At the moment, the best source of details is on our beloved club web siteDo you have the costs and details of moving your spare tyre
under the boot? I would like to do the same.
(OK, maybe 'beloved' is going too far) - look in the maintenance section - go
to http://www.mx5club.org.nz - click on the number plate on the left that says
'MX5' - scroll down to where maintenance is mis-spelled and click there.
There's a good article by Peter Sweetman.
You could also go digging around on http://www.miata.net, in the garage
section, for a couple of other articles.
I had the muffler installed on Wednesday. So far I've not had time to properly
mount the wheel (minor crisis today - water pump leaking -Mazda quoted
$750 to fit a new one! Am getting one installed elsewhere on Monday - the
day before I planned to go on my month long driving holiday - might just
postpone that a day to let things settle...)
My observations so far:
- for the muffler install, the guy cut off my old exhaust & got me to bolt in the
spare so he could check for clearances & make sure everything fitted. I had
temporarily installed about 155mm of rod, with some of it being inside the nut
on the topside of the boot floor. That was only just enough to hold the wheel
on for test purposes - more is needed in practice (maybe another 20mm
would be good). I'll figure out later exactly how much rod is required. It's
possible to bolt the wheel on the other way up, but then the valve isn't
accessible from the bottom, and my spare tyre loses about 5psi/month...
- Peter gave me his left-over M12 threaded rod, but I couldn't get M12
wingnuts at the place I went to first, so in the interests of expediency, I got
some new 1/2" rod & hardware. I'm considering using two lengths of rod (ie.
using two of the stud holes in the wheel) so I bought enough hardware to
make two studs - 2 wingnuts, 60cm rod (a standard length), 4 nylocs, 2 R-
pins (to make sure the wingnut can't spin off) - all came to less than $10
total. If anyone wants the spare M12 rod they're most welcome, but it's not
worth making any effort over - the new rod I bought was only about $3.50 &
you'll need to go out & buy more hardware anyway
- The boot floor is pretty thin, and the suggested location for the stud is
through an existing hole in an insert which doesn't even appear to be welded
in (some sort of sealing glue stuff instead). Have a look under the carpet on
the left of the well in the boot - there's a round depression with a rubber bung
in the middle. I'm not entirely comfortable with having the spare wheel (which
isn't exactly light) hanging off that thin metal when I'm thrashing the car
around. Especially since I developed a taste for having the shocks wound up
to full firmness
I know that other people are happy with this setup, but I'll probably still put in two studs anyway.
- it appears that the tyre bears on the rear sway bar. If this is really the case
then I'll need to do something about it - shouldn't be difficult.
- the new muffler is smaller than what I had before (which wasn't stock) & is
louder. I've not got used to it yet - I feel like a boy racer. My previous setup
was very quiet.
- I have a resonator after the catalytic converter - I don't know how much
difference it makes on mine (since I've never known it any other way), but I
believe the exhaust can sound displeasing if you don't have a resonator with
the small muffler.
- Pit Stop in Wairau Valley did the install for me. They had done a number of
them before & knew exactly what I was talking about. I was very impressed
with the workmanship (I watched throughout, and took photos). The man
knew what he was doing.
- It took about 1.5hrs While I was there we spent an extra half hour repairing
a broken stud on the catalytic converter flange (which was leaking & should
have failed a WOF at VTNZ two weeks ago, but they didn't see it - I feel
somewhat disillusioned with VTNZ quality). Also repaired a rattling
heatshield.
- Pit Stop prices (including GST):
$100 - muffler
$37.50 - tubing, gaskets, freight, misc
$45 - labour (not including the extra stuff I had done)
TOTAL = $182.50
- I would have no hesitation whatsoever in going to Pit Stop again or
recommending them to anyone (this is my observation based on a single
experience, but other people have also enthused about their work)
- we removed the existing muffler heatshield & didn't install a new one, but
the new muffler is quite a long way from the boot floor & I don't think it will be
any problem at all. I'll look into it later (maybe even do some data logging, in
order to maintain my reputation & soothe my obsessions)
- the existing heatshield at least needs to be modified (or removed) if you
want the spare to seat flat against the boot floor. The heatshield is just
bolted on with 4 bolts from below.
- the left rear tie-down/tow hook really needs to be removed to make space
(which I have done). I may eventually replace it with a slim-line version made
from heavy angle-iron, or I might just forget about it & move on with life (for a
change)
I have now been awake for 21.5 hrs, far too much of which was spent
disassembling more parts of my car than I was comfortable with, trying to get
at the water pump - I really do think it's time to leave this email & go to sleep.
Karl.
