Kugawestie's MX5 SDV Build Thread - Now An Upgrade Thread

[KugaWestie]

Drained the coolant from the car tonight, as it was only rigged up temporary, and I also need the expansion tank out of the way to make the loom work easier.

After that, I spent some time on the RHS of the car, working again on getting the loom a bit tidier and temporarily taped in final positions.

I found the master brake cylinder wires, so put some new spade connectors on these and connected them to the master cylinder.

But the best part of the day was posties delivery. Mum and Dads Xmas cash was spent on this........reduced from £100 down to what they gave me, all leather Simoni.

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The blue theme continues!

[KugaWestie]

Made some nice progress today

Finished off tidying up all the wiring in the engine bay, and have now taped it all up in individual runs.

Put the headlights on temporary and then worked out what wire does what on the headlight by just taking a feed and earth straight from the battery. Then I did the same with the headlight feed wires, and have got them all nicely labelled up for connection later.

Next I extended the side repeater cables to make them long enough to get to the outer edge of the cycle wing stays.

This afternoon I dragged the tub out from under the tarpaulin shelter and gave it quick wash off and towel down

Then I borrowed a lift from the wife, and it is now on the car unfixed

Then I disconnected all of the wiring loom from everything in the engine bay, and dragged it into the dash area

Finally, I offered up the scuttle to the body. It seems like I need to do a bit of trimming on the scuttle as it is hitting the steering column and not sitting on the location tabs - is this normal?

[Tom Frankland (T3OMF)]

Yes that's normal, you just need to cut out a small section

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Yes, I needed to cut a sort of upside down U shaped slot into the upright part of the scuttle, and a matching slot across the return edge of the grp.

[KugaWestie]

Yes that's normal, you just need to cut out a small section

Thanks - I thought it was, but think twice cut once - I guess the black GRP panel that goes there covers the cut out

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Thanks - I thought it was, but think twice cut once - I guess the black GRP panel that goes there covers the cut out

Correct

[KugaWestie]

Yes, I needed to cut a sort of upside down U shaped slot into the upright part of the scuttle, and a matching slot across the return edge of the grp.

Thanks, Just wanted to be sure

I have already had the Dremel on the return edge

[deanoecosse]

Drained the coolant from the car tonight, as it was only rigged up temporary, and I also need the expansion tank out of the way to make the loom work easier.

After that, I spent some time on the RHS of the car, working again on getting the loom a bit tidier and temporarily taped in final positions.

I found the master brake cylinder wires, so put some new spade connectors on these and connected them to the master cylinder.

But the best part of the day was posties delivery. Mum and Dads Xmas cash was spent on this........reduced from £100 down to what they gave me, all leather Simoni.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The blue theme continues!

For IVA, you'll either need to fit the standard padded wheel, or make up a decent pad for the centre of that new steering wheel. I fitted a small hard centred wheel before my IVA and made a nice little pad from foam and covered it with vinyl which was secured by velcro. Be warned tho, the IVA tester did bash it a bit to make sure it didn't fall off easily, so if you do make your own pad you'll need to make it secure

[KugaWestie]

For IVA, you'll either need to fit the standard padded wheel, or make up a decent pad for the centre of that new steering wheel. I fitted a small hard centred wheel before my IVA and made a nice little pad from foam and covered it with vinyl which was secured by velcro. Be warned tho, the IVA tester did bash it a bit to make sure it didn't fall off easily, so if you do make your own pad you'll need to make it secure

Hi Dean

I am intending to use the standard Mazda wheel for IVA, and then fit the new wheel afterwards.

The standard Mazda wheel has a horn press in it - does this need to work or can I use a horn button on the dash?

[deanoecosse]

As long as the car has a working horn which is appropriately identified, that's all you need. I fitted a push button horn to my dash which had the correct symbol on it, but you could use something like a dymo label instead. You might want to put a bit of tape over the horn symbol on the steering wheel incase the iva tester has issue with it.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

As long as the car has a working horn which is appropriately identified, that's all you need. I fitted a push button horn to my dash which had the correct symbol on it, but you could use something like a dymo label instead. You might want to put a bit of tape over the horn symbol on the steering wheel incase the iva tester has issue with it.

I'm with Dean, the horn not working on the wheel shouldn't casue a problem and I don't think you need to worry about covering the symbol. If you do then IMO I'd sand it off with a dremmel rather than putting tape over it, I've read a few reports on various forums of people falling foul on various things because tape is not considered to be permament.

[KugaWestie]

Done a little bit tonight.

Firstly, I trimmed out the scuttle to allow the steering column some clearance.

Then I marked out and drilled the two holes through the scuttle for the wiring loom to pass through using a 65mm diameter cutter - this gave a nice snug fit. I pulled the wires from the main fusebox and fed both sets of loom through the new holes, and popped the gromets into their new homes.

Next - I have to start tackling this lot

[Tom Frankland (T3OMF)]

Good Luck..........

[KugaWestie]

Good Luck..........

Thanks - Patience will be key I think

[Captain Colonial]

Time well spent here will pay massive dividends later in the car's life. Be methodical, take your time, think ahead, imagine having to trace them if there's a fault, and permanently label and record EVERYTHING.