The complete wiring looms were removed intact from the MX5 donor car ready for installation in the Locost.

The MX5 instrument cluster was mounted in the centre of the Locost dash. Some components (eg the engine and trans) would not operate without this cluster. Utilising the original dash simplified the wiring and overcame some of the electronics issues but it required warning lights to be turned off eg doors open, airbags deployed, boot lid open etc etc. MX5 steering wheel provides paddle shifts for six speed auto and controls for standard cruise control,

The beginning - what a mess. And this was only part of the wiring. The engine and auto have their own looms plus there is a massive fuse box and ECU loom to be fitted and sorted. I was not looking forward to this. I originally thought I would need the help of a professional to sort out the computer and electronics, but with perseverance I managed to finished it all with the help of an experienced mate. All the warning lights and messages were gradually overcome and the engine and auto ECU etc operated correctly.

There were days when I thought I would never get this sorted out. The secret was to tackle it wire by wire, one plug at a time and closely follow the MX5 wiring diagram plus lots of trial and error.

Progress was slow but despite this jumbled mess the wiring started to take shape. Still a lot of wiring to be removed for items not required eg airconditioning, electric windows & mirrors and remote central locking etc.

The Odyssey battery (Orange) was selected due to its compact size - the downside is that it's heavy. The original MX5 fuse box was rather large but it contains vital wiring, fuses and relays so it was retained. The engine management computer (ECU) has been mounted near the fuse box as this is where the original wiring would reach.

To correctly fit the tailights to the contour of the mudguard and also ensure that the lenses were vertical and parallel to the rear of the car (ADR requirements) I made fibreglass mounting boxes and attached these to the mudguards. At the lower left is the mould and on the right is the completed right hand mount, profiled to suit the mudguard. The left one is already fitted to the car. The hole in the mould is to assist in removing the completed item from the mould.

ADR approved (very important) LED stop/tail/turn lamps fitted.

Tailights completed and they actually work!

Hella high mount stop light fitted on the roll bar using a mount fabricated from 25mm square tubing. The wiring runs inside the roll bar.

Chassis painted and final finishing of the loom underway.

LED reverse lamps were mounted either side of the spare wheel.

Suzuki GSF 1250 motorcycle indicators. I selected these as They are large enough to be seen (some motorcycle units are rather small), have flexible mounts and I liked their style, especially the clear lense. The nosecone was modified to provide mounting points that kept the indicators square to the centre line of the car and provide viewing from 45 degrees across the nose (ADR requirements). UPDATE: The Suzuki indicators were not accepted by my engineer so had to fit basic Hella units for registration. Once registered, the Suzuki units were refitted but I changed them to LED globes as the original globes were not bright enough.

The headlamps are Nite Stalker 170 series driving lamps. Replaced the 100w driving lamps with Hella H4 halogen headlamp conversion kits including parking lights. The adjustable Nite Stalker bases are robust and straight forward to mount. For registration, my engineer wanted side repeater indicators near the front of the vehicle, which I agreed was a good idea. The solution was LED side lamps with clear lenses that turn amber when they light up.

With all of the Mazda electronics and emission requirements to contend with I decided to invest in an OBD (On Board Diagnostics) scanner and software to enable reading and diagnosis of fault codes and monitoring of the MX5 sensors, over 200 in total! The NC MX5 had an OBD-II plug to connect the ECU to a scanner to diagnose error messages and turn off the Malfunction Indicator Lights (MIL) on the dash. All very high tech but the scanner helped isolate a number of issues during the build and a useful tool for problem solving with the clubman on the road. My scanner and software were rather expensive but economical units are readily available.

After the car was registered the instrument cluster was moved from the centre of the dash to behind the steering wheel and the wiring neatly trimmed, wrapped and tucked inside the scuttle. And it ONLY took seven years to complete! Very happy with the end result and the wiring should be reliable and easy to repair if required.

After the clubman was finished this was just some of the wiring and electronic components that were left over after removal from the original NC MX5 wiring loom.