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Kano's Vortx Build

l5tuy - 15/9/15 at 07:48 PM

The Donor

Engine out

Loom

Rear Access

Calipers

Diff

[Edited on 15/9/15 by l5tuy]

l5tuy - 15/9/15 at 08:05 PM

Short story behind the build.
Ordered my Vortx kit 3 weeks or so ago, so decided to spend last weekend stripping the donor. Been pretty problem free so far, got everything off except full loom. Now spending time blasting all the parts before paint.

Condition of the donor was shockingly bad with rust, but hey hoe drove a dream so that's all that matters to me. For ref donor was a mk2 with 80k miles, anyone know if there's a demand for the remains??

I'm still a little confused with what I've bought from MNR and the kit details, hopefully I've got it covered though. The company seem very supportive to date also.

Wish me luck.

Hopefully can trade advice on here and maybe more.........

Stu

Andybarbet - 15/9/15 at 08:33 PM

A mate was after a pair of MX5 seats - if you still have them, let me know how much you want for them & roughly where you are.

Cheers - Andy

micksalt - 16/9/15 at 06:50 AM

Great to see another build, and fantastic progress on the donor. I see you went for the traditional stripping approach rather than the MEV technique I used. Glad to hear that both your driveshafts came off intact, I bent my puke before going to the extremes of heat and a hammer.

Johneturbo - 16/9/15 at 08:05 AM

Nice to see another mnr build on here, will be keeping an eye on your build.... good luck with it

l5tuy - 16/9/15 at 08:12 AM

Micksalt - tbh i wasn't really aware of the "MEV" method, traditional seemed to work pretty good for me. Only had to cut 2 bolts too which was surprising.

Johneturbo - Cheers, hopefully be finished in time for summer season.

Andybarbet - I'll let you know, someone was round at the weekend enquiring. For ref i'm located in Aberdeen.

Cheers

Stu

sdh2903 - 16/9/15 at 10:15 AM

You didn't by any chance buy that donor from pitlochry did you?

l5tuy - 16/9/15 at 10:32 AM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
You didn't by any chance buy that donor from pitlochry did you?

Hi bud,

No I didn’t, it’s been sitting in my father in laws yard for about a year waiting on welding. Obviously the welding didn’t get done and deteriorated hence now being used as a donor. Not sure where the previous owner was from though, I could check as I have all the paperwork (service history etc)?

Stuart

sdh2903 - 16/9/15 at 11:13 AM

Haha no its fine. I was walking out the door to go and look at an identical donor car at a stupid cheap price when the seller phoned to say a guy from up north turned up with a trailer and took it. Just wondered if it was you that's all!!

Good luck with the build and look fwd to seeing updates. I'm just about done refurbing everything now. Just got the loom to tackle which I'm not looking fwd to!!

l5tuy - 16/9/15 at 12:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
Haha no its fine. I was walking out the door to go and look at an identical donor car at a stupid cheap price when the seller phoned to say a guy from up north turned up with a trailer and took it. Just wondered if it was you that's all!!

Good luck with the build and look fwd to seeing updates. I'm just about done refurbing everything now. Just got the loom to tackle which I'm not looking fwd to!!

Loom - yeah this is my biggest bug bear also. Probably a few weeks untill i tackle that. Whats your plan? I've labeled all the connectors during strip and was planning on stripping out all thats not required, however have ready that people just use the whole loom and tie back connectors not in use.......... hmm not sure about that.

Stuart

sdh2903 - 16/9/15 at 12:48 PM

I'm with you on that. It will be getting stripped out and removed. I wouldn't fancy carrying around double the loom that I actually need.

jim87 - 16/9/15 at 01:34 PM

Great to see a new build - good luck. I've just finished mine, it'll be going for IVA in a few weeks

I'd second stripping everything out of the loom, there was way more than I expected when I did mine. It'll make routing the wiring easier and tidier too.

Jim

l5tuy - 16/9/15 at 02:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jim87
Great to see a new build - good luck. I've just finished mine, it'll be going for IVA in a few weeks

I'd second stripping everything out of the loom, there was way more than I expected when I did mine. It'll make routing the wiring easier and tidier too.

Jim

Jim

Any advice You have to offer would be much appreciated, in fact I extend that to anyone who has recently completed a build. Also be interested to see how your IVA goes?

Stuart

jim87 - 16/9/15 at 04:15 PM

Any questions just ask

Don't loose the labels off the loom .... mine came in a cardboard box with no labels ....

If you get chance to see a mazda (or any) build when visiting MNR, take loads of photos. I did this, and they were invaluable

I've got my fingers crossed for IVA

[Edited on 16/9/15 by jim87]

sdh2903 - 16/9/15 at 04:46 PM

I think we need some pics of your car for inspiration Jim!

I've been talking to Chris today and I'm down to collect my kit on the 30th. Best make sure the cameras charged up as I lost the pics I took the last time I was down.

jim87 - 16/9/15 at 06:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
I think we need some pics of your car for inspiration Jim!

I've been talking to Chris today and I'm down to collect my kit on the 30th. Best make sure the cameras charged up as I lost the pics I took the last time I was down.

Hope these help!

ddfg778h

ghjk7685

Just need to trim an angle on the front wings and pass IVA, and I'm set.

CraigJ - 16/9/15 at 06:28 PM

I saw your car at MNR yesterday while Chris was showing me around. It looked fantastic up close.

sdh2903 - 16/9/15 at 06:43 PM

Very nice.

l5tuy - 16/9/15 at 08:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jim87

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
I think we need some pics of your car for inspiration Jim!

I've been talking to Chris today and I'm down to collect my kit on the 30th. Best make sure the cameras charged up as I lost the pics I took the last time I was down.

Hope these help!

ddfg778h

ghjk7685

Just need to trim an angle on the front wings and pass IVA, and I'm set.

Think I saw this couple of weeks ago at MNR, very well put together by the looks of it, you've done well. It almost convinced me to choose red

Stu

jim87 - 17/9/15 at 07:56 AM

Wow - thanks for all the kind comments guys. It means a lot to me that people think it looks nicely done

Yeah, that's it at MNR at the moment. They're taking it to IVA for me.

Johneturbo - 17/9/15 at 11:16 AM

Great colour combo Jim though I've had mine a few years now, I do now like the dark blue as a change of colour

jim87 - 17/9/15 at 01:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Johneturbo
Great colour combo Jim though I've had mine a few years now, I do now like the dark blue as a change of colour

Like the colour of yours too ! ha ha
There's one in a mid-grey colour that looks fantastic too

Stu - did you decide what colour you're having ?

l5tuy - 17/9/15 at 01:22 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jim87

quote:
Originally posted by Johneturbo
Great colour combo Jim though I've had mine a few years now, I do now like the dark blue as a change of colour

Like the colour of yours too ! ha ha
There's one in a mid-grey colour that looks fantastic too

Stu - did you decide what colour you're having ?

Jim, that is the million dollar question.

I've went round the houses a few times going from Orange to Red to White, but in the end I’m sticking with my original choice of Kawasaki green. I want other cars to see me on the track as well as roads, and I just like the color. Which reminds me I need to contact Chris to confirm the paint code as I’m painting my rocker cover the same color and there seems to be a few Kwak variants.

How do you find the MX5 engine in the chassis Jim? Powerful enough? Well balanced?

Stu

jim87 - 17/9/15 at 02:40 PM

Wish I knew how well it drove. I've only done a couple of hundred yards in it so far.
Fingers crossed, I should be able to update in a month or so.

I went out in a similar car a few years back (mk1 1.8), just before I ordered mine, but it was all a bit of a blur !
It was damp, and the guy slung it round a few roundabouts sideways a couple of times - he was either a good driver, or the car was balanced well, or both.
Felt good to me though

l5tuy - 17/9/15 at 02:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jim87
Wish I knew how well it drove. I've only done a couple of hundred yards in it so far.
Fingers crossed, I should be able to update in a month or so.

I went out in a similar car a few years back (mk1 1.8), just before I ordered mine, but it was all a bit of a blur !
It was damp, and the guy slung it round a few roundabouts sideways a couple of times - he was either a good driver, or the car was balanced well, or both.
Felt good to me though

What a nightmare that must be, having it but not getting the chance to use it

Be an early xmas present when you get through the IVA, a chance to use and report on it

Stu

jim87 - 17/9/15 at 03:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by l5tuy

What a nightmare that must be, having it but not getting the chance to use it Be an early xmas present when you get through the IVA, a chance to use and report on it

Stu

Not 'arf !
It's gonna be worse when I get it back and have to wait for the DVLA to give me a number plate

l5tuy - 18/10/15 at 09:08 PM

Help!

Mechanical bits ready

maccmike - 19/10/15 at 06:48 AM

The divetrains come up well, what have you painted it in?

ReMan - 19/10/15 at 07:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by maccmike
The divetrains come up well, what have you painted it in?

I thought that too considering the back end looked particularly grotty on the donor

jim87 - 19/10/15 at 10:23 AM

Yeah, engine, box, and diff do look great. Wish I'd put as much effort into mine now !

The wiring ain't so bad once you get started - the first snip was the hardest for me.

Have you found all the online wiring diagrams ? Very useful

l5tuy - 21/10/15 at 09:02 PM

Thanks guys. I spent a lot of time cleaning the aluminium up as I wasn't planning on painting it then after seeing a fellow members painted engine decided I preferred the painted look. Used Hycote Aluminium Coat, lot of work but worth it.

Regarding the loom, I've decided not to try dissecting the loom until I've plugged everything back in and confirmed it all works, should make fault finding easier if required.

Thanks again

Stu

l5tuy - 2/12/15 at 10:44 AM

Been a while, small delay in recieving the kit. However, picking it up this week

Been twiddling my thumbs for the last few weeks so had a read of the IVA guidlines, WOW that's some dry read. Hopefully retained some data though that will help during my build.

Anyway, the build officially starts next week. Will take some pics and post up.

P.S. entered my forst hillclimb with it so got a fixed deadline to meet

Cheers

Stu

Digimon - 2/12/15 at 01:41 PM

Hi Stu,

Knobby's blog is a good read, it may help you with the IVA side of things

http://knobbymnrvortx.blogspot.co.uk/

l5tuy - 5/12/15 at 09:33 PM

Well, couldn't have picked a worse day for it but got my kit today. Pics to follow

750 miles, 7hours each way, floods, wind overturned lorries but I'm still smiling tomorrow will be the official start, although Dec is a busy month and prob won't get much done.

Be back on tomorrow after a bit of sleep.

Stu

sdh2903 - 6/12/15 at 08:39 AM

Good effort! I didn't even venture outside yesterday in that weather

l5tuy - 6/12/15 at 06:06 PM

It was torrential, ended up sleeping in the van at the factory during the night (to much driving in one day under that conditions). However we had 2 double mattresses so wasn't the uncomfortable.

Spent the day going through everything (got a few questions for Chris).

Did you get any uprights with your kit?

Stuart

sdh2903 - 6/12/15 at 06:16 PM

You use the donor uprights. Just double check you've got everything as they've been having a mare just lately with staff shortages and playing catch up. My new chassis pitched up last week minus the modded prop shaft they were supposed to send!!

You can't be mad at Chris tho he's such a nice chap!

l5tuy - 6/12/15 at 07:10 PM

I know what you mean.

What about brake servo? I assumed you use the donor one, however there was 1 single zone type cylinder in the kit??

Stu

l5tuy - 6/12/15 at 07:25 PM

1 other question, is there more than 1 manual? The one I have seems way outdated and related to bike engined kit car only.

Cheers

sdh2903 - 6/12/15 at 07:55 PM

The single one is for the clutch. Yes you use the donor brake master cylinder minus the servo. You also use the brake bias valve from the mx5 aswell.

As far as I know there's only the one manual and yes its pretty dated and not very relevant to the mx5 build.

l5tuy - 6/12/15 at 08:55 PM

Cheers for the help.

Hopefully see you around next year.

Stu

jim87 - 8/12/15 at 01:32 PM

Good to hear you've got it now!

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
You use the donor uprights. Just double check you've got everything as they've been having a mare just lately with staff shortages and playing catch up. My new chassis pitched up last week minus the modded prop shaft they were supposed to send!!

You can't be mad at Chris tho he's such a nice chap!

Do they need to do anything to the donor uprights ? I think Mick in his thread said they needed them to make alterations?

sdh2903 - 8/12/15 at 01:49 PM

No they're stock. Mnr request them to check all the front wishbones etc line up when building the chassis/wishbones.

jim87 - 8/12/15 at 02:04 PM

Ah, I see. Makes sense. Cheers

micksalt - 17/12/15 at 02:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
No they're stock. Mnr request them to check all the front wishbones etc line up when building the chassis/wishbones.

You mean to say I could have painted mine before dropping them off? I deliberately didn't bother cleaning them up because I thought any finish would be ruined by modifications.

Still, I've got the modified propshaft to clean and paint

l5tuy - 31/1/16 at 07:51 PM

Although this photos show a brilliant milestone completion, sadly I have yet again encountered another problem which is going to set me back a couple of weeks. Getting a bit annoyed with it tbh.

Still, nice to see the engine in place, wasn't as hard as I thought to manoeuvre either.

Stu

l5tuy - 1/2/16 at 08:04 AM

Does anyone out there have a picture of either the propshaft end spline (spline that interfaces with the gearbox) or and end view picture of the gearbox spines? My propshaft seems to have 2 spaces at 180 degrees apart, however my gearbox has a continuous array of splines with now spaces, so they don't appear to fit together.

Stu

micksalt - 1/2/16 at 10:01 AM

I'll see if I can grab those photos for you tonight.

l5tuy - 3/2/16 at 12:34 PM

Problem solved.

For info, Prop has 20 splines an 2 gaps at 180 degrees apart (like a keyway) gearbox has 22 splines (no keys), so it turns out 2 off the splines from the gearbox just sit in the keyway on the propshaft. Seems strange, however I'm sure there is logic (universal parts probably).

Also, when installing prop its very important to keep prop in line with gearbox, any variation resulting in a slight angle between the 2 parts will prevent them mating. MNR were very helpful with this.

Stuart