Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

On Friday the postman turned up with the bits I needed to 'delete' the air conditioning. I read a lot of people say it's a 2 hour job - but it took me all day. The most exciting bit was finding out if there was any gas left in the system - which thankfully there wasn't.

Having smallish hands helped too which meant I could get access to the condenser through the bonnet. Can't believe how much everything weighed, especially the compressor. Just come back from a tentative test drive and everything seems okay, although measuring the deflection of the new power steering belt was tricky, but hopefully I've got it about right. Oh and obligatory sunny photo after a blast up the A10 to Cambridge yesterday.

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Rad. New you had a Porsche. Didn't know you totalled it.

Wheel offset should be kept standard, otherwise you'll need spacers as you can end up fouling guards/ rod ends or brake calipers and mess up the handling.

Current wheels look good IMO. I'd stick with 16" too. Chunky car needs chunky rubber.

A lot of cheap aftermarket wheels weigh a ton too. More than steelies in some cases. So they're not great. You can definitely do it properly with OZ or similar. I'd spend the money on really good tyres though.

Important to keep reminding yourself that you are building a road car when engaged in a project, just had a good chat with the engine designer and ruled out things like ITB's as, despite sounding great, they have no place in achieving our stated goal.

Mission creep is a bugger.

Which car is yours? Black or blue?

With regards to widths and diameter, sticking to OEM will make sure everything fits ok, lowering the offset will make them stick out further, so OEM sizing but with maybe 5-10mm lower offset will change the looks without dramatically changing the handling.

What I'd recommend is finding the exact size and offset of current wheels and the tyre size and then use something like willtheyfit.com to compare potential new wheels and tyres to the current wheels and tyres.

If the black car is yours, then keep those wheels because they are very nice. OZ are Italian and they make high quality, lightweight wheels, but the specific mode you've seen there are quite common and I think will cheapen the look of the car. They have some other rarer options which might look better.

Do you want to change wheels for the sake of changing or what's your goal? If you just fancy a new look it's worth just doing a google image search and having a look what other people have done to find a look you like.

^ This. 😎

I'd take a chill pill and enjoy it while it is running well.

Out of curiosity what's the rational for removing the ac? Or is does "delete" mean something different like a sort of lighter middle ground?

Hey Hugo, Yeah it's literally just getting rid of it. I guess it's not for everyone but my reasoning was...

• It wasn't working as the condenser had a massive hole in it
  
• Repairing and refilling the system would cost quite a bit
  
• Dash blowers now work more efficiently as it's not going through the evaporator
  
• It will improve cooling as the condenser is no longer blocking air flow to the rad plus I've left the fans so they can run if sitting in traffic/coming off track
  
• I live in England and own a convertible
  
  

Some people do this to clean up the engine bay or reduce parasitic draw on the crank but to me it was just 20kg of weight doing nothing.

I think I'd struggle to give it up - even in a convertible.

If it wasn't working totally makes sense though and if you want it, you're not really any worse off.

Just don't get into the whole "shaving the 'bay" thing!

You make me really want an mx5. My mum had one back in the day. It had been custom painted a porsche yellow that was a bit like the volvo yellow.... An absolute fucker to clean and paint match.

Ultimately it had to go because of the extreme part theft and vandalism :(

Such brilliant little cars and so underrated at the time.

I've never owned a car with working/AC so probably don't know what I'm missing. On wire tucking the engine bay I have just ordered a cam cover breather filter, but in my defense the oem pipe was cracked and needed replacing. I do heed your advice honestly!

Now would be a good time to get one, summer's over and good MK1's won't stay cheap forever ;)

AC is useful to stop convertibles smelling damp - with a fabric roof they need help keeping the interior dry, especially in winter and the drying effect of AC helps here.

With a hardtop that's less of an issue, but humid air is a bugger for steaming up your windows in colder temps, also a benefit of having the AC.

Of course, cost, complexity and weight all mitigate against it.

If it worked I'd be pretty smug and have definitely kept it. Reminds me I need to keep an eye out for a cheap mohair roof come the spring to replace the vinyl one.

Thanks!

Cant believe it still but black is mine ;))

Yeah i wont sell the originals even if i get a 2nd set.

I guess the reason i want a new set is 100% vanity. I simply think the 17" wheels on the blue car (original wheels from 95 n forward) looks really good.

Yes ive also thought about that, figured i could possibly pick a wheel that dident have the "cheapen" effect if i did som research. However seems to be hard to find wheels that fit. The center bore seem to be 67.1 or similar and volvo usually smakler dia which means i would need to drill them? That doesent sound cheap nore like the best solution. Hmm not many options at all actually. Guess thats why i can barley find pics of these cars with other wheels.. well one or 2 but most seem to be stock.

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#umadbro?

Wheels on yours look so much better...

^this

Another vote for leaving the wheels - they look fab.

Thx

I personally like both look but perhaps im somewhat caught up in trying to exchange them for the sake if doing that. Will take a step back and think through.

Guess part of it is i also want larger width tires in hopes of keeping the rear a tad more planted as its currently want to breakfree bit to easy and if im buying expensive rubber might aswell do it on a rim i know i want to keep. Hmm

Another +1 for keeping the original wheels

It's your car of course, but I too think the wheels you have are much nicer than the later ones.

How old are the tyres and are they a good brand?
You might get a decent benefit just from new grippy tyres of a decent brand if you can get them in your size.

It's not his car now he's posted it here, it's all of ours.

And if we all think the current wheels look miles better then he must keep them.

@badboybjorn - they do and you must.

Hahah point taken. Will reconsider and not do anything hasty for now. Thx for your opinions!

Going against the grain here, but totally understand why if you have these rims

you are looking to switch them.