WallerZ

You'll be ok with me, the AA van can only tow those narrow lanes at an average of 5mph

The test drive will seal a deal that is already made lol, the question comes down to how much ££££ do you want to put into it? Either route, new or used, will result in a lot of man hours, but those are free hours, its the cost of getting the parts and having a professional refurb on items for that new reg. Honest question though - what is it that attracts you to the new reg? The reg number or the new engine? For me when I started my build 4 years ago, the Zetec crate engine was about 700 quid. That didn't involve a gearbox or ECU. Got my MX5 for 750, ragged it around for 3 months then took it apart and broke even (including tax/insurance) whilst keeping all the bits I needed for the Zero. How much does the Ford donor pack and engine and ECU etc cost? No brainer for me tbh, espeically now seeing an old new zetec engine is £1070!! Can buy 4 MX5 engines for that and rebuild them! They're basically disposable but never break lol.

My honest advice....New plate will cost more and you have to meet a lot more criteria for that fabled new reg, which of course GBS can help with but as many find, this comes at a cost. Using a donor vehicle you get pretty much all the major parts you need, can break even/make profit selling unneeded bits and by getting a donor you can verify everything works already by ragging an MX5 through some country lanes for a month or two beforehand. You equally get to know the parts well by cleaning them up and giving them a refresh with a lick of paint. Plus, none of this grey area with a refurbished part (not collection of). Any refurb then is done at your own desire and if needed (hint, MX5 engines are bulletproof, mine had 120k on it and still took a thrashing and wanted more) Plus, MX5 and parts are generally cheaper/easier to find than Ford nowadays. (Felt there was a lack of support for the donor route in this thread lol) To summarise, new will be more expensive but reduces elbow grease, donor will be cheaper but requires more of your time. And the cost difference is well into 4 figures. Don't think that means less quality though, that's down to you lol

I'm at Castle Combe for a track day the weekend before Wales, currently weighing up whether to play safe with the Audi or give the kit a hard time to make sure it'll be ok (hopefully by then anything that will break will have done already!) I'll give you a shout on Saturday as I'll probably be going somewhere Sunday to play hide and seek with the AA again I will be up for a shakedown the following weekend though providing it doesn't pack up over the week.

I'll drop my spare parts off at the weekend, you ok to take a spare engine and crane yeah?

Start with tyres, if they're spinning up easily just think what may happen if you over do it in a corner or hard braking....Might even solve your problems

Probably won't make this one but definitely up for the next one.....if I can get further than my road and back by myself lol

Maaaaaaybe, I'll see what time I get away from work/can get there.... Its meant to be dry in Coventry from 1600ish.....well damp but no rain lol. You know you want a carvery

I got a soft buffing pad for the drill for when I resprayed my front arches. tbh its crap and best used on small parts if at all. If you're gonna do a car buy a proper polishing mop, but you'll have to pay. Maybe on the ali panels you'll be ok but looking for my Audi I decided against it due to the risk of the cheap ones doing more damage to the paintwork than good

Was there a separate topic for this? I thought I'd stuck my name down to go but can't seem to find anything? I'm aiming to go, doesn't look like anyone else is then lol

If anyone has a tow rope, I'll be there!

I also got to Stoneleigh but thought I'd save fuel and get a tow home

Sounds great.....except the 8 weeks....I better get this kit sorted otherwise Wales is going to be its first outing

Buckle yourselves in, its story time....mainly as I'm waiting on my computer to finish its simulation and its too hot to go for a wander.... Once upon a time, well, Saturday morning really, I was planning on put my V6 back in the kit car (yes it was out, again, get over it lol) however disaster had struck! Due to the conversion, I needed a flywheel spacer to ensure the clutch/starter etc engagement was all still correct. In the latest of the many engine in, out, in, out, shake it all abouts, I had opted to swap back to the original flywheel temporarily from my lightweight version, as I could use this on the motor I'm due to rebuild....eventually. This was where the issue started. The lightweight flywheel had a crank location pocket of around 2.8mm deep. The original, 5mm deep. As I torqued up the flywheel, the spare pocket gap was taken up by the crushing of my nice shiny aluminium spacer obviously this was unknown to me until the gearbox was all back on and mated, back in the car and starter motor checked for engagement. The wobble was clear to see as it spun at 300rpm. Nightmare. Guess its back out then. Having got the engine back out and identified the problem I began my frantic searching for a solution - after the compulsory sulk and tantrum - Having had to hammer out the old spacer, a new one was the only solution. Saturday lunchtime was filled with a number of calls and messages, even as far as asking a friend at my old job (where I was thrown under the bus and haven't spoken to them since), in the hope of finding someone who could offer a decent price and lead time for a new, steel spacer to solve my troubles. This is where our hero comes in, Rich/RedSeven Automotive heard my yelp, he made my original so knew how to help. He took in my drawings, late in the noon, only to quote - one would assume. By Sunday eve his reply came in, "it'll be ready at 18.30, if you want to pop in". Well it was an hour away and in this sweltering heat, a nice air con'd drive was hard to beat. I held my breath asking for permission, and with a nod of the head I was away on my mission. Yeah, I'll stop with that rhyming rubbish, its far too taxing in this weather. But anyway, I just wanted to say a big thanks to Rich for smashing out a new part for me over the weekend. You've not only saved me a week or more of sulking but SWMBO a week of dealing with it absolute top notch, cheers Rich!

Merlins Blood (or equivalent). Spray on, leave, jet wash off, wipe down/polish. Job done! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj-houiPhrU

http://www.ironmongeryonline.com/75mm-lift-off-butt-hinges?utm_source=adrac&utm_medium=shopping&imt=1&gclid=CIaS88Lvq9QCFa-77QodzD4Kqw&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_source=adrac&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content= 94p, can't go wrong! Bit hefty but my doors were custom made and mild steel frames so went a bit OTT on the hinges. Did the job nice and cheap

I'll aim to be there saturday and most likely sunday depending on the car behaving itself. Do we have any info on the location of the club stand or are we all in Broadgate?

Adding parents (or old people) doesn't work the same on kit cars. I asked this and they basically said it would be another quote for them as well and added on. I'd bite their hand off at £560, very good price at 21 and after a year experience in the car it'll come down

I have a feeling there was a coolant duct into the original manifold that with the swap to the bike throttle bodies it may be leaking which my gasket paper covered and blocked off (now on original gaskets which aren't ideal as my adapter plates aren't perfect either) - so thank you Ian I shall check that out. First call is to try the gasket paper again, I'm becoming a pro at getting them on and off so shouldn't be hard. Then I shall look at the fuelling again, it is running very rich as problem after problem I have not been able to sort this out - however this is only happening on the LH bank and 1 spark plug out the 3 was looking wet - coincidentally the one by this extra coolant duct. If it does still appear to be head gasket it may be goodnight on this project as MX6 engines are getting rarer and parts are either stupidly expensive or non-existent....

Well it would appear a miracle is required for this bloody car

So, thoughts on this? Its just one thing after another. Car has only sat in the garage and has the throttle bodies adjusted since this and the last video i posted. Unsure if its just from being sat but it seems clear at idle and only when revving. Can't check again now as its playing up AGAIN and not revving at all now (goes lean and tries to die) but that could be a completely new problem. But yeah, open to suggestions. Was hoping to make motofest this weekend, preferably not as a steam engine lol

At Stoneleigh it was found my alternator wiring for the ignition feed and warning lamp were the wrong way round which left the battery at 12V on idle and constantly draining. Might be worth checking those wires (which I think are the ones you're not sure about) worst case if you can't check, swap them and see what happens. Did me no harm having them the wrong way round, other than the aforementioned no charging lol

I was 21ish when I first insured mine 3.5 years ago. It was £680ish, my only car (so commuting) and 9k miles a year (they believed I worked very close to home...) Living in Coventry city centre-ish. I'm now 25 (insurance was last month at 24) and 3k miles, a claim (unknown 3rd party hit and run) and have a main car (no commuting) same first part of the postcode and it was £310 with A-Plan. I've doubled the engine power since then too. You should have no problem and probably be very happy with the cost of insurance (despite the age discounts lol)

Yeah the plan was to see how this went as about 75 quid for the pair it was worth a punt as I wanted it louder. I was then going to keep an eye out for a 2nd hand GBS silencer to match my current one and swap for track days or when I get told off for being too noisy I'm a long way off my 3rd option which would require my fabrication skills to be upped big time lol

And that was only half the engine at 1500rpm!