MadManMike Posted August 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Wouldn't need to be anything particularly large - I'm not really familiar with the engine layout on the MX5 but there must be room for something similar to one of the small 1.8t SMIC cores/similar in there. Edit; 2 minutes of reading suggests that the engine is pretty much the same as the turbo unit from the 323 only without the blower? Should be a pretty simple conversion if you did decide to go down that route as a result. Edit 2; Not much more pipework than for a SC setup really (though please don't use horrible, stupid coloured hoses whichever way you go): Yeah the 5 engine looks to be made for turbo / SC, there's plenty of room for it. And don't worry, I hate the coloured hoses too - I'd like to paint the cover red, but that's about it. I need to do more research, but I think it's out of my limits to do myself - though I know it would be much cheaper if I sourced all the parts and fitted them. I'd quite like the comeback if it goes wrong too, to be honest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 So long as the turbo itself is decent, you've got a good supply of oil to it and you get it mapped by someone who knows what they're doing then there's not really much to cock up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dann2707 Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 My exhaust has snapped in half. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Didn't you only get it on there recently?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dann2707 Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Yeah man, but it's not that bit that's snapped. It's the original cat that's gone, the track day cracked it and it's just got worse over a week, naturally. Today I gave it some beans and it's changed dramatically haha, checked under the car and it's completely snapped hahaha. It's down on power to f**k too due to it snapping before the lambda sensor which control the fuelling of course. It sounds absolutely horrific. Literally a 2.0 16v engine with no silencers, straight from the manifold. It's booked in the garage next to my work though so it'll be sorted soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Cheers for the advice, Luke. Read mixed reviews on the JOMs as always with the internet... I'm replacing my top mounts and bearings this weekend so thought it would be the ideal time to go lower. Maybe it's not all worth it, got 125k on the clock now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Guy came for the Passat tonight, totes emoshe about it but needs must. Fairwell faithful wagon, you'll be sorely missed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Just took the Porsche around the village roads and my gosh the front coil overs feel SOOOO good! Not only is the comfort still there (new 200lb springs vs stock 170lb) but the car feels firm and really responsive, I don't think I want to go to a harder spring right now. I need to adjust the top mounts a bit as they clunk slightly, but that's because they are for an american VW Fox so need shimming to work on the 924. The back end feels wallowy, so hopefully the dampers I messed about with will aid with correcting that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolfa Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 I was always in the supercharger for instant power camp when all I'd ever had was n/a, having now had a turbo and decent power I'm turbo all the way. The thing with a supercharger is they'll add X amount of power at X revs and that's your lot really, can change pulleys but still very limited, turbos just have much more tinkerability. Horsepower is addictive, I love lag when the boost is ridiculous and I get bored easily, if you just want a smidge more poke for a little engine with minimal fuss though supercharging is the way. Any turbo guide will be the same thing, as a supercharger is just a turbo without the hot side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Dear front hub nut. f**k you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Bigger bar required? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Very much so. Wheel on ground, in gear, brakes locked, best part of a can of plusgas and a 2 ft bar it's going nowhere at all. Need a 4ft extension or an impact gun methinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartMini Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 jack the bar up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted August 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 I used a 6ft pole on mine, and it still took two of us to crack the nut off Somehow nothing broke, the pole had an impressive bend in it though! "BecauseRust" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Martin: Been there, done that, got the "The bolt didn't move" tee and the plane still didn't take off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Ah, yeah, 2ft won't be enough As you said, double that up, at least! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 I did fashion a somewhat crude extension to around 5ft long, but it wasn't nearly meaty enough and ended up about as straight as Louis Walsh and wasn't moving anywhere. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 :bow: Unfortunately that definitely goes in the 'that'll never work' category I reckon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Yep, far too spindly. Tried using a roof rack bar as an extension, but it'd only got over the skinny fitting so couldn't use a proper bar either. You can imagine the result of that Think I'll have to pinch Soph's car once she's home from work to go and grab some more tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Finally. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 f**k you, plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dann2707 Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 How did you get it off in the end? Can't just post a picture like that without all the bent bars/dicks/cheesecakes in the background Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete.M Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'll explain more later, but; Nurburgring: 1 Mk2 Escort: 0 Back from this crazy holiday, time for some sort of write up. Somehow we managed to "finish" the Escort in time for the trip. We had to give it a very rushed "chalkboard" paint job. It'll get something better soon, as will the grille. This is at the first service station, which was genuinely the first test run for the Escort. Couldn't cut it any finer than that. In hindsight I'm not sure what we were thinking taking this untested thing to the nurburgring! The seats are huge because the other guys needed the XL size. Interior is a work in progress: It is extremely loud and unpleasant to drive. We had no heater, and there's gaps everywhere, fumes galore. The throttle is basically on or off and the clutch biting point is very high - good fun in traffic. Plenty to sort out later, but it was running quite well and had enough poke to have fun. It being left hand drive gave me even more to think about. With having a temporary chalkboard paint job it wasn't long before we sketched all over it. You can also see the other cars we went with - a stripped out Civic and a Megane rs thingy. We made it to Belgium, then the inevitable happened. A passer-by asked "is it fast?", so the driver at the time cleverly decided to launch it, but succeeded only in shearing a half-shaft. Needless to say we didn't take any spares beyond a spare tyre and fuses. At this point it was still relatively early in the day, so we found a wi-fi source and started looking for spares in Belgium. We found this guy who builds rally cars, primarily Escorts, only about 1 hour away (in the wrong direction though). We called him up and said we'd probably arrive after normal working hours (on a Saturday night) - he said he was used to having to do this sort of thing so it's no bother - what a hero! The only way to get the car there was to call up our breakdown service and ask if they could take it to this specialist. Eventually a truck arrives, but the driver wasn't willing to go beyond his normal range, plus the language barrier made it even more awkward. We end up getting taken to his depo, where he got us to call up our insurance/breakdown cover to get them to confirm that they will pay this driver to go the full distance. This turns into a massive nightmare. The insurance weren't getting back to us, we kept calling up and getting different people with different answers, blah blah blah. Several hours go past - not even kidding. The Escort eventually got loaded onto a truck at something like 9 or 10pm. We had been keeping in touch with the specialist rally guy to say how late we were running - he was still cool with it! We felt pretty bad about hassling him at this time on a Saturday night but having made it this far we really didn't want to give up. This became a common sight, 4 different recovery trucks in 3 days: Turned up at this guy's shop somewhere around 10 or 11pm. It was amazing. We felt pretty lucky to be standing in a place like this, and to find a guy as brilliant as this! The panoramic photos seem to have terrible quality. Angelo the hero sold us a diff and a half-shaft and helped us fit them in record time. Whilst underneath the Escort we noticed it had broken the mounts on the axle for one of the stabilizer bars (or whatever they're called). It still drove ok on the road so we thought bugger it, lets just get going. We still had to make it to a hotel near the nurburgring which we did but at 4am on Sunday - race day. And that's after driving through the night on the previous night as well. Not a pleasant experience in that thing. That left us with a few hours sleep before making some last-minute repairs to stop a fuel leak and then head to the ring. We made it, and much to our surprise some far nicer Fords decided to park beside us: First time one of the guys tried to go out on the track we were told it needed some things sorting out first. Quick-release steering wheels are not allowed, and the bonnet catches had to be taped down, easy. Second attempt, the guy who basically paid for this car goes out and things start to go very wrong. The other stabiliser bar thingy must've broken because the rear end apparently felt a bit wobbly after a few corners, and then the engine stopped running properly. It was apparently crackling like mad, possibly fuel burning in the carb due to the heat. It couldn't continue so they had to stop on track. Recovery from the track cost 300 Euros! Game over - no point trying to fix things now. The ring was insanely busy and kept getting closed minutes after each time it was re-opened! Don't go at this time of year. Another friend who had turned up that day towed the Escort back to the hotel for us. Once again the madness of calling up insurance/breakdown began. We were hoping it could be "repatriated" back to the UK whilst we continued on our holiday in the backup Astra diesel. Insurance wanted to confirm that it couldn't be fixed, so the breakdown truck took us to a local garage who sort of looked at it and went "nope" then onwards to their depo. A few more hours were spent at the depo sorting all this out, but eventually it was agreed that the Escort would be recovered all the way back to the UK. WIN! Service like that makes our high insurance cost feel a lot more reasonable. That's pretty much it. We then headed to Berlin in the Astra where we rented scooters and drank lots of beer in the sun for 6 days. Excellent holiday and despite the disappointment it was probably quite an achievement getting that thing to the nurburgring without any prior testing. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Finally. Did you get a breaker bar in the end? Mine usually come off with one. I've also got a mains powered Clarke impact wrench which has more than proven its worth before! In other news, I purchased a set of cheap prosport coilovers...figured they should be at least better than my 125k mile original dampers, cheaper too! Not much lost if they turn out to be garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Fingers crossed for you dude. They're likely very similar to the other sets around that price point, so if you're not going silly low then hopefully you'll be one of the 50% of people who get on really well with them About 5ish a couple of lads pulled up across the road to sort out a pair of Vitara things. One had a battery impact gun which did the job third try. May have to get hold of one, though hopefully one this lot's done most bolts will be fairly free so it'll be less of a requirement! Dannnnnn - think there's a lad with a Clio living nearby, as have seen a couple of fairly tidy looking ones driving around today. Shall investigate further and report back Edit; Excuse the Potato, had to zooooooooooom from middle bedroom. Will sneak down tomorrow and see what the deal is. Obviously no idea if he's on CS/similar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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