ok, I was distraught when I had to say goodbye to my last mx5, but needs must when you take a job with half the pay, and I did make £300 profit on it.... now I figure this winter may have been the last chance to get a hold of a dirt cheap rust free example, so i took the plunge on one I found in need of a LOT of TLC, but never welded  so the solid car is my starting point, it has MOT, and it runs. here we go!

 

 

seeing as the giant maine **** is sunbathing on it, maybe I should call it Oscar? hmmm

 

A sort review with some comparisons to my last one...

 

Paint is awful. Looks like it has been painted by a child with a brush. very badly. A talent-less child! and it wasn't prepped properly either, water getting in the paint and its cracked, and water getting trapped causing surface rust (That i have to address quickly before it becomes an issue!) not going to spend much money on it, thats going to the octy and all the people I owe money to now I'm being paid more! lol... basically Ash bought this, and I have to rpay her lol...

 

rust, just surface rust, according to MOT histor, never been welded.... now thats a rarity!

 

driving... well I bought a eunos for the extra bits, aircon is operational, but the LSD doesn't work, I may borrow the temporary name "one tire fire" ... the diff needs repairing or replacing! Something at the front feels loose ... maybe a track rod end or ball joint, all the dust covers are in a pretty sorry state... well balanced though, and grips well!

 

engine, only 100k , freshly serviced , new coil packs, and aux belts... no idea about cam belt history, but its a non interferance enging, and I have breakdown, winging it for now... engine is down on power though compaired to my last one.... this one still has a cat, and probably needs the 14 degree timing mod done (They come from Japan able to run 90 RON fuel, and a retarded as a result, can be advanced in this country and run on super, should really improve the power along with a decat (it doesn't need a cat, but they all came with them!) Always starts, and has good oil pressure.

 

brakes. Utter ****e, no feel crappy things. and the rear brakes were brand new last year! going to have to sort them, don't know what the issue is, but they are horribly "wooden" they still stop the car, but feel crap. maybe its to do with the car doing a measely 4,000 miles over about the last 5 years!

 

so needs a bit of work, but the foundation is solid

It's a proper pussay magnet

Nice one Dave, just in time for some summer fun.

then some winter tinkering.

De-cat it for extra BHP

1 hour ago, penguin17 said:

De-cat it for extra BHP

yup , de-cat and timing mod should see about 15bhp increase

 

Nice one! Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

OK, after discussion with Ash, its now officially called Ozzy, as it's a bit old and decrepid, but has a lot of attitude

 

when we first picked it up!

 

Rose approves....

 

Lotus badge, just for ****s and giggles....

 

He he ,..   Welcome back to MX 5 ownersip...   They are addictive ooks like you've got some work to do so it's a good job they are!!

 

Mine comes out of the garage and gets taxed on monday

Edited 28 April, 20179 yr by skomaz

Insurance made me laugh, went back to footman James, got it insured for £68 for the year on classic insurance, car is standard , that includes commuting so I can take it to work in the summer ! ( limited 5k miles) that cost an extra £20! Or it would have been £48 !!!  some advantages to being old I guess lol

first thing i had to do, the drivers side electric window doesn't work of course ! (can you see the crazing in the paint on the windscreen frame?!  )

 

 

window out... the tape was keeping the rain out of the gap between the window and the roof! :(

 

 

it was a mess in here, think I may need new doors really, all seals are  brittle, and it was very wet in there, soaking speaker didn't work, so i threw that away! then dug out all the old window mech...

 

 

new mech in, window refitted, works now (slowly) but the main thing is the essential is done, at least the car is watertight!

 

did a bit of rallying, and realised the standard fit LSD has either been robbed, or is simply broken (apparently they only last about 50k...) this will be low down on the list of things to do, but it does detract from the driving experience... not sure about the mk2 wheels.... think it should probably have daises on!

 

another thing, the ride is not as good as my last one :( it should have JDM bilstiens on, I'm fairly sure it has standard UK mx5 suspension on :( I feel some coilovers coming on ! springs are less than a year old though! another thing way down the list ....

For the window make sure you lube up the front rubber channel on the quarterlight...   The glass tends to stick on it slowing the movement and straining the mech.  Also if you want some OE speakers let me know as I'm sure I have some knocking about.

 

Minus Koni's are pretty good value if you aim to keep the springs.

Edited 29 April, 20179 yr by skomaz
bloody spellcheck made Koni's = Minus!

5 hours ago, skomaz said:

For the window make sure you lube up the front rubber channel on the quarterlight...   The glass tends to stick on it slowing the movement and straining the mech.  Also if you want some OE speakers let me know as I'm sure I have some knocking about.

 

Minus are pretty good value if you aim to keep the springs.

I could probably do with some speakers.... only sound is coming out of the drivers seat headrest speakers, and its a shame because it has a nice DAB fitted.

5 minutes ago, sharkrider said:

I could probably do with some speakers.... only sound is coming out of the drivers seat headrest speakers, and its a shame because it has a nice DAB fitted.

 

I'll see if I can dig them out - they'l be from a '95 Mk1 but were fully working when I replaced them with Sony's.

 

Pretty heavy though - where abouts are you in case I find them and can get them to you

 

North Cumbria..... I can reimburse postage!

hmmm seems I may have an oil leak... level hasn't changed since I bought it, so I can't be that bad....

 

My favourite for that leak would be cam angle sensor o ring at the back of the head against the bulkhead...   Just noticed mine has gone again but it was only done about ten years ago 

yeah I have read about that o-ring going... and the cam cover , but that just seems a little weepy, nothing obvious under the bonnet, so not going to worry about it for now, as the level is still on max... previous owner may have spilled some oil into the tray for all i know! lol..

On 28/04/2017 at 21:11, sharkrider said:

yup , de-cat and timing mod should see about 15bhp increase

 

For a 1.6 with 100K under its belt, that's a tad optimistic IMHO.

 

I rebuilt mine at 80K, 20-thou head skim, AFM calibration, 18 degrees timing, super-unleaded, de-cat, panel filter and stainless exhaust netted me approx 126bhp (11bhp increase over stock, new), extrapolated from a wheel reading taken with a wheel hub dyno. Richard at BLiNK Motorsport reckoned this was a good one.

 

Anyone, have fun with the Eunos and don't go mad spending money on it!

 

 

Edited 2 May, 20179 yr by ronime

On ‎29‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 17:24, sharkrider said:

North Cumbria..... I can reimburse postage!

 

Found em (in my cupboard at work for some reason???) and they seem to be OK - no obvious signs of damage and gently pressing the cones elicits no untoward grating noises.  However, I've not tried playing anything through them.

 

If you want them postage will probably be about £6.50 ish.

Looks a little more solid than the last one.

 

Once you have the little "niggles" sorted it should see you well. May even make money on it?!

 

Still too small for me though! I remember trying to fit in your last one. Knees wedged against the wheel and head sticking over the windscreen!

 

I'll have to take you for a spin in the Saab at the camping meet in August!

6 minutes ago, Phil-E said:

Looks a little more solid than the last one.

 

Once you have the little "niggles" sorted it should see you well. May even make money on it?!

 

Still too small for me though! I remember trying to fit in your last one. Knees wedged against the wheel and head sticking over the windscreen!

 

I'll have to take you for a spin in the Saab at the camping meet in August!

looking forward to it, just need to order some nice weather now! bloody sunny and warm at the moment! lol...

 

yeas, it seems solid, I'm driving it to work this week in the sun, brakes are starting to feel better, and I can see some metal under the rust on the rear discs now... I think they may improve with some use! put some super in, and it seems a little more lively, I'll get to everything eventually, not much this year though, too many other things I have to pay for! only going to sort the surface rust this year .... I'll start on it next year in earnest when I have the octy where I want it! And yes, i will certainly make money on it when it comes time to sell... not for a while yet though! lol...