xXxKillDogxXx

So the this stage of the project is finally coming together.

I pitched my fast5 alloy rad from a reseller called modified5 on Friday and I am so glad I did it it looks amazing!







The quality is amazing and I really couldn't be happier.

I also decided to finally relocate the washer bottle and purchased a fast5 alloy washer bottle in the group buy on mx5nutz along with a pump and 3mm blue silicone piping.








Excuse the rust bonnet lifters they will be getting replaced... Stupid mx5 parts crappy chrome although the the other chrome bits are very well done.



Since I am very much taking my time with this build even though this engine is simply temporary Its getting to the point now where anything I see that is replaceable or can be done better is being done so i decided to replace my nasty old Slave cylinder and clutch line giving it a much more direct route!



I don't have any pictures of it fitted as its tucked away but it allowed me to remove the hard line and old rubber hose which for some stupidness goes to the other side and then comes back again and instead now just drops straight down from the master to the slave.

On some final notes I am getting ready for the ecu stage and ordered a dedicated netbook for the car including a car charger and a windscreen mount for it. I picked up a Asus eee pc for cheap this will be my second hence why I thought it would be a perfect timing laptop, it has a 10" screen and should be just right.


Sometimes when the GF has days off she will help with the car which is great so I got her to tidy up everything inside and fit the shifter, gear gaiter, and move my gauges from my pillar to my new ddmworks holder which I must admit it brilliant.





On a final note I still have some really small jobs to do still but it coming along nicely I even decided I would treat my self and finally start fitting my GV lip which has been in the cupboard since Christmas lol




Comments and suggestions are more than welcome guys! I have even bigger plans for this car later down the road including replacing near enough every panel with carbon Miata parts because well I want to lol...

xXxKillDogxXx

So I did finish the white car and get to drive it for about 10 miles until I got some rather bad news... but before I delve into that I will post that last couple of pictures...

I purchased some Gaz Gold coilovers to replace the very very dead stock shocks I had fitted to the white one:




Nice new numax battery which is practically the same as a Westco just different branding:




While installing the ECU I believe I messed up the ignition settings and burnt out a igniter so I had to replace it...:




Also had some trouble starting the car due to the coilpack wiring either inside the ECU or via my connections on the DB37 being backwards although I dont believe they are so I tried reflashing to 3.4 firmware to get the switch cam polarity but at the time I thought would fix the issues turns out it does not.






In the end it turned out to be I didnt have a opto circuit and had to add two wires:




Got my self a nice netbook stand for when datalogging and road tuning:








It took a while to swap the suspension over but after I finally got it done I noticed this on the old shocks... My bad woops!




Once on the floor she sat pretty nice on the new coilovers, still need to mount the GV lip perfectly it was just for mock up:







because of all the test I had to do to find out what the issue was with the ECU I manage to drain the battery and gave my self the chance to purchase a nice battery charger so I went and got this:




After running her around the block a few time I wasnt happy with the lifter tick and decided to rebuild them all, especially after seeing how gunky the oil pan was compared to my last engine. Its amazing was quality oil can do for a engine



In the middle of all this it turns out I have a birthday, so we decided to go woolands and have way to much fun and I end up suffering for 3 days after... Never again... well maybe!




The girlfriend even made me a cake! haa



I am gonna leave this post here and start a new one in a second as the next part is a whole different story and things kinda take a turn for the worst.

xXxKillDogxXx

So the car went into for MOT finally, which if some of you don't know is our yearly inspection to check if the car is road worthy.

So I took it down to the garage and fit a few parts before sending it down for inspection only to have it come back with a failure and get told the car drives amazing but the shell is rotten and its not worth repairing.

They found rot inside the front two arches and the drivers frame rail, it had got bad but you couldn't see it cause of the underseal...

So I drive it back home doing a nice rolling burnout on the way back to give the car a final send off before hunting for another shell, the burnout really helped with me being a bit pist off which was nice.

for the all of 5 mins I got to drive the car I had a smile ear to ear every second though

Within two hours I found a new car about 30 miles away and arrange to view it the next day.

It looked very promising being a 1993 imported in 1997 with 1 lady owner before the current owners and recently only being put back on road because of being stood for a few years needing a new water pump and a new roof but had 10 months MOT left which was great!!!

So I througly looked over the car only to find two repairs on of the passenger frame rail which wasnt bad and one repair on the drivers side rear sill which was a good repair but needed better finishing however completly solid and not full of filler.

So I handed over £300 notes and he delivered the same day!

Say hello to Joules!!!































So then I suppose it was time for swapping parts over, amongst also packing and moving into our new flat and selling parts from the white one to recoupe money! (To date I have made £700+ on parts)

























The rebuild went pretty smooth apart from the exhaust didn't want to fit the new shell due to Joules having a rear brace, however the exhaust was far gone and due a replacement I just didn't expect it to do it now but I bit the bullet and booked her in for a 3" Longlife exhaust for the 14th-15th of october costing me £700... but its covered for life and shouldn't hold me back power wise since I want to reach 400hp some day.

I'll make sure I get pictures next week once its done!

In other news I should be ordered a carbon bonnet around christmas and next year its bigger injectors, GT2871R and the other engine will get forged slowly plus billet oil pump ect.

xXxKillDogxXx

Quick update, the car has been dropped off to the exhaust shop for a 3" exhaust from the turbo with one resonator in the center which is the smallest they do to pass a MOT inspection.

Set me back £700 but should be well worth it, as for the engine i need to bring in the fuel map a lot still but before that I wanna do valve stem seals and water pump since its leaking :(

xXxKillDogxXx

So its been a while since I have updated this thread but a fair bit has happened so lets get started!

Well first off the exhaust is done for the most part and it sounds great, however it needs to go back for some slight adjustments and the gearbox mount and stainless turbo elbow added.

I had a biker pull beside me and compliment during the 3-4 miles drive home haha.

xXxKillDogxXx

So its been a while since I have updated this thread but a fair bit has happened so lets get started!

Well first off the exhaust is done for the most part and it sounds great, however it needs to go back for some slight adjustments and the gearbox mount and stainless turbo elbow added.

I had a biker pull beside me and compliment during the 3-4 miles drive home haha.

xXxKillDogxXx

So prior to driving the car to the exhaust shop I had a coolant hose blow off... which I fixed and then I had a water pump leak shortly after... FUN! Some of you smarter people will straight away see where this is going...

The head gasket was on its way out... funny enough I needed to do the valve stem seals anyways and the car only majorly leaked coolant on boost.

I knew the head gasket was gone but I decided to double check and order a compression tester the results were: 1:125PSI, 2:75PSI, 3:25PSI, 4:50PSI Not good...

I also pressurised the coolant system to 15PSI, it didn't leak... although that would go along the lines of why i would only get white smoke on boost.

I did at first notice excessive blowby before the head gasket and decided to remove the PCV and blank off the inlet manifold, it didn't help of course but atleast I don't have any nasty oil in my intake... Positives right???

So off came the head, new gaskets ordered and head sent away to get resurfaced:

xXxKillDogxXx

Accidental double post.

xXxKillDogxXx

Before the head could get sent away I or course had to remove everything, it more to cover the machine shops *** if they damage anything I suppose.

Before I sent the head off to get resurfaced I checked the valves for leaks using water and they pretty much all leaked atleast a little bit so I decided while I was down here I may as well relap the valves, its tedious but worthwhile.

I did manage to lose a valve collet, so had to "Borrow" one from a spare junk head I have laying around, but it was fine a friend picked me up in his GTR and gave me a lift!

xXxKillDogxXx

So this is where it gets interesting...

I got the cylinder head refitted and everything running again, I also bought a catch can and modified it so its vent to atmosphere, just need to tap a thread and add a hose barb for the filter.










Now this year was ment to be spent working on the looks of the car really, but things never go as there ment to and engine work was the only thing I ever seem'd to be doing... until now!

Within the space of a week I picked up a new bumper and some airplane wings!
















From what I can figuire out they are Rharris replicas, which are rare over here and cost a bomb, I travelled 600 miles round trip and paid £425 + fuel + food ect but I wouldn't take it back.

So hopefully in a few week I shall have a car looking somewhat similar to this:












As for wheels I will be buying 15x9 rota grid V's and fitting 225/50/15s all round although I may swap out for some 245/55/15s on the back for a more aggressive stance.

I also finally got my tablet connected to the megasquirt after having the bluetooth module sat around for months, its very nice to use for datalogging I must admit.