NC MX5

[The Bogan]

Bit wet, but YUMMY

[The Bogan]

Tried some stainless allen head bolts I had laying around, they stuck out like dog balls, so I went to Bunnings and got some black coated jobbies, which I like alot more.....basically OEM....LOL

I'll RTV it up this week sometime ready for MX5 Mania to do their thing

[Duncan]

I saw a car just like this stopping at Harvest for coffee this morning

[The Bogan]

36 minutes ago, Duncan said:

I saw a car just like this stopping at Harvest for coffee this morning

Yeap, was me and the daughter getting coffee before heading to the new joint to measure up the fridge space and taking some pics that the solar installer wanted of the switch board

[Kinkstaah]

13 hours ago, The Bogan said:

Yeap, was me and the daughter getting coffee before heading to the new joint to measure up the fridge space and taking some pics that the solar installer wanted of the switch board

I am glad someone's project fun car is out doing stuff like this.

[The Bogan]

50 minutes ago, Kinkstaah said:

I am glad someone's project fun car is out doing stuff like this.

Give it time mate, you will eventually sort out the bugs, and then... you too can hunt around in the hills looking for coffee, pies and treats

[Kinkstaah]

Nah, I definitely do that kind of stuff with my car. I do drive it around as a daily! It's just that mindset about building a car to actually still use/retain it's function as a car is rare.

If you modify your car into a weekender, IMO you've ruined 5/7ths of the fun. It should remain fun to do daily errands in.

[GTSBoy]

Hence why I've only modified my car into a pure daily. Everything has to remain reliable & roadworthy, while providing value and grin factor. It also must not be handcrafted to the extent that the car will be immovable if something breaks because you cannot get or make a replacement to at least limp around with.

[The Bogan]

Settlement on the new joint just hit, heading into sunny Goulburn tomorrow to pick up keys

Happy days

[MBS206]

36 minutes ago, The Bogan said:

Settlement on the new joint just hit, heading into sunny Goulburn tomorrow to pick up keys

Happy days

House warming party is when?

[The Bogan]

15 minutes ago, MBS206 said:

House warming party is when?

When the power is on and the AC heat is warming the house...LOL

Jackie keeps me updated with the Goulburn temps, I think she is scared she will freeze, me, I'm fine with the cold, I'm use to acclimatising

Jackie is the main reason for getting solar, as she "requires" the AC to keep things civil year round, night and day, and me telling her to wrap up and layer in the cold falls on deaf ears, with an evil glance thrown in for good measure to ensure I "understand"...LOL

[Duncan]

Whoa, I know Im working too much but that seemed quicker than 6 weeks

Awesome winter weather this week, -3 overnight and sunny, calm 10 during the day, love it

[The Bogan]

Got keys and did a walk around the yard planning the landscaping works with the family that I will be doing

Main effort: remove all the woodchip in the gardens that are around (attached) to the outside of the house and replace with 10mm blue metal, having woodchip close to the house is a recipe for inviting white ants, currently there are no white ants within the block and I would like to keep it that way

I'll be buying some large raised garden beds to grow veggies and stuff, and the woodchip will be mulched with everything else that gets dug up, pulled out, or cut down during works

Next will some minor drainage and landscaping maintenance up one side of the house, where the fuse box, AC, and solar stuff will go, about 12 mtrs long by 2 meters wide, I'll break up the soil, add gypsum and then I'll dig in a French drains about 300mm deep x 300mm wide and fill it with agg pipe and blue metal, then level out the whole area with a 50mm layer of blue metal, the soil, whilst currently pretty compacted, will break up well with the gypsum to aid in drainage, I'll then cover the area with a 50mm layer of more blue metal

In saying this, the drainage issue is minor, but that little hidden away area down the side is untidy and weedy, and as all of the main elec stuff is there I want it neat and tidy to appease my OCD

Again, the material excavated from the French drains with be added to the garden bed mulch, as will some rose bushes and some other crap looking garden plants, and a old apricot tree that is looking worse for wear

The apricot tree is currently in a little roundish garden bed that is in the middle of the back yard with few other crappy looking plants around it, that will all be removed, levelled, re-turfed, and is a perfect spot for a hills hoist

There is also a area about 3m x 2m between the rear fence and shed that will get some attention, it looks like some stuff was stored there and the grass is dead, that will also get broken up and mulched, and is a prime spot for a pumpkin patch

I've guestimated that I'll need: 3 tonnes of blue metal, 12 meters of agg pipe, 5kg of Gypsum, and a hills hoist, so a few bags of concrete as well to set it in place (the house currently has one of those pull out 4 line jobs, whilst it works, I want a retro old school hills hoist), I am also going to run some chickens, there's a great spot for a coop, so a chicken coop to suit 4 of those lovely egg laying bitches will also be on the job card

That should keep me busy for a while, and will finish off the back yard ready for a early spring planting of some veggies and berries 

Once the main effort is done I'll start out the front, there's a large rock garden that could use some TLC, but that is only minor works

Should be fully moved in within 2 weeks, the landscaping works will start then

Fun times, retirement is good

 

[Duncan]

That's a pretty big job card assuming you're not planning on any machinery. I hope your dirt/rock ratio is not like ours, hand digging up here is very hard work

I use the Mitre 10 in Sloane St or Gehl's Nursery where I can rather than Bunnings, but for bulk material everything (Goulburn Sand and Soil, Rocky Hill Sand and Soil) and is owned by Divalls (as is about 80% of town) so no point shopping around. Let me know if you need to borrow a ute or box trailer.

BTW we also went with 7mm blue metal around the house, mostly for fire but also termites. You really need compacted road base under it then no more than about 50mm of rocks because otherwise they shift too much under foot. We also put corten edging to stop it spreading outside its area over time.

[The Bogan]

3 minutes ago, Duncan said:

That's a pretty big job card assuming you're not planning on any machinery. I hope your dirt/rock ratio is not like ours, hand digging up here is very hard work

I use the Mitre 10 in Sloane St or Gehl's Nursery where I can rather than Bunnings, but for bulk material everything (Goulburn Sand and Soil, Rocky Hill Sand and Soil) and is owned by Divalls (as is about 80% of town) so no point shopping around. Let me know if you need to borrow a ute or box trailer.

BTW we also went with 7mm blue metal around the house, mostly for fire but also termites. You really need compacted road base under it then no more than about 50mm of rocks because otherwise they shift too much under foot. We also put corten edging to stop it spreading outside its area over time.

Cheers for the tips, I'll go with 50 mm around the side, I'm used to digging with hand tools, my prior occupation had me going well with hand tools and there's nothing that a breaker bar and a pair of gloves to protect my delicate hands can't fix, hopefully... 

As my time now is free, if it takes a week to excavate that's not a issue

[MBS206]

Mark, please add to your shopping list a cask of wine.

 

 

 

For when the Hills Hoist is installed...

[The Bogan]

7 hours ago, MBS206 said:

Mark, please add to your shopping list a cask of wine.

 

 

 

For when the Hills Hoist is installed...

Goon of fortune....go on.....spin to win

[The Bogan]

Just dropped the car off at MX5 Mania to install the intake plenum and give it a little retune 

My impatience hates the waiting game 

[The Bogan]

Just got the car back and gave it a good run back home

Power wise, whilst it only made a extra 5 killerwasps up top at 7200 rpm, it made more power everywhere from 2500 rpm and kept pulling much harder all the way, to the point of me relearning when to shift so I don't hit the 7200 limiter, with the old intake it seemed to take alot more time to rev out, and, throttle response is also much improved 

As I didn't want to remove the bumper every time I serviced the air filter (basically every aftermarket and fabricated CAI has the filter behind the bumper) it currently has a hektic exposed pod in the engine bay sucking in hot air, this will be rectified shortly after some some of my CAD (cardboard assisted design) for a alloy heat shield feed by the OEM intake tube behind the bumper, this will cop some wrinkle black paint, as well as the intake pipe for that totally OEM look...

The only fly in the ointment was that the OEM "strut" brace doesn't fit over the rear runner of the new intake with the 2.5 engine is in the engine bay, as the 2.5 raises the engine up by 20mm, it's not a war stopper, and I didn't notice any difference without it in some twisties, but....... MX5 Mania is bringing in some GWR "fancy pants" braces that apparently do fit, if it bolts up I'll grab it, it is also stiffer than the OEM one, which is a bonus

All in all I'm happy with the outcome 

 

 

Fancy pants "strut" brace that gives the required clearance 

 

 

This is where the clearance issue was, the GWR extends out past this

[soviet_merlin]

Any difference in induction noise?