Manufacturer: Jetpress
Part# CAC446-NAT
Supplier: http://www.comdir.co.uk/

They're not listed on comdir's website, but if you give them a call they should be able to sell you some. I think you have to buy a minimum of 100 though!

Can you do me a favour now you're almost finished!:D

Can you measure from the floor to the bottom rails at the front and rear wheels and let me know the ride height please? I'll be using the same shocks and springs so it will give me an idea of ground clearance. Also does it change ride height when you get in? Ta.:)

Almost finished??? I wish!

Here's my current ride heights, just bear in mind I've only slapped the suspension on there and not set it up in any way yet:

Front: 150mm
Rear: 170mm

I can't say I notice any movement when I get in it. I suspect the ride is going to be a little on the firm side!

No progress to report, as I've had bugger all garage time for the last month due to moving house...
I did manage to take a few snaps of the build when we dragged it out to move it:









Only moved half a mile or so, so decided to enlist the help of a couple of friends and push it to it's new home.
Managed to sit in it and steer for a small downhill stretch which felt great!

Sadly my new garage is still a single (and possibly slightly smaller than the last one).
On the upside, it's now within the bounds of the property instead of en block, and has a side door leading to the garden which is a vast improvement, and makes it easier to sneak in there.

Hopefully get back on the build in a week or two once we've finished unpacking and whatnot.

I wonder what you were up to. Nice to see your car out in the daylight hey!:)

Yeah, it was great to see it blinking in the sunshine for the first time :)

Back in a dingy garage again now though!





I'm still very excited about the side door to the garden:

:-))

What's with all the new relays? If that's what they are?

I felt the MX5 wiring was a bit over complicated for my needs, and didn't like the two separate fuse boxes (particularly as I wouldn't be using most of the fuses!).
So I junked all the original fuses and relays, replaced them with some generic ones, and hopefully simplified the wiring in the process :)

I've mounted them on the scuttle bulk head behind the dash here:



Going to be a pain if I ever need to change a fuse, but they'll be tucked nicely out of the way there.

Ahh I see.:)

Here's a close up:



You can probably see why I want them hidden now :D

Starting to find some time to work on my build again now.
Managed to finish off the brake lines over the last few days:

nice work.

Hi Skov. Please can you answer these questions

Where did you get your brake hoses from?

What have you installed after the t piece in the brake line above the master cylinder?

Also where did you get your hydraulic switch from? are you using part smd426?

Thanks TT. I'm quite happy with how it turned out, just worried it's going to p!ss brake fluid everywhere when I fill it up :)

Hi David, I had a feeling someone would ask about that bit after the T-piece in the rear line. It's a rear brake reduction/bias valve from a Ford Mondeo (Ford part# 1113275).
The donor one was a bit awkward/cumbersome to use, so I junked it for the Ford one as it's nice and small and simple.
I know the Mondeo weighs twice what the roadster will, but it has two fitted - one for each rear brake, so I figured a single one for both rear brakes would be about right :D

I got the brake light switch from ebay, here's the details:



And finally, the flexi lines came from Furore. I was very impressed with their service; they were custom made to my specifications and arrived next day! Very reasonable at £15 per line too.

thanks skov - time for some parts shopping!!

I see you've decided to use new mx-5 track rod ends. How's the clearance with the wishbone and steering boot now? And also may I ask, where did you get your extensions from? I'm waiting on a pair from NTS but I don't seem to be very lucky at being able to get hold of Nathan.

Hi Chris, my extensions came from NTS, and the track rod ends are the same ones I've had all along - the ones on the donor were knackered and I had to angle grind one of them off the upright!

I've still got my dodgy lock stops on the rack, so clearance is fine ;)
I've rumours that Nathan has redesigned the top wishbones to improve clearance, but haven't seen any evidence of it yet (it might have been Johno that mentioned it to me).

Didn't Nathan put a post up the other day to say he'd switched his phone and email off for a while to avoid distractions and concentrate on clearing the backlog of work he has?

Oh right, I didn't know he was THAT busy.:eek:

Booked your IVA test yet?:)

Out of interest how many turns of the SW get you from lock to lock?

Don't think I'm quite ready for the IVA test, lol
I was aiming for about this time next year!

I did have 2.9 turns lock to lock - I've now got about 2.
Going to have fun doing 15-point turns everytime I need to do a U-turn :rolleyes:

Made a start on the wiring this week, and fitted the tunnel loom:









Does that look ok for IVA?

Looks good what have you wrapped the wire in?

I covered it all in heat-shrink sleeving (except for the short bit up to the handbrake where I used nylon braid).

I may do that myself!:D

Hi John, Looking good:cool:
Glad to see you have time to get back on with the build after your move. Wish I knew about auto electrics as much as you as I've started to strip my wiring loom a couple a weekends ago (knit one pearl two rings a bell):D
I have been concerntrating on the engine side the last couple of weekends which doesn't come easy to me as I know nothing about cars...LOL:eek: (thats what a garage is for).

Keep up the good work...Johno

Looks very tidy indeed :cool:

I don,t think the IVA man would have any issues with that tidy work.

cheers
andy

Maybe if you ignore the over-the-top sikaflex, and the masses of swarf and dust :D
Cheers Handy!

Not sure I know that much Johno, I've spent weeks/months figuring out the wiring and stripping the loom. It's been causing me no end of headaches!

Still slowly chipping away at the wiring...
Got the pedal box wired up, and fitted the battery and main fuse over the weekend.
Decided to put the battery into the engine bay rather than the passenger foot-well like I had originally planned (mostly because my lovely shiny battery bracket was too wide to fit in the foot-well :rolleyes: ).
I think I'm going to put the ECU in the foot-well instead.

Oh mounted on it's side! What a good idea!

Not my idea I'm afraid!
I'm sure I've seen someone else mount one of these batteries in pretty much the same location/orientation.
It is nice that you can mount these gel type batteries pretty much however you want :cool:

hi skov,

i was looking at the picture of your clutch master cylinder and it looks like you have mounted something inline prior to the clutch hose? What is this or it it the slave cylinder.

Thanks

David

Hi,
Correct me if I'm wrong but I reckon Skov is replicating the clutch switch fitted to the MX5 with a pressure switch. ;)
On the MX5 there is a mechanical switch which the spring often fails and causes problems when the clutch is engaged with regards to engine revs I believe, some sort of emission thingy.

Johno

Hi David,
Here's a slightly better picture of what I've done:



I've got the clutch master going to a t-junction, which then goes to a flexi hose to the slave cylinder and a brake pressure switch to replace the clutch switch I lost from the MX5 pedal box.
I'm not convinced there's going to be enough pressure to operate the switch, but it's worth a try!
It won't do any harm sitting there if it doesn't work, and the t-junction puts the flexi hose in a better position anyway :)

You beat me to it Johno!
That's exactly what I'm trying to do. Still not sure it's going to work mind!

Hi Skov,
Sorry about butting in....:)
I can't see a problem with the switch idea as I guess it's the same switch as the one used on the brake pedal.
Had another bash this weekend with the wiring and think I have removed most of the redundant wires but only time will tell.
The way you are going you better be booking the IVA soon....;)

Keep up the good work...Johno

No worries :)

It is the same one I used for the brake, I'm just worried there's not going to be enough pressure in the clutch line to operate it.

Leaving redundant wires in the loom isn't a problem, it's removing ones you do need! Already had to put a couple back in where I got a bit carried away with the scissors :)

what does the switch in the clutch do? I was hopeing this could be bypassed

It's an emissions / fuel economy thing. Most ECU's will stop injecting fuel when you're slowing down on closed throttle - but will start injecting again if it's put in neutral or the clutch is depressed (to stop the engine stalling).
If you just leave the switch out the revs will dip, and possibly stall when you stop.
If you bypass it it'll probably be fine, but use more fuel.

Skov, i would think there'd be no problem with the switch, i have them fitted to my bikes and you just need the slightest of pressure to get them working and light up the rear light, so it should work ok..

Hi John,
Looking good as usual..:cool:
My colleagues at work have issues with hydraulic pressure switches saying they will fail but like you I will be fitting them... Good idea about the clutch switch by the way. that's what I will be doing now:D

I believe the only reason they fail on older vehicles is because of debris in the lines built up over the years. With new lines and new fluid this should not be a problem... just my thoughts.

Johno

Ash said he has had 3 fail and changed his (brake) switch to a mechanical one.
Also Coozer over on LB Link