History
Was originally imported by someone in Blackburn.
I bought it from his parents as he'd moved to Queensland
I picked it up in fair condition, it was that standard Mazda Red these all seemed to come in and a non existent Soft Top
Removed the original 1.6 together with the petrol tank and installed the Electric Motor and 45 LiFePo4 batteries (half where the petrol tank was, half above the motor. This was the Eunos, so it had (and I kept the) power steering and AirCon.
Put together a control board, added in the 12V vacuum brake pump and an electric heater in the old core and headed off to the engineer.
Car weighs in at 1100kg so only 100kg over original dry weight. With all the weight between the axles it handles like an MX-5 should...
Spent about a year converting it to electric and then (at least!) another year restoring it.
Modifications
9inch Electric Motor in place of 1.6 4cyl.
MC600S Motor Controller (Designed and built in Perth)
45 x 90Ah LifePo4 Batteries = 144V (front and back to achieve the 54F/46R weight distribution, all in between the axles)
12v Vacuum Pump
Electric Heater element installed in old heater core
Old HP Server Power Supply converted to a 144v - 13.4v DC converter (takes the place of the old alternator to keep the 12v accessory battery charged)
Added in electric mirrors from a newer MX-5
Added in central locking and remote boot release
Mags
