lowender's BRG mk1

[howardb66]

Think Zed had one for sale?

[lowender]

Mar 7, 2022 18:48:23 GMT howardb66 said:

Think Zed had one for sale?

Thanks, but Zed's is for a mk2. I see that mx5parts do a pattern one for a mk1 1.8 for £140, or a genuine one for £376. Ouch.

[jon]

I think I probably have two spares kicking about - one from my old engine, one from the mk1 head that didn't get fitted to my current engine if you are after a spare. Both were working fine when rmeoved..

[Zed.]

Mar 7, 2022 19:03:05 GMT lowender said:

Mar 7, 2022 18:48:23 GMT howardb66 said:

Think Zed had one for sale?

Thanks, but Zed's is for a mk2. I see that mx5parts do a pattern one for a mk1 1.8 for £140, or a genuine one for £376. Ouch.

I have a few mk1 type cas (rear of camshaft fit) if you need one to try or use??

Rich.

[lowender]

Mar 7, 2022 20:01:12 GMT jon said:

I think I probably have two spares kicking about - one from my old engine, one from the mk1 head that didn't get fitted to my current engine if you are after a spare. Both were working fine when rmeoved..

Thanks Jon, if I'm round your way I'll give you a shout.

[lowender]

Mar 7, 2022 20:56:12 GMT Zed. said:

Mar 7, 2022 19:03:05 GMT lowender said:

Thanks, but Zed's is for a mk2. I see that mx5parts do a pattern one for a mk1 1.8 for £140, or a genuine one for £376. Ouch.

I have a few mk1 type cas (rear of camshaft fit) if you need one to try or use??

Rich.

Cheers Rich, I'm sorted for now, just want one to pop in the toolbox as a spare.

[lowender]

Fitted a set of Jackson Racing ARBs today, discounted at Moss. Inspired by howardb66 I thought I'd give thicker bars a try. Up to now, with both my previous P5 Sportdrives and the current Ohlins DFV, I've stuck with the standard bars. I was wary of stiffer bars unsettling the car on uneven bumpy roads, but after a decent drive on familiar roads, it seems fine. Much more grip in the corners. I'll get a better idea at Llandow as to whether it makes the car more fun to drive, it's primarily a road car, so I'm not chasing times. Maybe next year though.

[Crumpets]

Looking real good!

[howardb66]

Wow, with that combination, you should get amazing handling & grip.

[lowender]

May 14, 2022 10:54:54 GMT howardb66 said:

Wow, with that combination, you should get amazing handling & grip.

It wasn't too shabby before really. Tyres are PS3, 195/50 15 . Spring rates on the Ohlins are 450lb front, 350lb rear (8/6 kg). Front bar is on softest setting, rear is on the middle of three holes. Not much scope for further adjustment, the rear droplinks will only match up with the middle hole. I'll see how it goes. 

[lowender]

A few weeks ago I started hearing a nasty rattle under the car when coming off the throttle changing up at high revs. Also car was feeling less responsive. I had a poke and pummel underneath, and found it was the cat rattling. I took it off, it rattled like a tambourine, so put a decat pipe on for the Llandow track day, and ordered a high flow 200 cell cat from Racing Beat Europe. Allegedly MOT and MSA compliant. We'll see come MOT time in October. It turned up a couple of days ago and fits perfectly with my RB system. Car goes much better after binning the old cat.







Gratuitous Llandow pic courtesy of @boggisimo :

[lowender]

Last week. I realised I hadn't changed the coolant or cam belt for nearly 7 years (I only do about 3000 miles a year), so I got down to it yesterday and today. New pump, pulleys, belt, cam seals and crank seal. It all looked fine in there, belt was in good nick, nothing wrong with the water pump. But this stuff is so cheap I changed it all anyway. Crank seal definitely needed doing, and one cam seal was weeping a bit. It's at times like this I miss my old garage, I had to do it on the drive which is a pain in the rear canoe.

Looked nice and clean under the cam cover:




Ghetto cam holding arrangement:





Handy crank locking widget from Jass:

[lowender]

After 6 years of clean MOTs, last week the car failed on emissions, 2nd fast idle. Bummer. The only thing I could think of doing was to load the tune it had when it passed last year., although I had fiddled with static timing after I fitted a new CAS. The car scraped through on retest today thankfully, but really the map is in a bit of a mess, especially cold start and idle. Where's the best megasquirt tuner to be found, preferably in South West? Does Nick Bailey still do stuff?

[jon]

Jez at H-Dev did mine - he's pretty well regarded.. He's close to Newbury so west, ish...

h-dev.co.uk/

[lowender]

Thanks Jon I'll check it out.