws, and it was a bit cold. Okay, I also wanted a drink.
I pried the cover off the gauges, leaving the facias exposed.

I started by removing the needles from all the gauges, and put them all in a row, so they would be placed back on the correct gauge. The needles are a bit difficult, so the instructions actually came in a bit handy at this stage. I got a couple of tea spoons, wedged them under both sides of the needle, and very gently pried them off. The speedo one came off fairly easily - remember it had come off before.

After unscrewing the facias, I pulled them off and placed the new facia in. I took each needle and gently scraped the white paint off the back of each needle, then coloured them in with a red permanent marker. This is because a white needle on a white facia isn't going to show up very well. Plus it was fun colouring in!
So back the needles go on, very gently, not all the way, as I knew I would have to do some adjusting later on.
I stand back and admire how awesome my gauges are, and how awesome I am for doing this work! Go me!

So back to the car. It's full dark now, so I know there is no point in trying to put everything back together. I was able to push the connectors in and pushed in the speedo cable, and lit it up. Cool. It looks cool. To me, anyway.

So i start the car, and no my amazement, the car now idles at 3000 rpm. Oh, wait, the needle needs adjusting...
Pull it off, make it point at 1,000 rpm - that's better!

Oh, my oil pressure is right off the map - let's turn that down a bit. The problem is, I don't remember where it sat when it was just idling. I just took a stab at it, and put it at just under halfway. Rev the engine, needle goes up. Perfect. The temperature is wrong - the car hasn't run all day but it's almost overheating? At this point, I'm starting to clue in - I betcha the needle needs adjusting!

Fuel gauge? No idea. Hope it's close...
Okay, a quick spin around the block to see if the speedo is anywhere near right. I turned on my GPS and drove at a steady 30mph according to the gauge, and the GPS was reporting a speed of 29mph. That's acceptable to me, I'd rather it was reading a bit fast - safer around the speed cameras!
That's it for the night; it was too dark to do any more, so I'll finish off the install in the morning.
Back inside, I tried using super glue to rebuild the cowling - it didn't hold, and the vapours coated the black plastic, making it look white. Ugh, that's horrible, I've got to think of a way around this. Replacement cowls are about £20, so I could do that, but to be honest, I've never liked the way the plastic reflects off the windscreen - perhaps a bit of suede or something could cover it all up? With visions of an all new alcantara interior, Off to bed...
~~~~~~Wavy lines indicating the passage of time~~~~~~~
The next morning I get to see what the facias look like in daylight. I really like the way they look. Very smart, I think. So I'm sitting there, admiring my work, fiddling with the steering wheel, and I discover the horn pad comes off.
Oh! Hello! Why the hell would they cover that up! That looks so much better.

Anyway, I put it all together, and go for another drive. The missus and I want a pint, and we decided to do some antique shopping. Along the way, I discover the speedo is way out. When I drive 30mph, it's pretty close. When the speedo says 40mph, I'm actually doing 44mph. When the speedo says 55mph, the GPS claims I'm doing 60.
When I come to a complete stop, I can see the speedo is claiming a speed of about 8mph.
You know what? I think there was some truth to that 'warming up the gauges' malarky. Now I have to tear it all apart again and get it right - after the car has warmed up!
All in all, it was worth the £30 or so to do the job - it wasn't that difficult, but to be honest, you MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS - they are there for a reason!

Bearing Swap vs Man Cold

2011-10-25T17:13:00.001+01:00

So here I am, finally after many weeks of not spending time with the car. I have been an extra busy bee, and my time has been prioritised for me, with Hugo's repairs taking the forsaken end of the list.
That's not to say that I've not been having fun. We went to a wonderful wedding, and danced the night away surrounded by fun and music and lovely people. The ride home at midnight through the streets of London on a chilly October night was, well, chilly. And very wobbly with the bearings moaning about not getting any time off. I can however confirm the heater works.
Saturday came, and my plans to work on the car went out with the large piles of tissues beside the bed - I've been bedridden with the most serious of Man Colds ever to strike a man. Constantly dripping nostrils do not contribute well to sticking your head under the bonnet. Figuratively. It actually contributes quite a bit more than desired.
So, Sunday it is. I washed down a bunch of Sudafed feel good pills, waited for my head to stop pounding, and trudged off to the car.
First things first. I got the car up in the air, and decided to do the passenger side bearing first. I had purchased a pair of bearings from Autolink UK, and I must take a moment to give these guys their due.
I get a fair bit of my stuff from eBay, but if it's important to the running if the car, I'll go to a real shop. Autolink UK advertises in the MX-5 Owners Club magazine, Softtop/Hardtop, so I thought I'd give them a go. I rang them up, and I was quickly informed that they had plenty of bearings in stock. I ordered online (to get my club discount), and ordered the bits. A few days later I thought I'd check on the progress of the parcel, and the tracking number they thoughtfully provided me with told me that they had tried to deliver but I wasn't home - but I'm sure I asked it to be delivered to my office.... Hmmmm.
Gave them a quick email, and long story short, I gave them the wrong address. so what do you think they did? They contacted the courier, and amended the delivery for me! Way above the call of duty, chaps! So my sincere thanks to Anthony at Autolink UK - I got my bearings the next day!
Anyway, back to the reason you all flock here...
So, off with the wheel.

I read some instructions on the internet about how to change the bearings, and it suggested removing the brakes and all that, but I figured if I could leave the pads and the disc in one piece, I could save myself some work. So, I removed the two 14mm bolts holding the calipers on, and gave the whole assembly a tug. Perfect! With a bit of wire, the disc and caliper as one piece are off to the side - taking care not to bind the brake hose.

Here is the offending hub. I worried a lot about how to get the thing off; the torque rating was 130-160 ft lbs, which isn't easy to do with a standard ratchet. I purchased a 29mm socket for my 1/2 drive ratchet, so I figured I was ready for that, but what if I couldn't turn it? I searched high and low for a hollow bar I could use to get that nut off. Only when I got the jack out of the boot did I discover a perfectly serviceable bar included in the Mazda toolkit! Yay for smart car designers!

Looking a little closer, I am confident that this bearing is knackered. Don't know if you can see it, but there's some big shiny metal flakes hanging around there...

So here is my big nut. I put the ratchet on, put the bar on the end, and Heave-ho! It was a helluva tug, but it came off! I took the socket off, and looked at it - oops, I forgot to punch the dent out of the nut.
Well, no real damage there actually, so away we go!

Ideally, the dent in the nut will hold the nut in place, preventing the nut from walking off the spindle. That's why they put that spline in...
Anyway off with the hub! Ewww... That looks suspiciously like cooked grease...

Below, you can see where the remains of a rubber seal has stuck to the spindle. The seal had just parished after 20 years of service.

Here's the new hub, ready for installation. I gave it a good clean - the sharper-eyed viewers will notice these are not strictly new hubs. I'm sure they'll do the trick, anyway. In the background you can see the old nut and the new (old) nut. Note that whomever removed this bearing was cleaver enough to remove the dent from the nut before undoing it...

A bit of grease on the spindle...

I crammed as much grease as I could into the new bearings, to give them the best chance. My curiosity got the best of me though - I wonder what the bearings look like inside the hub? A quick tap with a hammer, and the old one fell apart.
There are two sets of bearings in the hub, an inner and and outer. Both showed lots of wear, and the steel balls were'n't strictly smooth anymore. Some debris had found its way in for sure.

So after a bit of grease, on with the new hub!
I put it on, spun the nut, and went to tighten it. I could only hope that I got the torque correct - too tight and you can wear out the bearings very quickly, too loose, and you'll know it right away. So I gave it a good tug, and had a look.
Okay, so I re-used the old nut. But you know what? It showed me exactly where the nut was before in relation to the spindle! So with a bit more grunting and the occasional blast of snot into my very dirty Kleenex tissues, I got the nut where it should be! Not very scientific, but at this stage I could take it to a garage, and borrow a torque wrench that goes up to 150 ft lbs (mine only goes to 75).
So, on with the dust cap, on with the wheel, and over to the other side!
Wait, do I need to do the other side?
If I wanted to, I could have just bought one hub. People will sell you only one. You don't have to replace in pairs. Go on, you're sick as a dog, get back inside, wash your hands, and wait for your wife to get you some chicken soup.
My brain is trying to wreck the car.
Or it's trying to save me work.
One way to settle - a test drive.
I drove about 100 feet and realised I needed to change the other one as well - there was a definite rumble coming from the front, specifically when turning left, and it went away when turning right. Sorry, brain, back to work.
Replacing the bearing on the passenger side took about 45 minutes, including 20 minutes examining the old bearings and pauses for emergency snort drainage. So the other side should be quicker, right?
Well, it would have been if the damned disc would have come off...
If you look through my previous blog entries, you will know about the trick of inserting a screw into the disc to push it off the hub. Well, I was sitting down, on the floor, tired, sneezy, and grumpy, and without a bolt within arm's reach. I decided not to get up and find one and save my self a pile of grief. Instead I wielded the hammer with a loose grip and a sorry determination to get this over with. Finally, after draining all my energy and nearly all my will to live, it popped off. Fifteen minutes later, and that hub was changed as well. And yes, there were metal filings hanging around it as well.
So, pack it all up, drag myself up to the flat, and request mahlaydeez's company on a test drive. We go a spin, with the top up of course, it's a chilly day.
And how does the car feel after replacing both front hubs? It's like driving a new car. Well, a twenty year old new car.
I guess there is truth to the saying that you will never finish a rolling restoration. I noticed my upper ball joints were looking a bit tired...

Tyres, Bearings, etc

2011-09-28T09:10:00.000+01:00

We went to Lincoln last weekend, and had a great time working on the house. The only thing was this vibration in the car...
I went to a local tyre place, and asked them to help me out. I got the front tyres re-balanced - they were quite far out, even though they were done when I had them installed about two months ago. I wanted the rear tyres replaced as well, but the chap said I only needed one, so a bit of savings there.
Took it for a boot around the country lanes. The vibration is still there, but not as bad, so some of it was the balancing of the tyres.
So, back to the drawing board, as it were.
I did some research, and found that if the front bearings are nearing the end of their lives, they can give the symptoms the car has - a little vibration going straight ahead, steadily worse the further left I turn the steering wheel, at it's worst between 30 and 45 mph. The vibration magically disappears when turning right, but hard right turns (like around a fast roundabout) I get a clunking, grinding sound. Now, I need to get the front of the car up in the air and spin the wheels. A grinding noise whilst spinning the hub (with the wheels still on to keep the load on the bearings) would indicate bad bearings. Now the bad thing is, because the car has been lowered, every time I jacked it up using the factory scissor jack, it was putting lots of strain on the jack. Now it's almost impossible to turn the jack when it's at it's lowest setting. So, I need a new jack. I can't really go to Halfords and get a nice trolley jack, because they don't fit - I know this from the tyre shop, they had to lift the car by the wing in order to get the clearance to insert the jack. I will need to get a standard scissor jack. Not a bad thing, it just makes me wonder how many jacks I'm going to go through....
So this weekend we're off to Canterbury to visit a friend. I won't really have much time to work on Hugo, but I can always hope. In the mean time, I have to source some new bearings. I want to do both the front bearings; if one is gone, the other can't be far behind. I also have to wonder if the bearing failure has anything to do with the severe camber the car had when I first dropped the car two and a half inches, and the bad alignment. It's not so bad now, but I think it may have contributed to its demise.
Hopefully my next update will show the new bearings installed!

MX-5 Owners Club National Rally and other Bits

2011-09-21T16:31:00.001+01:00

So a few weekends ago, we did a bit of a polish on the old guy. We took all the lights off, polished them, and got out the T-Cut - the paint had faded to pink again. The T-Cut did a crazy good job at making it red again! The polymer finish stuff I had used before didn't really stand the test of time, so this time, it got good old fashioned wax.

Lights removed, ready for some polishing

That's better!

This is all in preparation for the next weekend. And what a weekend! The MX-5 Owners Club held their annual National Rally, at Northampton. Spread over three days, it was full of stuff to do; all of which I wanted to do, but very little I actually got to do.

Ready to go...

Oh well, next year!
The missus and I went to the events on Saturday, which were held at Silverstone race track. We got there around lunch time, and we watched the cars go round! The club has secured track usage on the Stowe circuit for us, and lots of people took out their daily drivers for a spin.
This was a very tempting prospect for us; I've always wanted to take the car out on the track, but I had some things I had to do first.
Just before I got the MOT done, the car developed a tiny vibration in the steering wheel and the floorboards. I ignored it; thinking it was would go away. Shows you how much I know about owning 20 year old cars!
The vibration got steadily worse. On the way up to Silverstone, the vibration was getting rather distracting. It started creating rattles in the dash, which are my worst enemy! Anyway, the vibration was enough of a worry for me that I didn't take Hugo on the track. The next rally I hope to do this, as it looks like the most fun you can have in a car (one without a backseat, anyway).

In the open pits. The Kit car in the front started life as an MX-5.

We toured the infield and looked at all the awesome cars. There were some seriously sweet rides there. There was a black Mk1 with what looked like 13 inch wheels, lower than anything, and he was really fast and smooth on the track. So fast, my camera couldn't focus, so I missed that picture.
There was a Mk1 painted like the Japanese flag, which grabbed my attention. A supercharger! Ooooh, I know what I want for Christmas!
They had some track only cars as well; the drivers would take you out for a few laps in a quick fashion, we saw one lady come back in from her laps and she looked like she was in shock - she was very pleased with her laps!
After grabbing a quick (overpriced) bite of food, we headed to the club tent and got our map instructions for a fun drive around the Northampton countryside. Off we went!

The weather held out for us while we hung out at the track - a bit cold, but no rain. You can see it looked rather imminent in the photos. About five minutes into our drive, the hood went up in a hurry - torrential rain! It lasted about 10 minutes, and we weren't bothered for the rest of our drive but we did get a bit cold.

Awesome single lane roads - the SatNav proclaimed 'Driving on - Road'.

Some ducks in the road, having a kip.

The planned course for the drive was unbelievable. I had no idea that Northampton was so beautiful. The quaint villages, the thatch-roofed cottages, sprawling fields under massive skies, and of course the wicked, twisty one lane roads! The drive couldn't avoid A Main roads completely, but they were kept to a minimum.
We stopped at a free range farm shop and grabbed some potatoes and some eggs - we were waved off on our way out by the chickens!

Chickens gather to watch us cart off their unhatched children.

We ended our drive at a pub, the Ward Arms. Not our first choice for pubs, but it was mostly empty, and served lovely bitter shandies and a nice plum ale. And the lady behind the bar was lovely!

We didn't actually complete the entire drive, as the car was vibrating like mad - getting worse and worse... The drive was mostly 30-40mph cruising, and that's when it was at its worst. So we got on the motorway and headed home.

We hit rain, and saw a rainbow. The quality of the light was extraordinary - very bright and high contrast but dark at the same time - photos couldn't do it justice.

So, Sunday....
Where is this vibration coming from? I got the car up in the air, started it, and put it in gear. The back tires spinning freely, I watched them carefully. sure enough, they weren't anywhere near round. There is some pretty profound egg shaped tyres going on here! The back tires passed the MOT, but looking at the sidewall, they are perished. So new tires are up next.
As the dash felt like it had rattled itself to bits, I took the bottom cover off the steering column trim and fished out the LED light I had installed ages ago and had fallen inside. I carved a new (smaller) hole in the plastic, and put the LED in there - now it shines on the key lock, so in the dark I can find the keyhole! Yay!
Since doing the rear brakes, the hand brake hasn't been quite right, so I adjusted it (again). It's still not where I want it to be, so I'll have another look when I can.
I also fished around with the wiring for the fog lamp and the rear defrost. One wire had worked itself loose so the light wasn't coming on when the defrost was switched on. All better now!
The factory supplied jack has been getting a real workout from lifting Hugo in it's lowered stance, and it's pretty much given up. I will need to get another one to replace it. It just never ends....

So we're off to Lincoln again this week for a four-day visit to work on the house. Hopefully the car will give us a fun ride up north!

Brakes!

2011-09-05T17:51:00.004+01:00

It's been a while, that's for sure. I don't get to give poor Hugo the attention he deserves so much as I'd like. This is the price you pay when you're refurbishing a house and moving and working non-stop...
So we had our MOT test done last weekend. Went to a great garage called Ferndale Autos. Never been before, but I was quite confident that all would be okay. My only concern was the rear brakes, as I didn't get a chance to do them before the test.
The chap at Ferndale was really nice, and let me participate in the MOT process - I got to pump the brakes, turn the wheel, etc. I know, not very exciting, but it was my second MOT test in the UK, and I didn't get to watch the first one (it was on my other car, a Golf). He was impressed with the shape the car was in, particularly underneath. I was lucky enough also to go underneath, and I got a good look at the gubbins down there. The exhaust is good - a bit scraped at it's lowest part due to the very low suspension I had at one point. There were similar scrapes on the frame just behind the front wheels from the same thing. The plastic splash guard that protects the bottom on the engine was a bit loose, but I now know how to fix it when I get underneath. I noticed the gearbox was a bit oily - it was a bit wet, nothing serious, and it looked like engine oil, but he said it's likely old ATF fluid (remember, this is an automatic!). It didn't raise a warning for him, so I will replace the gasket at my leisure.
Everything else under there looked lovely - in good shape and not rusty at all for a twenty year old car!
Then came the brake test. It did excellent on the rolling road bit, and he got out and said that I need to replace the rear pads, but it was still gripping really well. That was the only warning on my MOT. (It needed a bulb, but I replaced it before he wrote it up). I told him I had the parts at home and I would do it straight away. He saw that I had done lots of other stuff, and he asked if I did the work. I said yes, and he said he would trust me to do the brakes real soon. Top lad!
So, new brakes...
I was anxious to do them, and started bright and early. I got the wheels off the back, the car set on jackstands, and chocked the front wheels.

Dirty old worn out discs!

I'm glad I read a bit about how to do the rear brakes before I started, because it wouldn't be immediately obvious how to push the piston back without knowing - there is a hidden screw inside the caliper that you unwind to retract the piston.

Here is the caliper off the axle, with an allen key in the piston retractor.

Here you can see the piston has been retracted - because you can't see the piston anymore! It's gone behind the rubber seal

Once that was done, it was dead easy to remove the old discs (a quick tap with a hammer), and fit hte new pads:

Here you can see the difference between the new and the old. the old ones were just starting to make a scraping sound.

Installed!

After getting stuff bolted back into place, I turned the allen key to seat the pads against the disc. I turned them until there was resistance. At that point, I couldn't easily turn the disc by hand, so I backed off the piston one full turn. Then I threw the wheel back on, and went to the other side.

Not very visible, but that's okay - I know I've got some good brakes back there.

It took me about 45 minutes to re and re the passenger side brakes. The driver's side took about half an hour, just because I knew what to do. A few things I figured out in the process:

The first time, I took the caliper right off the axle and then tried to remove the screw that hides the retractor screw. I couldn't get the leverage, so I had to stick it back on. So for the other side, I made sure to remove the screw before I removed the caliper.
When I tried to fit the caliper with the new pads around the new disc, I had to wrangle it on - there wasn't much room. So on the other side, I took the small metal guides off the caliper, brushed off the loose dust, resat them, and installed - much smoother going on.
When getting the pads around the new disc, I quickly found I didn't have enough hands to hold the disc in the correct position, hold the pads apart, and guide the caliper into place. I put one lug nut back on the lug and got it finger tight - this was enough to hold the disc steady.

So an hour and a half later, I had new brakes - yay! I knew I would have to adjust the handbrake, so I got the car down on the ground and tested it. The handle went up all the way with no resistance, so with the hand brake released, I took the cover off, and turned the adjusting screw clockwise about 15 revolutions. Now the handle will only go up about 4 clicks - it used to go about 8 clicks before I did any work. So I tested to see how well they held. I started the car, put it in drive, engaged the hand brake, and released the foot brake.... I drove forward.
The hand brake is not engaging at all....
I tried adjusting the handle a bit, but no real difference. Not sure what to do, I did some testing to bed the brakes down (long, slow, light pressure stops), and had a quick look online. I found my fatal error quite quickly. I had backed the piston off a full turn after they grabbed. Apparently I only need to go back about a third of a turn.
So I set out to re-adjust. And you know what happened? It starte to rain.
So now I have a car with great brakes - the pedal travel is solid, and it feels good - but no hand brake. I guess that will have to wait a few more days. The car's parked until the weekend anyway, so I'll have a go at the adjustments then.
Anyway, it was great getting back under the car and getting grease under my nails - I missed working on it!
So next weekend, brake adjust and a polish of the paint - the paint has faded again, so it's looking rather pink - a bit embarrassing, so best to sort out as soon as...

Windscreen problems

2011-08-02T14:24:00.000+01:00

So we went to Lincoln to do some refurbishment type work on our house. Lovely drive up, but I had to have the top up for most of it.
On our street, we have to park on the kerb, and I was worried about scraping bottom, but I didn't have to worry about that - I got something else for my troubles.
I think because the kerb is fairly high, the poor car was twisting like mad when climbing up or down from it. I ended up with a crack in my windshield, starting from the bottom left, working its way up to the mirror. Yikes.
I hate things like this. It just makes me worry about extra money spent on something I hadn't planned for, and I don't really like that!
I contacted Autoglass and spoke with a very pushy bloke, who quoted me £425 pounds - but if I booked now, I could have it done in two working days for £299!
I told him I would look elsewhere - he didn't like that very much, and told me that with my insurance, I could have it done for just the cost of the excess of £75. I'm not keen on having my insurance go up, so I didn't want to do that. Pushy as he was, I refused the fix.
We went to the local B&Q, as there was a chap there who repaired glass chips. I knew he wouldn't be able to repair it, but he might be able to recommend. He gave me a card for another guy who used to work for Autoglass but had started his own company. His price? A princely sum of £120, done the next morning.
Paid him cash.
He did a great job installing it, it looks great, and as an added bonus, I now have a windscreen that has no wiper marks scored into the glass - clear view all the way!
I didn't get any pictures of the crack or the install - my camera was miles away, but I'm happy with the results.
If you need a windscreen, I think it's worth contacting the 'small guy', the local chap who depends on your business - stay away from the big companies like Autoglass! I got a very good deal, and I'm quite pleased.
As a side note, be sure to tell the guy exactly what type of windscreen you need - apparently there are several different versions. I got one that has a boss installed for a glass-mounted mirror, but my mirror is mounted on the frame (not noticable, but worth mentioning!).
I'll post a pic when I get round to it....

Brakes Upgrade Part I

2011-07-15T17:39:00.000+01:00

It's been a while....
I haven't had much chance at all do to any sort of work on the car or do much driving either. The missus and I have been very busy, and Hugo has taken a back seat.
So to speak.
The MOT is due soon, though, and I knew I needed to do the brakes. I found a good deal on brake discs and pads, and got them - the discs are grooved and dimpled, so they look cool. I know there is a lot of debate amongst experts over whether or not grooves or cross-drilling offer any sort of benefit. As braking is so subjective, I'm not in any position to say how much better they are, and I don't often drive in controlled situations where brake fade is noticed. I do know they look cool...
So the stuff came, and I got set up to install the brakes. I decided to start with the front brakes. I got the car up in the air, took the wheels off, got my tools all laid out, and went to grab my camera from the boot to start taking photos for the blog....
No camera.
Bullocks.
Well, I had to get on with installing the brakes, so on I went.
The brakes came off smoothly, the only thing worth noting is that I had to fully remove the caliper sliders in order to remove the outer brake pads. I don't know if this is S.O.P., I didn't do any research on installing the front brakes.
One of the discs wouldn't come off with all the banging in the world, so I thought of another way to get it off. The disc has a small screw hole close to the center. I inserted a 10mm bolt I happened to have lying around, and tightened it, pushing the bolt against the spindle - and therefore the disc away from the spindle - until the disc went 'pop' and off it came. Very clever, putting that hole there!
No other issues reared it's ugly head during the removal or install.
A while ago, I installed lower ball joints on both sides. I had to in order to remove the dampers. In the process, the front wheels went out of true, so I've had to constantly fight the wheel to go straight - it always pulled to the left, and the steering wheel wasn't centered - 12 o'clock was closer to 11:30. So while I was under there, I disconnected the passenger side tie rod end, and spun it off the steering shaft by two turns anti-clockwise. I then eyed it up, and it looked much straighter - obviously there's no way I could get it perfect by eye, but it was noticeably straighter.
After doing that, I also raised the car about 1.5 cm at the front. I was constantly scraping speed bumps and I was beginning to worry about the undercarriage suffering. The plastic skid plate that protects the front of the engine (it sits under the pulleys and the fan) was damaged and dragging, which I'm sure was causing most of the noise, but I figured if it was damaged, better to prevent any further hurt.
I put everything back together, and took the car for a quick spin. I only drove about two miles, and I was very gentle on the brakes, letting them bed in. There were no squeaks or rattles from the front brakes, and there was much less pedal travel before they bit, so I knew they were better.
The car still drifted a bit to the left, but the steering wheel was at least pointing in the right direction! I will need to have some further proper geometry work done, but it seems to be okay for now.
By far, the most surprising thing was the change in the handling of the car! Raising it that small amount seemed to take a huge amount of jumpiness and skittishness from the front end. It seems far better planted, and I think it's now almost as smooth as any Eunos with original spec suspension!
It's obviously not perfectly smooth, the shocks are meant to be sportier and therefore stiffer, but the difference is tremendous. I can't wait to try it out on the motorway.
Well, I did all that a few weeks ago, and the car has sat there, waiting, begging to be taken out for another run. Tomorrow is Saturday, and if it doesn't rain, I'll be installing the rear brakes first thing. Next weekend we're going a long trip, on the motorway to Lincoln, which is a few hours worth of driving. Hopefully the car will be nice and sorted by then. I have to get new tires as well; the poor alignment was pretty much destroyed the front tyres.
I have also in the mean time found my camera, so I will take some photos of the finished front brake disc change, and also some photos of the instal process for the rear brake pads and discs. I've noticed a distinct lack of web pages showing the install process for rear discs - lots of pages on how to change the pads, but not the discs. Hopefully someone may see my page and say 'ahh, that's how it's done!'.
I'll grab a photo of the scary front tyres as well. I am also contemplating installing a subwoofer this weekend; time (and guts) permitting, there will be photos of that as well!
I'll return soon....

Wish List

2011-05-17T14:11:00.000+01:00

One of the most dangerous things about owning a car of this age (or vintage, if you prefer), is that they can suck a lot of money out of your pocket. There are many other people out there with the same car, who have done modifications to make their car unique. There are some really goofy looking cars out there, where people have taken it a bit too far, and there are some example that really do well to show how great their cars can be.
One of the cars I look at and I'm really impressed with is Hakuna's Miata. The mods to this car include a turbo, and some nice subtle body work. In America, it does seem to be a lot about more power, which I certainly don't have a problem with!
When I look at some of the cars in the MX 5 Owner's Club Website, I can see some really nice work as well. There are some people out there that really take pride in their cars, and it shows!
I have always been one to tinker with my cars. I think there is always room for some customisation. I'm not saying the manufacturers have done a bad job, I just like to make my cars my own!
It started with my first car, a 1983 Toyota Celica hatchback. I don't have any pictures of it, but it was a bucket of bolts if there ever was one! I painted the wheels, tinted the windows, painted the carpets, and added some huge subwoofers with lots of amplifiers. Hey, I was just a kid...
My first real stint of modding cars was my 1995 Plymouth Neon Sport Coupe. This was the first car I had and had money in my pocket, so it received heaps of mods. Stereo, interior, lighting, engine, paint, exhaust - nothing was left untouched. It even had purple neon lights lighting up the underbody. Oh, the shame....
Hugo represents something a bit different. I want the car to be something special, something unique, but not so outrageous to attract too much unwanted attention. It's more about enjoying the drive with the top down!

Having said that, there are some things I would like to do to the car that will (I think) make it comfortable to drive, fast to drive, and pleasing to the eye:

Stainless Steel exhaust:

It looks so shiny! I don't know how much performance is enhanced by something like this, but I'm sure it will flow even better than the factory exhaust. Many people miss the point that if you modify your engine to intake more air (a very common mod), you have to allow for more air to leave the engine. A big bore silencer isn't going to do it, really, is it? There are still lots of restrictions before the exhaust gas reaches the silencer.

Front Upper Strut Brace:


Not my engine - it sure is beautiful, isn't it!

The car is 20 years old. It's showing signs of aging. One of the things it does is creak and groan when ever I go over an uneven bump. I'm hoping a brace would get rid of this. I'm sure there is some value to adding these, but there is a lot of debate as to whether they really do improve handling on the street or on the track. It looks nice, but that's not what it is about for me - I want the groaning to stop!

Polyurethane Bushing Set
I don't have a picture. As a car gets old, the original rubber bushings get worn, and the suspension gets sloppy. This happens to all cars, but I find it more noticeable in cars that are designed to handle. I drove a Miata in Canada (a 1990 with a manual gearbox) in 1995, and the handling was brilliant. I'm sure the relative newness of the suspension components made a big difference to this.
They aren't easy to replace; it's a fairly involved job that involves removing the upper A arms and other bits, but I know it will make a big difference in the responsiveness of my car.

Clear Side Marker Reflectors:


How sweet is this car!

Just a detail in the looks, but I think have quite an impact. Plus the existing ones have are dirty and worn...

I would also like a wind deflector - I'm told they make a huge difference in motorway driving. Something my wife is especially keen on...

Polish and Shine

2011-05-15T22:39:00.001+01:00

I thought I'd take some time to do a bit of work on the paint. Most MX-5's of this age are susceptible to paint fade - the factory red paint in particular. A pink Eunos isn't that rare...
The paint on Hugo is in bad shape, with severe fading on the top on the rear wing, the rear number plate frame, the root lid and both the bumpers.
I tried taking some pictures, but they don't really show the difference in colours.

Looking over the bonnet, just after a quick wash. The spots are water spots after the washing.

The front right wing is on the left, the edge of the bonnet is on the right. The bonnet is heavily faded.

After the quick wash, I chamoised each body panel. I used a fine surface detailing clay bar, one panel at a time. The clay bar works to remove all the fallout found on the paint - all the crud that builds up in the paint over time. I used a spray bottle filled with water and a bit of soap to soak each panel. Rubbing the clay into the paint was straightforward, but the visual difference wasn't noticeable. However, the surface was very smooth to the touch, and the clay bar turned from bright green to almost brown - there was a lot of dirt in the paint!
The paint was ready for treatment.
I used some T-Cut red colored compound. This leaves some red dye in the paint, returning it to the original red. You have to be very careful with how it dries, though. I made the mistake of applying the T-Cut to the entire car, and then went around to buff it off. The T-Cut dried unevenly - there were some very noticeable swirl marks I couldn't buff out. After removing as much of the haze as possible, I went back around the car and quickly added more T-Cut to the swirly areas and right away buffed the haze off. This made the paint far more uniform.
Immediately after re-buffing the paint, I applied some two-part paint sealant to lock in the T-Cut and keep if from fading again.

The sealant is applied directly on top of the pre-sealant. The pre-sealant is a liquid that bonds with the sealant, creating a polymer coating. I am told this is a very durable finish. I haven't used it before, so I will report back on how long it lasts.

The T-Cut is applied and about to be buffed out.

The sealant has been added, and after 15 minutes, is ready to be buffed.

The haze from the polymer coating come off very easily, and left behind an amazing shine. The paint looks very good for it's condition. There are a lot of marks in the paint - it is twenty years old. The polish has really highlighted the problems. The boot lid is heavily scratched, and there are a large numbers of stone chips and nicks in the paint. The bumpers wouldn't come up very well. They are shiny, but the color doesn't quite match.

The deep scratches in the boot lid are visible here.

The license panel is also heavily faded, but has come back. The bumper is a bit pink for my taste.

Here you can see where the T-Cut has been 'oversprayed' on the black trim. This was fixed by using some black trim restorer. And the mx5oc membership sticker!

I did some more tidying up under the bonnet. I wiped the black parts down and removed some of the oil gum built up on the power steering pump and the cam belt dust cover. I dusted off the washer fluid bottle and the overflow bottle. I also touched up the black trim around the headlights and the rubber seals.

I am pleased with the results of the detailing. There is still a long way to go - a lot of details to go through. The interior was a bit dusty, so I got that wiped down, but I didn't hoover, or polishing the glass.
After doing all this, I found a bottle of aluminium polish, so I might give the valve cover a go with it, and the MAF sensor.
There is also all the details around the lights and reflectors; there is always wax getting stuck in the raised letters in the plastic. The wheels also haven't been touched, but they are a dirty job and I'll wait until I can take one off and really scrub it down.
It has also highlighted the badges. They are quite old, and are corroding on the inside. The badge on the front bumper and on the wheel center caps will need replacing soon - not a high priority though!
The next big job will be to install new front and rear brakes. Looking forward to that!

Working Under the Bonnet

2011-05-14T23:36:00.004+01:00

It's been a while since I've been able to do some work on the car, but I got to do a bit of stuff this weekend.
I started with an engine dress up kit - basically a bunch of bolts in plastic bags. It's easy to do, its just a matter of removing the old bolt a putting a new one in it's place. Here it is as I got started.

I replaced the bolts on the washer pump, the fuse box mount, and various other things.

The factory bolts have rubber grommets around them to reduce vibration. The new bolts fit in them, but it was very easy to overtighten them.

New air box bolts

I really hate the way the factory paint flakes off...

The metal mount for the sensors is in bad shape - may need some paint touch-up!

New cam bearing cover bolts

new cam belt dust cover bolts

New overflow tank bolts (not very noticable....)

While trying to remove the bolts on the top of the radiator, one of them broke off. I pulled to clip out and with some vise-grips got the broken bolt out.

That's better!

I replaced the thermostat housing bolts as well. No leaks!

Here is a before picture of the throttle cable bolts before replacement, followed by the after picture. Not hugely dramatic differences, but noticeable.

The upshot is that now I know these bolts will be easy to remove in 10 years...

After this, I thought it was time to upgrade the air filter. Here is the original air filter housing and MAF sensor. You can see the plastic hose where the cold air comes in. The inlet is found at the bottom of the picture. The MAF sensor was repaired by the previous owner, and was gummed up with some gasket sealant. It looks goofy, and one day I will fix it...

Taking the filter and MAF sensor and air filter box was simple - only a few bolts. There was a bracket mounted to the frame use to hold up one corner of the air filter box, which I removed. There was only one electrical plug to undo. Here it is with all the bit removed.

I took the MAF sensor and cleaned it up. It's unpolished aluminium, so I couldn't get it perfect with the tools I've got. It cleaned up okay, but its not shiny. Yet. Here it is with the bracket that came with the air filter kit.

After a trial fitting of the filter with the MAF sensor, I found the bits aren't physically supported; the bits just kind of hung there. I was afraid that the filter might knock loose and sit against the exhaust heat shield - that would be bad, I don't fancy the smell of melting air filter. After humming and hawing about it, I took the lower bracket that I had removed, and attached it to a higher - mounted bolt hole. It didn't fit as the existing hole in the bracket was too small for the bolt. I dremmel-tooled the hole large enough to slide the bolt through. I realised I had new replacement bolts for this, so a shiny new bolt is in it's place.

Now the air filter fits and doesn't wiggle around. After I took the photo, I plugged in the electrical connection for the sensor, and this serves to hold it all in place as well. I think it looks it cool, but I don't know how effective it really is.

The box the filter came in says it's good for 5-10 HP, but I find that quite dubious.

I replaced the high tension leads as well, with some Lucas branded leads. I think the leads in place were original; they were in pretty rough shape. There was some misfiring on cold starts. The spark plugs looked not too bad, but there was some carbon build up.
Installing the plugs was a bit difficult - surprisingly so! It was easy to get them out, but when the new ones went in I kept loosing the spark plug socket in the hole...
I think there was something wonky inside the spark plug hole, because it was difficult getting the lead to slip onto the plug itself. Only after wiggling the spark plug around and pulling it out and reinstalling it a few times could I get the thing to fit.
I took the opportunity to scrub some of the crud off the valve cover. There was some build up of oil in the center section which came off easy. I used some metal polish and tidied it up a bit more. It could still use some more polishing, its not anywhere near what I'd like it to be.

Try to ignore the big blobs of polish all over the HT leads and just about everything else around it...

I removed the exhaust heat shield to see how good it could scrub up. It is heavily rusted on the top surface, and the lower edges closest to the flange. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the 1.6l comes with a 'header' style exhaust manifold. These breathe so much better than most manufacturer's original exhausts. It looks like it could use some sanding down and polishing, eh?

With the air intake so close to the hot exhaust, there is no point in running without the shield.

I used some 120 grit sandpaper, followed by some 80 grit. The heat shield was quite heavily pitted with the rust, so even with a lot of elbow grease, it wasn't going to come up perfect.

I put it back on, and this is the end result. This will help keep the really hot air from reaching the cold air intake, but it still going to bake in there. I think some header tape will be in order. But that's for another day.

Chips and Chocolate run

2011-04-26T17:41:00.000+01:00

On Sunday, the SE members of the MX5 Owners Club held a run from Hop Farm to Camber Sands via the Maidstone services. Up at 7, gave the car a quick wash, and toped up the petrol. We went to meet everyone at Maidstone services; we were a bit early, but we met some new members, Carol and Adrian. They have an L-Reg Eunos in red, very similar to Hugo. Theirs had the manual gearbox, a spoiler on the boot lid, and the all-important wind blocker!

When the convoy arrived from Hop Farm, we had a few minutes together to catch up with everyone, and grab a cold drink. The weather was amazing; we all had the top down and sunscreen use was liberal!

That's Hugo in the front!

We left for Camber Sands, and enjoyed a nice drive down the motorway. We were in the middle of a convoy of about 9 cars, and everyone in the group was very courteous and we never went over 65mph – very relaxed, and we got a lot of thumbs up from admirers – mostly people wishing they could put their hood down, I imagine!

We arrived at the beach, parked up amongst other 5’s, and headed to the sand. What a perfect day.

We ended up staying with Rob and Louise until nearly 6pm; we had a good time chatting and discussing all things Mazda.

We went our separate ways; the drive back to London was fresh, fast, traffic free, and took us down some beautiful roads. Really made us question our decision to live in the city! All in all, it was a great day out, and Hugo got to breathe a bit, so he was happy!

Amp and Dashboard Tweeter Installation

2011-04-26T14:46:00.000+01:00

Over the weekend, I had the chance to do some work on Hugo. There were three things I wanted to accomplish, and I got halfway there.

First, I went to install an amplifier for the stereo. Anyone who has driven with the top down knows how hard it is to hear music at speed, so I purchased an Alpine amp. It’s not big or fancy, just a little two-channel 50W job, but I figured it would give a cleaner signal to the speakers.

I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a place to put the amp – these cars are tight! The amp wouldn’t fit under the seat or behind the seat, so it had to go in the boot. The best place I could find for it was attached to the false floor above the jack. (Apologies for crap photo quality - I had to use my phone's camera)

I screwed the amp into place, and then ran the speaker wires from the amp with the RCA leads and the remote turn on lead in behind the driver’s seat. There was a small crack through to the main cabin, so I was very lucky I didn’t have to drill any holes.

After feeding the cables through, I mounted the ground cable. I drilled a small hole in the body, hidden under the carpet. A self-tapping screw held it in place.

Then I ran the power cable to the battery, which is of course in the boot! This made for a very simple connection.

I had purchased an amp wiring kit, and it came with the RCA cable, the ground cable, the power cable, and some plastic tubing fro hiding the wiring. After running the power wire to the battery (but not connecting it yet!) I used the tubing to hide the wires. The previous owner had an alarm/immobiliser installed, and the wires were dangling loose, so I tidied them up at the same time.

Next came the connection to the stereo.

I removed the middle armrest/gear lever cover, and then the center console. This exposed a real mess of wires from the previous installer!

The head unit is a Clarion CD player with a detachable face. It has three sets of RCA outputs, but they never bothered to label them…I did some exhaustive research on the internet to try and find out which one was the front set, but couldn’t find anything. I figured I’d just have to try each one.

I don’t really care for the Clarion head unit. The buttons feel cheap, and the menus aren’t very intuitive. I purchased a used Alpine CD player, but after testing it before installing, I discovered it didn’t load CD’s. Not very useful. It also had the Japanese antenna connection, but the car has the standard connection, so I wouldn’t even get to use the radio. I put the Alpine off to the side to see if I could repair later.

I checked the factory speaker wiring, and it was a mess. It took me ages to trace the wires back. I had a wiring diagram for the original connection, but they didn’t match what I had. It was rather frustrating tying random wires together to see if I could get a signal! I also installed some 1 inch tweeters in the factory holes in the dash for the outer vents. I had to pull out the eyeballs and wedge the tweeters in, but I figured this was the least invasive way of installing – no cutting or smashing! It doesn’t look perfect, but it does the job for now.

Eventually, I found the right combination for the wiring. I turned the key, turned on the radio, and yay it works!

I had already replaced the factory (!) speakers with Pioneer 6.5” whizzers in the doors. They aren’t brilliant, but they do the job. I tested it out in the car park, and it sounded quite good. The highs from the dash tweeters are a bit harsh and blurry, so they will need to be replaced. The amp does give a cleaner signal, and the music is much louder (with no real distortion). I had to wait a day to try it out on the road, to see if it was any better at speed.

After I did all that, I thought I’d have a go at installing a push button starter kit. I removed the cover from under the steering column, and peeked up inside. It’s a real contortionist’s job getting in there, that’s for sure.

The cigarette lighter was removed, and the female part of the plug was hard wired into the adapter for my GPS. No more wires hanging all over the dash when using it, like in the picture above. The chrome metal switch that came with the kit was put into the hole in the dash. It wasn’t easy, as I had no washer large enough to hold the switch from behind. I got out my rotary tool and carved some thick plastic into shape – did the trick!

The switch connects to a relay that handles the current for the starter. I ran the ground wire and the switch wire, but I couldn’t figure out which was the starter wire. At one point in my hack job, I could start the car with the push button, but the starter stayed engaged, and turning the key to the off position did not stop the engine from running! That wasn’t right...

It was getting late in the day, so I gave up at that point, to return to it later after trying to find some more detailed instructions. So as it sits now, I have a switch that clicks the relay but does nothing else. It will work, I swear!

Whilst I had the cover off down there, I wired an LED light to the courtesy light in the dash, the one that points at the driver’s left knee. I drilled a small hole next to the key slot, and ran the wire. Now, when it’s dark, I can actually see where the key goes!

The third thing I wanted to do was some paint polishing as it's starting to go pink, but I ran out of sunlight.

All in all, it was productive, but frustrating at the same time. I’ve done amp installs before in less than an hour, but this took several due to the messy wiring left behind by some other installer, and also trying to find a place to fit the amp. Next weekend, I’ll have another go.

The reason I replaced my mirrors

2011-04-21T15:19:00.000+01:00

I have always had good luck with my cars. I have only been in one crash (in my father's car, with him in it), and I haven't had any disastrous mechanical malfunction. I haven't scratched, dented, or otherwise damaged my car.

Over the winter, our car was parked at the end of T-junction. I wasn't driving it in the snow, so there is sat, waiting for some sunshine and warmth. One day, just before Christmas, I looked out and I thought the door looked a bit funny....
There was some ice on the road, and some idiot had failed to brake properly, and slid down the hill into the passenger side door of our car. They then drove away.
Grrrr....

So, I went out to purchase a new door, which was replaced with one of a slightly different colour. I didn't take any photos of it, because it looked horrible!
Anyway, I replaced the door, and was glad to have it sorted. My anger dissipated over Christmas, and I thought, 'it's okay, it's no big deal. Just don't park there again, and it will be fine'.

Then on New Year's Day, I went out and glanced over at the car. Something didn't look right...
Some idiot didn't like my driver's door mirror, so they thought it would be a good idea to kick it. Perhaps they were just full of New Year's booze, but it still got me angry.
I had a perfect record of damage free motoring, and this happens? Two incidents in two weeks?
Again, I didn't take any pictures. I contacted the chap that sold me a replacement - correctly coloured - door, and he had a set of chrome OEM Mazda mirrors sitting around. For £50, I was set! I didn't get a chance to put them on for a while (not until last weekend) - my wife was afraid they would attract more vandalism. I thought they might be a bit too kitcsh, but after installation, I thought they looked pretty good!
A few weeks ago, my neighbor backed into the front of the car, and cracked the black plastic number plate frame. I took that off and just screwed the number plate directly to the bumper.

But that wasn't the end of it. I was involved in a bumper bender a while back, which made me even more angry!
That's a story for another day, I think.

Sunny Day Out

2011-04-17T19:19:00.000+01:00

It was such a nice day, we went out for a little drive. We drove through some of the lovely villages of Kent, including Biggin HIll and Downe.


Ready for a day out in the sun

We made our way to a great pub we found a few weeks ago, called The Old Jail, in Biggin Hill. We had a lovely meal, and we were surrounded by retired military vehicles. There were a bunch of Land Rovers in full regalia, and was really neat to see how the vehicles were restored and still looked rough - like they just came off the battlefield. Really cool!

We founds some back roads, with lots of twists and blooming trees.

We then found our way to Otford, a lovely little village with plenty of pubs and cute shops. We ended up in The Bull, a lovely haunted pub, and had some lovely puddings. In the car park, we came across another MX-5. This one hadn't had any suspension work done to it, so I had to take a picture to see what the difference is between Hugo's and a standard suspension.

As you can see, it makes quite a difference!
We made our way home, through some more back roads, and a quick blast down the M25 - a bit chilly with the hood down, so I stayed around 60mph.
Hugo performed well, but it seems to have developed a squeak in the front end after some of the bumpy roads. I think I might need to tighten things up in the front suspension before the next day out.

Hugo

2011-04-17T11:35:00.000+01:00

Hugo is our (NA) 1991 Mazda Eunos Roadster.
The engine is the 1.6 L (1,597 cc) B6ZE(RS) - (78x83.6 mm). It uses a non-interference DOHC 16-valve alloy head with a lightened crankshaft and flywheel to allow a 7,200 rpm redline. It has the Japanese version of the engine with a 9.4:1 compression ratio and a factory rating of 120 hp and 100 ft·lb of torque. As it is a Japanese import, it has a few extra features: air conditioning and an automatic gearbox. Not a lot of MX-5's have auto gearboxes, as people believe changing gears is half the fun of having a 5. I would love to have a manual gearbox, but my knees won't allow such niceties.
My wife and I purchased the car in October 2010, and have had a lot of fun with it. I've decided to keep a blog to keep track of the modifications and repairs I have done to the car. At this stage, it will be mostly retrospective and fairly image free, as I haven't recorded much of what I've done. As the car is an auto, perhaps some other auto-owners will be interested and can see what I've done - at least they might know what not to do!
We're also members of the MX-5 Owners Club, which has a lot of things going for it. We've only joined recently and haven't had much opportunity to do stuff with the club, but as summer approaches, I think we'll be deep in it.

Here's what I've done in repairs so far:
In the winter, I noticed the radio kept cutting out. I thought it would be time for a new radio! The next day, the lights were dimming....
The next day, the car wouldn't start...
I hunted high and low for an alternator, and found a used one on eBay. When it arrived, I stood outside in the cold, and removed the old alternator. I then discovered the replacement was the wrong one. I'll post the details of the eBay seller when I find them. He was a good guy who bent over backwards to help me out, and I recommend him!
I was able to return the alternator, and the chap sent me another - this one worked!
I read a bit about the process of replacing the alternators on these cars, and people seemed to think it was fairly involved and not very easy. I found it to be not too difficult, and the part went on okay, with no major issues. I replaced the alternator and the power steering belt at the same time.

I've also replaced the tie rod ends, as I noticed the rubber seals were cracked, and there was very little grease left. I marked the tie rods, but now the steering wheel points a bit to the left when going straight ahead, and it does drift left - a sure sign to get the geometry done. I will do this when I upgrade the wheels and tires.

I have replaced the worn out plastic bushings for the gear selector. A fairly common mod, as the original bushings tend to wear out and makes the gear selector wobbly. Changing the bushings was okay, and made a big difference in the way the car 'felt'.

For a twenty year old car, that's not a lot of repairs. It's treated me quite well!

I've also upgraded the shocks, as one of them broke on a particularly nasty London pothole. I decided the car would look nice if it was a bit lower, so I bought some Raceland coilover shocks, with adjustable coils for all four corners. Putting the rear ones on was a breeze; the front ones were a pain - I ended up having to undo the lower ball joints to get the shocks off, so I replaced them at the same time.
I know Raceland aren't as famous or fantastic a brand as Koni, but they do the trick for me. The car sits nice a low, and the ride is not bad - it's a bit jumpy, but I'll put that down to the geometry.
Other mods have been fairly cosmetic:
- Replaced the front marker light bulbs with white LED bulbs
- Replaced the sealed beam headlights with clear glassed lenses and fitted with H4 bulbs ( an easy fit, no problems, and looks good!)
- Replaced the rear brake lights with white LED bulbs
- Installed 1 inch dome tweeters in the outer vents, and replaced the original speakers in the doors with Pioneer 6.5 inch speakers
- Stubby aluminium antenna
- Chrome effect Mazda mirrors.
Why did I replace the mirrors? Well, that's a story for another entry. This one will have pictures!