Crankshaft Nose - The Final Solution

[Thomas Beagle]

I've been suffering from the wearing crankshaft keyway problem in my
1991 MX5. A previous owner had tried an interesting fix with a custom
made key but this, plus loctite, didn't seem to be doing it.

Taylor Automotive in Grafton have a solution which involves welding up
the front of the crank and then cutting in a new key way. It's meant to
be a permanent solution. They estimated it would cost $1200-1400 to take
everything apart, do the work, and put it all back together again.

I decided to combine my Big Day Out/Cirque du Soleil trip to Auckland
with a little bit of vehicle maintenance.

I dropped the car into them on Thursday morning and got a call from Paul
early on Friday afternoon saying it went well and was all done. Even
better, the cost actually worked out to be $830 including GST.

I drove the car back to Wellington on Monday and it all felt good. The
engine seems to be revving better and it has more mid-range power. On
the other hand, it's still doing a little backfire on a high-rev up-change.

Assuming that the fix works as advertised, I'm happy with what was done
and the service from Taylor Automotive.

Now I just have to wait for Mike's springs/shocks combo to arrive so I
can fit them to the car. Isn't it great that spending money on cars is
so much fun?

Thomas Beagle
thomas@thomasbeagle.net

P.S. Big Day Out was good although the line up was a little lack-lustre.
Quidam by Cirque du Soleil was awesome and I recommend going.