Mx5 Rocketeer V6 Conversion Project

[Kitchski]

CYCOLOGY said:

Would this conversion need an IVA or 'Q' plate as another poster has suggested? Given it's 'only' an engine swap would that be the case?
I thought it was points based and as the suspension and gearbox don't change wouldn't accrue enough points?
Rocketeer seem to be running the standard plate on their demo in the video?

As long as the monocoque hasn't been structurally altered, then no it doesn't need IVA.

[BricktopST205]

samoht said:

I can't think of anything else that weighs no more than a ton, but has that sort of nat-asp power and torque. Closest bet is a TVR, but OP has already done that.

In a sense I agree with you, I think it'll be hard to recoup the money at resale, but if you really want a small, light, open car with a fairly powerful, torquey nat-asp engine, then it could be worth putting in the money to build one like this.

MK2/MK3 MR2 with a 3.5 Toyota V6 swap. Same engine out of the Evora. Would be about ten grand in.

[TwoStrokeNut]

It's been mentioned a couple of times before.

OP, did you look at Claire's work over on MX5 Nuts? That's a lovely sounding V6 conversion with the ITBs.

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2...
https://crapengineering.weebly.com/

[Lewis's Friend]

TwoStrokeNut said:

It's been mentioned a couple of times before.

OP, did you look at Claire's work over on MX5 Nuts? That's a lovely sounding V6 conversion with the ITBs.

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2...
https://crapengineering.weebly.com/

I confess I hadn't seen this - looks like a cool project.

Originally the Rocketeer car was tested on ITB's, but was changed to allow for better low speed road manners I believe.

[Lewis's Friend]

A quick update. I've carried out stripping all the bits off that are getting powder coated/painted and getting all the bushes etc. out.

It's been quite pleasant working in the garden...
IMG_2585 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

The only bit I struggled with was getting the rear hub assembly apart. I had to admit defeat eventually and take them down the local garage to put on their big press - they came apart easily after that...!

So now I'll be taking all the bits in for blasting and finishing. Hopefully they'll be back before Christmas - we shall see...
IMG_2591 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

[Kitchski]

Completely unrelated to the Mazda (which I wholeheartedly approve of, and am watching with interest) but your S3 was lovely!

[Lewis's Friend]

Kitchski said:

Completely unrelated to the Mazda (which I wholeheartedly approve of, and am watching with interest) but your S3 was lovely!

Cheers - I did really like that car. But it was time for a change and I'd done all of the jobs I wanted to on it (particularly the interior refresh, which I very much enjoyed doing).

I think the MX5 should also be a decent wedge faster which is another thing I was keen on. Though that said, the TVR was quick enough and loud enough to always bring a smile to my face.

[Kitchski]

Lewis's Friend said:

Cheers - I did really like that car. But it was time for a change and I'd done all of the jobs I wanted to on it (particularly the interior refresh, which I very much enjoyed doing).

I think the MX5 should also be a decent wedge faster which is another thing I was keen on. Though that said, the TVR was quick enough and loud enough to always bring a smile to my face.

Oh yeah the MX5 will be a jump up in speed, for sure. I've got an S1, and a fast car it is not! But like you say, it's fast 'enough', and it does sound great. Plenty of smiles to be had in the right conditions. I also need to do the interior refresh, but I've done the chassis already and mechanically it's all pretty much bob-on.

[Lewis's Friend]

A small update, as work is still slowly going on on the project.

I've now stripped the car down as far as I'm going to (I think!), with the removal of the fuel tank. Now there are just a few small details to look at, like drilling out snapped off bolts, welding a couple of new studs in to replace sheared ones etc, and its ready for me to start cleaning up and getting ready for treating and undersealing.

So here it is with the tank out
Image.png by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

Image-1.png by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

Sadly, the prevailing weather conditions this weekend meant I didn't get a great deal done - cowardly I know. It looked quite nice though!
Image-4.png by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

And lastly, I've taken delivery of what will hopefully be the heart of the new and improved MX5! This is a long way off to be fair, but I was phoning around breakers, and this came up at what seemed a reasonable price, so I went for it. Definitely not going to have much done to it any time soon, but its nice to have it anyway...
Image-3.png by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

[Kitchski]

Is that a Trabant?!

[Lewis's Friend]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It is... A friend and I went halves on it a while ago to practice doing up a car from the ground up (the theory being we couldn't make it worse!). We did some welding, undersealing, new brakes and lowered it along with some extremely tasteful cosmetic mods!

There is a build thread for it here if its of interest:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=14...

[Kitchski]

Lewis's Friend said:

It is... A friend and I went halves on it a while ago to practice doing up a car from the ground up (the theory being we couldn't make it worse!). We did some welding, undersealing, new brakes and lowered it along with some extremely tasteful cosmetic mods!

There is a build thread for it here if its of interest:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=14...

Ah yes! I remember that thread! Thought I'd 'watched' it but seemingly not. Did you sell it in the end?

[Lewis's Friend]

Kitchski said:

Lewis's Friend said:

It is... A friend and I went halves on it a while ago to practice doing up a car from the ground up (the theory being we couldn't make it worse!). We did some welding, undersealing, new brakes and lowered it along with some extremely tasteful cosmetic mods!

There is a build thread for it here if its of interest:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=14...

Ah yes! I remember that thread! Thought I'd 'watched' it but seemingly not. Did you sell it in the end?

No, I've still got it. Though I'm just waiting for some decent weather to give it a wash and take some attractive photos of it and put it up for sale. I've found that three cars just means one of them gets totally ignored...!

[Lewis's Friend]

A very small update - early Christmas presents...
Image.png by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

They are boldly coloured!
Image-1.png by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

[aka_kerrly]

Lewis's Friend said:

A very small update - early Christmas presents...
Image.png by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

My kind of pad, gaming seat , tool chest and car related artwork - nicely done.

Also watching this thread with intrigue and like where it is going.

[Lewis's Friend]

aka_kerrly said:

My kind of pad, gaming seat , tool chest and car related artwork - nicely done.

Also watching this thread with intrigue and like where it is going.

That's kind of you to say.

The gaming chair is actually a magnificent creation of my own invention - I call it the Brocket Cheat and it combines a fibreglass bucket seat with a rocking chair. Very comfy it is too!

[Lewis's Friend]

Another update, though recently I've not managed to get as much done as I would have liked - this due to waiting for a few parts, but mainly just hiding from the weather like a coward...!

Still, my TR Lane roll bar arrived so I thought I'd fit that. My car previously had one of unknown origin and I hoped it might have been a TR Lane, as then it would have just dropped straight in. No such luck of course... So the rear interior had to come out, which is actually no big project on one of these.

IMG_2650 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

The roll bar was then mocked up and located on the seatbelt tower mounts. Then all the various holes marked out and the step drill brought out to brutalise the car floor.

IMG_2651 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

On a couple of holes, I had to just open out a previous effort and so I thought I would make some spreader plates for the underside of the mounts. Unneccessay actually I think, as its all plenty strong enough but it neatened in up a bit. The whole lot will be undersealed over later anyway, so probably a total waste of time but it made me happy! The metal under the speaders was all wire brushed back and Dinitrol rust treated before installing too.

Passenger side:
IMG_2652 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

And then all put back together:
IMG_2654 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

The carpet over the parcel shelf was pretty badly hacked up from the last roll bar install, so I was at no great pains to make a neat job cutting around the hoops - ultimately I want to get the interior retrimmed (although this is way off into the future), at which point it can be made to look beautiful.

Final picture for this update:
IMG_2656 by Jon Fellows, on Flickr

[Richyvrlimited]

That steel is no where near thick enough for a spreader plate.

I'm surprised that the roll bar didn't come with one, they are very much necessary.

[HustleRussell]

Also don’t want to nitpick but... plain nuts with no washers?
Also (sorry but) there is rust in that area which is going to want tackling

[Lewis's Friend]

Just to clear up a couple of points, mainly because of me using the wrong words to be fair...!

The ‘spreader plates’ are actually more to beautify the underside a touch. Not to actually add strength. The roll bar itself has large feet for this purpose. Also, spring washers were added after the picture was taken and all the bolts torqued up.

In terms of rust, the area under the plates was wire brushed and rust converted. The whole underside will be done over the coming weeks and under sealed.