MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 28, 2023 21:12:18 GMT
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Castle Combe Autumn Classic - 23:Sep 2023 I haven’t been to the Autumn Classic for a few years and to be honest the selection of cars was a but lacking this year. The saving grace being seeing Cobra’s in action. I had a new lens to play with this year (a long white one), and most of the images were taken at the Esses as you can see the cars entering and hitting the curbs. Having done a few track days at Castle Combe, considerably slower, it’s interesting to see the different lines, and imagine duplicating them. In the Paddock.Ferrari 308 (I think) wheel through F40 rear wing. E-Type Coupe rear wheel, I really like the Dunlop racing wheel. Ferrari’s preparation (308, 328, 355?) Bit of cheat here as I spotted this in the car park on the way out, Hillman Avenger Tiger. I had an Avenger 1500GLS with the twin round headlight front. Did the later, square headlight, cars have a different bonnet to the early twin headlight cars? RacesClassic saloons.BUY1 Jaguar MK1, a very famous car just look at the list of drivers. Constantly competed since 1959 (coincidentally the year I was born). It should have won but a safety car ruined its race and let the Opel win. Opel Commodore GS/E, from what I remember from the commentary this was originally an Australian race car, I think there's probably a very interesting back story. It was spitting out foot long flames though the Esses which I failed to capture Very impressive car though. Triumph GT6 (not sure how that qualifies as a saloon) & Alfa Romeo Guilia
50’s Intermarque AC Ace, in a lot of ways I prefer the original Ace to the Cobra, would be interesting to see one with modern running gear, 6 cylinder and later Cobra suspension. The bare aluminium look is good. Kellison-Chevrolet, don’t know anything about this except it sounded brilliant! (Kit car with a 6 litre Chevrolet engine) Lotus Elite, a very ‘pretty’ car especially in this colour. Superperformance Ferrari328GTB (#22) 355 Challenge (#46, #54) 355 Berlinetta (#27) GT & Sports Car CupThis is the race I really came to see… AC Cobra 289, car #74 was being run by Alan Mann Racing. Interesting fuel filler arrangement, a tube through the rear window.
Lotus Elan 23R, probably my favourite car of the day, #84, but then as it inspired the MX5 no real surprise there. Jaguar E-Type ‘Mini’ Broadspeed GTS, it looked so small compared to the others. I'd recommend going, it was only £15 (advance ticket) for a full days entertainment.
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Last Edit: Sept 29, 2023 6:55:20 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 15, 2023 16:00:01 GMT
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I like estates as well, Cortina MK4 (or maybe it was a MK5), BMW E36 328i, Audi S4 (B5 twin-turbo V6) and Alfa 159. I really liked the 159 despite the many faults, a car I always found myself looking back at when I parked it.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Sept 4, 2023 20:31:44 GMT
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Previous brake bleeding wasn't good enough, pedal going to the floor although brakes working. I think the master reservoir must have run dry and let air in the top. So excuse to buy yet another tool Get car up with all wheels off (not as sketchy as it looks there are 4 axle stands under it). and tool in use Seemed to work well although I'm not sure it's as good as it could be. I do have a well used eazibleed but the master reservoir cap doesn't fit. Hopefully it'll be good enough for the MOT. Also took the opportunity as all 4 wheels were off to swap front and back to even out tyre wear. When I took my BMW in for work (Autoworks Swindon, near M4 J16), I asked if they had a press and could press out the ball-joints from my original wishbones. That's a project for the future... MOT tomorrow p.s. found the new editor easy to use, but how do I include a 'name' e.g. @hotwire ... or emojis, seem to be lots of features missing
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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brake bleedingMiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 3, 2023 12:54:50 GMT
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Umm, for the oil extractor it does say suitable for oils or similar NON-corrosive fluids, which I guess rules out brake fluid. Might have to get SWMBO involved again.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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The Photochop ThreadMiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 3, 2023 11:24:54 GMT
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I like that P4 but think it needs something under the headlights, maybe have the spot lights from the original outside of the over-riders.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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brake bleedingMiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 3, 2023 11:21:52 GMT
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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MCLAREN (GMA) T50MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Aug 30, 2023 19:18:25 GMT
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It's not a McLaren, its GMA (Gordon Murray Automotive) T.50. Nothing to do with McLaren although Gordon Murray did design the F1 and this could be thought of as a logical successor.
Spectacular car though.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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The Photochop ThreadMiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Aug 24, 2023 11:17:05 GMT
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Going back to the Aston Martin Lagonda (the wedge one), I remember there was a 2 door version that was used as mule to test a twin turbo V8. Looking for an image of that I found this. edit - found one, known as DP2034 and used as a Virage development car. It didn't have twin turbos though. There's even a 1:43 model of it. and how it was restored and sold for £250K
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Last Edit: Aug 24, 2023 11:22:22 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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1994 Land Rover DiscoveryMiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Aug 24, 2023 11:11:41 GMT
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The roof bars on your silver Disco 2, we had the thicker bars on our (sadly departed) D2 which was a very late model. What's the background on them, you don't see many with the thick bars.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Aug 23, 2023 15:07:53 GMT
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So a full morning in the hot sun and everything is fixed (I hope), everything went suspiciously well. Put in the newer wishbones, that have castellated nuts and seem much more secure. Rebuilt the caliper after watching YouTube videos, went som much easier. Swapped the pads over to the Mintex pads and the front was finished. Right side (even a handy big R on the caliper).... Left side, plenty of copper grease on the back of the pads, probably not need as there are anti squeal shims.
These were the Greenstuff pads from the drivers side (the non-contaminated side), don't look too good for the limited use they've had. Yes that is a Haynes book of lies (needed for Torque settings)
Replaced the rear drives caliper, silver not gold :-( Then got SWMPBP (She Who Must Press the Brake Pedal). Not too sure how effective that was, can I use an oil vacuum extractor to pressure (suck) bleed the brakes. Can't get a re-test this week and on holiday next week, so MOT 4:Sep.. Meanwhile the BMW has developed an oil leak onto the turbo, causing smoke to come out of the bonnet and needs a new track-rod end and possibly a steering rack mod before its MOT.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Aug 17, 2023 21:07:56 GMT
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The issue with Hydrogen is the amount of energy needed to produce the Hydrogen, you're just moving the problem somewhere else. Also what's more dangerous in a car Hydrogen or Lithium?
Not saying it isn't a good alternative but it just moves the issues around, same with synthetic fuel it takes a lot of energy (electricity) to produce it.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Aug 16, 2023 17:05:18 GMT
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The ball joint will sometimes spin once you get to the nyloc part of the nut . If put pressure on top of the ball joint , the tapper will grip & the nut should do up ok . 👍 Good tip to remember for the future. No nyloc on the nut and tried putting pressure on the top, to me it doesn't look like it's seating fully in the taper. Lost confidence in the parts and would prefer to have a castellated nut.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Aug 16, 2023 15:18:23 GMT
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More spending, I don't trust the pattern wishbones (I'm sure that the one I've fitted the ball joint is spinning and I can't tighten up the nut) so I've ordered some from MX5 City that look better quality and hopefully coming from a MX5 specialist will be better. At least they were on a sale, £112 reduced to £90.
Luckily when I ordered from Autodoc I paid for 'safe order' that gives free P&P on returns.
Just need to sort out the caliper, getting the dust cover on correctly. More lubrication required I think judging from the videos.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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I usually use the brake pedal to pump the pistons most of the way out before removing from the car. May need to top up fluid for this and do them one at a time. I also have a fitting bodged up that mates a schraeder valve stub to a brake fitting so I can use a foot pump (or even a bike pump) instead of a compressor. I thought I'd added a picture least night (now added), I use a foot pump with the adapter for pumping up air beds etc, use a glove as a seal. When the piston comes out it's with some force.
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Last Edit: Aug 16, 2023 15:32:35 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Aug 15, 2023 20:38:58 GMT
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So repairs... Got lot's of new parts... First off, this is what the MOT tester called bow string tight brake lines and loose springs (yes the locking ring is loose, tightened now), still replaced the lines anyway. Working on brakes it's recommended to do this to the brake reservoir, did it work well partially. replaced the wishbone, not as bad a job as I thought, had to loosen the anti-roll bar mounts to get the bolt out. Bit of jiggling about to get the wishbone out with only unbolting theh bottom of the coil-over. Thought I'd taken a picture of the fitted wishbone, will do when I do the other side. I'm not sure about these pattern parts, no castellated nut and I'm not too sure how well the ball-joint taper joint is working (good enough to get through MOT, I'll probably rebuild the original wish bones with new bushes and ball-joints). Other side, replaced the brake lines, that will please the tester and looks nice as well. As I don't have a compressor I have to resort to old school methods of getting pistons out of calipers. (This is a staged photo. remians of seal can be seen bottom left. Meanwhile I'm struggling with replacing the dust-cover on the front caliper, retired to watch Youtube videos of it. Should just have sent them off to BiggRed for a proper refurb... Oh and annoyingly my vice broke (think it was my grandads as well, the washer on the end of the screw thread has detached. So probably 6/10 for today's effort.
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Last Edit: Aug 16, 2023 7:00:51 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Aug 13, 2023 11:11:30 GMT
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I first saw it at college in the early 90s. They used to show us films every Wednesday which meant an easy afternoon off for the tutors. Some of them were vaguely educational like documentaries or arty European animation but there were a few normal films too. If I remember correctly they also showed Bladerunner and I think The Exorcist too! Off track, at school so <18, we were taken to the cinema to see Macbeth (Roman Polanski's version) anybody who's seen it will probably agree not really suitable for <18's. It was the first film he made after Sharon Tates murder by the Manson gang. For American Graffiti as well as the main feature cars there some great cars in the street/cruising scenes include incongruously a Frogeye Sprite.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Parts ordered, From MX5parts 1 x MDB1686 MX5 MINTEX PADS, 1.8 FRONT 93> & 1.6 98> (comments say as good as EBC Greenstuff and cheaper) 1 x SI203 FRONT CALIPER PISTON, MX-5 51MM DIA (insurance as I don't know the state of the piston) 1 x SI207 ADJUSTER GEAR, REAR CALIPER (the adjusters that get chewed up, I like to have spares of these) 1 x SI3646 Mobil Brake Fluid DOT-4 2 x SI6619 WASHER,PLAIN 2 x SI6624 UPPER ARM BOLT - MK1/2/2.5 2 x SI6625 Front Upper Wishbone Arm Washer, Large, MX5 Mk1/2/2.5 1 x SI8438 REAR CALIPER, RH, Mk1/2/2.5 STD BRAKE (aftermarket caliper) 1 x SI8786 IL MOTORSPORT BRAKE LINES MK1/2/2.5 (£130, bit OTT but do it properly) 1 x SI9032 Front Caliper Repair Kit, Mk1/2/2.5 STD (I've got some old seals but at £6.58, better to use new) Total Charged: £320.78 From Autodoc Suspension arm Article: SKCA-0051623 £40.66 2 £81.32 (+ £14.40 P&P) (this is a bit of a gamble with a pattern part, the MX5parts pattern parts at £69 but are out of stock, genuine parts are £182)Autolink (because annoyingly MX5parts don't have the nut) Nut, front upper wishbone to subframe, genuine Mazda MX-5 mk1, mk2, mk2.5, FB0128091A This is the special nut that goes on long bolt that attaches the inner end of the front upper wis... £4.66 GBP 2 £9.32 GBP (+£4.44 p&p) Even more annoyingly I then found an eBay seller with the complete upper bolt and all nuts/washers, genuine Mazda parts, cheaper. Also the tester mentioned that the fog light was starting to not show red, it's the rewired reversing light with red film over it and the film is peeling off. So ordered a Red LED bulb to replace the clear bulb, and I'll remove the film. Will hopefully look better as well.
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Last Edit: Aug 13, 2023 11:41:13 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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+1 for citric acid, I bought some on Amazon (powder to dilute) worked much better for me than electrolysis. That's a vented disc in an '(citric) acid bath'.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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The RFR they have applied for the coilovers is incorrect and not applicable, the springs are allowed to come free of the seats. Wording (as exactly copied) in the manual: “You should assess the security of a coil spring to the chassis or axle when jacking and lowering the vehicle. If the spring does not correctly locate when the suspension is returned to its normal running position, then you should reject it for being insecurely attached.” Making sure the lock rings are tight if they are genuinely loose is sufficient here provided the springs do indeed sit correctly Interesting, I might print this out and have it with me when I take it back. I will make sure the lock rings are tight though, I want to raise the suspension a bit anyway.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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So MOT at different testing station, after some confusion over emissions system thinks it's registered in 1998, a big FAIL. - Not sure how the coil-overs have come loose but should be easy to tighten?
- Brake hoses, these are Goodridge braided hoses fitted by the previous MOT garage, no idea why they would be wrong
- Caliper leaking, this is probably a split piston seal/cover (dripping brake fluid onto the brake pads - not good)
- Ball joint covers, I didn't put a lock-ring on the replacement covers (will probably replace the whole ball-joint)
- Brake imbalance, the rear offside caliper still needs work (or replacement).
So 2 callipers to rebuild, coil-overs to adjust, ball-joints to replace and brake hoses to sort out.
Interesting that the previous test centre didn't pick up on most of this, but I guess it's better to have a strict tester.Editted to add, found a comment on the MX5parts website re the Goodridge brake lines, "Although sold as being compatible with the MX5, these hoses are fractionally too short and don't have the hooks to keep them located on the caliper. Have now had two of them fail on two different cars as they undo themselves. They also cut into the brake line as they are designed to fit a larger diameter brake pipe" Shame I didn't read that before I bought them, I'll either buy some standard lines for the front or a set of IL Motorsport braided lines.
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Last Edit: Aug 9, 2023 16:32:10 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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