Another makes the swap to an mx5 ...

[Dan.G]

After 18 months of clio ownership, and loving every minuite, I didnt think I would be selling up any time soon! But after a mate at work let me have a go of his mx5 he recently got, I loved it and got me thinking. And so started the classifieds browsing!

Now I've never been a massive fan of the whole car selling process, either sitting for ages with no interest or lots of tyre kickers. So with there not actually being anything wrong with the clio and track season starting again soon I had second thoughts, untill my flat mates brother out of the blue made me a decent offer for my car and the deal was done.

So its out with the old;

And in with the new:approve: (appologies for poor phone pics);

Ive got it as a little bit of a short project for more Knockhill days and to maybe have a bit of drifting fun when the Driftland track up here is completed.

Its booked in to have the common rotten sills replaced next week, and I'll just be having the rear arch rust cut out as it was sold with a wide arch kit to fit over the top.
Other plans are to get the suspension sorted out. Its already got fairly decent HSD coilovers so will have a play around to get a nice set up rather than the 'stance y0' set up at the moment. Will also get the soft top screen replaced as its cracked at some point but as im running the hardtop theres not so much rush for that. Ill bleed the brakes and then it should be set for the track.

On the cosmetic side its no show queen by a long way! So i'll give it a good polish and see how it comes up and what needs attension. The banded steels will get a DIY refurb at work with the shot blaster to get rid of the surface rust and a good few layers of a paint and laquer with a rattle can, undecided on colour yet but will have a think.

I'll try to keep this thread up-dated as the work progresses!
Cheers for looking, Dan

 

[Dan.G]

Sorry can a Mod move this to the general media, mind fart!

 

[Paul.M]

Brilliant! I do love a good mx5, but it does look pretty tiny next to that civic

 

[Jamie86]

Ditch the steels imo.. looks like you have it all planned already though

Envious of your garage btw!

 

[jesus]

Sorry can a Mod move this to the general media, mind fart!

I was going to do it anyway and then shout at you but seeing as you noticed this time I'll let you off

MX5s are fun little cars, look forward to seeing some mods

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Brilliant! I do love a good mx5, but it does look pretty tiny next to that civic

Dinky toys ftw!

Perfect time to acquire one with the weather hopefully taking a turn for the better. Looks nice. I've been toying with a black rear panel for a while. Enjoy it.

 

[Dan.G]

Cheers guys, Once the welding gets done and the arches go on it should look better.
Wheels wise im going to see how i get on with the steels, they are massive at the rear 9j's! Its was meant to be sold on grids but the seller had failed to inform me that all of the tyres were bald and one to the canvas! So driving from Wycome to Aberdeen in saturdays torrential weather would have been a no no. Got decent money off the price so not to bad and with week old tyres.

Can get decent money for the steelys if i dont get on with them. It is soo low though, getting coily adjusters delivered tomorrow so will have a play with height.

Unfortunatly the car collection isn't mine, thats my uncles house just down the road i use for the garage. Great getting to lend a hand working on those nice cars tho!

 

[Dan.G]

Well its about time for a little update!

Firstly apologies for the large pictures not sure how to make them smaller!

First job on had was to take a look at re-adjusting the coilovers as it was just sat on its arse and rode like s**t! Once i had got all the wheels off i found why it was riding like crap, all the coilovers had obviously just been chucked on. They were all set at different heights with differing amounts of pre-tension on the springs!
So after hours of faffing and smashed knuckles due to the c spanners constantly slipping i think i have got them set up OK. I'll be going to get it properly laser aligned before hitting any track/drift to make sure its all fine.

Anyway here's how it sits now;

The steels im slowly growing to hate, well the rears anyway. 9j is just too wide for my liking and the stretch is ridiculous! So i'll be looking at putting them up for sale, if anyone knows the best place that I'll be able to shift them that would be great?!

So now the inevitable hunt for new wheels has started! When I first looked into 5's a while ago I was all keen about the idea of grids but ive gone off that idea now and started looking at XXR's. If anyone has any other ideas feel free to throw them my way be good to get some ideas!

Also had a trial fit of the wide arches that got thrown in the sale, and unfortunately it seems there was a reason they hadn't been fitted. 3 of them offer up fine but one is totally different, width, length, curve the lot! I toyed with the idea of having a go at cutting and reshaping but the chances of getting it right were slim too none, so a nice new set have been ordered

As far as the bodywork is concerned its booked in to have the sills replaced with new ones from ebay on the 13th. Whilst its there the rear arches are going to be cut back for the wide arch kit and have the 2 skins properly re welded rather than the bodge filler i've seen some do! By having the arches cut back it also removes the mega rust on the drivers side arch from the arch being terribly pulled which is currently covered with speed tape!

Anyway im looking forward to seeing it done with the new sills and arches on! And im sure my neighbors will be happy to see the back of all this work, supprised how chilled they are about me and my flat mate doing so much work in such a small carpark!;

Should update again once arches are done, its got its MOT on the 17th and provisionally booked on track on the 19th. Must have been the optimist in me, just hope it flys through to get it on track!

Dan

 

[Dan.G]

Right its been an age and as usual the 'it only needs this done' statement soon grew to 'oh s**t what have i bought!', so apologies for the mammoth pic heavy update!

So when i got the car i knew that there would be body repairs as the mx5 sill rot had taken hold but the extent of this wasn't really known ...
I had been around Aberdeen trying to find places that would take on the job and for a reasonable cost, but it seems in Aberdeen most places classing them selves as body shops are really only interested in scratch removal and filler jobs!

I eventually found a decent old guy who worked alone in his garage mainly on coaches and he gave me a decent quote but would have to wait 3 weeks until he was available. That was fine I was in no hurry for the car at that point. Fast forward 3 weeks and me rocking up at the agreed time for him to tell me he'd lost my number and hadn't been able to contact me to tell me he was too busy for the job! Que one very pissed off me!

After this I asked my Uncle if he still had his welder and if he would mind my car being in his garage for a while whist we attempted the repair. Now my only welding experience was a couple of weeks at the start of my apprenticeship 4 years ago and my uncle hadnt really used the welder properly since restoring his capri years ago! But we decided to take on the challenge i i was happy to learn on the go.

So my car was trailered out and took pride place in the garage for a month

First job was to find out the extent of the repair needed ... I'll let the pictures do the talking here (these were after we had pulled out the dodgy previous filler repairs)

That was all the drivers side the passenger side was much better once we took the paint off it had had a recent repair but still a bit had eaten through so we only did a small repair for that side;

So now we had discovered a bit more than the simple sill repair (that i had a replacement panel for) we made up a repair for the inner sill and floor. This was my first attempt at plug welding and took me a while to get used to it, was made slightly harder that it was gasless mig that we were using so it was quite messy.

Once the inner sill was welded in we welded on the outer plate and it fitted together quite nicely!

And then smoothed over with filler;

Once both side had been fillered the reapaired areas were primed with hammerite primer before being stone chipped and then top coat going on (forgot to get opic of these bits). The only body work jobs left were to fit the new wide arches. To do this the rear arch is double skinned so need cutting back and re welding.

By this time I was sick to death of bodywork but was glad most of the major rust had been treated or repaired so I now had a relatively solid shell.
The brake were in dire need of a refresh so I went about changing the disks and pads but ended up discovering the front calipers to be pretty fucked! Yet another expense in getting 2 new calipers but now they are all working sweet!

So with that I was happy with her, took her for MOT and flew through with just headlight alignment and rear view mirror cracked as advisories!!

So heres the completed car, waiting until the end of the month to get rid of the steels and fit new wheels and spacers!

Took her on track Wednesday night at Knockhill and was great apart from the horrendous tyres that made it interesting to say the least!

If you've made it this far without dying of boredom well done and Thanks! Any comments welcome!

Dan.

 

[Spinksy]

Great write up mate!

Really liking what you are doing with this MX

Are you getting XXR57's (or whatever they are called)? Or still open to ideas?

 

[Dan.G]

Cheers mate, you know how it is start with small plans and they just grow and grow!

Yep thinking XXR 527. Also looked at XXR 002 but just not fully sold on the look seem more stance style than track car! Thought of the standard rota's as well but open to idea all the same!

 

[danward]

Love this little project, if I had an MX5 this is what I'd do with it!

 

[Spinksy]

Cheers mate, you know how it is start with small plans and they just grow and grow!

Yep thinking XXR 527. Also looked at XXR 002 but just not fully sold on the look seem more stance style than track car! Thought of the standard rota's as well but open to idea all the same!

See I know exactly what you mean with small plans lol!!

And I don't know how they would hold up on track but I think Cades Eros in black would look amazing on this!! Or even some Rota Grid V's

Failing that OZ are always a good shout afaik, some black super/ultraleggera's

 

[Dan.G]

I almost bought a set of OZ Ultraleggeras off ebay but the offsets were really high. Any wheels I get need to have as low offset as possible the fronts on atm are 8j 0et as far as im aware, and look how much they still need spacing!

I like grids but you see so many with them, I've only seen one on the road with 527's so think im swaying towards them!

 

[Spinksy]

I almost bought a set of OZ Ultraleggeras off ebay but the offsets were really high. Any wheels I get need to have as low offset as possible the fronts on atm are 8j 0et as far as im aware, and look how much they still need spacing!

I like grids but you see so many with them, I've only seen one on the road with 527's so think im swaying towards them!

Yeah I see where you are coming from mate, give the Cades Eros a search though

Deep dish really suit these IMO

 

[Dan.G]

Hmm, not a massive fan of the bbs style personally and the only come in 6.5" wide in 15's.

If I were to get bbs's id get the standard mx5 ones.

 

[Spinksy]

Hmm, not a massive fan of the bbs style personally and the only come in 6.5" wide in 15's.

If I were to get bbs's id get the standard mx5 ones.

What about the BBS wheels that were for sale on here mate?

 

[Dan.G]

What about the BBS wheels that were for sale on here mate?

Didnt know there were any! link?

 

[Dan.G]

Love this little project, if I had an MX5 this is what I'd do with it!

Cheers mate, had my eye on a 5 for a while and always wanted the wide arches but just needs a bit of work to fit them!

 

[Spinksy]

These mate!

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?704147-Custom-BBS-RS772-(RX2-s)-16-quote

If I could be arsed to change my colour scheme AGAIN I would rip his arms off!!

 

[Djw John]

Looked good on Friday night dan. Will no doubt see you at kh soon

 

[Dan.G]

These mate!

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?704147-Custom-BBS-RS772-(RX2-s)-16-quote

If I could be arsed to change my colour scheme AGAIN I would rip his arms off!!

Unfortunatly the offset is miles high, would need stupid spacers to make them work! lol. Look nice tho.


Cheers John no doubt will be, after wednesdays nights antics i dont think it'll be until i've got new wheels and tyres. Those ones were hilariously bad!

 

[Spinksy]

Or.... Widetrack conversion

 

[Dan.G]

Haha yer the track will be going wider one way or another! Ive got a mate who's said he can make me up some bolt on spacers when i need so just get the size I need at the time!

 

[Spinksy]

Haha yer the track will be going wider one way or another! Ive got a mate who's said he can make me up some bolt on spacers when i need so just get the size I need at the time!

Exactly! Get the wheels

 

[Dan.G]

Haha to space those wheels to fill the arches they would need to be 60mm at least! Thats a fair size spacer lol. Low offset to start and then less spacer needed

 

[Dan.G]

Its about time i updated this ...

Since I last updated this I bit the bullet and had these turn up at my flat XXR 527 15x8.25

Unfortunately I was away with work so had to wait a few week untill i could get my hands on them and get them fitted!

As soon as i was back we set about getting them fitted, Whilst the car was up I had another play with the suspension as the ride height was starting to piss me off being so low and hard.
We raised it back up a bit more, now that the arches are fitted i could get away with raising it with out having a mega arch gap! Also had another tinker with the pre-load on the springs. I found a video on youtube of a guy from driftworks step by step guide to fitting and setting HSD's up on a mx5. He suggested having almost no pre-load, just so the springs are tight and what a difference its made! So much comfier to drive.

Enough chat here's some pictures;

Think it looks far fresher and cleaner with the new wheels rather than the steelies!

Was about to put the steelies up for sale and a young guy knocked at my door asking about my car and where the steelies had gone as he'd seen it about. Said they have been taken off and going for sale, he wanted them there and then!! Couldnt quite believe it LOL. To add to my shock he said he was going to fit them to a clio that he was 'euro' styling!!! God knows how hes going to fit 9j whels on his clio but who am I to ask?

Now its been raised its crying out for a splitter! Trying to decide between the OEM/R-package JDM splitter and a Garage vary one. The GV one looks good but i think will sit a bit too low for the s**tty roads!

Its also going for 4 wheel alignment and camber adjustment next week to finally get rid of the stupid camber and slight crab. Then its off to another track day at the end of the month. Looking forward to seeing the massive difference on track compared to when i first got it!

Just to finish off, Mates came up from London last week so me and my flat mate took them for a drive across to the west coast. Absolutely stunning roads and even better scenery, would recommend anyone to come up at least once. If the weathers right its a gem of a place that people rarely go to.

 

[Djw John]

Looks superb Dan, bagsy a passenger ride on the 1st

 

[Rob]

I can't help but feel it's a bit of a downgrade, but I do really really like them.

The wheels are stonking, but I don't like the black arches, if they were black plastic they may have looked better? It's a just a bit "off" for me..

 

[Dan.G]

Cheers John! More than welcome for a passenger run.#

Fair comment Rob. It was a downgrade as it helped me free up some cash I needed at the time, plus I wanted a bit more of a project car to tinker with and this is living up to that! Arches are a bit of a marmite addition, personally I think it makes it look a bit less girly and can run a wider track. I thought about matching them but as they are fiberglass would be hard to match the silver unless i fully fiberglass blended them to the wings rather than rivet.
Dont think the Matte black roof helps it but that will be changed eventually.

 

[Rob]

I think that's what it is mate, the matte roof and gloss arches. Match them up? Or go silver with the arches? I think it'd look great with them in silver tbh.

 

[Dan.G]

Yer that's the plan to get the roof gloss and the boot lid back to silver eventually. Hmm, i've not seen any with colour coded arches other than black on black. May have to do a bit of research but i'm not so sure. Happy to be proven wrong if i see it lol.

 

[Shake n Bake]

Can your mate do me some spacers too?? I did think it looked a lot nicer when last I saw it, but when you see the new wheels against pics of the old, gawd dayum what a difference!

Respect for the effort put into this thread, you must have been bored on your last shift up!

 

[.GAZ.]

Think I prefer the banded steels tbh, mate!

 

[Philip.]

Love the wheels, but it needs to be lower imo

 

[Dan.G]

Cheers for the comments guys.

Jack, its shetland, of course im bored lol!

Gaz, I think it would have been a tougher decision to get rid of the steels if they weren't stupidly wide. 9j was just silly and you lost alot of fun by having almost too much grip. Tbf for doing track days as well the weight difference is massive between them.

It was lower but made it so unusable and far to crashy of back roads. Rides and handles far better now it actually has some suspension travel. Think it will look better with a splitter IMO, front end does look high with nothing under it.

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Coming along nicely. Wheels are a great addition :approve:

 

[.GAZ.]

Dan.G Where abouts in Shetland are you working?

 

[Dan...]

Sorry if it has already been covered but are you keeping all the black parts black?

 

[Dan.G]

.GAZ. I haven't been working up there for a while. When I do its up north at scatsta airport by sullom voe. You working up there just now?

Think the black arches will be staying black for the time being. The roof will be getting done properly gloss black as the last owner did a s**tty rattle can job. Unsure how they would look silver as the paint wont quite match.