With the MX-5e booked in to have the left rear sill repaired, we have continued working on the inside of the car. The stereo system is all working now and the gold detailing on the new black door cards is looking really good. The stereo sounds pretty good but we are installing a compact sub-woofer to give it some proper bass. We have already installed the power cables and RCA cables for this, when we fitted the new carpet. You can read more about the MX-5e's entertainment system.
Two deliveries from MX5 Parts today. The first was a set of Polybushes for the front and rear anti-roll bars, along with the required bolts and nuts (to follow soon). The current bushes are toast and you can hear the clunking from the anti-roll bars over bumps.
The second was a complete set of gaskets to rebuild the exhaust system. All the pipes look to be in good condition but there are no gaskets, so it leaks at all the joints. It has also been put together with 8mm bolts, instead of 10mm bolts 🙄
Removing bushes is a right pain unless you have the right tools 😎 We bought this set when we did all the bushes on Yoko. This £80 set of tools saves you hours.
Having removed the rear anti-roll bar, we cleaned up all the parts and fitted the new Polybushes.
Dropped Kaminari off at Suffolk Mazda to get the rear left sill fixed today. This gives us some time to focus on the conversion details.
The new Momo steering wheel boss and wheel have been fitted to the MX-5e. It looks really good but, more importantly it feels just right too.
Picked up the MX-5e from Suffolk Mazda. They have done a great job on the left rear sill 🙂
We removed the whole of the exhaust system, to see how best we can fix all the leaks. The component parts are all sound which is good news. It had simply been put together very badly, with the wrong sized bolts used. Getting it off the car, especially around the manifold area is tough. Access to the bolts is very tight.
We rebuilt the exhaust system and were mostly successful. We both lost some skin in the process! The gaskets either end of the catalytic converter were not the right size, so this was removed and taken to a local auto shop, to get the right size gaskets. This appears to have fixed the leaks 🙂
With the exhaust rebuilt, the MX-5e is sounding as good as it ever has, which is slightly ironic really 🙂
Spent some time installing and wiring up the sub-woofer today. I provides a noticeable improvement on the quality of the audio of the MX-5e entertainment system (which was already pretty good). For now, it is mounted on the parcel shelf but, once we have a clearer view of where the various EV components fit, it will be mounted much lower down for an improved centre of gravity.
The MX-5e is booked in for a second MOT.
Made some progress today with the MX-5e passing her MOT test😎 This finally gives us the opportunity to test out things like the ride, handling and the braking system properly.
Today was the first time we got to drive the MX-5e properly since buying it as a non-runner on the 19th March 2023. We knew it already but, the tyres fitted to these wheels are shockingly bad. They are very old and the rubber is rock hard. They will be replaced quite soon. The MX-5e is really quite quiet, even with the petrol engine still in it. The automatic gearbox is a little bit reluctant and is positively chilled with overdrive enabled. There are surprisingly few rattles and the car is already fun to drive. The steering has a nice feel and weight. The braking system is all new and really impressive.
With the sun out, it made sense to drive up to Orford Quay. Some of the best driving roads in Suffolk are along this route. Ethan drove Yoko and Rob drove the MX-5e (he is the only one currently insured to drive it).
The objective was to test the MX-5e out dynamically, look for issues and to also identify the key areas of improvement.
To celebrate the MOT pass, we have bought a few bits from BOFI Racing to fit to the MX-5e. The first is this GV2 Style Lip Spoiler. The plan is to make this look like a seamless part of the front bumper by filling the seam before the whole car is resprayed.
The second is a Jass Performance Black Handbrake Handle to replace the tan one that was removed from the MX-5e.
The third is some SkidNation Delrin Door Bushes. These give a much more positive feel on closing the doors and help stiffen the MX-5e body shell in general.
We are doing some experimental 3D printing to finalise the design of the side lights for the MX-5e. This Perspex tint is far too dark but it does look very cool 😊
Progress has been slow in the later part of this month because Rob is spending a lot of time with his Dad, who had a heart attack and stroke. Ethan is currently completing the online parts of his EV conversion training course. We will be purchasing a number of parts to start the EV conversion in July, including the iBooster, Telsa SDU and Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) to go on the new wheels.
With my daughter, Emma away in Poland, we get to look after her ND MX-5 🙂 Having these two cars and the MX-5e in the family allows us to benchmark it against a modern ND MX-5 and a fully restored Eunos Roadster. The MX-5e is currently the runt of the pack. It's the slowest and hardest car to drive fast but, dynamically it is gaining ground quickly. The ND is the 1.5 variant but is the quickest by some margin and has one of the best small engines ever produced. Mated with a great 6-speed gearbox it is a joy to drive. Our goal is for the MX-5e to be the best of this bunch though.