Another build thread
 

I thought I'd better start a build diary, and this seems a good a place as any, so here we go with a little introduction.

It all began on new years day, I was idly browsing Amazon when I happened upon 'the book'.
I suspect that might turn out to be the most expensive impulse purchase I've ever made!
It took most of January to clear/organise the garage, and I'm still not quite there... Yes it was that bad! Still a fair bit of junk to clear out.

The last few days have been spent knocking up a rather rickety build table.
I just need to add a bit more support to the legs and mark out the top and I should be ready to rock!
Sadly I'm not as blessed in square footage as most people here seem to be, so this is where it's all going to have to happen:



The keen eyed might spot one of Handy Andy's flat pack kits on the desk at the back.
I picked it up second hand from this very forum.
The guy selling it never got around to starting but had still managed to 'misplace' some of the bits.
Lucky for me Handy Andy was kind enough to replace them free of charge :D

Donor wise, I'm 99% sure I'm going to go MX5.
My current toy car is a Mk1 import, and I'm still trying to decide whether to use it as the donor, or look out for a crashed one.
It's in reasonable nick so it seems a shame to break it, but on the other hand I know it's been looked after and all works!
Either way it's going to have to go to make space for / fund the roadster build:


I'm hoping to make a start welding the chassis in the next couple of days, so hopefully I'll have some real progress to report soon!

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EDIT: Shortly after I started my build Saturn announced the development of their MX5 roadster.
Luckily I hadn't got very far with mine, so rather than reinvent the wheel (and c0ck it up!), I thought it'd be easier/safer to just copy their design :)
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Welcome to the forum Skov....you would not be alone in the scary space dept, I have a double garage but it seems like a single with all the junk..... and there are lots on here that are in the same boat as you....is that an old suz TS I see there, vintage now....I also see you are a aeromodeller if you fancy any large aircraft plans drop me a line I have loads, not that you will any time to build aircraft once you get started with this. Any Q's just ask on here and you will get a quick responce, a lot on here are now been there, done it, got the t shirt brigade....keep us up to date dude;)

Good luck,

I have a 1 1/2 size garage. It's a good size.

But full of stuff for cars. I think there's 6 engines in there, 6 gearboxes. Countless ancilliaries, bits, bobs and junk. Only just enough space to get to the roadster.

TT

I'm ok for aircraft plans, but thanks for the offer - can't see me doing any aeromodelling for a little while now!
The top of the garage and my attic are bulging with airframes waiting to be repaired as it is :rolleyes:
The bikes are my son's old Yam TY80, which is getting pretty vintage now (late 70's I think), and my 2002 Gasgas 280 pro.
Talk about too many hobbies and not enough time. or space for that matter!

You wouldnt happen to have a spare T9 in said garage would you?;)

Hi Skov, welcome to the forum. If you take a look at my build blog (address in signature) you'll see my garage is of a similar size, so I'm sure you'll manage. I'm planning to get my car up to rolling chassis stage asap so I can wheel it out onto the drive to do work on it once the weather gets better.
Just enjoy it mate, and keep us updated.

I have 2 , but they are V6 and they are alllllll mine!

TT

First few bits tacked into place :D

Nice to see that you have made a start skov :)

I know how great it feels to get those first few tubes on the board & tacked up :cool:

The MX5 looks far too good to break, pehaps you'll be lucky enough to find a dammaged one in a breakers .... That said, needs must & all that :D :D

Yep, it certainly did feel good! Can't wait to get back in the garage now. I could have stayed out there all night, but I need to be careful if I want my marriage to outlive the build :rolleyes:

I've got another 6 months tax/insurance left on the Maz, so I won't be selling or breaking it before then. In the meantime I'll keep an eye out for a cheap one.
To be fair mine is showing the first signs of sill rot, so it's days are numbered anyway. At least that's my excuse if I do break it :D

Bugger the car that TY80 brings back cool memories as my first bike was a TY50 in the same colours......:cool:

A little more progress today - managed to finish tacking down the BR's :)

Collected an MX5 diff, driveshafts, and rear uprights today:



Won them for a whopping 99p on ebay!

looking good! iv been clearing out for the last 3 years and im still not there, i think someone just keeps filling the space i make! :rolleyes:

bargain on the bits!

TY80, class brings back memories! Good luck with the build

Nice to see the TY is bringing back a lot of fond memories!
All it's doing is p!ssing me off at the moment - the brake pedal gouges a hole out of my leg every time I walk past it :mad:
Might have to invest in some shin pads!

Made a little more progress today. Managed to get U3 to U6 down.
I was struggling to get them aligned, until I discovered we had some welding magnets at work. Had them done in a jiffy with those :D



May be a bit premature, but I couldn't resist doing to air steering wheel / brum brum test :cool:

Premature? I had my build board marked up and sat on it where the seat was and did the brum brum and air wheel.

Did you have a Tinney in your hand to.....;) Like this one of mine:

Blimey 99p that's a bargain!!! Are the MX5 diffs all the same set up? what horsepower can they safely take?
If the TY is in the way I will look after it for you.......:D

I was quite surprised about the 99p, I was expecting to pay a fair bit more than that, but no one else bidded. I don't think the seller was too pleased... :rolleyes:

As far as I know, all the Mk1 differentials are interchangeable (the Mk2 and 3's are completely different, and I don't know anything about them).
The UK models tend to have open diffs, whereas the Jap imports tend to have LSDs (viscous on the early 1.6, and torsen on the 1.8).
This one is off a 1.6, and is probably an open diff. Ideally I want to use the 1.8 torsen, but this will do for now (I believe I have a torsen in my MX5 - it certainly goes sideways very nicely :D )
Mk1 MX5 kicks out 120-130bhp as standard. Many people have turbo'd them to 200bhp+ without any diff trouble (as far as I'm aware!) No idea what the maximum they could handle is.

I don't think my son would be too pleased if I let you 'look after' his TY!!!

I've got the TS100 it was my first my Dad Turned it into a grass track bike for me. still got it 14 years later :D

Met Headshot off the forum today and purchased his suspension bolt set and steering column.

Back in the garage I got TR1,2,8, and 9 tacked down, and got the all important beer shot for Spud69 :D

Wow, looking great skov, that donor looks really smart, :eek:
Hope you are enjoying your build,
Great photo sat in the chassis :D

Look forward to seeing more of your progress.

Cheers
Andy

Thanks Andy :D
I have to admit, a few people have told me I'd be nuts to break my nice shiny 5! We'll see...
I'll be sure to post some more pics when I've actually made some progress.
I've been struggling a bit with the SB1's, but I think I know what I'm doing now.
Your kit's fitting together very well by the way. Only had to trim a couple of bits :cool:

:cool: I must agree, your five does in great condition, but hey, you'll have a great Roadster at the end of the build too ;)

Glad to hear the kit is going together well, but don't forget that if any of the parts give you a problem, let me know and I'll replace the offending part free of charge, I stand by the guarantee I offer on all my kits, :)

Cheers
Andy
(sent this off the new phone, so hope it works):o

:D Think your phone is working fine just your fingers are not.....:p

somebody phoned me whilst I was typing that post, I wonder who that could,ve been eh Spud?? :D

And I'd missed a word out, oops
:o ...all fingers and too many thumbs here

Cheers
Andy

Managed to grab some garage time over the last couple of nights, so here's another boring chassis photo :p



Starting to take shape now :cool:

Spud/Handy - going to need your MX5 tranny tunnel / rear end dimensions soon!

:cool: Nice work there Skov,

Yup...it looks like you are ready for the tranny tunnel info :) .....I,m seeing Spud in the morning, I,ll chat to him about getting the info to you, Spuds done some great work on the MX5 chassis, its looking great.

Don,t put the "RS" or SB4,s parts in place just yet ;)

cheers
andy

Had a couple of hours to spare last night, so went out to the garage.
Managed to put two blobs of weld down before my little disposable cylinder ran out :mad:
Popped to my local welding supplier today and treated myself to one of these:



Shouldn't need to worry about running out of gas any time soon now!
Seems to produce far nicer welds too :cool:

Cool whats in it? and whats the quantity?

I ended up buying a CO2 cylinder

It's one of these:

http://www.albeegascylinders.com/index.html

11 litres of Argon CO2 (15%).

Cheers Skov, i trawled the net everywhere to see if it was possible to get argon mix without a contract, then like i said ended up buying CO2.

But i think ill give my local supplier a phone about one of these

Cheers Will

Not much to report. Just been doing a few little bits and bobs while I wait for some parts to arrive (and for Saturn to release their MX5 plans!)



Whipped one of the seats out of my mx5 tonight to see if it would fit.
Sadly it looks like they're going to be a bit too wide :mad:
I was hoping I wouldn't have to splash out on new seats until after I got it on the road...

Your seat look no wider than my own, I was not planning on adjusting them to much, so a little wear and tear, so be it.

Just seen your build, not had the chance to wish you well, looks like you will be motivated to keep it moving

Thanks for the well wishing!
I tacked one side of the tranny tunnel in place yesterday and checked the seat again - it just sat on top of the rails, it's never going to fit between them!
To be fair, they weigh a ton anyway, so it's a good excuse to buy some nice light ones :cool:

Sure they fit, you just need to use some persuasion:
http://www.cheapsportscar.net/diary.php?UID=202
http://www.cheapsportscar.net/diary.php?UID=206
http://www.cheapsportscar.net/diary.php?UID=211

Fair point Alga, I suppose anything is possible and all that!

The build's still ticking away slowly.
No pics today I'm afraid, but I did the mythical CP24's and the steering rack support last night.
I've also been constructing the headlight brackets recently.

It's been like xmas at work this week, the postman's brought me some plates/brackets, a Micra Radiator, a pair of alloy steering rack mounts, and some rear wings (won't be needing them for a while!) :cool:

Just finished tacking the tranny tunnel.
Happy to have that finished, it had been bugging me having to leave it half done.
Many thanks for the dimensions if you're watching Handy - Looking forward to the next installment :D



You may have noticed the tranny tunnel flares out at the rear.
This is because the input to the MX5 diff is offset slightly, so it needs to come out to avoid interference.
The rest of the tunnel is 'book spec. Have to say Saturn seem to be doing a great job fitting the MX5 gear, whilst keeping the chassis close to the original design.

I tried for ages to find a decent seat design, but the gap is very narrow. I went for the KPD ones eventualy.

TT