The kit with No Name shall be known as Harry

[Phaeton]

Again mainly for my own log, didn't get a lot done yesterday son came over on his Daytona & we replaced the headstock bearings, then the brother in law brought nephews moped down as he'd stripped the exhaust stud threads out of the block, not a lot we can do without heli-coils, we managed to bodge it so he can get to college next week.

Moved onto the rear arches, they are really designed for the earlier hubs so had to make some brackets to mount into the ABS brakes holes,




I used 2 different bolts just to ensure that @Danny has nightmares about them



Drilled the mounting holes & filled them together,



Which left other side with a 10mm gap, it could be pulled in but that put a twist into the metal which I didn't think was good,



Spaced them out & used a longer bolt



Getting a bit stuck on the wiring, can't seem to get enthusiastic over It which is unusual as I normally enjoy it, so thought I'd look at the brakes, included from previous owner was a brand new set of rear disc, unfortunately when I tried them they were the wrong size. There are 3 different size discs for the rears & 3 sizes for the front, luckily I had some of the correct brackets in the spares pile along with the handbrake arms that were missing. Ordered some new front discs of the correct size will pick them up in the week, happy to put the smaller brakes on as they will be the same as on the Mevster & they are good enough, although I may now fit the larger ones to it.

If you're paying attention you'll remember I swapped out the brake master cylinder & servo for one from an earlier car, found out that it had a different connector on, so looked at ways of changing it without cutting, found that I could remove the reservoir between the MC's why do manufacturers do that, in the past they would have told you the units are different & try to see you a new one.

 

[Phaeton]

Keep plugging away, today was a frustrating day, Oh boy was it, nearly an hour wasted this morning looking for some headlight bulb connectors along with some copex tubing, I had put them somewhere safe & could I fck as remember where, I knew it was me & couldn't blame SWMBO. In the end I did find them inside the battery box, which was in the gazebo by which time I was stomping around.

You have to extend the harness as the connector which normally sits inside the car with the Exocet would now be in the tunnel under the car, so I extend the wires using the same colours by about 3 foot to make the connector under the rear cover. They sent me the wrong copex but I could still use it, put the wires inside strapped it all up & finished it, then started to put the connectors on the end to pick up the lamps on each arch & on the cover itself only to find there was no brake wire coming from the front, yep you guessed it I had failed to extend it ARRRRRGH!! So it all had to come off again to thread the brake wire through, I gave up after that LOL.

 

[Phaeton]

Yesterday was much like Saturday it was a day of frustration, it started reasonably well, I finished wiring up the rear lights which came on when the switch was turned, the indicators came on & flashed (too fast) when the stalk was put in each position, brake lights came on pushing the pedal down, even the reverse light came on when selected. Only fly in the ointment was the fog light came on with the side lights, which was strange as the switch isn't wired up yet.

Turning the ignition didn't get me any lights on the dash, going all the way to start did nothing, started to look as to why, started to trace earths & found a few that weren't connected so setup tempoerary earth point. I then get ignotion & EML but still no start, decided to leave it for a while & moved onto the brake MC/Handbrake wiring as this was just another earth, got that working, then suddenly laost ignotion again, figured it might be a wire that had found a temporary earth which got moved, after a good while I still couldn't find the fault so in the end for the sake of sanity I packed uo & went inside, it was getting cold anyway.

Filled with fresh enthusiasm I went back out today to find the issue, not quite sure why I decided to swap out the dash cluster & as soon as I did I got ignition & EML again, so had a proper look at the PCB at the back & noticed that one of the tracks was broken, the cluster had obviously fallen & earth out destroying the track, luckily I managed to repair it.







I decided to track down the no cranking, one thing I did notice Sunday was that the immobiliser unit had a yellow/orange & a yellow/green wires cut about 2 inches away from the unit, looking at the diagrams they should go down to the ring around the ignition switch. Dug out an old harness & cut the wires & connectors from it & added it to the car, then got a ring from one of the old columns but it still didn't crank & the immobiliser light wouldn't go off. Then I remembered that there was 2 columns that came with this kit, but where did I put the key for the second one, luckily it was somewhere safe, so using one steering column, with the ring removed & the differnt key through the ring the car cranked. Two options, remove the fitted steering column & put the other column in, or drill out the anti theft bolts & just swap the lock mechanism, this option won. Once done I sprayed a bit of ezi-start into the throttle body, cranked, it fired & tried to run so happy with that.



Spent the afternoon pulling some more not needed wring out, then wired in the front indicators, which still flash far too rapidily, but there is a fix, cut out the link inside the flasher relay & replace it with a 10ohm resistor, just need to ge tmy hands on one.



Need to get my head around the headlights as they are a switched earth system, I've done it twice before so it can't be rocket science.

 

[Phaeton]

Honest I am still working on it, had real fun with the wiring, the immobiliser stopped working or rather it stopped the car cranking, not 100% sure how I fixed it, but I did.

Then the only last issue was the ignition warning light wouldn't go out after starting, I traced the wires out, swapped out the alternator, swapped the dashboard & still couldn't find the problem. I had the ODB connected & it was throwing up 2 codes, 1 for the 2nd Lambda & the other for the AIT, I knew about both of these are neither were connected. I thought I'd best connect them, they couldn't have anything to do with it, but best do them before asking for help, connected the Lambda & cleared the code, but still same issue with warning light. I didn't get an AIT sensor with the car so stole the one of Melvin & bugger me if it didn't clear the fault, I've since been told that the ECU uses the voltage from the AIT as it's reference point for all it's decisions, whether it's true or not I don't know.

Been doing the headlights, put a couple of extra changeover relays in to swap the negative switching to normal & as the MX5 keeps the dip beam lit when you go onto main, so have to rewire that part so they go out. I bought some motorcycle headlight brackets to mount the headlights, they were cheap & I wasn't expecting them to be of a good quality, but I was disappointed at how bad the quality it. I've used them anyway, but boy are they rough.



Just waiting for Amazon to drop off some small front indicators & I think visually all the wiring will be done as long as it doesn't rain tomorrow, there will be the Hazard & Fog switches to mount & possible extend the wiring, but other than that it's done.

 

[Phaeton]

Chugging away, Amazon did indeed drop the indicators off, so they were modified & fitted, only to find they didn't work, as that was the last thing I did they were obviously that was the problem, it had all worked with the LED's, so I changed them back only to find I had other problems FFS. Anyway after much head scratching & circling around I fond that I'd managed to damage yet another track on the PCB on the back of the cluster. But as the LED's worked (after the repair) they are staying I don't like them they stick out too far, in fact I don't like the headlight position at all they are too high, but for now they are staying.



I then moved onto the brakes, on Melvin & Britney I had hard lined the brakes & finished with braided hoses, but this time the kit came with a full braided kit, not impressed with it as the rear brakes lines are only just long enough & you could have played duelling banjos on them, I ended up putting a short piece of hard line each side of the tee. Fitted the front callipers only to find the NSF was sticking so swapped them out for another set I have only to find the NSF on that set were also sticking, new pair should be with me Monday.

Moved onto the exhaust needed to see what was needed, made up a new OS bracket & welded it to the subframe



Which means I need a piece of weld in flexi & 1M of 50mm exhaust pipe, which I will need to get a couple of slight bends in without kinking.

Then last job so far was to fit both front & rear anti-bar bars

 

[Phaeton]

This kit really is kicking my butt, it's fighting me at every turn, or my dementia is starting to kick in more, after the immobiliser issue, the indicator issue, headlight issue, alternator, the list goes on.

The new front calipers are arriving tomorrow so I figured I'd drill the holes fit the handbrake, but to do that you need to not the cables, so pulled out the ones that came with the kit to find that all the adjusters are knackered, no worries into the pile of spares & pull out another set, only to find these 2 are also knackered. Okay so that's a no go, time to abandon Harry & pull the seats out of Melvin which are going to be donated to Harry as I bought a set of heated Smart seats, yes you guessed it they won't fit as they are too wide, so Harry can't have the seats & I'll have to fond another set from somewhere.

As the brakes 'should' be completed this week there is potentially a chance of a drive up the road next weekend so there needs to be an accelerator cable, this involved drilling a hole in the bulkhead, then filing out to 13x19mm oblong hole, adds the cables, connects to pedal, connects to throttle body only to find it's the wrong cable FFS can I not catch a break, worse than that I can't find another anywhere so maybe it didn't come with one & the I have is off a non VVT engine.

I have to say this is one of th things that really winds me up about car manufacturers & their greed, this cable did not need to be changed, they could have kept the same cable as before, all they would have had to do when the designed the inlet manifold was to drill the holes 30mm further back. I also found this when I had to swap the brake fluid reservoir over no difference at all just a different plug on the end, Why! presumably to make you buy the newer more expensive one.

 

[Phaeton]

Ordered just before lunch Friday arrived before 10am this morning, fitted & bled aby 5pm today, 95-98% bled, need a second person to get the last bit out, but they're good enough for now.

Question now do I leave them silver or splash a bit of red on, I'm quite liking the silver on red, but I can't see them staying that colour.

 

[Phaeton]

Jobs ticked off this weekend, accelerator cable shortened with an adjustable nipple, then onto the air intake, got a Fleecebay cone filter & then made a bracket for it, it's above the exhaust manifold so not ideal, but it'll do for me, No @Danny it's not powder coated I still haven't go it out of the box, I really should though.



Tried to fit the Smart seats into Melvin but there is no way that is going to happen, they are too wide, so as I can't use them in Harry as there are no harness holes & you shouldn't really use reclining seats with harnesses, there was some cheap very tatty Cobra Monaco's on Fecesbook, went & picked them up, very tatty, but solid.

But all of these things, the mounting holes are wider apart them the length of the MX5 runners, so it was either put plates on the seats & then drill them to fit the MX5 runners, or as I decided to do, extend the MX5 runners, it seems to have all gone well, apart from the time it takes & the fact the seller had failed to mention the snapped off bolt, but I managed to drill it out & retap.



Just now need to get some long bolts to fasten the seats through the frame, need to be low profile dome heads so the runners go over them.

Next we went from



To



Then onto





Don't want to tempt fate, but this weekend seemed to go quite well with very little stupid mistake, apart from losing another 10mm spanner & a 4mm Allen key, they are out there somewhere but no idea where.

 

[Phaeton]

Half an hour between the scammers & the snow got the handbrake cables fitted, then drilled & fitted the handbrake.



What I don't understand though is how can I order 2x handbrake cables from Germany & have them delivered to the UK cheaper than buying them in the UK, it makes no sense.

 

[Phaeton]

Back panel sorted took ages to sort all the cuts out but I think it came out okay,



Then moved onto the battery box, fixed to the floor



Did a more on the with the handbrake fitted the cable clamps & the spring & adjusted the cables up at the caliper end, but will to run the rust off & then adjust again.



Then to finish the day fitted the grill

 

[Phaeton]

Today started good, out for a Full English then back to get something done, went over to the son's mate who has a tyre machine & put the 2 new tyres I got last week on a pair of the rims then came back & had a look at the exhaust.

Cut a bit of the existing back, problem was that the tube is the same size, using an expander I got it so that the new pipe would go inside, cut a 50mm piece of the new pipe & welded that to the old. Then welded the flexi to the new pipe, cut to length & them managed to get a slight bend in the pipe to get it to line up with the silencer.





Then the bad happened, went to start the car to see how it sounded only to find out the immobiliser is not operational again, so covered it over & slunk away with my tail between my legs.

 

[Phaeton]

Started to look at the immobiliser issue & came across, my dodgy repair, which might be the issue.



Then moved onto the sides

 

[Phaeton]

Went over last night to a guy I've had some other MX5 stuff from & picked up another set of clocks, today fitted them making sure this time there was little no chance of getting a short



But still had the no cranking & no flashing immobiliser icon, swapped the bulb out to be 100% sure, then got the wiring diagram out again, one of the issues is that the colour codes on the diagram I have aren't the same as the car, so started at the fuse box the unit takes a 12V constant & a 12V switched, checked the fuses in both conditions, then checked the terminals on the immobiliser unit, got both, from there with a bit of a guess as to the what the other wires were/did I worked out which was the earth, yep you guessed the earth didn't go to earth, it picked up 2 other wires but none of them went to the chassis, added a temporary one & all is working again.

Then had to cut the old clocks out of the binnacle, luckily I hadn't used too much Upol & I was able to cut it out with a multitool.

 

[Phaeton]

Still waiting for the Upol to go nice & hard on the binnacle, so moved onto the bonnet catches,

 

[Phaeton]

Spent all day making a bracket to hold the binnacle into the car along with a piece to under the column to hide all the wiring, fitted the rear fog light switch, need to fit a hazard switch but look like both the ones I have are broke until I can come up with a way of fixing them into the dash somewhere. The fitted the tunnel, I have this feeling I was leaving it off on purpure but now can't remember what it is, then put the wheels on.

Next job it the rear cover which includes cutting a hole in it for the fuel filler always a worrying time, but it's almost there apart from trimming & tidying up, although I do think there might be an issue with the nearside handbrake, there's very little moment on it.

Might consider submitting the IVA papers next week now I've been paid, then hope there's a slot available end of April, early May

 

[Phaeton]

Not a huge lot done today wasn't feeling 100% but still managed to sort of the rear brakes nothing wrong with them just I hadn't adjusted them properly,. then sorted the panel that covers the cables. Need to do the lower bolts hopefully tomorrow night.