Somebody *please* talk me out of this

I think you'll find the Integrale was designed for the WRC, actually :-P

Does it have electric mirrors?

I wouldn't buy anything from anyone in Macclesfield. Macc is the last great home of the pikey car seller.

I've done most of the work on the MX5 myself, apart from the bits that I don't have the tools for (like setting up the alignment) and those that require a lift (like the rear subframe and diff). Unfortunately it's also a question of time, I had allocated a couple of weekends but I've gone way over that already and there is more to come.

It's not like I've just dropped it off at the various places with an open chequebook...

Well, guess who's been at the wiring also :).

Yes, I can see what you're saying. I think part of the problem is that my inner beancounter has been totting up the amount of cash I've thrown at the MX5 (that supposedly didn't need it) and doesn't like the figures. Nothing to do with a decent offer I've got for the car, oh no.

I do have a firm quote how much to rip out the current piggyback, replace it with one that we both prefer and map that, yes. And I've also got an alternative quote to re-map the current one.

There are however several other points that need addressing, not the least the potential problem hinted at in the "What do we call a turbo..." thread.

... until I got to limp home because of yet another bodge that I discovered. All of these bodges were fine on the road but they don't work well on the track, so I will have got to sort them out. Plus, as I am planning to go off to far-flung places like Cadwell, I would like to know that I'll get there and back without needing a trailer or recovery lorry.

I've totted up what I think I would need to do sensibly to get the car where I need it to be and I don't like the job list TBH:

- Mount AFM properly, which includes fabricating a bracket/cold air box, putting a new induction kit on because the one on the car has a hole worn through it (on account of the non-mounting of the AFM). Also requires a bunch of replacement silicone hoses. I'd also like to sort out the intercooler piping because that needs some re-routing to stop it from rubbing on various brackets in the engine compartment.

- Stick a boost controller on for, err, better boost control. So that'll be an electronic one then. Used one will be around 150+shipping but it'll be a decent one and not some cheap shit from China. I don't want to turn up the boost (yet) but Saturday revealed that according to the boost gauge, it isn't always consistent and everything points at the wastegate needing better control.

- Get the turbo checked out for potential damage from Saturday's split hose incident and the "puffs on lift-off". I've done that already but want a second opinion.

- Fit front 1.8 brakes. Guess I can do that myself but it wouldn't break the bank having someone else do that either.

- Sort out the Luigi Spaghetti nightmare wiring. That depends very much on how far I can push the current piggyback. I'll have to see if I can make that work with a TPS (as it's able to use one, but the underlying ECU isn't) and if not, it needs to be removed and replaced with one that can run the engine off a MAP sensor and a proper TPS. That would of course remove the need to sort out the first point, but that'll cost around 600 quid alone including the TPS and mapping.

- Downpipe needs redoing - someone bent the downpipe so it would fit into place with the hybrid turbo on the car and it got a tad squashed during that exercise. Fixing that should improve the spool-up quite massively. At the same time, the wideband needs to be relocated so it's less likely to hit the body. As I'm sure you noticed, the Wideband's location is a little suboptimal...

- At this point in time I'd like to get the rear bodywork Beav'd, but that's actually not that expensive compared to the rest of the work.

I'm looking at around 1.5k for the above if I do part of it myself and have the rest done properly, which would mean that by the time I'm done, with all the parts and labour I've had to pay for, I've almost "reinvested" the purchase price of the car and spent over 5k to end up with a 3k car. Excluding the paintwork, that is.

It was actually designed because of the banning of Group B and therefore the end of the Delta S4.

I'd have one.

There's been a bit of discussion about project cars, and why they never get finished on ClubGTI. The general gist of things is that you need to a) recognise that most of the money is being pissed against the wall, b) avoid mission creep (and it does sound like it's happening - X, Y and Z need fixing so whilst they're off they might as well be uprated - danger, here lie full bare shell restorations and garages full of parts) and c) where ever possible, build the car within the regs of some race series or another. That way, you can at least get decent money for it when it comes to selling time (as an example, decent MK2 race series cars can run up to around £6-7k, whereas the average well finished project golf is worth about the same or less than a GTI with low miles and FVWSH).

TBH, if whatever you're building has to be sold in the Autumn anyway, and if I'm correct in my suspicion that there's no turbo MX5 race series, you're going to lose money. I'd try to get the car in an acceptable nick, not perfect, for the minimum amount of cash, and get some enjoyment out of it whilst you have it. Maybe even strip the turbo kit off come sale time, that's a sane proposition, and sell the two seperately.

ITYF that New Mills is worse than Macc for pikey car sellers :-)

Mike P

I'd agree with that. There are also a couple around Newtown and Chapel-en-le-Frith.

I don't mind pissing some money up the wall, but this is getting way beyond the original budget and that's what I have an issue with.

Good point, but there are no race series in the UK for FI'd MX5s.

Selling the turbo kit separately is a good idea on paper but a PITA due to the amount of hole-plugging involved.

I'll have a look at a couple of other cars this weekend (oi, JackH, wanna go look at some heaps?) and see what I can dig up, otherwise I'll get the mechanical and electrical side of the MX5 right and just keep the damn thing.

The 'get the car in acceptable nick, not perfect for the minimum amount of cash' theory makes sense though for sure, given you've no intention of keeping it beyond the autumn.

Possibly... taking one of the sprogs 'rollerskating' this morning, but should be around this afternoon if you fancy foraging for something.

Tomorrow, I are be mostly planning to watch the racing at Brands.

Trucks are the main attraction and apparently these are quicker to 100mph than a 911, and then they've also got 'pick up trucks' like that space framed jobbie that was hooning around Lydden last week, and Legends like the one my mate was also throwing around there, racing.

Should be a good day assuming the weather isn't s**te - if you're that bored, it may be just the thing to counter the burning urge to buy another s**te old car. ;-)

I have to say unless something that is totally spot on comes up, I think I'd be doing that; if you sell the MX5 now, you'll be binning a load of the money you've thrown at it already. If whatever else you buy ends up needing a bundle of cash thrown at it as well... you'll be back to square one, or maybe even worse off. :-S

I guess the main thing you need to do is decide initially is whether or not the power delivery is going to be something you can learn to love.

No, but the mapping etc is something you'll need to get done by someone with a rolling road, no?

'Respec' for the rest of it though. :-)

Ahhh... see, you didn't mention this bit before. ;-)

If the offer is *that* decent, well then yes I guess you ought to have a think if you reckon you're not likely to get on with the power delivery etc.

Well, yes. Trouble is that the definition of acceptable varies :).

There's a 325i in Gravesend and a Mk1 MR2 in Lenham that I like the looks off that might have a look at later today.

Bugger, planning to go up to Grays to looks at a supercharged MR2 tomorrow and I could use your expertise of sheds on that.

Hmm.

It's not like I haven't got enough to do at the moment :)

That, and if I can live with the fact that I'll have to throw a few hundred more (how many should become clearer during the course of the day) to sort out the obvious issues.

Yes and no. A lot of the tuning with one of the ECUs I'm looking at at the moment can be done on the road. I'd only need the rolling road for the full load bit.

Mind you, for the road mapping I'd need someone to drive while I sit in the passenger seat with a laptop. Which reminds me why I shouldn't really be selling my older IBM laptop - it's got a proper serial port.

Because the offer only appeared very recently. Two, actually - one a swap for an E36 M3 3l (I need to put up a little cash for that, though) and the other one a rather reasonable amount of dosh. More than I paid for the car, less than it currently stands me.

Well, yes. And I hear the calling of a big N/A engine and a supercharger...

If it were me I'd do the latter for sure, given it doesn't appear you're going to be happy with it without throwing loads more money at it. :-)

Although I love M3s as well... that one depends on just how good it is I guess given you've told me what you can pick those up for now, and IIRC, that's less than the MX5 stands you in at altogether.

But not in a GTV... *shuddder* ;-)

Indeed.

Gravesend... that puts me off before I've even seen the car.

Take a magent with you!

Grays makes me shudder more than Gravesend... ;-)

Well looking at todays weather, not likely I'll be going at this rate.

It's fecking cold out there.

I'll keep that in mind but...

... I'm probably going to do this. The car was pronounced fine for road use but Zeca thinks that the hybrid turbo on it was built with road use in mind and suggested that I really would want to get that rebuilt with uprated parts for sustained track use.

The cash offer and the money I would have had to throw at the MX5 together would certainly buy a decent non-Evo (ie, less problematic) E36 M3 or a very nice E34 M5.

No, the big N/A engine would be in an M3 (there is a four-door E36 with already uprated suspension for sale somewhere near High Wycombe) and the supercharged one in an MR2 Mk1 (which is the car up in Grays).

Mine seems to be at the unreasonable end...

Well, that's what you get with drug dealer motahs, innit?

It's wearing its rust with pride :).

Well if you're up for a trip to see the MR2 and can stomach a quick raid on Ikea on the way, I'm going up there tomorrow.

High Wycombe is a bloody big clue to avoid it like the plague.

It'll have spent most of its recent life being driven by Raj on late night minicab shifts or delivering pizza.

I'd like to see a minicabby driving an M3, I really do...