MX5 250GTO body conversion kit
Discussion
S2Mike said:
That Pair are gorgeous.
If only it was available with a 6 pot straight or V motor, convertible to please the OH, I would sort out somewhere to keep one!
Over the years MX-5s/Eunos/Miatas have been fitted with:If only it was available with a 6 pot straight or V motor, convertible to please the OH, I would sort out somewhere to keep one!
Jag V12
Ford V8 Inc Supercharged
Lexus Turbo V8
Chevrolet V8 Inc Supercharged
Rover V8
Mazda V6
Ford V6
Nissan Turbo Straight 6
Mazda Turbo Rotary
Honda V-Tec Inline 4
Ford Cosworth Turbo Inline 4
Along with various Superchargers, Turbo Chargers, Throttle Bodies and even Electric Motors.
LS V8 conversions are probably the most popular these days as they are supported in the US with kits to fit them.
The appeal for me though is to have a car that looks (at least a little bit) like a vintage 60s exotica (though it's even easier to make one ape the Elan even more than it does already) but is cheap to insure, reasonably fuel efficient, cheap and simple to maintain with lots of after market support for parts and upgrades plus and most importantly huge fun to drive without fear of losing your licence, which is why despite having owned MX-5s for over 10 years I get that itch to scratch and am thinking about another one.
I think the Simpson Design car will be a much better product and will have superior fit and finish but there's no-one doing it in the UK (legally) and it's far, far more expensive (probably 5-6 times as much once shipping and taxes are taken in to account), the MX250 is practically the cost of a good quality F&F style body kit but is a coupe and much, much better looking.
I'll give it a year and see how the kit matures and how my employment situation evolves and if things go well I'll take the plunge on one of these.
seansverige said:
hairykrishna said:
steviegunn said:
a paint job like this
I think you might have just decided the colour scheme of my Supra kit.Edited by steviegunn on Friday 18th May 17:06
Very interesting to see my old Miata again , I was begining to think it had vanished untill the previous posts appeared by Heaton-Norris & Smash regarding it's present status.During 2004 I built quite a number of these "Italia" conversions using the Simpson kit.In Florida USA they represented excellent value for money however by crossing the Atlantic the kit becomes a rather none viable proposition by the time all the costs are included. Having a great deal of experience in kit-car industry I decided after considerable investigation that it would be a "no - go" project at that time. See photo as car was completed :- 
smash said:
The Velo Rossa is a chopped version of the old Datsun 240Z based GTO kits (recognise the door handle?).
The ultimate development of the Datsun based GTO kit was the Scorpion GTZ, which was actually bought as a going concern from the states by a UK based company OM Sportscars who promptly disappeared without trace! Their intial pricelist showed turnkeys available at £25k.
I guess there's a "know your market" lesson there.
OM sportscars still exist, but Oliver doesn't have the time to build the cars (he'll probably still sell the kits though). I built the show car with him a few years ago, based on the 240Z, but with a Chevrolet V8 and plenty of upgrades. It was a lot of work. Despite him buying the "going concern", it was far from good and would have needed a lot of skill to build a nice car. He improved it no-end.The ultimate development of the Datsun based GTO kit was the Scorpion GTZ, which was actually bought as a going concern from the states by a UK based company OM Sportscars who promptly disappeared without trace! Their intial pricelist showed turnkeys available at £25k.
I guess there's a "know your market" lesson there.
He knew the market and had several orders, but unfortunately he didn't know his wife, and how much other work he was going to have. As someone said, it's also a real pity to chop up a 240Z to build an albeit fairly good 250GTO look-alike. We did think about designing a bespoke chassis for it, but that would involve a big risk if Ferrari took offence.
I'll dig out some photos shortly.
I remember at the time the project was sold by Scorpion I was looking to buy a Z based GTO rep (before I bought the P4) and clearly remember comments on a couple of Z forums to the effect that OM couldn't quote for ancillaries such as the chrome headlight surround or perspex covers, the door handles (MG origin I think?) nor could they give a time scale for when they would be able to supply various parts. At the time it came across as a complete shambles I'm afraid...
Also produced in Australia by Classic Revival - http://www.classicrevival.com.au/GTO.html - I looked into bringing a car over as they're RHD - Ian Denner offered me their demo for $40K AUD ("Built from a bare shell. Toyota 3.0 ltr ( 7M series ) 6 cyl motor. 5 speed g/box. 300ZX rear axle. Large 330 mm disc brakes. Leather interior. Half cage").
Huge thread (44 pages) about Z based GTO reps here including a V12 engined version http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/50042-25...
Also produced in Australia by Classic Revival - http://www.classicrevival.com.au/GTO.html - I looked into bringing a car over as they're RHD - Ian Denner offered me their demo for $40K AUD ("Built from a bare shell. Toyota 3.0 ltr ( 7M series ) 6 cyl motor. 5 speed g/box. 300ZX rear axle. Large 330 mm disc brakes. Leather interior. Half cage").
Huge thread (44 pages) about Z based GTO reps here including a V12 engined version http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/50042-25...
Edited by smash on Tuesday 12th June 18:12
smash said:
I remember at the time the project was sold by Scorpion I was looking to buy a Z based GTO rep (before I bought the P4) and clearly remember comments on a couple of Z forums to the effect that OM couldn't quote for ancillaries such as the chrome headlight surround or perspex covers, the door handles (MG origin I think?) nor could they give a time scale for when they would be able to supply various parts. At the time it came across as a complete shambles I'm afraid...
Yes he had a lot of problems with the so-called suppliers that were already supposed to be delivering. I remember the problems with the perspex covers. They were ridiculously expensive for what they were, took too long to arrive, and OM didn't have the time to make them themselves.The car we built used the original Datsun door handles. He tried his best under the circumstances and was pretty p***ed off with the way things went.
![](http://thumbsnap.com/t/YJ4PSgNj.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/xn4Ovt31" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/xn4Ovt31.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/tRDNtNLE" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/tRDNtNLE.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/zCtmbbyg" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/zCtmbbyg.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/rO7LnITK" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/rO7LnITK.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/YJ4PSgNj" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/YJ4PSgNj.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/xn4Ovt31" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/xn4Ovt31.jpg)
I give up trying to add more than one photo. It doesn't work
Edited by dandare on Tuesday 12th June 22:49
Don't give up! Very sad to hear that what Scorpion provided wasn't the full package - always interesting to get the other side of the story. Would love to see some more pics if you can conquer the system - it's still a great looking car.
I seem to remember having the chassis discussion on a thread at the time and I've got a feeling one of the cobra rep chassis came up with the same wheelbase (I might be making this up!)
I seem to remember having the chassis discussion on a thread at the time and I've got a feeling one of the cobra rep chassis came up with the same wheelbase (I might be making this up!)
Edited by smash on Wednesday 13th June 09:17
smash said:
Don't give up! Very sad to hear that what Scorpion provided wasn't the full package - always interesting to get the other side of the story. Would love to see some more pics if you can conquer the system - it's still a great looking car.
I seem to remember having the chassis discussion on a thread at the time and I've got a feeling one of the cobra rep chassis came up with the same wheelbase (I might be making this up!)
It wasn't all the previous owner of Scorpions fault. Sometimes suppliers' situations change, and running a business where some suppliers are in the States, body moulding is in the UK, and building and administration is done from home in Germany, complicates the whole thing. We did talk about making a modern interpretation of the GTO which couldn't be stopped by Ferraris legal team, but we've both got a lot on our plates at the moment. Maybe when retirement is looming and the money isn't so important.I seem to remember having the chassis discussion on a thread at the time and I've got a feeling one of the cobra rep chassis came up with the same wheelbase (I might be making this up!)
Edited by smash on Wednesday 13th June 09:17
One of the problems with the Datsun/Nissan based replicas is the slightly shorter wheelbase (maybe 10cm?) which is lost between the front wheels and the B-pillar on the replicas. It makes the bonnet look shorter than the original. I'm sure a Cobra chassis (Gardner Douglas or Dax, and not one of the floppy ladder chassis)could be made to fit. That would be a great starting point.
Here goes with more pics:
Yippee. It worked.
Earlier on this site in the "Italia" post I mensioned Katskin seat covers which are available in the USA . I have used them on several of my conversions with complete satisfaction,they have a variety of coluor combinations and I do think that lettering can be supplied to order . see enclosed photo:- 
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I understand why there’s a market for these Budget-buster type kitcar rebodies, it allows people with limited budget to have something nice and unique but I’d like to offer a piece of advice to anyone who is about to start such a build.
The cost of the kit is cheap because the original development cost was also cheap; now there’s nothing wrong or unusual about this within the kitcar world, it just means you, as the builder, must allow for your own development time and money to finish the build.
For the initial cost, the kit looks ok, but there are a few issues you may want to address before putting it together.
After seeing one close up at the Newark kitcar show, I noticed a couple of errors, firstly the one piece front body panel is pot-riveted and bonded to the original MX5 and clamps down over the bottom of the windscreen, which is fine until you get an MOT failure cracked screen; So Auto glass isn’t going to be able to help you.
Secondly the panels are pot-riveted to the original steel Mazda bodywork. You need to be aware that Aluminium pot-rivets and steel will corrode when in direct contact, especially when water is added, this is called intergranular corrosion.
So the exposed rivets on the underside of the Mazda bodywork will allow water ingress and ultimately your paint will blister and the join will fail.
I think if everyone who is building this car can bring these, and other points together, overcome them as a team, then you will all benefit from a much better end result and a car you can be proud of and give you years of enjoyment. Good luck.
The cost of the kit is cheap because the original development cost was also cheap; now there’s nothing wrong or unusual about this within the kitcar world, it just means you, as the builder, must allow for your own development time and money to finish the build.
For the initial cost, the kit looks ok, but there are a few issues you may want to address before putting it together.
After seeing one close up at the Newark kitcar show, I noticed a couple of errors, firstly the one piece front body panel is pot-riveted and bonded to the original MX5 and clamps down over the bottom of the windscreen, which is fine until you get an MOT failure cracked screen; So Auto glass isn’t going to be able to help you.
Secondly the panels are pot-riveted to the original steel Mazda bodywork. You need to be aware that Aluminium pot-rivets and steel will corrode when in direct contact, especially when water is added, this is called intergranular corrosion.
So the exposed rivets on the underside of the Mazda bodywork will allow water ingress and ultimately your paint will blister and the join will fail.
I think if everyone who is building this car can bring these, and other points together, overcome them as a team, then you will all benefit from a much better end result and a car you can be proud of and give you years of enjoyment. Good luck.
If those are the only issues on a £1300 kit that's pretty bloody good!
Blind stainless rivets solves corrosion and water ingress issues
That just leaves the screen - loose your £50 excess and get a fresh one in before you do the conversion. You'd be pretty unlucky to get a terminal crack though
Blind stainless rivets solves corrosion and water ingress issues
That just leaves the screen - loose your £50 excess and get a fresh one in before you do the conversion. You'd be pretty unlucky to get a terminal crack though
Edited by smash on Monday 16th July 14:11
smash said:
If those are the only issues on a £1300 kit that's pretty bloody good!
Blind stainless rivets solves corrosion and water ingress issues
That just leaves the screen - loose your £50 excess and get a fresh one in before you do the conversion. You'd be pretty unlucky to get a terminal crack though
I’m not sure if those are the only issues, just the ones that are obvious. The blind stainless rivets don’t entirely fix the problem, because the builder has still drilled holes into the galvanised Mazda chassis.Blind stainless rivets solves corrosion and water ingress issues
That just leaves the screen - loose your £50 excess and get a fresh one in before you do the conversion. You'd be pretty unlucky to get a terminal crack though
Edited by smash on Monday 16th July 14:11
The screen maybe good when you build the car, but you are still gambling on the screen staying good. I’ve had a few windscreens replaced in my time; they were all good before they cracked.
I was thinking more on the lines of re-engineering the outer skin and converting it into a flip up bonnet (TVR S3, Jaguar E-type) or at the very least just a removable one with clips.
I’m only using the history of badly designed and poorly built kitcars in the past as reference, I think we’ve all seen our fair share of lifted paint, bubbling bodywork and cracked gel coat to know what works and what doesn’t.
Dreamspeed said:
Secondly the panels are pot-riveted to the original steel Mazda bodywork. You need to be aware that Aluminium pot-rivets and steel will corrode when in direct contact, especially when water is added, this is called intergranular corrosion.
We generally call this galvanic corrosion on this side of the pond. To cut down on this corrosion other materials can be chosen for the rivets and in addition they can be 'wet' installed.kennyrayandersen said:
We generally call this galvanic corrosion on this side of the pond. To cut down on this corrosion other materials can be chosen for the rivets and in addition they can be 'wet' installed.
Yes, galvanic corrosion can occur; in simplistic terms Galvanic corrosion is an electrochemical form of corrosion; Aluminium based alloys are sensitive to intergranular or exfoliation corrosion where the micro surface breaks down and becomes granular.To quote Mr Mackey, to put Aluminium to steel “is bad”
Seems this little kit is gaining a lot of interest in a short time:
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/forumdisplay...
First proper pics of painted convertible and appropriate size wheels promised for today. Stock Mx5 soft top retained (looks quite good with hardtop as well!)
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/forumdisplay...
First proper pics of painted convertible and appropriate size wheels promised for today. Stock Mx5 soft top retained (looks quite good with hardtop as well!)
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