Taistorm

Well this thing still hasn't left the garage yet. Funds have slowed down greatly now as well as we've started saving for a house pretty seriously but still putting a bit away for it. Motivation was on a decline so went to the shop and got it a nice and shiny air filter (actually ended up returning and getting another as the 4.5" was too tall for the little 1300). I also dropped in to Weber Specialties to have a catch up with my old mate Murray. He's convinced me to bring in the IDA for him to have a look at as it's setup is a little unknown (previous owner had it on both a bp and pp setup), and he's going to sort a throttle wheel and help me shorten the cable. Looking to sort a malpassi fuel regulator for the old girl as well. In the pipeline I'm also looking into the ignition setup and seeing what options are available,so plenty of reading up to do get my head around the ideal setup. Cheers

Saw this thing about a week or so ago parked up outside a shop off target road in wairau. Knew it was yours.

Also with the exhaust repair was it a hole they welded up or did they cut out a section and weld that in? Can be a bit of stuffing around with that type of work sometimes.

With drum brakes the adjusters are usually accessible with the wheels still on as they are on the inner side (if that makes sense). They may have sprayed brake clean through one of the adjuster holes or through one of the shoe inspection holes. You could ask them for a print out of the brake test (if They used a roller brake test machine) to see the results. Edit: just read they didn't. Could possibly take it elsewhere for a brake roller test for proof of braking performance. The wheels would have been needed to be removed to repack and adjust the bearing. Hand brake adjustment is pretty simple and straight forward as well. I'd ask them for a break down of the work they've done, hours etc and go from there. $70 per hour is a pretty cheap rate to be honest. My 2c anyway.

Have t read through the build but will have a good read when I have more time. Tony lynch used to build these. He ran his lynchbuilt workshop in Wairau many moons ago producing these and doing 305 Bedford swaps, next to the original Robert Harris factory before Robert Harris brought him out to work for him and repair his coffee machines. He used to run these in local rallys, usually with Ken Vincent as the driver and they used to run these with 12a rotaries and slay if I recall correctly. Was Many years since I last spoke to him and about these in particular. Good to see they're still out there!

Had nothing but issues dealing with bolt shop, when we were using the as our supplier they were expensive and consistently stuffed up orders and couldn't supply quite a few different fasteners we were after. We usually deal with steelmasters or fortress.

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Not really a proper update but I've stripped some bits and pieces off it, cleaned out all the parts that I was storing in it and reorganised them in the garage and given it a bit of a clean up in preparation for some work to be carried out on it soon. Hopefully it will be getting picked up with a trailer in the Next few weeks if all works out!

This is a mild wing suited for an rx3. Almost perfect in terms of sizing and how it follows the boot line. Unsure whether I need to go for something a bit more wild though. Tai

Spent a bit more time on the drivers door. Ended up needing to bash the upper section to try get it reasonably straight, still needs a little bit of filler to get it right but it's getting close. Have been in touch with Jon at Strange Workshop about getting the exhaust and ignition sorted. After the rush leading up to REunion it will be getting delivered there to sort it out. Also dropped in to see a Bruce in Huntly about helping sort out some guards and a wing. I'm still not sold on the chopped rx3 group C flares and have been looking into Katayama r100 flares but can't find anyone to help supply. Next closest thing are mk1 escort forest flares which are pretty close in shape and similar style to the Katayamas. What do you guys reckon? I think it's not too far off. Will cut and blend to suit the mid body lines and trim/mould for better fitment. Also tossing up on whether to permanently fix or bolt them on for a more period japanese look. What do you reckon? Cheers Tai

Cheers bro, slowly but surely.

Brought some stuff and did a thing today. Sanded the drivers door back and threw some etch down. Will need to apply a small amount of bog around where the side mirror rust was patched up to smooth it out but besides that, not too bad. Not much of a start but it's a start none the less. Disclaimer: Really only a very thin layer of bog on that lower section puhuhuhu. Chur

And how it's sitting just now. Not gonna lie it is super depressing looking at its current state. A few corners have been cut in the build and the exposure to the weather has brought on some surface rust and oxidation. I've been saving hard anyway across the last few months to get a few sheckles together to drop on it. Next step is to sort out a few missing bits for the engine setup. Get someone to sort the exhaust and rear shock setup and go from there. Start smallish with achievable targets to hopefully get the momentum flowing. Wish me luck and hopefully will have some updates across this summer. Cheers

And now back to the 1300. So this thing sat in a carport at my work, basically in a pool of water across, so bloody depressing to be honest. Eventually when my housing situation changed I was able to shift it home (this was only a month or so ago). I've come to the realisation that I can't afford to get this thing to the standard I envisioned anytime in the near future and motivation and money had basically gone out the window so I made the decision to revert to a carburetor setup. Threw all my efi gear up for sale on fb and had many, many people interested. Ended up swapping setup for a 48mm IDA Weber carby, holley fpr, Carter fuel pump and locked dissy with cash my way with a bloke from the tron. So I finally got a chance to mock it up this weekend as work hours had wound down and my Mrs was away on holiday. The day it came home:

Alright and now to bring everything up to date. This was put on hold again since it arrived. Had the chance to finally take a trip over to japan with the Mrs so all my money sunk into that. Bloody awesome trip though, we started in Tokyo, then hired a Corolla and carried on through to Nagoya, then Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Okinawa before a quick stop in to Tokyo before heading home. We did all the tourist shit and were flat out on the daily however we did manage to do some sweet automotive related activities which included hiring a panda ae86 and driving up to tsukuba circuit to watch a local trackday, call in to Fuji Speedway and had a quick geez at some series racing (gt86s then na Mx5s), call in to Suzuka circuit (and theme park, wtf???!) And check out a local trackday, have a look at Meihan Sportsland during a Gymkhana day. Amongst this we also met the team and check out TRA Kyoto, got a private tour and history lesson at Hayashi Racing, Meet the team at Miyoshi RE in Okayama, Tour the Mazda museum in Hiroshima and pick up heaps of memorabilia. I have to say that UPGARAGE is very overrated though. Here are some pics anyway...

Ok so just seen that this post from april never uploaded..... So finally got a chance a few weeks ago to run through everything I brought over from Aus and mostly everything is there, however the bastards have removed my smartcoils and leads, I think this is their way of collateral for having to refund funds back to me which is pretty bullshit. I'm also missing several fasteners for my doors and parts that had been sent away for electroplating never got replated so this has left me even further out of pocket. It's not enough to justify taking further/fighting for being here in NZ so will cut my loses and move on. In better news I have just received a package which includes a complete rubber seal kit for the body (bloody customs stung me though). I hope it's and accurate kit as it's out of Phil's Rotarys who can be quite hit and miss but we will soon find out. I may also have a person from compliance willing to take this on so fingers crossed we can make things happen to get this on the road legally. Once they can get a chance to inspect it, I'll start cracking into tho build. It probably won't happen for a little while yet though as I've booked flights to japan for 3 weeks coming up soon.

BNT in wairau have their own equipment to do it themselves. Exedy are also another to try if you get stuck, I think they're about $50 or free with a clutch kit.

Probably any fastener shop such as steelmasters, bolt shop, fortress etc.

Bnt can do it. Usually free if you get a clutch kit. I think I paid about $30 or $40 to get it done through them.

We get all of our steel through Vulcan. Too legit to quit.

Sikaflex urethane is what a lot of manufacturers use, from what I've been told. Have used this and a similar Wurth product installing glass and thick polycarb windows on machinery. It's super tacky to use, run a decent bead and clamp it down. Best to let it sit overnight to cure over.

Ahhh you're the bloke at BNT in Otahuhu. I came by a few weeks ago buying a bucket of grease for the work truck(madaz) and commended your mx5! Thought it looked familiar

Pretty sure they're the same man. But not 100%

My mates family runs one stop cutting shop. Great to deal with and great pricing.

So this got delivered today !!