"The Vomit Comet": My 2004 Mazda MX5
Discussion
We'll start from the beginning!
Recently I purchased myself my first 'proper' PH-worthy car, a 2004 Mazda MX5 1.8 Euphonic special edition! Having been used to large diesel family cars driving a small, lightweight sports car is a whole different level of engagement with the road and has made daily driving more fun than I thought possible! Fuel is (as expected) more expensive than any of my previous daily drivers, as is road tax, but it's a worthwhile expense for the additional fun of driving such a car.
I have many plans for this car over my time of ownership, top of the list being coilovers to drop the car by a centimeter or two and a custom exhaust (I'm thinking Cobalt) to give her a bit of a voice! As well as many other little modifications and extras to make her stick like s**t on a shovel!
Being part of a little group at Tarmac 'n' Tred too, we've got plans to film and photograph the progress of this car as well as others in our group and I will be documenting the build on here as well, so stay tuned for more!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO3hlQveCKY
Recently I purchased myself my first 'proper' PH-worthy car, a 2004 Mazda MX5 1.8 Euphonic special edition! Having been used to large diesel family cars driving a small, lightweight sports car is a whole different level of engagement with the road and has made daily driving more fun than I thought possible! Fuel is (as expected) more expensive than any of my previous daily drivers, as is road tax, but it's a worthwhile expense for the additional fun of driving such a car.
I have many plans for this car over my time of ownership, top of the list being coilovers to drop the car by a centimeter or two and a custom exhaust (I'm thinking Cobalt) to give her a bit of a voice! As well as many other little modifications and extras to make her stick like s**t on a shovel!
Being part of a little group at Tarmac 'n' Tred too, we've got plans to film and photograph the progress of this car as well as others in our group and I will be documenting the build on here as well, so stay tuned for more!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO3hlQveCKY
Edited by thespannerman on Thursday 21st April 22:10
So, on with the first update:
I've fitted (possibly) the most important thing... A PH Smiley!
As well as removing the rear mudflaps (cause they look horrible!)
And I've also fitted a GoPro mount, hidden under the numberplate on the front bumper so that the mount is invisible until the GoPro is attached. This has also been fitted close to a secure eyelet in the bumper so I can attach a breakaway cable, I wouldn't want to lose the GoPro on a weekend cruise!
Up next is to get rid of those frankly horrendous foglight blanks and replace them with some ducting for the air intake, as well as removing the very rusty grille to leave the 'mouth' looking cleaner.
I've fitted (possibly) the most important thing... A PH Smiley!
As well as removing the rear mudflaps (cause they look horrible!)
And I've also fitted a GoPro mount, hidden under the numberplate on the front bumper so that the mount is invisible until the GoPro is attached. This has also been fitted close to a secure eyelet in the bumper so I can attach a breakaway cable, I wouldn't want to lose the GoPro on a weekend cruise!
Up next is to get rid of those frankly horrendous foglight blanks and replace them with some ducting for the air intake, as well as removing the very rusty grille to leave the 'mouth' looking cleaner.
I had a Euphonic 1.8 and loved it. Got rid for something more practical and a little bit quicker, but I had plenty of sunny drives out in mine. The Euphonics was the only limited edition (I think) that have the big brake set up that the 2.5 sports have. They also come with LSD as standard but its the tochigi fuji diff which is fragile (google this) - mine broke so I replaced with a Torsen LSD from a 94' car. Much better for sideways action.
I loved the look of the wheels but you'd be doing yourself a big favour by buying some smaller and lighter alloys. They weigh the same as a small moon.
I loved the look of the wheels but you'd be doing yourself a big favour by buying some smaller and lighter alloys. They weigh the same as a small moon.
Thanks for all the replies! Nice to see people like mk2's 
As for rust, there's no such thing as a rust free MX5, there's a small amount of surface rust on the rear arches but nothing to be concerned about and the sills seem solid with no bubbling but exploratory work will be carried out to see if any welding needs doing! As for the chassis rails, I've not actually looked! But I'm assuming that they'll be in a similar condition to most mk2's and have done my research on how to deal with them.
On to pictures, it's been a slow week really... Plenty of coursework due in and sorting the MOT for my old car (now for sale) has stripped me of alot of time. However, I did manage to get out and clean her in the pouring rain, much to my neighbors amazement and I have removed those horrible fog light trims! I also cut the grille away as the combination of untreated mounting brackets, bolts and road grime had fused most of them into lovely rusty lumps that weren't going to move! I'll cut these brackets off when I have the front bumper off next and probably fit a new grille much further back to keep the look it now has but maintain protection for the radiator!
The plan now is to fill the foglight void with a pair of black induction feeds, one capped off and the other feeding air up towards the intake.
As for rust, there's no such thing as a rust free MX5, there's a small amount of surface rust on the rear arches but nothing to be concerned about and the sills seem solid with no bubbling but exploratory work will be carried out to see if any welding needs doing! As for the chassis rails, I've not actually looked! But I'm assuming that they'll be in a similar condition to most mk2's and have done my research on how to deal with them.On to pictures, it's been a slow week really... Plenty of coursework due in and sorting the MOT for my old car (now for sale) has stripped me of alot of time. However, I did manage to get out and clean her in the pouring rain, much to my neighbors amazement and I have removed those horrible fog light trims! I also cut the grille away as the combination of untreated mounting brackets, bolts and road grime had fused most of them into lovely rusty lumps that weren't going to move! I'll cut these brackets off when I have the front bumper off next and probably fit a new grille much further back to keep the look it now has but maintain protection for the radiator!
The plan now is to fill the foglight void with a pair of black induction feeds, one capped off and the other feeding air up towards the intake.
seany87 said:
I loved the look of the wheels but you'd be doing yourself a big favour by buying some smaller and lighter alloys. They weigh the same as a small moon.
Yeah, they don't half weigh some! I'm looking at putting a set of aftermarket wheels on, but not keen on going down the Rota Grids that seem to be the craze right now! Any suggestions appreciated elephantstone said:
I recognise that car. Where did you buy it from? Sure i have looked at it at some point.
I bought it from a guy down near Wrexham, but there's various previous owners! I'm pretty sure it was in South Yorkshire for a bit too Whereabouts are you, I'll check the history!Edited by thespannerman on Sunday 29th November 11:47
thespannerman said:
seany87 said:
I loved the look of the wheels but you'd be doing yourself a big favour by buying some smaller and lighter alloys. They weigh the same as a small moon.
Yeah, they don't half weigh some! I'm looking at putting a set of aftermarket wheels on, but not keen on going down the Rota Grids that seem to be the craze right now! Any suggestions appreciated elephantstone said:
I recognise that car. Where did you buy it from? Sure i have looked at it at some point.
I bought it from a guy down near Wrexham, but there's various previous owners! I'm pretty sure it was in South Yorkshire for a bit too Whereabouts are you, I'll check the history!Edited by thespannerman on Sunday 29th November 11:47
elephantstone said:
Im Cheshire/Manchester. I might've just seen it advertised and remembered the reg as i like the spec.
He was on the Cheshire border, sort of inbetween Wrexham and Nantwich so wouldn't have been far away from you! It wasn't advertised for very long either, I viewed it a day or two after it was listed and bought it the day after I went to see it!If you're after one then I'd recommend the Euphonic, they're a great midpoint between the classic feel of an MX5 whilst retaining the better sound system, heated seats and little touches of a more modern car
thespannerman said:
elephantstone said:
Im Cheshire/Manchester. I might've just seen it advertised and remembered the reg as i like the spec.
He was on the Cheshire border, sort of inbetween Wrexham and Nantwich so wouldn't have been far away from you! It wasn't advertised for very long either, I viewed it a day or two after it was listed and bought it the day after I went to see it!If you're after one then I'd recommend the Euphonic, they're a great midpoint between the classic feel of an MX5 whilst retaining the better sound system, heated seats and little touches of a more modern car
A looooooong time since my last post!
In December 2015 the rear arches were cleaned of dirt, surface rust was removed and treated and the arches were treated to a layer of primer and underseal prior to being parked up for winter.
She was then taken off the road on the 1st January 2016 and garaged until she came back onto the road.
In December 2015 the rear arches were cleaned of dirt, surface rust was removed and treated and the arches were treated to a layer of primer and underseal prior to being parked up for winter.
She was then taken off the road on the 1st January 2016 and garaged until she came back onto the road.
She flew through the MOT with only an advisory on the rear brake pads + discs, which will be dealt with when the brakes are changed for performance items in the coming months.
Back on the road again on the 1st of April, I treated it to a new set of shoes!
But I didn't like the stretch on the 9-inch wide rims and didn't much fancy flaring the arches to fit fatter tyres on them, so these were sold. I'm aiming to fit a set of 15" staggered (7" front, 8" rear) Rota Grid's when funds permit.
With the car coming up to 90k miles, it reached the service interval for the differential oil, so this was done on the driveway... Not the best idea when it's hailing outside!
After a month of plain sailing and various trips out, it took me up to Carlisle so I could help with an engine swap for a friend and a weekend of driving a few of the mountain roads up there.
Managed to bag myself a free K&N cone filter off the donor car to give it a bit of induction noise, making it sound absolutely perfect now! However, at the end of a weekend of solid spannering on the engine swap car, the Vomit Comet wouldn't start! Jump starting didn't work, but a bump start got me going and I bailed it straight into my garage when I got back home. I traced the starting issue to the starter motor and whilst waiting for the new starter motor to arrive I decided to strip back and treat the surface rust around the new cone filter and remove some of the now redundant plastic trim that cluttered up the engine bay. With a bit of free time on my hand though, this became a mad strip down of the whole front end. I removed and treated any rust, flatted it back to a smooth surface and then primed and painted it in the colour that the whole engine bay will eventually be... If the job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly!
Not sure if anyone's done a starter motor swap on one of these. The Haynes manual suggests a route through the offside wheelarch and front of the engine bay by removing the intake manifold support bracket. However, in reality this job is only realistically achievable by removing the gearbox brace and then feeling around the gearbox for the three bolts which are hidden and require many socket extensions! All good learning though
From here, I've had the car full to the brim to move me back for my final term at University and had it carting climbing kit around to make the most of the fantastic weather the last couple of days!
Back on the road again on the 1st of April, I treated it to a new set of shoes!
But I didn't like the stretch on the 9-inch wide rims and didn't much fancy flaring the arches to fit fatter tyres on them, so these were sold. I'm aiming to fit a set of 15" staggered (7" front, 8" rear) Rota Grid's when funds permit.
With the car coming up to 90k miles, it reached the service interval for the differential oil, so this was done on the driveway... Not the best idea when it's hailing outside!
After a month of plain sailing and various trips out, it took me up to Carlisle so I could help with an engine swap for a friend and a weekend of driving a few of the mountain roads up there.
Managed to bag myself a free K&N cone filter off the donor car to give it a bit of induction noise, making it sound absolutely perfect now! However, at the end of a weekend of solid spannering on the engine swap car, the Vomit Comet wouldn't start! Jump starting didn't work, but a bump start got me going and I bailed it straight into my garage when I got back home. I traced the starting issue to the starter motor and whilst waiting for the new starter motor to arrive I decided to strip back and treat the surface rust around the new cone filter and remove some of the now redundant plastic trim that cluttered up the engine bay. With a bit of free time on my hand though, this became a mad strip down of the whole front end. I removed and treated any rust, flatted it back to a smooth surface and then primed and painted it in the colour that the whole engine bay will eventually be... If the job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly!
Not sure if anyone's done a starter motor swap on one of these. The Haynes manual suggests a route through the offside wheelarch and front of the engine bay by removing the intake manifold support bracket. However, in reality this job is only realistically achievable by removing the gearbox brace and then feeling around the gearbox for the three bolts which are hidden and require many socket extensions! All good learning though
From here, I've had the car full to the brim to move me back for my final term at University and had it carting climbing kit around to make the most of the fantastic weather the last couple of days!
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