btjtaylor

My first time trying a string alignment at home - no expense spared alignment rig built out of 2x curtain poles, 2x builders chalk lines, 4x axle stands, and some rubble bags with white grease in between to act as turnplates! 🤣 It did seem to do the job though. At the very least, it means my tyres won't get shredded on the way to get an MOT and then on any test drives. Stance looking bang on now! I went to go for a VERY quick test drive and quickly found I couldnt select 2/4/6 gear .. oops. It was working until I swapped the shifter so I think it's nothing serious just a shifter cable adjustment issue. One of these days it will leave the driveway!!

Managed to get the car out into the sunshine today for the first time since October! I set up the ride height as best I could following some online guides (trying to give maximum "bump" travel) and adjusted the camber using a fairly cheap magnetic gauge, which wasn't the easiest thing to read but did the job, -1.75 degrees at the rear and -2.75 degrees at the front which seems to be a good starting point according to people on the internet who are much cleverer than me! Visually it looks about right comparing to other builds i've seen at least. Next time i'll adjust the front and rear toe using strings to try and at least get it somewhat in the ballpark. After replacing the steering rack the front wheels somewhat resemble this GIF currently!

According to the list below "Front wings....All different" so I think you will need to get an MB front end. Ones from a lower spec MB should be cheaper though - the main differences I've seen are headlight washers and the lower lips are different on VTI and VTIS models.

Turns out the handbrake problem was actually user error I found a post here that showed me I hadn't followed the correct procedure! Once I did that it was all fine and I didnt need to swap the cables in the end (so I can't comment on the MG Rover ones i'm afraid) What I can tell you is these parts are the correct length and and do work, but the quality control was a bit suspect (I had to file open the hole in the handbrake cable bracket slightly and file off a bit of badly machined cable that was hang out the end of the pin) 92.10.5233 COFLE 10.5233 Handbrake cable 1655, 1469mm, Disc Brake | AUTODOC price and review 92.10.5234 COFLE 10.5234 Handbrake cable 1636/1449, 1636, 1449mm, Disc Brake | AUTODOC price and review

Done quite a bit of reading and come to the conclusion that the handbrake cables I ordered were just crap quality. I can max out the adjustment nut on the handbrake handle, it seems like the cables are stretching or the wrong length. It looks like the Honda MB and Rover 45/MGZS handbrake cables are the same so i've ordered a replacement set from DRMGS (Rover 45 / MG ZS Handbrake Cables - SPB100720 / SPB100730 / SPB000580 – Discount MG Rover Spares - Tel 02380 001133 / Email sales@dmgrs.co.uk) - im hoping they are better made as i've good experiences from stuff i've bought there recently. Fingers crossed.

Finally finished the last piece of the brake upgrade today. MB6 master cylinder and ZS180 brake booster (seems to be the same as the MB6 one but I found a good deal on a ZS180 unit. One of those parts that people are asking stupid money on ebay for but if you put in the time on FB groups etc you can get one for a more reasonable price.) Unfortunately the MB6 master cylinder has the brake line fitting slightly further away from the prop valve than the MB2 does so I had to remove the line from the car and bend it in the vice to straighten it out which resulted in the below. I'm not particularly proud of myself and I should probably remake it properly at some point or maybe get an MB6 pre-bent line but it does work! Need to sort out a problem with the handbrake (it's not working very well - unsure why at the moment) and give it a wheel alignment before it can go for an MOT. I'm going to have a go at doing a string alignment in the garage next weekend. I've not done one before but if I can get it 95% of the way there then at least it avoids me destroying the tyres until I can get a proper alignment setup. That being said, many professionals do string alignments in the pits, so they can't be that bad!

Yes - it's not bad really, i've definitely sat in much worse. The seat could possibly go a little lower but I will probably mess about with that once i've actually driven the thing in its current form (getting restless now 🤪). I can reach the controls comfortably, that'll do for now! Without the sliders in it could go REALLY low. The sliders add a tiny bit of height but you also can't mount the seat at the low position at the front as the locking bar fouls on the seat and you can't adjust it.

Spent a (very hot and sticky!) bank holiday in the garage fitting seats and harnesses Thanks to a very helpful poster (above) I found out that the Planted USDM Accord 94-97 seat bases fit the bolt pattern of the MB chassis. Much easier than having to modify the factory seat or have something new fabricated. I then fitted Sparco sliders and side mounts. I got away with only having to drill 1x extra hole in the seat base which by all accounts is a lot better than most manage! Without the sliders the job would've been much easier but i'm glad I persevered and fitted them as I wanted different people to be able to drive the car, and it's much easier to get in and out if you can slide the seat back. The seats are Mirco RTS fibreglass buckets. I picked them up pretty cheap used as the FIA certification had expired on them (they came out of a competition rally car) but other than some general scuffs and scrapes they're in good nick, and totally suitable for track days. Much better than what I could've got new in the same price range. Still lots of adjustments to make on the harnesses as I didn't really know what I was doing but at least it all fits!

Fuel sender there's an access hatch under the back seat so it might be worth having a look there to see if something obvious is wrong with it. Pump is on the other side and tank out (it's not as bad a job as it sounds as long as you can get the car high enough). I replaced mine with a Walbro 255 (The warning about not smoking while working on the fuel system is rather 90s isn't it!)

I REALLY want one for mine after this AI mock up (where it also decided the car is in 2 places at once 🤪) I was not able to find any off the shelf options, past or present I had a look into it and basically you have to have a mould made from the original bonnet, estimated cost around £2000-3000 apparently :( I am tempted to get a spare bonnet and try a carbon wrap and see what it looks like

How's it holding up on the stepwagon? I probably won't bother on my MB as it's not likely to see a lot of salt but I definitely need to do my Accord, its starting to get a bit crispy under there in places. One of the rear disc shields completely fell off in my hands the other day!

Bolt in half cage fitted today. Quite an awkward install as there's a lot of holes to drill and try to keep everything on centre but we got there eventually! Very impressed with the welding and paintwork - definitely recommend JP Cages who supplied it

Installed AEM x-series gauges for wideband AFR, oil temp and oil pressure, and wired the analogue output from them up into the doctronic ECU so I can set a "limp mode" in case something goes wrong! Oil temp mounted into a sandwich plate between the block and the oil filter and oil pressure mounted to the factory oil pressure location with a K-tuned adapter so both sensors can be run They are housed in a very nice 3d printed gauge pod holder that mounts in place of the centre air vent (from a very nice Bulgarian chap on a honda group on facebook who managed to print me a right hand drive version for a very reasonable price).

It's probably cheaper to just buy a Civic with the engine you want already in - maybe you could get a right hand drive one form the UK that's rusty? Theses kind of cars tend to be cheaper over here ... MBs haven't gone up in price much (yet!) like EG/EKs have in recent years. Obviously you'd have to get it back to where you are but depends how desperate you are! You are absolutely right on the K-swap front - especially if you use quality parts not ebay copied junk. I spent £750 on my shell, £700 on an engine, and £250 on a gearbox, but I would say the parts to do the engine conversion properly are probably 5x that, especially when you add in a lot of items that get done "whilst you're in there" e.g. new clutch/lightened flywheel, bigger injectors, different intake manifold... etc. etc.

More info on the lights? Looks great !