Wheels244
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| posted on 17/10/12 at 09:30 PM |
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MX5 Parts and info required
Hello All
I know some of you run these or break them as donors.
Me and a mate have just bought an MX5 ( Eunos) for use as a trackcar - just for giggles until I get my other projects finished.
Parts required:
Roll cage
Coil overs
Wheels with slicks\wets
anything else to make it go faster or handle better.
What are the best mods for these things ? - I know there's loads of forums for these but I was hoping for an abridged version from someone on
here rather than trawling for days through them.
Thanks
Rob
[Edited on 17/10/12 by Wheels244]
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RK
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| posted on 17/10/12 at 10:53 PM |
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Well, they are supposed to be the most fun car out there, but good luck getting it to go fast. Suspension upgrades help autoslalom times immensely
from my viewpoint at our events.
Tyres? Hankook RS3, Dunlop Star Specs are good choices for track and summer road use.
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D Beddows
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 07:46 AM |
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How much money are you looking to spend?
Roll Cages - you can buy real cages but you wont have much change from £1000 by the time you've finished, TR Laine make an okish roll bar for
about £400 and there are JDM Carbing/Safety 21 roll bars too that you can get 2nd hand for about £350 BUT they do reduce seat travel because of where
they bolt in. There are 2 schools of thought with them all - one is that they make the car stiffer (and slightly safer) so are good, the other is that
you are unlikely to roll the car and lighter is better........
Coil Overs - Will cost you about £600 for a half decent set (the £200 Ebay ones aren't really a performance upgrade) The racers use Gaz Gold
Pros which are OK if you get them fettled by someone like Procomp, otherwise there are Meister, P5 (I think) and a couple of others. A good upgrade
but if the standard ones are still in decent nick then they work ok tbh.
Brakes - If it's a 1.6 then an upgrade to the 1.8 brakes is an improvement and a decent set of pads is obviously a good thing
Otherwise loose a bit of weight where you can and just drive the wheels off it - you'll have a much better idea of what needs upgrading once
you've driven it in anger!
I'd leave the engine alone though, there are no cheap easy improvements to be made as they came out of the factory about as good as they get. A
budget DIY turbo install is worthwhile and will get you up to 180ish bhp if done right but you'll again struggle to get any change from £1000 at
least
[Edited on 18/10/12 by D Beddows]
[Edited on 18/10/12 by D Beddows]
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chillis
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 09:10 AM |
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One of the cheapest upgrades is to loose weight, seats trim etc. also cheap for both road and track is to properly set up the geometry on a 4 wheel
laser alignment rig but loose the weight first. As regards col overs - the right ones rather than the cheap ones will make all the difference - beware
cheap secondhand Bilsteins on ebay. The bilsteins do not work well in my opinion
Fat cat motorsport have a good website with lots of info as do flyin miata.
Never under estimate the ingenuity of an idiot!
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D Beddows
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 09:32 AM |
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Oh yeah, forgot about a proper geometry setup!  do that before spending any other money on suspension (unless yours is knackered  )
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Wheels244
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 09:33 AM |
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Thanks chaps - great advice so far keep it coming.
Budget wise - as cheap as possible whilst still being able to have proper - safe - fun.
We plan to strip every non essential bit off it - it will be track only, not that bothered about it being road legal.
I saw the cheaper coil overs on eBay and did wonder about the quality - looks like we'll have to spend more.
Good guidance on the roll cage - we won't be going to the expense of a £1k cage - good to know about the bolt in ones restricting seat travel -
my mate is a bit on the large size so we'll have to factor that in.
We don't want to spend silly money on engine upgrades - so it looks like will limit to improved induction and exhaust.
I'll look out for some 1.8 brakes ( it is a 1.6) - are they bigger discs/calipers ?
I'll check out those websites.
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Wheels244
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 09:36 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by D Beddows
Oh yeah, forgot about a proper geometry setup! do that before spending any other money on suspension (unless yours is knackered )
I'm guessing the suspension is going to be tired so was looking to upgrade.
I'll get the geometry set up after that.
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clairetoo
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 09:52 AM |
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As its a Mk1 , a bit of chassis bracing will work wonders - compared to the Mk2 there is nothing holding the car together underneath 
Where the Mk1 is bare , Mk2's have added (bolt on) braces all over the place - most of which should be pretty aesy to copy on a DIY basis .
Its cuz I is blond , innit
Claire xx
Will weld for food......
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D Beddows
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 09:58 AM |
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1.8 brakes are bigger disks & different caliper mounts
In terms of exhaust and induction again I would put that at the very bottom of your list - even the best after market exhausts only gain you 2 or 3
bhp if you're lucky and a lot of exhausts will actually loose you that instead. The same with induction - because of how it's set out
sticking a K&N cone filter on will suck in hot air and although it will sound faster it wont be. You can cut a hole in the bulkhead and feed cold
air into the airbox via a flexible hose which some people say has a beneficial effect but again you're only looking at a couple of hp maybe over
stock.
Suspension, brakes and loosing weight are what you should be looking at (probably in reverse order to how I've written them)
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 10:09 AM |
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On roll cages...
I've fitted a couple as one-offs, and the only way to do the job properly(in my view at least), is to remove the two tower assemblies that the
seat belts bolt to, and land the main rear hoop on welded in plates covering where the towers were. A lug on the hoop then locates the retractor.
The above fit then allows proper seat fitting, and lands the hoop on strong shaped under structure. ie. The big box section that crosses the car at
that point. Race grp or carbon seats helped with height issues for helmet clearance on the cage, to meet regs.
The MX5 is paper thin at the best of times, and needs double reinforcement at the floor junction of the forward hoop. A big 2mm plate welded in first,
then the 3mm plate over that. Also needs plates up the inner cills to distribute load.
All fits under the soft or hard top, and under £800 fully fitted they came out at..
But alas, you are a world away in distance. Ask if you need further info, on u2u.
Cheers,
Nev.
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bi22le
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 11:20 AM |
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You need to buy PPC mag. They started a feature about 3 months ago where they brought a Mk1 (I think) MX5 and are basically doing everything to get
the best bhp\ton ratio. Cutting holes in everything, reinforcing the main parts, home brewed turbo.
Oh and its getting entered into £999 challange so shoe string budget stuff.
It is an interesting read anyway but 100% relivant to you.
[Edited on 18/10/12 by bi22le]
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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D Beddows
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| posted on 18/10/12 at 11:58 AM |
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O/T but have PPC improved with their projects? it used to be:
Month 1: we're very excited about this new project, here's lots of explaining and pictures
Month 2: getting a bit bored now, fitted this, here's a picture
Month 3: it keeps going wrong, really bored now, here's a picture of it looking like it did last month
Month 4: haven't bothered doing anything this month because we've got this really exciting new project..........
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Wheels244
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| posted on 19/10/12 at 01:43 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by clairetoo
As its a Mk1 , a bit of chassis bracing will work wonders - compared to the Mk2 there is nothing holding the car together underneath
Where the Mk1 is bare , Mk2's have added (bolt on) braces all over the place - most of which should be pretty aesy to copy on a DIY basis .
Will front and rear strut braces sort it Claire ? Or will more bracing be required ?
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Wheels244
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| posted on 19/10/12 at 01:46 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
You need to buy PPC mag. They started a feature about 3 months ago where they brought a Mk1 (I think) MX5 and are basically doing everything to get
the best bhpton ratio. Cutting holes in everything, reinforcing the main parts, home brewed turbo.
Oh and its getting entered into £999 challange so shoe string budget stuff.
It is an interesting read anyway but 100% relivant to you.
[Edited on 18/10/12 by bi22le]
Thanks Wayne - I'll try to sort some back issues.
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Wheels244
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| posted on 19/10/12 at 01:52 PM |
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Well, I've been doing a bit more research and it would appear they're quite easy to supercharge
So, that's definitely on the cards for later for no other reason ( other than the power increase ) than I've always wanted to supercharge
something.
First things first though - going to shed as much weight as poss and then take to the track, then start doing the mods one at time to see what
difference they make, slotting in a trackday between each one.
Looking at Cadwell in December for its first outing - love that track on the bike, never done it in a car.
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