hickster

Ideally fit this kit the friday after the MOT

Sunroof drains, tailgate seals and rear light seals all suspect. Is there water in the spare wheel well? Probably best to take out the boot interior trims and have a look behind them.

Sorry- yeah machined just means basically drilling the holes bigger! Don't panic though any machine shop that can skim a cylinder head or sort out brake discs should be able to do it. The way I've seen it done before is just with a big pillar drill type thing nothing that fancy! If they are from a mk1 MR2 (I think all later ones are 5 stud) the centre bore is still 54.1mm apparently. Wheel spacers are also hub centric (i.e. you need 4x100 56.1) but they may be a good fix anyway as they will move the alloy away from the hub; 3mm or 5mm spacers will probably lose the need for modifying the alloys- as long as the spacers don't have the flange on them for sitting in the alloys centre bore. With ET45 alloys you may be having an issue with them hitting the brake calliper, though this is normally an issue with the front. I'm pretty sure my 15x6.5j alloys are et45 and there is no rubbing anywhere. Run your hands round the back of the tyres to have a check and look at the distance between the spokes of the wheel and the calliper. Sorry this is a lot of complicated info that is a bit hard to explain without diagrams etc!

Right ok couple of things- The wheel issue is probably the centre bore. If the alloys are off an MX5, Suzuki or some other makes the centre bore is too small (you need 56.1mm the old mx5 is about 54mm) Alloys are hub centric- you need to get them machined out to fit the hubs or machined oversize to fit a reducing spigot ring. If the centre bore is correct check that the offset is not to much and the inner rim is not rubbing on suspension components. The tyre size you need is 195/50/r15. Your car does not have the same rolling radius as the MB6/MC2 (that is a downsize on them but not yours) likewise some of the MA models. Use the stock size on the sticker in your drivers door shut, put it into a calculator online and use the related sizes it recommends. Tyre size is the final gearing for your car deviating more than a couple of percent can really duck up all kinds of things from the speedo to fuel economy, torque etc. If you feel the need to go wider on 15's it is possible but 195 is a good compromise between grip and efficiency.

Almost certainly Titan silver, don't know of any other silver used on the 5 door of the top of my head. The code should be on a sticker inside the passenger door shut or on the ID plate on the front crossmember in the engine bay.

I siliconed my sunroof to stop this- worked on the boot, but still seem to get a wet headlining above the drivers door. The rearward sunroof drains seem to be the culprit. I had no luck with trying to rod them out, if you had all the headlining and interior trim out you may be able to repair them?

A new screen will cost you at least £150 or your insurance excess. Having said that I have had Bosch and ebay aero wipers and there is not much between them, the ebay ones wear a bit quicker. You should not have your wipers on the car for more than 12 months anyway apparently. Most sellers recommend 6 months tops (as they would obviously!)

They look like ball seat ones to me as well. Try one of the nuts you have in it and see how well it sits against the mounting face. The main point of contact should be in the centre of the angled face; not at the top edge or the bottom edge (which looks like it may have happened to these wheels before from the pic).

Whip 'em off and get them skimmed if there's enough material left. Grease up the caliper sliders and pad shims etc with copper grease at the same time. The rear callipers are notorious for siezing up- check the rubber seals and the handbrake action. Something has been heating up the discs (probably bedding in the new pads) but could be pads rubbing full time on one side of the disc. The discs do often warp- currently using Brembo oem spec all round which seem fairly resistant but I still have a small warp on both rears. Rover 400's have the same Lucas system on most models and are equally mediocre. You can do an MGZS upgrade on the same hubs if you feel the need for slightly better braking.

Not sure- my Rover alloys are taper type. Steels could be different though. New nuts are pretty cheap on ebay (you need M12 x 1.5) so not a major problem, it's just a pain in the arse having two sets. You can get adapter washers from taper to ball seat (for fitting fancy aftermarket taper nuts to your oem Honda alloys) but as far as I know not the other way round. Post up a pic of the wheels when you get them and we should be able to tell you which ones you need.

Hah! never knew that; good info! My old MA8 had a 90hp D14A2 engine so I guess the A5 is a restricted version for certain markets? Good way to choke up an engine! The D14A2 had great mpg, I assume both versions use the same gearbox- you should see an improvement.

Honda nuts (for alloys and steels) have a curved 'ball seat' where it contacts the wheel, most other manufacturers and aftermarket wheels use the cone shaped '60deg taper' type. Remember to put 4 of the honda ones in with your spare wheel! (yes- learnt from experience ).

Most 4 x 100 ones will fit- ideally you want a centre bore of 56.1 and an offset between ET45 and 38 ish. Thinner the tyres and the closer to a 45 offset the better it should handle on the snow I believe- though living on the south coast I'm not really an expert. Honda and Rover steels are common in 14" (cheaper tyres and more rim protection) in 15" Vauxhall seems the best bet. I think the civic hybrid or Insight has 15" steels but they seem to be rare secondhand and pricey new. I've been thinking about getting some of these if the weather turns bad again- http://www.camskill.co.uk/m94b0s712p97632/Uniroyal_Tyres_Winter_Snow_Car_Uniroyal_MSPlus6_Uniroyal_MS_Plus_6_-_175_65_R14_82T_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_F_Wet_Grip%3A_C_NoiseClass%3A_2_Noise%3A_71dB Been quite impressed with the rain experts on the punto- not seen many reviews on these though.

Look to VAG and Vauxhall wheels secondhand. VAG is out on the centre bore but you are not likely to be hooning it around at 80 on the snow so not a problem. I have a pair of 14" p slots (£15- almost never used down here though), have seen a few people use 15" astra steels for winters. Even the Rover'lites I use all the time cost about £50 odd. You will need to buy new wheel nuts for non Honda wheels though.

It is quite a subtle effect- also a pain to respray apparently.

Full stainless backbox (except the bit thats not there), 'She is too precious" (except the engine bay I couldn't be arsed to add to the budget spray job) Registered as a 1.5 with a B16a2 swap- shooting is too good for these people.

Completely different Pirates (as in pyrites- someone at Honda couldn't spell) has metal flake in it and a slightly purpleish hue.

Because wikipedia sucks? And is edited by lazy people that can not be bothered to cross reference technical data? You probably just fell foul of some obscure rule on citations or something.

I have been thinking about fitting a vtec light as on mine it's hard to feel the change sometimes. In lower gears it seems to depend on engine load- I am running with a slightly cracked catifold at the moment though might not help. Accelerating hard from standing it sometimes seems to kick in as low as 2100.

That looks about right. The vtec point moves around a little and it also runs on twelve valves under crossover. Handy tool though, pootle around all day with the economy light on then punch it into flip mode and back again without it missing a beat.

Ok tired brain ! your looking at buying an MB3, I geddit. They're great, the wide range 'box means you won't feel any power increase over the MA8 though as stock. I sleep now...

You mean the stats on wikipedia? Can't see many errors apart from the vtec-e point is not 4000 and the torque is wrong I think. If you have an MA8 your engine is a D14-A2 by the way, the D15-Z8 is only found in the MB3 and MB9. The info is contained in your chassis number and on the id plate.

BBS RC's? Can't ever remember seeing any on an M before come to think of it. Should work a treat on the size/shape of the car I reckon.

The D15Z8 in the MB3 and MB9 has a cast iron 'catifold'. The idea is that the hotter the cat the more efficiently it works. This set up is very effective but has a couple of drawbacks- It is very heavy, it costs about £750 to replace with a new oem unit and it is a bit more restrictive than a standard D series header. You can change the whole setup for a standard D series exhaust- be careful not to mix up UK and JDM length cats though. You will obviously need an o2 bung high up in the new header but most have them anyway. You will probably gain a bit in power and lose a bit in mpg. Iirc you will need to replace the centre section as well as the D15Z8 one is unique, leaving the backbox as the only bit you don't need to swap- one of those jobs that will involve a lot of trial and error though!

Wow rubber is so flammable! Don't they realise that if somebody accidentaly dropped a bottle of spirits and a match on one it could be really dangerous!