Eunos Chump

It's Mrs B on her first track event!  With the luxury of a support vehicle (t'Berlingo) we'd brought along the old 14" rims with illegal rubber, plus other niceties such as a trolley jack, overalls, and all the other useful stuff that won't fit in an MX5 boot (including Monkeyboy).  However, there was thick slush, fog and light rain which resulted in little rubber actually being burnt.  Mrs B didn't really get into it either, she was the only female driver and couldn't bring herself to deliberately lose control of the car, like everybody else was.  I soon got bored of going round on my own, so we left at lunchtime. It was valuable as a shakedown test for the car though, there were no problems and it lost virtually no oil.  Mrs B says she enjoyed it, I think she feels a little disappointed with herself though. I do have video of a single lap, but it's not very good; instead, enjoy this excellent '70s car chase:

The MX5 is going to another Mazda-on-Track car control day on Wednesday, and this time Mrs B is going to drive too!  She went out in it today for a short spin, I've had it almost 4 years but I think that's the first time she's driven it alone.  Despite there being quite a bit of ice about, it went 'OK' apparently. Here is a photo of a dog, possibly wondering what happened to the gravy:

Brands Hatch is off tomorrow... looks like I'll have to stay home and play Forza , watch Star Trek and get intimate with a packet of chocolate digestives instead. I had to go to the Waterlooville office today, though it was ultimately futile as neither the engineer nor hardware I was expecting turned up.  I had some fun in the deserted car park with the traction control switched off though... diesel+automatic+snow=GR8 DRIFTN

I abandoned replacing the brakes, and settled for replacing the fluid for now.  The old unions are rusted and not going to give up easily, and I don't have the time to replace all of them before Friday.  Incidentally, the caps supplied with Gunson's Eezibleed DO NOT FIT.  Very annoying. It was then time to drive it... it was very eager to escape the garage, in fact when I let the handbrake off it rolled away and gave the BMW a good punch in the mush.  By coincidence, Mrs B gave the Beemer another wack a bit later when she didn't notice it parked behind her car.  Only it's pride is hurt. Anyway, MX5 good - new dump valve works properly (much smoother on/off power now), and discreet (sounds exactly like the Porsche 911 GT3 in Forza 3 ).  New engine mounts = no clutch judder.  I can't tune it because the LC-1 is broken, it's showing an AFR of 18, will have to look at that in the week; for the moment I've removed it's influence from the fuel map by set

It works!  I turned it over with the coil disconnected to build some oil pressure, then it just fired up immediately.  Top end was initially noisy, I let it run for a short while then changed the oil/filter.  Engine still sounds loud, but then it's still on axle stands in the garage until I get around to putting on the new brakes.  Temperature was -1 all day so that was enough for me, it's too icy for any tuning runs anyway.

I've wasted the best part of an hour looking for my poxy spark plug socket.  How could it disappear in a garage so small?  It's very frustrating because the motor is all back together and ready for testing.  I'm afraid I resorted to copious amounts of swearing but it didn't help.  I was also annoyed that I didn't torque the crank pulley bolt correctly first time, I used 100NM which is for the short-nose crank (the one with 6 slots in the crank pulley), for the later long-nose (8 slot pulley) it's actually 158NM.  It's right now, but it's a faff locking the crank. 7 days to Brands Hatch and it's still sitting on axle stands, still with it's knackered brakes and I don't even know if the engine will run.  Great.

I'd been waiting on a head gasket kit from MX5Parts for more than 10 days, so I went down to Autolink instead and got one off the shelf  - cheaper too, so I might start using them more. I've replaced the engine mounts with some competition ones , it seemed sensible while the head was off and access was easy.  I started by loosening the 14mm nut on each side securing the mount to the subframe (each needed a 24 hour soak with WD40), then the 3 bolts at the engine.  With a block of wood under the sump, I gently jacked the engine up to free the mounts, then removed the nuts altogether.  I raised the engine a little more to give enough space to unbolt and remove the mounts.  The mounts have a top and bottom, so I matched up the new ones and slotted them in.  Sounds easy, but it actually required 2 hours of rocking the engine from side to side, swearing, dropping tools, and more swearing before they were actually in .  Was it worth it?  The exhaust-side mount was split but that cou

Over the past couple of days I've disassembled and cleaned the hydraulic valve lifters, in total it's taken about 4 hours!  They weren't in bad shape but it's nice to be thorough, and they all have the same 'springiness' now.  There's a tiny valve inside, comprising of a ball bearing and a minute spring, which could easily be jammed by gummy oil.  Very good article on cleaning the lifters here .

Today I lapped the valves, and refitted them into the head with new stem seals.  I'd never lapped valves before but found a very useful YouTube vid on it, only took about 30 mins in total.  I fitted the stem seals using a 11mm socket to push them on.  Reassembling the valves was initially infuriating.  I must have spent 20 minutes on the first one, it made me miss Merlin on TV (hey, I like it, it's a sort of medieval Doctor Who).  Putting blobs of grease into the collets then 'gluing' them into position with a magnetic screwdriver worked best, I got quite good at it after the first... 15.  With them all back in, I cleaned up the combustion chambers with a tiny wire brush in a Dremel.

Removed all the valves over the weekend.  I used my latest fancy tool for this, it's designed for Zetec engines which means it's good for getting onto recessed valve springs (a standard tool wouldn't reach).  I used a flat-blade screwdriver with magnetic end to pick out the collets, it was fairly straightforward work. The inlet tract and valves are virtually spotless, perhaps Optimax does actually work.  There is evidence of at least 2 failed stem seals, but the valve seats are all fine.  Exhaust valves are a different story - most had a good covering of oil, and the seats need regrinding.  Valve guides seem OK - well, there's no play when I wiggle them.  anyway.  This is how they measure things at NASA, I'm sure.

This evening the manifolds came off.  I'm glad I didn't try to get the inlet manifold off  when it was still in the car, it was very difficult to reach the nuts and bolts even with the thing sat on a bench.  There's evidence of the exhaust manifold gasket leaking, probably because I re-used it twice - what a chimp!  The valves look a bit mucky too, ugh.

Time to remove the head. After I'd removed all the remaining connections (almost forgetting the water temp sensor at the rear and the heater hoses, one of which has a bracket attached to the exhaust manifold), I cracked off the crank pulley bolt using the rope method , which is quick and easy (with a big enough breaker bar, of course).  I had to remove the anti-roll bar bolts to get enough clearance for my socket.  Next was the cambelt removal.  I'm not going to detail that, a good guide can be found here .  I like to mark up the belt and pulleys with paint (if I was fitting a new belt I'd transfer these markings to the new belt, but this one has only done about 10K).  As the cam pulleys will be coming off, I've marked those too (each is identical with E and I markings, highlight the appropriate one). With the belt removed, the head bolts were next.  Working in a circular motion (each end of the engine first, working towards the centre), I loosened each bolt 1/4 turn

I had a major clear out of the garage last week, now I have loads of room to work so I'm going to pull my finger out and refurbish the cylinder head on the MX5.  The major problem is blue smoke on the overrun, and I'm fairly confident this is valve stem seals. I'm also going to clean up the valves 'cos it's done a lot of kilometres (237K of 'em).  I'm also going to do some preventative work (various seals, thermostat, maybe water pump, replacement of old rubber pipes).  Incidentally, this is the budget originally allocated to the Ro80; I've heard nothing on this recently so I've given up the idea.  I would very much like the Golf but I had underestimated the size of my credit card bill.  There's also a chance of being made redundant in the next month, so no crazy spending for now. This will be the 3rd time I've removed the head.  The plan is to lift the head with inlet and exhaust manifolds attached, as it saves the pain of getting the turb

I've got dibs on a NSU Ro80.  It's been off the road for 3 years, has a stoved-in door, and has a weedy Audi engine in place of the original rotary.  But it is brown, and probably cheap, and I've always admired them.  It's the car that bankrupted it's manufacturer, and it could provide me with a stylish journey into financial oblivion too (imagine trying to get a windscreen or headlamp for it). A safer option might be a Golf GTI 16v which could be coming up shortly.  It would be much more usable and easier to look after, but it's a car I've never had much interest in.  I'm sure once I've hooned around in it a bit I'd change my mind though.  And obviously I'd remove all the paint and put stickers all over the rear window and slam it and call it my 'Dub .

Winter always starts the same here - it gets a bit cold, I turn on the central heating, and it doesn't work because I have once again failed to check and service it during summer.  This year's fix was easy - hitting the pump with a hammer. The MX5 is hidden away in the garage once more.  I've bought some brake caliper brackets from a 1.8 so I can fit the larger discs, but I can't be arsed to do any spannering right now.  I've got a day at Brands Hatch booked for early December, so plenty of time to procrastinate about whether to go for plain or stupidly expensive grooved discs. I was going to Blackpool this weekend to see the pretty lights, but there was so little enthusiasm from the family I cancelled it (I wanted a change of scenery because work has been getting on top of me lately).  So I've blown some cash on games instead - lovely Civilization V (PC), very lovely Halo:Reach and Burnout Paradise (XBOX 360).  All I need now is lots of time to play them

Paid my first ever visit to the Beaulieu autojumble today.  I had to go alone as nobody else fancied walking around acres of land for hours on end, looking at obscure fragments of cars.  No problem though, it left more room in the car for bringing home crap! First tempting bit of tat was this stuffed badger umbrella holder... great for infuriating the Mrs and terrifying the boy and animals.  It would have been a mistake.  There was a fox too, you can see it in the background.  And some cow skins.  Lovely for decorating the house. How about a missile?  I'm not sure what it acutally is but it was ace.  There were quite a few cars for sale too, I'd assumed they'd be overpriced and some of them certainly didn't disappoint (£10K for a late 90's E430?), but there was serious temptation for the person with £3K in their pocket.  Nice 80's S-class Benz, '95 Jaguar XJR (supercharged 4-litre V8), plus some mint Austin 1100s, even a nice MX5.  I almost bought a w

It was my birthday recently, so I put my cash towards this portable media player: It's a Samsung YP-R1 and look, it's got a gingerbread man and a coffee cup! Neither of them are any more than animated icons but you don't get either on the leading competitor (the name of which I cannot bring myself to type).  It was quite a bit cheaper than that other device too, and has twice the memory.  The interface is a tad fiddly though, and it took me some time to find the option to shuffle tracks at random - such basic stuff should be on the home screen rather than daft icons.  Another useless feature is the Beat DJ app, which lets you put sound effects and stuff over your tracks.  I had a few minutes fun putting cliched samples such as 'ahh yeah!' and handclaps over Mozart's Requiem, but I doubt I'll ever use it again. It does support BBC iPlayer though, and I've watched Mad Men on it this evening (ignoring the 50" TV in the same room).  I love Mad Men

I decided to help out the oil companies yesterday, by re-tuning the MX5 for MAXIMUM POWAH.  I've used a new target AFR table for the Megasquirt from the MiataTurbo forum, and did a few runs using the VE Analyze Live function in Tuner Studio (I love that software).  Still more testing to do, but it's considerably quicker and much more like it's old, mental self.  I don't know how badly this will impact on economy, but frankly it's rubbish anyway so being 10% more rubbish will have negligible effect. Beemer did 1700 miles in Scotland last week, averaged mid-40s MPG too.  The engine did stop on the M6 though, when the fuel started to get low - I suspect that pump in the tank will have to be replaced.  I got it started before we came to a halt, so technically that's not a breakdown, is it?

I bought an OBDII car diagnostic reader recently, it plugs into the USB on a laptop and allows you to read the error codes on anything with a OBDII socket (first appeared in '96, apparently).  It's from eBay and only cost £20, and came with a CD containing Bit Torrent's bestest bent diagnostic software.  I don't know how they get away with that.  Anyway, it's a good toy and I was able to reset the engine warning light on Mrs B's Berlingo (seems the motorised throttle body did just need cleaning).  I can't get it to speak to the BMW though, could be a port config thing. MX5 still running without issue!  I've been sorely tempted by a deal on Flyin'Miata anti-roll bars and a set of big Sport brakes, but I'm sticking to my austerity drive for now.

I passed my final CCNP exam today!  This has nothing to do with cars but will remind me I need to renew it in 3 years.  I celebrated with tea and toast, a nap on the sofa, then Toy Story 3 in the evening.  It was very good, which is just as well as the novelty of 3D cinema has already worn off for me.

I haven't posted much recently because nothing has broken.  It's quite astonishing, although the MX has seen no track action it's covered thousands of miles in the past few weeks, much of it in juvenile idiot-mode.  It does chuck out quite a bit of blue smoke on the overrun sometimes, and the oil pressure isn't all it was... I've never rebuilt an engine before, could be a winter project. I went to the Goodwood Breakfast last weekend, with a few other MX5s and TVRs I met up with in Guildford (it was a gentle quiet drive and no laws were broken, OK?)  I've never seen it so busy, cars were arranged around the track as far as the eye could see.  Here are some photos - 2 of them are cars I am considering buying, can you spot them? I've carried out the foamectomy of the MX driver's seat, and so far it's excellent.  I sit a good couple of inches lower in the car, and suddenly everything is in the right place - the instruments, steering wheel, door mirro

I had a run through a MRI scanner the other day, and it appears I'm not made of any of the above ingredients.  I am full of gross meat and bone though, enjoy!

I've been ill the past few days.  I thought it was hayfever initially but it grew into a fever and a splitting headache.  That was 4 days ago, I'm feeling slightly better now (I can use the PC! Look!), but I don't recall ever being that ill for that long before.  This has obviously meant no motoring-related shenanigans of late, but the Mazda continues to run without issue.  I don't much enjoy it's heavy on/off clutch in traffic queues, nor it's demand for Optimax (it runs poorly on plain unleaded), but we still get along fine.  I'd go out in it now, if it wasn't full of pollen.

It's fixed!  It didn't run very well at first, it may have been because it had sat idle for weeks but I retuned it with TunerStudio again and it seems better.  This is just as well, because I was just about at the end of my tether with it yesterday.  I'm getting very bored of chucking money at it with no result.  I've also had a bit of a mare with some fuel injectors I bought recently (which is too long and tedious to detail here, but it seems that problem isn't yet resolved).  All I want is to use the car, and not have it break or require large sums of money (or lots of small sums of money). Monkeyboy and I took it to the New Forest today.  It was like bloody winter with the wind and rain but we still had fun.  He's developing quite an eye for young ladies, I find it amusing and charming to watch him in action - he's pretty smooth, it's a trait he certainly didn't inherit from me!

I bit the bullet and ordered a new manifold from ETD Racing , it arrived within 5 days.  It's not fixed yet though as I'm on holiday* in Manchester at the mo'.  I've bought new gaskets and some socket cap bolts to cut down into studs (these being 12.9 tensile strength, better than the usual 8.8 found in automotive stuff).  Hopefully it'll be operational this weekend, then TRACKDAYZ!  I've not bothered renewing my Mazda-on-Track membership, they don't offer enough days and those they do tend to be inconvenient mid-week fixtures.  I think I'll be going with Focussed Events from now on, they have about 300 events a year and the prices are much the same. * easy IT training course with short hours and plush hotel .

The Mazda went into the garage today to have a flexible section put into the frontpipe.  I used a new place Mrs B discovered, they can actually weld stuff, which is an art little practiced in Basingstoke.  That's the good news, the bad new is the bloody exhaust manifold is BUGGERED.  It's misshappen at the turbo flange and it won't seal, a new one is the only solution.  It's $449 and only available from Canada, which means another 30% in shipping/duty.  I'm getting a bit tired of this now, I might as well get a Ferrari - at least it will look nice when it's sitting on stands outside the house!

The 5 is still broken, and Mrs B denied my plan to buy a Porsche 924 (with brown trim!)  That is all.

Further investigation of the MX5 revealed 2 of the 4 turbo-to-manifold studs had sheared; I was lucky to get back.  After some discussion on  t'Nutz forum I think a flexible section in the frontpipe might be the answer.  I've discovered CBS who do all kinds of bits for car builders, including all the odds and ends I've found so difficult to source from normal parts places - I'm getting the flexipipe from here (plus some bolts to make new threads).  I just need Mrs B to persuade somebody to remove those broken studs now...

Another track day, another mechanical fault - it's the rules, don't you know?  Almost crashing the car is also the done thing, and I did have a half-hearted go at this, getting a tank-slapper on down the pit straight which resulted in the marshall sticking his head out of his window and giving me a Paddington bear -style stare.  As I was already in trouble, I hung the backside out on every corner for the remainder of the lap, then came in.  Nobody came after me though, even though this company (Focused Events) don't take any nonsense and send you home if you fall off the track twice, which seems a bit harsh! Anglesey is a great circuit, this was the international layout which is the longest at just over 2 miles, but the straights are much shorter than they first appear, and it's pretty hard on tyres and brakes - more so than Brands Hatch, for instance.  It's very technical and takes some learning, but there's a lot of run-off so it's much less daunting th

I've been on leave the past few days, which always results in me getting a bit stressed that I'm not relaxing enough - make of that what you will.  So Monkeyboy and I went to visit my folks in Norfolk for a couple of days (and my bruv welded up the cracked exhaust again), that was very nice in the summer weather.  I'm off to Anglesey shortly for a track day tomorrow, it's a bloody long way but it's a track I've long wanted to drive so I'm hoping it's worth it (is anything worth 5 hours in a MX5 though?  World peace?  An end to poverty?  I'd have to think about it, and if it's raining it ain't happening).

MX5 was returned this evening with the new Exedy stage 2 clutch fitted, and so far it's excellent .  It's certainly stiffer than the old one - from a standing start it's quite on/off and I need to get used to it - but it cushions the abrupt power delivery and of course doesn't slip .  I'm very happy and relations with the garage have been restored.  MOT was passed at the weekend too.  If it wasn't for the wintery weather and super-unleaded at £1.26 a litre it'd be back on commuting service.  It's cleared for track day hammering though!

MX5 returned from MOT yesterday, it failed on a leaking front caliper, ineffetive rear caliper, weak handbrake and a holed exhaust.  Emissions were fine, surprisingly.  The exhaust is 2 years old but still under warranty so I've sent a photo to MX5Parts (it's one of their own-brand stainless steel dual tailpipe jobs). One of the hangers has come away and torn a small hole in the pipe, it's not really noticeable in the car, what with all the other noise going on.  All of the calipers were new last June so I'm annoyed about them (I like being annoyed), the warranty was only 6 months too (double annoyed).  I've ordered a new front one (got a bit of discount), I'm hoping the rear is just down to handbrake mechanism as the piston moves smoothly.  I would be out fixing it now, only the linear-halogen bulb my inspection lamp requires has been outlawed by the EEC! Had a bit of an uncomfortable talk about the clutch issue with garage-bloke, he reckons he put in an up

I was INCANDESCENT WITH RAGE last night.  I had a new clutch put in the MX5 yesterday, and it was returned with a bill for £403 with even worse clutch slip than before!  I didn't get home until gone 8pm so Mrs B had already handed over a cheque.  I had an ANGRY ANGRY night with little sleep, and was on the phone as soon as the garage (who I've been using for years) opened.  I remained fairly civil though and we've come to an agreement where he refunds me the cost of parts (an incredible £222) and fits a clutch I supply for free.  I've ordered an Exedy stage 2 kit from MX5Parts which should make clutch slip a thing of the past, even if I replace the engine with a Merlin. Got a new windscreen fitted in the 5 today too, from the not-particularly slick Auto Windscreens (my insurer wouldn't accept Autoglass).  The screen is blue tinted, I'd never noticed that before. Formula 1 season starts tomorrow, woooo!  I think we're in for bloody Alonso ending up champ

Went to the first Goodwood Breakfast of the year on Sunday, it was extremely cold yet there was brilliant sunshine - I've got my first pink face of the year.  The theme was anything pre-'72, and I've never seen it so busy.  Did I mention that it was really, really bitterly cold?  So cold that despite the sunshine, I drove home with the roof up?  Mazda was running very well though, the clutch slipped a bit at first but strangely seemed to improve after some serious thrash.  It's had another dose of Tuner Studio's Autotune and is much better for it. In other news: I wish to complain about the VMware course I'm on this week, it's 9am-7pm (or longer) each day, and they've done away with the hot food!  IT training is supposed to be paid skiving, what's happened?

A Chinook made an emergency landing on the edge of the village this evening, so monkeyboy and I went and checked it out.  As you can see, it was a very boggy field and my work shoes got covered in mud, but it was all very exciting for simple plebs like us.  It had a hydraulic leak, but I didn't offer them the use of the roll of gaffer tape I keep in the MX5. I didn't much enjoy the trip into work in the Mazda, it was very frosty so the roof had to stay up, and the clutch slipped when I gave it some beans.  And I'd forgotten what a pain a manual gearbox is, I felt like the fireman on a steam engine!  It'll be all good when I get it on a track, I'm sure.

Yes it is, because the MX5 is hitting the road tomorrow.  I've had a nice day hanging out in the garage fixing a few issues (loose exhaust clamp, trying and failing to get the twin exhausts to line up, touching in the paint, cleaning the interior and getting the Megasquirt to talk to my new laptop).  I don't actually enjoy the first 30 minutes of working on the car - it's usually cold, requires me to squirm about on the ground using muscles that have seized, I always get filthy, and my hands get tired very quickly, no doubt the result of mostly pushing a mouse about for a living.  But after that I'm fine.  Had Radio 4 on, and learnt a lot about New Zealand's laws on soft cheese and growing fruit trees in Cornwall.  All useful stuff. I've got a nice steady idle now, after adjusting the fueling.  The 2 cells in the VE table where the engine sits around at idle had a pretty big difference (38 and 44), and watching it in real time I could see it was bouncing betwe

I had to relent and go to the doctor today about my back.  It was getting slightly better each day, but this progress stopped some time ago.  He prodded and pulled me about a bit, asked some horrible questions (if any of my components were malfunctioning in the ways he described I'd have gone to A&E), and finally decided my back is actually healed, but the nerves need stretching.  He gave me some tablets and exercises, and so far it's really good - no pain whatsoever right now.  I could go out in the garage and get busy on that car right now... but I won't, of course.

My European trip is coming undone already, I may have to choose to go with Mazda-on-Track or on my lonesome.  The former is quite expensive, on a busy weekend and they appear to be staying in an open prison rather than a hotel.  The latter would give me maximum flexibilty to do as I please, but there is the risk of being abducted by villagers and and becoming the unwilling bride of a goat.  This sort of thing happens all the time in Norfolk, there's no reason to believe it'll be any different in euroland. Fixed the horn on the Mazda today, just needed a new relay.  Being a lovely kind driver, I only ever need the horn for MOTs.  Also serviced the Berlingo, cost £25.50 all in!

There's a new version of Tuner Studio available (for Megasquirt) that has a fabulous new feature - live VE tuning.  As the car is way out of tune after all the trouble I had with the leaking manifold, I was keen to try this.  On Saturday I got no further than the garage as my back was just too stiff to drive, but I had more success today.  Basically, you switch on autotune and just drive the car.  The VE table is displayed onscreen, and it amends the values on the fly, according to the target VE table you've set.  When you're ready, you burn them to the EMS.  I've got a tank of plain rather than super unleaded so I couldn't risk any flat out runs, but it does seem smoother already and the idle is now steady. I'm trying to arrange a trip to the Ardennes in early summer, which just happens to be convenient for Spa circuit and the Nurburgring.  I've made it clear to my friends that anybody not attending is an enormous girl's blouse, and so far they're

MX5 has seen a bit of use during the recent snow, it wasn't much good but considerably better than the BMW.  It did get stuck earlier in the week when I tried to get it on the drive, and took 6 people to shift it - my back has been very bad again this week but I had no option but to get stuck in.  This was a mistake... hopefully be in better shape on Monday, I've only been into the office twice since Xmas. The Berlingo is back on the road, after replacement of the impressively sci-fi sounding Comms 2000 unit.  This is actually the column switch assembly, but it's full of electronic gubbins because the car uses multiplex wiring.  I managed to hit myself hard on the nose taking the steering wheel off, but apart from that it was an easy swap (apart from the £197).  The parts guy at the dealer admitted he sold 'loads' of these. Having trouble getting a reasonable insurance quote for the MX5, A-Plan want £580 which seems ridiculous at my advanced age.  Adrian Flux i

Mrs B's Berlingo is broken again (needs a new indicator switch), which has meant rushing the MX5 back into service.  I'd been disassembling it in a half-arsed fashion over the past few weeks, not expecting to put it back on the road until February at least, but needs must. Here it is, being gently nudged out of the garage.  I got what appears to be a Fiesta oil filler cap from Halfords, turned out to be a perfect fit (and cheap at £3.50).  It's all back together now, and runs LOVELY.  I've got a very bad back right now, so it wasn't easy but worth it.  I had a ride through the countryside with the top down for an hour, impulse power only because there's still a bit of snow about.