1992 Mazda MX-5
Discussion
Sorry for not replying, lots going on. Yes the gearbox and diff oil are also new 
After what seems like forever, the roof came down today :-) Did a bit of driving around, found the exhaust to be leaking from both ends of the cat despite new gaskets. I've just loosened it off, packed with Bosal exhaust paste and tightened it all back up. Hopefully it will be OK because tomorrow I'm off to Zandvoort for a track day! First time ever. Let's hope both the car and I hold up...
After what seems like forever, the roof came down today :-) Did a bit of driving around, found the exhaust to be leaking from both ends of the cat despite new gaskets. I've just loosened it off, packed with Bosal exhaust paste and tightened it all back up. Hopefully it will be OK because tomorrow I'm off to Zandvoort for a track day! First time ever. Let's hope both the car and I hold up...
Had a fantastic day at Zandvoort! Enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. So impressed with the car, I didn't expect it to perform as well as it did. Brakes and tyres held up and exceeded my expectations by far.
There are loads of photos but for now I'll just post the on board video of my third session which was at about 14:00 this afternoon.
2:05 I nearly end up in the gravel after outbraking myself
6:50 Corvette steams past then Fiat 500 nearly takes me out, then Focus does end up in gravel after outbraking himself
14:50 Porsche 944 (or it is a 924?) needs fresh air..!
https://youtu.be/cD7cmRRhPg8
There are loads of photos but for now I'll just post the on board video of my third session which was at about 14:00 this afternoon.
2:05 I nearly end up in the gravel after outbraking myself
6:50 Corvette steams past then Fiat 500 nearly takes me out, then Focus does end up in gravel after outbraking himself
14:50 Porsche 944 (or it is a 924?) needs fresh air..!
https://youtu.be/cD7cmRRhPg8
LeoZwalf said:
Had a fantastic day at Zandvoort! Enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. So impressed with the car, I didn't expect it to perform as well as it did. Brakes and tyres held up and exceeded my expectations by far.
There are loads of photos but for now I'll just post the on board video of my third session which was at about 14:00 this afternoon.
2:05 I nearly end up in the gravel after outbraking myself
6:50 Corvette steams past then Fiat 500 nearly takes me out, then Focus does end up in gravel after outbraking himself
14:50 Porsche 944 (or it is a 924?) needs fresh air..!
https://youtu.be/cD7cmRRhPg8
Jesus Christ, that is a savage introduction to trackdays. I've never seen that much bad driving in a whole day, let alone in one session. Well done for surviving!There are loads of photos but for now I'll just post the on board video of my third session which was at about 14:00 this afternoon.
2:05 I nearly end up in the gravel after outbraking myself
6:50 Corvette steams past then Fiat 500 nearly takes me out, then Focus does end up in gravel after outbraking himself
14:50 Porsche 944 (or it is a 924?) needs fresh air..!
https://youtu.be/cD7cmRRhPg8
One thing for note, you really need to give cars more room under braking, and ducking into the blind spot of the Fiat 500 approaching the corner was lucky not to cause an accident.
evwalls said:
Nice!
Any leaks from the cat?
None, but it never did leak - the middle silencer did but I had it welded up on the previous page Any leaks from the cat?
On that note, the exhaust started sounding really good on track, the hotter it got the more meaty it sounded.C70R said:
Jesus Christ, that is a savage introduction to trackdays. I've never seen that much bad driving in a whole day, let alone in one session. Well done for surviving!
One thing for note, you really need to give cars more room under braking, and ducking into the blind spot of the Fiat 500 approaching the corner was lucky not to cause an accident.
Maybe it's the video, but it didn't seem bad to me at all. Sure there was a moment or two when things got a bit hairy but I would expect that from a bunch of Dutch blokes let loose on a track! I was a little surprised when there was no briefing, no, well no nothing at all. "Have you read and understood the rules?" Ja. "And you know what the different flags mean? Ja. "Ok, sign here and have fun!"One thing for note, you really need to give cars more room under braking, and ducking into the blind spot of the Fiat 500 approaching the corner was lucky not to cause an accident.
You're right about the Fiat 500. Things got lairy when the Corvette steamed past, he took us all by surprise a bit I think. Lesson learned, no harm done.
When I fitted the new caliper, I did notice a tiny hairline crack in the brake disc. I've had this before with other cars and didn't think much of it. But after Zandvoort, the crack has opened up somewhat and I can fit my fingernail into it now
- new discs ordered (Genuine Mazda, €19.95 each - cheap enough for ya?!) and arrived on Saturday. They're not fitted yet, I'll do another update when I get a round tuit.Edited by LeoZwalf on Tuesday 11th April 15:32
Saturday. Had some time, did the rear discs.
Told you the track day had made the crack (much much) worse!
New ones on:
Wheels on:
Job jobbed :-) Went for an hour long drive (just to bed the brakes in of course) and the car is feeling good. A combination of the gearbox and turret oil change and a hammering on track seem to have blown some cobwebs away
Told you the track day had made the crack (much much) worse!
New ones on:
Wheels on:
Job jobbed :-) Went for an hour long drive (just to bed the brakes in of course) and the car is feeling good. A combination of the gearbox and turret oil change and a hammering on track seem to have blown some cobwebs away
You know that thing where you buy something on a whim, then it sits for ages because you can't actually be bothered to fit it? Then, suddenly, you get fed up of staring at it. Once the job is complete, you step back to admire your handiwork and wonder why you didn't do it earlier.
This weekend the weather was finally good. Mrs and I went for a spin with the roof down, driving along the oh-so-straight and flat roads. Still, it was nice. Until the clutch started feeling all weird. It wouldn't really disengage properly unless you pump the pedal a few times - yeup, looks like the master cylinder has gone.
We got home ok and up went the MX5 on the ramps. No leaking from the slave cylinder which is why I'm sure it's the master. Today I'll order their replacements.
What's all this got to do with buying something on a whim? While the car was up on the ramps, I made use of that and finally fitted the splitter I bought weeks ago, removed the ugly number plate holder and moved the plate down low. Sticker type plates (like you see on some classics like E-Tyes) aren't allowed and although I would love a short plate (US Style), that isn't allowed either. You can get them, but have to have a certain code on your Kentekenbewijs (like the V5). You can only get that code if the RDW (DVLA) inspect your car and deem it officially imported from somewhere which uses that size plate and that it's not possible to fit a full size plate.
This is the result:
This weekend the weather was finally good. Mrs and I went for a spin with the roof down, driving along the oh-so-straight and flat roads. Still, it was nice. Until the clutch started feeling all weird. It wouldn't really disengage properly unless you pump the pedal a few times - yeup, looks like the master cylinder has gone.
We got home ok and up went the MX5 on the ramps. No leaking from the slave cylinder which is why I'm sure it's the master. Today I'll order their replacements.
What's all this got to do with buying something on a whim? While the car was up on the ramps, I made use of that and finally fitted the splitter I bought weeks ago, removed the ugly number plate holder and moved the plate down low. Sticker type plates (like you see on some classics like E-Tyes) aren't allowed and although I would love a short plate (US Style), that isn't allowed either. You can get them, but have to have a certain code on your Kentekenbewijs (like the V5). You can only get that code if the RDW (DVLA) inspect your car and deem it officially imported from somewhere which uses that size plate and that it's not possible to fit a full size plate.
This is the result:
3 weeks it sat out the front of the house, disabled by a failed clutch cylinder. From its symptoms I think it was the master, but have replaced that and the slave. Since the droplinks seemed to be wearing out, I changed those too, total cost was about €100 for the parts.
Lovely lovely weather yesterday, plus a gift of SOME FREE TIME meant I was able to do all this work and actually enjoy it
Old and new slave cylinders:
Great access if you remove the front right wheel. Or you can do most of the job from underneath and only realise this right at the end...
Old drop links, bushes all soft and falling apart:
New drop links in place:
Went for a test drive last night, some squeaking from the front end is now gone and the clutch feels better than it ever did. Just ticked over to 237,900 km and need to do another track day at Zandvoort.
Lovely lovely weather yesterday, plus a gift of SOME FREE TIME meant I was able to do all this work and actually enjoy it
Old and new slave cylinders:
Great access if you remove the front right wheel. Or you can do most of the job from underneath and only realise this right at the end...
Old drop links, bushes all soft and falling apart:
New drop links in place:
Went for a test drive last night, some squeaking from the front end is now gone and the clutch feels better than it ever did. Just ticked over to 237,900 km and need to do another track day at Zandvoort.
Today, it died.
I'd been driving for well over an hour. I'd almost arrived home when I heard a faint but clear whizzing kinda sound which went up and down with the revs. Whilst moving along I turned the engine off and back on... but not back on. Because all the electrics are totally dead. No hazard lights, no lights anywhere, no ignition lights, no starter, no nothing at all.
There was enough speed in her to pull along the side of the round. Well, the side of a roundabout. Not the best place but had no choice. Whilst I checked the basics and pondered my misfortune, a guy turns up in an E36 BMW and, long story short, tows me the couple of miles home! Total legend.
Now I have an MX5 shaped paperweight outside my house.
Battery is good, it reads 12.7v
Main 80A fuse is good
There is however, no earth at all from what I can tell. One multimeter lead on the battery negative pole, the other on suspension strut top or various other metal bits in the boot which should definitely be earthed... nothing.
If you have any ideas (apart from "burn it", although...) please let me know.
I'd been driving for well over an hour. I'd almost arrived home when I heard a faint but clear whizzing kinda sound which went up and down with the revs. Whilst moving along I turned the engine off and back on... but not back on. Because all the electrics are totally dead. No hazard lights, no lights anywhere, no ignition lights, no starter, no nothing at all.
There was enough speed in her to pull along the side of the round. Well, the side of a roundabout. Not the best place but had no choice. Whilst I checked the basics and pondered my misfortune, a guy turns up in an E36 BMW and, long story short, tows me the couple of miles home! Total legend.
Now I have an MX5 shaped paperweight outside my house.
Battery is good, it reads 12.7v
Main 80A fuse is good
There is however, no earth at all from what I can tell. One multimeter lead on the battery negative pole, the other on suspension strut top or various other metal bits in the boot which should definitely be earthed... nothing.
If you have any ideas (apart from "burn it", although...) please let me know.
Ugh, APK (Dutch MOT) failed today.
- Electric headlight adjuster not working on right side
- Upper right front balljoint cover is split
Headlight adjuster is easy, says the tester. Just remove the switch! If it's not there, it cannot be tested and cannot fail. Easy.
Balljoint cover was an interesting one. I did ask the tester to get me a price for the garage to replace it, pretty much the only solution they could offer was an entire new upper suspension arm at €680!! HAHALOL etc. He agreed it was ridiculous, to be very fair to him he wasn't actually trying to sell me this solution!
5 minutes on my favourite MX-5 parts supplier site and I've ordered 4 of these covers. Yes 4. Yes only 1 is bad. But I want to do both sides as he did say the left one is getting a bit ropey. 4 because I know they're tricky to fit and if I balls one up, there's a backup plan...
- Electric headlight adjuster not working on right side
- Upper right front balljoint cover is split
Headlight adjuster is easy, says the tester. Just remove the switch! If it's not there, it cannot be tested and cannot fail. Easy.
Balljoint cover was an interesting one. I did ask the tester to get me a price for the garage to replace it, pretty much the only solution they could offer was an entire new upper suspension arm at €680!! HAHALOL etc. He agreed it was ridiculous, to be very fair to him he wasn't actually trying to sell me this solution!
5 minutes on my favourite MX-5 parts supplier site and I've ordered 4 of these covers. Yes 4. Yes only 1 is bad. But I want to do both sides as he did say the left one is getting a bit ropey. 4 because I know they're tricky to fit and if I balls one up, there's a backup plan...
Time and life moves on - it's time to sell this little bomb.
Not putting this link here to advertise but for posterity.
https://www.facebook.com/leo.zwalf/posts/101609198...
Not putting this link here to advertise but for posterity.
https://www.facebook.com/leo.zwalf/posts/101609198...
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