The wife is getting clever !

[alga]

Out of a decent, civilized roadster, you get an awesome, supercar-beating 4-wheeled bike! Which you've built by yourself.

BTW, wasn't your MX-5 all rusted out?

[twinturbo]

to get an mx5 to perform like a roadster you have to sell it and buy a westfield.

Or rip the mx5 appart and as Mr Chapman said "Simplify, then add lightness"

TT

[Short]

My wife asked the same question. My response - Because I can!

[Short]

Or reply with another question - Why do you have so many shoes?

[jason 82]

Lol. That's right Alga, my mx5 is a rusty pile of crap, that's why I bought it, otherwise if I bought a half tidy one, I couldn't bring myself to break it. But, according to my wife, it's fairly tidy, needs a luck of paint here and there, and a bit of filler ! Lol. The mechanics are perfect ! Both rear arches need completely replacing, ns floor pan needs replacing the list goes on. That's why women shouldn't buy cars, because you will be Fred Flinstoneing it within a month ! Lol. It could be done, but as I told her, it's cheaper to build the roadster than to restore the mx5. She bought it ! After watching algas video of the caterham, I now fancy a 180 bhp duratec engine ! Don't tell the wife, she will chop my nuts off, all this hassle & after 1 bloody video I may have bought the wrong car !

[TheArf]

Stick with what you started with, get used to it i think you might be suprised with it then if you feel like you will be happy handling a crazy lump, upgrade later.
I think personaly that a lot of people have gone big then got bitten on the a**e when the rear goes around the corner before the nose.

Just a personal outlook

Arfon

[vmax1974]

My next build I am planning on using sierra parts with a view to going crazy with duratec later so if all goes as planned I will be in the market for sierra parts after after christmas once I got the man cave sorted out and maybe bought a new welder bench drill and a decent compressor also fancy a tig kit so just a load of new man cave toys really

[alga]

Originally Posted by jason 82

Lol. That's right Alga, my mx5 is a rusty pile of crap, that's why I bought it, otherwise if I bought a half tidy one, I couldn't bring myself to break it.

A friend of mine has been looking for an intact Mk2-Mk3 MX-5 for a couple of months now, in vain. All of them are bubbly at the bottom, even if the arches look fine.

After watching algas video of the caterham, I now fancy a 180 bhp duratec engine ! Don't tell the wife, she will chop my nuts off, all this hassle & after 1 bloody video I may have bought the wrong car !

Don't rush! You'll have lots of fun with the standard engine, and then you can tune it when you get bored. Several months after the IVA the financial burden of building and registering a car will be gone, you'll have some disposable income and free time again. Then you can spend some energy and money on engine tuning.

I know for a fact that the weakest part of my car is the gasket between the seat and the steering wheel, even with the standard Zetec and factory ECU.

[locost-turbo]

stick to your original plan. my dreams were saab turbo omega bits and ford bits. but figure I can spend 5 years building the perfect car. or 2 years to build something fun. then build something perfect in the following 3 years. cos I will have learnt everything from the first build. then swap everything over including the numbers on the chassis

build it how I want it not for the sva. and practice makes perfect. the chassis is the cheap bit. its everything else.

[skov]

Originally Posted by jason 82

After watching algas video of the caterham, I now fancy a 180 bhp duratec engine ! Don't tell the wife, she will chop my nuts off, all this hassle & after 1 bloody video I may have bought the wrong car !

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how quick it feels with a dinky little mx5 engine in there. I know I was!
You can always stick a turbo on it if/when you decide you need more power