MK Indy RX-5
Hammy360 - 28/12/17 at 04:30 PM
Hi,
Can anyone point me in the direction of any MK RX-5 build threads or blogs?
Cheers
Hammy
theduck - 28/12/17 at 06:13 PM
Doubt there are any, or if there are they won’t be far along as they haven’t been selling it long.
CosKev3 - 28/12/17 at 06:49 PM
What is it,a MX5 based indy ?
theduck - 28/12/17 at 07:38 PM
Yep. Personally think they got the name really wrong!
Sered - 18/1/18 at 02:55 PM
I think I'm the first US guy that got an RX-5. Going with the Honda F20C w/ AEM v2 standalone, Honda gearbox, and (hopefully) Honda diff
assuming the miata cover fits.
It's a VERY well put together piece of kit. For us Americans, the Miata donor as opposed to the Sierra is a far better solution and IMO is going
to be a hit. Miata parts, both aftermarket and OEM, are all over the place and very affordable/easy to get.
I've done an unboxing video of my gigantic crate (1.2mx1.3mx3m) and of the individual parts. I've yet to edit it and add in some voice-overs
though; just haven't had the time. I've been documenting the build on instagram. Didn't plan on posting here as the US market is
entirely devoid of Sevenesque clones and way too many A/C Cobras or street/rat rods. But if there's interest, I'll begin posting stuff here.
Instagram handle is bmw_durden
I don't think I'll be the first running RX-5 as this whole build is going to take time, but I'm definitely the first to receive the kit
in the USA. 
[Edited on 18/1/18 by Sered]
Sered - 18/1/18 at 03:03 PM
FYI, the manual for the RX-5 build is a work-in-progress at the moment. The more useful bits, such as brake line routing, hints for body panel
mounting, and ordering of the install is all there though.
SLA - 23/1/18 at 01:30 AM
How was the whole importation process? I had spoken to MK awhile back...I know we don't pay VAT here in the US, but information about US taxes
and port fees are hard to find.
40inches - 23/1/18 at 10:09 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Sered
I think I'm the first US guy that got an RX-5. Going with the Honda F20C w/ AEM v2 standalone, Honda gearbox, and (hopefully) Honda diff
assuming the miata cover fits.
It's a VERY well put together piece of kit. For us Americans, the Miata donor as opposed to the Sierra is a far better solution and IMO is going
to be a hit. Miata parts, both aftermarket and OEM, are all over the place and very affordable/easy to get.
I've done an unboxing video of my gigantic crate (1.2mx1.3mx3m) and of the individual parts. I've yet to edit it and add in some voice-overs
though; just haven't had the time. I've been documenting the build on instagram. Didn't plan on posting here as the US market is
entirely devoid of Sevenesque clones and way too many A/C Cobras or street/rat rods. But if there's interest, I'll begin posting stuff here.
Instagram handle is bmw_durden
I don't think I'll be the first running RX-5 as this whole build is going to take time, but I'm definitely the first to receive the kit
in the USA.
[Edited on 18/1/18 by Sered]
Have you looked on here? https://www.locostusa.com/forums/index.php
Sered - 23/1/18 at 01:43 PM
quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
quote:
Originally posted by Sered
I think I'm the first US guy that got an RX-5. Going with the Honda F20C w/ AEM v2 standalone, Honda gearbox, and (hopefully) Honda diff
assuming the miata cover fits.
It's a VERY well put together piece of kit. For us Americans, the Miata donor as opposed to the Sierra is a far better solution and IMO is going
to be a hit. Miata parts, both aftermarket and OEM, are all over the place and very affordable/easy to get.
I've done an unboxing video of my gigantic crate (1.2mx1.3mx3m) and of the individual parts. I've yet to edit it and add in some voice-overs
though; just haven't had the time. I've been documenting the build on instagram. Didn't plan on posting here as the US market is
entirely devoid of Sevenesque clones and way too many A/C Cobras or street/rat rods. But if there's interest, I'll begin posting stuff here.
Instagram handle is bmw_durden
I don't think I'll be the first running RX-5 as this whole build is going to take time, but I'm definitely the first to receive the kit
in the USA.
[Edited on 18/1/18 by Sered]
Have you looked on here? https://www.locostusa.com/forums/index.php
No offense intended to my fellow American enthusiasts, but your community is significantly more engaged and vastly larger. Plus my MK Indy is a
UK-based kit that isn't common over here.
Sered - 23/1/18 at 02:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by SLA
How was the whole importation process? I had spoken to MK awhile back...I know we don't pay VAT here in the US, but information about US taxes
and port fees are hard to find.
TL;DR: It was a pain, but paid less in shipping than what the VAT would have cost. Saved some money picking it up from the freight company in Miami
but probably would have opted to have it delivered to my house had I done it again.
Full report:
I won't lie, importation was kind of a pain in the ass. Due to no fault of MK Sportscars, they warned me ahead of time it would be annoying.
In order to reduce costs of shipping (lots of bulky items obviously), we decided that shipping in a packed crate was going to be the best route. MK
went out of their way to get a few shipping quotes from me based on different deliveries, shippers, and locations of dropoff. I live in Melbourne, FL
which is about a 2.5 hr drive from Miami, a major shipping port. I figured I would just have the crate shipped there and pick it up with my truck. I
have a full-size Chevy Silverado and renting a 6'x12' trailer is quite easy here ($45 total).
So I had to pay for the crate (cost 200 pounds -- it is quite beefy and is a treated wood mandated for international shipping to the US) and then I
had to pay for the first phase of shipping (about 800? pounds). This included pickup of the crate at MK's 'hangar' over in Braintree,
delivery of the crate to the Seaport (Southhampton? I think), shipping of the crate to Charleston, South Carolina; and some other tariffs/taxes or
something that would be either be payable now or later when it arrived. The cost of the crate was paid to MK as they were the ones who loaded it up,
and the cost of shipping I paid directly to the freight company. This also covered the cost of shipping it to Miami from Charleston (I assume by
rail).
Now that's all the easy part. The harder part was figuring out how international shipping works, seems like everyone has their hand in
someone's pocket. As part of the shipping setup, I was put in contact with the shipping broker that would handle the customs fees, inspection,
etc of the crate once it arrived here in the US. I had to sign power of attorney with them for it to clear customs and also pay the customs fees,
taxes, and warehousing costs when it arrived (about $750). This involved a lot of back and forth emails with about 4 or 5 different people who assumed
I was not a layperson in the shipping industry. Figuring all that out was pretty annoying.
The most annoying part was that the crate left the UK about 7 days late and arrived in Charleston about 3-4 days late. This pushed into my xmas break
and I assumed it would not be available until I was already out of town; meaning it would have to sit in Miami until I got back home. Well the
shipping receiver in Miami never emailed me or called me that it was available despite having that information; it required me to query the shipping
broker who then forwarded an email from the receiving warehouse. This email even said 'I don't have his email, can you notify him?'.
So the shipping broker dropped the ball on that one; I could have gone to pickup the crate on December 19th (I didn't go out of town until the
22nd). But I ended up having to wait until the 29th.
Pickup was a nightmare as I had to drive into downtown Miami during rush hour. 6 lanes of forward traffic, under construction with a 55mph speed limit
and everyone driving ~80mph; and I'm driving a trailer!
But all is well that ends well, I spent about $2k after all fees and costs, etc. VAT would have cost me about $2700 had I lived in the UK, so it came
out halfway decent. But I could have opted to pay about $300 more and had all of this handled automatically sans paying the customs fees.
[Edited on 23/1/18 by Sered]