New Roof

After nearly a year of owning Scarlett, I've finally got enough cash together to buy her the new roof she desperately needs. Her roof started to rip in the summer, and just got worse and worse until there were cat sized holes in the roof. (I know that they were cat sized, because I'd seen cats going in and out of them!)

Drivers side rip:



Passenger side:



Scarlett went to Jack Smith's in Swansea for her new roof on Tuesday this week. These guys are one of those best kept secrets. They have no website, no FaceBook page - nothing. But if you ask on PistonHeads, MX5nutz or just about any car forum about getting a new roof, you'll find that their name comes up.



If you go there yourself, don't be put off with the tiny back street workshop. These guys are friendly, funny
and do a simply superb job! Thanks for the coffee and donuts guys! They craft a new roof for you - made to measure - while you wait. It takes about three-four hours. You need to be aware that they take cash; they have no facility for cards. (There is a cash machine round the corner).

Here we are mid-fit:



And here we are after the event. I stopped around the corner to take a few shots before the rain started.





I'm really happy - it's made such a difference.

Ignition!

I ordered some new ignition leads from Autolink on eBay. I've decided to go for bright yellow as my plan is to change all the hoses for yellow silicon too at some point. They look great. :-)

Tunnel Run

I just drove down to Worthing this morning and decided to take a little video of my blast through the tunnel... The sound isn't great, but you can just hear the induction kit roaring through the tunnel!

Video on Flickr

Slight Issue

We hopped in the so far incredibly reliable Scarlett to pop off on a mission earlier and she was misfiring badly after a few hundred metres. Turns out that the front (long) plug lead wasn't in properly... so I tried reseating it and it broke in my hand! I'm assuming that it's just fragile and old - so time for a new set. Luckily, we have a spare MX-5 lying about, so I pinched one for now and we're up and running again...

Oil and Plugs Change

I realised that Scarlett is about to pass through her 60,000 mile birthday in fewer than 100 miles, so I spent a happy hour changing her oil, filter and plugs yesterday. It may be just wishful thinking, but I'm certain that she drive much better this morning... I'll change her oil again in 3000 miles if it makes this much difference!

I also refurbished the slightly surface rusted upper radiator brackets and remove the remnants of the bracket that holds the standard air box in place.

CB Radio Installation - 10-4 Good Buddy

As a previous classic mini driver, I found having a CB in the car a bit of a 'must'. It was brilliant for events such as the London to Brighton run. Great for chatting to other minis while you're stuck in traffic trying to get out of Brighton at the end of the day, and good for keeping the convoy together.

So I've decided to install my faithful Midland 98+ into my MX-5. Here's how I did it.

Firstly, here is a picture of the dash as the install began. Note that the radio head unit is in the lower of the two DIN slots. I'm going to move it to the top slot and have the CB in the bottom one. There is a good reason for this. The CB microphone will be sticking out and I don't want it to get in the way of the CD loading slot. See, forward planning!



The first job is to remove the cubbyhole and clock. It's true that I'll probably miss that cubby hole, but the radio has a clock display. The second picture shows the radio and clock removed and the wire basket shifted up to the top DIN slot.



Rather than adding a second antenna to the car for the CB, I wondered whether it would be possible to replace the normal car antenna with a CB one. Then I'd need to split the signal into both the CB and the car radio. Turns out that this is entirely possible using a RM DX-27 splitter.

The complete list of what I bought was as follows. I used Thunderpole in the UK. They've always been helpful and knowledgeable. They also have a decent forum for any troubleshooting issues that you might have. (Advert over!)

• RM DX-27 Splitter
• Fixed Body Mount (This was the wrong mount! The CB antenna is at an angle on a Mk2 - more later). It can be bought along with enough cable to reach to the DIN mounts with plenty to spare and best of all the ends are pre-terminated.

I already had an Orbiter antenna and a DIN mount for my transceiver.

The install was fairly simple, although maybe a little more car had to come off than I'd first expected! I started in the boot and removed the lining. It's easy on a Mk2. There are press studs that pop out easily and you can lift the liner out.

I removed the standard radio antenna and the sealed mount on the body, leaving a hole that the Fixed Body mount would cover (and seal). The photo below shows the original antenna mount pulled down out of the way and the new CB cable in place.

The cable was routed from the dash, under the centre console and behind the carpet to a hole in the bulkhead where other wiring seems to congregate. With the help of an able assistant and a torch, it was pretty simple to grab the connector as it poked through and route it along the path taken by the previous radio antenna.

Here you can see the centre console removed and the cable being routed backwards:





(I've also found my alarm control box!)

The thick cable is the CB antenna cable lead, while the thinner one taped to it is the cable heading to my external speaker. (I always use pink tape - that way you can never confuse it with anything factory standard.) All CB units tend to have a very poor internal speaker. This will also tend to be pointing down behind the dash, so you need an external speaker.

Some people try to put the sound via an aux input on their stereo, but these speakers aren't really very good for the purpose - they're too 'hifi' and the inevitable bursts of white noise don't really do them any good.

So I've fitted an external speaker. Now, in my Mini, I just screwed it to a bracket I made and got on with it.
The interior of my Mk2 is much to nice to do that to, so I'm thinking hard about where to position it. For now, I've tucked it up into the mesh on my wind blocker. It works quite well, so it might just stay there. It's right near my ear.

At the dash end, I'd already removed the radio so that it was easy to get the cables into place. The end of the antenna cables goes into the input on the splitter which was then tucked behind the dash. There is a nice space for it to jam on the left handside in a Mk2. Hoping nicely jammed = no rattles. We'll see. The outputs from the splitter go to the CB and the radio aerial socket.

The only issue was power. There are several converters and connectors behind my dash that take the Mazda plug into an ISO plug and then convert to the Kenwood radio format. I cut into these to provide power for my CB. (I had to bolt and earth to the metal work behind the dash too.)

The picture shows the ISO to Kenwood cables and how they have been spliced to give me power for the CB. I built an extension cable for the power as the one on my CB is very short having been cut to size for my mini previously.



Then it was really a case of slotting it all together into the dash.

Warning! It is vital that you use an SWR meter to check that the antenna is working correctly before you try to transmit. You should check this article because they explain this process way better than I would. You'll obviously need an SWR meter, which you can get for about £10 from Maplin or even eBay. Just to prove that I take my own advice:



Here is the finished installation:



And the outside... see what I meant about getting the wrong mount? I need one that has the ability to turn a corner... about another £3-5 I guess. It's not awful for now.



And finally, my six year old daughter testing it all out and chatting to her brother in the house. :-)

European Excursion

With the weekend approaching, Katy and I decided (at the last minute) to head to the Continent and see a few sights. We're avid geocachers, so the trip had a purpose: to add three countries to our geocaching pedigree.

The trip took in four countries, covered six hundred miles and left us both sunburned and soaked. Fabulous!

This maps shows the journey (click for a zoomed version):



Friday

We left Burghfield Common at about 1330 and popped via Halfords in Reading for get some headlight converters. They're so easy to fit and apparently a legal requirement, so it surprised me how few British cars we saw that had them fitted. For reference, they cost £9.99 and seem to be single use. Hmm.

The drive down to Dover is some 120 miles and we managed the majority of this with the roof down. Some heavy rain started part way around the M25, but luckily there was a few minutes of stop-start traffic so I could reach behind and grab the roof.

As soon as that had passed and the roof was dry again, down it went! This is my standard approach to the MX-5. The roof should be down unless it's raining or so cold that you'll damage it while folding.

We stopped near Dover to grab a couple of Geocaches and bought some dinner from Subway. Then on-wards to the ferry terminal. Our ferry was originally booked for 2015 and we arrive din Dover at about 1815. P&O were very accommodating. They got us on the next available ferry for no additional cost, meaning we were away on the 1835 sailing. The crossing was smooth and painless and we enjoyed watching the seagulls following close behind the boat. A bunch of British teenagers were feeding them on the wing - quite entertaining to watch gull trying to take food out of their hands!

That night we stayed in the Holiday Inn outside of Calais. Having eaten earlier, the bill was pretty moderate. We'd chosen the Holiday Inn because they have a late check-in. If we'd not been able to get across the Channel until 2015, then we'd have been too late to check-in to most other hotels. (Bear in mind that France is an hour ahead of the UK.)

Saturday

After a good breakfast, we drove out of Calais on the coast road to visit a statue that commemorates the an early pioneer of flight. Flying is close to Katy's heart, so it was quite an interesting statue. It's also the location of a virtual Geocache, our first in France. (GCG4DE)

I just had to take a photo of Scarlett here! The drive from the hotel to here was enough to dry of her roof - I dislike folding it away wet - and it went down just before we drove off.



After this, we popped briefly to Carrefour in Calais and bought a few items for a picnic lunch. The next stage of the journey was to drive to Breendonk, near Antwerp. (Point D on the map above). This was a concentration camp in the Second World War. We had a good drive down there and the walk around it was both emotional and informative.

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We discovered that you can use an MX-5 boot lid as a picnic table. Fresh french bread and some rather nice cheese made by monks (apparently) - perfect.



After spending a few hours in Breendonk, we then drove north and joined the Anwerp ring road. From here, we journeyed a few miles into the Netherlands to - yes, you've guessed it - collect a Geocache. (Point E on the map). There really was no other reason to head into the Netherlands, but I'm glad we did because I grabbed a few more shots of Scarlett on a quiet road:



After this, the drive west to Bruges was pleasant. We ended up taking some country roads through some beautiful villages. Some of them were not very MX-5 friendly, being entirely cobbled with rough stones. Hard suspension meant that the ride was not pleasant at over 15 mph!

This part of the Belgian countryside is very, very flat, but stunning in its own way:



I rather liked this view too! (MX-5 porn?!):



Driving into Bruges and finding the hotel was simplicity itself. The TomTom One that we were using had the whole of Europe on it, and took us exactly to the door. We stayed in the Apollo ArtHotel. (Link)

We had a super evening in Bruges itself, finding a nice little Bistro and dining on freshly made pizza. The local beer - Jupiler - was actually rather nice, especially in large glasses! Ahem.




Sunday

We awoke rather lazily and headed into Bruges for about 10am. The shops don't really open until then on a Sunday anyway, and we wanted waffles for breakfast. We drove into Bruges and parked in one of the underground car parks. We witnessed some frankly awesome parking:



And then wandered around to find a waffle shop that was open. I'm so glad I went for the Ice Bruges. Decadent and fabulous:



The rest of our morning was taken up with a boat trip on the canals of Bruges and some more wandering about. The town is simply beautiful. I love the architecture: it's random, with every building being different from the once beside it.

After we'd had enough of Bruges, we went back to the car and drove down to Ieper (Yypres). (Point G on the map). Here we visited the place where Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields". There was a Geocache there too. War cemeteries always make me melancholy, so we went into Ieper itself for some coffee.

The drive back to Calais brought with it some very heavy rain, so the roof went back up. During this rainstorm, we got a wave from a Mk3 MX-5 driver who not only was blasting along way above the speed limit, but had the roof down. Not sure his girlfriend looked so happy... Nutter! :-)

We arrived in Calais way early for our ferry, but this time had to wait an hour for the next one. P&O still had us on an earlier ferry than booked, so you can't fault them. It was at this point that I realised that I was actually quite sun burned. Oops.

Here we are queued up for the ferry:



We ate fish and chips in Dover from a take away, our plans to find a restaurant being scuppered by places being shut fairly early on a Sunday. The drive back from Dover was uneventful and Katy fell asleep for most of it....

It was a great weekend, helped out no end by having the MX-5 and keeping that roof down for most of the way. Loved it! The next plan is to head out with two cars and drive down to the Swiss Alps. Watch this space...

Typhoon!

The MX-5 is a lovely little sports car, but by default the 1.6 engine sounds a bit, well, understated. I decided to make a simple modification that improves the engine noise. It also adds a couple of BHP - nothing to write home about, but welcome nonetheless.

I've installed a K&N Typhoon induction filter kit. The box is pretty big!

Inside, is everything that you need to fit the kit. The red pipe is also available in shiny silver, but I think that red should look much better on my car. If I fitted shiny silver, I'd feel like I had to shine up my cam-cover and everything else to match...!

Most of the kit can be put together in your living room ready to take out to the car.



So here is the stock engine bay. We're going to strip out the black piping at the front, the large air box and the weirdly curved ram pipe on the right. We'll be keeping all the smaller pipe work, such as the crank case pressure release and the air temperature sensor. The mass air sensor will also be staying (it the box at the end of the large black pipe.



Here the kit is half fitted. I opted to leave in some brackets that are no strictly necessary anymore as the fixing bolts were quite rusty and I wasn't sure whether the Typhoon was going to be ok - you never know - so I didn't want to do any damage prematurely.

(Update, some weeks later: I am going to remove these brackets now.)



The kit is finished and all the jubilee clips have been tightened. The result: a significantly emptier engine bay and an awesome howling noise as the revs build. It starts at around 3000 revs and really screams at 5500. If you drive the car sedately, the improved airflow should reap rewards in terms of fuel economy as the fuel will be burning more efficiently, but this remains to be seen.



I will try to record a video with the noise.

Pre-Midlife Crisis

In December 2011, I found that my old faithful Peugeot 307 had some serious issues with the diesel system. I'd had the car for nearly seven years and it had been a solid and reliable workhorse. However, it was needing work done to the common rail fuel system, a new cam belt, some shocks and a sniff of electrical problem.. time to sell her on.

So in early January, on a cold and very wet day, I bought her replacement. It was a bit of a whim purchase, if I'm perfectly honest. I bought a 2001 MX-5 Isola from a local garage. I'm separated from my kids mother, so I really don't need a five seater car full time. (I do need a bigger car every other weekend of course, so I bought a cheap 306.. more about that on another blog.)

Here she is one the day I bought her. Remember I said it was raining? Well.... we stopped off for the five minutes where it stopped all day and took a couple of photos.

My Dad has had a couple of MX-5's over the years. He had a special edition Mk1 (99 of 250) BRG with tan interior a few years back and now owns a 2005 silver MK2.5. I have admit that I was pretty impressed with the old Mk1 he had - it drove like a dream. I don't really know why he ever got rid of it, but, hey... He seems pretty happy with his new one. 

All of this definitely affected my choice of two seater sports car. That and the seriously low cost. You get a lot of car for the money, whether you buy a Mk1 or Mk2. I'm not convinced about the MK3, but I'll no doubt wax lyrical about that in the future.

So far, I'm loving my purchase. I can't wait to get out there and get the lid down!