Iāve been following a few of the Rocketeer builds on Youtube/web, Jazda, Phil, Pistonheads build, I never understood why people spent about Ā£10k on a conversion kit and Ā£500 for the engine. Then end up swapping the engine back out again after lots of angst.
Good shout on the auto option for the donor they generally seem to be more solid for less money. On the gearbox/diff itās an interesting choice. I ran a 6speed and 3.9 in my mk1 with a tuned 1.8. The ratios were perfect. 6th on a (6spd+3.9) is roughly the same as 5th on (5spd+4.1) so if you fit the 3.9 you are getting roughly 5% taller gears, the 3.6 diff will give you 12% taller gearing.
On a standard car this will make it sluggish, but on a V6 itās probably perfect! The main difference between mk1 and mk2 5 speeds is that the speedo drive went from cable to electronic but are easily swapable. I think the mk2 5speed had a few extra strengtheners and better seals as well. I have both sitting in the depths of my garage somewhere!
Interesting reading. Bruce seems to think 3.6 is the top choice but depending on availability I might have to go 3.9.
Does anyone have any experience with buying Impact wrenches? Iāve already got a base Ryobi s screwdriver package which meant it came with two batteries and a charger, so if I went with a Ryobi impact wrench, at least Iād only be paying for the base wrench and not all the other stuff, and they seem good quality.
However, Iām open to suggestions from you good people!
I was rewatching some of Jazdaās videos today and he seems to have used his for literally everything, so would make a solid purchase.
I know how you feel. I bought mine off my son 10 years ago. My wife keeps telling me to sell it as we have another new car! Doesnt understand why I like to get dirty at my age! But I do feel good when I wiz around the country lanes with the roof down.
Wives always understand what a tool kit is for when anything else needs fixing from the " Long Haired One To Do" listā¦
Itāsā¦genetic in my opinion.
Thereās always ānoise cancellingā headphones.
I read an article on Auto Express which suggested that the Hikoki WR18DBDL2 was the best of the bunch so I ordered one of those. It comes with 2 x 6.0Ah batteries which will provide plenty of power for nuts and bolts that havenāt been moved in 30 years.
My axle stands and low profile jack arrived today (both Halfords professional ones), the car is snugly in the garage, so all I am waiting on now is the house move (paid the holding deposit :)) and the kit from Rocketeer. I know people love to hate Halfords (me included - even though I couldnāt tell you why!), but these are all highly rated and good value, and iāve got to keep all of this under control.
The first major decision from here is where to do the dirty work. Itās unfortunately a rather complicated situation at the moment - my MH troubles meaning I donāt want to be anywhere near anyone - so do I crack on at my partners house where the car currently is, or do I move it to my new house just down the road and do it there, albeit without a garage.
I know the easy answer is the garage, but aside from the above issues - working from home (this is the same for me with and without Covid) means I would more easily be able to work on the car during the day when works allows me the time, if it was at my new house.
Again, a caveat on the above, I donāt want to make anyone feel awkward with the MH stuff (which is probably why I use āMHā in the hope nobody notices ), I just know that it might help people in a similar position to know there is a fellow MX5 nut in a similar boat.
My experience of working on cars is that itās best to find somewhere you donāt have to pack everything up every time you start & stop working. Being able to pop out to the garage for an hour or two during the day is very advantageous though even if itās a smaller workspace!
Jealous of the impact gun, I bought a 3/8" Sealey electric ratchet wrench last year and found it very useful, gets into lots of hard to reach places, not a torque monster but definitely saves time when you do a lot of repetitive tasks.
I dug my heals in last night and read all 45 pages of the Pistonheads Rocketeer build: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1709711&i=0
I now understand why Rocketeer stopped selling kits for a while as they seemed to have a lot of teething problems, it seems the concensus is that the new ECU option is a lot more stable with less issues, but would not have liked to have been one of the early customers on the V1 kit. My favourite line in the whole thread was ātrouble with being a pioneer is that you often get an arrow in your backā
Yes, after speaking to Bruce it does seem like parts of the kit have changed, the electroncis have been changed, and fortunately from my perspective, there is a lot more anecdotal information out there.
Unfortunately, the house fell through. In fact two fell through in one week, one of them after iād paid the deposit. Having already agreed I could work on my car there, they came back after iād paid the deposit and told me they didnāt want me tinkering with my car there. So, I kindly told them to sod off.
So, on the hunt again! If there are any landlords in the Lincolsnhire area near Stamford - get in touch
I was close to going for an NB as Iāve never owned one. I know itās said to death, but the pop ups always win for me. When I picked the new one up, I sat in the driveway pressing the button for about ten minutes just like I did when I was but a teenager twenty years ago!
So, I found a house and I move in today! Woop woop!
It doesnāt have a garage but it does hav ea big driveway and enough room for me to erect one of those weatherproof semi portable garages.
I have a question regarding SORN. I need to move the donor 5 from my partners house to the new house. Obviously I can get day insurance to do the move, but what do I do with regards the SORN? I had a quick look online but thought you guys might have the answer. I donāt really want to pay for a months road tax just to have it on the road for 17 minutes
I would take a chance personallyā¦Just make sure you drive in a way that would not draw attention to yourself and if you see any cameras or police, try and steer clear - carefullyā¦
Legally I would have thought thereās not a good excuse if you were to be caught driving with no road tax.
Itād probably be around Ā£30 for a month, and about the same for insurance.
If it were me, Iād pay for both and spend the next four weekends stretching itās legs on regularly drives.
I do look forward to reading about these types of builds, I too am planning some sort of engine upgrades after,body repairs and a new roof. So I for one would love to hear about your experiences in a v6 conversion. As I plan to do a v6/8 or a rotary swap.