I know right dude! It's going well I'm actually a fair bit ahead of the thread due to a lack of attention span while writing these updates haha
Looks good man, had 3x mx5's, first mod i would do before anything else is a Hardtop and fixed brackets. The soft top roofs suck balls and almost always piss water over the seats when it rains, used to drive me fucking nuts lol
Got the slippery gherkin back up on the ramp in preparation for the welding of the diff... Went through cracking off all the bolts needed to drop the diff out, there is a fair few for the under bracing, diff mounts and the geaebox/diff support. Also removed all the clips and brackets for the brake lines to be ready for plumbing the hydro. Only snapped two bolts where the welds holding the nuts on broke, so replaced them and copper greased the rest and refitted them all. I knew from working on dirtbikes this saves alot of time on the day of taking on the bigger jobs. {} {} God damn look at that roof its B A UTIFUL
Here it is... The Big One! Time to turn this little hairdressers soft top into a tyre slayin utter drift weapon It was a very productive Saturday considering we had an early start of about 12pm haha So got the 5 on the ramp and me and my mate Ben began to drop the diff, as all the bolts were pre greased they all zipped out lovley, the exhaust didn't need removing just popping off the mounts and cable tied out the way the same as the prop shaft. Didn't get any pics of removing the diff as I had my hands full... Of diff. It was slightly awkward to get out but after unbolting a rear control arm one side at the top, that gave us the room needed to pull the shafts out and drop that bitch down! {} {} I spilt the diff open dumped the oil, then Ian and Ben went to work on beating out the old diff bushes, I got on with cleaning the shit out of it preparing for the welding! {} The boys cut the center out of the first bush and then beat the rest out I also saw fire at one point too hah Time to tag Ian in for the welding! Me and benny boy took turns beating the next bush out without fire or cutting needed this time as surprisly it came out abit easier. Time to grease and chuck in the new diff poly bushes. {} {} Didn't manage to get a pic but E Man did a beautiful job welding up the diff I was well happy with that!! I cleaned up the faces of the diff and we rtv'd the shit out of it and tourqed it back together! {} {} Time to bolt it all back in, this went pritty damn smoothly! Fitted the new magnetic drain bolt and filled it up with fully synth oil and that was that. JOB DONE {} Next we got to work on plumbing the hydro but you'll have to wait for that as this took me long enough to write and I should probably get back to work...
Loving the attitude towards just getting shit done man! If you're wanting to replace any latches for the hardtop Id recommend the Jass Performance ones. I've replaced front, sides and even the Frankenstein bolts with solid mounts and it reduced a LOT of noises.
Looking good man! Having a lift looks like it makes changing the diff 100X easier. Did the diff in mine on jack stands on my own, pig of a job! {}
Yer that's it dude best just to crack on and start smashing it out haha Nice one I like the sound of the solid mounts so I will take a look into them! Send me a link if your got it
Thanks dude its getting there! Yer I wish I had my own unit with ramps it makes every job soo much better, but thankfully enough I have a close mate that does!
So the Saturday we dropped the diff, welded and re-fitted it we also got the hydro plumbed in... Finally!! So up the car went with me inside ready to start drilling holes in the tunnel. {} As the line for the rear brakes only had a single feed it was nice and simple, the job was to make a complete new line front to rear and pass through the hydro. {} Thanks to Ben Son for doing a top job on bending the pipe, got it tucked away nice and tidy! {} It all went smoothly and the brakes bled up perfectly, the only issue we came across was finding the right sized nipple for the master on the hydro, it was a dodgey unf size so took some searching for the week before this but managed to get one ordered in just in time. {} So hydro all plumbed and in time for a late night test... {} Mixed results from the trading estate tear up, the diff was AWESOME, I decided instantly I could live with the skipping and hopping of low speed turning, it transformed the car when it came to slidding it. The back stepped out soo much easier and was much more controllable the car lit both tyres up in the dry and I was stoked with the result!!! The hydro on the other hand.. Not so much. It wouldn't lock the wheels in a straight line but mehhh kind of expected that but I did manage to bang a 180 with it, I thought that will do I suppose, although I did not like how far you had to pull it back, but put that down the the leverage caused by the big ole handle. Gave it a few more yanks and it got worse and worse, back to the shop to give the car a once over and check the hydro out, which revealed that the bolt running through from eyelet to master had literally bent in half... Oh, so the Chinese ebay parts struck again. Not too bad though as atleast it was finally fitted, so time to look for another master to replace that with. The following day at work I spent some time looking through here and realised that the 0.625 masters were more popular for the miatas then the 700 I was running. My mate Ian told me he had a nearly new one laying around, so back to the unit to swap it out. {} This brought on a new issue which Im currently stuck with, the 0.625 master had a fine thread which was better for me as less likely to bend but now I didn't have a rose joint eyelet that fits and guess what it's a dodgey unf size which I havnt work out yet, but guessing close to 5/16?! As its a M8 1mm looking thread. {} If anyone can give me suggestions on where to find one I would appreciate it or this weekend I'm welding a nut on it haha {} {} So after the owning the car 3 weeks and having the hydro mounted for 2 of them it's still not working... Very frustrating but these things happen and we are nearly there!
Whats your reasoning to go hydro? Stock handbrake isn't too bad if adjusted properly and you get some heat in the pads. Only way I can see a hydro being more beneficial is if its running to a second caliper of a larger size. MX stock calipers aren't massive.
It's just cool to have a hydro, everyone loves a drift wand! This thread is sick it's exactly what you want to see being done to a 5, look forward to seeing it skidding good luck
The reason was I literally had one laying around, got given it a few years back needed to chuck it in something so the 5 made sense. Also my first drift car and come on, hydro's are awesome right!!!?!!? Even if it is just for looks at the moment hahah
Im gunna be yanking that thing everywhere on the way to work haha cheers dude I appreciate that I'm really looking forward to getting out on a proper skid day instead of just being a roundabout terrorist...
I was surprised just how different drift days were to a bit of streeto. The transitions and change of speed for corners whilst drifting took me by surprise but you get there!
We should definitely try and get to a drift day together later in the year man (I'm broke atm) Be interested to see the difference between the two cars
Sounds good to me dude, i'm currently in the process of collecting tyres but the car is pritty much ready to slide!
Yer I can imagine that, I cant wait to get out and looking forward to meeting some of you boys and having a good laugh!
