goldnrust
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Ok, putting engine swap thoughts to one side for a moment, there's some good news  I've traced the source of my knocking sound! Though not before I'd got as far as removing the HLAs, and stripping and cleaning them all!   Still a job worth doing, especially as one of them was definitely lazy when I first got the engine started. Now they've settled back in, there is noticeably less valve noise. Returning from the test drive I'd taken to get the HLAs all pumped up and settled in, I was using the old screwdriver to the ear trick to listen to the valve train noise, the screwdriver slipped and I found myself listening to the intake manifold, clearly hearing the knocking noise! Id previously discounted the noise being injector based, as with my ear to the injectors themselves they seemed no noisier than on any other mx5 I've owned. Having heard the sound so clearly on the intake manifold, I started wondering if the could be the cause of the noise? It's times like these when I love all the diagnostic tools that Megasquirt opens up. I was able to set the injectors to fire twice as often, for half as long, and straight away the noise doubled in frequency. It's definitely injector noise, but why is it coming into the cabin? Certainly it's nothing I've had a problem with on another mx5. Suddenly it clicked, normally the mx5 fuel rails are mounted with some nylon spacers, when fitting the throttle bodies I noticed that these nylon spacers had been replaced them with metal washers, most likely a previous owner lost them somewhere along the line. I suspect this is why the noise is traveling into my car much more than normal. I'll add them to the list of parts I need to order from Mazda! In other good news I treated the car to a proper 3d alignment It was partly wasted, as it turns out my garage floor string and tape measures tracking was pretty good! But the iPhone spirit level camber gauge was well out, haha, and I had no way to measure caster. Once the car was all hooked up to the lasers and on the ramps, the mechanic had informed me that he couldn't get the rear camber on the left side to any less than -2° without the toe going out. I then had flashbacks to having this problem at the previous alignment, damn. I can only presume something's not quite as straight as it should be under there….. Like last time the best compromise is to just set both rears to -2° camber, and then the fronts to -1.5°, which at least keeps the ~0.5° camber split that lots of the recommended 'fast road' type mx5 alignments suggest. It'll pronanly result in more tyre edge wear than I was hoping for, but on the up side the car drivers great, as feels really good when learnt on hard in corners. I found myself driving ~10mph on bumpy B roads on the way home, just due to the added stability and confidence I had in the handling. To build on this I thought it was time to sort some chassis bracing. Early Mx5s are known to respond very well to subframe and chassis braces, the later mx5's had a number factory fitted. There are plenty available to buy, and they aren't overly expensive, but I had some time on my hands and plenty of steel in the garage, so making my own was the obvious choice! The first brace I've made is one for the rear of the front subframe, tying the rear of the lower wishbone mounts together, and also tying the sides of the transmission tunnel together.  Just like the alignment, wow what a difference! Hitting bumps in the road there is noticeably less scuttle shake, and the steering feel less unsettled by mid corner bumps. Off the back of this, I'm definitely going to have to make the rear subframe braces up! To balance all this good news out…. I really need a new roof! Mines developing lots of little cracks all over the place, that look rather worrying…  … and the rear window is doing it's best to detach from the rest of the hood…  Booo! Oh well! I don't care, today I was driving in a T-shirt, with the roof and windows down, with the music up loud, with sunglasses on and I couldn't have been happier  Roll on summer! |
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Last Edit: Mar 7, 2015 22:17:09 GMT by goldnrust
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i don't half miss my mx5, on a plus side for you though i have a vinyl mk1 roof sitting on my garage roof doing nothing, it was in good nick when i put it up there 18 months ago but the rear window has a couple of splits in it. its yours for a couple of beers if you want it as its getting in my way.
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goldnrust
West Midlands
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Mar 23, 2015 20:06:46 GMT
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gazzab1978 I'm sorry, I only just saw your post now. Thank you very much for the kind offer, but I'm lead to believe that changing the roof is not a simple, nor frustration free process, so I'm planning to buy a new roof in the hope that I never have to do it again! Mx5s do have a way of getting under your skin don't they So, what's been going on with my 5? The answer is nothing drastic, just finessing a few things. Starting where we left off, having diagnosed the idle noise as a fuel system issue, I got on to Mazda and ordered the correct fuel rail spacers. Fitted them… no change in noise. Damn. Ok so swapping in some different injectors? Nope. Swapped the fuel pressure reg? Nope. I made sure the fuel lines were well secured, on secure plastic mounts with no part of them rattling against the body? This helped a bit but hasn't got rid of it. All I can think now is that some part of cutting down the standard inlet manifold has allowed some resonance that was probably designed out in the factory to come through. In the big scheme of things its not a loud noise, and now I've got my slightly louder centre exit exhaust on it's nearly audible anyway. With that in mind, and confident it's not a 'problem' I'm living with it for now. After all this messing about swapping parts in and out the car developed a nice misfire.  I was pleased to find that after about half and hour of re-tracing my steps I found the culprit….  Yup that electrode isn't right! I guess I must have bashing it somewhere along the line. At this point I figured the best thing to do would be to treat the old girl to a nice new set of NGKs. Fire'd her up with fresh plugs and yup, misfire is gone I also dropped a new water pump in, as it was weeping a little. I've had the cam belt on and off this engine so many times recently, I feel like I could do it in my sleep! Done a few hunted miles since and all seems well with that. Finally in a hunt for more smoothness, I've cut up and modified my velocity stacks. On the motorbike they used two different lengths to try and spread the torque out a bit, but that's not really necessary on my much more softly tuned car engine. I carefully measured up and cut the longer side down and so they are all the same length.   The improvement in smoothness is really noticeable! I'm really surprised how much difference it's made. Makes more of a classic ITB style howl on full throttle now too. To continue the smoothness theme, I've bend doing a lot of data logging and tweaking of my ECU map, working my through it, ironing out all the imperfections I can find. It's feeling a lot more like a normal car to drive around town now. I've started to really work on the spark map too, and I feel like I'm making good progress. Ive got a buyer for my black wheels now, they're gonna go on a mates aw11 where they look much much cooler than on the mx5. So the next thing on my to-do list is to find an interesting pair of 14" wheels to go on the back, to match my Watanabes on the front. Anyone got anything kicking about? Alongside that, I figure as the warmer weather is just around the corner, I should start on tiding up the bodywork a bit. I'm bored of it looking such a state!
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
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Hmmm, that would be a nice touch Nik. I might have to try and source one at some stage. What I want more though is the cool white Mazda sticker that the very early mx5s came with on the front bumper. At one stage one of the guys on the mx5 forum was re-making the stickers slightly larger than the originals and they looked great. They're available in the US; parts.arlingtonmazda.com/products/ORNAMENT%2C-FRT-%28NA04%252d51%252d711%252d14%29.htmlShipping is a killer though. Mark Just noticed these are now available from MX5parts, link |
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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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goldnrust
West Midlands
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Thanks for that link Mark £15 is too steep for a stick for me though! haha Thanks for the offer Crannoth, I know of Black Racing alloys yeah Is it a set of 4 you've got? I'm really only looking for a pair, but drop me a PM with a price and a couple of pics, if the money's right I might take you up on them As for being too tall for an mx5, my 6'3" friends have no problems with my car, though I think my low mounted aftermarket seats help with that. If you've never tried going out in one, then I suggest you do!  Nothing really to report otherwise, I've been getting in the car and driving it without drama really. I did start it one morning cold morning and it coughed and popped one of the blanking plugs I'd fitted to the injector ports out of the ITBs, which scared me for a minute, but was easily solved and they're all more securely fixed now! Not to sound like a broken record, but again I've been questioning if the car is 'right' for me. Its all the same things I discussed a few pages back. Since I moved 18 months ago, the times of day i use my car and the journeys I do have changed considerably. In many ways I could do with 2 cars, a daily and a weekend car, but space, money, time and my motorbike all come together to make that impractical. This mx5 is awesome fun on the right roads with no traffic, now I've ironed out lots of the smaller niggles its really tight and together feeling and with the ITB throttle response it's really intuitive to drive which means you can push it hard and feel safe, it's great. But equally I get all of those things out of my bike and sometimes just wanna get somewhere relatively peacefully, especially when its long motorway miles etc, and while the car itself is mechanically perfectly capable of doing the job, I find it wearing. I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and I'm fairly sure I need another Alfa!
I've decided to pull the car into the garage for a few days, I'm going to put the transmission tunnel back to standard now the rotary engine isn't fitted, send off the paperwork to get the engine size put back to 1600, sort a few servicing type jobs out and then maybe it'll find a new owner that can use it like it's meant to be used I'm toying with the idea of putting a new roof on before trying to sell it, but I can't decide if it's worth it. Whiney nonsense!. |
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Last Edit: Apr 5, 2015 19:40:17 GMT by goldnrust
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Sell it? No, just no!
Have you thought about putting a high ratio diff in?
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Koos
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goldnrust
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I've considered a bunch of different things to be honest mate, this has been coming for a while really.
Once it's had these last few things left from the rotary conversion sorted out, then hopefully it'll go find a good new home with someone who'll really enjoy it. I wont be asking silly money, knowing it's got cosmetic issues so it'll be a good buy for someone who wants a track car or a good project for someone more into the cosmetic side of things That's what's for the best. Whiney nonsense! |
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Last Edit: Apr 5, 2015 19:40:35 GMT by goldnrust
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duncanmartin
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It's a shame to see it go (again), but if you need something that's more practical, I guess it's got to go. What are you looking to get next? Looking forward to your next project thread!  Cheers Duncan |
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goldnrust
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Yeah it is a shame, but if it's not right there's no point soldiering on holding on to the sentimentality of what I did in the past with this car. It's not so much the practicality, it's more the driving experience that no longer matches me. The mx5 wants to go everywhere like it's on a race track to be at it's best, being loud and harsh but fun while you're at it, and I generally want a more relaxed experience than that with a bit more comfort now. I'm pretty sure there's an element of really getting back into bikes in the past year. After thrashing about on 2 whees a car doesn't compare, and when I do feel like thrashing about I take the bike, so when I come to get in the car IO just wanna get somewhere without drama.
Anyway… I'm 95% sure I'll be getting an Alfa GTV. It'll be a 2.0 twinspark, the v6s have taken a jump up in price recently and have higher running costs. If I see a once v6 in budget I will be going to look though…. I had a GTV about 5 years ago briefly as a stop gap while I built my Rx7 and liked it lots but it wasn't quite racy enough for me at the time, a bit too grand tourer, so I'm thinking it's gonna hit the spot perfectly now. Would also go look at another 155 v6 as I liked my last one, but as they're pretty rare I don't imagine I'll see one. I'm aiming to not need to have a project thread for this car, but I'm buying 15+ year old Alfa, so we'll see about that….. haha Whiney nonsense!My old GTV;  My old 155 v6;  |
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Last Edit: Apr 5, 2015 19:41:04 GMT by goldnrust
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adam73bgt
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Shame to hear you're moving on from the 5 again but I get your reasons why I'll be interested to hear if you do get a GTV, I think I may be looking at one again to replace my Saab possibly... a V6 would be awesome! |
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duncanmartin
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Your 155 looked really cool. If you see one (they are pretty rare), you might also find it worth looking at a Lancia Dedra - it's basically the same car, but instead of the V6 had a 2 litre Turbo engine. If you're thinking about the GTV, don't rule out a FIAT Coupe. Serviceable cars can be had for reasonable money (the best are getting more expensive), and while they can do the whole GT thing pretty well, the turbo cars have some serious grunt (and the viscodrive diff which is really effective). The 16VT is good and might be collectable sooner, but the 20VT is great and sounds fantastic. If you can cruise along avoiding boost then you can get 30ish mpg out of them. And don't believe the lies about the cambelt being an engine out job - there are loads of specialists who can do it in situ (though I don't think that would be a DIY proposition). You've got to have a thread on it here - I can't imagine you're just going to leave it 100% standard and no have any adventures! Cheers Duncan |
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I approve of a GTV.  The v6 is a beast, definitely worth holding out for. Do you think you'll get tired of the Alfa in time and hanker for another MX5? |
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Last Edit: Apr 5, 2015 15:04:53 GMT by mdh
Koos
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goldnrust
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All is forgiven little red friend. We've been through too much over too many years, lost and found again, built and rebuilt and as darkness rises I'm enjoying driving nice roads roof down there is no place I'd rather be.   |
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Last Edit: Apr 5, 2015 19:43:59 GMT by goldnrust
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lewis
Part of things
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Ha, today's weather was cracking so I'm not surprised.
I have similar thoughts of selling my motorbike after riding through the long, cold, wet winter and then along comes the warm, dry days and I have blast and remember why I bought it in the first place!
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goldnrust
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Apr 21, 2015 14:55:47 GMT
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Time for an important cosmetic update! I finally found some rear wheels that were both cheap, 14" and would look ok Picked up 4 of these Compomotive Penta reps, with useable tyres, for fairly cheap on the mx5 forum.  A quick refurb in silver to match my Watanabes and I'm really pleased with how they look.    As you can see I've been out enjoying the sunshine with the roof down My usual heart on my sleeve, up and down like a roller coaster, feelings for the car have been a bit more positive recently, driven by those sunny drives. But earlier this week my wife's KA has finally succumbed to rust I don't want to fix, so we're down to this being our only car to share currently, which makes some of it's downsides more apparent! |
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Apr 21, 2015 15:40:47 GMT
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Why the mixed wheels still dude?
The mx5 is quite comprised as a daily. Motorway commuting in mine used to drive me bonkers!
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Koos
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goldnrust
West Midlands
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Apr 21, 2015 16:18:55 GMT
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Because I liked mixed wheels! Yeah it's the motorway which is essentially the issue with mine, the rest of the time I'm quite happy with it really. |
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Apr 21, 2015 16:31:32 GMT
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I hate mixed wheels! :-P
What happened to the lettered tyres?
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Koos
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duncanmartin
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Apr 21, 2015 19:36:43 GMT
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Glad you're using it in the sunshine. Maybe replacing the wife's Ka will allow you the 2 car garage that will solve your issues? She can have something comfortable and economical for the motorway, and when you need to commute distances then you can swap over for a few weeks? Cheers Duncan |
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Roll on summer! 
I was pleased to find that after about half and hour of re-tracing my steps I found the culprit….
The v6 is a beast, definitely worth holding out for.
