Past Projects

 Home                                                                                                           Mazda MX-5

I know this is not your typical pre-war car (Gulf War maybe...) but it is a classic. The owner of this car has been a long time customer from other workshops the mechanic has worked in and will not take his major work to anyone else. So when the little 1.6 litre engine cried "enough" with a damaged big end bearing the owner suggested "if we are rebuilding the engine do we have to keep it standard". Of course not! And a nice little engine was made.

The brakes and suspension have been done in the past

A nice set of Bilstein dampers and some performance brake pads, a decent wheel alignment front and rear and you have your weekend racer.

The new engine with some careful changes.

Most engines need a long list of changes to perform well. These little Mazda engines only need a bit more compression and some longer camshaft openings to gain large advantages.
This car is the second for this owner that has been worked on by the mechanic. The first car was never intended for the road and was used by the owner first for club sprints and then full circuit racing. The original car received the same shock absorbers as the road car but a higher spring rate. The road and race car sway bars were replaced front and rear with three way adjustable items to help tune the suspension to the drivers needs. The engine on this car has an extractor exhaust system, pod intake filter and has had the fuel injectors and fuel system modified to increase pressure and flow.

Engine internal modifications included the usual boring of the cylinders for replacement pistons, as the car is a street driver flat top pistons were used. The cylinder head was shaved by close to 1.5mm to help increase the compression. The camshafts were reground to allow the engine to breath easier and increase torque. These engines already rev easily and drive well in the higher rev range so attention was given to getting it to the rev range.

Overall the engine is very sweet, will reach the rev limit with ease and has enough low in the rev range to push you back into the seat. Not a fire breather but certainly fun on the weekends.