(not sim) Mechanic

I bought  Mechanic Sim for the PS4.

Don't.

The problem and I do see it as a problem, is that to renovate a car involves hours of patience, sitting in the car imagining it running and eventually after hiding away in the garage from the family for many weeks (or more) finally rolling it out and taking it for a drive just far enough to justify your RACQ membership.

But it's rewarding - rewarding because you can touch it, smell it, and late at night when you sneak a snack taste it (burnt oil, not good mmkay).

Mechanic Sim takes away the emotional connection but leaves the hours of toil. There's also no satisfaction in finding that magnetic spark plug removal tool you thought you'd lost - no, it's replaced by pressing X to unbolt whatever you have to unbolt. And then that's it - you're undoing a myriad of bolts because someone has decided you should - not because there's some mechanical reason that makes it all work, someone has decided to make you do it all for the sake of doing it. Toil.

And I can tell you, having built an engine in-game, that once you've done it, you've bought all the parts, found out you've bought the wrong ones and gone at it again - you finally have an engine. And then, then... you realise you've built the wrong spec engine (there are many), this is the point you realise this is not a game it's a test of endurance.

I stuck with it though and built a car with a well-tuned engine, I even took it out for a drive. And of course it's not Sim Driver, it's Mechanic Sim. 30 seconds later I was over that too.

All up I've put in probably 3-4 hours on it, and I have a collection of cars to "do up" but I just can't find the desire to do so. Relegated to the uninstall list - and however cheap it is, it's not worth it. If you want to wrench, read on...

Making it real

What I have been doing in real land is spending a small fortune on cars. Nothing exciting, but the sine wave of service costs all lined up with the "fleet" which meant $1k for the Lexus, $1k for the Commodore and $1k for the MX5. Great.

But that's not mechanic stuff, other than funding their retirement, this is!

What's different? Well, there's new plugs, leads and coils is what. So now we're good for electrics for a bit I hope. We'll see!

But I want to build a car

And so I did. What I did was take two Meccano kits (dump truck and loader thing) and scratch built some sort of racecar. Overall it was a wholly satisfying experience actually, I built for around 30mins a day after dinner and it really exercised my mind. Sure I'd do it a bit different, but overall I'm happy. I might keep an eye out for more old kits in bargain shops in fact!

Work in progress

Not sure what formula

I do like the rear on it, a happy accident really

Fairly mean, if you skip the ultra wet weather tyres

MX5 Life

Because I like the look of it...

Still enjoying my little silver car. Still not named it - it's a tool to give me and my passengers adventure. Which it does, this last weekend was a road trip to the Gold Coast and back.

Time to enjoy

Short post of words this one, I used up my monthly quota of communication in the last one.
No, this post is because I'm putting some pics up of my car as it's largely done for now. Certainly for a few months at least...

And it's true what a learned friend said when I embarked on MX5 ownership - "It's easy to overdo the car, just get in an enjoy it".

I look at it, and like a plastic surgery addict I'm wondering about lowering it a few centimetres, I'm considering a larger throttle body, and of course some mad brakes and wheels... but really, and I just proved this as I went for a ten minute cruise, this car is good as it is.

It goes and stops well, very well really. Plenty for the tight road restrictions around here. And with the induction noise coupled to a tiny bit more exhaust, it sounds great too. The cabin is fine now too, I've made a few adjustments there, and it's all good.

I'm thinking that to do much more to this car is going to give it focus, and I'm not sure for a car that my eldest likes coming out for a drive in that's a good thing. You see, I decided with this car more than any other that it would be a car to have adventures in, a tool to achieve something as it were. And yet it's close to becoming "the car" and the focus of what we (well, I) do - and I don't want that.

I want it to be something that we're happy to go down a dirt track on (tick! done that) or just put the top up and head home as we're both over the sun (Many ticks!). It needs to be growly for sure, but off throttle not too bad, it has to be able to sit in traffic.

And so, it's there, I think. It certainly is a car I love to look at, is great to drive and one that I'm planning on being part of many adventures to come!

.... just with bigger brakes, throttle body and tyres. And maybe some adjustable coilovers. Imagine the adventures with that lot bolted on!

But was it worth it?

Hopefully final purchase for a while. Certainly the last one before the Bathurst trip...

And this one? A muffler (Backbox for the Brits out there, and it sounds better anyway) and some gear selector boots'n'stuff.

So the exhaust...

I bought this

PS4 Controller for scale, much bigger tip it seems

Removal of the old one was a ten-minute job once I realised a touch of oil on the rubbers made them slippery. Will save this for spares if there's a problem with the other one.

New one, by comparison, much smaller box playing host to a much larger tip. Vicar...

Fitted. Looks lovely.

So the sound? Well I think I can hear a bit more bass. More throaty at normal speeds. At license testing speeds? Dunno, the mad induction noise is far louder. I think it's all a bit more intense. Certainly giving it beans is great.

Was it worth it?

That's the $500 question. I think probably. It's made the car sound a bit more grown up, and I'm sure as the baffles lose a bit of their brand new magic it'll get a bit more growly. But, if I'd known it would sound as it does alongside the induction kit I think I'd maybe have waited. LOL. No, no I wouldn't, I wanted it so I got it!

And then the radiator

And now with the help of Evan I've fitted the radiator, as well as some fancy retaining clips that add a few spots of red onto the cam cover.

Overall a good look I think:

Tips

• Coolant flush mmkay
• Air-con pipes foul the radiator fan cowling as far as we could tell
• An angle grinder soon sorted the problem
• Bleeding the radiator didn't seem to be an issue some talk about it being a pain, but take your time filling with no bubbles etc - and all seemed OK
• Washer bottle pipe wasn't/isn't the right size, but cable tied OK.

And that should be it... except that I've ordered a gearbox boot rebuild kit and a new exhaust muffler. 

And I can't wait to fit both!

Edit...
And then I thought I'd do a side by side of the engine bay compared to when I bought it. Not standard for sure, and much of it is bling that folks would say is pointless. Except as I've mentioned below, it's stuff I like, and that's the point.
I'll also point out that that the radiator is better cooling, the intake is better breathing, the heat shield is better airflow and the little red bolts on the engine is replacing the clips that were pulled out in a head-off event. The rest is bling though, fair point.
Check the difference, for the price, fair updates I think:

End of the beginning

This post is more for me than it is for you.

You see I've got my MX5, and if you didn't know, that little acronym (or whatever it is) appears in many of my conversations these days. If not all of them.
I don't name cars, it's a car, but I certainly have built up quite an attachment to this car - it's been a voyage of upside really, unlike that project beemer that sucked the soul from me...

So this post?
Well, I did this,

Then I did this,

Which is great, and I love the look of the car as a result. A bit of race car and some style. I know it's stylish as it's a style bar. And certainly, it's not any sort of rollover protection. I actually think it might be a paper roll covered in alfoil, but that's OK, it looks ace.

Then yesterday I fixed a few other things on the car, and this got me thinking about all the jobs I've done on the car, so without further fanfare behold the list (mostly in chronological order):

• Swapped indicators for smoked lenses
• Swapped reflectors for clear lenses
• Fitted chromed filler cap
• Fitted clear centre brake light
• Swapped factory stereo for Pioneer with USB. And handy cubby
• Fitted antenna remote switch - down for USB etc.
• Fitted a stupidly expensive radiator cap (never again)
• Fitted stainless radiator airflow plate
• Replaced handbrake lever for steel affair
• Removed sun visors and fitted blanking plates
• Removed the dodgy in-car phone kit (not complete)
• Serviced the car which included rocker cover gasket replacement and brake grinding (one was sticking on)
• Painted the strut brace red
• Fitted fancy oil breather (apparently a bit suspect)
• Swapped the oil filler cap for a nice one
• Coloured the dip stick red - in keeping with highlights
• Replaced the standard induction kit with K&N free breathing kit
• Cleaned the headlights - they're not Euro yellow ones mmmkay
• Replaced the cigarette lighter with a twin USB charging port
• Relocated the front number plate to where it used to be, and should be
• Decent sun strip fitted
• Fitted a fire extinguisher
• Fitted a fake roll hoop, that looks nice
• Replaced the little nylon gear selector doobrie - nice shifting!
• Replaced the nylon window winder guide for the driver's side - nice lifting!

Beyond that, I have a lovely aluminium radiator to fit over the break, and I'm waiting on some bolts to reaffix the various cable retainers - they being pulled out in the service.

When funds allow I'll be putting a sporty exhaust on it. Not because I'm hunting for the elusive 5% gain, but because as you'll see from the list above, I like this car and I like enjoying this car so having sound a little bit more racecar is fine by me!

I'll keep you posted!

No Smoking

Short post for something that I thought of the other day, and really reflects what this car is all about... that being a project car to work on, adjust, improve and really make my own.

The back story is that I have a TomTom. Not because I get lost, Australia only has one road around the outside after all, but because it has speed camera locations on it which are updated. Which of course I have zero use for other than the fact that like train spotting, I'm collecting the serial numbers of speed cameras all around the Sunshine Coast. It's a great hobby that even the fuzz are in on, they've sent me pics every so often so I can mark the occasion if I accidentally don't spot one. Good on you coppers.

Anyway... to business.

The TomTom is USB powered from an adaptor that sticks out and largely fouls fifth gear. When I'm hastily shifting down when I spot another speed camera to mark off on my wow list that is...

So this:

Which I think you'll agree is functional but 80's.

Became this:

Which if nothing else is a better pic because I've got a new phone. But in reality not only looks better but also with two USB ports it'll be marvellous for the longer trips next year.

30 Mins Later...

This morning I decided to tackle the Herculean task of sorting the front of the MX5 - specifically the dicey fill points from the previous license plate location point.

Yesterday afternoon I spent a fruitless hour trolling around Bunnings (Big DIY store) looking for some sort of spacer.

I knew I could get that sort of thing off eBay, but given I'd already removed the plate and holder I wanted it sorted this weekend - yes I am impatient!

A reminder, it looked like this:

Well, having bought a couple of screws that turned out to be "I'll be entering the radiator if I use that" sort of length, I was left with only the objects in my garage...


So this

And a bit of this

Left me with this

Which I'm so very happy about really. It's a million miles away from where I started, and I can't wait to see it out on the street to compare it with what it used to look like.

Pro-tip (not from a pro) - keep everything that's been unbolted, if I decide to sell the car I can in fact put it exactly back to how I bought it, minus the leaks...

Rainy Day

A little known fact is that the Sunshine Coast in Queensland has more annual rainfall than the Cotswolds in the UK. Look it up... (I'll save you, 1,400mm vs 850mm. "Sunshine")
An even stranger fact is that this year I believe that happened in it's entirety in the second week of October (this fact may in fact not be a fact, as a matter of fact).

Anyway, it's beyond mildly damp out, and as I've discovered the MX5 has the handling characteristics of one of those super size shopping carts with the fixed front wheels, when it's wet.

That and I don't like sitting in a tent when it's raining so I'm not about to experiment with 100Kph in one either.

So what to do, I need to do something... and then it struck me, I'd put the heaters down in the garage this last week - queue tropical sauna in the garage music???

And so I bought this:

The reason? This picture doesn't do it justice to how yellowed they were:

Considering I've been working my way through a heap of minor fixes, getting the lights sorted was certainly on the list.

Here's a halfway pic - you can see the difference is night and day, pardon the pun...

And the finished look?

Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome.
And whilst I'm not about to do a product review, I'll do some pointers...

• For $36 it's a bargain - $48 if you go to Repco instead of Super-Cheap (same product)
• RainX was the one that had a UV stabaliser - this is something that a few have said is important. As the car lives in a dark(ish) garage most of the time I think we'll be alright.
• They're not perfect, but given a single factory replacement light is ten times the price, good enough till I have the funds to get after market (and swap out/back on choice).

Application was easy enough, about an hour all up, but have extra cloths ready, you'll need one to clean the lights in between applications and one to put on the final coat.

Also, what is "generous" - I do think to quantify against a universal known would be better. Something like "three pea sized blobs" or similar would work. 

Overall, am I happy? I'm $36 and an hour happy. But if I were buying some lights second hand I'd probably not buy these. A major buff though, and they might come good. Certainly there's enough gubins to do at least another two sets till I get through it all (If I'm "generous").

Edit: The eagle eyed will notice the sort of snake bite mark above the number plate. This is where the standard plate went, this car I think had a car bra (haha, never!) as the plate is held on from underneath and there's velcro stick on pads in the bonnet. This is the next job...

What did I do?

As you know I have a project car, I even posted about it below. Anyway, looking through my collection of stuff I realised I have a heap of 'progress' pics. So I thought I'd share the journey, I've enjoyed it!

Where did project car begin? Here, it's where you saw it a few weeks ago:

And it was as standard as it could be, inside and out...

Seats are a bit worn, but they'll do for now.
Pro Tip: Those two cup holder flaps are easy to fix. Fix them before they break. It's a simple case of pulling off the centre console and putting in a tiny screw and a washer so the spring doesn't fall off.
One was broken on this car, the other on it's way out.

Engine bay is fine. Bonus was the factory strut brace - I wasn't expecting that, but in the end it saved me a few dollars. Mind you, it was lost in the engine bay, not very 'Because: Racecar" really...

And, because I'm not the idiot I used to be (search on Project Beemer) I actually made sure I had some upgrade funds. I reckon a fair proportion of the enjoyment of buying this car was searching for the bits I wanted.

This gave me an early Christmas...

I also ordered a new stereo (no usb on the one that's factory) and double din cage.

I will say the fitting of just about everything was super easy, partly as I only bought bolt on stuff, but also I think it's a very simple car to work on.

Soon had the interior done:

I wasn't sure of handbrake fitting, but it's been secure.

Double sided tape works it seems!

Ended up really appreciating the centre console cubby, shades go in there, followed by phone, and there's a lip so it doesn't slide out.

A comment on the stereo - the speakers in the car are fine for sure. What's more with the loom converters it's a relatively simple fit. And as a bonus the whole thing dims with lights on at dusk. I do recommend this Pioneer too, or at least one you can change the fascia colours on - matching orange/red looks awesome at night.

So that sorted the car, but it's not "Because: Racecar" in any way other than being great fun. Enter a peruse of eBay. On there you can pick up some bargains, and a K&N Pod filter was one of them. Less than half the price of one from the site, if you're careful you can get one that's a further 20% off the ebay price. Which I did...

Worth the discounted price I paid.

An easy half hour to fit. And, cheeky, an oil breather filter - note that this isn't replacing EGR stuff, that's still there, this is a crank breather that used to feed to/from the air filter. 

I also took off the strut brace, and sprayed it ceramic red.

Turns out I really don't like spraying, or rather the time it takes to spray. An agonising few hours...

The results were worth it though...

Probably not to everyone's taste, but not overdone I think, and I like it, it's enough "Because: Racecar" without setting me up for re-tunes and the likes. And frankly as my current tally of speeding fines tell me, cars are fast enough mmmkay.

Note to others, the stainless radiator shield is good, and is in fact a good price, but if you're being pedantic it doesn't cover the final bulkhead/radiator gap, just the bulkhead gaps. I'm pretty much fine with this, but I do keep an eye out for a discount on a full cover that's stainless or indeed carbon.

And the external bits?

I like it. And that's what matters!

The fuel cap I'd do again for sure, it really should have been stainless from the factory (was it an option?). The clear lights? Sure they make it look good, but the pricing was a bit brutal.

Next on the list?

Radiator - Funny story. Took the car in for a service and they found several leaks in various seals and gaskets. Those, the brake grinding and an oil change took me to $1k and wiped me out. On the way through the mechanics recommended a radiator upgrade. I'll do that with the help of ebay for a full aluminium one. Next project once funds are free...

Headlights - I can polish them, but I think I'll go with some after market ones and start afresh. I can then polish/sell the factory ones to cover costs - possibly all of the costs as they're expensive compared to non OEM.

Race headers & Exhaust back box - I like the sound basically. CX Racing does them but you're losing various sensors on the way through apparently. Research time, and expensive, so we'll see how we do.

Brakes - Had mine faced off so they're good for now, but I like the idea of a lot more feel. There are various suppliers of kits - I like the Wilwood set, they bolt right on there. Maybe need some new wheels and tyres at that point too.

Roll bar - As they say, don't have it unless you plan to use it. But I do like the idea of a track day, hillclimb or motorkhana or two with this car. But I don't like the idea of being folded up inside it...

For now though, and probably for  year or more, it'll be my weekend sports car, dressed up as it is. It's perfectly fine like that!

New Toy!

I'm a great believer in putting my money where my mouth is, which is odd as on that score I should never talk much as I don't have any money.

But mid-life crisis is a thing it seems, and I've hit mine - or rather it hit me and in fairness and I've had to stump up to get it off my ageing back.

What did I do - the stuff I can talk about on here would include buying a replacement for Project Beemer, or as it should be rightfully called Project Rolling Artistic Scrap.

And the list of requirements was many and varied:

• Have a roadworthy
• Not need a clutch, gearbox, diff, suspension, sub-frame bushing, every gasket, tappet replacement...
• Manual gearbox (that doesn't need new shift bushings) 
• Rear wheel drive
• And because mid-life crisis, no roof

Not that I'm bitter or anything of course - but a car I could enjoy was primo.

And what did I get? Behold:

Best. Purchase. Ever.

And there we have it, a car that I thoroughly enjoy, has only netted me 4 points in it's first three weeks of ownership and generally is something I'm looking forward to owning for years to come!