Mx5 Rocketeer V6 Conversion Project

[Lewis's Friend]

Thanks for the kind words...

It feels like I'm suddenly getting somewhere, but in reality that is not the case! I haven't even started to look at the gearbox yet, which needs some love. If the weather is kind, hopefully I can get the clear coat on the engine bay this week. Then I must underseal the rest, finish tarting up the engine ancillaries, bolt everything together and then weep over the wiring!

Almost there!

[Mark Benson]

Lewis's Friend said:

Thanks for the kind words...

It feels like I'm suddenly getting somewhere, but in reality that is not the case! I haven't even started to look at the gearbox yet, which needs some love. If the weather is kind, hopefully I can get the clear coat on the engine bay this week. Then I must underseal the rest, finish tarting up the engine ancillaries, bolt everything together and then weep over the wiring!

Almost there!

Keep at it! I always look forward to these updates but I know how hard it gets to keep going out and working on a car when the temperature drops...

[ATM]

Sway said:

Check out "project thunderbolt" on YouTube - stunning build of a flyin Miata ls3 swap, including driving review.

525bhp,certainly not a straight line machine!

I had an LS1 powered e46. It 'only' had 400 bhp. It was almost too much. Try driving a car like that sensibly - it's impossible. It's fun for a bit and then you realise you're being a bit silly.

[unlikelymechanic]

Looks good mate!

I am slightly behind your progress with my build I am at the stage now that my old 1.6 is out, I have just finished breaking a donor mk2.5 sport for the big brakes, diff and gearbox etc and I am tidying up the suspension parts ready to fit before I start attaching the rocketeer stuff to the jag engine

Where you have “tidied up unused wiring” as it says in the instructions what have you done exactly? Have you stripped out the old engine loom?

Edited by unlikelymechanic on Friday 2nd November 14:40

Edited by unlikelymechanic on Friday 2nd November 14:41

[Sway]

Unlikely mechanic - unless there's a strong reason, I'd recommend retaining the five speed gearbox rather than the six of the mk2.5 sport...

Far nicer shift, strong enough for the v6 (it's what Bruce has shifted back to for the demo car) and the range is pretty much identical (the six just dropping an extra gear within the range, rather superfluous considering the additional torque on tap).

[unlikelymechanic]

Sway thanks for the info. I had heard they are stronger than the 5 speed but to be honest I Just like the idea of having a 6 speed in my early NA! - I am going to see how I get on with it - Ican always do what Bruce has done and revert back in the future!

Lewis’s Friend your project looks cool! have been holding off bolting any shiny bits to my engine until I have got all of the dirty work out of the way - we will have to setup a rocketeer club if there isn’t already one going!

[Sway]

unlikelymechanic said:

Sway thanks for the info. I had heard they are stronger than the 5 speed but to be honest I Just like the idea of having a 6 speed in my early NA! - I am going to see how I get on with it - Ican always do what Bruce has done and revert back in the future!

No worries. The 6 is stronger - the 5 is considered at it's limit at the torque level the v6 kicks out - but that's a turbo 4 pot build. With the 'pulses' being smaller but more frequent in a v6, Bruce's has been hammered with no problems at all.

If you can, I'd see if you can drive someone's mx5 with the six speed - I have one in my mk2 RS, and would swap for a 5 speed in a heartbeat...

[Lewis's Friend]

Unlikelymechanic - I haven't got as far as doing anything with the wiring yet. I'm almost running two seperate projects at the moment; building up the engine ready to go in, and then tidying up the engine bay while everything is out.

The engine is now at the point I can start attaching Rocketeer parts (which gets them out of my bedroom!), but the engine bay is some way from being ready. Hence not having been able to look at the wiring yet. I understand that on the Rocketeer demo car, the spare wiring was just tucked away down the inner wing. I think I will look at cutting definitely redundant its off of it though (ie AC etc).

And yes, a Rocketeer meet sounds good. I'd like to see some others and hear tips and tricks etc!

[Lewis's Friend]

Next update... This has been a while coming, and there is not a great deal to show for the time that has escaped. This is due to a sadness brought on by my own stupidity.

Buddy Joe successfully clear coated the engine bay, and all looked beautiful. I then decided to take the gazebo down so it could not be thieved by the light of finger. This proved to be a tactical error as it then rained heavily before the clear could go off and totally ruined the finish!

IMG_20181105_145132 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

This rather spoiled my mood I confess. So I have spent a long time paint stripping and sanding. This took ages and was done with a very bad grace! I also have no pictures as a) it looks the same as the last time I did it and b) I was very vexed and in no mood to take photos!

I now have it back where I was a few weeks ago - ready for base coat after epoxy primer and flatting. Joy!

I have made some more progress on engine and gearbox work. Also refurbishing various brackets - again no pics of this as it is very boring! I do have some of the gearbox mod required to give clearance to the starter motor - namely drill a huge hole in the bellhousing. This is done like so:

Carefully mark out using template, and double check. Then check again. And again...

PSX_20181120_162207 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

Take a large holesaw, and make a huge mess.

PSX_20181120_162242 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

Clean up with angle grinder, file and emery paper so it looks semi-respectable!

PSX_20181120_162419 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

So in all, not a brilliant update, but nevertheless progress is being made despite setbacks! Still, no point in pretending everything goes 100% smoothly as this is rarely the case in any project. And now my fingertips have stopped bleeding I realise that there are worse things that can happen that a minor setback on ones hobby. Perspective is all!

[unlikelymechanic]

Oh dear - as you say best to put it into perspective

I am slightly infront of you with my build - I have now got my V6 engine/gearbox and the rocketeer subframe installed in my car. I am going to fit the suspension and hubs with the engine in the car as I haven't got all the parts together and I desperately wanted to reclaim some working space in my garage.

In refitting the steering rack, I didn't realise until too late that the bolts that secure the rack to the rocketeer subframe are in the kit (as they aren't in a numbered bag the same as all the other parts they were in an unmarked bag that I didn't twig) - I have attempted to install the old bolts off my MX5 without realising until too late that the threads are different (as the OE Mazda bolts are tapered at the end they went in and started to tighten up easily), so I have managed to damage the threads on a couple of the captive nuts in the subframe!

I am hoping I can rescue the threads otherwise I will have to either fit a helicoil into the captive nuts or put locking nuts underneath the captive nuts on the subframe and use slightly longer M10 bolts to be able to secure the steering rack

That will teach me to work on my car when I am tired after work

I am gutted as so far in my project I have dismantled 2 cars (the engine Donor S Type and a mk2.5 MX5 Sport that I am using the diff, brakes, gearbox and a few other bits from) as well as getting the rocketeer kit up to the current stage and installing it into the car and everything up to that point has gone smoothly and I have enjoyed working on it

At least I now feel better in that I am not alone in everything on my project not going exactly to plan!

[Koje]

I have been following this from the start. Sorry to hear you had to start the paint again.
Really appreciate you (as well as others) sharing where they go wrong. So many people are afraid to share mistakes, like you say we all make them.
Also been following Jazda on you tube and he also made a clanger with a bearing that he removed with bread!

I hope to be picking up the kit in February. I have an engine and a few other bits ready to go so plan to get the 1.8 out in the new year and take a week off work to fit the kit.
Keep sharing!

[Lewis's Friend]

Cheers for the comments.

Any project is going to have mistakes made along the way, and I figure there's no point pretending everything has gone super smooth when it hasn't! Plus, its a rectifiable mistake, though obviously infuriating at the time. I'm currently trying to arrange with my paint mate to come over next week, but with the weather so variable its difficult to sort. Cold we can cope with, but rain (high RH) not so much...

I'm also running out of money (not totally happily, but at the moment) as needing to order a lot of bits (engine mounts, gearbox seal etc) has coincided nicely with Christmas. Did not plan that well! I've also just found one of the injector o-rings has been split and the price of new ones has made me the most sad...

I'm not really too far from having then engine in, but obviously need the paint done and then the undersealing completed.

I hope that doesn't sound too moany as its not meant to - just frustrated as I feel I'm close to starting to putting the car back together but am left hanging around waiting for a few bits to arrive and good (un-seasonal!) weather.

[BEN99W]

I totally feel your pain with regard to the rain ruining the finish on the engine bay and the subsequent setback in progress this has caused. Will be a fine car once completed, you must be excited at the prospect.

I've got a mint mk2.5 that has had too much invested in turboing for me to change, but I see these Rocketeer conversions as being the ultimate solution for a 5. Perhaps if mine ever goes bang that will give me the excuse.

Good luck with the rest of the project.

[Escy]

Nothing more frustrating than being at the mercy of the weather when you want to crack on with something. It's an ambitious project (especially with the paint) to take on over winter with no garage. Fair play to you.

[_MrOrange]

This is simply fantastic! I can't wait to see the finished result!

[Lewis's Friend]

Working on the drive definitely has its disadvantages - particularly in winter. But I've always tried to do bigger projects during the winter so I could drive over the summer. Hence I've spent hours in the snow doing a big brake upgrade and new interior on my old TVR, and undersealing etc on the MX5 last year!

A garage would be nice (in actual fact I have one, but you could only get bikes in it), but one has to work with what one has! I'll get there. I'm just praying for dry weather for a couple of days... We shall see...

[V8RX7]

Escy said:

Nothing more frustrating than being at the mercy of the weather when you want to crack on with something.

Fair play to you.

^^^ This

I admire the spirit of those modifying in less than ideal conditions - I've seen some carry out full rebuilds in the road

In the winter I CBA to wander down to my cold garage (I'm thinking of fitting a woodburner in there)

[Lewis's Friend]

Unfortunately, weather and sickness on the part of painter Joe has meant no progress on the engine bay. However, I'm still working on boring un-photogenic in the background. I haven't been taking any pictures of my painting brackets and such, but maybe I should have to give a full view of what I've been up to. Then again, maybe not - it's not thrilling...!

However, while the car is in bits it makes sense to replace bits that have now lasted over 200,000km, and would be a nightmare to change once the car is all back together. Thinking particularly of seals and the like. I've already changed the V6 front crank seal, and now some bits have arrived from MX5Parts, I can deal with the gearbox seals. This was particularly necessary as the bellhousing was caked in oil, though the filthy nature of it made it impossible to guess if it was from the engine or gearbox... Probably the engine, given every other possible seal leaked, but sensible to change the gearbox seals to, as they are only cheap.

Thus, the gearbox with the front cover plate removed. This plate houses the input seal, and needs a gasket too. That I had to get direct from Mazda (quite reasonably).

IMG_20181129_161702 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

A quick clean, and old gasket scraped off, and then the new seal pressed in (reading online the old one can be a pain to remove, but mine was nice and easy). Old threadlock cleaned off of the bolts, and a tap used to clean the female threads.

IMG_20181129_161719 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

Finally, reinstall without creasing the gasket or letting the shim fall out of position. More than two pairs of hands are required for that, but got there in the end!

IMG_20181129_163527 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

So there you go - another update. Not particularly interesting perhaps, but hopefully illustrating some of the less glamorous jobs that are needed! Also, the eagle-eyed will notice the gasket protruding a little from the bottom left of the end plate - that's just how it is!

[Deerfoot]

Keep going, this is a great build.

[MX6]

Sorry to hear about the paint setback but good to see the mechanical progress, you've done a great job with it all so far.