Thinking of an mx5 - hows this sound?

[ben@fareham]

hornetrider said:

Push the boat out Ben, you know you want to

Thinking about it.....it would be stretching me though!

[durbster]

MX-5 Lazza said:

durbster said:

If there is rust it's not the ned of the world. Because MX-5s are common as muck there's a healthy spares and repairs industry, and so if you wanted the lazy option:
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/product...

That's a long way from being the lazy option. The rear wings aren't bolted on like they are at the front. To replace them the old wing has to be cut off and the new one welded in. That's a lot of work even for a decent body shop. Of course if you have a lot of wing rust you don't have a great deal of choice...

Yeah I know you can't just replace it but the idea is that you buy one of those then cut out the bit you need I think. I just presumed it'd be a hell of a lot easier than shaping a piece from scratch. Never done it though so I'm happy to concede

[bluetone]

durbster said:

MX-5 Lazza said:

durbster said:

If there is rust it's not the ned of the world. Because MX-5s are common as muck there's a healthy spares and repairs industry, and so if you wanted the lazy option:
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/product...

That's a long way from being the lazy option. The rear wings aren't bolted on like they are at the front. To replace them the old wing has to be cut off and the new one welded in. That's a lot of work even for a decent body shop. Of course if you have a lot of wing rust you don't have a great deal of choice...

Yeah I know you can't just replace it but the idea is that you buy one of those then cut out the bit you need I think. I just presumed it'd be a hell of a lot easier than shaping a piece from scratch. Never done it though so I'm happy to concede

Yeah, I showed a printout of the part to the guy did mine and he assessed it would not be much more effort (and less cost) to fashion a replacement section from scratch. He did have a bare-metal restoration on the go in his (impeccably clean and tidy) workshop though so obviously knew hs stuff.

Some before and afters for you (yes, the rot on this daily driver got bad v. quickly after Mr. MOT kindly put some holes in whilst checking whether this was structural or not )









Colour match not 100% but given the position on the car it is hardly noticable. He got the hammerite-like finish spot on as well.

£200 the lot = bargain

[durbster]

Wow that got pretty bad!

Still, reassuring to know it's not the end of the world. I've got a bit starting inside the rear arch lips and am wondering if it's the beginning of something expensive...

[bluetone]

durbster said:

Wow that got pretty bad!

Still, reassuring to know it's not the end of the world. I've got a bit starting inside the rear arch lips and am wondering if it's the beginning of something expensive...

Yes I was a little embarrassed about quite how bad it got but as I have to drive to/from work every day, it deteriorated pretty quickly (this was during last winter as well). Maybe the thread should be flagged with a Parental Warning, to ward off Mk1 owners of a nervous disposition

[ben@fareham]

Thanks for sharing that bluetone, for £200 seems like a bargain really!

At least I know if I find one with some rust, a few hundred quid and it can be sorted.

[matt uk]

ben@fareham said:

Thanks for sharing that bluetone, for £200 seems like a bargain really!

At least I know if I find one with some rust, a few hundred quid and it can be sorted.

For £2k-£2.5k though, you should be able to pick up a rather nice Mk1 that either has no rust or has already had it sorted.

[bluetone]

matt uk said:

ben@fareham said:

Thanks for sharing that bluetone, for £200 seems like a bargain really!

At least I know if I find one with some rust, a few hundred quid and it can be sorted.

For £2k-£2.5k though, you should be able to pick up a rather nice Mk1 that either has no rust or has already had it sorted.

Indeed. "There are two types of Mk1 - those that have had their sills done and those that need it doing"

[Chris71]

When the sills go is that potentially a structural failure or is it just an aesthetic thing? Is there a risk that a rusty MX5 is uneconomical to repair or is it just a case of welding a new panel on?

[bluetone]

Chris71 said:

When the sills go is that potentially a structural failure or is it just an aesthetic thing? Is there a risk that a rusty MX5 is uneconomical to repair or is it just a case of welding a new panel on?

Hi Chris,

I use the term sills loosely in this context to describe the affected area - in the second of the, frankly hideous, 'before' shots above you can see the sill itself (the light coloured area behind the corroded outer skin). Thankfully in my case the sills themselves were only affected by surface rust (which was readily treated) and the rest is just cosmetic. I don't know what it would cost to get some new box-section sill welded in there = obviously a bigger job though I would think not of writing-off proportions. Definitely one to be aware of though (and some would say this is a good reason to buy a grey import Eunos rather than a UK car).

[MX-5 Lazza]

Rust in the rear section of the sills can be an MOT fail. I think the rule is something like; any rust perforation (that's any, not just structural) within 6" of the seatbelt mounting points is a fail and the seatbelt mount is very close to the rear section of sill.

[bluetone]

MX-5 Lazza said:

Rust in the rear section of the sills can be an MOT fail. I think the rule is something like; any rust perforation (that's any, not just structural) within 6" of the seatbelt mounting points is a fail and the seatbelt mount is very close to the rear section of sill.

Thankfully my MOT man had sufficient common sense to distinguish a bit of surface corrosion vs. something dangerous

[ben@fareham]

anyone have a greedy turbo mk1 mx5? might go to look at one and just wondered what I should look out for?

Thanks
Ben

[bluetone]

ben@fareham said:

anyone have a greedy turbo mk1 mx5? might go to look at one and just wondered what I should look out for?

Thanks
Ben

EFA - "greddy"

I have no experience with Forced Induction personally but they can be tricky to setup; additional fuel supply needed etc. Suggest you maybe have a look at http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php? there are plenty of modders on there and they are a friendly bunch!