I’m considering committing a crime and looking for help
Hey folks - I’ve an 1994 R Ltd (in white and red no less) which I’ve had in storage for 3 years (bought it assuming prices would go crazy eventually) and I had been considering spending the money to get Rocketeer to work their magic in and build my “forever 5”, the one you’ll never sell.
Well… the more I think about it, the more I’m wondering about finding somebody to help me go another way - electric.
I’ve dug around a bit, seen a couple of professional conversions, but when I’ve contacted them they’ve not been interested in doing another.
Is anybody else considerig going down this route? Is it a waste of a reasonably rare mk1? Just a waste of cash?
There is an interesting short series on YouTube by a company that did an EV conversion to an NB. Their quality of work & attention to detail is impressive, but the end result IMO is a bit of a damp squib. Top speed is in the rgion of 90MPH if I remember correctly. Compare that to some of the conversions seen on Vintage Voltage ( available on Discovery + ) where they convert Ferrari / Land Rover / FIAT 500 etc, and the power output is a vast improvement on the ICE original. The last episode I watched was an Isetta bubble car where the conversion cost was £45K!
Why?
If it’s just for interest/experience then find another mx5.
Any other reason then don’t bother. You’ll end up with a dogs breakfast of disparate bits that’ll be worthless in the future, probably unreliable, and rubbish to drive (over very short distances).
It’s not as though petrol is going to disappear overnight, or even in 10 or 15 years…
Prices of second-hand cars have already sky rocketed; and if yours is one of a hundred made, chances are its value will carry on increasing…
More so if it remains original.
But if you want to keep it, do what you need to do to make it “the one you’ll never sell”.
It’s yours…
In my opinion, it is unlikely to be as entertaining to drive in electric form, it will probably cost more to convert than it will save you on fuel, and it won’t be any more future-proof.
Converting classics to electric is not unreasonable where the engine isn’t a key feature of what makes it classic. The citroen DS is a case in point.
The utterly bomb proof super revy engine in the mx5 mk1 and the associated gearbox is one of its famous features.
Plus while the engine is never a problem on an mx5 the rust often is. If you are going to spend any money on an mx5 it’s rust treatment, sensible suspension tuning then running gear in that order and if the body and suspension are tip top and you still want to Hack it about I have some magic beans you may also wish to buy.
for the same amount of cash a a rocketer conversion you could get a v8 conversion kit from flying miata in the states i priced it up using all brand new parts and a crate ls3 6.3 525bhp v8 it would come to just under 25k for everything
use second hand parts and its a lot less
now im not sure but im guessing a 525bhp mk1 would be bloody good fun to drive (just not in the wet lol)
Well… the TVR is heavier and handling is not as good. V8 na is just a bit silly too. Weight is up by a lot and the balance front to rear is changed. The first thing about the Rocketeer is the noise but the V6 has an alloy block and weighs no more than the 1.6 so the handling is just as nimble.
an ls3 does fit but you have modify the chassis legs at the back near the bulk head flying miata in the states sell a full fitting kit they were willing to supply me with a kit to make the manifolds fit around the steering colum
an ls3 is all ali too the total install weight including new gearbox diff and subframes is less than 40 kgs more than stock and the weight distribution hardly changes because of the heavier diff at the rear so i wouldnt see it as an issue plus with the lazy power delivery of a large v8 its alot more driveable than say a large power turbo build with a sudden build up of torque
