We're Still Here!

 Yes, I know, it's been an awfully long while since an update on this blog, and quite a lot has happened in the world since the last report in 2019! But, Project Merlot is still on the road, albeit with a new custodian for the last few years. 

The good old Merlot has had a bit of welding, it's had a suspension change, plus a few other tweaks in the recent years, and latest work was a replacement steering rack, so no more power steering fluid puddles, hopefully.  But as well as the inevitable mechanical works I can also report the Merlot has now been thrashed on the Autobarn, and taken on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, see evidence below.

Several of us have a love-hate relationship with the car, (some more hate than love I think) but it's a survivor, and while we fear more rust issues are approaching, who knows what happens next. 

The dreaded MOT...

It's always a bit of a worry taking any car for an MOT and more so when the motor has been, how shall we put it, modified a bit, (and not all on purpose either!).

It does help though if you pick a garage out in the wilds of the Suffolk countryside and have a 40 minute drive on a lovely sunny morning on some twisty roads there and back. It has to be said that the drive back with the MOT pass safely stashed in the glovebox (yes, we do still have one) is much better than the rather nervous run over.

Cleverley Repaired Cars are our MOT testing station of choice these days as apart from the drive you are pretty much guaranteed a cuppa and a nice chat about MX-5s.

So that was that sorted for another 12 months, although it looks like we will have to be getting the welder out before the next test!

National Rally time again.

Its National Rally time again! Here we are sitting alongside our MX-5 Owners Club motorsport buddies.

Woops, we crashed again!

Curborough Sprint Course near Lichfield  has always been a favourite with Team Merlot and on 5 May we were back with the MX-5 Owners Club for their annual sprint training day.

We brought along a novice this time who got off to a cracking start in their first couple of sessions until the talent (luck) ran out and the poor car got stuffed into a tyre wall!  However with our usual spirit and the application of a couple of cable ties we were back up and running in no time.

It's always a pleasure to take on Curborough and we will be back again in 2019. We better bring the cable ties again!

A Fab Start to 2018...

Where does the time go?  After a busy year of Autosolo, MX5 Owners Club events and the occasional blast here we are back at the Owners Club Spring Rally again and this time at the amazing and iconic Goodwood Race Circuit where 928 other MX-5s were also counted in through the gate! That's an awful lot of "zoom zoom"...

Merlot on Show, again.....

We've been lucky enough to do a few shows over the years and the latest was taking part in a display at EMG Mazda Cambridge showcasing the diverse range of uses of an MX-5 during their RF launch weekend. We represented the track car, what else could we do, we've always had a strong affinity with cones of course, having hit a few!

MX-5 Owners Club National Rally 2016

2 October

Sitting pretty on the MX-5 Owners Club | Eastern Region stand at the Donington National Rally. Apparently Vicki Butler Henderson passed by earlier in the day and admired the "kiss" on Merlot's wing, we thought it was a big dent, but hey, who are we to argue...

Autosolo, it's the new thing....

Today we were mostly doing Autosolo with the Eastern Counties Motor Club at Wethersfield. A good time had by all over the 4 tests. Martin and Robbie both drove and it all got quite competitive! We may have picked up a little bit of cone rash this time though.

Can’t post too many photos as it’s a top secret base of some sort and if we do we will go to prison!

Japfest Rockingham

Just back from a great day at Japfest Rock with the MX-5 Owners Club where there were lots and lots of MX-5s, funny that, they seem quite popular.

Project Merlot even featured in the official photos and had a visit from the Flux Babes!

And then the sun came out...

Can you believe it!

Project Merlot is still much very alive and kicking, although most updates appear on the Facebook page now. www.facebook.com/projectmerlot. We are also now www.projectmerlot.com which is quite cool.  And what's really quite unbelievable is the project is approaching its tenth birthday!  So how are we going to celebrate?

Project Merlot leads the way at the MX-5 Owners Club Curborough Sprint 9 April 2016.

The Strange Case of the Weird Noise.!

It had been going on for a long while, you know the sort of thing, that annoying noise, the one no one quite seems to know exactly the cause of, the noise that could result in much dismantling and greasing etc. and still be there. So it was with this noise, a loud "crack" from the front of the car somewhere, usually when driving over uneven surfaces slowly, so some sort of suspension noise was favourite. Previous attempts with grease in a few strategic places had seen it disappear for a short while, only to return, even louder and more annoying.

So it came to pass that Project Merlot attended an MX-5 Owners Club Tech day and this time the noise would be dealt with, once and for all.....

No messing this time, the front suspension wishbones were unbolted and removed, then all the bushes greased up, the washers were de-rusted, and greased up, and it was all put back together again....  So did it cure the "crack" this time?  well yes it did. Don't you just love a happy ending...

Here's Martin happily cleaning up random bits of suspension component... or he may have just been doing the brakes, but goodness, hasn't he got dirty hands...

MX-5 OC National Rally 2016

Project Merlot goes jousting at the National Rally at Kelmarsh Hall! Well, you had to be there really..

Blyton or bust!

So it came to pass that the MX-5 Owners Club annual Blyton track weekend came around again, and of course we were there. Where else would we be?

 Wait for it....

Go........

Project Merlot takes on the Evo Triangle.

Many of you will be familiar with the Evo Triangle; a route in Wales often used by Evo Magazine for testing cars, as its simply a great driving route. Following the MX-5 Owners Club Spring Rally Project Merlot went on its holidays with friends in North Wales and had the opportunity to take on several circuits of the 20 mile triangular loop.
The roads in Wales in April seemed remarkably quiet. In fact deserted for the most part, which helped greatly, meaning Project Merlot could make the most of the open twisty, sweeping roads, all within the speed limit of course!. (never seen so many speed camera warning signs on such remote roads and the Welsh Police have a fearsome reputation for catching speeders!)
It did come as a bit of a shock however when we all joined the route for the first part of the run to by immediately accompanied by 3 police motorcyclists who looked like they may well dampen our enthusiasm.
We pulled in for a pit stop at the Llyn Brenig visitor centre only to be followed in by 6 police bikers in total! With 6 MX-5 drivers all eager to go for a serious blast we approached them to find out what they were up to; had they been alerted to the presence of us all and headed over to spoil our fun?
No, it turned out, they were on a training run and their presence was coincidental, in fact they even said they would prefer to be in the MX-5s rather than on the bikes.!
If in North Wales, and if you want a good drive, give the Triangle a try, you won't be disappointed.

MX-5 Owners Club Spring Rally 2015

Oulton Park was the venue for the 2015 LX-5 Owners Club Spring Rally and along with a few other race and track prepared MX-5s Project Merlot took pride of place on the Owners Club Motorsport Stand.  And it seems appropriate to stick a few MX5Parts catalogues on the car as well...

Project Merlot Cover Star!

It's featured on the front of the MX-5 Owners Club magazine Soft Top Hardtop a few times, and of course it's no stranger to the internet but this must be Project Merlot's most widely distributed appearance so far; on the front cover of MX5Parts new catalogue. 

Featuring the car on track at Blyton Park Driving Centre and piloted by Roadster Robbie; get your copy of the catalogue here.

MoT or Bust!

Well, it's easy to overlook isn't it? And with more than 1 car to keep tabs on then it's even harder. Yes, I know, "make a note in your diary" I've done that now OK, so next time it won't get forgotten!

After all the fun of The MX-5 Owners Club fab rally at Gaydon it occurred to me that Project Merlot hadn't had an MoT lately, so it must be due soon. Turned out when the paperwork was dug out it was not due at all, but in fact was somewhat overdue! *cough*

So in an effort to put that right as soon as possible we called upon the services of Michael Cleverly at Cleverley Repaired Cars, in deepest Suffolk at Stradbroke. It passed of course, never any doubt about that, although Michael was uncomplimentary about its suspension set up with words something like; "the most uncomfortable ever in an MX-5"

I think he has a good point, but it works damned well around a race track.

Thanks Michael for coming to the rescue.

MX-5 Owners Club 20th Anniversary Rally

Wow, the MX-5 has reached the ripe old age of 25 and the MX-5 Owners Club is 20. With events on throughout the year the big one was the Anniversary Rally at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon. Project Merlot found a nice spot to park and whilst it was very tempting to pop into the arena for a bit of tyre smoking with Mission Motorsport we resisted! In fact we came back with a new set of boots on the road wheels from our good friend Nick Dougill of MoT.

Blyton 14

It was early on Saturday 21st June that the 4 figures that made up Team Merlot 2014 left Ely for Blyton Park Driving Centre in Lincolnshire. Their sole aim was to have a great weekend at the MX-5 Owners Club's 3rd "Blyton Bash". The weekend was to consist of 2 afternoons of track driving and an a social evening to share stories of the day.
After arriving at the venue and carrying out the usual pre-track ritual of emptying Project Merlot of what wasn't essential to driving, setting the damper settings to the preferred hardness (unlike the last event!), changing the road wheels and tyres for a set of Team Dynamics wheels & super sticky Toyo R888s and on this occasion also fitting a new set of EBC yellow stuff pads to the front axle, kindly supplied by MX5parts.co.uk.
After signing on an completing the sighting laps Project Merlot was allowed, for the third year, out on the familiar Blyton circuit. As usual, the car took all that was thrown at it in it's stride and behaved impeccably throughout the afternoon (apart from a on going knock from the front suspension that seemed to be getting worse as the afternoon progressed).
As a thank you to MX5parts.co.uk for their support over the last few years, the staff were treated to passenger rides in the car, most of them not having been on track in an MX-5 before, so seeing what the car can do under track conditions seemed to really impress, with some of them coming back for more on the following day (watch out for the MX5parts Motorsport range in amongst the usual shiny stuff that they offer).

The afternoon ended all too quickly though and after a couple of pints at the onsite bar the team retreated to their questionable lodgings for the night (see Arties Mill & Lodge on Trip Advisor, Martin felt the need to leave a review!). After a good night's sleep, breakfast (which once again wasn't smoked salmon and poached eggs) and questionable coffee, the quartet made their way back to the circuit ready for the second afternoon of driving, with a twist! After some investigation into the knocking noise from the front suspension the previous evening, the car was jacked up and some grease applied between the upper arm suspension bushes and their mountings, meaning the noise was gone. Next came the track. Having visited Blyton twice previously and driven the same circuit on both occasions, since last years visit, the owner had added an alternative track layout.