The Bogan

Got some new wheels to replace the 16 x 6.5 ROH POS wheels that came with the car, they are DTM (not the lightest or best but I like the look and they were at a good price) 16 x 8 +20 fitted with 205 45 16 Potenza's RE002, they have a very slight stretch on them, I might go for a slightly wider/different tyre next time, maybe 215 or 225 semi, but I will then need to roll the guards at the rear. I ended up with the polished rims as they remind me of the old Dragways which I was always partial to. Alignment was a PITA as the front ran out of adjustment at -1.5 deg, I wanted -2.5 front and -2.0 rear, so now I need some camber arms for the front, the rear got to -2.3 so no issues there, the settings are -1.5 & 0 toe all-round with around 5 deg of castor, ATM, not optimal but until I get some arms its a compromise setting. They fit well and the rims sit right at the guard, the Bridgestone's, although only a street tyre, seem to be performing well, well on the street anyway, I will see how they handle 3 quick laps as soon as the cage is in and a few other items have been sorted. The aircon comes out this weekend, I just need to get a new belt to suit. Waiting for some fleabay bits and pieces and still need to get some good brake pads. Happy Days

Might get these

Picked up the BC Coilovers today, finished fitting them just then, got the initial ride height right and am going to give it a day or two then check and reset. I ballasted the drivers seat with 80kg and set the height initially at 145mm from ground to a pinch weld on the body, it will need to go up a bit as it settles as the best height for the steering geometry apparently is 145mm from ground to a pinch weld on the under carriage. Then I need to get the whole thing aligned right. Happy Days.

I used the side mounts that came with the seats, I removed the universal rails that they were attached to and bolted the side rails directly to the standard rails, the MX5 rails lined up near on perfect, I just needed to file 5mm off with a round file so the rear mounting points on the side mounts lined up. Using the standard rails allows you to retain the standard 3 point seat belt bit, the standard rails are unaffected so if I want I can remove the seats and bolt in the OEM ones straight back in. These seats have more shoulder room than the Sparco's to, which is good, they are not so tight around the shoulders but still hold you really firmly. Apparently the passenger seat needs a bit more thought.

I also need to work out how to bin all the A/C bits, should be a interesting adventure...

The 5, almost 100 kw atw, LOL

As I have been quoting for some parts it seems I can get all the bits I want from different shops for cheaper, initially I thought that if I could get them from one spot I would get a good discount for a job lot, sadly no. Roll bar from MX5 Plus in Qld paid for, got a very good discount through MX5 Car Talk, should be here at the end of the week, will post pics when installed. BC Coilovers are on the way, again, should be able to pickup by the end of the week. And, I could only fit one in the 5, its a fixed Bride knock off from Just Jap, 100 x more comfy than the Sparco Sprint I was looking at, and cheaper, I had a Sprint before and it had nil support, this is sweet for a cheapie seat I'm very happy.. It only just fit in, it mounted to the standard MX5 seat rail, only needed to file out 2 holes about 5mm for a perfect fit, Ill get another for the passenger side when I head out to Just Jap to grab the coils.. Happy Days

Finished my filter box today, made from 0.6 mm stucco aluminium sheet, the edging was some pinch weld PVC stuff which was perfect and looks good, the alloy cost $30 for a 900 x 600 sheet (smallest sheet they had, only used 1/3 of it) from Bunnings and the edging cost $5.50 a meter from Clark Rubber. It looked too shiny bare so I gave it a coat of satin black, I feel it looks much better black, I used the Stucco because it was much more ridged than the plain 0.6 alloy. Need more parts now to fill in my spare time.

Ahh, the old dyno VS blacktop scenario. On another note I just had a exhaust fitted to the 5, after a few more mods and and a dyno run I might start looking for the "got over 100 kw atw" thread......

Clarks rubber, good call. I had my exhaust finished today, 2.25" pipe from the headers to a very high flow cat, from there its 2.25" the rest of the way to a straight through rear box and out the back. Slightly louder than I thought but it sounds good, it will settle down after a while I would imagine, worst case scenario is I put in a resonator mid way to settle it down a bit. Still waiting on happy prices from MX5MANIA for rollbar, suspension, and some Sparco Sprint V seats, as well as some other odds and sods. I shall be making the most out of the money I got from the sale of the Ford, I was told that was my budget so I'm going to use every cent of it.

Thanks Duncan, I didn't even think of that stuff. Up there for thinking, down there for dancing.

I also hit up MX5 MANIA for some quotes on some parts, hopefully they give me some happy prices.

After making up 11ty7 templates I fabbed up a tin protype to see how it sits, I rattle caned it black because I had some paint, all I need to do now is get some alloy and beat this one flat to use as a template, also need to get to Clarkes Rubber to get some vinyl edging. It will get the compulsory black VHT Wrinkle Plus paint job once finished. All in all it will be held together by 3 pop rivets and fixed by slotting it under the front guard.

Went out to MX5 MANIA today for a look, do want some stuff, cool guy too, and very helpful. Also went to UNIGROUP to talk about timing, no can do as it runs a trigger, they say it should run at optimum with 98 as the knock sensor will give it more timing if its not knocking, so should be fine, they gave me some options but said for the couple of killerwasps and the slight move in torque it wouldn't be worth the dollars or time on a stock motor. On a side note: After going to MX5 MANIA and looking at a rather large amount of cool stuff I need everyone to give me their cash so I can buy everything that I dribbled on, thankyou for your support.

After I find and fit a cage mate, still probably a couple of months away though.

LOL Matty, always thinking, if I was gonna spend a bucket on it I would do a 13B, but I'm not spending a bucket, just cheap stuff and fun. Finished most of my Bourbons the exhaust finally, what a bitch it was to wrap (I'm as itchy as a MOFO), all torqued up and run to dry and shrink the wrap, just need to re torque it after a long run tomorrow. I'm very happy with it,, the heat in the engine bay is noticeably less and looks better than the POS shroud that was previously there.

I was bored and removed the exhaust to prep it and paint it, and then the post man arrived with the wrap, sweet. Part 1, cleaned and painted, should be wrapped and in later tonight, I don't know if it will benefit with the powahs but it will be a vast aesthetic improvement.

Not the SVT motor mate. The strut brace arrived today, its all cleaned up and fitted now. Still waiting for the exhaust wrap to turn up though, bloody post man, hurry up and get here. Roll bar it is then, it makes sense. I might get UNIGROUP to do my timing and then put it on the rollers for the LOLS. I also need more cardboard, I used 1 square meter of it already but only worked out what I don't like for a shroud so far, the recycling bin is half full of templates and gaffa tape.

I love BOBBYr34's strut brace.

Mate you can have it for free, I will have to find where I put it, its at work somewhere. I am not back at work till the 20th. I will PM you when I find it.

Also I would ask the scrutineers at the drags what you will need when you get into the 10's, if I remember right you will need to fit a tail shaft loop, I got one but never fitted it. You can have the one I got if you want it, it will need some mods to fit but its new and to spec and has all the nuts and bolts needed, you would just need some plate for the interior side, my new project is a MX5 that I will set up for the track and it will never need it (it doesn't have the torque to pull the skin of custard).

I would get different shock and spring package for the drags, I did a bit of research on this when I had the boat, the rear shocks need to be able to drop but they don't come back up as quick or something, the front need to raise and stay up to help transfer the weight to the rear, the spring rates? I have no idea. I would ask around at the drags, watch whose cars lift the front and drop the rear and hook up well, then ask them what they are using, from my experience most guys are quite willing to share the knowledge. Remember that you will need some positive camber wound into the rear due to IRS and the inevitable negative camber that will come when it squats, I ran 0.5 positive for the drags from memory.

sime1, swap out the suspension, if the bilstiens and kings are still in it that is, they worked OK on the track but they are rubbish on the strip, way to stiff. You may need to get the rear springs custom made though, I ended up getting the black springs that I sold with the car made up, standard height but a bit stiffer to stop it squatting and hitting the outside edge of the tyres, that is if you are still running the 32 rims and 255 50 16 M/T's. It was a quick fix at the time, but I never did get around to getting a drag type suspension set up before I sold it. I think that different suspension alone will get you into the 10's.

sime1, It use to do 132 mph at 380 killerwasps on 98. best I got was 11.080, The box in it now has standard ratios and the diff is 411. When are you shifting, I would have a look at your torque curve and base your shifts around that, I found my best mph came from shifting at 7200 if I recall correctly, I cannot exactly recall but the iShift was set so that when I changed gears it would have the rev drop right if the fat zone of the torque curve.. Also what are your 60' times like, I think my best was 1.7. I am eagerly awaiting some good results, they shouldn't be far away, you just need to sort out the basics and it should give you the results you are looking for. Plus with a good box the reliability issue of the std box at that power and grip level should be sorted.

Removed the window tint today, the door windows and quarters took about 5 minutes total, the rear glass took 3 hours, it just didn't want to come off, the top tint layer came straight off but the plastic layer under the tint would come off with it, no matter how much heat or steam I threw at it, I ended up peeling it off at of a rate of 1 square cm at a time and it left all the bloody glue behind, metho made short work of the glue though. Its done now and looks like new, much cleaner really, I think I prefer it without tint. Also my rims will not accept spacers, I was going to get some 25mm ones to push out the track but luckily removed a wheel to check after taking the measurements, STUPID ROH RIMS..... Also I hate waiting for the mail man.