mx5trackdayproject.co.uk

Category: Interior Mods

  • Broken Key – Sorted

    Broken Key – Sorted

    One of my car keys got broken beyond repair when the transponder chip got damaged as well as the casing.

    Researching the solution I found I would be fine if I had two working keys but sadly I only had one.

    Worse, Google’s AI told me it thought the cost for replacement would be painful. I put it of for a week or two but solid track day bookings meant I’d need to get it sorted out in the short time I had left.

    I phoned a local auto locksmith (Doms Locks) explained the predicament and he told me that I could be up and running with a non-branded three button key, cut to match my MX5 key profile and with a transponder chip programmed for my Mazda for £160…. SOLD I said.

    So he drove over in his van, cut a new key and programmed the transponder and the other key functions. I have to say I’m really happy with it and I now have two perfect keys once again and I got to talk about cars with another petrolhead for an hour.

    The key’s buttons have open, lock and boot opening functions but not the alarm isolation button that I’ve never used anyway. It is not a match for the OEM as you can see from the photos but it all works and the car is unlikely to be worth very much anyway should I ever sell it.

    So if you are in the Berkshire/Surrey area and need a key replacing, he might be worth a call.

    Next week the car is off to Aylesbury have its steering wheel modded and reupholstered in leather – more of which soon.

    It even comes with a Mazda badge
    Replacement non-manufacturer replacement key with Mazda badging.
  • Adjustable Runners for Drivers Seat Fitted

    Adjustable Runners for Drivers Seat Fitted

    Happy as I was with the seat position, I share the driving at track days with a person with less reach in her legs than me and so it was clear that for comfort and safety I would need to either move the seat manually at track days or fit a sliding runner.

    I decided that I would purchase a Cobra sliding runner as they were relatively cheap and logic said must fit properly.

    I tried fitting them direct to the base of my seat which was very easy but the runners themselves did not line up with the Barbarian subframe on one side as they were too narrow. As I also did not like the fully upright position I elected to re-fit the Cobra side mounts and mount these to the runners.

    I needed to measure and drill two holes into the Barbarian mount but the runners went in. Attempting to fit the slider crossbar I realised that the runners were mounted too narrow for the bar. Whilst they could be compelled to work with a flat head screwdriver this was not ideal.

    Sleeping on the problem I elected to bent the bar into the correct width. A couple of railway sleepers in my garden helped facilitate the adjustments required and after one or two attempts it fits and makes adjustment an easy task. It also helps when leaving the vehicle by removing the need to shimmy around the steering wheel, making for much more dignified egress.

    Heated leather seats are great
    they are comfortable for the road
    but sometimes
    something more is needed

    Anti-Submarining

    In the photos the red webbing is closed loop load restraints rated at four tonnes. I’ve installed these under the seat to act as points five and six and address the fear I had about this. At some point I’ll replace the harness but at the moment this is my best fix. I would not recommend this mod to readers as its safety is unclear and knowing what I know know I would have taken the hit and just bought a six point harness.

    3-Point Harness (Updated)

    I’ve fabricated an extension to the seatbelt stalk and bolted it to the seat base so now I have the option of a three point harness for every day and a full harness for track days.

    I will need to purchase a seat occupancy sensor by-pass in due course for the passenger seat so the remaining airbag can still deploy on that side of the vehicle.

    Since writing this I found that a seat occupancy sensor bypass for a Mk 3 is difficult to find and I will need to rely on the kindness of an MoT tester or put the old ones back in,

  • Track Day Seats, another rabbit hole (Part Two)

    Track Day Seats, another rabbit hole (Part Two)

    So it’s done

    Well they’re in (more or less). I looked at Tillett as my favourite choice but they were too expensive, then I looked at Corbeau, Cobra and Recaro.

    I wanted GRP or Carbon but ended up with a steel frame, In the end I went for Cobra Monaco Pro’s with steel side mounts, I was unable to work out a solution quickly that would allow me to use the OEM sliders so bought some heavy Barbarian mounts.

    This allowed me to get the Cobra’s installed before another trip to Thruxton Circuit a few days later. I was compelled to do some frilling to get the seats mounted far enough forward.

    I’d elected to get TRS clubman harnesses as an entry into the harness game and these went in without too much hassle. though I was compelled to get some anchor points from Demon Tweaks which arrived promptly.

    Cobra Monaco Pro’s

    I like them, my 34in waist fits in them well enough without being too tight. They look fab but are heavier than the Tilletts and GRP seats I had been looking at. They remained comfortable both for the drive to Thruxton and a full track day there.

    TRS Clubman Harness

    Postbox in the plastic are to allow Harness to attach of Harness Bar of Roll Bar
    In this image I still need to roll the excess harness straps

    It’s a four-point harness father than the six I had wanted. They don’t have a sensor in them for your warning lights so Ive decided to keep the three point as well and extend the OEM seatbelt stalk to get it to the right height for use with the seat.

    I’m looking at a solution for addressing the five/six point option without buying a new harness this year.

    Cybul recommend cutting a post box cutout in the trim to allow a harness to attach to the bar. Drilling this out with a large wood drill bit saw shards of plastic flying everywhere making it a complete pain to clean afterwards. I’ve protected the harness by edging the post box with rubber trim. (see above).

    I had not allowed for how restrictive to movement these were in comparison to a three point harness. So much so that I can’t switch the GoPro on when harnessed in and when trying to look over your shoulder – probably another reason to keep the three point harness for street use.

    Trying it all at Thruxton I was super happy. A few tidy ups remain to be sorted out namely, the OEM harness, buckle mount, fit a passenger presence sensor bypass module, attempt a five point solution for the harness and finally try to find an option to re use the Mazda sliding seat brackets for other drivers.

    But all in all I’m very happy with the new gear.

  • Track day seats, another rabbit hole (Part One)

    Track day seats, another rabbit hole (Part One)

    It is surprisingly difficult to purchase seats for your Mk3 MX-5 with confidence. Since installing the roll bar I’ve become preoccupied with the fact that I have a harness bar that I’m not using, that most of what I’ve read tells me you shouldn’t use a full harness with a OEM seat that doesn’t have the proper slots behind the shoulders to keep everything in alignment; that a full harness shouldn’t be used without a HANS device to protect your head and neck; and that if you roll it with a full harness you cant move your head out of the way or the dangers of submarining with four point harnesses. So In these next few posts I’m going to have a go at sorting it out in my head.

    The Cars Current Spec

    My Sport Tech has leather seats with heaters, side air-bags and height adjustment. I refurbished them shortly after I bought the car as the drivers seat was worn at the entry point and scuffed white in colour. I’d bought a two-part kit off eBay which was essentially a colour restorer and leather conditioner. The results were pretty good and have lasted the year since I bought the car. I don’t really go fast enough to need bucket seats but I remain hopeful.

    Seat Base(ics)

    If you are content to have a fixed seat there will be no problem once you have found a seat that fits, in finding a seat base which won’t be too expensive.

    For us the problem comes when you have drivers of differing leg lengths and require a sliding seat mount. The solution is likely to be expensive unless you have fabrication skills or the equipment to adapt the OEM runners.

    YouTube, at least mine seems to be poor on this subject and there is space here for you content creators to fill. In order to get my head around the subject I spent the morning taking my driver-side seat and runner apart.

    Taking the seat out

    My seat is armed and dangerous, with a side airbag which would ruin you day if it went off while you were near it; so I disconnected the battery and waited a while for the system to become safe.

    I separated the large white connector clock by moving the black tab that locks the two halves together and sliding the black connector locking mechanism back. Chair side of the connector is locked on a bar attached to the seat and the car side falls to the floor. Four 14mm bolts in the runners corners are undone and the seat can be removed from the car. You then stand there aghast at the rubbish hiding under your seat.

    Separating the runner from the seat

    Turning the seat over gives you access to the Hex bolts that attach the runner to the base. Two are easy to remove and two need a crafty orientation of the sliding rail to facilitate access through the larger hole.

    It’s at this point that you realise the bolt holes are off-set from each other and some modification to the runner or replacement thereof or of any new side mount will be required.

    Drivers Side Connectors

    Looking past the block there seem to be connectors for the Air Bag cable (defeated with a 2.2 ohm – 1w Resistor) , Seat Heater (two cables) and Seat Belt sensor cable.

    Putting it all back together was pretty straight forward. So now the thinking begins.

    ,

  • Track Day Intercom Installed

    View of TRS Jacks with helmet cable visible
    Helmet Intercom Jacks

    We found the MX-5 NC to be a noisy place to be on a track day, especially with the top down and got fed up of shouting at each other when we are on track days. I decided to try a Zero Noise full face intercom system to see if we could make communication easier.

    We put together a rough installation to test the concept at Thruxton Circuit and found it worked really well but the original location (behind the seat headrests) was inconvenient and the new location seems much more convenient especially if a seat upgrade takes place.

    Whilst the unit can be powered by a 9v battery this one has been hard wired to a fuse box, and the wires are routed behind the plastics with automotive connectors so that the plastics can be removed in the future without having to cut the intercom cables.

    The jacks are located where the two speakers used to sit between the seats on the roll bar which had been removed when the radio was upgraded and provided an easily accessible installation point and is convenient for the helmet cable.

    We cut the jack plug off the amplifier cables and bought some surface mounted jack plugs for this installation.

    All in all this seems to be a worthwhile upgrade for an MX-5 track day car.

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