2006 MX-5 2.0 Option Pack
Discussion
On the road the 17" wheels with 45 profile tyres are noticeably more crashy than the 16" wheels with 50 profile tyres, I prefer the way the car drives on 16" wheels, but prefer the appearance of 17" wheels.
All of my wheels are OE wheels, maybe for track use a lighter set of 17" wheels with lower profile tyres might be the best option? I haven't really had any issues running a 50 profile tyre on track... Feels good to me.
That said 205/50/16 is a bit of an odd size and semi-slick options are a little limited. There's a bit more choice in 205/45/16 but I really can't afford to go even slightly lower. The 16" wheels are narrower than the 17" so 205 is probably as wide as you'd want to go, the 17" wheels will take a 215 comfortably. 16" wheels prevent you from upgrading to larger/heavier RX8 brakes, although I've never felt the need.
I need to write an update on the last track day I did at Bedford. AD08Rs are a great choice for the MX-5 for a casual track driver, sticky enough and up for handling track temps, but they'll break away a little when really pushed. Makes for a fun day!
All of my wheels are OE wheels, maybe for track use a lighter set of 17" wheels with lower profile tyres might be the best option? I haven't really had any issues running a 50 profile tyre on track... Feels good to me.
That said 205/50/16 is a bit of an odd size and semi-slick options are a little limited. There's a bit more choice in 205/45/16 but I really can't afford to go even slightly lower. The 16" wheels are narrower than the 17" so 205 is probably as wide as you'd want to go, the 17" wheels will take a 215 comfortably. 16" wheels prevent you from upgrading to larger/heavier RX8 brakes, although I've never felt the need.
I need to write an update on the last track day I did at Bedford. AD08Rs are a great choice for the MX-5 for a casual track driver, sticky enough and up for handling track temps, but they'll break away a little when really pushed. Makes for a fun day!
Accelebrate said:
That said 205/50/16 is a bit of an odd size and semi-slick options are a little limited. There's a bit more choice in 205/45/16 but I really can't afford to go even slightly lower. The 16" wheels are narrower than the 17" so 205 is probably as wide as you'd want to go, the 17" wheels will take a 215 comfortably. 16" wheels prevent you from upgrading to larger/heavier RX8 brakes, although I've never felt the need.
Why can't you afford to go lower than a 50 profile tyre? I run 205/45R16 tyres in both the VR1 and AR-1 although I don't run them on a daily so I can't comment other than driving to the track, competing and then returning home. I normally loosen off the Ohlins coilovers to around half and have them near full stiffness for track use.
I suppose our use cases are different though.
Accelebrate said:
The Koni Sport dampers mean that I've effectively lowered it 40mm with no adjustment (I think the BBR package is essentially the same). It's 10mm lower than I'd ideally like it. I caught the exhaust slightly on the relatively tame speed bumps entering Bedford 
Ah, I get you I made one small change before Bedford, a new/revised dipstick (MX5 Parts have them back in stock). I've always struggled to read the original dipstick so I'm hoping the new design is an improvement.
New design at the top:
I was joined at Bedford by Alex in his LHD-Fiesta ST. Although I went to Bedford two or three times last year I'd forgotten that it was running in the reduced 'SEN' layout at the time whilst they resurfaced the full track. It was a pleasant surprise to find the track has doubled in length.
It was my first event organised by Javelin. They were good, I don't think we had a single red flag all day and their policy of doing 'live recoveries' certainly keeps things moving.
I do like Bedford, it's a nice safe space where you can really test the limits of a car without it getting expensive. I always feel like I've learned something after a day there.
There aren't many cars at track days that will be worried by the Mazda in a straight line, but I found myself catching a lot more cars through the bends than previous days. Bedford suits the Mazda as it's relatively tight and even on the straight you can claw back a lot of what you've lost by being down on power by being brave with the amount of speed you carry through the mid-straight chicane.
I was the first car back on the track after lunch, Alex was following. I immediately made a fool of myself by fishtailing out of the first corner. I'd forgotten what a difference cold tyres can make! Alex passed me and soon learned the same lesson going down the straight, he did a beautiful 360 coming out of the chicane. It almost looked planned as he just about remained on track pointing in the right direction.
We did a bit of car swapping during the afternoon. The ST is a lot of fun, it sounds like an angry wasp and goes like stink. Quite tail happy too, it's a good modern interpretation of an old-school hot hatch. I could really feel the torque vectoring making up for the lack of an LSD, although that's proving expensive for Alex. By the end of the day he'd worn an expensive set of Ferodo pads down to the backing plates, they'd only done one previous track day.
I had my first track day mechanical failure in the Mazda, although it had the grace to wait until after I'd left Bedford and was about 10 miles from home. The brake pedal started behaving erratically, it was going to the floor most of the time, pumping the brakes restored some pressure briefly and occasionally it'd almost lock-up with a light press. I limped home cautiously.
Further investigation revealed no fluid loss. The symptoms seemed to suggest it might be the brake master, I concluded that maybe a day of hard braking might have damaged the internal seals. It's a Bosch part, but it seems to have been made exclusively for Mazda, I couldn't find any aftermarket replacements or seal kits. Apparently, Mazda charge £450 for a replacement! I opted for a secondhand master from everyone's favourite auction site for £25.
The new master took a while to arrive, whilst I was waiting I inspected all the brake lines more carefully and bled the front brakes. From a short test drive around my driveway, everything seemed ok again and the pedal remained nice and firm. Maybe I just cooked the brake fluid on track? The brakes were fine all day on track, and the pedal only went soft after about 30 miles of gentle dual-carriageway driving heading home. Boiled fluid doesn't seem quite right in this scenario.
I figured I might as well fit the part once it arrived, even a secondhand part will have had an easier life than my original master. The ebay part came with some bonus hard lines. I moved them around a bit and they worked quite well for bench bleeding (excuse the mess)...
I made a big mistake whilst bench bleeding. I'd left the cap off the master cylinder and was leaning over the whole assembly whilst I pushed the piston in. The escaping air shot a jet of brake fluid out of the top of the reservoir and straight into one of my eyes. It really stings! Easily in one of the top positions for the least pleasant things I've had in my eyes. Luckily my bench is close to a sink and I was able to rinse it out quickly, didn't seem to cause any lasting harm. I need to get better at wearing PPE.
I took more care from that point onwards...
Old off, new fitted. It's a messy but easy enough job.
The brakes bled quite quickly, I gave them a decent flush to be sure that no old fluid was hanging around.
I've done a few longer journeys since then and the brakes are back to normal.
My only Black Friday purchase this year was some Osram Night Breaker bulbs. They aren't a patch on the HID and LED bulbs in our other cars, but they're an improvement over standard halogens.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
New design at the top:
I was joined at Bedford by Alex in his LHD-Fiesta ST. Although I went to Bedford two or three times last year I'd forgotten that it was running in the reduced 'SEN' layout at the time whilst they resurfaced the full track. It was a pleasant surprise to find the track has doubled in length.
It was my first event organised by Javelin. They were good, I don't think we had a single red flag all day and their policy of doing 'live recoveries' certainly keeps things moving.
I do like Bedford, it's a nice safe space where you can really test the limits of a car without it getting expensive. I always feel like I've learned something after a day there.
There aren't many cars at track days that will be worried by the Mazda in a straight line, but I found myself catching a lot more cars through the bends than previous days. Bedford suits the Mazda as it's relatively tight and even on the straight you can claw back a lot of what you've lost by being down on power by being brave with the amount of speed you carry through the mid-straight chicane.
I was the first car back on the track after lunch, Alex was following. I immediately made a fool of myself by fishtailing out of the first corner. I'd forgotten what a difference cold tyres can make! Alex passed me and soon learned the same lesson going down the straight, he did a beautiful 360 coming out of the chicane. It almost looked planned as he just about remained on track pointing in the right direction.
We did a bit of car swapping during the afternoon. The ST is a lot of fun, it sounds like an angry wasp and goes like stink. Quite tail happy too, it's a good modern interpretation of an old-school hot hatch. I could really feel the torque vectoring making up for the lack of an LSD, although that's proving expensive for Alex. By the end of the day he'd worn an expensive set of Ferodo pads down to the backing plates, they'd only done one previous track day.
I had my first track day mechanical failure in the Mazda, although it had the grace to wait until after I'd left Bedford and was about 10 miles from home. The brake pedal started behaving erratically, it was going to the floor most of the time, pumping the brakes restored some pressure briefly and occasionally it'd almost lock-up with a light press. I limped home cautiously.
Further investigation revealed no fluid loss. The symptoms seemed to suggest it might be the brake master, I concluded that maybe a day of hard braking might have damaged the internal seals. It's a Bosch part, but it seems to have been made exclusively for Mazda, I couldn't find any aftermarket replacements or seal kits. Apparently, Mazda charge £450 for a replacement! I opted for a secondhand master from everyone's favourite auction site for £25.
The new master took a while to arrive, whilst I was waiting I inspected all the brake lines more carefully and bled the front brakes. From a short test drive around my driveway, everything seemed ok again and the pedal remained nice and firm. Maybe I just cooked the brake fluid on track? The brakes were fine all day on track, and the pedal only went soft after about 30 miles of gentle dual-carriageway driving heading home. Boiled fluid doesn't seem quite right in this scenario.
I figured I might as well fit the part once it arrived, even a secondhand part will have had an easier life than my original master. The ebay part came with some bonus hard lines. I moved them around a bit and they worked quite well for bench bleeding (excuse the mess)...
I made a big mistake whilst bench bleeding. I'd left the cap off the master cylinder and was leaning over the whole assembly whilst I pushed the piston in. The escaping air shot a jet of brake fluid out of the top of the reservoir and straight into one of my eyes. It really stings! Easily in one of the top positions for the least pleasant things I've had in my eyes. Luckily my bench is close to a sink and I was able to rinse it out quickly, didn't seem to cause any lasting harm. I need to get better at wearing PPE.
I took more care from that point onwards...
Old off, new fitted. It's a messy but easy enough job.
The brakes bled quite quickly, I gave them a decent flush to be sure that no old fluid was hanging around.
I've done a few longer journeys since then and the brakes are back to normal.
My only Black Friday purchase this year was some Osram Night Breaker bulbs. They aren't a patch on the HID and LED bulbs in our other cars, but they're an improvement over standard halogens.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 12:24
Accelebrate said:
I didn’t spend as long on them as I should have, but they came up reasonably well. Most of the old lacquer peeled off with a pressure washer and then I applied a couple of new layers.
The tyres were a bit hard initially, but they seem to have softened up with use.
How are you finding the koni? I just switched from unlowered koni to meisters. Still playing with settings but they seem to be a lot more jiggly than the koni but they werent lowered so its hard to compare. They do handle amazingly at speed though...
drgoatboy said:
How are you finding the koni? I just switched from unlowered koni to meisters. Still playing with settings but they seem to be a lot more jiggly than the koni but they werent lowered so its hard to compare. They do handle amazingly at speed though...
The Konis were a great improvement on the stock well-worn shocks, but I haven't tried any cars with decent coilovers to draw any objective conclusions. I tend to run the rebound setting pretty much full-soft on the road and it feels nicely damped, at the other end of the rebound scale they're unpleasantly jiggly on the road but work quite well on track.I spent quite a lot of December driving courtesy cars due to a series of dealership cock-ups. I became rather taken with CarPlay, particularly now that there's a reasonable Waze integration.
I idly looked at the price of aftermarket head units and was pleasantly surprised. The next day this little lot arrived...
The head unit is a Sony XAV-AX1000, it's a recent model with a few limitations:
No Android Auto - not an issue for me.
No DAB - wouldn't really use it anyway, minimal space for adding a DAB antenna in the Mazda.
USB connection on the front - doesn't bother me visually, saves running a cable elsewhere.
On the plus side it was:
Cheap - £220ish
Much quicker to boot than previous models
Has CarPlay
Looks fairly clean for an aftermarket HU
I'd removed the stereo once before to replace the aux cable, much easier the second time.
The new HU is tiny, only single DIN at the rear and very shallow. Gives plenty of room for connectors. I purchased a 'Connects2' CT24MZ08 adapter (although it was branded Scosche), you have to move your climate controls and the white clips over. It was a reasonable fit, but not perfect.
I also purchased a Connects2 CTSMZ002.2 adapter to connect the Mazda stereo connector to the ISO adapter provided with the Sony HU. It also keeps the steering wheel controls operational. Not cheap at £40ish, but made the connection super simple and easily reversible. There's a different adapter if you're replacing a Bose system.
A quick test and everything looked good.
I placed the microphone in the gauge cluster near the trip-reset button. I've never had a proper handsfree kit in this car this seems like a real luxury!
The HU allows you to choose the function of each of the remote steering wheel buttons. I set the mute button to be a Siri button.
I've never been a huge fan of aftermarket stereos, but modern media units appeal to my need for gadgets. The NC is a good candidate for a stereo swap as the OE stereo is just a stereo, you don't lose any other car functionality by removing it. The sound quality through the same JVC speakers that I fitted last year is also considerably improved. I've got another Ring trip coming up, it'll be nice to have Waze and easy access to Spotify and a phone.
So there we have it, a new stereo easily fitted in under an hour. All plug and play, easy peasy.
From here things got a bit silly.
Like most modern HUs the Sony has an input for a reversing camera. Yes, absolutely essential in such a large car.
However, if I know I can add something, I feel a certain compulsion to try it. If nothing else just to prove to myself that I could figure out the wiring.
Also, reversing cameras are surprisingly cheap - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013AUMV12/
But I didn't really know where to mount it. I didn't want to drill the bumper to add an unnecessary cheap camera that may fail. I tried surface-mounting a different camera near the rear numberplate, but the wires looked naff.
There's a piece of plastic trim on the Mazda boot dead-central between the two numberplate lights. I think it's a blank for the area where a sensor would live on cars with keyless entry. But it's the perfect mounting location for a camera.
I've recently inherited my brother's old 3D printer after he used it to print a larger replacement. I've discovered that tediously drawing replacement parts in CAD is a surprisingly therapeutic way to spend an evening. I started by drawing a resonable replica of the original trim piece:
It worked, clipping in place like the original:
I then added a flap mount for the camera and printed another copy. I spaced it down by 15mm to clear the boot lip.
This worked, but the camera comes angled and it was pointing down further than I wanted. Too much rear bumper in view.
I angled the camera mount by 22.5 degrees and re-printed...
This gave a good view, just a thin band of rear bumper in view for perspective...
The Connects2 adapter claimed to include a reverse signal but it didn't work. I took power from the reversing light and sent it to the HU so that it knows to switch to the camera when reverse is engaged.
Getting power and an RCA connection to the boot lid wasn't completely trivial. The cable that comes with the camera was too short, and the connectors are too large to pass through the existing cable route that carries power to the numberplate lights. I purchased a CCTV extension cable and cut one end off.
A quick test with some female RCA and power connectors to check everything still works...
I followed the Mazda instructions for adding a third brake light on a boot-mounted luggage rack. I ran the cable through the existing rubber grommets. The conduit was too tight for an additional cable.
I clipped the new cable along the same route on the bootlid.
The rest of the cable and connectors are hidden behind trim in the boot. The RCA cable for the video feed ran to the headunit easily by following the route that the existing loom takes under the sill covers.
The end result is pleasingly OE in appearance...
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
I idly looked at the price of aftermarket head units and was pleasantly surprised. The next day this little lot arrived...
The head unit is a Sony XAV-AX1000, it's a recent model with a few limitations:
No Android Auto - not an issue for me.
No DAB - wouldn't really use it anyway, minimal space for adding a DAB antenna in the Mazda.
USB connection on the front - doesn't bother me visually, saves running a cable elsewhere.
On the plus side it was:
Cheap - £220ish
Much quicker to boot than previous models
Has CarPlay
Looks fairly clean for an aftermarket HU
I'd removed the stereo once before to replace the aux cable, much easier the second time.
The new HU is tiny, only single DIN at the rear and very shallow. Gives plenty of room for connectors. I purchased a 'Connects2' CT24MZ08 adapter (although it was branded Scosche), you have to move your climate controls and the white clips over. It was a reasonable fit, but not perfect.
I also purchased a Connects2 CTSMZ002.2 adapter to connect the Mazda stereo connector to the ISO adapter provided with the Sony HU. It also keeps the steering wheel controls operational. Not cheap at £40ish, but made the connection super simple and easily reversible. There's a different adapter if you're replacing a Bose system.
A quick test and everything looked good.
I placed the microphone in the gauge cluster near the trip-reset button. I've never had a proper handsfree kit in this car this seems like a real luxury!
The HU allows you to choose the function of each of the remote steering wheel buttons. I set the mute button to be a Siri button.
I've never been a huge fan of aftermarket stereos, but modern media units appeal to my need for gadgets. The NC is a good candidate for a stereo swap as the OE stereo is just a stereo, you don't lose any other car functionality by removing it. The sound quality through the same JVC speakers that I fitted last year is also considerably improved. I've got another Ring trip coming up, it'll be nice to have Waze and easy access to Spotify and a phone.
So there we have it, a new stereo easily fitted in under an hour. All plug and play, easy peasy.
From here things got a bit silly.
Like most modern HUs the Sony has an input for a reversing camera. Yes, absolutely essential in such a large car.
However, if I know I can add something, I feel a certain compulsion to try it. If nothing else just to prove to myself that I could figure out the wiring.
Also, reversing cameras are surprisingly cheap - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013AUMV12/
But I didn't really know where to mount it. I didn't want to drill the bumper to add an unnecessary cheap camera that may fail. I tried surface-mounting a different camera near the rear numberplate, but the wires looked naff.
There's a piece of plastic trim on the Mazda boot dead-central between the two numberplate lights. I think it's a blank for the area where a sensor would live on cars with keyless entry. But it's the perfect mounting location for a camera.
I've recently inherited my brother's old 3D printer after he used it to print a larger replacement. I've discovered that tediously drawing replacement parts in CAD is a surprisingly therapeutic way to spend an evening. I started by drawing a resonable replica of the original trim piece:
It worked, clipping in place like the original:
I then added a flap mount for the camera and printed another copy. I spaced it down by 15mm to clear the boot lip.
This worked, but the camera comes angled and it was pointing down further than I wanted. Too much rear bumper in view.
I angled the camera mount by 22.5 degrees and re-printed...
This gave a good view, just a thin band of rear bumper in view for perspective...
The Connects2 adapter claimed to include a reverse signal but it didn't work. I took power from the reversing light and sent it to the HU so that it knows to switch to the camera when reverse is engaged.
Getting power and an RCA connection to the boot lid wasn't completely trivial. The cable that comes with the camera was too short, and the connectors are too large to pass through the existing cable route that carries power to the numberplate lights. I purchased a CCTV extension cable and cut one end off.
A quick test with some female RCA and power connectors to check everything still works...
I followed the Mazda instructions for adding a third brake light on a boot-mounted luggage rack. I ran the cable through the existing rubber grommets. The conduit was too tight for an additional cable.
I clipped the new cable along the same route on the bootlid.
The rest of the cable and connectors are hidden behind trim in the boot. The RCA cable for the video feed ran to the headunit easily by following the route that the existing loom takes under the sill covers.
The end result is pleasingly OE in appearance...
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 12:24
Thanks! The camera was surprisingly cheap, £8 from Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013AUMV12/
Time for another new set of rear pads. I've currently got Pagid road pads fitted to the rear, I think I swapped them after Snetterton so they've only done The Ring and Bedford.
The offside was only about 3/4 worn, but the nearside had worn at a bit of an angle and was nearly done, I'd noticed it getting a little warmer than the rest at Bedford. I think it's just the slider pins as one seemed a little stiff, I took the opportunity to clean and regrease all four.
It could be the caliper, that one is the only remaining original. I'll keep an eye on it.
The old rear discs were the Brazilian 'Fremax' discs that I fitted a while ago. Thickness wise they were still great, but they were looking a bit tatty despite originally coming painted. I found some Comline coated discs for £28 a pair delivered on everyone's favourite auction site, cheaper than the hassle of painting!
I toyed with getting some Stoptech pads to match the front, I suspect they'd last for ages, but Pagids are attractively cheap and forcing myself to check everything over a regrease regularly probably isn't a bad thing.
Saying that it looks like I lost a chunk of rear pad on track, I might re-think this approach next time...
The Comline discs are remarkably well finished for the price. I think they're generally a supplier to smaller garages. they came nicely packaged and the coating looks very similar to the Geomet finish that Pagid use.
It's a shame they don't look that nice for long!
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
The offside was only about 3/4 worn, but the nearside had worn at a bit of an angle and was nearly done, I'd noticed it getting a little warmer than the rest at Bedford. I think it's just the slider pins as one seemed a little stiff, I took the opportunity to clean and regrease all four.
It could be the caliper, that one is the only remaining original. I'll keep an eye on it.
The old rear discs were the Brazilian 'Fremax' discs that I fitted a while ago. Thickness wise they were still great, but they were looking a bit tatty despite originally coming painted. I found some Comline coated discs for £28 a pair delivered on everyone's favourite auction site, cheaper than the hassle of painting!
I toyed with getting some Stoptech pads to match the front, I suspect they'd last for ages, but Pagids are attractively cheap and forcing myself to check everything over a regrease regularly probably isn't a bad thing.
Saying that it looks like I lost a chunk of rear pad on track, I might re-think this approach next time...
The Comline discs are remarkably well finished for the price. I think they're generally a supplier to smaller garages. they came nicely packaged and the coating looks very similar to the Geomet finish that Pagid use.
It's a shame they don't look that nice for long!
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 12:25
According to MX5 forums and many product reviews replacing the stock rubber door bushings with tougher Delrin bushes does amazing things to all manner of body rigidity and response metrics. This has always sounded like snake oil to me, I'm also too tight to spend £60 on a couple of rubber blocks.
https://www.amazon.com/CravenSpeed-Mazda-Miata-Bus...
https://www.mx5parts.co.uk/kenauto-taikan-door-bus...
I noticed there were a few designs for door bushes shared on Thingiverse for 3D printing, so I thought I'd experiment with a DIY approach. I went with this design as it appeared to measure up to be fractionally larger than the original:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1701951
Here's the original rubber part...
...and the replacement...
Curiously the driver's door still shuts with a similar amount of effort, but the passenger door requires a little more than before. The bushes are identical in size so I can only assume that the door alignment or the plate that the bush sits in is fractionally different from side to side. I may experiment with scaling that design up and down a little.
Probably not the best time to assess any changes in body rigidity as the hardtop is fitted and I hadn't driven the car this year. I braved the salt yesterday and commuted in it. It really is a tremendously fun little thing. 300bhp hatchbacks are all very well and good, but they're rarely as entertaining at sensible speeds.
I do like the way it looks with these wheels and the hardtop. The Lexus lights are letting it down a bit, I might try some red tinting film next.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
https://www.amazon.com/CravenSpeed-Mazda-Miata-Bus...
https://www.mx5parts.co.uk/kenauto-taikan-door-bus...
I noticed there were a few designs for door bushes shared on Thingiverse for 3D printing, so I thought I'd experiment with a DIY approach. I went with this design as it appeared to measure up to be fractionally larger than the original:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1701951
Here's the original rubber part...
...and the replacement...
Curiously the driver's door still shuts with a similar amount of effort, but the passenger door requires a little more than before. The bushes are identical in size so I can only assume that the door alignment or the plate that the bush sits in is fractionally different from side to side. I may experiment with scaling that design up and down a little.
Probably not the best time to assess any changes in body rigidity as the hardtop is fitted and I hadn't driven the car this year. I braved the salt yesterday and commuted in it. It really is a tremendously fun little thing. 300bhp hatchbacks are all very well and good, but they're rarely as entertaining at sensible speeds.
I do like the way it looks with these wheels and the hardtop. The Lexus lights are letting it down a bit, I might try some red tinting film next.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 12:25
The throwout bearing was becoming increasingly noisy, and I've got no reason to believe the original clutch had ever been changed. I'd been pondering replacing the clutch for a while now, but was a little apprehensive about tackling the job in my garage. I considered using a rent-a-ramp scheme like This is Your Garage in Abingdon, but didn't fancy having a niggling time/cost-pressure whilst working. In the end, I just went for it...
I stuck with a regular Exedy clutch, given how long the original has lasted despite my abuse it seemed more than adequate. MX-5 Parts were considerably cheaper than ECP and the other usual suspects at £170 delivered.
I found a great customisable 3D printing design for an alignment tool, just enter some measurements and a spline count and it generates a very accurate tool.
Only the Japanese would create a cartoon character from a clutch and pressure plate
I also purchased some 6T axle stands, they gave me enough height to easily remove the gearbox and with a much larger footprint, they seemed more stable.
There's a bolt on top of the bell housing that can't be seen, reaching it requires the creative use of many extension bars.
I nearly purchased a transmission jack for the job, but it didn't seem like the most reusable use of £100. I opted to do a bit of carpentry instead and came up with this...
It worked perfectly!
New throwout bearing installed. The old one was very sloppy as predicted. There was a little play in the input shaft of the gearbox but not enough to bother doing anything for now.
The old clutch was in surprisingly good condition for 111k and many track days!
I left the flywheel alone, but it seemed silly to not replace the pilot bearing. The NC uses a roller bearing that's notoriously tricky to remove. I took a chance on a £20 blind bearing pulling kit from Amazon.
Amazingly, it pulled straight out on the first attempt. I'd found reports of people losing hours to this little bearing.
Exedy don't include the pilot bearing in the clutch kit. I did some measuring and found that an INA 331262 is the same size. The original bearing was also an INA, but I couldn't find the part number for sale in the UK. I'm not sure if one has superceeded the other, or if it's just the European equivalent, but it was perfect replacement.
The 3D printed alignment tool worked
The gearbox went back on without too much of a struggle. I removed the PPF completely but marked where the bolts previously sat to make alignment a little easier.
All back together and working. It seemed quite daunting pulling out the gearbox, but in reality, it really wasn't that bad and I learned a few things along the way. There's a definite reduction in bearing noise when in neutral with the clutch out and the pedal is quite a lot lighter.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
I stuck with a regular Exedy clutch, given how long the original has lasted despite my abuse it seemed more than adequate. MX-5 Parts were considerably cheaper than ECP and the other usual suspects at £170 delivered.
I found a great customisable 3D printing design for an alignment tool, just enter some measurements and a spline count and it generates a very accurate tool.
Only the Japanese would create a cartoon character from a clutch and pressure plate
I also purchased some 6T axle stands, they gave me enough height to easily remove the gearbox and with a much larger footprint, they seemed more stable.
There's a bolt on top of the bell housing that can't be seen, reaching it requires the creative use of many extension bars.
I nearly purchased a transmission jack for the job, but it didn't seem like the most reusable use of £100. I opted to do a bit of carpentry instead and came up with this...
It worked perfectly!
New throwout bearing installed. The old one was very sloppy as predicted. There was a little play in the input shaft of the gearbox but not enough to bother doing anything for now.
The old clutch was in surprisingly good condition for 111k and many track days!
I left the flywheel alone, but it seemed silly to not replace the pilot bearing. The NC uses a roller bearing that's notoriously tricky to remove. I took a chance on a £20 blind bearing pulling kit from Amazon.
Amazingly, it pulled straight out on the first attempt. I'd found reports of people losing hours to this little bearing.
Exedy don't include the pilot bearing in the clutch kit. I did some measuring and found that an INA 331262 is the same size. The original bearing was also an INA, but I couldn't find the part number for sale in the UK. I'm not sure if one has superceeded the other, or if it's just the European equivalent, but it was perfect replacement.
The 3D printed alignment tool worked
The gearbox went back on without too much of a struggle. I removed the PPF completely but marked where the bolts previously sat to make alignment a little easier.
All back together and working. It seemed quite daunting pulling out the gearbox, but in reality, it really wasn't that bad and I learned a few things along the way. There's a definite reduction in bearing noise when in neutral with the clutch out and the pedal is quite a lot lighter.
Edit Jan 2020 - Fix image links
Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 24th January 12:26
Wow, well done for taking that on, not a job I'd attempt for certain! The car looks better than ever, the wheels work well as you say. Impressed at the condition of the clutch, mine feels pretty good still and there's no evidence of it being changed, and it's past 125k now.
I see you had the exhaust off - I won't bore you with the story about why I need to take mine out, - can I ask, was it reasonably straightforward at the engine end? I've not looked yet but I'm worried when I get under mine it'll be a rusty seized mess. I don't fancy having a car without an exhaust and needing to get replacement fasteners if I do knacker them either - I need to research some replacements before I start the job.
I see you had the exhaust off - I won't bore you with the story about why I need to take mine out, - can I ask, was it reasonably straightforward at the engine end? I've not looked yet but I'm worried when I get under mine it'll be a rusty seized mess. I don't fancy having a car without an exhaust and needing to get replacement fasteners if I do knacker them either - I need to research some replacements before I start the job.
Thanks!
I’ve had the midpipe off twice now. There are just two nuts that connect it to two long studs coming out of the exhaust manifold. They’ve got springs underneath and require a decent amount of force to undo. Both times the studs have flexed a little more than I’d like but they’ve come apart without any damage. I just applied a little Plusgas in advance.
My original back box studs had to be cut off, the manifold studs are thankfully in much better condition.
I’ve had the midpipe off twice now. There are just two nuts that connect it to two long studs coming out of the exhaust manifold. They’ve got springs underneath and require a decent amount of force to undo. Both times the studs have flexed a little more than I’d like but they’ve come apart without any damage. I just applied a little Plusgas in advance.
My original back box studs had to be cut off, the manifold studs are thankfully in much better condition.
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