Long story short, I have had a couple of MX-5’s before my most recent purchase, a Mazdaspeed MS13 Bspec '5 … Which is missing a fundamental part; the supercharger! However, all of the internal upgrades that MS put on made it a very worthwhile purchase, despite needing some TLC.
Initial plans are to get the car up and running in a sound enough state to complete my already booked track day at Brands Hatch on the 9th of December (This could be a bit of a struggle!) and then eventually to put her back just the way she rolled out of Mazdaspeed, with the supercharger back in place! I have already put out some feelers to Skuzzle and Autolink as to how to get her runnig without the charger, thoughts at the moment are to put some standard 1.6 injectors back in her and then a 1.6 ECU to match.
The spec of the car in it’s current state:
1.6 Mazdaspeed tuned engine IL Motorsports 4-2-1 branch manifold MX5parts single exit back box 1.8 big brake upgrade front and rear 16" Konig wheels Koni Sport kit Lexus rear lights Mohair roof + glass screen Nardi wheel from a Lotus Elise Electronic rust protection system (researching this as a separate project!) Track Dog Racing engine mounts Some sort of aftermarket bodykit and front lip fitted (believed to be Bomex, but can’t say for sure) Style bar
When we got the car home, she was in a bit of a sorry state. A teaspoon of oil in the sump, hardly any water in the rad and a massive blow from the exhaust manifold. But still, something attracted me to her so I decided to take a chance. Every sensible receptor in my brain was telling me this was a bad idea of a buy, but my heart strings got the better of me thinking that with some spanner time and love, she would pull through and be a good car in the end (that, and I am a sucker for Mazdaspeed special editions!)
I am blogging my progress here: http://teamawesomemo…press.com/blog/ But will update this thread with the odd picture and a summary of whats been done from time to time. People wanting the full writeup can read the blog if they have the time
Some of you that were at Blyton and or know Dave / Dice Racing will probably recognise her!
Interesting about the manifold Saz. Just got the weld done and she is purring like a kitten (well, a lot better than she was anyway!)
A small bit of progress made today, Exhaust manifold is now back on and the blog has been updated! Latest post can be found here: http://wp.me/p3Y80d-1G
Been away on holiday for a week so not a lot got done in the week previous to this one! However, last weekend saw us pick up some new wheels for the car, as well as another very expensive part which I will save for another update
In our spanner adventures around the engine bay, I found that the PAS pulley had not been correctly put back on the car… The pinch bolt was missing it’s nut!!!
Eessh. New bolt and nut ordered from Autolink.
Heres a nice little pic of the Cades wheels with the Mazdaspeed Centre caps I doctored…
If you look very closely you can just about see the black Cades writing underneath… Not best amused, but once you get more than a quarter of a meter away you can’t notice
We also managed to fix the Greddy temp gauge and fit a new alternator belt (thanks go out to the chap who wrote the Nutz guide for that!) All in all fairly productive. Oh! Repair works on the front lip have also begun.
Yeah just noticed that now unless its pushed up into the pump housing ie like its slid in too far and may need to be hammered out slightly in case its seized in there
The spacer is an interference fit through the rear hole in the mounting bracket. If the bolt is a good fit in the rear hole then I reckon someone may have cut the end of the spacer off in your case.
Afternoon everyone! I hope our OC members had a very Merry Christmas.
For those that don’t really read the blog, we went to Brands Hatch on the 9th of December. It looked like we weren’t going to make it due to still having a brake problem with only 10 hours to go until we were supposed to be on track, but we miraculously solved the problem and made it there!
However, unfortunately… The Supercharger broke. We did manage to get some track footage though! Which you can find over on the blog in our latest post:
Thanks for those that do read and keep up with the blog, we are building a nice following which is good to see. We have had just over 500 views in the three months we have been writing, which we are very pleased with! Please do carry on reading and supporting! Cheers,
More mechanical stuff and still no cosmetics… Our supercharger blew up at Brands Hatch, so we are rebuilding it! Currently it’s sat on the work bench half apart
For the full story, check the blog: http://wp.me/p3Y80d-5X At some point I aim to provide a writeup on how to rebuild the snout so other may benefit :)
