I have bought a "part finished " MK Indy which I was told only needed a little bit of work to get through an IVA Yeh right!

I quickly found a significant number of issues. I firstly need to rebuild the rear suspension as the whole system as been hacked up I therefore need to reorder upper and lower rear wishbones unfortunately MK are Unable/unwilling to help.

Can somebody please help and tell me the measurement between the mounting points for the upper and lower rear wishbones

The car has Vetec power it has the incorrect bell housing fitted I have purchased the correct housing but I think the car has got the incorrect propshaft fitted again MK are unwilling/unable to provide the measurement of the length of the propshaft for a standard Vetec installation can somebody provide this measurement

At this point I am very unimpressed with MK!

Wosser

Is the MK not the same as the haynes roadster. It was Martin Keenan "MK", that helped design the haynes roadster. I think you may find that haynes roadster wishbones will fit the same.

And also MK is not Martin Keenan anymore, its been sold on.

Sounds like you have have a old mk chassis, speak to Martin Keenan, at Mk engineering, he will sort your car out for you, I had problems with a Westfield chassis a few years ago, he sorted it for me, he has no involvement with Mk Sportscars anymore, but he's a top welder and engineer

I can understand your frustration
Do you require all 4 rear wishbones ? Why can’t mk supply u with them ?


They won’t know the measurement unless the have a car and engine prepped up , they have jigs for the engines so won’t know the distance.

U need to measure the distance and have a prop made at somewhere like dunning and Fairbanks

I have a frame with access to measurements if u need owt but I can also try get u the wishbones if needed

Hope that helps

[Edited on 18/11/18 by raptor700]

[Edited on 18/11/18 by raptor700]

I initially thought that the wishbones and particularly the propshaft would be custom made but MK are listing a prop for Ford implementations it doesn't seem to ask for measurements so I assumed that as you can't enter details in the order this is the case.

The problem I have got is the engine has been fouling part of the chassis/frame so one of the previous owners has removed part of the frame!!

It appears that the wrong type of bell housing (with the starter down below) has been used I have got a bell housing with the starter at the top this will allow the engine to move much closer to the bulk head and not foul the framework of the car.

Re the prop.

You could use mk but you can go direct to a prop manufacture.
I’ve used Dunning & Fairbanks ( https://www.dandfltd.co.uk ). Fantastic service and easy to deal with. There are others.

A) you measure between the flange of the diff and the gearbox.
B) you tell them what diff and gearbox. Ie what flanges, double check this by measuring diag across the bots of the diff flange.
C) Pay the guy.
D) open the box a few days later and fit it.

Or if you have a prop that’s now to long these places can often shorten and ballence them.


Is it the new owners of Mk that said they won’t sell spares for an older mk Indy ? Seems odd.

No they haven't said they won't sell the parts but they don't seem to want to be involved with Ford powered kits and only seem interested in MX5 kits So if I order anything which I want powder coated in a colour I assume that they won't take it back if it doesn't fit.
They are not even admitting its an MK kit even though its got an MK Vin plate and number.
The car has been through 3 owners I think the second one cut loads of corners just to try and get it running the 3rd owner spent £1200+ on the car I am now assuming he then got to the same place as me and then sold it on Ebay saying he needed money for his business.
Today's discovery is that the gearbox mount is bonded to the frame with some form of adhesive - that's what I am dealing with it all looks fine until you look very closely

Put some photos up.

It’s easy to tell an mk by the bent square tubing.

[Edited on 18/11/18 by big_wasa]

Wosser

Sorry but your first post is hard to believe,

If we know who you are you have emailed pictures to us on your rear wishbone set up, and we have supplied some dimensions of wishbones,via phone calls,

But as discussed we do not think this is an mk Indy wishbone based on the design pictures you sent,

Is your car the one with the chopped drive shafts also?

That’s also a damaging statement to go on a forum to say we are not involved with ford cars anymore and only mx5, this is completely untrue, we work with most engine types, but we are moving towards the mx5 as a donor car as ford Sierra parts are getting hard to come by now, we are also manufacturing new spec billet ford components to replace the old donor units that are hard to find,

You say you want us to make custom parts for you and if they don’t fit just return them, that’s not good business on anyone’s part, we work with people on a regular basis to make custom bit and one offs, but we won’t do it on a whim we want it to be correct and fit for purpose, otherwise it’s not time we’ll invested for both parties,

We want to help where we can and if we had the car in the workshop we can help with this to get correct measurements etc, but if your car was an original mk Indy, the factory made parts would just fit direct, they are bolt on replacements,

Put your pictures on here if you want clarification of what you have existing wise,

You also state we won’t supply measurements for a standard v tec installation of a prop shaft,

What engine do you have exactly, vtec wise, as this is a custom part and was never a standard fitment on The original mk Indy, in fact only a very few was made and these where mainly customer conversions,
we could not supply anything or custom make without any dimensions to work with,


You seem to be frustrated with your car and want it correctly built that’s great news your working towards building a good car,


But to go on a forum and state these issues without all the facts being in correct and stating not impressed with our service is a little harsh,

I would be more than happy to take your call and see if we can help, or preferred method email, as the phones do get very busy and we are currently still in transition between units,

If we can help we will try, we wish you all the best with your project Sean





Y

quote:

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Originally posted by Wosser
No they haven't said they won't sell the parts but they don't seem to want to be involved with Ford powered kits and only seem interested in MX5 kits So if I order anything which I want powder coated in a colour I assume that they won't take it back if it doesn't fit.
They are not even admitting its an MK kit even though its got an MK Vin plate and number.
The car has been through 3 owners I think the second one cut loads of corners just to try and get it running the 3rd owner spent £1200+ on the car I am now assuming he then got to the same place as me and then sold it on Ebay saying he needed money for his business.
Today's discovery is that the gearbox mount is bonded to the frame with some form of adhesive - that's what I am dealing with it all looks fine until you look very closely

---

Firstly I must apologise for a Mistake yesterday it came after a long day dismantling a car I thought was nearly ready for an IVA test I of course meant a Zetec rather than Vtec.

I will reply to the MK guys privately in the hope we can get this sorted.

Please doI attached pictures of the Vin plate, the Vin number and the upper and lower wishbones that started my quest.?

Ok so Zetec, this would have a t9 gearbox and the starter motor bulge won’t go past the chassis rail. This could be modified or the engine could be placed further forward. This is how mine was with a pinto.

You say you have now got the correct bell housing ? Alloy ones still the bulge. There is one from a Sierra diesel that looks ideal as it has a very short bulge but this requires a longer first motion shaft so no good on a standard t9.

This is my ex pinto powered Mk now getting Zetec power.


Wishbones are bent round tube. Bulkhead is bent square tube. Total lack of triangulation are all classic early Mk Indy traits.

I wouldn’t get hung up on the vin number as back in the day you could make your own up.

Bet ya it turns out to be a Dutton MK ding a ding!😁😁😁😁

quote:

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Originally posted by Davg
Bet ya it turns out to be a Dutton MK ding a ding!😁😁😁😁

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Guys,

Firstly thanks for all the help/suggestions, in saying that I should give special thanks to Sean from MK who really went out of his way yesterday to help me resolve my issues he was really helpful and a credit to MK.

We came to the conclusion that the was definitely not an IndyR as the Vin plate suggested and we also believe that the car is probably not an MK at all the likelihood seems to be that the person who started the kit had an IndyR tub which was from an incomplete kit or accident damaged car. This was put on a frame of unknown parentage and the Vin transcribed to the Framework.

The propshaft issue I have resolved myself, on removing the engine yesterday i have discovered that the gearbox is a ford MT75 along with a standard Sierra prop.

So I have now got some thinking to do as to whether I want to continue with the kit or having learnt a lesson sell off the good bits and give up on both Kit building and Ebay

Wosser

Ho hum, hope you get it sorted. Sounds checking with the DVLA's records might be a good idea, in principle, it should have the same manufacturer and type of chassis as registered there may be clues in there. The snag is when home built chassis your the manufacturer.

Ebay and Kitcars is not the best combination for the newbie if you do go this route best seek advice from someone in the know (locostbuilders is a good place to start).

Dan

Wosser - I see you are in Tewkesbury. I'm just down the M50 in Ross Vegas.

If it helps at all you are welcome to cross match bits to my MK or take a look if it helps find solutions to any of your challenges.

Cheers