Marco's Black Beast aka 'Sooty'

[james lee]

beautiful absolutely beautiful

[Stephen-mx3]

speechless marco. its absolutely incredible. truely is a credit to the site.

gonna have to arrange a feature!!

[Stephen-mx3]

oh and if anyone wants to see some amazing pics, check out his flickr!!

[Marco]

toooooo kind gentlemen :D HDR photos make cars look sexy!

Sounds awesome Stephen, few things to take care of… theres quite a few dents and scratches need sorted... though theres always photoshop for that :idea:

[Stephen-mx3]

yes they do!! wats the name of that programme you use again?

[Marco]

Photomatix http://www.hdrsoft.com/… it's tooooo good!

[freedom]

fair fair play
following thios since the start and youve really done it and yourself proud
oh btw your now my new hated person too :P
CF bonnet!!!!!! were, how and how much, i soo so want 1

[Marco]

thanks Freedom :D

Time to hate me more…and yourself for not looking...

CF bonnet £220 off ebay :D :D :D Some crazo imported it from states, then sold mx3, fool :lol:

Had a nightmare having it shipped over, TNT cracked the corner. Got it repaired by CF specialist, so you would hardly know :) TNT after much battling paid the bill!

[Marco]

Got AWR engine mounts installed, WOW they really make the difference! Before my ZE was thrashing about the engine bay, and the clutch would really wind up the mounts and judder on slow release from biting.

Picture time :D

Few changes there^
Freedoms KYB rears, a tockico front, oem front and some crazy springs that sit up at the back! H&Rs soon I think…
SE part leather part suede early style seats :D
Some painting
CarPC :D
Super/Supra spoiler transferred to this car

[james lee]

mx5 handles i see im after some to keep checking ebay

[Raines]

Beautiful marco, now i know why i bought a black mx myself..

May i ask though about the front door speaker pods you have, make and where you got them from..

Neil..

[james lee]

he made them

[Marco]

Thanks Neil :)

Yup mx5 handles. The volcanoes :D They were made out of:
a plate
a pillowcase
fiberglass
body filler
ring of MDF

Basically:
-you mount something circular a few inches above the grill
-stretch a pillowcase (or other very elastic ones- my ikea one worked well) over the whole thing
-tie it in a knot tight
-You should now have a volcano shape
-fiberglass over it with a few layers
-cut an access whole in the grill after it hardens
-remove the plate by smashing it
-layer it up with more FG
-FG in your mdf speaker ring
-bondo to tidy it up
-sand
-paint
etc

There's guide on the net, usually for sub enclosures, but same technique:)

[Raines]

Thanks Marco, must admit they do look very good, think when i have more time i'll have a go at making some custom ones of my own then..
Dont sound to bad a job, something for winter maybe in the front room to wind the wife up lol..

Neil…

[Marco]

AT LAST! OEM sides :) Probably the easiest thing I've ever sprayed too :D

[Mechanic]

That is one brilliant motor, you must be proud.

Well done bud 8)

[Marco]

Thanks man :)

Next step is to replace the axles with some second hand ones I got off ebay. Going to fit new inner boots, transfer my newish CV and put a new CV on the other one. Getting sick of all this clicking as I steer!

After that will probably try and troubleshoot my damn megasquirt.

[james lee]

must say they do look rtather nice not shore waht nicer mine or yours
not that i have mine on yet

[Marco]

Update time!

I bought the SRD rear tie bar and crossmember, second hand but never installed :) I have to say they haven't made a huge difference but it's nice to remove rusty parts for aluminium alloy that will not rust :)

Shit machine plus SRD parts:

Rear Tie bar:

I also took delivery of my Mfactory helical limited slip differential :D

Porn:

To minimise downtime I got a good deal on Jon's gearbox and after some internal debate decided to DIY the job!

Once I got the OEM open differential out I had to drill out the rivets to retrieve the ring gear which I need to bolt to my LSD:

SATAN:

I also grabbed a cheap/semi rare OEM wrap around spoiler. I'm not sure about it, kinda stealthy rx7 look about it:

I'm now waiting on some parts for the gearbox before I take the LSD to a machine shop to get the carrier bearings pressed. While I'm at it I'm installing a taller 5th gear which will drop the revs 3-400 for cruising :) And new axle seals, housing, primary/secondary shaft locknuts etc.

For the installation of the gearbox I'm going to take the engine out and do some maintenance like gaskets and a good clean :)

[robx1r]

what are you doing wit the small under spoiler??