2006 Mazda MX-5 NC 2.0 Sport
Discussion
TameRacingDriver said:
Great thread OP. Really good to see some love for the NC on PH these days. Funnily enough I came from a boxster too. A short and very painful ownership experience that was. Very interesting to see what people do to their cars, lots of inspiration!
Thanks, much appreciated!Okay, last bit to be re-trimmed: the gauge cowel.
It comes apart, which makes this trim job a piece of cake for both neatness, easiness and longevity.
The trim didn't take long at all, and the finish is super neat.
All installed. Balances the interior well.
Very happy with the outcome!
freedee said:
Where did you get the material from as it looks great
Here you go:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274548489768
I noticed that the brakes were sticking slightly. On very slight inclines, the car doesn't want to roll freely. It's barely noticeable, but it's there. As I was removing the spacers anyway (due to bearing/tyre wear and risk of the arches cutting the tyre), I thought I may as well strip and clean the brakes.
The 25mm spacers were a b
h to remove. One nut was essentially destroyed with an impact gun, luckily not damaging the thread. I'm glad I removed them sooner rather than later.
The calipers could do with a repaint too.
Doesn't look that clean, but that's far smoother. The ends of the pads were also sanded/filed slightly, and with new grease applied, they operated smooth as silk.
The sliders were also cleaned and re-greased.
I had some silver and yellow paint in the shed. While I was under there, I may as well have painted the disc hubs/edges and calipers.
Much neater.
The rears are the only calipers that I haven't re-built. The fronts are simple push-in pistons, but the rears are wind-in. I've not re-built wind-in calipers before, and these pistons are also operated by the handbrake. I'll have to do some research, but I'll be re-building them soon for peace of mind. The cleaning has done them wonders though, with everything moving freely.
Good as new (ish).
The wheels are now 25mm further into the wheel arches. While it doesn't look as good, it's given me a lot of peace of mind. The original ET of the wheels is ET55. Running 25mm spacers essentially makes the wheels ET35. Reading up on the matter, anything lower than ET40 will cause premature bearing failure. I'd love a happy medium, and as I can't have spacers less than 25mm due to the original studs protruding and hitting the back of the alloy, a change of wheels is the only option. Well, I could replace the studs, but that's a huge job. I'll keep an eye out for wheels that are between ET42 and ET45 that are the same size/width. This would also allow me to swap my current tyres over. The problem is finding a wheel that's lighter than the stock NC's wheels for a decent price. The standard weight is 7.7kg, which is very impressive for an OEM 17" wheel.
The 25mm spacers were a b
h to remove. One nut was essentially destroyed with an impact gun, luckily not damaging the thread. I'm glad I removed them sooner rather than later.The calipers could do with a repaint too.
Doesn't look that clean, but that's far smoother. The ends of the pads were also sanded/filed slightly, and with new grease applied, they operated smooth as silk.
The sliders were also cleaned and re-greased.
I had some silver and yellow paint in the shed. While I was under there, I may as well have painted the disc hubs/edges and calipers.
Much neater.
The rears are the only calipers that I haven't re-built. The fronts are simple push-in pistons, but the rears are wind-in. I've not re-built wind-in calipers before, and these pistons are also operated by the handbrake. I'll have to do some research, but I'll be re-building them soon for peace of mind. The cleaning has done them wonders though, with everything moving freely.
Good as new (ish).
The wheels are now 25mm further into the wheel arches. While it doesn't look as good, it's given me a lot of peace of mind. The original ET of the wheels is ET55. Running 25mm spacers essentially makes the wheels ET35. Reading up on the matter, anything lower than ET40 will cause premature bearing failure. I'd love a happy medium, and as I can't have spacers less than 25mm due to the original studs protruding and hitting the back of the alloy, a change of wheels is the only option. Well, I could replace the studs, but that's a huge job. I'll keep an eye out for wheels that are between ET42 and ET45 that are the same size/width. This would also allow me to swap my current tyres over. The problem is finding a wheel that's lighter than the stock NC's wheels for a decent price. The standard weight is 7.7kg, which is very impressive for an OEM 17" wheel.
TameRacingDriver said:
Interesting as I was thinking of getting spacers for mine, it sounds like on balance you wouldn't recommend them. I do like the look with spacers and it does look better but only very subtly in my view and if it causes problems then they probably aren't worth the bother.
My thoughts exactly. If the stock wheels had cavities to allow the original studs to protrude into, you could fit a smaller one. But unfortunately it's not the case!The car is a lot less nervous now without the spaces. With the peace of mind, they'll be staying off. Unless someone wants them of course, I'd be happy to sell.
Mighty Flex said:
Good write up. The NC is a good car, the later facelifts look good too with the right parts and ride height.
Re tyres - how do you get on with the falkens after a while? As a road tyre on a "fun car" Good feedback/comfort/progressiveness? I have had some of the previous ZE914 delaminate at the edges (doing autosolos, so hardly fair), but they felt reasonable on my old MR2 (but not a completely equal assessment with various sizes and wheel offsets)
Re your wheels - you could go up in width to get the extra poke without messing with offsets: a 17x8 at standard offset wheel will give you 12.5mm extra - you can probably afford a few mm less offset, so 20mm is possible without messing with geometry. a wider wheel will generally support the tyre better, which could help with your wear. If you are feeling flush, Konig do light wheels it sensible fitments (USA site, but has a good guide on wheels and the styles they offer https://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-... )
I really like the SUPER20 concept they had at SEMA ages back, with big chunky 16x9 wheels and 245 tyres, but that is probably a step to far!
The facelift does look spectacular, I'm quite envious of anyone that has a white NC3.Re tyres - how do you get on with the falkens after a while? As a road tyre on a "fun car" Good feedback/comfort/progressiveness? I have had some of the previous ZE914 delaminate at the edges (doing autosolos, so hardly fair), but they felt reasonable on my old MR2 (but not a completely equal assessment with various sizes and wheel offsets)
Re your wheels - you could go up in width to get the extra poke without messing with offsets: a 17x8 at standard offset wheel will give you 12.5mm extra - you can probably afford a few mm less offset, so 20mm is possible without messing with geometry. a wider wheel will generally support the tyre better, which could help with your wear. If you are feeling flush, Konig do light wheels it sensible fitments (USA site, but has a good guide on wheels and the styles they offer https://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-... )
I really like the SUPER20 concept they had at SEMA ages back, with big chunky 16x9 wheels and 245 tyres, but that is probably a step to far!
The Falkens are fantastic. I purchased them as a good happy-medium, not wanting to spend Michellin money if I'm scrubbing them constantly on track (though I've not been in a while), but to have a decent amount of performance. I also didn't want to lock it down entirely with grip. I genuinely can't fault them, they're providing brilliant amounts of dry weather grip, but it's the wet weather grip that impressed me the most. You can still upset the rear a little with the right amount of throttle and steering angle, but you have to be really trying to get it to break. For the price too, they're outstanding.
I've been looking into wider wheels, but in all honesty every wheel I've found that's a decent price is considerably heavier than the stock NC wheels. To put it into perspective, Team Dynamic wheels are the same weight as OEM, which shows how light they are. So I'd either be spending money for looks but more unsprung weight (not that I'd ever notice it), or a lot of money for looks and the same weight as OEM. I'll keep an eye out, just in case a nice pair of wheels pops up on ebay.
Sko77y said:
Interior trim wrapping looks really good, although you've probably made it look terribly easy!
Surprised you've not done the piano black crash pad, I hated mine for all the finger prints it seemed to attract!
Thanks! I quite like the piano black in all honesty, I usually keep it quite clean so it's not much of an issue for me. It's in remarkable condition without a scratch on it, so I didn't want to spoil it. Surprised you've not done the piano black crash pad, I hated mine for all the finger prints it seemed to attract!
So far, the alcantara has held up beautifully. Very surprised given its cheap price!
I can imagine that everyone's adding photos of yesterday's PH25 meet, but here's a few that are some personal favourites of mine
Those wheels are one of my favourite wheel designs of all time. I think they're beautifully elegant, and wish I'd put them on the Boxster while I still had it...
Those wheels are one of my favourite wheel designs of all time. I think they're beautifully elegant, and wish I'd put them on the Boxster while I still had it...
I've decided to get the wheels powder coated in the coming weeks, but before I do I wanted to get new wheel nuts. The originals had seen better days.
Thanks to Accelebrate for the recommendation for some shiny nuts, I bought some new open-ended black wheel nuts.
Lots better.
I've also put the spacers back on. I know I said I'd take them off, but this time I've used copper grease on the backs, made sure all surfaces and bolts were corrosion free, and will get an alignment done to ensure it's not overly cambered.
I mean, look at it.
And then, look at this...
Yes, that's cement. Some local works must have left a wet patch of cement on the road. I've asked on a Facebook group for advice, and a few people had recommended certain solvents. I'll give them a try.
In the meantime, I hate the standard exhaust tips. I've no idea why Mazda decided to show the original piping inside the shiny tail pipes. That quite literally leaves the tips redundant.
My plan is to cut these off, cut the pipes back a considerable amount, and to fit these new tips:
I'll be welding these on, and not using the clamps, to ensure that they look entirely stock. They're around the same size, but are much longer so that I can cut the original pipes much further back. They should sound a touch different with the exhaust exiting into these tips rather than the atmosphere.
I wonder if that's why Mazda did it, as they didn't want it resonating in the tips...
Thanks to Accelebrate for the recommendation for some shiny nuts, I bought some new open-ended black wheel nuts.
Lots better.
I've also put the spacers back on. I know I said I'd take them off, but this time I've used copper grease on the backs, made sure all surfaces and bolts were corrosion free, and will get an alignment done to ensure it's not overly cambered.
I mean, look at it.
And then, look at this...
Yes, that's cement. Some local works must have left a wet patch of cement on the road. I've asked on a Facebook group for advice, and a few people had recommended certain solvents. I'll give them a try.
In the meantime, I hate the standard exhaust tips. I've no idea why Mazda decided to show the original piping inside the shiny tail pipes. That quite literally leaves the tips redundant.
My plan is to cut these off, cut the pipes back a considerable amount, and to fit these new tips:
I'll be welding these on, and not using the clamps, to ensure that they look entirely stock. They're around the same size, but are much longer so that I can cut the original pipes much further back. They should sound a touch different with the exhaust exiting into these tips rather than the atmosphere.
I wonder if that's why Mazda did it, as they didn't want it resonating in the tips...
Edited by geraintthomas on Thursday 17th August 16:13
richardracer said:
Hi Geraint,
Quite a few people use Subaru Enkei wheels from 2005ish. They are 8*17” with et53 offset. You need to open up the centre bore by a mm or two to fit mx5 hubs. Fill the arches nicely and look as if the were OEM.
Well bloody hell! I was looking at those before. Could you show me a few more angles of yours please? I may invest in a set...Quite a few people use Subaru Enkei wheels from 2005ish. They are 8*17” with et53 offset. You need to open up the centre bore by a mm or two to fit mx5 hubs. Fill the arches nicely and look as if the were OEM.
richardracer said:
No arch rolling required. Car can be lowered. We run 235 40 17 r888r track tyres. Look up Paul Roddison who was selling a set with new r888r tyres recently.
Depending on your taste, you can see different wheel colours. On red, silver works best.
Good luck.
That's outstanding, and the fact you're running such wide tyres, lowered and on track sells it for me. I was about to spend money on refurbing my current wheels. But I think I'll invest in a set of those instead.Depending on your taste, you can see different wheel colours. On red, silver works best.
Good luck.
What kind of workshop would widen the bore?
I've finally gotten round to re-mapping the car.
I looked into a few routes with this. The first was the obvious path of finding a tuner, but the ones I asked were a little clueless on how to build a custom map - they were pretty much off the shelf maps. Celtic Tuning told me "You're not going to see more than 168bhp mate", ignoring the fact that I had a header installed, and that 180bhp was quite common with a header and a good tune.
The second was the Fab9 route. They use a piece of software called VersaTuner. This, with a compatible lead, and their tune, can unlock a nice amount of performance. Pricing it up, it came to around £300, which is a good price for a tune. But after looking into it a little more, I realised that the VersaTuner software has some built-in tunes for the MX-5 NC 2.0 already. Some research had shown me that people are quite happy with these tunes, especially those who fit headers. So I decided to go down this route - buy the software, buy the cable, and use one of the default maps. The total came to £258.
This is the OBDLink SX cable, £55 on Amazon. It's the recommended cable, as I wanted no risk of bricking the ECU.
There's three maps available on the VersaTuner software. A standard Stage 1 map with 98ron recommended. The second and third are pops and bang maps, one mild and one aggressive. I wasn't interested in pops and bangs, but I applied the mild one to start with just so I know that it worked. After this, I could go ahead and put the standard map on.
It's a cold morning, and the car was still wet. Not ideal conditions to use electronics with, but me being the impatient arse that I am, I couldn't be bothered to wait.
VersaTuner is quite simple to use, if you follow the instructions to the book. I did, and the whole flash (including backing up the car's ECU, installing VersaTuner on the ECU, and flashing the car) took no more than 10 minutes.
And that was it, easy peasy. You can customise the map too, with options allowing you to code out DTC's. I chose the option to code out the secondary O2 sensor, considering the car doesn't use it anymore. Firing the car up, it was evident that it worked straight away; no more EML.
After filling the car with 99 ron and taking it for a drive (they recommend 20-30 miles to start with), I started to push on a bit more. As Accelebrate said in his thread, the increase in power felt the same going from a standard manifold to the decat manifold. Much quicker response time on the throttle and the mid-range RPM has a lot more torque. Annoyingly, the closest garage to me only has 97ron fuel - so I'll either have to drive a little to fill up, or just use 97. It's 'recommended', not 'required', so I suppose it wouldn't hurt.
I came back, re-mapped the car a second time with a map that doesn't include the pops and bangs, and that was that.
I've been feeling a little distant from the car lately. I haven't been bonding with it at all, but it could be down to several things. Firstly, I've realised that buying the car purely to turn it into a track car isn't what I'll be doing, so the idea of buying bucket seats, harnessess etc, has gone out of the window. I drive the car mainly on the road, and there's no point in sacrificing daily use for that. So rather than buying a bucket seat, I'll be looking to get some NC2 seats instead. Other reasons for these feelings are probably down to how the wheel paint has aged quite badly, the headlights are faded, there's cement up the side of the car, the car had an EML on (now sorted), and so on. I take a lot of pride in the condition of my cars, so it felt like I was tweaking/changing things without improving the base of the car first.
I've also had some interest in others buying the car, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't researching what ClioRS 200's are like to drive. There's a temptation to sell this car and the Focus MK3, and to get a car that does both jobs - the forementioned Clio. Looks great, brembo fixed calipers, recaro seats, cruise control, great chassis, 200bhp standard, practical, and so on. I'd save yearly in paying two lots of tax, MOT, insurance, servicing, repairs, and we wouldn't have three cars at home like we do now. It's a tempting idea, and I'm going to look into it a little more. But for now, I'll spend a week or so on its cosmetics. I'll re-spray the wheels (or just get them powder coated), wrap the headlamps in clear vinyl after a polish, use some Liquid Hammer on the concrete and will see how I feel afterwards.
I looked into a few routes with this. The first was the obvious path of finding a tuner, but the ones I asked were a little clueless on how to build a custom map - they were pretty much off the shelf maps. Celtic Tuning told me "You're not going to see more than 168bhp mate", ignoring the fact that I had a header installed, and that 180bhp was quite common with a header and a good tune.
The second was the Fab9 route. They use a piece of software called VersaTuner. This, with a compatible lead, and their tune, can unlock a nice amount of performance. Pricing it up, it came to around £300, which is a good price for a tune. But after looking into it a little more, I realised that the VersaTuner software has some built-in tunes for the MX-5 NC 2.0 already. Some research had shown me that people are quite happy with these tunes, especially those who fit headers. So I decided to go down this route - buy the software, buy the cable, and use one of the default maps. The total came to £258.
This is the OBDLink SX cable, £55 on Amazon. It's the recommended cable, as I wanted no risk of bricking the ECU.
There's three maps available on the VersaTuner software. A standard Stage 1 map with 98ron recommended. The second and third are pops and bang maps, one mild and one aggressive. I wasn't interested in pops and bangs, but I applied the mild one to start with just so I know that it worked. After this, I could go ahead and put the standard map on.
It's a cold morning, and the car was still wet. Not ideal conditions to use electronics with, but me being the impatient arse that I am, I couldn't be bothered to wait.
VersaTuner is quite simple to use, if you follow the instructions to the book. I did, and the whole flash (including backing up the car's ECU, installing VersaTuner on the ECU, and flashing the car) took no more than 10 minutes.
And that was it, easy peasy. You can customise the map too, with options allowing you to code out DTC's. I chose the option to code out the secondary O2 sensor, considering the car doesn't use it anymore. Firing the car up, it was evident that it worked straight away; no more EML.
After filling the car with 99 ron and taking it for a drive (they recommend 20-30 miles to start with), I started to push on a bit more. As Accelebrate said in his thread, the increase in power felt the same going from a standard manifold to the decat manifold. Much quicker response time on the throttle and the mid-range RPM has a lot more torque. Annoyingly, the closest garage to me only has 97ron fuel - so I'll either have to drive a little to fill up, or just use 97. It's 'recommended', not 'required', so I suppose it wouldn't hurt.
I came back, re-mapped the car a second time with a map that doesn't include the pops and bangs, and that was that.
I've been feeling a little distant from the car lately. I haven't been bonding with it at all, but it could be down to several things. Firstly, I've realised that buying the car purely to turn it into a track car isn't what I'll be doing, so the idea of buying bucket seats, harnessess etc, has gone out of the window. I drive the car mainly on the road, and there's no point in sacrificing daily use for that. So rather than buying a bucket seat, I'll be looking to get some NC2 seats instead. Other reasons for these feelings are probably down to how the wheel paint has aged quite badly, the headlights are faded, there's cement up the side of the car, the car had an EML on (now sorted), and so on. I take a lot of pride in the condition of my cars, so it felt like I was tweaking/changing things without improving the base of the car first.
I've also had some interest in others buying the car, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't researching what ClioRS 200's are like to drive. There's a temptation to sell this car and the Focus MK3, and to get a car that does both jobs - the forementioned Clio. Looks great, brembo fixed calipers, recaro seats, cruise control, great chassis, 200bhp standard, practical, and so on. I'd save yearly in paying two lots of tax, MOT, insurance, servicing, repairs, and we wouldn't have three cars at home like we do now. It's a tempting idea, and I'm going to look into it a little more. But for now, I'll spend a week or so on its cosmetics. I'll re-spray the wheels (or just get them powder coated), wrap the headlamps in clear vinyl after a polish, use some Liquid Hammer on the concrete and will see how I feel afterwards.
Edited by geraintthomas on Saturday 14th October 15:16
Edited by geraintthomas on Saturday 14th October 15:18
TameRacingDriver said:
Interesting thread and update. Good to see the map improved the car, but sorry to hear you're not really feeling it. The Clio 200 sounds a decent enough option to be fair and one that I may end up considering myself. I really like my NC (with 200 bhp), but also at a cross roads as mine has a lot of miles on and is going to need more spending on it than it's worth just to make it worthy of getting through the next couple of years (not to mention I've only done 1,800 miles in the last 9 months and probably would have been less if I hadn't forced myself to use it), and I'm just not sure I like it quite enough to do that. Will be interested to see what you end up doing 
Thanks for the comments, it's the same thought process I keep having... it's a tricky one. dapper said:
Hello,
Just read through from the start after joining in not long ago.
Regarding the mapping you did yourself, that is looking quite appealing as is almost half the price of my local mapper, who I think also use versatuner. If your car has been happy I'd be inclined to go down that route myself. Would save time and money, so win win really.
I also have the same thoughts as you with going to a hot hatch again. (or just something more practical like a gt86). But have some parts to fit to this so going to see if it creates the spark again.
Cheers
After doing the map myself, I can thoroughly recommend it. It also leaves it open for other people to supply you a map, rather than be locked into a certain garage/brand, which was appealing for me.Just read through from the start after joining in not long ago.
Regarding the mapping you did yourself, that is looking quite appealing as is almost half the price of my local mapper, who I think also use versatuner. If your car has been happy I'd be inclined to go down that route myself. Would save time and money, so win win really.
I also have the same thoughts as you with going to a hot hatch again. (or just something more practical like a gt86). But have some parts to fit to this so going to see if it creates the spark again.
Cheers
S600BSB said:
Great thread - really enjoyed reading it. I sold my 997 in August and bought an NC as a bit of a stop gap car while I decided what to replace the Porsche with. It’s an early 2.0 sport like yours. I absolutely love it and have already decided that it is a keeper! I have replaced a few things here and there and fortunately it is fairly rust free.
One thing I am struggling to find is a replacement bulb for one of the heater controls - the tiny ones for recirculation etc. Any ideas?
Best wishes - please keep up the thread.
That's interesting, not spotted those before. You may be better off swapping the entire control unit to the facelift one - they're quite cheap and look better anyway, with silver matching the gearstick and steering wheel. Enjoy the car!One thing I am struggling to find is a replacement bulb for one of the heater controls - the tiny ones for recirculation etc. Any ideas?
Best wishes - please keep up the thread.
Onwards with the update: It's been a while.
I've had some time to think about what I'd do with this car. Truth is, every time I drive it I want to keep it. The remap is made this car a lot more drivable, and every time I look at different cars, I'm looking at small Japanese cars that are great to drive, forgetting that I already have that. The plan is now to sell the Focus and my wife's car, get a car between us that she'd drive to work (I commute on the train), and I'd keep the Mazda. Perfect.
Knowing that, I treated myself to these:
They're a set of Ultralite's, copies of Enkei RPF1's. They're copies for obvious reasons; price. These were £550 delivered, and are of exceptional build quality. When weighing the wheel, they came in at the same weight as the stock wheel, which is impressive considering how light the stock alloys are (7.7kg).
Love them. This is the second time where I've had a car that I've painted the alloys in anthracite, and been happier going back to silver alloys afterwards. It's so much cleaner. Thanks to how wide the alloys are, there is no need for spacers, so these have been removed.
Another little nicety here is that I've used the same tyres. Due to the slight stretch, it's pushed out the rim protector on the tyre:
After a few weeks, I started to notice a slight pull to the right when accelerating, and a pull to the left when lifting off the power. First thing I did was an alignment; it was due one.
Quite a cool machine to also ensure the tyres are the same pressure.
Alignment done, -1.2 on the front and -2.0 on the rear. Unfortunately, this didn't resolve the issue. I had booked a track day at Oulton Part for around a week's time from this date (back in February), so this was getting a little concerning. Just under a week until the track day, I drove home from work to discover my front left alloy was very dirty, and more worryingly, boiling hot. The caliper had seized on, which probably explained the pulling.
I was gutted; there was no time to fix this before the track day, and with their T&C's stating that they'd only give credit if cancelled before a certain time, I had to cancel it there and then. A good thing I did, we had some quite tough news within the family which meant I wouldn't have gone on the track day regardless.
Life's been busy and the weather has been awful. A particularly crappy winter in Wales has meant the car has been stood outside for over two months without turning a wheel. With the weather clearing, I was able to fix the car back up.
First thing was a service. My god, the oil filter is such a pain to get to.
If you're doing this yourself, use a bag like this
Wrap it around
And still get oil everywhere.
Surprisingly, no oil managed to get onto the driveway, which is more than can be said for the last time I did this.
Checking the pads, I'd needed to have had new brakes for the track day anyway
That's quite close to not being able to get home after a track day. As these are StopTech Sport pads, which are now made differently to what they were before, I'm now deciding between PBS ProTrack or ProRace. I don't need outright stopping power, but a pad that will last longer with the odd track day here and there.
I tried to repair the old caliper, but as this was the second time repairing this, the inside was too rotten to clean up. The new piston had become jammed inside of it, so I opted for a new caliper. £48 later, the new one arrived, and all was well.
During the bleeding procedure, I'd accidentally let the master cylinder empty itself. I've never bled a master cylinder before, and didn't have the correct kit. I needed an M12x1.0 thread to a hose nipple fitment so that I could bleed it, so I decided to 3D print some adapters
These worked a charm.
After about 10 minutes, there was no more air in the master cylinder lines.
It was placed back into the car with very little fluid escaping from the outlets when switching from the 3D printed adapters to the brake lines, so the whole process was a success. The brakes were bled once again, and no leaks were spotted. However, the pedal is still very spongy with a lot of travel. Luckily it still has a lot of stopping power if I were to push hard on the brakes (a test drive around my local industrial estate confirmed), so the car is drivable to get it to the garage. They've bled this car before using a pressure system that attaches to the reservoir to suck all of the air out of the system. Kindly, they did this for free the last time I was there.
That's currently where I'm at; the car sat outside with spongy brakes covered in mould. It's in dire need of a deep polish, but once this is done the car will be back to its former glory, and I can get on with the business of track days once more.
Oh, and the concrete is still on the sill, no matter what I use (vinegar, domestos, Liquid Hammer... nothing works). This is probably going to be a body shop job.
Edited by geraintthomas on Sunday 21st April 16:00
S600BSB said:
Great update. Agree about the oil filter - always a pain!
I'd be tempted to look into an oil filter re-location, as I can also fit an oil temperature/pressure gauge on the sandwich plate, rather than the oil sump plug. I've heard horror stories about doing this though...Here's something I've been trying to solve. I had the car aligned a few months back due to handling quirks, but it hasn't really helped. Symptoms are:
• Steering wheel isn’t exactly straight
• Nervous over bumps in the road
• Generally feels ‘loose’
• Steers right under acceleration
• Steers left under deceleration
It’s getting its suspension components looked at next week, but either the garage’s hunter system is inaccurate (highly doubt it, but it’s brand new and I was one of the first to use it), or there’s something not quite right.
Some research has narrowed it down to tyres. This is making sense, as this problem seemed to only start when the new wheels were fitted, so I’d imagine they’ve put the tyres on the wrong corners. Trouble is, I’m not sure which is which. I thought I had it right as the tyre with the most worn edge was the front left (Llandow did that), the second most worn was the front right, then the other two on the rear.
I’ll try swapping left/right, then front/back. If this fixes it, I'll buy a tyre pen to mark the tyres and save this issue in the future.
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