AdamR28

Agreed with the above... Agreed with the above...

Good info - thanks. I shall have a look at some clutch levers then... The actuator arm could be tweaked I guess, but there is good access to the pedal box so I think that might be easier (plus it's pretty agricultural so I can hack / weld it as I wish). Ah true, I'm used to hydraulic clutches in other cars - best sort it properly as you said Cheers!

True enough about the clutch plates... Not sure about the gearbox though - stories online are of 'it's cheaper to bang a new engine in than recondition the box'... Good call on the clutch lever pivot, I didn't realise it was designed to operate with such a small amount of movement. The ratio is definitely wrong at the moment then. Maybe it needs a 'half stop' (half a tennis ball, or something) mid way through the travel, so you can just touch against this to open the clutch enough for a downshift, yet push past it to fully disengage for 1st/2nd/neutral work. Haha, that sounds stupid at first but when you think about it it makes a lot of sense! The controls were designed to be used like that originally, so why not...

Apologies - it was a bit of a random comment! I plan to make an auto blipper, with switches so that the clutch has to be down, the brakes on, and the downshift paddle pressed all at the same time (and another one on the dash so I can disable it all for road driving), which will fire a solenoid to blip on downshift... Yep, that's exactly what I felt like I had to do so I wasn't raping the clutch. There's very little feel with this setup in a car, mainly because it's meant to be operated by hand I guess, so the clutch is very on-off. I guess you *could* learn to feather it but it would be very very difficult and doesn't that just wear the clutch out? Engine braking in a car with a bike engine without a slipper clutch is a big no-no apparently, you can quickly ruin the transmission due to the extra grip at the rear wheels. I will always blip (and block shift) down in a car-engined car, but there just wasn't time here. Doing 4 downshifts in the distance / time it takes the car to slow down from ~110 to 40mph is impossible - in fact I had to brake earlier than normal to give enough time to get 3 in! Not so much an issue on a bike I guess, as the braking distances are quite a bit longer. I'll get it sorted anyway, and I like an engineering challenge Cheers for the info about the bike setup btw, appreciated!

Never...

It's a mechanical linkage with paddles behind the steering wheel - you can 'feel' the gearbox doing its thing through other changes so no doubt it'd work on downshifts too. I like your 'it'll wear the dogs until you get smooth', haha, that worries me slightly Slipper clutches are available for this engine but they are expensive - over 1/10th of what I paid for the car, so not justifiable! Dug out an old MX-5 starter motor this morning, the solenoid looks like it'll do the job - I'd have preferred a push type but pull will work. Just need to fit it and rig up the rest of the switches etc., then it can get tested...

So it is doable with a bike gearbox then... Hmm... Practicing time, cheers!

It's the standard bike gearbox: long 1st, sequential, close ratio, dog engagement, clutchless upshifts (just a little throttle lift)... Complete engine and gearbox only weighs 62kg, can pick them up for under a grand. Win.

They actually felt OK to me Dan, although I agree a more performance-orientated tyre would feel better! In semi-related news, bwwaarrpp bwaarrpp I only reached down for a gearstick once, honest :$

Was thinking that as I wrote it...

I can get my hand in the hole Need to get it in the air to have a good look...

Boo, needs a brake hose changing and a bit of welding doing. Not bad though...

The £250 MX-5 is in for MOT... fingers crossed...

Do you have braided hoses Dave? That's the 'issue' I think - the clips are for 5mm hose but the braided is 6mm, if you file the clips out a bit with a small round file they will work Of course, playing with a 3D printer is much more fun though

Yeah, that needs mapping... And don't drive it until it's been mapped or you might end up with bore wash. You can get good economy from ITBs.

I missed a smiley off! Had a similar convo with Ash the other night, we agreed its fun 'developing' a car that you know and like. 300+ bhp in a Clio is a bit odd though IMO, you could spend that 4k in buying something that's already faster, both in a straight line and round a lap, and is more fun / exciting to drive. I need to take you out in a kit car Dan! That is an offer by the way, so I can change your mind before you start buying silly turbo bits

Exactly, if you want to go faster, buy a faster car (that has the driven wheels in the right place).

Fail. You can't get the power down without destroying the inside front tyre as it is

Alignment, tyres (IMO). Turns out that car I bought has a Mazdaspeed exhaust and 4-2-1 manifold... that's about £350's worth right there...

Not that we know of.

That's what she said. I've never used anything special on the imput shaft...

Those two things are linked... With an arb you need MORE damper (assuming the same spring in both cases is the same), simply because there is more force that needs damping. At the moment it will be under damped in roll and rebounding too quickly which is causing the oversteer - seen this quite a few times.

Yeah MOT has expired. No advisories the last 2 years though and looks like it'd sail through again... Also has some nice bits on it from a quick glance, uprated manifold, Mazdaspeed exhaust, side skirts and spoiler (don't like these, haha, but they are apparently sought after), almost new roof with heated glass window, new battery - every little helps, but they are mega cheap anyway

£250 and only 20 mins away, would have been rude not to...

Looks serious... I'm guessing the oil cooler is there due to packaging issues?