Build diary

Those of you who used a NA (Mk1) donor, will have found that the speedo cable makes a very sharp bend at the transmission.  Every single car that I know of ended up with a broken cable because of this.  The only solution is to make a hole in the body to feed the cable [...]

Installed the S2000 cluster today.  I used a powdercoated piece of aluminium sheet that I cut out and painted satin black.  This went fairly well and looks a lot better than the MX5 cluster.   Before and  after pics       I’m not too fond of that amber color so I’m going to change [...]

View at Picasa View at Picasa Remember those yellow headlights we used to see years ago?  They were introduced in France in 1936 and were required until 1993.  They now are no longer required but they’re still approved in Belgium.  I’ve always liked them, so when I came across a set of NOS (New Old [...]

View at Picasa My cluster has 143K kms and my car only has 12K so I need to adjust the odo.  I have a programmer to modify the code in the cluster, but I’m hesitant to try it.  I wouldn’t be the first one to brick the cluster.  The easy solution is to just turn [...]

It arrived today and was very easy to install.  Only 4 wires (gnd, +12V, speed in and speed out).  It took about 30 mins to install and finally the speedo indicates the correct speed.  I should have gone for a Speedohealer from the start.  So, if you plan on doing the same thing, don’t start [...]

Well, ain’t that a bummer.  After going for my first testdrive, it turns out that my speedo is reading about 20% slow compared to my gps.  I could only do a short drive, but it immediately was very clear that the speedo is off. This means that the transmission is sending out 4000 ppm, not [...]

Finally got it right. The speedo is working! View at Picasa I was sending a 9V signal into my PWM converter that can only handle 5.3V … luckely I had 2 chips Turns out I was feeding my circuit with a too high signal.  The circuit can only handle 5V and I was sending 9V [...]

View at Picasa I got the speedo working with a PWM signal generated by a generic output from the Megasquirt.  I then send this signal through a PWM converter with a 32 multiplier.  This generates a 499Hz signal that indicates a speed of 18km/u, what corresponds with what I calculated.  It was kinda cool to [...]

Decided to take another look at the speedo today.  Turns out I forgot to solder the wire for the VSS signal.  After soldering in that last wire, the speedo works.  It indicates 3 km/h, not much, but at least I now know the speedo is working.

Did an update of a WordPress plugin yesterday and I didn’t think it was necessary to take a backup of the database.  I was wrong.  The update deleted all columns in the database, so all links to the pictures are gone.  I spent about 5 hours yesterday and today putting back the correct links.  I [...]

Here’s a couple of VR circuits that I can use to convert the ~AC signal from the transmission to a 5V square wave the the S2000 cluster accepts. View at Picasa Decided to oder a LM1815 and build this VR circuit.     View at Picasa Very simple VR circuit. Just after ordering I found [...]

View at Picasa 41.5Hz @ 50km/u = ±4800ppm Put the Westfield with its wheels in the air to test the speedo.  Nothing . Don’t know exactly why it isn’t working, my oscilloscope gets a reading so it should indicate something. At 50 km/h (13.889 m/s) I have 41.5 Hz, iow 41.5 pulses for 13.889 m [...]

I have a 90-94 ‘real’ oil pressure sender but no real oil pressure gauge in my S2000 cluster, so I’m using the MS3X to trigger my oil warning light at a preset value. The wire coming from the sensor no longer goes to the instrument cluster but to the MS3X on port ADC13 instead.  Since [...]

View at Picasa Honda connectors removed and wires soldered in. I always use the oem Mazda color codes (an old wiring loom is super handy for this kind of thing) as it's easier to spot mistakes. The Honda connectors are removed and new wires soldered in.  I always use the oem Mazda color codes (an [...]

View at Picasa this is what the S2000 cluster will look like in the westfield (miata) housing. The S2000 cluster is a lot smaller than the miata cluster (that was the reason of doing the swap all along), so I’ll have to make a template out of plexi to make it fit.  Shouldn’t be too [...]

View at Picasa Luckely, I can still see the most important part of the tacho, but I'd like to see more of the odo. As I can’t really see all my dials, I decided to buy a Honda S2000 instrument cluster today.  It’s a lot smaller and should be entirely visible through the steering wheel. [...]

View at Picasa All done, need a 2nd cover for the db37 hole. Built the megasquirt this weekend.  The MS3 build is a lot easier than my previous MS2 builds.  With the MS3X, most of the extra circuits and flyback diodes can be omitted, greatly facilitating the build.  Again, I made the MS3 fully plug [...]

View at Picasa MS3 + MS3X have arrived It took very long this time.  Nearly 3 weeks, but the Megasquirt finally arrived . Your item was delivered in BELGIUM at 10:22 am on October 12, 2011. Arrival at Post Office, October 12, 2011, 7:30 am, BELGIUM Customs clearance processing complete, October 11, 2011, 8:44 pm, [...]

Decided it was time to move to a new website.  The old site was made with Site@School but development of the software has stopped because of an arguement between the developers.  The main developer decided to release a fork (SyndeoCMS), but he made a new album module and I didn’t like it.  I lost a [...]

But not much Customs Clearance, September 26, 2011, 1:59 pm, BELGIUM

Megasquirt is in Belgium already! Customs Clearance, September 23, 2011, 7:37 pm, BELGIUM Processed Through Sort Facility, September 23, 2011, 7:37 pm, BELGIUM

Decided to order a new megasquirt today.  Not that I need a new MS, but I just like building them .  I’m replacing the MS2Extra with a MS3 + MS3X.  Plan is to try and make a PnP version like my other MS.  Don’t know if the case is large enough though.  If it’s anything [...]

View at Picasa I did some modifications to the intercooler.  The car had a tendency to always run between 94-96°C while cruising.  These are quite normal temperatures, but I didn’t like it because that’s the point where the fan turns on, so they were on quite a bit. I had a shroud welded on the [...]

Did some modifications to my coolant reroute because I had a hose pop off a couple of times.  My old setup is made up of a couple of hard pipes connected together with hoses.  Unfortunately, the pipes don’t have beads on them, so they easily pop off. I’ve replaced everthing with a single long hose, [...]

I installed Tunerstudio on my 3 pc’s (desktop, laptop and car pc ) and I put the project in Dropbox (it’s free).  Whenever I have internet access, all computers synchronise, so my project is always synced on all computers, just like that.  The car pc has GPRS so it syncs while driving . It also [...]

I dropped the car off today to have a downpipe welded up.  It should be ready by the end of next week.  Can’t wait to start driving the car again.  It’s been over 6 months since I drove it!

View at Picasa The new intercooler and radiator are installed.  I only need to install the air temp sensor and have the downpipe made.  I’m probably going to mount the air temp sensor directly into the intercooler.  More pics in the intercooler album.

Did my first testdrive with the MSM clutch today.  I’m pleasantly surprised by the pedal effort.  It’s actually lighter than my stock clutch!  I was afraid that pedal effort would be higher but it’s definitely not higher, on the contrary. The new intercooler and radiator are installed, but I still need to fab up the [...]

I had 4 aluminium bushes made and had a radiator repair shop weld them onto the valve cover.  They did such a bad job welding them on, that I can’t bare to even look at the valve cover!  It’s just absolutely horrendous.  Forgot to take a picture before using the BFH on the valve cover. [...]

View at Picasa Decided to install the new clutch today.  A couple of months back, I had already bought a MSM clutch but I figured it was getting high time to install it.  The weather is finally getting a bit better, and I’m getting an itch to start driving again.  I absolutely want it to [...]

View at Picasa Ordered a new intercooler and radiator.  More pics in the intercooler album.

View at Picasa Brand new crate engine, straight from the Mazda warehouse! View at Picasa Lookie what arrived today .  A brand new crate engine and a MSM turbo clutch. The engine is a brandnew longblock. The clutch was a special order directly from Mazda Japan as it’s not available in Belgium.  Got here in [...]

View at Picasa I finally got round to doing a coolant reroute.  I used a Jackson Racing spacer so I could point the thermostat cover to the intake (cold) side.  Without it, I’d have to point it to the exhaust (hot) side.  With the turbo in mind, this wouldn’t be too good an idea.  I [...]

I’ve been slowly building a Megasquirt in preparation for the turbo.  I started the build about 8 months ago, but finally got it running today.  Still need to make some adjustments, but it’s working great so far.  Here’s an overview of the build.

I went to pick up the car today.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  Henry did a magnificent job.  I’m so glad that Oracle never replied when I asked him to order a roof and doors!  What Henry made is so much nicer than the ugly vinyl, bad fitting roof Westfield supplies.

I’m not used to this kind of speed when ordering parts.  The hinges I ordered from Gino (Westfield Nederland) are already on their way to Henry!  Only 35€ shipment included.  Wow, I know where to order Westfield parts from next time!

Dropped the car off at Henry Helmich in Eindhoven (Tigersportscars.nl).  Henry will handmake a hood and sidescreens for the Westfield.  I tried ordering them from Westfield UK, but just like in the past, I never got a reply to my mails.  I also tried to order from Oracle but after asking him 3 times in [...]

Woehoe!  My license plate arrived today.  It has taken a year to get the car on the road, so I’m very glad that it’s behind me! Guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow …

The paperwork was dropped off at the DIV today.  If they mail the license plate out today, I *should* have it in the morning, just in time for the long weekend!  Let’s hope the postal workers show their best side tonight!

This has taken a bit more time than I had suspected but I finally have the paperwork in hand and it’s on its way to my insurance agent.  He’ll bring it to the DIV on Wednesday and since Friday is a holiday, I’m hoping to receive my registration plate by Thursday !  Keeping my fingers [...]

Went to the inspection with the new homologation papers.  All is well and I can now register the car.  Well … almost.  I noticed I am still missing a sticker on the paperwork as a proof that I payed VAT on the car.  Eric wants a bunch of money or no stamp . I could [...]

The new homologation papers have arrived.  They now mention the correct make of the engine: Mazda . Unfortunately, Eric did not keep his promise and the car will not be registered as new.  It’s final.  It will be registered as a used car with the registration date of the donor.  He always said it would [...]

View at Picasa Installed some chrome handbrake and shifter rings today.  This must have been the most tedious job I did on the car.  Spent about 4 hours fitting the damn things. The ring around the shifter is actually a bit too small, but a size bigger would be too big.  View at Picasa trim [...]

Went to have the car inspected today.  I meet up with Eric at the inspection this morning, where he quickly handed over the homologation papers and took off.  Hmm, weird.  I took a glance at the papers and my eye immediately fell on the make of the engine … Ford …. WTF?? Ran after Eric [...]

Got message from Oracle that the approval for my car has arrived!  I’ll try to pick them up by the end of the week so I can get the car inspected and registered next week!  Woehoe!

The car has passed the technical inspection this morning.  The entire inspection took less than an hour and went very well. I was a bit nervous about the headlights, but they were almost spot on.  One headlight was aimed slightly too low, but a gentle pull effectively fixed that . Other than that, no remarks. [...]

I prepared the car for the inspection today.  There’s some modifications to be done, but nothing major. I swapped fog and reverse lights, installed a km/h speedo and adjusted ride height to >9cm. The lowest point of the car is the hoop under the transmission.  With the suspension set to Westfields recommendations, there’s only 8cm [...]

Eric sorted out the paperwork with customs today.  The car will be registered as a new 2009 car.  I have an appointment with the technical inspection next monday.  Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well.

View at Picasa We went to pick up the car at the Westfield factory today.  FLTR, mine, Louis’ and Gunther’s car at the Westfield factory. I left this morning at about 4.00am and was back home at about 22.30.  Again, an extremely tiring 1200km long journey.  I’m glad it’s behind me. View at Picasa It seems [...]

Good news, the car has officially been registered in the UK!  Another month or 2 to complete the registration in Belgium (provided the car comes back immediately).

I thought it would be cool to connect the Megasquirt over bluetooth instead of a normal serial connection.  This would allow me to keep the laptop on the workbench while fiddling with the Megasquirt.  Besides, my laptop doesn’t have serial port so I’d have to buy a USB to serial adapter anyway.  Since a good [...]

View at Picasa I passed the SVA today!  It was a long journey and I’m glad it’s behind us.  We left on Tuesday around 4.30 AM at Oracle (Lokeren) and drove straight to Calais to take the Eurotunnel for Folkstone.  We had 2 cars with us.  Mine, and an other MX5 based Westfield from an other belgian [...]

View at Picasa right wheel sticks out about 10mm. Take a look at the fender. It's more than 10mm more narrow than the left fender. Westfield knows about it but doesn't feel it's necessary to redesign the right fender. I'll have to move the body to the right to compensate. Wish I had known this [...]

And yes!  It’s going to be a Christmas present, just like I hoped for!  I received my SVA date today and the appointment is set for december 23rd.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Fitted the carpets.  It was a long wait, but it was worth it.

Finally some good news.  I didn’t think it was ever going to happen, but I have a Z-number (whatever that may be).  Apparently, with this number, an appointment can be made with the SVA!  As it’s the low season, I expect the waiting times to be short.  I’m hoping for 4 weeks iow, during the [...]

View at Picasa seems like it needs a good cleanup before I permanently install this . I decided to install the oil pan today.  It had been lying on my work bench for a couple of weeks so it was time I got a move on.  My first attempt didn’t go too well though.  I [...]

View at Picasa View at Picasa Built the JimStim this afternoon.  The kit is 100% complete.  Nothing was missing and every single item is in a labeled bag.  It’s really hard to have something go wrong this way.  As to be expected, the kit went together very easy.  Pics in the Megasquirt album.

View at Picasa View at Picasa Today, the news carpets arrived.  It seems that with this set, they finally got it right.   When I unpacked the carpets, I was expecting to find something wrong again.  Much to my surprise though, everything seems to be correct.  Even the handbrake and shifter gaiters are black, just like [...]

View at Picasa 90-99 ecu connector RX8 425cc injectors are plug and play Got a very good deal on a set of yellow top RX-8 injectors. I had already bought some MSM injectors a while back, but I suspect them to be too small for 12psi.  Better to be safe than sorry! They are Bosch [...]

View at Picasa also had a new oil drain welded in The oil pan is ready and it looks beautiful.  I had it milled down to the level of the tranny and a 5mm alu plate welded on. They cut / filed the bottom plate so it fit completely inside the hole for the stongest [...]

Well, I’ve done it. After several months of hesitation, I finally ordered a MS2 for my ’99. I must admit that even after spending hours and hours (days actually) of reading the ’99 topics, it’s still not entirely clear on which circuits to use (lots of them floating around on the miataturbo forum).  I hope [...]

I removed the oil pan to have it modified.  Right now I have 7cm ground clearance, but at least 9cm is needed to drive safely on our belgian roads.  I also need those 9cm to pass the belgian inspection.  The oil pan will be cut off at the height of the transmission.  That should give [...]

View at Picasa This weekend I did a trackday at Zolder and found that the NB uprights cause bump steer. I’ll definitely have to raise the steering rack. I might use the R package tie rods instead as they are about 3/16″ lower. Also a swaybar might not be a bad idea. There’s definitely more [...]

The new carpets have arrived.  They are a joke and will be returned again.

View at Picasa Took the Jeep to a 4×4 day in Hoogstraten.  After playing for an hour or so … the rear half shaft snapped.  I was driving very careful (really) as I know my tires are too big for the axles.  Yet, I still managed to break one driving at walking pace over a [...]

I attended a track day at Croix en Ternois today.  It was my first experience in the Westfield and I was pleasantly surprised.  The car performed very well.  I had some issues with a slipping clutch but adjustment of the actuator rod quickly cured that.  I also lost some clutch fluid through the filler cap.  [...]

Wanted to have the car aligned yesterday.  As it’s only 1 mile from my house, I decided to drive the Westfield.  ‘Fortunately’,  it was too busy at the shop so I had to drive back.  This morning, I did a 2nd attempt, but now the alignment machine was broken.  Again, I didn’t mind because this [...]

View at Picasa I received the 3rd brake light today.  Installed it, together with the fog and reverse lights.  With all the lights installed, I could finally install the boot box and the style bar (I don’t think it’s strong enough to be considered a rollover bar). Although I don’t have the carpets yet, I [...]

View at Picasa The new set of carpets arrived.  Wrong again.  Not black, not electric blue, but dark blue edges.  I’m rather pissed right now . Installed the rear fog and backup light.  I’m not impressed with the looks of the big lights, but at least they’re clearly visible.  Ordered a 3rd stoplight that should be here [...]

t took me the entire evening to get the NA hub fitted onto the NB steering column, but it turned out quite well.  Lots of pictures in the Momo Team Steering Wheel album.

I got a mail from Oracle today asking me to send him the original V5 document of the donor.  The copy I had sent him weeks ago wasn’t accepted by the VOSA.  Why it took him so long to find that out is my guess as much as yours.   IOW, we’re back to square one.  Oh well, I’ll reset the [...]

View at Picasa Haven’t done much these last days.  The car is virtually ready, so all I can do is wait for my SVA date.  My Momo steering wheel arrived today.  All I need now is a hub, carpets and 3rd stoplight.  I’m not in a hurry now.

6 Weeks ago, I received a wrong set of carpets.  I haven’t yet received the new set, so I decided to send Westfield a mail asking them to add electric blue piping to my carpet set.  As usual, no response.  I have no idea what I’ll receive eventually.

View at Picasa top: MSM bottom: stock MX5 Today was a pleasant day.  I received my Odyssey PC680MJ battery.  I ordered the metal jacket version because I felt safer with it. I had my speedo reset to 0km.  I figured that a new car should have a speedo that has zero mileage. My waterpump inlet [...]

Bought a set of Postert wheels to replace the stock MX5 wheels.  I’m using a 15×7″ with ET37 and 195/50-15 Toyo Proxes T1-R. Ordered an Odyssey PC680MJ (with metal jacket for extra protection) as well.  That should be interesting.  Both should be here by the end of the week.

Joe Mac visited me today avec his beautiful creme / red Westfield.  He even let me take it for a testdrive! My first impressions from the testdrive, are that it handles really well, the View at Picasa suspension is more comfortable than I had expected.  The seats are more narrow than I had expected but I [...]

View at Picasa Nearly done, battery to be fitted (don't know where I'll put it yet), cycle wings, carpets, seats and steering wheel. I have reached a milestone today.  I have lowered the car onto the ground! There’s still a couple of items left to do though.  Fit the battery, cycle wings, carpets, seats, adjust headlights, wheel alignment, corner [...]

View at Picasa A look from underneath. The adhesive has cured and I fitted the boot box today.  I didn’t expect it, but the fit is just perfect. The box stays very firmly in place.  It doesn’t move at all and it doesn’t seem to squeel. The first testdrive will tell, but I’m pretty sure [...]

View at Picasa I didn't want to install the boot box with ugly screws, so I used some L shaped aluminum brackets. I placed the boot box in the body, held the bracket against the edge of the body and marked it. I then removed everything and made the gap 1mm smaller than what I [...]

I couldn’t do the first testdrive today, because I had a small coolant leak.  I had filled it up with coolant yesterday afternoon, but when we came home late yesterday evening, I found that most of the coolant had leaked out.  I fixed the leak, but I didn’t have enough coolant left to fill it up again.  I’m [...]

View at Picasa I used a NA header because the NB header has a different flange on the downpipe. The NA header has the O2 sensor in the downpipe though, as opposed to the NB header. I didn't have an O2 bung handy, so I welded a piece of metal on the header and tapped [...]

View at Picasa Replaced the bottom bolt with a rivnut and countersunk screw to clear the driveshaft. Driveshaft arrived today.  It came balanced and with a fresh coat of paint.  Fitted it immediately.  I noticed that the bottom nut from the handbrake was only 0.5cm away from the driveshaft.  To create more room, I replaced [...]

Made my first testdrive today!  I only drove the car up and down the road, but man, it feels fast, really FAST.  I can only image what it will be with the turbo … I haven’t set the ride height yet, as you can tell from this picture.  The oil pan is 4cm from the [...]

View at Picasa View at Picasa This is with the pedal to the floor. There's plenty room. Installed hood latches and the grille.  I used 4 pieces of wood that I glued in the nose with abundant Tec-7.  Tec-7 is a polymer based adhesive, not silicone based.  Those who have used it, will know that there’s no [...]

View at Picasa This is the MSM waterpump inlet. Notice that to clear the turbo, the bend is much shorter than the stock piece. Stephanie from Begi mailed me that she found the missing MSM waterpump inlet.  If all goes well, I should have it by the end of next week. Three weeks ago, I asked Oracle [...]

View at Picasa Decided it was time to tidy up the garage.  Gradually, it became more and more difficult to find my way through all the things lying around.  I guess most of you know what I mean.  I spent all afternoon cleaning up.  The wife will be glad one of the other cars can finally [...]

View at Picasa rear fenders installed. Windscreen fillet testfitted. Made more progress today.  Installed the airfilter, dashboard, front indicators, nose and bonnet.  Will need to take the nose back off to install the grille though. More pics in the body album. View at Picasa I decided to use an open airfilter instead of the stock [...]

When I got up this morning, I went straight to the garage, swapped the connectors on the coils and if fired right up. Stupid mistake, but I’m glad it’s sorted out.  It runs very smooth.  I only let it run for a couple of seconds though, as the coolant system isn’t connected yet!  But at [...]

I got some technical info on the oem immobiliser and I found that it is in functioning. Turns out the problem was the crank angle sensor not being properly plugged in.  So, I now have spark and a running fuel pump, but the engine still doesn’t catch.  It seems that there’s no fuel getting into the [...]

Tried to start the engine today.  Nothing works.  No spark, no fuel, no nothing.  Yet, all wiring seems to be ok.  I’m afraid the oem immobiliser (euro mx5′s have a oem immobiliser) is not functioning.  When I switch on the ignition, the immobiliser indicator is not lighting up.  It’s difficult to test it though.  Anyone [...]

View at Picasa Windscreen and mirrors installed. It took me quite a while to get everything lined up correctly. At first, it seems as if nothing fitted, but after tweaking everthing it all came together Finally installed the windshield.  Aligning it was a rather tedious job.  At first, it seems as if it didn’t fit [...]

View at Picasa View at Picasa moved the radiator approximately 1 cm to the right so the bottom radiator hose would clear the chassis Edit: I moved it back to the other side later because it interfered with the nose. My radiator fan shroud was damaged (donor had been in an accident) so I had [...]

View at Picasa View at Picasa Started on the coolant system this weekend.  I used the upper wiper motor bolt to install the expansion reservoir, as it was just in the right spot.  For the reservoir support bracket, I installed some M5 rivnuts.  Not that I’d ever need to take it off, but there’s not a lot of room under [...]

Sent Oracle a mail today asking for an SVA date.  According to Westfield, it takes 4 weeks to get a date.  According to Oracle, it takes 6 weeks to get a date.  Knowing Eric’s speed (or lack off), ‘m assuming it’ll take 10 weeks, so I won’t be disappointed should it take even longer (this [...]

View at Picasa Mmm, something seems to be missing. Ah, yes, the windshield. View at Picasa I used a very bright light on the inside of the body and marked the hole to be cut out on the outside. Riveted the body to the frame, installed the rear fenders and lights, scuttle and fuel filler. [...]

View at Picasa Notice the top tunnel panels in this picture (from a fellow builder). They are what I should have received, despite Eric Wouters from Oracle claiming there are no MX5 specific panels … Customer service? Received some missing parts from Oracle today.  I now have pretty much all parts.  Unfortunately, Westfield supplied a carpet [...]

The last parts for my engine are on their way from the US.  They left today, so they’ll be here by the end of next week.  Looks like I’ll actually be able to start the engine this month!  I won’t be able to drive the car though.  I haven’t had my drive shaft shortened yet.  Note [...]

View at Picasa Every build diary has one of these Took my first testdrive today.  See the video here. I’m missing a number of bolts, nuts and rivets, but Oracle will supply them in a couple of days.

View at Picasa all done! It took over 4 hours to trim the dashboard to the scuttle.  My efforts in modifying the indicator stalks and welding the column payed of though.  The steering wheel is exact in the center of the instrument cluster. All that needs to be done now is to install new rivnuts [...]

View at Picasa I closed the stock mounting holes, added 1 cm of metal to the RH tab and drilled new holes, 1.5 cm out of center. Installed the steering column today.  This is with the ‘new’ 4-piece steering shaft.  It appeared a tad too short, but there’s a couple of mm play in the [...]

View at Picasa Original fuel lines are just long enough. I did a couple of minor things the last couple of days.  I connected the front fuel lines and installed the remaining parts of the brakes (calipers, disks, brake pads) and tightened the brake lines.  Luckely, the stock fuel lines on the engine were long enough [...]

View at Picasa This is where it gets scary I guessed at how thick the wall is and drilled to about 2cm deep. It didn't break through. I finally had the nerves to drill and tap a port for coolant.  I had to remove the engine again to do this though.  Istarted with a 2mm drill bit [...]

Welded the motor mount and the steering column today.  Will try to install tomorrow.  Might drill and tap the block for water.  Haven’t decided yet if I will … am scared … need to sleep over it.

View at Picasa When your engine hoist isn't really a hoist but a 'steel nurse', you have got to get creative. As my nurse wouldn't go any higher, I decided to lower the car instead. Ikea came to the rescue! The engine is in.  The left motor mount sits 1 inch to far to the [...]

View at Picasa I cut of the entire right part as it interferes with the oil drain. Need to get that welded up obviously. I started modifying the left motor mount to clear the turbo water and oil drain.  This saves me the trouble of having to remove the engine again when I fit the [...]

View at Picasa I used rivnuts for fuel pump and fuel filter. I completed most of the front and rear suspension, installed the radiator, handbrake and a bunch of rivnuts for fuel pump, fuel filter, and some electrical parts (relays etc).  Installed the clutch switch and testfitted the scuttle.  Things are moving slowly, but they are moving. I’m missing [...]

View at Picasa All the turbo bits layed out. Oil drain, heater return line with extra fitting for the turbo. The heater return line will be replaced by a new one though. This one looks too ugly Turbo already has all the hard lines fitted. The exhaust elbow can't be used in the Westfield. I'll [...]

View at Picasa I completed the rear wiring, installed the fuel lines and wanted to install the differential, only to find out that the bolts for the diff are not there.  Luckely, a fellow builder (who lives 40 miles away) has a spare set that I can borrow until mine arrive.  These 7/16 x 4.5″ [...]

View at Picasa View at Picasa Plastic to protect the chroom bits! Woehoe!  My completion package arrived today!  Pretty much everything seems to be there.  There’s a couple of small items missing (windshield wipers, carpets, rivets for the body, bolts for the differential and some interior finish) but looks like I can really start working this week . [...]

Got a mail from Oracle saying he’s going to Westfield on Friday.  He’ll be back on Saturday, so, with a bit of luck, I’ll have the parts on Sunday .

View at Picasa Upper stock, lower shortened. In this picture I removed only 1.5cm, but the I restarted and managed to remove 2cm by filing out the inside of the plastic, where it meets the bend. I managed to shorten the indicator stalk.  I had to bugger up a spare one to figure out how it [...]

Another month has gone by and still no answers from Westfield, nothing, nada, zilch. I did get a mail from Oracle 2 days ago. He’ll contact Westfield to swap my body panels … one month after I had them made locally.  My completion package should be ready by now, except for the seats. No delivery date.

View at Picasa Brand new oem Mazdaspeed turbo I managed to buy a brand new genuine Mazdaspeed turbocharger (IHI RHF5 VJ35).  I don’t plan on installing it right away though.  Probably next year or so. It was just too good a deal to pass up. I’ll be collecting various other bits so that if I want to [...]

I noticed that the steering column mounting points on the hoop are misaligned.  They are about 1cm too far to the right.  Every MX5 based Westfield that I’ve seen has the steering wheel out of center … Gust’s steering wheel Inge’s steering wheel Joe Mac’s steering wheel If I remember correctly, so is Flyin’ Miata’s steering wheel. [...]

View at Picasa View at Picasa The NB has a 3rd wiring loom that the NA doesn't have. For a more tidy look, I decided to route it underneath the car, instead of going through the scuttle. I reused the MX5 grommet. The side repeaters are in.  It was a tedious job, but the result [...]

Tomorrow, it’ll be one month ago that I informed Westfield and Oracle about the wrong body panels.  I have absolutely no news from either.  I have decided to have the correct panel made locally.  I hope this will be the only part I’ll have to pay for twice. I’m looking for things to do while I wait [...]

View at Picasa washer bottle in car I installed the washer bottle and main fuse box.  It’s a thight fit, but with some aluminum brackets, the washer bottle and the main fuse box fit inside the frame triangle. Both the fuse box and the washer bottle can easily be removed if needed. I used rivserts [...]

View at Picasa The last couple of days were very productive.  There’s not much that I can do on the Westfield, so I decided to finally clean up the brake parts and the engine.  The calipers will be sprayed with special caliper paint, but I painted the other parts with Hammerite (uprights, steering knuckles, brackets etc). There’s [...]

There’s not much I can do while I wait the completion package.  Having to wait is not that big a deal, I can’t expect Westfield to have everything ready to be shipped out.  The lack of communication, and the fact that I’m left in the dark is very annoying though.  Both Westfield and Oracle ignore me.   I [...]

View at Picasa This big square connector mustn't stay. It's not waterproof, so it's not a good idea to let it sit inside the tunnel. I cut it off and soldered the wires (there were about 10 wires). As Jean-Marie’s didn’t need the wiring loom from his 10thAE, I decided to use that instead of [...]

Received an email from Oracle saying the completion package won’t be ready on Feb 4th.  It seems Oracle only forwarded the order to Westfield UK … 2 days ago.  Oh well, these things happen.  In 2 months it’s Easter holidays.  The kit surely will be there by then. No news about my body panels though. Over [...]

View at Picasa How often do you get to do that? A friend of mine, Jean-Marie, bought a wrecked 10thAE.  He has little room to dismantle it, so we did it in my garage.  An other friend, Koen, lend us a helping hand.  Big fun and amazing what 3 guys can do in one day [...]

Oracle answered my email and he too thinks I must have gotten the wrong body panels.  He is going to contact Westfield UK about it tomorrow.  Hopefully this gets resolved ok.

View at Picasa The white panel is too short, on the other side of the pedal box, one is missing. The trapezium shaped panel is … a mystery. The panels on top of the tunnel have 2 holes that shouldn't be there, but again, this is a standard panel used in all kits. One of [...]

I thought I was clever by only ordering the starter kit, but I should have ordered both.  The engine mount rubbers, brake line P-clips, a diff bushing and suspension bolts are not included.  Other than fitting the body panels, there’s not much I can do.  I ordered the completion kit today.  There is a 3-4 week [...]

View at Picasa The unexpected has happened!  Totally out of the blue, Oracle gave me a call saying he will deliver my kit this afternoon (on a Sunday!).  I don’t know what to say … except that I’m happy .

View at Picasa Here's the oem wiring loom. I'll remove every single wire that's not needed. You'd be surprised at how much it weighs! Didn’t do much today.  Somehow, cleaning and painting the brakes wasn’t very appealing, so I decided to do something more fun.  I started with the wiring loom.  I removed most of the [...]

View at Picasa The differential was a good as rust free. A minor cleanup and she's as good as new! I removed the differential today.  The donor is completely gutted now and is ready to be taken to the scrapper.  The 32mm nuts from the half shafts were a bit of a pain, bit all [...]

Well, nothing much.  I expected the engine to be done last Saturday, but in fact I have done nearly nothing.  I’ve been in bed for a couple of days with a temperature and a sore throat.  The only thing I managed to do was removal of the front suspension parts (ball joints, steering knuckles, calipers, disks [...]

View at Picasa Transmission came out well. A new coat of paint, a fresh clutch slave with a dab of lithium grease. Looking good. I spent the best part of the day cleaning the transmission.  I then sprayed it with special paint for aluminum.  I did 3 thin coats to get the best adhesion possible. [...]

View at Picasa With the front of the car cut off, removing the engine was childsplay I borrowed an engine hoist, so I could finally lift the engine out of the donor.  I prepared everything yesterday (removed exhaust, removed undercar wiring loom, loosened all bolts, disconnected engine wiring, ground strip, fuel lines etc).  It took less than half [...]

View at Picasa Anyone need some doors from a 2000 NB? Drop me a mail I started the front of the car.  It’s difficult to see in the pictures, but the front of the car has been bent towards the LH side of the car.  I removed the entire front end of the car for [...]

View at Picasa It seems worse than it is. The radiator isn't even broken (it's slightly out of shape though). Engine is fine, although the crank pulley was 'borrowed' by someone I’ll be leaving tonight to pick up the donor.  Unfortunately, the car is in the UK … about 750km one way.  As the trip [...]

View at Picasa Here's my donor. This is a 2000 NB with only 25K on it (with full history). A suitable very low mileage donor was located on ebay.  After 6 nerving days, it appears that I was the only bidder on the car.  Needless to say I got a good deal.  This is a [...]

After helping Patrick build his Westfield, I decided I wanted one for myself as well, so I placed the order today.  Delivery is scheduled for January.