The sills just in front of the rear wheels have three layers of steel in em but tend to trap water if the hood drains or sill drain slots get blocked and over time rust from the inside out. Usually by by the time you see it through the stone chip paint its gone and needs a fair bit of repair but its usually repairable.

They were all undersealed at the factory though contrary to popular belief. They were all made on the same lines in nakajima or Hiroshima and were treated the same regardless of end market.

thats odd, because when I got mine up on the ramps there was bare steel on the underside..... and I'm not talking just the bits that were repaired, but floor and frame too, just bare steel! (only some parts mind!) so I dont know if someone had tried to underseal it and not done very well, but it didn't seem factory done with all the bare bits!

 

anyway, its all done now.... still not taking it out in the rain ! (unless its an accident! lol)

thats odd, because when I got mine up on the ramps there was bare steel on the underside..... and I'm not talking just the bits that were repaired, but floor and frame too, just bare steel! (only some parts mind!) so I dont know if someone had tried to underseal it and not done very well, but it didn't seem factory done with all the bare bits!

 

anyway, its all done now.... still not taking it out in the rain ! (unless its an accident! lol)

 

Strange - wonder if it had been stripped for resealing and the latter was never compelted?

who knows... I know when they found the rot (previous owner) it was stuffed full of fiberglass, and painted!

been blasting around the countryside today wwwaaaaarrrrrp  - POP ... lol... love it, never fails to amaze how much fun this car is to drive

 

baby phantom is away at the garage.........

 

he is getting a new exedy clutch, a gearbox oil change, some new gear lever gators, a service with new plugs, air filter, fuel filter, and belts (belts look buggered!) ...

 

oh, and an MOT! lol....

 

I hope it will all be ok!!!!

Its getting near that time when a Lake Disrict trip in my 5 beckons Dave

I'll let you know

Cool, I will join u for a drive and a pub lunch, we can post on a few facebook groups see if any fives wanna join us, and on Brisky for a few skodas !

ok... back from MOT time.... passed again... but an advisory this time! "various parts of underbody corroded" ...

 

balls! gonna have to talk to my tame mechanic to see what the tester meant.... I checked it all and had it undersealed last year... there was no rust ,,, I have just been under the car and cant see any rust!

 

all I can see is the wishbones, roll bars ect are looking a bit sorry... but I'd still not say "corroded" :P

 

all the other work done, nice shiny belts ect , he fixed the rattle from the heat sheild, but the exhaust has gone quiet :( sounds like a new car... it used to be rorty! maybe there was a hole he had to fix!

 

gearchange is better with the new clutch  and gearbox oil... still a bit notchy , but an improvement clutch bites much further down instead of at the top, and is much lighter too... miles better

 

everything is quieter though! maybe a sports exhaust is in order they are dirt cheap!

 

I'll give a better review when I have driven it more than 8 miles! lol...

been for a long drive over the mountains in the sun today feels better, its quiet and smooth ... wonder how I can get my popping exhaust back?! lol....

 

on startup, it doesn't rattle anymore... maybe a better oil filter with a one way valve keeping the oil at the top? maybe better oil? its much more healthy the whole engine is quieter, doesn't tick anymore either.....

 

drive is good, clutch is good, I can now put all the power through it

 

such a difference, feels "new"

Nice result. The exhaust must have been quite broken before then! But know what you mean about it sounding 'good'

 

Sports Exhaust time then mate

Nice result. The exhaust must have been quite broken before then! But know what you mean about it sounding 'good'

 

Sports Exhaust time then mate

thats what i was thinking lol...... cant see any new bits of exhuast... maybe he welded it up! lol...

 

love the fact that everything is so cheap, should be able to source an exhaust

What's the timing set to? If your mech has set it to less than 14 degrees try it at 14 and see if you get the pops back...

In terms of exhaust I can recommend an IL Motorsport single exit cat back... Nice and smooth with a lovely burble and a roar at WOT

I have to catch up with him to see what the crack was with the MOT, what he found with the service and the clutch ect ....

 

dont really know anything yet.... the car just appeared on my driveway! lol....

 

edit : no cat

after my service, I can see my steering rack! there is silver colour down there! lol... was just covered in black gunk before ...

 

 

and nice new belts happy , because I did several hundred miles in this over the last two days, and as usual , it has performed faultlessly

 

Hope you've been using it the last couple of days - great weather down here in S Yorkshire!

I certainly have!!

I drove this car yesterday.

Great fun with the roof off. Being so used to diesels I found myself upshifting a bit too early.

Roads were a bit too narrow to try to get the back out, but it handled so neutrally it's brilliant.

Definitely going to have to get a roadster at some point. Even my wife agrees

Its totally reinvented driving for me

Its involving and very engaging

In short, I just cant wait to drive it and have fun

Ive never had as many people ask questions about it and comment how good it looks

Really really pleased that I bought one

Those that diss them, clearly haven't driven one!!

I think we should have our own Thread header!!

indeed.... just been on holiday for the week in mine, got back today (we were near Sam, hence his visit and drive! lol)

 

655 kilometers in all... all faultlessly!

 

fully loaded on the way there and back empty for the drives around in the sun while we were there!

 

what a hoot it was, loving it even more with the new clutch! lol.... gonna have to watch that rear tyre wear

 

Chris, I had to buy a hat... got sunburned on my way down! lol....

 

here is baby phantom in the carpark before everyone else arrived!

 

 

and go on Sam, you know you want to just seen a nice eunos on gumtree in sound condition with a 12 month ticket for £900! lol.... (I was looking for window motors!)

 

sideways!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I got a burnt face too the other day driving around the Dales...LOL

I have a hat I bought in Death Valley, California, that should do!!

So will you guys be using a hatpin or just tying it under your chin then?

swmbo has just got some nice "head scarves"

been out hairing around our country roads again today....

 

is it wrong that I preferably choose this car to go out in (on the road) rather than the vRS?! the vRS feels numb by comparison, and too fast for the public road.... the five seems alive... literally alive!

 

love it.

 

maybe I should ditch the vRS, but some coilovers, and a turbo kit.....

You obviously had better weather than us today then!

 

But in answer to your question then the answer is clearly no.  They are different cars designed for a completely different purpose.  If fun is what you want then hooning about in an MX5 even at reasonable speeds is going to get you it in bucket loads.  Whilst our VRS is fast and handles well it isn't as involving as the 5 but at least I fit in it hence my weapon of choice.

 

I have said before I do not like having my head stuck out in the breeze yet on a motor bike it doesn't bother me..............and no I am not going to wear a helmet in the 5. :no:

Right, one last thing to do to make this car mechanically perfect... the bloody pain of a passenger window mechanism.... its been held shut and sealed with tape to stop water getting in for too long now, so I found a replacement mech from a nice chap at the mx-5 parts facebook group

 

 

This is what it looked like inside the door.. do you like the tape holding things up?! now where the hell do i start .........

 

 

took me ages to figure out how to get everything out.... then I realised releasing the glass first would help! lol... found the mech had a snapped cable, also found I couldnt get the motor out of its spot without cutting another cable!

 

 

the old motor looking a bit forlorn without its cables and runners.... apparently the motors are strong (this one still worked!) but the cables snap as the windows seize up!

 

 

as I said, couldnt get the old motor out without cutting a cable, consequently couldn't get the new motor back in the original spot, so I improvised and made it share space with something else....

 

 

its never right unless you have some parts left over......

 

 

got the door all back together again! bloody fiddly job this......

 

 

just to prove the window opens!! lol... and that bloody tape residue will have to wait for another day! cant be bothered today ....

 

 

YAY! this is what I wanted! the window now shuts properly, and makes a perfect seal with the roof, a watertight 25 y/o roadster spot on!

 

 

right, that was the last mechanical job, the car is now mechanically perfect, everything works exactly as it should! slow going work I know, but we are getting there ...

 

next I have to start on the hard stuff, the cosmetics and the bodywork! I need 2 new front wings, I need to sand and reshape the rear arches, put my shiny new front bumper on, then the whole thing needs repainting!

 

after that, tan dash trim, and a wooden steering wheel, gear knob, and handbrake lever are required, some speakers in the headrests, aaannnndddd we're done! lol... I make it sound easy