Short nose crank - would it put you off?
Discussion
Between the Mrs and I, we've now had four n/a MX5's. A bit addicted to them but right now we don't have one.
The mrs has a big birthday coming up and has been muttering about MX5's and I'm tempted to buy her one as a surprise.
Our first MX5 was an early '89 car and although that doesn't really offer any practical advantages, there is something intangibly appealing about having one of the first. And it's tempting to do so again. Except now I'm more gen'd up on them, I realise the big disadvantage of the very early cars is the short nose crank. My head is telling me not to worry too much about this as it may have already been dealt with (new engine I guess) or if it did become an issue I guess finding a replacement MX5 engine isn't all that tricky and I know fitting them is pretty straight forward. Is my thinking sound or am I missing anything important?
The mrs has a big birthday coming up and has been muttering about MX5's and I'm tempted to buy her one as a surprise.
Our first MX5 was an early '89 car and although that doesn't really offer any practical advantages, there is something intangibly appealing about having one of the first. And it's tempting to do so again. Except now I'm more gen'd up on them, I realise the big disadvantage of the very early cars is the short nose crank. My head is telling me not to worry too much about this as it may have already been dealt with (new engine I guess) or if it did become an issue I guess finding a replacement MX5 engine isn't all that tricky and I know fitting them is pretty straight forward. Is my thinking sound or am I missing anything important?
No, I’ve had two and neither had any wear on the keyway. You just need to find one that has either been looked after and torqued up correctly or has never had the crank pulley removed.
One benefit of the short nose engine is that you can change the cam belt without also having to remove the crank pulley, so chances of keyway damage are minimal IMO.
One benefit of the short nose engine is that you can change the cam belt without also having to remove the crank pulley, so chances of keyway damage are minimal IMO.
Edited by smokey mow on Sunday 16th August 22:19
....AND you can tweak the timing to make the car a tad more lively. A couple of degrees advance makes an amazing difference.
I did this with a 1990 linked to a Borla back box, de.cat. & free-flow air filter. When I tried a new MK 2 1.8 years later I was convinced the handbrake had seized it was so sluggish.
I did this with a 1990 linked to a Borla back box, de.cat. & free-flow air filter. When I tried a new MK 2 1.8 years later I was convinced the handbrake had seized it was so sluggish.
engines are easier to fix than rust, if the car is solid then don't worry
the shortnose (or 'lightwieght sports') crank is actually lighter than the later longnose item so the earlier engine should be a revvier unit
and as mentioned previously, easy to replace the cambelt (although the longnose pulley can be altered to be similar)
if the shortnose crank fails its easy to swap in a later longnose crank, would also need the later pulleys & oilpump but the rest of the engine is identical.
or even a 1.8 conversion?
I've a spare shortnose crank for my '90 Eunos if it needs it (which I doubt)
Rich.
the shortnose (or 'lightwieght sports') crank is actually lighter than the later longnose item so the earlier engine should be a revvier unit
and as mentioned previously, easy to replace the cambelt (although the longnose pulley can be altered to be similar)
if the shortnose crank fails its easy to swap in a later longnose crank, would also need the later pulleys & oilpump but the rest of the engine is identical.
or even a 1.8 conversion?
I've a spare shortnose crank for my '90 Eunos if it needs it (which I doubt)
Rich.
Edited by Zed. on Monday 17th August 21:59
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