club o western australia perth motorplexmazda club of western australia mx-press: may-june 2013 3...

Mazda

Club of Western Australia

pressMay-Jun 2013Editing, design and production Simon Corston & Bob Sharpe

Printed by Daytone Printing www.mx5club.com.auFounded 1990

Inside 2 Who Created…? 7 Bits ‘n’ BobS 10 Event Photos 14 Switching Your Brake Pads 16 Motor Sport 20 Humour Us

Start Line, Perth Motorplex MX-5 Club Sprint

Perth Motorplex

THE BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE MAZDA MX-5 CLUB OF WA INC.

Mazda


2 MX-press: May-June 2013

Mysterion ‘63

Who Created Racing Stripes?Briggs Swift Cunningham II ( January

19, 1907 – July 2, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and sportsman, who raced au-tomobiles and yachts. Born into a wealthy family, he became a racing car constructor, driver, and team owner as well as a sports car manufacturer and automobile collector.He skippered the first victorious 12-Metre yacht Columbia in the 1958 America’s Cup race, and invented the eponymous device, the Cunningham, to increase the speed of racing sailboats.

He was featured on the April 26, 1954 cover of Time magazine, with three of his Cunningham racing cars. He became an early member of the Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC), an invitation-only club formed to honour notable road racing drivers.

The October 2003 Road & Track maga-zine article, “Briggs Swift Cunningham—A Life Well Spent”, states that “by building and sailing his own ships, and building and racing his own cars, Briggs Cunningham epitomized the definition of the American sportsman.” He was inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame in 1993, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1997, and named to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Cunningham died in Las Vegas, of com-plications from Alzheimer’s Disease, at the age of 96.

Most Cunningham automobiles were high-performance prototypes that Briggs Cunningham and his team built specifically for racing in the 1950s. A few, adapted for street use, were personal vehicles. In 1952, Cunningham introduced the Continental C3 road car. Production began in his West Palm Beach plant where his team of mechan-ics installed 331-cubic-inch Chrysler hemi

V-8s in racing chassis. These were shipped to Turin, Italy to be fitted with aluminium and steel bodies by coach builder Vignale, after which they were returned to the Florida plant for completion. There were 25 Continental C3s produced: 20 coupes and five convertibles. They sold for $8,000 to $12,000. Notable owners included Nelson Rockefeller and a member of the Du Pont family. Of these 25 cars, 24 are known to have survived.

Cunningham’s cars were the first to be painted with racing stripes. The tradi-tional Cunningham racing colours were blue stripes on white, at that time the inter-national racing colours of the United States. Carroll Shelby, who competed against Cunningham and his team, adopted these colours and revived the Cunningham Team stripes for his own brand of race cars. Google Briggs Cunningham to read more about the man and his exploits.

Who Created Rat Fink?Ed “Big Daddy” Roth (March 4, 1932

– April 4, 2001) was an artist, cartoonist, pin striper and custom car designer and build-er who created the hot-rod icon Rat Fink and other extreme characters. Roth was a key figure in Southern California’s Kustom Kulture and hot-rod movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.

Roth is best known for his grotesque cari-catures — typified by Rat Fink — depicting imaginative, out-sized monstrosities driv-ing representations of the hot rods that he and his contemporaries built. Roth began airbrushing and selling “Weirdo” t-shirts at car shows and in the pages of Car Craft mag-azine as early as July 1958. By the August 1959 issue of Car Craft “Weirdo shirts” had become a full-blown craze with Roth at the forefront of the movement.

In 1959 Roth created The Outlaw. This fiberglass Kustom hot rod was featured in the January 1960 issue of Car Craft. The car was covered in Car Craft and Rod and Custom, and appeared at custom car and hot rod shows. Other hot rods include The Beatnik Bandit (1961), The twin Ford-engined Mysterion (1963), The Orbitron (1964), and The Road Agent (1965) among others. In 1965, Roth’s surf buggy, the Surfite was featured in the film Beach Blanket

Bingo starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, and also in Village of the Giants, featuring Beau Bridges and Tommy Kirk.

In 1962 the Revell model company began selling plastic models of Roth’s cars and from 1963 to 1965 Revell also manufactured plastic models of many of Roth’s monsters, including Rat Fink, Brother Rat Fink, Drag Nut, Mother’s Worry, Mr. Gasser and other weird creatures created by Roth. Revell continues to re-issue Roth’s Monsters and Kustom Car kits.

In the mid 1960s Roth began customizing motorcycles. Mainstream motorcycle maga-zines refused to run his articles and ads, so he started his own publication called Choppers, which featured articles on extending forks, custom sissy bars, etc. It was a small, black and white publication that ran from 1967 to 1970, and was the first magazine ever to exclusively feature custom motorcycles, or choppers. Roth also built the first known VW-powered trike. Roth built many trikes for himself and others, including Candy Wagon, California Cruiser, Secret Weapon, Rubber Ducky and The Great Speckled Bird.

In 1968 Mattel introduced Hot Wheels and Roth’s Beatnik Bandit was one of the first 16 die-cast toy cars produced by the company.

Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos was a 1960s novelty music group led by Roth, who was known as Mr. Gasser. Formed in the early 1960s, they released a few bizarre surf rock albums, most notably 1963’s Hot Rod Hootenanny.

Rat Fink Reunions are still held to this day at the site of Roth’s final residence in Manti, Utah, and near Los Angeles. See the toys, the shirts, the drawings, the cars and the bikes on the internet. Find the story of the Orbitron car that was lost and then rediscov-ered in Mexico and restored many years later.

Who Created…?

Mazda


3MX-press: May-June 2013

MX-press May-June 2013

FeaturesWho Created…? 2

What Was A REDeX Trial? 8-9

May Event Photos 10June Event Photos 11Switching Your Brake Pads 14-15

RegularsYour Committee 3Editor’s Desk 4President’s Report 5Coming Events 6Bits ‘n’ BobS 7Computer Corner 7Event Write-Ups 12-13Motor Sport Report 16-17Classifieds 18Humour Us 20

......................................................................................................................................................................................Cover Photograph: Start Line at Motorplex Sprint by Simon Corston.......................................................................................................................................................................................The Mazda MX-5 Club of WA Inc, its officers and committee, cannot be held liable for any errors and/or omissions in articles, reports, notices, advertisements, comment and advice of events that are published in MX-press in good faith. It should be noted that the publication of an advertisement, or expression of views in articles and reports, does not imply endorsement by the club of the advertised product or service.......................................................................................................................................................................................MX-press is the newsletter of the Mazda MX-5 Club of WA Inc.......................................................................................................................................................................................Contributions are welcome. Articles and photographs should be emailed to [email protected]......................................................................................................................................................................................

ContentsWho Created…? ......................................................... 2Committee .................................................................... 3Contents ........................................................................ 3Editor’s Desk ................................................................ 4President’s Report ....................................................... 5Editor’s Desk (Continued) ........................................ 5Coming Events ............................................................. 6Bits ‘n’ BobS .................................................................. 7Computer Corner ........................................................ 7What Was A REDeX Trial?........................................ 8REDeX Trial (Continued)......................................... 9May Event Photos .....................................................10June Event Photos .....................................................11Event Write-Ups ........................................................12Event Write-Ups (Continued) ................................13Switching Your Brake Pads ......................................14Switching Your Brake Pads (Continued)..............15Motor Sport Report ..................................................16Motor Sport Report (Continued) .........................17Classifieds ...................................................................18Dead Brands ...............................................................18Humour Us .................................................................20

President/TreasurerBarrie Parker m: 0417 918 359e: [email protected]: [email protected]

Vice President/MembershipGary Wotzko m: 0413 564 373e: [email protected]: [email protected]

SecretaryBev Wotzko m: 0413 564 372e: [email protected]

WebmasterDavid Turk m: 0413 939 007e: [email protected]

Motor Sport ManagerWarwick Gates m: 0409 103 232e: [email protected]

Motor Sport CoordinatorDon Messenger m: 0419 924 420e: [email protected]

MerchandiseLianna Parker m: 0419 181 154e: [email protected]

MX-press EditorBob Sharpe m: 0430 596 479e: [email protected]

MX-press ProductionSimon Corston m: 0409 139 606e: [email protected]

Event CoordinatorAart ter Kuile m: 0419 915 784e: [email protected]

Social CoordinatorDerek Martin m: 0419 940 909e: [email protected]

General CommitteeCarol Messenger m: 0408 929 799

ContentsCommittee

All other club correspondence to: Mazda MX-5 Club of WA Inc., PO Box 73 Welshpool WA 6986The committee meets on the last Wednesday of every month at Mazda WA 53 Kewdale Road, Kewdale at 6:30pm.

Thanks to Mazda WA for the use of their premises.

Foundation/Life Members B Brian Butterworth B Sandra Pullman B Ashley Price B Ian Lewis B Graeme Martin B David Turk

Mazda



www.mgib.com.au

1300 762 146

Supporting sponsor of the MX-5 Club of Western Australia General Insurance Brokers specialising in all classes of Business Insurance Contact Keith English or James Humphreys

20 Prowse Street, WEST PERTH WA 6005 and 91 Victoria Street, BUNBURY WA 6230 ABN: 77 070 159 492 Australian Financial Services License 245 489

G ’day all.The talk is getting louder about in-

troducing one demerit point for low level speeding i.e. less than 10km/h over the limit. Modern car speedometers are just not accurate enough or consistent enough to ensure that you are travelling exactly at the indicated speed limit so some latitude is surely necessary. Can you also imagine drivers driving and continuously looking at their speedometers instead of the road so that they don’t creep one kilometre over the limit? Aside from that at March 27th 22000 drivers had accumulated 12 demerit points and a further 981 novice drivers had also lost their licences. This is on top of drivers who have lost their licences for other than traf-fic offences. Another 8226 drivers were on 11 points which means under the proposed new system they would lose their licences and another unspecified number who have 10 points would teeter on the verge of li-cence loss by acquiring one more point to-talling 11. Apparently there are 1,840,270 drivers in WA. Also apparently, the whole lot of them want to be on the same roads at the same time as I do, but that’s another story. Anyway 39,434 of them have between 9 and 11 demerit points. How many licence suspended motorists are still driving raising insurance problems and how many more

will there be with the extra demerits?They also trot out the same argument that

for every 5km/h over the limit the chances of having an accident doubles. This has always been a mystery to me. What is the base per-centage chance that doubles? Is it 10% that doubles to 20% and if you go another 5km/h over are you 40% then 80% then 160% more likely to have an accident at 20km/h over the limit? Does this mean a crash is 100% certain or only 1.6 times as likely? If it is the latter then at 5km/h over you have increased your chances of an accident to about 2%. What is the percentage of ? Is it based on crashes per registered driver? Has it allowed for driving time on the road, kilometres trav-elled, time spent speeding or any number of drug and alcohol induced incidents that must skew the figures? Like the “speed kills” mantra, which has been dropped by the way because it is ridiculously easy to disprove (Everyone who has ever been speeding is not dead). We should all question the sta-tistics fed to us by governments hell bent on balancing budgets and getting re-elected. Like electricity and fire the automobile can be a dangerous thing and limits need to be in place but there comes a point at which the whole system is overregulated and becomes unusable and we are moving towards that now. Why not accept that the system is

imperfect and accidents and deaths will happen and improve on it but make certain that the changes are an improvement, not a destruction of a useful system?

Anyway I will stop whinging. In 2007 in Israel they invented a “Good Deeds Day”. W hat a great idea. March 5th in Israel and March 10th Internationally. Last year 250,000 people took part in Israel alone. It is dedicated to doing at least one good deed, no matter how small, on the day. Can’t see that being any sort of problem and even giving way to someone in traffic would qualify as your good deed for the day. Who knows you might even do two good deeds in the day and if it catches on some good may come of it.

By now everyone will know that the Crown Casino at Burswood is pulling down the Burswood Dome entertainment build-ing. The roof of this building is held up by pressurised air and it has become too expen-sive to maintain so down it comes for a car park. This building’s car park is where we start all of our monthly cruises so it remains to be seen if we need to find a new starting venue. If so it will be only the third start-ing venue regularly used by the club since its inception.

I note in the Autumn edition of the Mazda MX-5 club of NSWs Club Torque magazine that they are trialling “way point rules” for their BreakFast Club events how-ever they will continue to use “convoy rules” for their normal cruises. For those who don’t know, way point rules are what we use for our runs as opposed to the con-voy rules which we abandoned many years ago and tried to convince the other clubs to do likewise in the belief that way point rules are a lot more enjoyable for the driv-ers . I won’t go into convoy rules advantages and disadvantages except to say that under these rules each driver is responsible to ensure that the car behind his does not get lost during the run. The article says “ The MX-5 club of Western Australia has been a strong advocate of waypoint rules for many years, and the Queensland club has recently adopted them too.” I will keep you posted as to whether convoy rules are abandoned

Editor’s Desk

(Continued on page 5)

Mazda



totally in NSW and whether the aptly named Victorians eventually see the light too (That’s a joke guys). And they reckon WA stands for Wait Awhile.

Until next time keep having “Fun on Wheels” and have a laugh over the New Delhi, India’s $2-billion underground rail system that with fares of about eight American cents caused 1.2 million passen-gers to ride on it on the opening day. It was designed to carry 200,000 passengers a day but people went on it just to marvel at it. The emergency intercom had to be disconnected because people kept buzzing the driver to go

faster. What about the 80-year-old Belgian man who had an argument with his kids and booby-trapped his house with explosives and rifles to prevent them from getting into the house. They found him dead when one of the booby traps went off either through malfunction or loss of memory. Finally, a German woman called police to report a naked man with two big eyes tapping on her window at night. The Hamburg police knew that an emu had escaped and said “We are looking for an escaped emu or a naked man with huge eyes”.

Bob Sharpe

Editor’s Desk (Continued)

This is the last copy of MX-press that you will receive before the Club’s Annu-

al General Meeting on 31 July at 6:30pm in the Mazda WA offices at 53 Kewdale Road, Kewdale. In this magazine you will find your official notification of the AGM by way of your Committee’s proposal for the agenda for the meeting and a proxy voting form for use if you are unable to attend the AGM. All of this is required to ensure that we comply with legislation related to the conduct of an AGM as specified in the WA Associations Incorporation Act 1987.

Last year we asked members regarding their intention to attend and, as a result, we got the biggest turnout at an AGM that we have had, certainly since I have been a mem-ber. We will be adopting the same approach this year so, nearer the date, expect an email from me inviting you to register and attend the AGM on 31 July. One of our longer term members who attended last year for the first time in a few years came to me after the meeting to remark that the AGM had made him aware of the extent of the club’s activi-ties and the amount of effort that went into making the club what it is. That alone should be a good reason for members to attend. Of course the prime and mandatory reason for our club holding an AGM is that it pro-vides the membership the opportunity to approve the way that the club’s business is being conducted and to vote on the commit-tee for the following year. Without trying to

circumvent anybody’s right to nominate for the committee, traditionally the committee nominees have been agreed to before the meeting, so there should be no fear that in attending the AGM you will be pressured into doing anything that you may not wish to. Apart from all of that, our meetings are generally good fun and the AGM in partic-ular is worth attending purely for the quality of the catering.

Having mentioned the subject of assist-ing in club activities, committee members are always looking for some help. It is great to see how our members involved in motor-sport have taken to making our events run more smoothly. Organising a motorsport event is quite complex and having mem-bers looking after so may activities on the day makes life so much easier for the organ-isers and goes a long way to making their day so much more enjoyable. So if you feel you can contribute in any way, in any club event, it will always be appreciated if you put your hand up and offer assistance. For the regu-lar attendees at our monthly cruise, you will know that we offer an option on a brand new MX-5 just for doing the write up for MX-press. How good is that! (Actually the writer gets a Scratchy, but who knows what that may bring.)

The other bit of housekeeping at this time of year is the collection of annual member-ship fees. Fees become due on 1 July and all members who pay before 31 July go into the

draw for free membership for the follow-ing year. This year we will be encouraging everybody to pay by EFT because that is eas-ier for the Treasurer and based on feedback from members, a lot easier for you as well. By the time you read this, the Membership Secretary will have sent out a notice regard-ing payment of fees.

In the last edition of MX-press I men-tioned the “Join the club that gives you more zoom-zoom” flier that was mailed out to 523 MX-5 owners in WA by Mazda. Perhaps by now, if you didn’t receive the flier in the first mail out, you will have received it in the sec-ond mail out, as another 1200 will have been sent in mid-June. This way the club will have made itself aware to just about every sin-gle MX-5 owner in the state and hopefully gained the membership of every owner who wishes to join our club.

As this is my last President’s Report before the AGM, I would like to thank the 2012/2013 Committee for the fantastic job that they have done for the club in the past year. I hope to see most, if not all, of you back next year. As one of our newer members said at a recent motor sport event “This is the best car club I’ve ever been in.” Thanks guys , for your efforts in keeping it so.

Barrie Parker

President’s Report

(Continued from page 4)

Mazda



Coming EventsMX-500 Country Cruise—7 July

Pat Gannon will be taking us on a Sunday Drive for people who love a long spirited drive that gives you the opportunity to spend some time on roads further afield. This is not a relaxed tour of the region with long lunches and coffee breaks; it is about the drive and the roads. This drive may chal-lenge a single driver, or it will be a bit more laid back (but no less fun) for two. It won’t be a navigation exercise; the instructions are straight forward.

The first 166 km leg of the drive is a loop through the Lane Poole Conservation Reserve before we explore the area around the Wellington Dam and the Collie River Valley ending with a regroup at the St Aidan Winery in the Ferguson Valley for a stretch.

The second 142 km second leg takes us through Collie where you can refuel at the Caltex (Vortex 98), Gull (PULP) or Shell (98 RON) before continuing to Quindanning Inne for lunch.

The 134 km last leg takes us to Vernon Arms Tavern in Baldivis some 57 km south of Perth. We should get there before 4:00pm to reflect on the day’s drive and share some stories before you make your own way home.

We meet at the Dôme Café in Pinjarra, 83 km south of Perth, from 8:00am onwards if you want to have breakfast at the Dôme, or in time for the 9:00am departure if you are having yours beforehand.

We are looking at a total distance of some 582 km; a bit more if you hail from the northern suburbs and a bit less if you are a southerner. If you want to be in it reserve your spot by emailing Aart at [email protected] before 3 July.After Work Get Together: Car Detailing Clinic—17 July

Want the “good oil” on what the pro’s use and how they go about getting that “better than showroom” shine? Come to the club’s detailing night and learn from club member Rod Willis how to achieve the same results on your MX-5 yourself.

The Clinic is an approximately two-hour interactive presentation and covers product explanations such as:

◆ The differences between an abrasive and non-abrasive polish;

◆ The difference between natural waxes and synthetics.

The interactive section covers: ◆ Washing and drying techniques; ◆ How to safely clay bar your car; ◆ Machine polishing; explaining different

machines, pads and abrasive products; ◆ Using a machine for non-abrasive

products (paint cleaners); ◆ Hand polishing tips; ◆ Wheel and tyre care; ◆ Interior care tips; and ◆ Soft top care.The venue is at 6 Sainsbury Road,

O’Connor. It is in the laneway to the left of the indoor beach volleyball place (entrance marked with number 6) and right across the road from the indoor go karts. Members arrive from 6:30pm onwards.

Numbers are strictly limited to 20 mem-bers, so book early to avoid disappointment. RSVP to Aart at [email protected] before 9 July if you want to be in it. Costs are $5 per person to cover soft drinks and pizza.Committee Meeting & AGM—31 July

Committee meeting and Annual General Meeting at the WA Mazda State Office, 53 Kewdale Road, Kewdale. Members arrive at 6:30pm to enjoy some food compliments of the club before we start at 7:00pm. It is an excellent opportunity to socialise and have input in to the running of your club. Everyone is welcome. Meetings usually fin-ish around 9:00pm.Monthly Cruise: Observation Rally—4 August

Paul and Judith Andriessen are organising an observation rally for this month’s Sunday cruise. So come along for a Sunday drive, challenge the brain cells, have some fun and be in the running for some great prizes.

The instructions will be very clear and easy to follow, the event is not designed to get you lost in any way, so don’t be afraid of joining in, but it will be a lot easier if you have a navigator in the car.

Make sure you bring a pen, some loose change, a street directory, comfortable clothes and shoes, sense of humour, sense of direction, cool drinks, something to sit on, a picnic lunch and don’t forget the sunscreen!

We gather from 9:00am for a 9:30am start

at our normal meeting point in Burswood with the final destination a picnic barbe-cue in a park.After Work Get Together: Dave’s Burger Run—14 August

A tradition of the MX-5 club of WA, life member David Turk takes us for a short drive to one of Perth’s reputable burger emporiums.

We meet at the usual Burswood meeting spot at 6:30 for 6:45pm. It’s a good oppor-tunity for potential members to come along and have a chat in an informal setting and find out more about the club. Don’t forget to bring a torch to read the trip notes.Committee Meeting—28 August

Committee meeting at the WA Mazda State Office, 53 Kewdale Road, Kewdale. Members arrive at 6:30pm to enjoy some nibbles compliments of the club before we start at 7:00pm. It is an excellent oppor-tunity to socialise and have input in to the running of your club. Everyone is welcome. The meeting usually finishes at 9:00pm.

Aart ter Kuile

Don’t forget to check out our website (www.mx5club.com.au) for the latest events

Coming Events:

July 7 MX-500 Country Cruise 17 AWGT—Car Detailing Clinic31 Committee Meeting & AGM

August 4 Observation Rally 14 AWGT—Dave’s Burger Run28 Committee Meeting

Mazda



NurburgringThe legendary Nurburgring is up for sale

for the equivalent of 165,000,000 Aussie Dollars. I don’t know why our club doesn’t just buy it to keep our motorsport mem-bers happy. Seriously though the price, if true, doesn’t sound too bad when you con-sider the heritage and the uses to which it can be put. Mind you, if the whole 17.5 kilo-metres needed resurfacing it might dent the budget a bit.Downpour Calamity 3

Knowing that some fellow Mexicans (MXicans) like aircraft stories I repeat a fac-toid from the man who headed the design team for the Boeing 747. The DC3 produced by McDonnell Douglas was known as one of the toughest and most reliable aircraft ever built but in bad weather the flight crew on early models had to don rain coats because the windscreen leaked so badly.MX-2 The Car That Never Was

In 2009 everybody got hot and both-ered about the forthcoming Mazda MX2. A roadster that was to be smaller and lighter than the MX-5. Why it was to be developed nobody could figure out but the motor-ing press got hold of the story and most of them ran with it. For those of you like me who had never heard of it I include some

2009 press stories below. Perhaps it is still hiding in Mazda’s cupboard waiting to leap out and kill every Smart Car in the world at the appropriate moment. Who knows! Maybe some designers had some surplus ink and had to draw something., Who knows! Anyway we here at MX-press are totally up to date and bring you this story a mere 4 years after the event.

By the way if they have released one with-out telling us please let us know and if you see one while hunting the yeti, sasquatch or yowie, please send us a picture.2014 Engines

There is still no definitive answer as to what power plant the 2014 MX-5 will have. Here are some opinions from Auto Evolution, albeit a couple of years old.

We do like the recent trend for downsizing and reduced weight we’re seeing in some manufacturers. One interesting example is Mazda’s next MX-5 drop-top sports car, which will be put on a diet that could bring it close to 800 kg (1, 764), which would be a very impressive development.

But choosing the engine is not as sim-ple as deciding on a particular displacement and going with it. According to Road and Track magazine, a number of potential power trains are being considered. Mazda’s

engineers originally wanted a 1.4-litre with Skyactiv tech, but they couldn’t get it to produce enough power, while the exist-ing 2.0-litre could not be modified to meet the consumption and emissions levels they were targeting. And so the choices have been narrowed down to either a 1.8-litre with Skyactiv or a 1.3- or 1.5-litre with forced induction. Whichever one they go for will have to develop 150 hp and get 10% better mileage that the current car.Upholstery Stuff

Knowing members have wanted soft top repairs in the past I will pass on the name of Stuart Barnes of Qpro Vehicle uphol-stery 0425 423 882 or [email protected]. Stuart has had 20 years in the game, done restorations for the Rover car club and seat repairs for the local coppers. Apparently his talents include repairs to door trims, carpets, head linings, all leather retrims, tonneau cov-ers and cushions. He also promises me that he will become a club advertising sponsor if he gets inundated with work from you lot. All this goes with our usual disclaimer that we will not be liable for anything under any circumstances because I have never met Stu nor seen his work but he tells a good story.

MX-5 ChallengeFrom a skid-pan to a ral ly stage

Drive’s Toby Hagon challenges other motoring media.

http://media.theage.com.au/national/s e l e c t i o n s / f l a t - o u t - i n - m a z d a - m x 5 -challenge-4258802.htmlChinese Idea On Transport

This makes a lot of sense if it can be brought to reality.

h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /w a t c h _ p o p u p ? v = t 1 g T z c 7 -IbQ&feature=player_embeddedNurburgring

From the Nurburgring 24hr that ran on Sunday/Monday this week, during the rain at night just before they stopped the race. He leaves the Grand Prix loop around 1:05, and for the next minute or so the track is still

quite close to it, but around 2:15 it heads off into the forest where it gets properly dark. Wouldn’t want to forget one of those 170 corners.

h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /watch?v=WAvN0EzEacUInsane Cycling

A new cycling sport worth watching.http://dirt.mpora.com/news/red-bull-

rampage-finals-video.htmlFly Over America

I doubt you have ever seen anything like this one.

h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /watch_popup?v=KcuDdPo0WZkF1 Engine Test

h t t p : / / w w w . d u m p e r t . n l /mediabase/6541208/ace0af37/engine_test_f1_auto.html

AfterlifeFather Guido Sarducci explains the after-

life. Nice and simple, even I followed it. h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /

embed/0AKvRvL5r3A?rel=0 Trabant

Fine tuning a Trabant on the assembly line. http://www.livevideo.com/media/

playvideo_fs.aspx?fs=1&cid=F4B5854611D141AFA19359F36DCDC74F767 Landing Emergency

Faced with a flight emergency a Polish pilot pulled off a remarkable feat of airman-ship that saved hundreds of lives and made its way into aviation history.

h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /watch_popup?v=sbV58eY0MyM

Bits ‘n’ BobS

Computer Corner

http://media.theage.com.au/national/selections/flat-out-in-mazda-mx5-challenge-4258802.html



http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=t1gTzc7-IbQ&feature=player_embedded



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAvN0EzEacU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAvN0EzEacU

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/red-bull-rampage-finals-video.html

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/red-bull-rampage-finals-video.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KcuDdPo0WZk

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KcuDdPo0WZk

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/6541208/ace0af37/engine_test_f1_auto.html



http://www.youtube.com/embed/0AKvRvL5r3A?rel=0

http://www.youtube.com/embed/0AKvRvL5r3A?rel=0

http://www.livevideo.com/media/playvideo_fs.aspx?fs=1&cid=F4B5854611D141AFA19359F36DCDC74F



http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=sbV58eY0MyM

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=sbV58eY0MyM

Mazda



REDeX Trial Car 51REDeX Trial, Gawler

What Was A REDeX Trial?That original 1953 Redex Reliability

Trial remains a watershed in endurance rallies in Australia; up to that time it was the second longest trial ever staged in the world The previous longest had been from New York to Paris in 1908. It was an expedition into the unknown. Three years before the New York-Paris, the first reliability trial had been staged in Australia.

It was organised by Dunlop executive Harry James, who in 1904 had organised Australia’s first motor race meeting, a four event “demonstration” at Aspendale race-course in Victoria. James, who was generally regarded as the father of Australian motor sport, was also a great-uncle to arguably the biggest name to ever grace the race track, Peter Brock.

James himself was no slouch as a driver. In 1908 he and Charles Kellow, in a Talbot, established the first Sydney-Melbourne speed record of 25 hours 40 minutes, touch-ing off an epic era of city-to-city record breaking that lasted until the late 1920s and the opening of Phillip Island and Maroubra race tracks.

The trip from Sydney to Melbourne had been done four years before, by Herbert Thomson and his cousin Edward Holmes in 1900 in the Thomson Steam Car. But nobody had thought of anything as fool-hardy as a race between the capitals. In March, 1905, 23 cars were shipped to Sydney to start the first Dunlop trial. Among the competitors were famous Australian department store

owner, Mark Foy, writer Banjo Patterson and a French driver who had competed in some of the earlier European city-to-city epics. By the end of the event, an amazing seventeen cars would eventually reach Melbourne.

They had left Sydney watched by a few hundred, and arrived in Mellbourne to a crowd estimated at almost 100,000. There was no outright winner, so the 17 were sent to Ballarat and back, a round-trip of 140 miles (225 km) on top of the 580 (933 km) they had already covered. The winner was pioneer Australian car maker Colonel Harley Tarrant, in a Scottish-made Argyle. Suddenly, motor sport had arrived. James quickly organised another trial for October, this time starting from Melbourne. A vast and wildly-enthusiastic crowd lined up to farewell 28 cars and 10 motorcycles; in the field were Mercedes, Talbots, Oldsmobiles, Richard Braziers, Wolesleys, Argyles, de Dions and Tarrants.

The heat and the rough tracks, there was no road as such, took their toll, but there were still 19 cars running at Sydney. So the organisers ordered a 132-mile (212 km) elimination section over the horrific climb to Medlow Bath, at the top of the Blue Mountains, and back. This added leg left only six cars, all Victorian crewed, in the run-ning. And so the organisers, realising they all needed to return home anyway, decided to add another leg back to the Southern states capital.

In an almost unbelievable epic adventure,

Harley Tarrant survived a total of more than 1500 miles (2413 km) of bush tracks, searing heat, punctures, sand drifts, creek crossings, mountains and the mechanical fragility of the cars of the day to win - in an Australian made “Tarrant”. Almost 48 years later. the first Redex Trial was to maintain the tradi-tion, even down to an elimination section thrown in by organisers at the last minute to find a winner (because the field had far exceeded anyone’s concept of how fast a car could go over unknown terrain).

In that 1953 Redex field were some names whose fame in motor sport would make them household names for the next few decades. Jack (“Gelignite”) Murray entered the event in a 1953 Plymouth, one John Arthur (now Sir Jack) Brabham started Car No. 181 in a 48/215 Holden; Ken Tubman, nearly 20 years later to win the World Cup Rally, was in a Peugeot 203. The team of three Preston Motors Holdens were driven by three great Australian motor racing leg-ends, Lex Davison, Stan Jones and Charlie Dean (Davison would be tragically killed at Sandown in 1965).

David McKay led the Larke-Hoskins Austin A40 team, while Bathurst car dealer Barry Gurdon (one of the leaders in the establishment of the Bathurst 1000) was also on the Larke team; Alan Hamilton’s father, Norman, entered the only Porsche. In the highly-favoured Ford Customlines


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Peugeot 203sREDeX Trial, Queensland

REDeX Trial (Continued)were radio star Jack Davey, the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s reporting team of Tom Farrell/Merton Woods, and Wild Bill McLachlan. Don Gorringe, later to become a big name in Tasmanian motor sport, entered a Jowett Javelin. Trials ace Peter Antill was in a Plymouth, while the Perkins brothers’ father, Eddie, was in a Rover 75: Laurie Whitehead, who with Perkins, was to win Volkswagen’s first round-Australia, was in a Citroen.

The cars that were entered into the orig-inal Redex were, by today’s standards, a motley bunch. They included Jowett Javelin, Allard, Vauxhall Velox, several Mercedes 200D diesels, MG TD’s, Ford Customlines, Chrysler Plymouths, De Sotos, Humber Super Snipes and a plethora of 1948 Ford V8’s (many entrants obviously believing you needed a large and strong vehicle to be suc-cessful in the event - however these guys were in for a shock!). Then there were the little French car entries, such as the Peugeot 203 and Citroen (which few took seriously), a 3.5 litre Jaguar, a Chrysler Airflow, Hudson Terraplane, Goliath, Anglias, Zephyrs and Consuls, Singer Nines, Simcas, Vanguards, Hillmans and a 2.5 litre Riley. There was even a 1928 Nash entered!

Each car had to be kept stock, except for limited underbody protection and changes to seating, exhaust, carby’s, shock absorb-ers, lighting and instruments. The route ran Sydney - Bundaberg - Rockhampton - Mackay- Townsville - Mount Isa - Darwin

- Tennant Creek - Alice Springs - Kingoonya - Adelaide- Melbourne - Albury -Sydney. From Townsville to Adelaide, except for the bitumen between Mt. Isa, Darwin and Alice Springs, the route was little more than a col-lection of faint tracks criss-crossing clay pans and saltbush.The Redex Trial Begins

There were 50,000 people at Sydney Showground to see the start, which saw the first competitor, Ted Hoy in the Airnow, leave at 2pm. and the last, Queenslander, Miss J. Hill, in a Renault 750, at 11.33pm. The leaders averaged about 50 mph (80 km/h) up the Pacific Highway to Brisbane, with mechanical failure taking points from some of the novices.

The first bad accident happened near Gin Gin, when Patienee/Binks rolled their Ford V8 down an embankment and ended in hospital. But the field didn’t strike unsealed roads until after Rockhampton, and McLachlan, one of the favourites, lost two hours 15 minutes with water pump fail-ure on his Customline, but still made the Mackay control on time.

In 24 hours’ rest at Townsville, the organ-isers counted 177 cars in control with 128 c1ean-sheeters. But this was where the trial stopped being a rally and became a road race. The word went through the field like a bushfire that the organisers had decided that in the event of several crews reaching Sydney without loss of points, their times on the Townsville - Mt. lsa and Alice Springs

- Adelaide sections would decide the win-ner. They were given 16 hours to cover the 609 miles (980 km) from Townsville to lsa. The previous known best time was 16 hours 45 minutes.

Peter Antill in the Plymouth was fast-est with an incredible 13:22. The first car to reach Mt. Isa was Possum Kipling’s, 14 hours 12 minutes after leaving Townsville. He had to get the control officials out of bed. Behind him was a nightmare of crashed cars, irate police, and horror stories. Half the field was spread across most of Queensland. Bill McLachlan was directed wrongly in the mid-dle of the night and drove 136 miles (219 km) off course before getting back on the right road, only to hit a cattle grid that had been deegutted by the field. Stan Jones hit the same grid.

Bill Murray rolled his Plymouth, a ‘32 Ford V8 broke two axles, Frank Kleinig lodged protest after protest with officials about bigger cars failing to move out of the way of his Morris Minor, Hamilton’s Porsche hit a kangaroo and deranged its front suspen-sion, driving the rest of the way into the Isa on the undertray, and the last car, Atkinson in the Skoda, staggered into the town after a 24 hour 44 minute trip following a trail of wreckage.

This article continues in the next issue of MX-press and covers the 1954 REDeX Trial.


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Mind Mayhem May Monthly Cruise

Perth Motorplex Cub Sprint

May Event Photos Photos by Simon Corston

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For more photos of Mazda MX-5 Club event photos go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_corston/

June Gourmet Monthly Cruise

RAC Fun Sprint Midvale Speed Dome Sprint

June Event Photos Photos by Simon Corston

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_corston/

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Monthly Cruise: Mind Mayhem 5 May

18 cars turned up on a lovely 27 degree day, although two decided not to compete in the event.

Participants had to decipher a whole set of clues before leaving the carpark to be able to find the destinations. These had to be in a specific order to avoid a distance penalty. By the time Mercédès and I left the carpark we had to rely on the street lights.

The drive included Kings Park, Floreat Beach, West Coast Drive, so there was no lack of beautiful scenery. One team man-aged to drive all the way to Burns Beach Road, although the event finished just past Sorrento. I wonder whether they had their fruit confiscated by the fruit inspectors.

At a lovely grassed setting just North of Hillarys Boat Harbour we enjoyed our pic-nic and one team declined to hand in their results, but generally the mood was very good, taking into account the unavoidable headaches people amassed on the way.

The results were very close and four teams tied with the same amount of points accrued along the way. So a quick quiz, hav-ing to guess the distance from Perth to some country towns, sorted this one out. Club President, Barrie Parker and his lovely wife Lianna were the final victors.

Congratulations to all four top teams: Posh Parkers, Club Diana, Yellow Peril and Jersey People. Thanks to Aart ter Kuile for organising an enjoyable day.

Paul Andriessen

After Work Get-together:Wheels World—12 May

Wheels World in Osborne Park hosted 12 members of the club for a wheels,

suspensions and tyres discussion. Our host was John Fowler who is a wealth of informa-tion on wheels, suspensions and tyres.

It was a typical autumn evening, cool with some drizzle. On arrival we were presented with a view of Teutonic automotive might with three Porsches, two BMWs and one VW parked in the workshop, one of which belonged to John.

There was a shared interest in these vehi-cles and with much discussion, and many comparisons with the MX-5.

Although some members might find this kind of event more technical than social it did afford people like me to try to get a bet-ter understanding of what type of tyre best suits my style of driving and how important it is to make sure your wheels are correctly aligned. W heels World have the most advanced equipment to ensure your MX5 is set-up to get the best performance out of it.

The club provided drinks and we all enjoyed a very informative evening. Thanks again to John for sharing his time and knowledge.

Derek MartinJust a reminder that the next technical

event is on the evening of 17 July which will be an insight into car detailing (best prod-ucts to use). We need at least 15-20 members to attend. Please advise the club via our web site if you will be attending.

Perth Motorplex Sprint—19 MayA fine crisp sunny morning presented

the 30 eager but slightly nervously partici-pants to the first visit of the MX-5 club to the Perth Motorplex. Run on the Circula-tion Roads of the Complex, specially de-signed by Warwick to enable everyone to maximise their need for speed.

Again this event took a lot of organisation and coordination by the Motorsport Team and there was many hands making light work of the setup on the Day, with a big thanks to:Clerk of Course: Warwick GatesScrutineer: Simon CorstonS i g n o n : N i c k y R a s h l e i g h a n d Jennifer EllisonTime Keeping: Art ter KuileStarters: Warwick Gates and Don MessengerSafety/First Aid: Aart ter Kuile and

Don MessengerAdministration and Equipment Testing: Don Messenger

A big thank you to all the course setters and sweepers who made it as safe and chal-lenging as possible.

Warwick managed to design a fantastic course that would challenge and excite all who drove that day. It enabled at least three cars to be running at the same time on the course, maximising our bang for buck. The event was run as a Time Attack where only your fastest time of the day counted towards championship points.

As this was my first sprint event, I was apprehensive but I was not alone as many of the experienced drivers in the field were just so. On our sighting lap we were warned about many of the kerbs, concrete barriers and poles that posed potential hazard. All were duly noted!

It was great to see I was not the only one entering their first sprint event, and to Roxanne and Jenny’s delight there were more girls joining the sprint round.

Once under way everyone took it easy testing the waters on their first timed run. I was unfortunate to line up in front of Rod Willis in his V8 missile; setting off at 30 sec-ond intervals it was not long before I could hear the roar of the V8 stretching its legs behind me, the end of my run could not come quick enough, finishing only 10 sec-onds ahead of him.

As the morning progressed everyone was gaining confidence and times were drop-ping, and the competition really started to heat up between the classes. The leader of each class were trading fastest times as the track warmed up, with most drivers having 12 to 14 runs.

Class A was separated by 2.175 sec-onds with Brian Back taking the honours over Peter Hein.

Class B was by far the closest at 0.005 of a second with Oliver Pilot edging out Tomo Sakamoto on his final run.

Class C was won by just over half a sec-ond by Seanan Tilson in his Yellow NA with Andrew Cathie coming in second.

Rod Willis was in a class of his own in

Event Write-Ups


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Page 64 – POST, April 27, 2013

Community news

Drama used in memory

therapyThere has been lots of

laughter and storytelling in a six-week theatre-based course for people with memory loss and their carers.

WA Academy of Performing Arts graduate Althea Gordon, who is running the course, said the fi nale would be a perform-ance night at the Subiaco Arts Centre at 7pm on Monday, April 29.

Althea said she had designed the course to improve self-awareness and self-esteem in people with early-onset dementia.

“My program uses a combi-nation of drama, positive dis-traction and laughter therapy techniques to support the well-being of those living with memory loss,” she said.

“At the same time, these workshops allow all partici-pants an escape into the arena of performing arts.”

Monday’s loosely-structured performance will run for about 1½ hours and supper will be served afterwards. Drama games, role play and improvisation are all part of a course run by Althea Gordon in Subiaco.

Car enthusiasts from the MS-5 Club enjoyed driving croquet balls around the greens at Nedlands.

Rev-heads hit croquet greensSteering wheels and race tracks

were replaced by croquet mallets and manicured green lawns when members from the MX-5 Club had a go at playing croquet.

They drove their mallets with aplomb at the Nedlands Croquet Club, and had fun too.

The club has 150 members and organises regular social gather-ings.

The volunteers that evening from the Nedlands Croquet Club joined them for pizza and soft drink before instructing the car enthusiasts on the fi ner points of croquet.

Aart ter Kuile from the MX-5 Club said playing croquet under the lights was most enjoyable.

Anyone looking for an activity for their social club or a private function can call Wendy on 9386 3389 or Helen on 9386 1711 at the Nedlands Croquet Club.

How many get cancer,asthma from work?

An internationally respected occupational cancer expert from the University of WA will lead a team of researchers investigat-ing work-related asthma and cancer.

Winthrop Research Professor Lin Fritschi from the WA Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR), has won a $384,515 chunk of $7.9 million in health research fund-ing announced by federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek.

The three-year study will survey 5000 Australian workers in a bid to estimate exposure to asthma and cancer-causing agents in the workplace.

It will be carried out by a team of investigators from UWA, Monash and Sydney universities.

Professor Fritschi said limited data available on how many people were at risk of asthma and cancer due to work conditions meant there was a lack of attention and resources being used to prevent them.

“In order to prevent these dis-eases, we need to fi rst understand how many workers are exposed to the chemicals causing asthma and cancer, in which industries

the exposures occur, and whether available controls are being used,” Professor Fritschi said.

“The data we collect will be used to estimate the burden of oc-cupational asthma and cancer in Australia, and to model the effect of different preventive interven-tions on the future burden.”

The story of Jews in WAMichelle Urban will talk about

the history of Jewry in WA when the University of the Third Age meets at the Grove library on Monday.

Michelle is from the Jewish Historical and Genealogical Society and her talk will be at 2.30pm.

At 1pm, there will be a talk by Gabor Bedo about crossing the Great Victorian Desert from Laverton to Coober Pedy.

Visitors and members are wel-come at the talks and to enjoy a coffee break between sessions.

For more information, call Keith on 9383 2037.

How to remember your doseGet tips on how to use med-

icines safely and effectively at Open House for seniors in Wembley Downs.

It will include informa-tion to help to get the most out of visits to doctors and pharmacists.

Discover ways to remember to take medicine regularly.

The information session will begin at 11am on Thursday, May 2, at the Church of Christ, 10 Bournemouth Crescent (almost opposite the Downs Shopping Centre), and sen-iors are welcome any time from 9.30am with morning tea at 10.30.

Open House is held each Thursday, from 9.30 to noon, at the Church of Christ, and regular activities include mahjong, canasta, Scrabble and rummycub, with morning tea being a highlight.

Other activities include quizzes and lunch outings.

Ring Jenny on 9341 6273 for more information, or just turn up for a warm welcome.

1 Bold Park Drive Floreat WA 6014 | 08 9347 6000 [email protected] | www.cambridge.wa.gov.au

Cambridge Notice

WEED CONTROL WORKS

1. Beginning on the 20 May 2013, kerbs and footpaths in the Town will be sprayed to control weeds. The herbicide in use (Glyphosate-Roundup) is low toxic, with no soil residual activity. Only visible weeds will be sprayed.

If you don’t want the kerb and footpath outside your property sprayed and have not already sent in an exemption form, call the Town on 9347 6000. Your name and address will be recorded and a form sent to you to fill in that will ensure your exemption.

All property owners/occupiers who sign the form will need to keep the kerb and footpath adjacent to their property weed free to the same standard that will be achieved by chemical control.

2. The Town’s lanes and drainage sumps will also be sprayed for weed control, including Caltrop, using the above same chemical plus Simazine (a pre-emergent herbicide).

3. During August/September various sportsgrounds, parks and road reserves will be sprayed with a Selective Herbicide to control Bindii, Clover and other weeds in turf, to ensure the safe use of these parks by the public.

All works are in accordance with Health Department regulations.

JASON BUCKLEYCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

LOCAL PLANNINGPOLICIES REVIEW

The Town has reviewed its Local Planning Policies toensure currency with latest development trends andissues. Council has adopted the following revisedpolicies for public advertising:• Consultation procedures• Pergolas and unroofed structures• Minim Cove Estate Guidelines• Subdivision and Development of Lots Adjoining

Underwidth Roads• Tennis Court Lighting and Fencing• Gatehouses within Front Setbacks• Roofing Material• Carports in Front Setbacks• Ancillary Accommodation• Home OccupationsNotification is provided of the following policies to berescinded:• Leighton Marshalling Yards Development• Development Standards for Swansea Estate• Lighting in Unit Developments• Outbuildings• Setback Standards within Mosman Waters Estate• Cut and Fill and Retaining Walls• Front Boundary Fences/Walls• Satellite Dish AntennaeThe policies may be viewed on the Town's websiteor the Administration Centre at Memorial Park, BayView Terrace, Mosman Park between the hours of8.30am – 4.30pm. Submissions close on17 May 2013 and may be made in writing addressedto:Chief Executive OfficerTown of Mosman ParkP O Box 3MOSMAN PARK WA 6912

A fun eco-day in a heritage precinct

ST LUKE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH PRECINCT

MONUMENT ST

MOSMAN PARK

More info: T: 9384 0108 E: [email protected]

mosman.park.ecofair

Event Write-Ups (Continued)Class D letting his 6.0 litre V8 stretch its legs, blitzing the field by over 2.6 seconds. 107.293 seconds being the fastest time of the day. Warwick Gates and Simon Corston were left to fight it out for the minor places, trading times each thinking they could not go any faster. Simon set a time of 110.036 seconds, which was half a second quicker than Warwick’s fastest time to that point. However, that was like waving a red rag to a bull and Warwick had to go again. Everyone held their breath as he crossed the flying fin-ish 109.895 seconds just over 0.1 quicker than Simon’s fastest time.

It was agreed by all drivers that this was an exceptional event that has to be run again. We all thanked Warwick and Don for their hard work in getting the event set up and run-ning smoothly. It was great to see everyone pitch in and help pack up and return the Perth Motorplex to the way we found it (except for that fence). The Motorsport team have another series of awesome events still to come this season so come along and have a run. I did and I had a ball.

Richard PearsonAfter Work Get-together: Fish ‘n Chip run—12 June

We met as usual at the Burswood carpark for the Wednesday evening fish and chips

run. After a 32km drive through the city and the suburbs we ended up at our destination Adams Fish and Chips café in North Beach.

We were greeted by very friendly staff who took our orders and offered us free coffee. Our host made us welcome and turned up the heaters for our comfort and we tucked in.

The house speciality is Spanish mack-erel served with hot chips made from West Australian potatoes and could only be described as delicious. This place will defi-nitely stay on our places-to-go list.

DeroMonthly Cruise: York—2 June

The first Sunday of the month began as any other as 22 sparkling MX-5s pulled into the designated meeting spot at the Burswood carpark. Covered with bean-ies, scarves and big warm jackets, members reluctantly emerged from warm cars into the crisp weather to greet friends. Directions where handed out while Lianna took advan-tage of the cold weather to market the new scarves and beanies which were quite popu-lar. After a few words of warning of double demerit points,everyone jumped in their cars, glad for the warmth, and puttered off along on their way.

With heaters compensating for the roof being down we soon arrived at our first

regrouping point; across the road from the Parkerville Tavern. After a short leg stretch-ing, “getting extra clothing from the boot” stop, we were soon on our way.

The next stretch of trip led us through long curvy roads (an MX-5 favourite) with the wind running through our hair or for some of the guys though their lack of hair, it was as approximately 70km before we reached the famous Bakers Hill pie shop. Upon arriving it was a race to the toilets and before long, there was a queue.

After filling our tummies with warm pastries and hot drinks, those who weren’t heading home headed to the food and wine show, which, originally to be held in York, had been changed to Northam. An oval filled with cars could be found at the desti-nation of the food and wine show; the show was held inside covering the three basketball courts, filled with small booths. There were cooking demonstrations and plenty of foods to be tasted and bought.

Thanks to the organiser of the cruise, Steve Harris.

Lauren Messenger


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Preparing the car stand

Caliper with worn disk pad

Caliper rotated away from disk for pad removal

Wheel removed, exposing the brake disk and caliper

Comparison of new and old brake pad thickness

Brake disk can be removed before replacing brake pads

Switching Your Brake PadsBefore we begin, we think it’s worth

saying that any mechanical work on a car should only be undertaken with careful preparation. We have a number of MX-5 manuals and we also check the web for comments and hints that will make any re-pair easier.

If it’s the first time for a repair, we def-initely seek out tips from a few other members who have a broad mechanical knowledge. There are always pitfalls when doing a repair yourself and it pays to have done your research beforehand.

Also note that I’m not trying to be write a definitive how-to guide on changing brake pads, but more a general description of the process. Always consult a good workshop manual and do some research first. Whilst this work is very “doable” for most, your brakes are the reason you don’t run into that car ahead or fly off at that corner, so this work is for the capable - safety first!

To prepare for this job, you will need to purchase some brake pads. They differ front to rear (see photos) and between models,

so be careful to purchase the correct ones. There is a large variety of brake pads and they range in price from around $100 upwards.

More expensive brake pads offer better braking performance with less brake fade between heavy braking inputs. There are also racing brake pads, which are high-end on performance but might not be the best choice for road use as they can be noisy and the braking can be quite harsh. The factory pads are quite acceptable giving good perfor-mance and little brake dust.

To begin, you will need to jack up your car. We strongly recommend (to the point of insisting) that you use some jack stands. Car jacks are not intended to be used to support the car for work of this kind and stands are relatively cheap.

Before raising the rear we chocked the front wheels as the hand brake only acts on the rear wheels. Make sure the hand brake is applied when raising the front. Before jacking, loosen the wheel nuts, then jack up each side and place a stand as shown in the image below. Once the car is up remove

both wheels. Once the wheels are off, check the brake pads wear. It should be even on both pads.

You will now need to remove one of the slider pins on the brake caliper. This allows the caliper to rotate upwards for the NA and NB as shown in the photos.

Once the caliper is rotated out of the way, you can unclip the pads and remove the old ones. You should inspect the con-dition of the brake disk, looking for pitting and wear. Use a gauge to check its thick-ness. Your manual will tell you the minimum thickness allowed. Did you feel any vibration when braking? You may need to have the disks machined or replaced. New disks are around $100 for a pair. Machining is cheaper than this and can be done at your local auto re-conditioner.

This is also a good opportunity to spend some time looking around for any brake fluid leaks and worn or damaged brake lines. Unless you are experienced or


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Left to right: new pad, old outer pad and old inner pad

From the top: new pad and old outer pad and inside pad.Note the difference in thickness between the old pads. Not good!

Switching Your Brake Pads (Continued)knowledgeable regarding overhauling brake systems, repairs to these are best undertaken by a professional.

Assuming the disks are fine, new pads are placed where the old ones were. Remember the clip which keeps the pads separate and holds them in place. Once in place, the gap between the pads will be small and you may not be able to rotate the caliper back in place. You will need to remove the pads and use a clamp to carefully depress the caliper pis-ton back into the caliper (there is something about the pistons needing to rotate as they are pushed in, perhaps not for the NA but for the NB and NC).

When forcing the piston back in the brake fluid level will rise in the reservoir in the engine bay, so be sure to check that it is not overflowing and remove some fluid if neces-sary. (Caution: brake fluid is damaging to you and your paintwork so remove any spills immediately.) This procedure opens up the caliper and allows it to slide in place around the new pads.

It is also worth checking the condition of the rubber boots that fit around the sliding pins and to lubricate the pins. Lubrication should not be with normal oil or grease but with a special lubricant which may have been included in your brake pad kit or can be pur-chased from a parts supplier. Make sure all moving parts are very clean before reassem-bling to avoid damage and dysfunction.

Now rotate the caliper back into place, reposition the sliding pin back into place and tighten as specified by the manual (might be a torque wrench setting for this). The caliper should slide along both pins. You may wish to check the brakes by depressing the brake pedal, but do not start the car while it is on jack stands.

If all is well, repeat for the other side, replace the wheels, check the brake fluid res-ervoir level, topping up as required. Use only the correct brake fluid for your car. We think it is dot3 or dot4, so check your manual. You have now finished.

The new brake pads need to be bedded in to maximise the contact between the pad

and the disk. This process transfers a layer of brake pad material onto the surface of the brake disk. It is recommended that you do eight to ten consecutive stops from 60 km/h down to 10 km/h. Just do this on a quiet road with no traffic, not on a busy highway.

John Waldock & Allan Pryer

Postscript: Pad WearLooking at our photos, you will see une-

ven pad wear. This was a warning signal and on closer inspection we discovered that the caliper was frozen to one of the sliding pins, resulting in one pad doing most of the work.

This means less braking power and could result in damage to the disk rotor. We spent quite a lot of time trying to loosen the caliper and pin without success and so a replace-ment is being sourced.

(This article has been reproduced by per-mission from MXTRA the magazine of the MX-5 club of Victoria)


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Seanan Tilson in his wife’s Mazda 3 at RAC Fun Sprint. Picture by Stephany Tilson.

Perth Motorplex Sprint:Round 4—19 May

Well, it has taken over a year and a half to organise and get permission to run an event at the Perth Motorplex but I have to say it was worth the wait. Maybe it was the close competition or the closeness of the kerbs, fences and big concrete barriers but I would have to say this was one of the best events I have competed in over the last 15 years. I

know this is a big statement but at the end of the day this sort of event is the closest most of us “carpark racers” are going to get to an actual tarmac rally stage.

We were lucky not to get rained on and lots of the competitors helped to set up and run the day which means that we all got lots of time on the track, what a great group of guys and gals. We had five girls attend the day with two of them first-timers to our events, hope to see more of them in the future.

As a comparison one of the rally clubs run events at the Motorplex similar to our event and over an event each competitor spends around 10-11 minutes driving for a cost of $175, we had around 16 minutes of driving at around a third of the cost. I said it before and I will say it again, if you’re into motor-sport how could you not own a MX-5 and be a member of this club because boy does it deliver great value for money.

Class winners were A: Brian Back, B: Oliver Pilot (by 0.005 sec from Tomo Sakamoto), C: Seanan Tilson and D:

Rod “V8” Willis. Full details are up on the club’s website.

We did have one off on the day and a car went through a fence, Ouch! And a bit costly to o. Eve r yo n e w a s reminded that motor-sport is dangerous and this proved it. I guess it could have been worse and the driver was not hurt (other than pride). I cannot wait till we run one more time this year at the Motorplex!Midvale Speed Dome Sprint: Round 5—9 June

So it was yet another new venue that we ven-tured out to so our members could have a day of MX-5 mot-orsport action. This is another venue that has taken a fair bit of work

to secure but we are there now and hope to have many more trips out to this great venue.

The Speed Dome like the Motorplex is also similar to a Targa stage with a road-style circuit, different surfaces, leaves and sticks etc to contend with and some things to hit if you go off the road.

The day started with a very damp track and some pretty nervous drivers but eve-ryone handled the situation very well and drove within themselves for the first run to get a feel for the grip levels and how the lay-out worked. In the second run one of our regular competitors pushed a little too hard and had the back end break free and start to overtake the front end of the car. Once the car hit the grass the driver was just a pas-senger because just like any crash you have seen on TV cars don’t stop too well on wet grass. If it was only grass it would have been OK but there was a bloody big concrete cul-vert in the way and the car went up and over it with a lot of scraping noises heard and witnessed as the crash was right in front of where all the competitors were standing. Once again the old saying “motorsport can be dangerous” rang unfortunately true but once again this accident could have been a lot worse. I believe that the driver tried to drive out of the oversteer and as such man-aged to drive up the culvert with the right hand wheel, which although it wrecked the tyre and wheel was a better proposition than driving up the culvert on the car’s sump and gearbox. The driver was not hurt (which is the main thing) and all drivers took note on how hard to push at this venue.

The rest of the day was nowhere as event-ful but was still a blast with once again some really great competition. Winners in the classes were A: new guy Ross James,

Motor Sport Report


Mazda



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Russell tuning between runs at Speed Dome

Motor Sport Report (Continued)B: Oliver Pilot, C: Seanan Tilson and D: Warwick Gates. Full results are up on the club website.

I believe that Seanan and his partner had a baby in the days leading up to this event but he still showed up to compete. Shows how keen our members are. Congratulations Seanan from the MX-5 Club of WA.

From the feedback I received every-one seemed to really enjoy this venue and event and are really keen to visit it again in September.

Warwick GatesMotorsport Manager

MX-5 Motor Sport Comes of AgeWarwick’s vision for a multi-facetted Club

Motorsport Championship is coming to pass. On the 19 May a cloudy but very pleas-ant day, even if it did threaten to rain, our

club ran its first-ever time-attack sprint event at the Perth Motorplex. What an incredible days driving it was, but I will leave someone else to tell that story. My piece is to tell how thrilled I am that this was truly a club event. The way everyone came together and helped with every aspect of this event, to experience such an exhilarating competition, then to see it all packed up and clean (just like we had never been there) was nothing short of brilliant.

Special acknowledgement must go to Warwick for his huge effort planning and negotiating, Aart for all things timing (including developing and testing the tim-ing spreadsheet and being chief time keeper) and to John Hallett for manning the chi-cane all day.

Don Messenger


Mazda



Classifieds

Dead Brands

Please note: Notices in the Classifieds section are presented as a service to members only. The Mazda MX-5 Club of WA Inc has not tested the products, equipment or services listed and makes no warranties or representations about any of the products or their use.

MX-5 SEATS FOR SALE

MX-5 leather seats black leather with grey inserts with rails for MX-5 NB model. Great condition.

Price: $250Contact: Tony SmithEmail: [email protected]: 6212 7001Mobile: 0412 948 461

MX-5 SWAY BARS FREE

Front and rear sway bars for a 1998 MX-5 NB and possibly 1998 onwards free to good home.

Price: FreeContact: Paul AndriessenPhone: 9361 6769Email: [email protected]

FOR SALEMX-5 SE FRONT BRAKES

MX-5 NA/NB owners who want to up-grade their front brake calipers for motor sport activities or just improved stopping power and want to stay with Mazda parts but keep the price reasonable. Look no fur-ther. Includes brand new TRW pads.

Price: $250Contact: Simon CorstonMobile: 0409 139 606Email: [email protected]

MX-5 GEARBOX FOR SALEMX-5 SE 2004 six-speed gearbox for sale.This gearbox has been used for over 110,000km. Could be used for spares or replacement for your existing gearbox.Reasonable offers will be considered.

Price: $950 onoContact: Simon CorstonMobile: 0409 139 606Email: [email protected]

Look online for dead car brands and you’ll see something remarkable; there’s

hundreds of them. Hundreds of people throughout the years have built interesting but ultimately doomed car brands. Some have lasted more than a lifetime and some have barely even got their first car off the assembly line. We decided to make a list of the five most interesting car brand deaths. From the spectacular to the slow and pain-ful we’ve covered a good number of topics despite only isolating five for inspection. The Five: MG Rover (1904–2005) Anyone

familiar with Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson will know all about this story. In short the brand lost a massive amount of its credibility after years of poor build quality. Their point blank refusal to allow one of their final con-coctions (the “City Rover”) to be taken for a test drive by Top Gear (and the charade that followed) was basically the company’s death knell.

DeLorean (1975–1982) This one really was spectacular. The car styling was unusual to say the least but sales disappointed from the outset. It featured on the massively pop-ular “Back to the Future” films and people expected great things. What happened how-ever was nothing short of a soap-opera style spiral into madness by everyone involved. John DeLorean, the owner of the company went down in a blaze of madness which involved the FBI, the IRA (Irish Republican Army), suitcases of cocaine and more allega-tions than you can shake a stick at.Saab (1945–2012) While not as spec-

tacular or as colourful as the DeLorean debacle this one certainly had its own odd-ities. In truth this was more tragic than any of the others because Saab was genuinely loved worldwide. What happened was really a cost problem where volumes were simply not large enough for Saab to reap the econ-omies of scale. This coupled with their poor relationship and communications with their

parent GM (General Motors) ended the show for them.Hummer (1992–2010) This mammoth

of the road got its shot at fame (it was based on the Humvee, a military only vehicle) after the involvement of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Before long they were everywhere with stretched versions being spotted here and there. The main cause of the shutdown seems to have been the auto crisis of the last few years. Considering the huge criti-cism surrounding the car’s environmental credentials, perhaps we won’t cry too much for this one.Tatra (1897–1999) This Czech man-

ufacturer made its last consumer vehicle in 1999. Well known amongst car enthusi-asts and with a reputation for inadvertently killing Nazi officers it’s surprising that they petered out in the late 90s. Surprising or not Tatra did die and it was in part due to their inability to compete after the fall of communism.

Posted: 01/03/2013 by Rory Deegan, Online Marketing Executive

Mazda


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Shopping StoryYesterday I was at my local Sainsbury’s

store buying a large bag of winalot dog food for my loyal pet and was in the checkout queue when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What, did she think I had an elephant? So, since I’m retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn’t have a dog, I was starting the Winalot Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn’t, because I ended up in hospital last time, but I’d lost two stone before I woke up in intensive care with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a per-fect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pockets with Winalot nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally com-plete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practi-cally everyone in queue was now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked me if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poi-soned me. I told her no, I stepped off the kerb to sniff an Irish Setter’s arse and a car hit me.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard. I’m now banned from Sainsbury’s.Parking on a Prayer

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn’t find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, ‘Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!’

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.Paddy looked up again and said, ‘Never

mind, I found one.’Job Seeker

An apparition with a pony tail, tatoos and piercings, and wearing dirty torn jeans walked into Centrelink to draw his dole pay-ment. He slouched up up to the counter and said, “Hi. You know...., I just HATE drawing welfare. I’d really rather have a job.”

The social worker behind the counter said, “Great - your timing is excellent. We have just got a job opening from a very wealthy old

man who wants a chauffeur and bodyguard for his beautiful daughter. You’ll have to drive around in his 2011 Mercedes Benz CL, and he will supply all of your clothes.

“Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You’ll also be expected to escort the daughter on her overseas holiday trips.

This is rather awkward to say but you will also have as part of your job assignment to satisfy her sexual urges as the daughter is in her mid-20s and has a rather strong sex drive.”

The bludger, just plain wide-eyed, said, “You’re kidding me!”

The social worker said, “Yeah, well… you started it.”Paddy in New York .

Paddy was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing. The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted,

‘Okay, pedestrians.’ Then he’d allow the traf-fic to pass.

He’d done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk. After the cop had shouted, ‘Pedestrians!’ for the tenth time, Paddy went over to him and said, ‘Is it not about time ye let the Catholics across?’Obituary

Gallagher opened the morning news-paper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died. He quickly phoned his best friend, Finney.

‘Did you see the paper?’ asked Gallagher. ‘They say I died!!’

‘Yes, I saw it!’ replied Finney. ‘Where are ye callin’ from?’Talking Dog

A guy was driving around when he saw a sign in front of a house, ‘Talking Dog for Sale.’ He stopped and rang the bell and the owner told him the dog was in the backyard. The guy went into the backyard and saw a Labrador sitting there.

‘Do you talk?’ he asked the dog.‘Yes,’ the Lab replied.‘So, what’s the story?’The Lab looked up and said, ‘Well, I dis-

covered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help my country, so I told the police about my gift, and in no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world lead-ers, because no one figured a dog would be

eavesdropping. I was one of their most valu-able spies for eight years running.’

‘But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover secu-rity wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incred-ible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married, had a load of puppies, and now I’m just retired.’

The guy was amazed. He goes back in and asked the owner what he wanted for the dog.

‘Ten bucks’ the man said.‘Ten bucks? This dog is amazing. Why on

earth are you selling him so cheaply?’‘Cos he’s a liar, he never did any of

that stuff!’One Liners

The Grim Reaper came for me last night, and I beat him off with a vacuum cleaner. Talk about Dyson with death.

A mate of mine recently admitted to being addicted to brake fluid. When I quizzed him on it he reckoned he could stop any time.

I was at an ATM yesterday when a little old lady asked if I could check her balance, so I pushed her over.

I start a new job in Seoul next week. I thought it was a good Korea move.

I was driving this morning when I saw an RAC van parked up. The driver was sobbing uncontrollably and looked very miserable. I thought to myself that guy’s heading for a breakdown.

Statistically, six out of seven dwarves are not Happy.

Paddy says “Mick, I’m thinking of buy-ing a Labrador.” “Bugger that,” says Mick

“have you seen how many of their own-ers go blind?”

Local police hunting the ‘knitting needle nutter’, who has stabbed six people in the arse in the last 48 hours believe the attacker could be following some kind of pattern.

Bought some “rocket salad” yesterday but it went off before I could eat it!

Murphy says to Paddy “What ya talkin to an envelope for?” “I’m sending a voice mail ya thick sod!”

Humour Us

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