Discussion
At the end of 2015 I saw an auction for an MX5 V8 on eBay which tickled my fancy, it wasn't far away and the owner was decent to chat too. To cut a long story short I bought it. It was evident the power was not much better than the original 1.6, the carb was overfuellng heavily and it just felt like a shed. Quick vid of the rolling road:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN7CDG3_zt8
The car came with a pretty nasty bodykit with universal bodykit parts screwed into the bodywork. I knew it was coming off after a bunch of school kids said it was cool!
The bodywork sorted it was time for the engine. I went to the the carb tuned at Airey Tuning but even after that it didn't idle right and power seemed intermittent. A blow in the exhaust under the bonnet was causing massive heat build up. I enjoyed the car for the rest of the summer before deciding I'd rebuild it.
I decided to go with fuel injection. I sourced and engine from a Range Rover P38 which came with all the ancillaries and I'd reuse the LT77 gearbox on the current engine. It came with the GEMS injection which is an excellent unit however it's huge especially as you also need to keep the immobiliser unit as well. I decided to go with Megasquirt, it would allow me to increase the engine size, add a supercharger and generally has a lot of support. It fits nicely in a lunchbox and going for the Rover V8 loom, was 10 minutes to get running. I changed the thermostat from the Range Rover to the TVR one that kicks in at around 70c, one of the suspected reasons for so many dropped liners on the V8's was due to emissions compliance and running the engine hotter than it was designed. I used MGBV8 headers wrapped and had the engine mounts and gearbox mounts remade. There was a fair bit of fabrication work. A huge amount of work was done by Hampshire Trailers in Southampton, they really showed such pride in the job and got me out of a few tight spots.
The car was finished the early part of 2017 but there were a few teething issues. The clutch was destroyed on the first run, I fitted a McLeod clutch good up to 400ft/lb. It then snapped a drive shaft so I had two custom made using high grade steel. She went for her rolling road and the figures were 250ft/lb of torque and 190bhp at the wheels.
I was pretty pleased with that especially as the engine was straight off the pallet, being such a light car the take up is excellent and the exhaust note is excellent. The engine is marginally heavier than the original Mazda unit however it doesn't notice with handling. The brakes were upgraded to Wilwood and I renewed the suspension but kept it at standard height, I hate scraping on speed bumps. My final issue was still heat under the bonnet, alloy engines seem to like throwing it out in every direction. Part of the issue is also the temp sender being at the input to the radiator and not the output, job for another day. I got the car back today after it's final bonnet mod, the reverse cowl will allow plenty of heat to escape and placement of the supercharger which is the next job. It's a little oversized for my liking but I'll live with it!
I've had a huge amount of fun so far, much more left too do!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN7CDG3_zt8
The car came with a pretty nasty bodykit with universal bodykit parts screwed into the bodywork. I knew it was coming off after a bunch of school kids said it was cool!
The bodywork sorted it was time for the engine. I went to the the carb tuned at Airey Tuning but even after that it didn't idle right and power seemed intermittent. A blow in the exhaust under the bonnet was causing massive heat build up. I enjoyed the car for the rest of the summer before deciding I'd rebuild it.
I decided to go with fuel injection. I sourced and engine from a Range Rover P38 which came with all the ancillaries and I'd reuse the LT77 gearbox on the current engine. It came with the GEMS injection which is an excellent unit however it's huge especially as you also need to keep the immobiliser unit as well. I decided to go with Megasquirt, it would allow me to increase the engine size, add a supercharger and generally has a lot of support. It fits nicely in a lunchbox and going for the Rover V8 loom, was 10 minutes to get running. I changed the thermostat from the Range Rover to the TVR one that kicks in at around 70c, one of the suspected reasons for so many dropped liners on the V8's was due to emissions compliance and running the engine hotter than it was designed. I used MGBV8 headers wrapped and had the engine mounts and gearbox mounts remade. There was a fair bit of fabrication work. A huge amount of work was done by Hampshire Trailers in Southampton, they really showed such pride in the job and got me out of a few tight spots.
The car was finished the early part of 2017 but there were a few teething issues. The clutch was destroyed on the first run, I fitted a McLeod clutch good up to 400ft/lb. It then snapped a drive shaft so I had two custom made using high grade steel. She went for her rolling road and the figures were 250ft/lb of torque and 190bhp at the wheels.
I was pretty pleased with that especially as the engine was straight off the pallet, being such a light car the take up is excellent and the exhaust note is excellent. The engine is marginally heavier than the original Mazda unit however it doesn't notice with handling. The brakes were upgraded to Wilwood and I renewed the suspension but kept it at standard height, I hate scraping on speed bumps. My final issue was still heat under the bonnet, alloy engines seem to like throwing it out in every direction. Part of the issue is also the temp sender being at the input to the radiator and not the output, job for another day. I got the car back today after it's final bonnet mod, the reverse cowl will allow plenty of heat to escape and placement of the supercharger which is the next job. It's a little oversized for my liking but I'll live with it!
I've had a huge amount of fun so far, much more left too do!
Mate, that's completely mental! 
Honestly, it's not my cup of tea, but as a car enthusiast, I'm very glad your car exists, and I'm very glad chaps like you are around to do the kind of things you've done to your car.
As an aside, my brother is building an MEV Exocet from an MX-5, so I'll be sure to let him know about this thread.
EDIT: I was being harsh - part of it is my cup of tea... I do love a V8.
Honestly, it's not my cup of tea, but as a car enthusiast, I'm very glad your car exists, and I'm very glad chaps like you are around to do the kind of things you've done to your car.
As an aside, my brother is building an MEV Exocet from an MX-5, so I'll be sure to let him know about this thread.
EDIT: I was being harsh - part of it is my cup of tea... I do love a V8.
daveinhampshire said:
Just watched a vid of one that's local in Hampshire, they look a hoot to drive and the kit car parts are really good price. That looks like a potential new project
The Exocet looks like the result of a drunken one-night stand between a Caterham 7 and an Ariel Atom, which is no bad thing! 
As I mentioned on another thread, my brother's already in profit, by selling off all the bits of his MX-5 he doesn't need for the Exocet build (doors, bonnet, wings, headlights, interior, etc.)
To be fair, he'll need that profit, to put toward the Exocet kit parts.
daveinhampshire said:
It's great looking, you wouldn't think it's anything less than a 50k track car. They've got a 550bhp flying Miata version on YouTube, I think I'd be dead in a week or at least the car would be.
My brother's already talking about adding a turbo, and he hasn't built the damn thing yet! 
shalmaneser said:
I was 100% with the thought you until I saw that bonnet bulge, that looks rubbish! Great work elsewhere, please put the first bonnet back on!
What, so the bonnet won’t shut?Nice project. What’s that at the flywheel about 210-220hp? Should be more than enough poke to make such a light car fun. Supercharger will make it interesting!
Edited by foxbody-87 on Friday 30th March 19:33
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