Worried about buying a Mk2.5 Sport

[hifi87]

I've been without a proper car for a few months now after buying a house, and I'd initially been dead set on an NB SVT Sport.

Then all the horror stories of rusty chassis rails scared into looking elsewhere. But after a drive of a friends car I've eventually come back around and I'm pretty keen in getting one, I just need a bit of advice on what to look for rust wise.

I know a little bit about putting the car on full lock but apart from bits flaking off what exactly shiuld a good chassis rail look/feel like?

And also how realistic should I be about spots of rust on the sills/arches? They all seem to list them in the adverts?

[MegaMinion]

I have a mk2.5 it's now done 105,000 miles in 11 years. When I bought it it had rusty sills, which I had repaired properly for £450. By properly I mean the rusty its cut out and new stuff welded in, many people just have stuff welded over the top as its cheaper.
If there is rust visible on the outside of the sills it means they need doing as they rust from the inside out, as the roof drains drain down into the sills (stupid design if you ask me)

My car doesn't have rusty chassis legs, or not the terminal horror stories you hear about. The rust tends to be around where the anti roll bar mounts, so if you prod around there and everything is solid then you should be ok. But even if they do rust out the MX5 restorer sells repair panels for £35 each, so its no longer new chassis legs and thousands in labour to repair them.

[hifi87]

Thanks for that!

I wussed out of going to see one near me at the weekend.

I've decided I might buy something a little less rusty as a daily driver, and buy a mk1 for the weekends instead.

[MaxMX5]

I have a Mk 2.5 Sport which I have used as my daily car for the last 5 years. It is 12 years old and has done just over 110,000 miles now. With regards to rust, all I have had to do is to have the front passenger chassis rail cut out and replaced (the first 1ft in length or so from the front of the car) back in January for £560. The other side is looking pretty good, however I am under no illusion that at somepoint in the next year or 2 my sills and arches will need fixing too. At the moment there is a very small bit of rust coming on the arches and the sills but nothing very concerning at the moment. The sills have had numerous coats of black hammerite over the last 5 years to prolong their life span.

That said just because one is advertised as being used on dry days and has low milage etc do not assume there is less rust. My mother-in-laws MX5 is the same age as mine and has done less than half the milage however is looks worse with regards to rust.

All in all I will probably spend more fixing it then it is work however I love the car so much I will just fix it. Its such a shame that the body of the MX5 lets it down as mechanically it will go on forever.

[Darkdice]

Its not what they were making them out of its the fact they dont use any protection. No salt is used on the roads over there so we get little or no protection here.

I havce a 2001 sport with 82k. Bought it last year, the sills had been done by the previous owner (member of owners club). I have since had the tray off and a good check over last week for the new MOT, and Im really pleased that my is pretty sweet underneath. Next job get some underseal on there to keep it that way!

[MX-5 Lazza]

They have never need undersealed - not to any decent standard anyway. The Mk2.5s do rust worse than Mk1, which are worse than Mk1...
The chassis rails on the Mk2.5 had to be constructed differently to comply with crash safety regulations. Earlier cars had thicker single skins. Mk2.5 has double thinner skins to make sure they collapse properly in a crash. Water gets between these double skins and that's what makes this a particular problem area.

[Richyvrlimited]

If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, it's not too bad of a job to sort out.

Though with his method I no longer have a crumple zone.

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1...