Newbie in the American colonies

[NVP66S]

I guess the first order of business is to introduce myself. I've been lurking for a few weeks. If you turn my screen name upside down, you'll see what kind of motorcycle I ride. (Yeah, I know it's called a Hornet in Europe) I'm buying a Mazda SDV SEiW kit through the US dealer, Flyin' Miata. The factory says my kit is due to ship from Kingswinford the week of November 8.

 

Last week, I got a trashy but low mileage '97 Miata and have pulled the relevant bits. Now it's cleanup and overhaul time while waiting for the kit. I have a few early questions. First, I haven't seen other members from the USA. Are there any? I would really like to get a ride. I'm in the desert about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, near the Willow Springs raceway.

 

Second, when driving the MX-5 I can't see the tops of the speedo and tach, where the needles mostly live. Does the Westfield have a different layout?  (seat height, steering wheel height, instrument cluster height?)

 

Thanks in advance,

Dan

 

 

[Nic Chase (NICO) - Shropshire & Mid-Wales AO]

Welcome Dan. Can't answer your questions but we have lots of MX5 experts who can. I believe there are some American members. Scott will know more about that.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman)]

Welcome Dan, yes there are a few US members dotted around, some of them do come on the Boardroom occasionally, one has just recently finished an MX5 build if I recall correctly!

 

Not sure how close any of them are to you though.

 

As far as the instruments go, I'm guessing you've gone for the Miata dash option, re-using the original Mazda instruments set into a new Westfield binnacle?

 

Obviously the clocks are in a relatively fixed position on the dash, but there is usually some scope for everything else! The angle of view is going to be slightly different to the original Mazda anyway, I suspect. But you have the option of; different size wheel - because of the angles concerned it doesn't take much difference in size to really open up the view. Steering wheel spacers, obviously this has an effect on how comfortable the "reach" to the wheel is as well, but again, because of the distances and angles, it doesn't take a very deep spacer to make quite a difference to the view of the clocks.

 

A slightly more involved solution is to adjust the actual height/angle of the wheel and column. (I'm not sure how much space you have to play with when using the Mazda dash, others will be able to help more here...) Essentially though, the upper column bolts to the frame in two places. Spacer blocks of different, non-standard sizes can be made up and fitted, these can be used to move the columns height up and down a small amount, or by just changing one of the mounting heights, you can just tweak the angle of the wheel slightly.

[alexander72]

welcome Dan, have fun building your westy mate

[Mark (smokey mow)]

From one SDV owner to another, Wecome to the club Dan

I'm a bit short of time this morning, but when I return from work tonight I shall point you toward a few useful resources that should be of help with your build.

[Norman Verona]

Welcome Dan, Smokey (and others) will help you out. Have fun.

[Captain Colonial]

Hiya and welcome Dan!

 

Lucky you, a project to look forward to and near to Willow Springs - great track!

 

Not that long ago, Graham (grahamf) finished his Mazda SDV up the coast from you in Los Gatos, a very nice car in green.  Here's a link to his posts, which may well assist you - you can PM him as well now that you're a member.  (He did beat you to a personalised CA plate, though - he's got 7IBUILT.)

 

Clicky here

 

In addition, there's JohnCh in Washington state, and Englishman-Abroad in Pennsylvania.

 

(And before I was Membership Secretary, my name in here was Captain Colonial - I'm from the States originally and lived in San Diego for 15 years - so hello, colonial brethren   )

 

There's lots of great advice and support you'll get in here with your build, particularly Smokey and Kuga, who are battling for Mazda SDV knowledge supremacy.

 

Make sure you ask lots of questions and start a build thread or blog in here with photos so we can help.

 

Have fun - the adventure starts here!

[darve]

welcome. good to see another Mazda sdv

[SootySport]

Howdee Dan,    Grahamf lives that way and is a keen trackdayer, not sure what track he goes to though.   Good luck with your build.

[Captain Colonial]

While I'm thinking about it, better bookmark this link, Dan:

 

http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/98062-updating-the-mazda-sdv-build-manual/

[KugaWestie]

 

There's lots of great advice and support you'll get in here with your build, particularly Smokey and Kuga, who are battling for Mazda SDV knowledge supremacy.

 

 

I know my place and there is no battle Scott!

 

Welcome to the club Dan, good luck with the build.

 

We need lots of pictures and a detailed build thread, and then we will all chip in to help 

[Mark (smokey mow)]

While I'm thinking about it, better bookmark this link, Dan:

http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/98062-updating-the-mazda-sdv-build-manual/

thanks Scott, that's the link I didn't have time to search for this morning

Dan, these's also plenty of other stuff you may find useful along the way in the archieves of the forum. Just type in MX5 or mazda into the search box at the top of the screen and you should find most of them.

To offer an answer to your last question, the big adavantage of our cars is that they are completely customisable to our own tastes or body shapes. Things like the steering column position can easily be adjusted during the build stage with a couple of spacers to move it up or down, likewise it could also be brought further forward or back with a different length centre column section. The adjustable runners under the seats can also be removed to give a lower driving position.

On my car and sever others in the UK we have also gone as far as to fit different instruments and dashboards so as not to use the instrument cluster from the MX5 (miata).

Lots of photos from my build can all be found at http://www.mx5westfield.co.uk

Most of all, enjoy building your car and if you have any questions just ask on here and we'll help you to find the answer

[NVP66S]

Wow. A member for 1/2 a day and the response is great! Thank you all. First, yes I plan to use the MX-5 instrument cluster, even if the only reason is to simplify the wiring. It took about 12 hours to pull that loom from the donor car. Second, I have started a build diary and will put it onto this site, I just need a few days to absorb all the site info. Before I joined last night, I couldn't do searches, so now I hope to ask less embarrassing questions that have already been answered many times. My build spreadsheet keeps the donor car work separate from the kit build work. My original intent was to buy the refurbished donor car pallet from Flyin' Miata, but they couldn't find a suitable donor. Los Angeles has lots of Miatas for sale at any given time and I managed to buy one that fit the bill pretty closely.

 

I don't travel much, but I was on business to Northampton in January and managed to visit the Westfield factory. Lots of snow and ice on the roads, so I didn't ask for a test drive. At least I got to verify that I fit!

Dan

[alexander72]

hey there, I am in Northampton as is Northampton Motor Sport - anytime you are here look me up and I'll show your the sights of Northampton.  

[Dommo]

I had the same idea re: using the Mazda dash to simplify things, then change to aftermarket eventually. I'm glad I was persuaded to go straight in for aftermarket though. Smokey Mow has even produced a useful guide for the wiring!

 

Either way, have fun stripping the loom