MK Sportscars Indy RX-5 Turbo Build
Discussion
What a promising title eh? Well, let's float back down to earth gently and put things in perspective. The chassis build slot is booked, with tentative delivery set for early June 2022. It turns out I'm not the only person who thinks an MK Indy is a good thing to build! But, we're getting ahead of ourselves here.
We have plenty of time to get our hands dirty, contemplate the appalling choices I may have made as I lie on my back with something new and painful in my eye and wonder why I couldn't just support the local football team, or knit? In the mean time I intend to document the pre-build process in all it's exciting, agonising, relationship-threatening comedy, horror and joy.
So, how did we get here? Well, via two Caterhams, an Elise, an MG ZS ( The Blue s
tter) a few other moderately interesting machines and a long standing desire to one day build a car, preferably with my boys...
Enjoying Abingdon
The Dream
The Reality
Garage Queen
I've adored owning the Elise but in reality I haven't tinkered with it as much as I thought and while it's enjoyable to drive, it wasn't as engaging as I had hoped. I bought it at the right time in that I could afford it - I sold my Caterham and it was essentially a no-cost swap - but also the wrong time, in that I had a very young family and growing job responsibilities. Having bought the MG to learn more about the K series engine in particular and car maintenance in general, I returned to an idea that had been in the back of my head for a long time - what about building a car from scratch?
I realised that to do this I would have to sell the Elise and depending on what I built, also take out a loan, something I wasn't too sure about. I looked around and for a while, was settled on a Cobra kit. I have always wanted a V8 and in my eyes the Cobra is one of the most beautiful cars out there. However, to do it right was going to be substantially more than the Elise was worth. In addition, I felt that I would be left with something very similar to the Elise, in that it would be a bit too nice for the track, but not really something to drive on to road that often either. I wasn't interested in taking on a part-built project either, so I reluctantly shelved the V8 dream.
I also looked at a Caterham kit. I tried to ignore the cost aspect and spec a car that I would want. To this end, it would have to be more powerful than the previous car and built as a hybrid road/track car, capable of touring, driving to and from the track in relative comfort and still being entertaining to drive. I think the overall cost ended up just sub £40k with everything I wanted and hand on heart, I just don't think they're worth that. I know they're the original and some people will always look down on non-Caterham/Lotus Seven type cars, but I'm not one of them. For me, the love of a car comes from it's looks, it's sound and the experience it gives me. There are certainly some cars out there that are super capable but that I couldn't own because I just don't like how they look. The MEV Exocet is an example. I bet it's brilliant. There's a great build thread for a green one on here that I loved following and will no doubt go back to for some inspiration, tips and general inspiration. I simply cannot stomach the looks.
I looked at the ANC Sportcars Replicar (https://ancsportscars.co.uk/) which I like the look of, but failed the test on both a practical level (no roof) and because the size of the GRP pieces are similar to the Elise and Cobra, meaning a track incident would be costly.
I also looked at GBS and their Zero (https://www.greatbritishsportscars.com/the-zero) but a hard to reach clutch pedal, the lack of experience with turbocharging and a lack of adjustment on the geometry side meant they too fell by the wayside.
Somewhere around 300bhp. We never went over 50% throttle and even so, it's comfortably the most savage acceleration I've experienced.
I'll write a fuller post about the MK experience, but suffice to say after a visit to make sure my stupidly short legs could reach the pedals (they did, easily), a test drive was had, a deposit was paid and a very giddy man hit the M25 on a Friday afternoon filled with equal parts euphoria and terror. Why terror? I'll explain next time.
We have plenty of time to get our hands dirty, contemplate the appalling choices I may have made as I lie on my back with something new and painful in my eye and wonder why I couldn't just support the local football team, or knit? In the mean time I intend to document the pre-build process in all it's exciting, agonising, relationship-threatening comedy, horror and joy.
So, how did we get here? Well, via two Caterhams, an Elise, an MG ZS ( The Blue s
tter) a few other moderately interesting machines and a long standing desire to one day build a car, preferably with my boys...Enjoying Abingdon
The Dream
The Reality
Garage Queen
I've adored owning the Elise but in reality I haven't tinkered with it as much as I thought and while it's enjoyable to drive, it wasn't as engaging as I had hoped. I bought it at the right time in that I could afford it - I sold my Caterham and it was essentially a no-cost swap - but also the wrong time, in that I had a very young family and growing job responsibilities. Having bought the MG to learn more about the K series engine in particular and car maintenance in general, I returned to an idea that had been in the back of my head for a long time - what about building a car from scratch?
I realised that to do this I would have to sell the Elise and depending on what I built, also take out a loan, something I wasn't too sure about. I looked around and for a while, was settled on a Cobra kit. I have always wanted a V8 and in my eyes the Cobra is one of the most beautiful cars out there. However, to do it right was going to be substantially more than the Elise was worth. In addition, I felt that I would be left with something very similar to the Elise, in that it would be a bit too nice for the track, but not really something to drive on to road that often either. I wasn't interested in taking on a part-built project either, so I reluctantly shelved the V8 dream.
I also looked at a Caterham kit. I tried to ignore the cost aspect and spec a car that I would want. To this end, it would have to be more powerful than the previous car and built as a hybrid road/track car, capable of touring, driving to and from the track in relative comfort and still being entertaining to drive. I think the overall cost ended up just sub £40k with everything I wanted and hand on heart, I just don't think they're worth that. I know they're the original and some people will always look down on non-Caterham/Lotus Seven type cars, but I'm not one of them. For me, the love of a car comes from it's looks, it's sound and the experience it gives me. There are certainly some cars out there that are super capable but that I couldn't own because I just don't like how they look. The MEV Exocet is an example. I bet it's brilliant. There's a great build thread for a green one on here that I loved following and will no doubt go back to for some inspiration, tips and general inspiration. I simply cannot stomach the looks.
I looked at the ANC Sportcars Replicar (https://ancsportscars.co.uk/) which I like the look of, but failed the test on both a practical level (no roof) and because the size of the GRP pieces are similar to the Elise and Cobra, meaning a track incident would be costly.
I also looked at GBS and their Zero (https://www.greatbritishsportscars.com/the-zero) but a hard to reach clutch pedal, the lack of experience with turbocharging and a lack of adjustment on the geometry side meant they too fell by the wayside.
Somewhere around 300bhp. We never went over 50% throttle and even so, it's comfortably the most savage acceleration I've experienced.
I'll write a fuller post about the MK experience, but suffice to say after a visit to make sure my stupidly short legs could reach the pedals (they did, easily), a test drive was had, a deposit was paid and a very giddy man hit the M25 on a Friday afternoon filled with equal parts euphoria and terror. Why terror? I'll explain next time.
Good choice! I've got an Indy RR race car with a tuned Bandit 1250 engine. Revs to 10K RPM, is super light, makes circa 150bhp and has a gear cut load cell as well as only one seat and a steering wheel dash. I think it's a brilliant, cheap to run (£10 each ex F3 slicks etc.), track day car that needs very little looking after.
Don't get too hung up on getting loads of power into it on day 1. Having faced the upset of a tuned Busa making a bad noise on circuit and a £5K bill there is a lot to be said for a £400 engine that you can source easily and fit in a day.
If you have any questions about any specific bits feel free to shout. There is also a great Facebook group if you're into that sort of thing.
Don't get too hung up on getting loads of power into it on day 1. Having faced the upset of a tuned Busa making a bad noise on circuit and a £5K bill there is a lot to be said for a £400 engine that you can source easily and fit in a day.
If you have any questions about any specific bits feel free to shout. There is also a great Facebook group if you're into that sort of thing.
Dave. said:
Will be following this, as I've been mulling over building one for about 10 years.
I don't think I'd get much use out of one, and can't imagine selling something I'd built myself
Likewise, the desire to build a car has been around for a long time. I even considered doing a side-by-side Caterham Academy build with a mate, so we'd essentially do each job twice and hopefully save a load of time, but despite the obvious upsides to doing the Academy, I was mindful that the car I was left with was a long way from a car I would want.I don't think I'd get much use out of one, and can't imagine selling something I'd built myself
As for selling, we'll see. I hope that I'll get use from it, but the main thing is I'm really looking forward to building it. Even if I IVA it and then sell it on, I think I'll have learned loads and enjoyed myself in the process.
Cambs_Stuart said:
I really enjoyed your MG thread, so I'll be following with interest.
Cheers! Hopefully less rust involved with this one...poppopbangbang said:
Good choice!
That's reassuring, coming from yourself... The car looks great there. What I really like is how a common base can be tweaked into almost anything you want.poppopbangbang said:
Don't get too hung up on getting loads of power into it on day 1. Having faced the upset of a tuned Busa making a bad noise on circuit and a £5K bill there is a lot to be said for a £400 engine that you can source easily and fit in a day.
If you have any questions about any specific bits feel free to shout. There is also a great Facebook group if you're into that sort of thing.
Duly noted on all three points. I shall definitely shout and am in the FB group already.If you have any questions about any specific bits feel free to shout. There is also a great Facebook group if you're into that sort of thing.
On the first point, my rationale for going turbo first off is fourfold:
1) The early 1.8 engine doesn't need (allegedly) any internal mods to take 240bhp at the crank, so it is cheap to do, relatively.
2) I wanted to take a significant step forward from my previous Caterham in both comfort and power. I some way, the extra power will help offset some of the extra weight I'm going to pile in to make it a tourable car as well as a track car (more on this in later wafflings).
3) I suspect if I IVA it and have it roadworthy in non-turbo form, that's how it will stay because I'll get giddy about driving it about and then the money left over will mysteriously disappear on "essentials" like children's clothes and food instead of ECUs and TD04s.
4) I have a strict budget, so I want to minimise buying things twice. MK do suggest the fastest route is to go NA for the IVA, then pull it apart a bit and go turbo right afterwards, buy I don't think I can afford to buy a load of NA specific parts just for the IVA and then remove them and try and sell them to a very small market.
izthewiz said:
How's this going? Keen for the next installment...
Slowly. However, I will update for sure. Things got in the way a bit, like depression and anxiety, a broken ankle, a death, a wedding, a company takeover, some fear and mainly, a fundamental laziness.I shall take you on a journey with pictures...
The terror experienced was mainly down to crossing the country in a car completely unknown to me - mainly because I'd bought it the week before:
I needn't have worried - it didn't miss a beat. I did bury it in that gravel though, more than once. Which was a pain.
I then set about preparing the garage for incoming parts and the kit. This is before.
During. Because I'm a child.
After.
Then I enjoyed a tremendous couple of months, first getting covid quite badly - hint - don't do a 24 mile training run if you're feeling a bit under the weather. It really prolongs the covid. So that was my cancelled in 2020, cancelled in 2021, definitely doing it in 2022 marathon cancelled yet again. Then my Mum died of cancer, which was bad, but good. Expected and without a prolonged period of real end of life suffering. A relief as much as anything. We had a holiday booked at about that time, so with Dad's blessing, we went to get the kids away and for a bit of a break. If only I'd known what type.
This is very pretty. But it'd be an awful place to break your ankle.
Way off a main path, steep, and with several uninhabited miles of valley before the golf course on the coast, which was still a mile from my hotel. Must. Be. Carefu...
Piss. It hurt doing it. It hurt descending the valley side. It hurt running out. It hurt the rest of the holiday untreated to make sure no doctor blocked me from flying home and it especially hurt six days later in an extremely thin sports support to make sure I got my smart shoes on, when I was a pallbearer for Mum. The walk from church to graveside through the rustic and rural churchyard was extremely sedate. Because reasons.
Then we did a wedding, which was nice and relaxing, as organising these things always are. I rang Neil at MK and asked if he could push me down the chassis queue a bit as I didn't want to be sorting out a wedding venue and collecting a kit at the same time. He did question if the marriage was the right thing to be doing in that case, but cooler heads prevailed.
Once I had her legally trapped, I set about the car with renewed enthusiasm, not unrelated to that chassis delivery date looming large.
To be fair, I was a bit worried I was putting a good 'un to the sword, but I found this, and many other spots of rot, so in the end I bought well. I got this for £1400 with a six month MOT and a hardtop. It's the S, so five speed, 1.8 and LSD. I sold the hardtop for a £350 and the soft top for £250, doors for £50 and a few other bits remain to be sold including wheels, bonnet, boot, strut brace and some cosmetic pieces, but it's a low cost way to get your donor parts if you buy smart. I think I'm stood at about £600 for engine, box and all parts required, with maybe £100 to come from the last of the parts.
The real terror in all this was the Merc van I'd hired to collect the kit. The excess covered everything but roof damage, for which I was fully liable. This was a 22 plate van. Gulp.
I made it to MK HQ, got the kit loaded and set off home. Top tip - check your bodywork before loading. Mines got some scuffs, and though Neil and MK have been brilliant, I will likely have to make the journey again for any swaps we need to make. It's worth the 15 minutes it'd take.
And here is the kit, in the garage. I have made a start, but I'll leave that for another post.
Edited by Smitters on Tuesday 15th November 17:30
Cambs_Stuart said:
Really interested to see this build. Are the looms taken from the MX5 or dpnyou have to assemble them? Do MK provide engine mounts for the various lumps that can be fitted?
The manual suggests you use the MX5 loom. In the most basic, maximum use of the donor form, you use the MX5 clocks and everything, so aside from stripping out unnecessary wiring and a few extensions, it's just a direct fit.Yes - the chassis's are essentially the same, with different mounts for various engines.
In my case, I am planning to use an aftermarket dash and for reasons of self-flagellation, plan on making my own loom. I did label and store the existing loom though, which is an alarmingly heavy and complicated spaghetti of hell.
Smitters said:
Slowly. However, I will update for sure. Things got in the way a bit, like depression and anxiety, a broken ankle, a death, a wedding, a company takeover, some fear and mainly, a fundamental laziness.
I shall take you on a journey with pictures...
<snip>
And here is the kit, in the garage. I have made a start, but I'll leave that for another post.
fI shall take you on a journey with pictures...
<snip>
And here is the kit, in the garage. I have made a start, but I'll leave that for another post.
king hell that was a rollercoaster of a ride 
Good luck and I'll bookmark this because on the basis of your luck (or lack of it) it should be a good one to follow
Oh and somewhere in there I should say congrats for the wedding but I think I'd rather say chassis delivery
B'stard Child said:
fking hell that was a rollercoaster of a ride
Good luck and I'll bookmark this because on the basis of your luck (or lack of it) it should be a good one to follow
Oh and somewhere in there I should say congrats for the wedding but I think I'd rather say chassis delivery
Cheers! Yeah, we got through 2020 and 2021 and though phew - glad that's over with. 2022 says, "hold my beer"...king hell that was a rollercoaster of a ride Good luck and I'll bookmark this because on the basis of your luck (or lack of it) it should be a good one to follow
Oh and somewhere in there I should say congrats for the wedding but I think I'd rather say chassis delivery
2023 can't be as ba.... wait.... nope, not saying a word.
I do have some lofty ambitions for this car. Could be quite a slow burn, but there are a few things I want to do to make it stand out from the majority. I already have some Tillets sorted, but I'd like to have at least heated seats, if not a proper heater as well, and preferably one that somehow clears the screen. A lot of the ideas also allow me to find out how to do things, so we can expect a lot of mistakes along the way, but rest assured, I'm not going to go all Project Binky and make my own circuit boards.
Things I'm interested in are like whether a bowden cable is a lighter option than a small servo to control the heater flow. Or whether I can sort a better option than the Mazda stalks - which are way too wide - while retaining column mounted controls. Buttons on a wheel are cool and very supercar/racecar, but I've heard too many complaints about needing to indicate, only to find your left indicator button is now near your right knee...
I don't want to overload the car unnecessarily, but at the same time, it's not going to be a total compromise track car. I had one, and hated road driving as a result. I'm not even certain on if I go full digidash or clocks, so many decisions to come along the way.
chrisch77 said:
Looking forward to seeing your progress OP. Have you been following the Parrott Bros on Youtube as they build their MK?
Cheers - I have been following them and they very kindly gave me their chassis trolley, so it was good to pop over and get a sneak peek. Been a bit challenging for them lately, but if it was easy, everyone would do it.simon_harris said:
any updates on this?
I'm interested as i have a couple of MX5's sat in my garage one of which has been rolled and is begging to be reborn in a kit car chassis...
Honestly, no. I've test fitted a pedal box and made some brakelines, breaking my flaring tool in the process. Then I decided moving house would be a good plan, so that's taken centre stage for the last 12 months as we prep the new place, including things like lifting flagstones from a stable and concreting a floor so I can roll a chassis trolley about...I'm interested as i have a couple of MX5's sat in my garage one of which has been rolled and is begging to be reborn in a kit car chassis...
Once I get a moment to breathe I'll do a proper update on where things are at and what I actually plan to do in the next six months.
I know one thing though. It'll be ready for summer.
I'm not saying which summer.
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