Gonna give my vert a treat, need some advise

[scramp]

First off, new to the board so hi everyone

After four years of faithful service (and minimal servicing :rolleyes: ) I\'m gonna spend some cash on it. oh its a 91 Vert with 80k on the clock.

Full major service including all fluids, and filters, etc.. at a rotary specialist, rather than my man under thre arches who does the oil/coolant for me.
New Soft Top (which i have a question about)
New Exhaust (which i have even more questions about lol)
New Shocks.
(Still not deceided this yet, but new suspension bushings, gonna see how she rides on the new shocks first)

Questions. lol.
The soft top, i\'m thinking about getting a mohair one rather than the usual type, and was wondering about the rain things along the edge, would you be able to cover those with the mohair as well? and do the aftermarket ones still have the pockets or have they re-designed the top so it isnt needed?

Exhaust, this is litterally on its last legs, and has rusted all the way back to the engine more or less, so i was thinking about getting the racing beat one, removing the pre-cat, and fitting a high flo main cat, however i dont want it to sound very loud, i live in a very (and like i mean VERY) quiet mews and would get alot of hassle if i woke everyone up in the morning. lol

Can anyone reccomend a good down pipe, and high flo cat for use with the racing beat exhause, and a good shop that will fit the new soft top for me.

Thanks for your help

[Brett]

Firstly, Hello and welcome :wave
I cant help you on the roof, but there are other who can. (Lynn/Moonwrap is having a play with hers at the moment)
In terms of exhaust, it wont take much to make it very loud, if you want to go free flowing then by all means change the cat and thermal reactor, but if noise is an issue then stick with a decent set of silenced back boxes.
Shocks make a big difference, and I agree you should change them b4 you start on the bushes.  Just buying a full set of bushes will not leave you much change from £1000.
 Otherwise, thats a very nice looking cab, well done
 More pics please

[scramp]

Hi Brett, thanks for the welcome

She has served me well, and i have to admit i have abused her quite alot over the past few years, especialy the last 6 to 8 months (i live in london and girlfriend lives in newcastle ~600 mile round trip most weekends)

On the exhaust front how loud do you think the racing beat would be with the pre-cat cat removed, but with a high flow cat in place of the main cat?

btw the pics are quite flattering lol, they dont show up the stone chips (i think my bonnet is a stone magnet, or could that be the speed i drive on the motorway lol), or the slightly different colour on the front bumper or drivers side wing, i do plan on a re-spray but wanna get the mechanical stuff, and soft top done first.

Here is another pic i have

[Brett]

Have a chat with a chap called Grinder, he was running a powerflow system from the thermal reactor back. The thermal reactor had been replaced with a straight pipe, but he was still running the Cat in the down pipe.  
 I had a copy of a full racing beat system on my non turbo, with no cats its exceptionally loud, I think with one its not so bad.
 Grinder, get your backside onto this thread and share the info!

[grinder]

did someone call

if you remove the MAIN cat - then the noise isnt loud at all - infact it sounded ok like that

NOW THEN

remove the front ( pre ) cat and OMG - what a difference - sounds soo much beefier - but its a lot throatier - so the neighbours MIGHT have a moan

and why do people keep showing me pics of cabs - not impressed

and the roof - have a search for a chap called GRIZZLY - he set up a buy somewhere and he can get them delivered to the UK for under £350 ( i think )

welcome aboard though - and if you would like to upgrade to a full member it would be much appreciated

Ta

Stu

[scramp]

Grinder, do you know the legal position on cats and MOTs, just checked and the car was registered in 92, and so far i have been told that it wont pass the MOT if the MAIN cat is removed, because it is original equipment on the car, and it was registered after Aug 1st 91.

hmmm maybe i will just leave the pre-cat as is, just fit a new hi-flo main cat with the racing beat exhaust, its only a very small power increase, but not planning on any more power improvments.

at the moment its totaly stock, even down to the orig radio, and i kinda like that about it, lol.

Anyone who has had a replacment hood recently.....

I Just had a quote from autohoods.co.uk for a replacment hood, came in at 695 all in, including fitting and vat. is that a good price? and can anyone give any feedback on there work, dont mind paying that price, but wanna make sure they are good lol

[Brett]

Ok, as far as I can recall, a \'J\' reg car does not need a CAT whereas a \'K\' reg does.

I\'d like a second on that in case I\'m wrong.

[scramp]

just called four different mot centers and your right, anything with or after a "k" plate (which mine is ) which has a factory fitted cat is not exempt. damn.

[Brett]

If yours is on a K it makes it one of the very last FC\'s ever built.  Yours was rolling off the line alongside the FD!
 As expensive as they are, you\'d be better off going standard, it will help the car retain its value.
How many miles has it done?

[scramp]

its done just under 80k now, and still pulls like a champ, as it stands it is completely stock, nothing uprated, nothing done to it.

The only thing i was gonna do was the racing beat cat back exhaust, but the mechanic said that my cat is almost gone now, he had to really try hard to get it to pass the emmissions test last time.

The only reason i wasnt prepared to go stock for the replacment was cos as soon as its on the stock will start the rust fest all over again. so wanted a stainless steel one as i want to keep this as my daily driver for another 5-6 years. (or until petrol reaches the £2 a litre level )

[Brett]

Lets be fair, the stock one has not done bad! 13years is pretty good going!

[scramp]

suppose your rite. lol. didnt think of it in terms of years. lol

Just waiting for colindale mazda to get back to me with a price now, so i am just lining myself up so that i have a soft landing when he tells me the price and i faint lol

I must admit i have been sort of fifty fifty if i am gonna start upgrading/uprating things, or if i should bring her back to showroom standard in original spec.

and the second option seems to appeal to me more, mostly cos it is my daily driver .............................

OMG!!! mazda just got back to me while i was writing this. its gonna be like near enougth £2000+vat for a full exhause system, both cats are like 890+vat each.

think i should go get a drink of something now, my mouth seems to have gone a little dry. lol

[Brett]

Ouch.  Good old mazda, competitive pricing as always.....

 So, this sports exhaust you\'re going to get.....

[Thud]

//www.mazdatrix.com

I\'ve used these guys in the past for suspension parts with no problems. They seem to have a pretty good exhaust component selection at a good price. Maybe you should give them a call.

Only watchout is that because you would be importing from the US add approx 20% to the Mazdatrix price for import duty fees.

[scramp]

ok so that did make my mind up, so i think its gonna be, leave the current pre cat silencer in place, and fit a bones high flow cat, and a racing beat cat back system, so thats the exhaust sorted out. lol

think im gonna go with autohoods for my new top, unfortunately they can only do a vinyl one and not a mohair one like i wanted, but that isnt such a big deal.

For shocks, i think im just gonna go for standard none adjustable tokico ones.

so first things first, need to get a major service done, so that when i get the new cat fitted, it isnt full of crap from a badly tuned engine

So Service -> Soft Top -> Shocks/Exhaust should see me thru the next few months, then i can start thinking about getting the two dings, and one little dent sorted out, and a re-spray (prob just a rub down and over spray).