ManX-5, Nocones 2025 Challenge Build

I was waiting to post a thread about this until the parts arrived for a mockup in case it had absolutely no hope of working.  This has been an adventure to get here, as many know I had palnned to do something with the Panhard Dyna Z I got from John Brown but despite 3 general ideas with half hearted attempts it just never gelled with me.  For all the attempts it did not take much of a road block to just give up.   The last idea was a Miata bodyswap.  I found myself with a $500 transmissionless Miata and I cut the miata all off in preparation for the Panhard body.  But after cutting the Miata appart I decided to finally pull the plug on the Panhard.  It's gettting shipped BACK to it's previous owner for him to do something silly with and I was left with this:

A Titled cutdown Miata rollerskate.  As discussed in the Panhard thread, what didn't work about the Panhard was I was trying to cram to much stuff into 1 project.  I wanted a "quick" fun $2000 challenge build, but also was trying to build something I would keep long term.  I already have enough Long term cars for now so I was going to be putting in a healthy amount of work and effort into a project that when it was done I just didn't need.  Thinking about how to bring the Miata to the challenge basically any bodyswap would run into the same issues.  

So I decided the best most logical thing to do was finish the idea behind the 2023 parking lot build.  Singleslammer and I had planned to Sawzall up Stampies miata and merge it with a unloved old Meyers Manx Clone.   This was the "General Idea" which I thought looked satisfatory.  

It's a Miata! with a Manx clone body smoosed on top.  and it looks like it kinda will work.  Predictibly the 2023 PLB got no where near this goal.  We barely got the car running.  But the Idea lingered.  And now I had 90% of the parts to make it happen..  

So I put out the APB for any "Manx Clone" and one turned up in the backyard of a Junk Connoisseur (Listen to this podcast it's totally acceptable!) 

Psteav was actually interested in my Subaru VW swap stuff also so we did a deal for $50 of value for the body.  After the holidays I drove over to bring him the Subaru stuff and retrieve the Janx.  This thing is hot garbage.  But I don't care because it's mostly a very traditional Manx.  

And as is obligitory here is the Janx gas station shot.   

Next step is mockup!

Current Budget: $500 Miata, $50 Janx Body.  

So Now that I had the two key part and the most important tool at my disposal it was time to do a Mockup.

First mockup was just set this thing on here and see what happens.  Interference ensues.  .  But.. If you squint.. you can kinda see it might work.

So the sawzall came out.  I can't ruin the miata anymore, and the Janx is just..  well it's lucky it's getting this chance.

The rear fits actually pretty well.  I'm going to redo the "cape" area and cut the truck almost entirely out.  I have 4 round trailer lights and want a more traditional Manx rear but mine will be shorter because I don't have a AC VW engine back there. 

The sides at the front will need to be deangled as the Manx tapers pretty agressively towards the front (about 8" over the length of the body).  For the ManX-5 those will wind up more "straight" down the sides.   The offcut hoop from the MG roll bar fits nicely width wise and is just set in place.

Getting the front to fit was a bit more involved.  Looking at the chassis it looked like most of the top rail was fender mount and places to hang a bunch of moveable compoents.   This would leave a sort of angle like the Manx fenders down to the actual structural frame rail on the Miata unibody.  Much sawzall work got it to this.

Which I think really works.   From the Front..  from the side it's a little derpy.

The Radiator pushes the fender front pretty far forward.   I could buy a few inches by running a rear mount radiator, but then the fender would start to overlap with the shock mount, and the rollbar would stick out.    This corner of the chassis is kinda in the way also.  So I think I'm going to cut a little more of the corner of the upper firewall away and extend the fender where it is flat.  Yes it will be a bit longer then a traditional Manx.. but.. this whole thing just needs to "evoke" the Manx, if I wanted to build an acccurate Manx Clone I would of just bought one of FBM.  

Height wise I think the body is a low as it needs to go.  The suspension is much higher then it will be because I have removed about 700lbs of Miata between the body, seats, interior, and no transmission.  I suspect the chassis will drop 4" or so from it's current postion in Challenge mode.  The front fender matches the rear in height so it's just the length that needs addressed.

So out came the sawzall again, I used a 2x4 and some screws to just kinda hold it to see how it looked.

That's much more acceptable.   The width of the body is suprisingly close to the Miata tires.. but they could be a little wider.   I have some 15x9 Advanti storms from the MG that I threw on the front just to see how it looks..

Yeah.. those need to figure out how to get in budget

I will probably narrow the front fenders a bit when I am lengthening them.  Just because a little Poke is better then them being inset.   Though some 235/75 off road tires would fix that problem...

So that's where I am.  The mockup went rather well.  I have a "vague" plan for the last cuts on the chassis and how I will attach new tube and sheet to reinforce it.  Next up will be cleaning out the interior completely.  

I totally endorse this project!

But fiberglass makes me itch, so happy to be on this side of the monitor.

Love it!

Remember, one of the most important parts of the Manx was the ability to set a beer on the fender.  Keep that and nothing else will go wrong. 

In reply to nocones :

Great idea! That works surprisingly well.

Are you aware of the DSM chassis one somebody did years ago?  I always thought it worked surprisingly well, lookswise anyway:

berkeley YES!

Really excited to see you jamming on this. 

Yes. Yes. Yes.

In reply to nocones :

I LOVE THIS

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Interesting looking build.  I'll look into it.  

Glad to see people are as excited by this one as I am.  

I'm planning to have a build party sometime late January/early Feb.  I'll let people know when I get it landed on the calendar. 

Killer!

this might not be a priority, but I reckon the radiator isn't going to help with the "manx-ification"... and also, you probably don't need a full-size miata radiator for challenge.

taking a quick look at Summit's selection, brings up the 05-10 Ford Escape Electrical system cooler:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tyc-2763

which has these dimensions:

i.e. 28in wide by 12in tall

dunno how'd that fit in the current front end and/or coolant tube deals?

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

playing with radiator is the kinda next priority.  After I get all the crap out of the car.  I for some reason am convinced I need to "keep the AC system intact" because..  I'm not sure why.  I want to have a heater as there is a small chance I will do some limited street driving with this.  But...   I am convinced I "might want to use this chassis later for something" so I for some reason want to keep AC alive..  but that's just ludicrous.  If  I pull all the AC stuff, and get rid of or relocate the power steering cooler the radiator may move quite a bit in the front, or it can go to the back.  But a smaller radiator is not a bad option also.  

I need to reach out to you about other questions involving this build..

I'll help build some conduit bully bars for the front and rear!

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Your on!  Though 1.5" conduit is hard to bend ..

I found reciepts for the 15×9s.   The Advanti storms are $141 ea.

I have a set of 15×9 K8R silver that are actually the lightest set I own that where only $104 each.  

Mine are bright silver.  

I won't buy anymore rims so one of these sets will wind up in budget.  

Oh man this is great

Mr_Asa said:

Remember, one of the most important parts of the Manx was the ability to set a beer on the fender.  Keep that and nothing else will go wrong. 

Why not take it a step further and use bottles as fender-mounted turn signals or headlights? Perhaps something like this?

In reply to Colin Wood :

Great idea!

also, that's a bully bar we really could do with 3/4 conduit...

In reply to Colin Wood :

And/or put built in drink holders in the fenders. Yes, my car comes with 4 drink holders!

In reply to Colin Wood :

I probalby don't want to draw MORE attention to the questionable legality of this vehicle..

AC had no pressure in it so it will all come out and make space so the fenders may be moving backwards some if the radiator allows.  I'm also getting steel purchases together for this thing.  It's about 1.5 times more then the LMP360, however I still have about half of what I will need in "stock".  I am developing a decent plan I think.   I am resisting going overboard and adding a "full roll bar/cage" because it's just not necessary.  I'm not going to be fast enough in the 1/4 mile to require anything by rules so It will just be about what I want for personal safety being in a harness in a convertible.  

So, is this project pronounced like:

Manks 5

Or

Man ex 5

Cmon, I wanna know!

This thing is gonna be awesome!