Chips and Chocolate run

On Sunday, the SE members of the MX5 Owners Club held a run from Hop Farm to Camber Sands via the Maidstone services.  Up at 7, gave the car a quick wash, and toped up the petrol.  We went to meet everyone at Maidstone services; we were a bit early, but we met some new members, Carol and Adrian.  They have an L-Reg Eunos in red, very similar to Hugo.  Theirs had the manual gearbox, a spoiler on the boot lid, and the all-important wind blocker!

When the convoy arrived from Hop Farm, we had a few minutes together to catch up with everyone, and grab a cold drink.  The weather was amazing; we all had the top down and sunscreen use was liberal!

That's Hugo in the front!

We left for Camber Sands, and enjoyed a nice drive down the motorway.  We were in the middle of a convoy of about 9 cars, and everyone in the group was very courteous and we never went over 65mph – very relaxed, and we got a lot of thumbs up from admirers – mostly people wishing they could put their hood down, I imagine!

We arrived at the beach, parked up amongst other 5’s, and headed to the sand.  What a perfect day.

We ended up staying with Rob and Louise until nearly 6pm; we had a good time chatting and discussing all things Mazda.

We went our separate ways; the drive back to London was fresh, fast, traffic free, and took us down some beautiful roads.  Really made us question our decision to live in the city!  All in all, it was a great day out, and Hugo got to breathe a bit, so he was happy!

Amp and Dashboard Tweeter Installation

Over the weekend, I had the chance to do some work on Hugo.  There were three things I wanted to accomplish, and I got halfway there.

First, I went to install an amplifier for the stereo.  Anyone who has driven with the top down knows how hard it is to hear music at speed, so I purchased an Alpine amp.  It’s not big or fancy, just a little two-channel 50W job, but I figured it would give a cleaner signal to the speakers.

I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a place to put the amp – these cars are tight!  The amp wouldn’t fit under the seat or behind the seat, so it had to go in the boot.  The best place I could find for it was attached to the false floor above the jack. (Apologies for crap photo quality - I had to use my phone's camera)

I screwed the amp into place, and then ran the speaker wires from the amp with the RCA leads and the remote turn on lead in behind the driver’s seat.  There was a small crack through to the main cabin, so I was very lucky I didn’t have to drill any holes.

After feeding the cables through, I mounted the ground cable.  I drilled a small hole in the body, hidden under the carpet.  A self-tapping screw held it in place.

Then I ran the power cable to the battery, which is of course in the boot!  This made for a very simple connection.

I had purchased an amp wiring kit, and it came with the RCA cable, the ground cable, the power cable, and some plastic tubing fro hiding the wiring.  After running the power wire to the battery (but not connecting it yet!) I used the tubing to hide the wires.  The previous owner had an alarm/immobiliser installed, and the wires were dangling loose, so I tidied them up at the same time.

Next came the connection to the stereo.

I removed the middle armrest/gear lever cover, and then the center console.  This exposed a real mess of wires from the previous installer!

The head unit is a Clarion CD player with a detachable face.  It has three sets of RCA outputs, but they never bothered to label them…I did some exhaustive research on the internet to try and find out which one was the front set, but couldn’t find anything.  I figured I’d just have to try each one.

I don’t really care for the Clarion head unit.  The buttons feel cheap, and the menus aren’t very intuitive.  I purchased a used Alpine CD player, but after testing it before installing, I discovered it didn’t load CD’s.  Not very useful.  It also had the Japanese antenna connection, but the car has the standard connection, so I wouldn’t even get to use the radio.  I put the Alpine off to the side to see if I could repair later.

I checked the factory speaker wiring, and it was a mess.  It took me ages to trace the wires back.  I had a wiring diagram for the original connection, but they didn’t match what I had.  It was rather frustrating tying random wires together to see if I could get a signal!  I also installed some 1 inch tweeters in the factory holes in the dash for the outer vents.  I had to pull out the eyeballs and wedge the tweeters in, but I figured this was the least invasive way of installing – no cutting or smashing!  It doesn’t look perfect, but it does the job for now.

Eventually, I found the right combination for the wiring.  I turned the key, turned on the radio, and yay it works!

I had already replaced the factory (!) speakers with Pioneer 6.5” whizzers in the doors.  They aren’t brilliant, but they do the job.  I tested it out in the car park, and it sounded quite good.  The highs from the dash tweeters are a bit harsh and blurry, so they will need to be replaced.  The amp does give a cleaner signal, and the music is much louder (with no real distortion).  I had to wait a day to try it out on the road, to see if it was any better at speed.

After I did all that, I thought I’d have a go at installing a push button starter kit.  I removed the cover from under the steering column, and peeked up inside.  It’s a real contortionist’s job getting in there, that’s for sure.

The cigarette lighter was removed, and the female part of the plug was hard wired into the adapter for my GPS.  No more wires hanging all over the dash when using it, like in the picture above.  The chrome metal switch that came with the kit was put into the hole in the dash.  It wasn’t easy, as I had no washer large enough to hold the switch from behind.  I got out my rotary tool and carved some thick plastic into shape – did the trick!

The switch connects to a relay that handles the current for the starter.  I ran the ground wire and the switch wire, but I couldn’t figure out which was the starter wire.  At one point in my hack job, I could start the car with the push button, but the starter stayed engaged, and turning the key to the off position did not stop the engine from running!  That wasn’t right...

It was getting late in the day, so I gave up at that point, to return to it later after trying to find some more detailed instructions.  So as it sits now, I have a switch that clicks the relay but does nothing else.  It will work, I swear!

Whilst I had the cover off down there, I wired an LED light to the courtesy light in the dash, the one that points at the driver’s left knee.  I drilled a small hole next to the key slot, and ran the wire.  Now, when it’s dark, I can actually see where the key goes!

The third thing I wanted to do was some paint polishing as it's starting to go pink, but I ran out of sunlight.

All in all, it was productive, but frustrating at the same time.  I’ve done amp installs before in less than an hour, but this took several due to the messy wiring left behind by some other installer, and also trying to find a place to fit the amp.  Next weekend, I’ll have another go.

The reason I replaced my mirrors

I have always had good luck with my cars.  I have only been in one crash (in my father's car, with him in it), and I haven't had any disastrous mechanical malfunction.  I haven't scratched, dented, or otherwise damaged my car.

Over the winter, our car was parked at the end of T-junction.  I wasn't driving it in the snow, so there is sat, waiting for some sunshine and warmth.  One day, just before Christmas, I looked out and I thought the door looked a bit funny....
There was some ice on the road, and some idiot had failed to brake properly, and slid down the hill into the passenger side door of our car.  They then drove away.
Grrrr....

So, I went out to purchase a new door, which was replaced with one of a slightly different colour.  I didn't take any photos of it, because it looked horrible!
Anyway, I replaced the door, and was glad to have it sorted.  My anger dissipated over Christmas, and I thought, 'it's okay, it's no big deal.  Just don't park there again, and it will be fine'.

Then on New Year's Day, I went out and glanced over at the car.  Something didn't look right...
Some idiot didn't like my driver's door mirror, so they thought it would be a good idea to kick it.  Perhaps they were just full of New Year's booze, but it still got me angry.
I had a perfect record of damage free motoring, and this happens?  Two incidents in two weeks?
Again, I didn't take any pictures.  I contacted the chap that sold me a replacement - correctly coloured - door, and he had a set of chrome OEM Mazda mirrors sitting around.  For £50, I was set!  I didn't get a chance to put them on for a while (not until last weekend) - my wife was afraid they would attract more vandalism.  I thought they might be a bit too kitcsh, but after installation, I thought they looked pretty good!
A few weeks ago, my neighbor backed into the front of the car, and cracked the black plastic number plate frame.  I took that off and just screwed the number plate directly to the bumper.

But that wasn't the end of it.  I was involved in a bumper bender a while back, which made me even more angry!
That's a story for another day, I think.

Sunny Day Out

It was such a nice day, we went out for a little drive.  We drove through some of the lovely villages of Kent, including Biggin HIll and Downe.

Ready for a day out in the sun

 

 

We made our way to a great pub we found a few weeks ago, called The Old Jail, in Biggin Hill.  We had a lovely meal, and we were surrounded by retired military vehicles.  There were a bunch of Land Rovers in full regalia, and was really neat to see how the vehicles were restored and still looked rough - like they just came off the battlefield.  Really cool!

We founds some back roads, with lots of twists and blooming trees.

We then found our way to Otford, a lovely little village with plenty of pubs and cute shops.  We ended up in The Bull, a lovely haunted pub, and had some lovely puddings.  In the car park, we came across another MX-5.  This one hadn't had any suspension work done to it, so I had to take a picture to see what the difference is between Hugo's and a standard suspension.

As you can see, it makes quite a difference!
We made our way home, through some more back roads, and a quick blast down the M25 - a bit chilly with the hood down, so I stayed around 60mph.
Hugo performed well, but it seems to have developed a squeak in the front end after some of the bumpy roads.  I think I might need to tighten things up in the front suspension before the next day out.

Hugo

Hugo is our (NA) 1991 Mazda Eunos Roadster.
The engine is the 1.6 L (1,597 cc) B6ZE(RS) - (78x83.6 mm).  It uses a non-interference DOHC 16-valve alloy head with a lightened crankshaft and flywheel to allow a 7,200 rpm redline.  It has the Japanese version of the engine with a 9.4:1 compression ratio and a factory rating of 120 hp and 100 ft·lb of torque.  As it is a Japanese import, it has a few extra features: air conditioning and an automatic gearbox.  Not a lot of MX-5's have auto gearboxes, as people believe changing gears is half the fun of having a 5.  I would love to have a manual gearbox, but my knees won't allow such niceties.
 My wife and I purchased the car in October 2010, and have had a lot of fun with it.  I've decided to keep a blog to keep track of the modifications and repairs I have done to the car.  At this stage, it will be mostly retrospective and fairly image free, as I haven't recorded much of what I've done.  As the car is an auto, perhaps some other auto-owners will be interested and can see what I've done - at least they might know what not to do!
We're also members of the MX-5 Owners Club, which has a lot of things going for it.  We've only joined recently and haven't had much opportunity to do stuff with the club, but as summer approaches, I think we'll be deep in it.

Here's what I've done in repairs so far:
In the winter, I noticed the radio kept cutting out.  I thought it would be time for a new radio!  The next day, the lights were dimming....
The next day, the car wouldn't start...
I hunted high and low for an alternator, and found a used one on eBay.  When it arrived, I stood outside in the cold, and removed the old alternator.  I then discovered the replacement was the wrong one.  I'll post the details of the eBay seller when I find them.  He was a good guy who bent over backwards to help me out, and I recommend him!
I was able to return the alternator, and the chap sent me another - this one worked!
I read a bit about the process of replacing the alternators on these cars, and people seemed to think it was fairly involved and not very easy.  I found it to be not too difficult, and the part went on okay, with no major issues.  I replaced the alternator and the power steering belt at the same time.

I've also replaced the tie rod ends, as I noticed the rubber seals were cracked, and there was very little grease left.  I marked the tie rods, but now the steering wheel points a bit to the left when going straight ahead, and it does drift left - a sure sign to get the geometry done.  I will do this when I upgrade the wheels and tires.

I have replaced the worn out plastic bushings for the gear selector.  A fairly common mod, as the original bushings tend to wear out and makes the gear selector wobbly.  Changing the bushings was okay, and made a big difference in the way the car 'felt'.  

For a twenty year old car, that's not a lot of repairs.  It's treated me quite well!

I've also upgraded the shocks, as one of them broke on a particularly nasty London pothole.  I decided the car would look nice if it was a bit lower, so I bought some Raceland coilover shocks, with adjustable coils for all four corners.  Putting the rear ones on was a breeze; the front ones were a pain - I ended up having to undo the lower ball joints to get the shocks off, so I replaced them at the same time.
I know Raceland aren't as famous or fantastic a brand as Koni, but they do the trick for me.  The car sits nice a low, and the ride is not bad - it's a bit jumpy, but I'll put that down to the geometry.
Other mods have been fairly cosmetic:
- Replaced the front marker light bulbs with white LED bulbs
- Replaced the sealed beam headlights with clear glassed lenses and fitted with H4 bulbs ( an easy fit, no problems, and looks good!)
- Replaced the rear brake lights with white LED bulbs
- Installed 1 inch dome tweeters in the outer vents, and replaced the original speakers in the doors with Pioneer 6.5 inch speakers
- Stubby aluminium antenna
- Chrome effect Mazda mirrors.
Why did I replace the mirrors?  Well, that's a story for another entry.  This one will have pictures!