Some people don't intentionally set out to radically modify their car. But you know how it is - one thing gradually leads to another and five years later you end up with a Mazda MX-5 like this!

Perhaps it was his involvement with Perth’s MX-5 Club which saw Gan begin his odyssey.

A club that appreciates the sporting side to the MX 5, the Perth club is quite heavily involved in sprint days, motorkhanas and such like, so it didn’t take Gan long to realise the weak points of his 1600cc 1992 model.

We’ll come to the power aspect shortly, because the first thing Gan did was to drop the car some 30mm using Jamec springs, backed up by Koni Adjustable shocks.

Inspired, he began looking at other ways to enhance his MX 5 and whilst flicking through a magazine one day, he came across an Aerotech body kit

It’s true that Gan could have added more radical bodywork, yet there’s a certain subtlety about this one which was sourced from Queensland but made in New Zealand.

When the front and rear air dams, side skirts and rear wing arrived in Perth, the Spoiler Shop in Myaree took care of the fitting and painting to match the car’s original silver duco.

What's that noise from the boot?
By this stage Gan was really getting into the swing of things, so Auto Upholstery in Perth soon had the original seats covered in blue and black leather.

This was combined with some genuine carbon (definitely not stick on, thank you very much ...) trim, while James Ramsey at Alberts Car Stereo in Vic’ Park set about adding a decent sound system.

Admittedly, the sound hardware is a little outdated now, but the two Rockford 1412 12" subs in the boot add more than enough bass presence to a little car like this.

The subs live in a fully sealed 2 cubic-foot box that drops into the spare wheel well, with an intricate porting system running from the boot through to the cabin.

The system is headed up by an Alpine TDA 7536 ES head unit, while clarity and quality are ensured thanks to MB Quart QM218.02CX front splits - with the mids in the doors and the tweeters up on the dash.

An end to embarrassment
With all of the above mods completed, there was only one thing left to do - and let’s face it, the original 1600 motor that these early MX 5s came with wouldn’t pull you out of a wet paper bag.

Gan’s first hand experience of this situation was becoming embarrassing during club events and a number of options were considered, including the addition of a supercharger.

Some thought was also given to replacing the Mazda engine with a supercharged Windsor V8 - a popular conversion in the USA, but a course of action that would have seen the WA licensing authorities convulsing uncontrollably !!

In any case, Gan had by now done some research into rotary engines and their famed power-to-weight advantage seemed like a killer idea for the MX 5.

We all know of course that Gan isn’t alone in his thinking along these lines, but the rotary conversion performed here is unlike any other we’ve seen.

There is a well publicised Australian rotary ‘kit’ for the MX 5 which sees the entire front end chopped off and replaced with custom members plus fibreglass quarter panels and bonnet.

No such butchery was performed here and perhaps not surprisingly, Rotomotion’s Graham Stones and John Clements were a bit coy about divulging how exactly they added a Series V RX 7 turbo rotary engine to the original engine bay of an MX 5.

Let’s not chop it up
One of Australia’s longest established rotary experts, Rotomotion also have an enviable reputation for vehicle engineering. Stones said that it took a full eight weeks of measuring, calculating and sussing out exactly how to do the conversion without chopping the car’s front end to pieces.

Basically, the MX 5’s original engine crossmember remains, albeit heavily modified and mated to custom engine mounts.

The sump too is a custom item, and some of the oil pickups are not in their more normal positions either. The conversion also required some moving of steering componentry, but no specific details would be given on this front.

In regards to space, the engine swap posed no real dramas and the original air conditioning system - and even the original ‘92 spec’ MX 5 engine radiator - have been retained. Likewise, there was plenty of room right at the front for the Series V front mount intercooler.

The set up of the original Hitachi turbo was essentially simple too, with a turbosmart boost controller helping to maintain a maximum of 15psi.

Outright control of the engine and EFI functions meanwhile, has been handed over to a Microtech MTX 8 package, which is hardly surprising really as Rotomotion are the WA distributors for these renowned electronics.

On the fuel front, and once again simplicity is the name of the game, with the original 13B injectors supplied by the MX 5’s original fuel pump.

And on the exhaust side, a custom 2 ½" mandrel mild steel system feeds back to a large rear muffler with twin 2 ¼" stainless tips.

More secret Roto-stuff
Back to the complex stuff again though and there are no prizes for guessing that the original MX 5 gearbox didn’t get a look in with this project - having been replaced by a Series V RX 7 non turbo cog swapper.

Once again, this is an another area where Rotomotion weren’t giving away too many secrets, although it was conceded that the gearbox was externally modified to fit.

This goes against the more common trend of shaping the transmission tunnel (usually with a hammer!) to accept a ‘foreign’ gearbox. It is believed that the Series V box has actually been fitted with the original MX5 gearbox’s end cover due to the fact that the MX 5 diff and gearbox are mounted to a bar structure under the car.

Rotomotion did try to fit an 1800cc MX5 diff’ down the back of Gan’s car, but it wouldn’t go. So far, the original gearbox and diff’ have survived, although how they will fare with the planned future boost increase is anyone’s guess.

Interestingly too, the Series V gear shift column is fully adjustable and so no custom linkages nor additional holes in the floor of the cabin were required.

Between the engine and gearbox meanwhile, resides some fairly tough transfer componentry, including a lightweight billet Rotomotion flywheel, an 8.5" bonded and riveted clutch plate and a ¾ tonne custom pressure plate.

Towards the end of the engine transplant, Gan began talking to Performance Automotive Refinishers about a paint scheme that would make his MX 5 really stand out.

A catalogue from America’s House of Kolor was obtained and as can be seen, the hue chosen is nothing short of amazing.

Incidentally, this American outfit even has fluorescent hues for night time impact, although the colour Gan chose is not unlike Holden’s Saffron - but that’s a very basic comparison to say the least.

This author threw a roll of Kodak’s professional V100 S slide film at Gan’s car for the time exposure night shots, but even this highly saturated film cannot convey what this colour is like in real life.

It really is ‘alive’ and no matter what angle the car turns, your eyeballs are attacked relentlessly.

And the actual name of the colour ?

"There’s no real name for it as such", stated Gan. "I simply chose a code number from a colour chart, but I guess it’s a sort of metallic tangerine !!"

With the paintwork cured, Rotomotion fitted the engine back in, having chromed all of the intercooler piping and such like for extra visual appeal.

But it is legal, officer
Now then, one thing that simply must be mentioned is that Rotomotion didn’t just send Gan out the door after taking his money.

Proving that they are a professional, all or nothing outfit, Rotomotion went to the bother of gaining full Department of Transport approval for Gan’s MX-5.

That’s correct - this entire package is fully road legal and Gan carries all the relevant paperwork in the glovebox just in case he gets pulled up by one of those nice young blokes fresh out of the academy.

It goes without saying too that Gan hasn’t quite finished modifying his MX 5 just yet.

Although the car has produced 186 flywheel kW @ 7psi of boost, Gan wants to high flow the turbo and wind the boost up to nearer 20psi. Naturally, this will see larger and extra injectors, possibly some porting to that engine, not to mention some upgrades under the floor.

In fact, Wilwood 6-spot calipers plus AP Racing calipers for the front end are already on order. Ultimately, Gan wants somewhere in the region of 260kW at the flywheel, just to keep that Cobra honest not to mention other club racers.

But we reckon they’d all be dazzled off the track anyway with that colour scheme.

Nuts`n'Bolts