Eunos Chump

I'm a big boy now, with a big boy toy box. I got it from Machine Mart in Portsmouth, which is like Toys'r'us for blokes with a taste for spannering. There wasn't 1 awesome compressor...there were 12! The combo above was £175 and is big enough to hold the motley collection of tools I've amassed over the past 20 years, I spent a really enjoyable couple of hours filling it up. I ignored the 2 cars outside which are overdue a service. I've taken this photo with the fancy new camera I boought today, so Russ has adopted my old 2MP Fuji. I will now feel guilty about this level of wild spending for the next 6 months. I did turn up the boost on the Mazda, but ran into some knock and backed it off again immediately. I'm still running a little more than previously, but my seat-of-the-pants dyno estimates it at less than 10bhp extra. I also gave up trying to fix the cracked exhaust manifold, and ordered a new one from ETD Racing. Life it too short...

1: Watching Lewis Hamilton throwing it away again around some race track. 2: Sawing relief cuts into a cast-iron Greddy exhaust manifold, with a junior hacksaw. 3: Bolting said manifold onto car and watching it crack again very shortly afterwards. The Fireseal only held for a matter of hours... I may try one final attempt at bodging it before giving up and buying a new one from the US (only $40 shipping, apparently). Strangely, the car was noticeably slower minus the crack, I only started to suspect something was up when it started going quickity-quick again. I've been doing some data loggging with the LC-1 too, I reckon there's headroom for a touch more boost. I've found an immediate advantage by removing the foam air filter from the HKS and securing a pair of tights (yoinked from Mrs B's drawer) over the top instead! It's clean to 7000rpm now, previously it would go off a bit around 6200. I am the flying panty thief!

Check out the cracks on that manifold! There's one on each side of the flange, and you can see daylight through them. You can also see where it was welded a few months back. I've now applied the Fireseal, it's a nice metallic filler substance and easy to apply to both sides of the cracks, it should be ready to reinstall tomorrow. Dare I make the relief cuts though? If I don't it's likely to crack again, if I do it may disintegrate. Making do and ordering a better replacement from ETD Racing might be the best solution. I've also fitted the Innovate LC-1. The hardest part was finding somebody willing to weld the new 02 sensor bung onto the frontpipe, none of the big exhaust fitting places could do it. Eventually I was directed to a small place underneath a snooker hall where it was done while I waited. If you're reading this for some ideas on how to fit an LC-1 to a MX5, this is how I've done it: The 02 sensor is fitted at the end of the frontpipe

Mr DB welded it up for me before it was fitted, but I noticed a raspy noise coming from the area and yes, the exhaust manifold has cracked again. I'm going to attempt a fix with Fire Seal this weekend, and I'm going to use the opportunity to fit the LC-1 wideband 02 sensor that arrived the other day. I've decided to go for a basic Megasquirt rather than the PnP one, it's vastly cheaper and I'll be able to learn more along the way. All the tyres are wearing on their inside edges, I need to find some time to get to Wheels-in-Motion! I think these will become my track wheels, though I'm still to scared too thrash it around a track for fear it'll explode.

Russ and I went to see Indiana Jones yesterday. I liked it a lot, but Russ said it "didn't make much sense" and was "a bit silly". What does that say about me? And what does it say about the future prospects of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas if 6-year-olds (who watch a lot of Scooby Doo) think their films are daft? On the motors front, the Mazda continues to run well though it's horrible thirst is starting to hurt. The Benz has gone to Keylink to have the aircon repaired. Billy Berlingo suffered a broken gear linkage when I just happened to be driving it, which required a 12 mile ride home stuck in 5th gear. A new link rod at £25 fixed that though, and this one looks stronger so perhaps it was just another Frog design fault. I'm thinking about getting a Smart again... imagine 55mpg! Once the holiday season is over (and the need for aircon gone) I might chuck in the Benz for one. It has to be worth a least 2 bottle tops and a button.