bit of advice please - rust again !
Discussion
Test drove and liked a 1999 jap import mx5 today.
Potentially interested in buying as a road legal trackday toy.
Its a 1.8 and mk2 (10ae) i believe. Had a mk1 before. This one is good to go and has long mot but the stories of rotten chassis rails worry.
It will be road driven to and from trackdays ideally so mot pass in future is a must. Its 3 owners since 2009 when imported. Mechanical and bodywork is sound and it drives sweetly.
Hasnt been driven in winter according to owner. Sills were ok, usual surface rust on all arms and bits but no holes or blisters i could see but the car is lowered and i couldn't get underneath properly.
I'd buy it tomorrow other than wanting to find out if its rotten as a pear on the rails.
I assume its likely to be at risk of rot there and have asked owner to arrange ramps at a local garage to get under and get poking around.
On the surface it's a lot of car for a couple of grand and i could afford to bin it if it goes wrong on track but i dont want to buy something that potentially will need hundreds of quid on welding
Is it a major risk and how much would chassis rails cost to put right?
Potentially interested in buying as a road legal trackday toy.
Its a 1.8 and mk2 (10ae) i believe. Had a mk1 before. This one is good to go and has long mot but the stories of rotten chassis rails worry.
It will be road driven to and from trackdays ideally so mot pass in future is a must. Its 3 owners since 2009 when imported. Mechanical and bodywork is sound and it drives sweetly.
Hasnt been driven in winter according to owner. Sills were ok, usual surface rust on all arms and bits but no holes or blisters i could see but the car is lowered and i couldn't get underneath properly.
I'd buy it tomorrow other than wanting to find out if its rotten as a pear on the rails.
I assume its likely to be at risk of rot there and have asked owner to arrange ramps at a local garage to get under and get poking around.
On the surface it's a lot of car for a couple of grand and i could afford to bin it if it goes wrong on track but i dont want to buy something that potentially will need hundreds of quid on welding
Is it a major risk and how much would chassis rails cost to put right?
for circa £2k i suppose its not the end of the world if it rots away in a few years, but i dont want to find its not road legal within a year due to MOT failure. seen some horrific rust threads on the mx forum last night, for even low mileage cars in that era. scary! the engines are bulletproof almost, it would be a shame to have to trailer a car due to no MOT and eventually it be unsafe to drive without spending more than its worth.
the car is spot on to my untrained eye, the surface rust in places will need attention underneath but no obvious gaping holes visible from a lay under with torch, its just the horror stories and pics of the front chassis rails that worry me. lets see how the inspection on ramps goes with a poker!
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