MX5 Donor - How much can I use?
 

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post. I picked up a 1995 MX5 1.8 last month that someone started to strip a few years ago. Only 65k on the clock and I am trying to maximise how much I reuse from it. Planning on using everything I can, including the wiring loom, etc.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice?

One specific thing I was wondering is if anyone has tried using the fuel pump and sender assembly because I presume it would require a custom tank?!?

J

MX5 Donor.
 

Hi Jason,:) I totally stripped my MX5 and will be using the: engine, gearbox, diff,rear axles, front & rear uprights, wiring loom and computer, steering column, brakes including the master cyl., driveshaft(shortened)and handbrake lever & cables. The rest will be scratch built to the Haynes plans. I tacked together my frame and it is being fully welded by an experienced welding friend. I have made my suspension frames and had them TIG welded( I need to get them crack tested as per New Zealand transport rules) Can,t wait to get my frame back. Our winter is coming to an end !! so the weather should be warming up. Good luck as you start your LOOOOOONG journey. Cheers, Ken.:) :)

Welcome :)

Make sure you undo the hub nuts if you're going to refurb the driveshafts/uprights while they're still fitted on the car; it's a lot easier! The front nuts are an unusual size (29mm), the rear nuts can be 29 or 32mm depending on the car.

The whole rear section can be a PITA; the driveshafts can get properly stuck in the uprights and the lower wishbone to upright bolt is exposed, so removal a lot of the time can be problematic.

You'll most likely have an issue with the steering rack fouling the front lower wishbones at full lock and droop; there's lots of examples over in the States where the Miata has been a popular donor car for a lot longer than over here. There are several ways to fix it, which are covered on the forum.

You'll need a custom tank anyway, you can use the MX-5 sender and pump, you might need to modify it. Someone might even have a MX-5 tank for sale ;)

Where in the world are you?

Thanks for the input guys!

I'm in the UK. I'll make sure I plan for plenty of time for the rear end and I'll look at the steering rack issue. This is a long term project, so I'm not in a hurry.

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting that I thought I could use the donor's tank. The pump and sender assembly both sit in the tank, so the two options in the Haynes manual wouldn't work.

Any ideas where I can pick up an MX5-ready tank?

I'm thinking of using Phil's TMXR chassis and wishbones because I'm not confident enough in my welding skills and I don't have any friends who are. :(

J

If you get a TMXR chassis and bones then I doubt you'll have an issue with the uprights; Phil is well aware of the issue and supplies wishbones which have a cranked leading arm to clear the rack for people building a book chassis.

I guessed you were in the UK, but it's still a pretty big place ;)

I have a new and unused MX-5 specific tank for sale :) the sender/pump assembly will need modifying, but I think that's covered on the forum. Failing that, there are a number of people who will make a tank to your requirements, for example K4KEV on here did/does tanks (the tank I have for sale is one of his).

Sorry, should've said I'm in Warwick. I'll PM about the tank.

I used the steering column, all wiring and fuse boxes, pedal system and brakes, in tank pump and sender, air box and air hoses. I used as much as I could. I tried to even use the seats but gave up in the end.

I'm looking at load levellers as I'm going to take the engine and gearbox out with all peripherals attached.

Does anyone know how much the lump will weigh?

I'm looking at a load leveller with a 500kg capacity.

Is that enough?

1.6 would be ~130kg, 1.8 ~165kg.

I put mine in whole but just used a heave chain as a load leveler. Looped the chain through the hoist eyes on the engine and over the engine crane hook then put an M12 bolt through the chain so that when lifted the engine was at the angle I wanted.

Took a couple of tries moving the bolt to different chain links but it was easy enough.

I just used the old seatbelt and tied a trusty granny knot in it. The length of the gearbox meant that I could easily move it to the correct angle

David

I used an old winch attached to a 2x6" beam in the garage and tied and gaffer taped a steal rope to the two lifting points on the engine. I just slide the rope one way or the other to adjust the position. A load leveller would of helped but I was being tight at the time.

I weighed the engine and gearbox on bathroom scales before putting it in. The Mazda 1.6 engine and gearbox with shortened loom, ecu, manifolds and oil but not gear oil weighed 177.7kg.

Thanks. Where's a good place to get the chain? I've found that it's not much cheaper than a leveller, but I'm sure I'm not looking in the right places!

I happened to have chain for lifting my lathe.

Its probably only 6-8mm thick steel on the links and I can only just get an M12 bolt in between the links. A cheap motorbike locking chain would do or they sell lose chain in B&Q or something like this from Screwfix is only £14 and 2m is plenty.

Cheers
Stot

Thanks for the input everyone.

Rear lower wishbone to upright bolt
 

PorkChop,

How did you get the bolt out in the end? My donor has only done 65k, so thought it would be easy, but it's a real bitch. It's basically swimming in WD40, trying to turn it to loosen the damn thing (limited success) and I've even tried a sledge, but that's just damaging the end of the bolt.
Any suggestions welcome.

J

I cut mine off carefully with an angle grinder then pushed the bolt out on a 12 ton press to break the friction then hammered it out with a drift.






Cheers
Stot

I bought a good one off eBay! And cut the rest of the hub off driveshaft carefully.

Thanks Guys.

I was about to start cutting, but decided to try shock and unlock from Halfords and work it loose with a tyre iron (ironically the right size). Used a piece of the exhaust pipe for leverage and it did the trick, probably because the donor hadn't done that many miles.

Thanks again.

J

MX5 VIN plates
 

Took the VIN plate under the bonnet out and scraped the sticker off the driver's side door well.

Are there any other hidden ones?

I cut the actual vin number out of the chassis too.

Cheers
Stot

Was thinking of just filing it off. Is that too risky? Is it only stamped in the one place (bulkhead)?

Thanks.

J

It was more to prove I scrapped the car to the DVLA. Sent it off with my paperwork.

Cheers
Stot

Recommendation for someone to take the donor carcass away
 

Can anyone recommend a scrap dealer who will take the carcass away for free?

I'm in Warwick.

I just persuaded the local pikeys to take it just gave them a letter confirming they never stole it had to help them get it on the wagon but they took it although am not sure the horse was impressed should have filmed it they positioned the cart on the drive put the horse on the garden to cut the grass then about 15lads turned up and just picked the whole thing up and there it was gone


have a word and see

That' fantastic! I might do it just to be able to tell the story.:D

Thanks.

J

Lol yeah we still living in the stone age here lol

Did you find someone? I'm a few weeks behind you and just down the road in Leam

Yep. http://midlandsmetalrecycling.com - they were going to cut it up, but suggested we could load it up with a little muscle. I didn't fancy the mess, so we used my engine crane and three of us to load it onto their flatbed.

Price was right (free) and they were good, so I'd recommend them.

What donor are you using?

Are you welding it up yourself?

If you're like me and don't have the skills or want to speed up your build, Phil at Talon is great.

Thanks for that. Sounds good.

Using an BMW e36 328i as I initially wanted to do a gkd and this engine has a lot of bang for your buck. Thought I'd do a Haynes as it'd be a couple of grand up front for gkd kit which would be noticed. The money acrues faster than I can work to spend it this way.

Not sure about the welding. I fancy the challenge but I'm not sure I'll be saying that before long! I will be buying in the bones or have them fabbed as that looks a pain.

Once I have the donor stripped and out the way I will decide. Are you welding the chassis?

No. I bought a fully welded chassis from Phil (http://www.talonmotorfabrication.co.uk) - he did a Christmas special, so couldn't resist.

I'm using an MX5 donor and he's tweaked the standard chassis for it. I figure with the weight saving it should be plenty for me. If not, there are a lot of turbo kits to boost the power to levels that are high enough for me to kill myself.

He does a standard chassis too and will probably tweak it if you ask nicely. You should speak to him about it before you decide.

Good point. Gather data first. I'm not even sure that the m52 lump fits without chassis mods. Some build diaries mention this so I'll get busy with the steel rule first.

MX5 would have been a better choice on reflection for a first build as it's the road most travelled at the moment
I bought the donor thinking I'd buy a GKD kit. Some of the MX5 mods look pretty impressive. I am, however, dreaming of the day I fire a big BMW lump.

Let's hope we both find the motivation and money to finish the job!

Anybody have any of these going spare? just need a couple as I have some very rusty ones. http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/brake-clut...ls-p-3434.html