Have a look at skov's build photos I did exactly the same

David

How to get a proof of engine age letter from Mazda
 

Phoned up Mazda this week to ask for a proof of age letter for my donor/engine (needed at IVA to determine emissions levels, and hopefully avoid the need to fit a CAT!).

Here's what I did:

Phoned Mazda UK on 08457 484848 and got through to a very helpful chap named Adam (don't worry if you don't get Adam, he claims anyone there should be able to go through the process).

Rumour on the Westfield site has it that you need to talk to the homologations manager (Dean Armitage), I did try asking to talk to him directly, but apparently he doesn't take calls from the general public!

Adam took my personal details, and details of the donor car (vehicle reg, chassis number, and engine number), and filled in a form on his 'puter.
Because my donor is an import a few red warnings came up on his screen and he had to go away and talk to Dean to clarify.
He came back and said it wasn't a problem though!

I don't think their standard proof of vehicle age letter contains the engine number, so I asked if they could include it, after speaking to Dean again he said this shouldn't be a problem.
IVA emissions are based on engine age, so I think it's fairly important to get them to include it!

If you're the first owner of the vehicle there's no charge, otherwise it costs £35. You can pay by bank transfer or by cheque.

I was told I should receive the letter within 14 days of them receiving payment.

I'll update you when I do!

(P.S. Davidbolam gets the credit for digging up the details on how to do this!)

EDIT:

The letter turned up today, much quicker than the 14 days quoted!
Looks like it should convince IVA man not to do a CAT test :D

Rear subfarme complete
 

Hey guys,
Moving to NZ in a couple of weeks. I started building the chassis here in the UK with sierra donor part, bit of research suggested that there isnt much point doing it round a sierra in NZ. So, MX-5 it is. I was in NZ for six months to test the water and got a job at a Mazda Car Wrechers and took a couple of MX-5's appart. I noticed that it basically comes on two subframes with a big alli bracer between the two. Has anyone used or thought of using the rear subframe complete, the brace and mounting it all complete to the chassis? Would only have to make the front end then. Or is there something really obvious I'm missing that just wouldnt allow this?

The idea of the Roadster is that is light and nimble, by adding a pressed steel sub frame to a light chassis it would seem to defeat the object of the design some what. There is a 7 design that uses the rear sub frame but the name escapes me at this point.
There is of course the MEV Exocet that uses the both the front and rear sub frames including the the back bone, a tubular frame is then dropped over the top but that is a different beast all together.

Knew there would be something obvious! lol

Next question then, does anyone know of any drawings for the differences? I found A pdf file from saturn sports car, is it that simple? imay have a few problems as I have more or less completed my chassis to sierra spec, but nothing a disk cutter and welder cant cure. :D

After having a look about there seems to be two options, Saturn Sports Car and Vodou. Has anyone got a copy of the Vodou plans? cant find them anywhere.

If you remove the MX5 rear diff cover and the mounting arms you can make the MX5 diff fit where the Sierra one would go. You would just have to alter the wishbones to take the MX5 uprights.

Heres a tip. Having built a kit car before and being used to sub £10 ford parts.... Don't cut cables and hoses to remove parts from your donor. Mazda parts are not cheap.

£60 for a new set of rear handbrake cables. :eek:
£25+ for used ones... Which I cut a set of not 2 weeks ago. :o

Cheers
Stot

I'll second that.....

Yep me too forgot the clutch flexi pipe when removing the engine £12 second hand!!

And also "I give up" where's that little thread/guide on adapting the mx5 fuel pump and sender for a SSC tank??

edit ok now got it.

http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showt...tank#post68170

Hi phil,

I've just discovered you absolutely can't use escort track rod ends with mx5 uprights.

http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=12605

Just clicked on your shop link and noticed your selling extensions for mx5 steering balljoints. Is that right?



Cheers

Chris

Yes, it is Chris. I have a pair on order from Phil :)

So what kind of gearbox to prop flange clearance are people leaving? As there is no PPF anymore there is likely to be substantially more movement on the splined end of the prop. Any ideas?

Why would you use Escort track rod ends with MX5 front uprights? The Mazda track rod ends are kinked for use with the angled steering arms on the uprights, the rack extensions that I make for MX5 builds have M12 threads for Mazda rod ends.
There is a post on here some where from me about making the lower front wishbones bent so that the steering arms on the rack clear them.

Is that kick in the lower wisbone a good idea? It has to be compromised in strength with the set in it and the angle of that tortured track rod end looks less than comfy. I am not knocking it but merely pointing out that from an engineering point of view its less than ideal. It might just be the angle of the shot.

Bob

That's the correct MX5 track rod end for the MX5 upright although I don't think it had the top wishbone in place.
I take on board what your saying about the bend and it's been discussed before but it's done with a 25mm tube former so it's as clean as the bend can be.
I looked at the bend in the lower wishbone and came to these conclusions:
the chassis bracket is welded to a 1.5mm walled box section in some cases
the load acts on both ends of the wishbones not in the middle, if any load is transfered through the bend the pivots have siezed
if worried up the material to 3mm wall

Just thinking about this wishbone clearance issue. What about putting the lower wishbone chassis brackets beneath the Bottom rails rather than on top. How would that affect things? Might order 4 and try it out as an option.

How's that batch of mx5 steering rack extension coming Phil?

Don't think that will be possible.
You would need quite a steep upward angle to keep the upright in the correct place and this would foul the chassis on bump.
The Wishbone would need to be longer.
The lower ball joint would be canted all the way over, locking out on bump.
Also there's no where to put the forward mount on the bottom as its mounted to the angled FF members.



Cheers
Stot

Oh yes! :D Not one of my better ideas. lol!

Engine positioning?
 

Just about to move onto mounting the engine into the chassis what height have people mounted there engines to allow for clearance of steering

I am using the 1.6 engine

All advice greatly appreciated

I think I've got my sump 40mm below the bottom chassis rails.
Try to get it as far back as you can without the clutch slave hitting the chassis.
Have you got your bodywork yet? I had to shift my engine 25mm towards the passenger side to get the intake manifold to clear my Saturn bonnet.

No not got bodywork yet may try and get hold of spud to see if I could borrow some seconds if he has any

Good to hear that you are working away on your build. Any pictures you can load up??

David

Hi David,
I fitted the engine in the same place as Skov and Davidbolam but I have the AGM body kit and have no problem with the throttle bracket hitting the GRP.
;)

Post some photos of your car for an update....:)

Johno,

I really like the look of the agm bodywork and have my engine as far back as possible. When I looked at their measurements of their kit I'm not sure it will kit.
Can you tell me how far your engine is from the front member?

Hi David,
Will check measurement tomorrow. I'm very happy with the AGM kit, sure there are a few imperfections but nothing that can't be sorted. :D

Help me please !
 

What drag links are to be used on the mx5 roadster please ? Any help would be really appreciated. Oh by the way, I bought a crash repairable mx5 over the weekend for £300. There are loads of them around in scrap yards, and you get all of the paperwork that goes with it, but without the guilt of wriping apart a clean car.

They're BMW 5 series ones; Motaquip part number is VTR325 (BMW E34 5 series saloon, 1988-1996).

HTH.

Thanks for that Pork chop, you are a star. I have got the Gillham online manual, but it seems really vague.

Those have a different thread to the Transit ones , 16mm vs 18mm IIRC so make sure your wishbones are made with the right thread,

Cheers
Stot

Brilliant, thank you very much for that. I will get hold of Talon Phil a bit quick.

The other option is to use the Transit drag links and ream out the holes in the uprights to match.

Hi David,
I measured from the front of the water pump pulley to the front cross member and it's approximately 300mm. I wish I moved the engine back a little more though as the cam cover just catches the bonnet right at the front. Not too much of a problem though as I plan to fit a bonnet scoop anyway..:D

Johno I have just measured mine and its 285 mm (to the back of the front cross member). I don't know how the engine could go any further back.

I might wait until you have chopped your bonnet to see that is like.

If you removed the flange without cutting the top would it fit?

David

I dont know the measurements because I stripped back to the chassis yesterday for painting but this photo shows how far back my engine is. The clutch rubber is in line with the upright.



I have my engine a bit further to the passenger side which gives me steering rack and inlet clearance. I'm using the Equinox bonnet and it fits without cutouts.



Cheers
Stot

I measured mine to the front face of the crossmember...:)
So in fact yours is further back...

Thanks Johno that has made my day!

David

Mx5 diff mounting issue
 

After stressing about which direction I want to take my mx5 build, the broken diff nose issue keeps arising. Off work with a broken leg, so I am bored and decided to look into it. My local mazda dealer said that it was an issue on the 1.6 mx5, but the 1.8 diff is a lot stronger. I googled it, and can't find any 1.8 diff failures, only 1.6. Are we all worrying about nothing? Or is there a genuine problem, not that well publicised. If my car was a 1.6, I would drop the 1.8 in as a matter of course. But my car is a 1.8, so do I risk it ? Or look into better support ? Just thinking about trying to keep the weight down, and don't want to over complicate the build if I can help it.

Without opening a can of worms the diff only broke on the saturn nts car as it wasn't bolted on properly. Most people have also beefed up he front mount.

The Saturn nts car was an 1800 engined car.

David

Thanks for that. I noticed last night that the mk3 diff is mounted from the top. It would be a breeze to fit to the chassis, but I am not sure if its compatible with mk 1 and mk 2 models ?