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Nov 10, 2020 20:04:55 GMT
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Mazda MX5 Forum for Dummies ??
Title says it all. I have been given an 1800 engine and manual gearbox by good mate Darren to use in the Rezin Rockit Thread: forum.retro-rides.org/thread/215488/grizz-purgatory-rezin-rockit-dunkedI am no mechanic, changing batteries in a vibrator or putting the bog roll on the right way around is not a qualifier. So I need to find a forum, possibly outside of this one, but it could be that all the information I need is right here. I am hoping that the engine and gearbox will go in, and be functional with the minimum of modifications and as few as possible wires and ancillaries Advice appreciated.
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Last Edit: Nov 11, 2020 19:56:14 GMT by grizz
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,303
Club RR Member Number: 160
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Mazda MX5 Forum for Dummies ??Rich
@foxmcintyre
Club Retro Rides Member 160
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Nov 10, 2020 21:10:21 GMT
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The biggest issues with Mazda engines of this era is that the engine loom is not a stand-alone item, rather integrated into the whole car loom. I had to pare down the Demio loom from a whole car to just the engine management myself from the donor car, but at least with an MX5 you are likely to be able to buy a ready made ‘wire and go’ engine loom as it is starting to prove a popular engine to retrofit.
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Nov 11, 2020 13:12:08 GMT
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Suggest the Locost forum. Some clever folks on there and plenty of MX5 transplants.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,880
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Nov 11, 2020 17:08:14 GMT
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It's been several years since I was in to the Mx5 world, but at the time you had 2 major forums in the UK. The MX5oc and the MX5nutz forum. There were several others out there, but these two were the biggest.
The owners club, as you can imagine, had a bit more of a traditional classic car club thing going on, plenty of knowledge there but at times a bit matching hat and sweater, 'that's not an official Mazda bolt', if you get my drift.
The Mx5nutz forum was a younger crowd and much more focussed on modification, with lots of info about increasing performance and track use etc. On the downside it was a bit self absorbed into the 'mx5 scene' with whatever mods were cool this year, big wings, etc.
In the US, Club Roadster used to be thought of as a bit more fashion orientated, lots of super cool pictures of really nicely done MX5s though. Miataturbo had some great info, especially about turbo builds and serious performance, but the forum culture was pretty aggressive and unpleasant, lots of 'flaming of newbs' and stuff.
What any of them probably aren't going to tell you directly, is how to wire up your engine into the Rezin Rockit, as they're very focused on 'standard' mx5 stuff. A kit car forum as suggested above might be a better idea to find info on how to get it running in a different car.
The mx5 ECU is a pretty simple beast really, it shouldn't be too tricky to strip down the stock loom and leave the wires you need to run the engine. It's not like modern EUCs with lots of codes to throw, if you remove some of the ancillaries the ECU wont know or care. One advantage is that because of the popularity of DIY ECUs, like Megasquirt, in mx5 circles, there's loads of info out there about what signals the engine does or doesn't need to run. It just might require a bit of research and figuring out.
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Last Edit: Nov 11, 2020 17:12:22 GMT by goldnrust
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 986
Club RR Member Number: 13
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Nov 11, 2020 19:10:46 GMT
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What year is the engine?
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gryphon
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 330
Club RR Member Number: 157
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Mazda MX5 Forum for Dummies ??gryphon
@gryphon
Club Retro Rides Member 157
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Nov 11, 2020 21:50:53 GMT
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Unforunately Nutz and MX5OC forums were pretty dead last time I checked, everything seems to have moved to fb.
There are lots of mx5 related facebook pages... Nutz tends to be ok about non MX5 builds, pretty hit and miss on the advice you get there though.
If the engine is a 97 or later I think the ECU requires the immobiliser and chipped key before it will do anything - You can get a lockset, immobiliser and ECU for £100-£200
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Nov 11, 2020 23:20:10 GMT
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Suggest the Locost forum. Some clever folks on there and plenty of MX5 transplants. Nick Seconded. There will definately be someone on LocostBuilders who can help you.
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These are great leads guys.
Thank you.
Between all of that, I am sure it will end up with me learning enough, stealing enough ideas.
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Waiting to hear from Darren, I seem to recall he had mentioned around 2000 when we spoke. But he said he would look for an old pic, that hopefully will have the reg number on. As far as wiring, electrics etc are concerned, I have no idea what we really will end up having once the container is unpacked.
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It's been several years since I was in to the Mx5 world, but at the time you had 2 major forums in the UK. The MX5oc and the MX5nutz forum. There were several others out there, but these two were the biggest. The owners club, as you can imagine, had a bit more of a traditional classic car club thing going on, plenty of knowledge there but at times a bit matching hat and sweater, 'that's not an official Mazda bolt', if you get my drift. The Mx5nutz forum was a younger crowd and much more focussed on modification, with lots of info about increasing performance and track use etc. On the downside it was a bit self absorbed into the 'mx5 scene' with whatever mods were cool this year, big wings, etc. In the US, Club Roadster used to be thought of as a bit more fashion orientated, lots of super cool pictures of really nicely done MX5s though. Miataturbo had some great info, especially about turbo builds and serious performance, but the forum culture was pretty aggressive and unpleasant, lots of 'flaming of newbs' and stuff. What any of them probably aren't going to tell you directly, is how to wire up your engine into the Rezin Rockit, as they're very focused on 'standard' mx5 stuff. A kit car forum as suggested above might be a better idea to find info on how to get it running in a different car. The mx5 ECU is a pretty simple beast really, it shouldn't be too tricky to strip down the stock loom and leave the wires you need to run the engine. It's not like modern EUCs with lots of codes to throw, if you remove some of the ancillaries the ECU wont know or care. One advantage is that because of the popularity of DIY ECUs, like Megasquirt, in mx5 circles, there's loads of info out there about what signals the engine does or doesn't need to run. It just might require a bit of research and figuring out. Thank you for taking the time to write this up. And yes, I certainly want this whole thing to be as basic as possible. As few unnecessary ancillaries as possible. Simply because they will not be needed in what is ostensibly going to be a “Locost” type kit car.
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Unforunately Nutz and MX5OC forums were pretty dead last time I checked, everything seems to have moved to fb. There are lots of mx5 related facebook pages... Nutz tends to be ok about non MX5 builds, pretty hit and miss on the advice you get there though. If the engine is a 97 or later I think the ECU requires the immobiliser and chipped key before it will do anything - You can get a lockset, immobiliser and ECU for £100-£200 I think it is a later than 97 engine. Maybe I will get lucky and get the bits needed, along with the engine and trans.
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The biggest issues with Mazda engines of this era is that the engine loom is not a stand-alone item, rather integrated into the whole car loom. I had to pare down the Demio loom from a whole car to just the engine management myself from the donor car, but at least with an MX5 you are likely to be able to buy a ready made ‘wire and go’ engine loom as it is starting to prove a popular engine to retrofit. If not supplied, a ready made, makes sense.
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 986
Club RR Member Number: 13
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Nov 12, 2020 12:33:59 GMT
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Waiting to hear from Darren, I seem to recall he had mentioned around 2000 when we spoke. But he said he would look for an old pic, that hopefully will have the reg number on. As far as wiring, electrics etc are concerned, I have no idea what we really will end up having once the container is unpacked. I'll have look through what manuals I've got as pdf's for. I might have something to help.
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Waiting to hear from Darren, I seem to recall he had mentioned around 2000 when we spoke. But he said he would look for an old pic, that hopefully will have the reg number on. As far as wiring, electrics etc are concerned, I have no idea what we really will end up having once the container is unpacked. I'll have look through what manuals I've got as pdf's for. I might have something to help. Thank you very much.
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 986
Club RR Member Number: 13
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Nov 14, 2020 18:46:09 GMT
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I'll have look through what manuals I've got as pdf's for. I might have something to help. Thank you very much. I've got some wiring stuff for 2000, 2001 and 2003.
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