6’ 2.5"
i’m 6’ 3" so will look into this - how easy was it to fit, I’m a bit wary of the airbag!
So am I ! the spacer is fitted by removing the airbag, this is well documented but is essentially disconnect battery, wait a while, push brake lights to make sure any capacitive charge in the system is gone, then just two bolts, and pull airbag out disconnect yellow airbag connector (google this as it’s a very specific connector but easy when you know how) Then disconnect horn wire from clock spring.
Next is to remove steering wheel (again google it’s pretty straight forward) Then fit the black spacer part onto the steering column:
tighten (I used a leather oil filter wrench to hold in place so it didn’t scratch the paint)
Then you bolt the sliver extender bit to the spacer which in effect extends the steering column by 50mm or so, and you then fit your steering wheel as normal
The only modification I had to do on my car because it’s a late mk2 is extend the horn wire by about 6cm (the blue section in the middle of the red wire) The airbag wiring remains untouched
5 Likes
That smaller wheel.looks so right…
1 Like
excellent write up, many thanks.
1 Like
Wow! That’s a significant reduction in diameter.
Nice job and good to hear that you’re more comfortable now 
1 Like
Just when I try to convince myself not to spend any more money on the car… I see this… 
That is sweeeeeet.
2 Likes
Got round to fitting the second Elise seat which gives a noticeable amount more room for passengers. Also transferred over the relevant wiring looms for each seat to satisfy the electronic sensors. On the driver’s side I re-fitted the original seatbelt stalk and patched it back into the loom so the belt warning system should work again. On the passenger side I fitted a seat occupancy sensor device so that the system thinks there’s always someone sitting in the passenger seat and will always activate the passenger airbag if the worst happens.
I’ve been gradually persuading some SafetyDevices roll bar padding to shape itself to the roll bar curves hence all the temporary zip ties! Once that stays in place on it’s own I plan to sew together a vinyl cover to hide it.
6 Likes
Love that small steering wheel. It takes me back to my first decent car, a '66 mk1 Cortina GT. I fitted a small racing-style wheel to that. Bit of a workout at slow speed - 5 1/2 J tyres and no power steering!
1 Like
Ditto…Did the Same Thing With My First Car…Mark 1 Escort
1 Like
This evening we did some more work on the roll bar padding, The Safety Devices stuff turned out to be comically large and unforgiving when padded with scrim foam & vinyl so I tried a different approach. Two layers of 2.5mm high density closed cell foam glued separately so they followed the contours of the roll bar, then I sewed a vinyl cover with male velcro on one side & female on the other.
Grey bar on the right has one layer of foam, left is completed with x2 layers + vinyl cover.
5 Likes
Popped out this evening to fill up with fuel for the Spring meet tomorrow and couldn’t resist taking a quick picture with this ceramic ND parked down the road from me.
4 Likes
Looks smashing 
Roll bar padding finished, tonneau cover trimmed to fit, seats re-coloured in black to refresh them and get rid of some scuffs on the passenger side.
3 Likes
Looking good Carl, saw you at the spring meeting,just as you were leaving unfortunately!!
Steve
Sorry, yes I needed to get back as I was double booked that day! it’s always hard to find people at these events isn’t it? I can find a car easy enough but in a crowd people are a lot harder!
It’s been a while since I updated this thread, lots of miles and a few trips away in the Rocketeer. The most memorable was a roadtrip last year through France, Belgium, Luxembourg and dipping into Germany with some good friends & their cars. We took in last year’s SPA Classic over a long weekend and some awesome driving roads. Travelled over on the Eurotunnel in a mix of sun & rain, definitely a more muted mix of colour cars than previous years!
Stopping off in Luxembourg to cool the cars off after some spirited climbs!
Of course one of the cars had to break down, A Maserati gets a flat tyre on some dodgy mountain roads, too big a split to be fixed by the squirty can 
Awesome views & roads near Rochehaut
Lined up in the pits at Spa
The MX5 mixing it with the best 
And time to go home…
Update for 2023 is an interesting one, we built this car as a challenge and to have fun in driving with my family. My eldest son is booked to come with me on some roadtrips later this year and there’s a bit of a major hurdle at the moment. Even with the smaller steering wheel, wheel extender, and the Elise seats squeezing the last mm of extra space in the cabin he just can’t fit the drivers seat well enough to drive with any confidence. His left knee is jammed between steering wheel and dash when he uses the clutch.
Over the last 2yrs he’s definitely had a major growth spurt as when I started the build he wasn’t nearly as tall! I should mention that he’s now 6’5" and built like a rugby player so that may be a contributing factor 
I’ve tried a few more tricks but we can’t get close to a setup where we’re both happy it’ll be safe for him to drive. One very real option might be to sell the Rocketeer and get a bigger car - perhaps a Cayman, F-type or similar. Anyway I’ll try and keep the thread a bit more up to date this year.
4 Likes
I guess rocketeer don’t like anyone to say bad things about their products…
1 Like
The missfire and ECU driver fault? I removed it from the post because it sounded like I was waffling on 
Happy to discuss it with anyone. Rocketeer were very helpful but obviously nothing they could do as I was out of the country and their German reseller was away that weekend. I was lucky I had two professional mechanics and an motorsport electronics expert in our party so was able to do something about it ourselves.
We disconnected the injector from that cylinder to prevent any possible bore washing or fuel getting into the oil and that cylinder ran de-activated until we got home. I dropped the ECU off at MBE electronic and they confirmed a faulty driver which was replaced, the others tested to make sure they were all OK, then couriered back to me within the week. The car started up on the first turn of the key with the fixed ECU.
Speaking with MBE afterwards they apologised and mentioned that with the semiconductor crisis they’d had supplier issues with some components - hence them re-testing the remaining x5 drivers to make sure they were fine.
2 Likes
Epic tour in some esteemed company by the looks of it.
Sorry to hear that your son doesn’t fit. Do make sure you take him with you when you try alternatives. It would be a shame to jump out of the frying pan into a fire.
Without wishing to be rude, what do you think would be a ball park figure for a rocketeer like yours if one was for sale?
Very glad to see you got the issues sorted satisfactorily.
I hope you get some more warm, top down adventures in the rocketeer before any decisions are made.
Cheers,
Guy