In this episode we're going to be installing some performance bracing on the MX5.
That's right because when it's stiffer you can go harder
[MCM Intro Music]
Welcome to another episode of Mighty Car Mods,
proudly supported by Just Car Insurance.
Now, we've been very busy -- haven't we, Marty --
Listen to those birds!
Awh dude
That's Australian Birds
Did that bird just ruin it?
No no, but from someone on our recent video --
-- that's a Galah --
(Bird quawks loudly) Oh wow
That's a lorikeet.
You know what someone said on one of our recent videos?
They said, "why have you got monkeys there?"
They thought we had... (mimics monkey)
(Marty laughs)
They're native Australian birds you can hear.
Yeah
Oh, the cat's about to eat it.
Oh wow, it's gonna be epic.
Anyway! Let's get back to--
Oh dude! (laughs)
Oh wow, wow (Marty laughing)
Um. yes, yes.
We've been really busy lately,
we've been travelling around, Marty, haven't we?
That's right we've been all OVER the place,
we've been the UK and we've been in Japan
And we've also been filming in Vegas recently.
All those videos are in our second channel "mcmtv2", so you can check that out,
but today we're continuing the build of the MX5.
These are the bracing components that we're gonna be installing on the MX5 today.
Now, there are a number of benefits
Number 1 of course,
reducing your body roll during cornering
and number 2,
strengthening the chassis system.
Now, because we're gonna be connecting a bunch of the different suspension components together,
the whole thing can work as one system,
and each of the existing suspension components will do a better job of doing its job.
And that is particularly important when we've got a convertible like this
which has less structural rigidity than a car that has a full body.
Now, this is made of mild steel -- not aluminium -- so it is a little bit heavier.
But it is twice as strong as aluminium, per size and per weight.
Now, if this is such a great thing for handling,
the question is, 'Why isn't it coming on mass-produced cars?'.
Well, two things. Number one is cost and number two is NVH. Which is Noise, Vibration and Harshness.
And that is going to be particularly apparent when combined with performance suspension like coil-overs.
Now, everyone has a different threshold of what they are willing to accept in terms of NVH.
But our goal, of course, is to get the car back on the track and doing better lap times.
And we're confident, even with the added weight, that we're gonna be able to do this with the MX5.
And it's important, as well, to note that this stuff--it is quite light.
It is adding a little bit of weight, but go on a diet! Take some laxatives!
[Do that] and you're probably going to be losing as much weight as you're adding.
So with that said, let's go to Mighty and find out what tools we're gonna need!
MARTY: These are the tools you are gonna need.
You're gonna need a socket set. You are gonna need some pretty hefty sockets
We are dealing with suspension stuff. So it is better to have some of the bigger impact sockets
You are also gonna need some spanners. Same deal. Lots of leverage is good for getting those bolts undone
A cordless rattle gun is always handy
But most important you are gonna need some jack stands
Because we are gonna get under the car. We were gonna borrow Mechanical Stig's hoist
But he is over in Vegas and sending us back some... pretty messed up photos and stories
So we are doing it in the garage. We are going to jack the car up and put on these
MOOG: We actually are gonna do it Martin. We are gonna go...
Step 1!
JACK UP YOUR CAR!
[BGM]
MOOG: First, jack up your car
Get it as high as you can. And remember safety first
We are leaving the jack under the car in addition the the jack stands as an extra safety precaution
[BGM]
MOOG: First up we're installing the front cross-member brace
MARTY: The braces come with both bolts and washers
Makes sure you use washers on both sides so they don't pull through.
MOOG: Do you still love your MX-5 Martin or have you lost the love a little bit
MARTY: No, my MX-5 is fantastic dude. I mean...
MOOG: Do you still love it?
MARTY: On a big rainy day like today it is not very inviting to go and drive it
Uh
MOOG: You are not over it yet?
MARTY: No. I'm not over it. Cause it is so great. It is so simple and cheap
If you're gonna have a convertible...
Like if you go and spent 20 or 30 grand on a convertible
Then it is kinda like...
I don't know. I feel like for a car that is not that practical it is a waste of money
But if you are gonna have something that is still cheap to own and to buy
And if it is modified and turbo-ed and all those good things
Then it is great. And there is not that much money into it
Then it just works man. It is such a MAD car
MARTY: Brace yourself!
MOOG: Oh wow MARTY: Yeah, it happend
[BGM]
MOOG: I wonder if it is worth "lock-tightening" them on Marty.
Because those are not locking nuts it is supplied with. What do you reckon?
MARTY: Yeah, they get vibrated around a lot
Do you remember those, um, vibrating weight loss platform things?
From back in the day
MOOG: What do they do?
MARTY: They are just a strap you tie around your butt.
And then it just like vibrates [blahh] heaps. And it make you lose weight
MOOG: That is like the most obscene and grotesque way of doing exercise
MARTY: Yeah MOOG: I saw another one. Where you just get these electrodes
And you stick them on your body MARTY: Yeah
And you have a controller and you electrocute the fat
And it is like a [eerrnt] [eerrnt] [eerrnt]
And because it is on the muscles making the muscles contract
MARTY: Yeah
MOOG: You can just sit down and watch tv while you electrocute the fat off your body
MOOG: I... I have no idea what... what we are talking about Martin
MARTY: Dude, these holes are awesome. Look at this. So there is a hole...
MOOG: Yes
MARTY: There is a hole... that you can stick your bolt through
Then flip 'em over
Then get your bolt through the right bit
MOOG: Oh, Martin. They got it right at Mazda didn't they
MARTY: Yeah. It is like they knew. How did they know?
MOOG: I don't know Martin MARTY: How did they know were gonna want to do this in like 23 years time
MOOG: Because they were smart Martin
MARTY: Dude, Youtube didn't even exist 23 years ago MOOG: Maybe they 'Zoom-Zoom'-ed 'Back to the Future'
(laugh) THAT IS A FREAKIN RANDOM CAT!
[BGM]
MOOG: The install is simple but remember it is different for each car
And a quick tip... this job is a whole lot quicker and easier if you've got a friend to help
[BGM]
MARTY: In our case, a flat-head screwdriver helps hold the top of the bolt still so we can tighten the nut
MOOG: A rattle gun is a massive win for this particular install. They are cheap and useful for heaps different jobs on your car
[BGM]
MOOG: Literally the longest part of this install
Is taking plastic off all the parts
That is how easy it is
We get so many emails and stuff from young people that just got their cars
And they are like "What do I want to do to make it go faster? What should I do?"
We always say handling mods. And out of all the handling mods
THIS one has got to be the easiest
You put it under your car. You bolt it on
Of course, if you are not, kinda, sure what you are doing
Make sure you go to a suspension place or whatever and get it all checked out properly
Because suspension is still, kinda, ah...
Has a large safety aspect to your driving. But...
This is really quick. Real easy. So, umm
Get on it
MARTY: Okay. So this brace is sometimes known as a ladder brace
This connects to the two existing drops. That are up here underneath the chassis.
And in the back, we have got these kind bracket things
that hold onto the end of the chassis rail, there.
MOOG: Here it is Martin. I'll chuck you one
MARTY: You use one of those tricky bolts
These bolts go up into the chassis rail like that.
And then flip around and we use those
And that basically connects the front and the rear
And apparently is what makes quite a big difference by MX-5 enthusiast
And they know everything
MOOG: (?) mate Marty: Yeah, man
MARTY: The rear chassis rail mount holes needed to be widened just enough to get the captive nut through
The bolt holds the brace in place. With most of the forces being exerted on the side of the chassis rail
[BGM]
MARTY: If you are gonna drive around with like 2mm of clearance with your awesome coilovers or airbags
Remember that these rails
Hold the car together. If they get completely hammered
They stop holding your car together... And that's bad
MOOG: A small amount of encouragement from a hammer and the rear mounts are done
MARTY: The central brace can then be lifted up under the car
It will need to come off if we are ever changing gearboxes or exhaust
But it is only a few bolts and easy to remove
[BGM]
MARTY: Now, the final bit of our bracing is this front strut brace
Now, these things are cheap. And they are really really easy to install
MOOG: Now, the manufacture of these says that they are actually designed to absorb some of the impact
in the unfortunate event of having an accident.
Which means you do not get as much chassis damage
What else can you tell me about them, Martin? They are connecting things
MARTY: That's right. There are only 4 bolts to put on.
Some of them use 6 bolts
And they connect the two front shock towers together
Now, it is not a handling cure-all. It is not going to make amazing differences
But, it is about making small incremental changes to make it better
So it is probably one of the cheapest and MADest mods you can do
MOOG: Well, other than of course one of these high quality stickers that's available from the MightyCarMods Website
A lot of people are always saying "Hey, that's a cool sticker". You can get it from MightyCarMods.com
MARTY: Did you make a sticker board? MOOG: That's right mate
Just like a High School project. Look at that
MOOG: So there it is. Now, ah, in terms of these Martin
I think it is time to put it on
I did want to mention as well though that putting this on as part of a full system is what it is all about
Some people just put these on by themselves and that's cool
But I think for this bracing to be most effective it is about doing it as a complete system
I also want to say that it is a really hard thing to try and quantify how much this makes your car better
It is not like you can put this one on and then put a different brand on and go "well, this one is better because"
But what we will be able to see is when go back to the track and hand the car back to a professional racecar driver
Is how that car feels. And ultimately, it is all about the feel
So Martin, lets put it on mate
MOOG: Fits over the turbo which is a bonus MARTY: Yeah, mad
MOOG: Now the most common problem when installing these is snapping the studs on your strut tops
Which sucks ass. So use some WD-40 and be really careful when removing the nuts
This is probably one easiest mods you can do to just about any car
Just make sure you get one that will clear the various bits of the engine
Some go right back to the firewall. Some are adjustible.
And some have more than two points of attachment
So do some research to see whats best for your own model of car
[BGM]
MARTY: You gave me this torque wrench for my birthday a couple of years ago dude
MOOG: Oh, did I
Is it awesome?
MARTY: Yeah, great present man
It has saved many-a-bolt...
from destruction
MOOG: You can get torque specs for your strut tops from a service manual or jump on the Google
[BGM]
MOOG: Everythings is on and we are all done
MOOG: So strut braces, there it is. It is a very simple, quick and easy mod
You could probably do the whole car in about two hours
MARTY: That right. Now it is not something easy to quantify without just actually driving the car and seeing how it feels
And also taking it around the track and seeing how that affects your times
MOOG: Now the exciting news is we have the new issue of Mighty Car Mods Magazine
Mighty Car Mods Magazine #6 is out. And...
It has loads of... MARTY: MX -5 stuff! The MX-5 is on the cover
And it has the whole story of how we got the car. Right from buying it to where it is today
MOOG: So make sure here to look at the magazine
It is an independent magazine. But we believe it is as good as any of the commercial magazines you can buy
They are over 100 pages. They're not full of ads
They are full of awesome stuff. Written by people just like you and just like us
Full of MAD car stuff
Now, probably the most common question we have been getting asked recently
is "when are we gonna see the new cars?"
Now, MY new car we are not gonna see it for a little while
The reason being that I have had lend it to someone, ah...
One of our friends actually had their car stolen
And really needed a car and they have borrowed my new car
There has been a spat of car thefts at the momment
We have heard about them on the MightyCarMods forums and on Facebook
And these days it seems people are actually breaking into houses and stealing the keys
So, a quick tip is just don't leave your keys in the kitchen bowl or on the back of the door
Get a little more creative if you feel like there is a chance that your car might get stolen
MARTY: That's right. In our up coming episode we will see my new car as soon as we finish this MX-5 stuff
We smash it around the track. A day like today where it is pouring rain is not so great for the track
We got a couple more mods still to do
MOOG: Yeah, that's right. As soon as we finish the MX-5... Then we gonna be on to the new cars
We didn't want to get on to them now because we are half way through this project
And we really want to commit to finish it off
So, that's what is happening. The magazine is out now
The stickers are available on the Mighty Car Mods website
And, ah, next up Marty is more MX-5 madness
I am quite excited about the next episode
So thanks for watching guys. See ya soon
I'm hungry for some beef stir-fry
MARTY: You are actually gonna get beef? Dude, I'm gonna try that tofu one that they do
You know where they use that special sauce stuff
MOOG: The special sauce? Yeah, it is not sauce man
[MCM THEME]
MOOG: THERE IS A FREAKIN RANDOM CAT!
Just walked into the...
THERE IS A RANDOM CAT!