My new Mk 1 :)
Discussion
As promised:
So is my first car and a christmas/graduation/birthday/christmas/birthday/.... present from the wonderful girlfriend
I know I'm a lucky man!
It's a 1991 UK red car 138000 miles, cost £721 on ebay. As standard as I've seen, new door speakers and the hood is clearly not original, neither is the stereo but aside from that not modified. Paintwork is in bad condition, faded etc but no rust as far as I can see. Oh and there was a slow puncture on one tyre.
It's done 300 miles to get it home with no hiccup and everyone is enamoured with it, even the gf who hates old cars!!
I love the momo steering wheel and putting up pop up headlamps is incredible
my love of the car may come from the fact that my dad had a Mazda 323F GTi with pop ups when I was growing up!!
The car is six weeks older than me which is just cool
Top down in the dark by myself on the last few miles of the 200mile journey home from uni was my best motoring experience to date, but then I have previously driven two ka's, a micra and the girlfriends 1l corsa...
Things I'd like to do to it:
Fit alarm / immobiliser / central locking / remote boot release / replace all locks and ignition so they work on one key
Try and rejuvenate the paintwork myself or if not then sort it professionally sometime way in the future (I'm a student)
It'll have a set of four matching tyres when these wear out
Bluetooth
Fix the rattling door speakers / door card / trim
It'll need a new exhaust at some point
Wheels need reconditioning
Learn to clear the hood drains!!
Anyway enough of me, what do you think and any advice?
Before you ask no the girlfriend doesn't have an equally generous and understanding sister
So is my first car and a christmas/graduation/birthday/christmas/birthday/.... present from the wonderful girlfriend
I know I'm a lucky man!It's a 1991 UK red car 138000 miles, cost £721 on ebay. As standard as I've seen, new door speakers and the hood is clearly not original, neither is the stereo but aside from that not modified. Paintwork is in bad condition, faded etc but no rust as far as I can see. Oh and there was a slow puncture on one tyre.
It's done 300 miles to get it home with no hiccup and everyone is enamoured with it, even the gf who hates old cars!!
I love the momo steering wheel and putting up pop up headlamps is incredible
my love of the car may come from the fact that my dad had a Mazda 323F GTi with pop ups when I was growing up!!The car is six weeks older than me which is just cool
Top down in the dark by myself on the last few miles of the 200mile journey home from uni was my best motoring experience to date, but then I have previously driven two ka's, a micra and the girlfriends 1l corsa...
Things I'd like to do to it:
Fit alarm / immobiliser / central locking / remote boot release / replace all locks and ignition so they work on one key
Try and rejuvenate the paintwork myself or if not then sort it professionally sometime way in the future (I'm a student)
It'll have a set of four matching tyres when these wear out
Bluetooth
Fix the rattling door speakers / door card / trim
It'll need a new exhaust at some point
Wheels need reconditioning
Learn to clear the hood drains!!
Anyway enough of me, what do you think and any advice?
Before you ask no the girlfriend doesn't have an equally generous and understanding sister
Looks good man, especially for the money. Seen as though you've just got it, I'm going to presume you are going to drive it through our lovely salty winter? If so do this
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
As for the hood drains, the standard aerial is quite good for poking about and getting them clear.
And yes, night time hoons are awesome!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
As for the hood drains, the standard aerial is quite good for poking about and getting them clear.
And yes, night time hoons are awesome!
Thanks for that, it's bookmarked Getting the time to do it this winter will be a problem but next summer for sure. I'm sure one more winter won't do it any harm, it's being kept on the road but won't be doing many miles and I'll spray the underside off with a hose every now and then. That's a lot of fasteners and pieces of trim to lose!!
Getting the time to do it this winter will be a problem but next summer for sure. I'm sure one more winter won't do it any harm, it's being kept on the road but won't be doing many miles and I'll spray the underside off with a hose every now and then. That's a lot of fasteners and pieces of trim to lose!!Welcome to mx ownership. They are brilliant cars.
Paint wise, buy yourself a clay bar, plenty of qd, a german applicator pad and some good polish. I like the Menzerna but I use this on a machine. There is one that's fine to use by hand. Avoid T-Cut.
A good wash, clay and then polish. Follow it up with a couple of layers of wax and you should be back to red.
Paint wise, buy yourself a clay bar, plenty of qd, a german applicator pad and some good polish. I like the Menzerna but I use this on a machine. There is one that's fine to use by hand. Avoid T-Cut.
A good wash, clay and then polish. Follow it up with a couple of layers of wax and you should be back to red.
Hi, good for you! I had a Mk1 Escort I bought for £95 when I was a student (loooong time ago), finally bought a Mk1 Eunos earlier this year at the grand old age of 50 - great fun! My paint has seen better days (green) but the car is in amazing condition underneath, sailed through MOT. Have fun!
Dom
Dom
Hi, good for you! I had a Mk1 Escort I bought for £95 when I was a student (loooong time ago), finally bought a Mk1 Eunos earlier this year at the grand old age of 50 - great fun! My paint has seen better days (green) but the car is in amazing condition underneath, sailed through MOT. Have fun!
Dom
Dom
Congratulations, just picked up my new (to me) gold Mk2 for the princely sum of £1000. Two lady owners and in great condition, can't find any rust and seemingly in great nick generally! It's been raining a lot recently so haven't had the roof down for long but slippery roundabouts...weeeh! 
Wee update today...
Ended up pointing the wrong way on a roundabout today so it went in for four new tyres. I'm on BF Goodrich something or others, £214 fitted which was alright. I'll report back once I've done a few miles. I'm apportioning 90% blame to me for being a rubbish driver and 10% to very old ditchfinders on the back, so of course money went on tyres not driver training I'll get myself to a track day when I can afford it but tyres will help for now. (In case you were wondering my words were s
t st st st st st st st st, I'd have thought I'd have been more imaginative)
In other news the coolant needs a change which will be done after christmas by myself when I get some funnels and stuff. Whilst the wheels were off I looked over the suspension, brakes and arches. Suspension looks ok, front pads will need doing soon, previous repair to the rear arches looks good and the nearside is starting to bubble. Oh and there's an oil leak from the cam cover gasket. That's DIY though isn't it?
Ended up pointing the wrong way on a roundabout today so it went in for four new tyres. I'm on BF Goodrich something or others, £214 fitted which was alright. I'll report back once I've done a few miles. I'm apportioning 90% blame to me for being a rubbish driver and 10% to very old ditchfinders on the back, so of course money went on tyres not driver training
I'll get myself to a track day when I can afford it but tyres will help for now. (In case you were wondering my words were st st st st st st st st st, I'd have thought I'd have been more imaginative)In other news the coolant needs a change which will be done after christmas by myself when I get some funnels and stuff. Whilst the wheels were off I looked over the suspension, brakes and arches. Suspension looks ok, front pads will need doing soon, previous repair to the rear arches looks good and the nearside is starting to bubble. Oh and there's an oil leak from the cam cover gasket. That's DIY though isn't it?
MX-5 Lazza said:
I'd also suggest getting the alignment sorted if it hasn't already been done otherwise the new tyres are wasted
+1 made a big difference to mine. Now I just need to go back to the garage that fitted my tyres and get them to balance the wheels properly this time because it's started vibrating like a bh on the motorway 
Nice one Ben! Deffo a good choice for your first car!
I'm in a similar position, a month ago I got my first car (Mk1 1.8), and am working through all the bits and bobs that need doing to get it right, actually a pretty satisfying procedure!
Likewise, my drive home from picking it up was the best (4 wheel) driving experience I've had - hood down as soon as it'd stopped raining - and I'm taking it pretty easy with the transition to RWD, but loving the balance it gives you...
Oh yeah, and I'm with you on the pop-up headlamps thing, every time I turn 'em on or off I get a little buzz of excitement!
Not sure whether that's a
or a 
but I love 'em!
I'm in a similar position, a month ago I got my first car (Mk1 1.8), and am working through all the bits and bobs that need doing to get it right, actually a pretty satisfying procedure!
Likewise, my drive home from picking it up was the best (4 wheel) driving experience I've had - hood down as soon as it'd stopped raining - and I'm taking it pretty easy with the transition to RWD, but loving the balance it gives you...
Oh yeah, and I'm with you on the pop-up headlamps thing, every time I turn 'em on or off I get a little buzz of excitement!
Not sure whether that's a
or a but I love 'em! I've always thought these would make great first cars, it's a shame nobody in the process of buying a first car has ever agreed with me! Getting the basics right is so rewarding in them, and yet they are forgiving enough to learn - a good example is learning smooth gear changes, in the MX-5 every little extra effort you put in makes the result that little bit smoother, whereas in say my Volvo, it would make no perceptible difference until you got close to the right match of revs/roadspeed/clutch at which point it suddenly becomes smooth.
What I'm trying to say is they've got a nice, linear learning curve rather than a cliff-face one. Plus they're not too far removed in performance and grip from an ordinary warmish hatchback, so methods for driving an MX-5 effectively (smooth with good conservation of speed) will transfer into just about any other car.
Also the visibility is hard to beat!
Good choice, anyway. Hope you have a lot of fun with it.
What I'm trying to say is they've got a nice, linear learning curve rather than a cliff-face one. Plus they're not too far removed in performance and grip from an ordinary warmish hatchback, so methods for driving an MX-5 effectively (smooth with good conservation of speed) will transfer into just about any other car.
Also the visibility is hard to beat!
Good choice, anyway. Hope you have a lot of fun with it.
Timberwolf said:
I've always thought these would make great first cars, it's a shame nobody in the process of buying a first car has ever agreed with me!
Slightly off topic but, whilst I would agree with you on the above; example - my 25 year old friend recently bought his first car, and looked at mx5s, but in the end he went for a Merc C200 - which was cheaper to buy and insure... which is the big killer on these cars for first timers, especially imports.Riknos said:
especially imports.
Which is why mine is a uk car.My insurance is £750 and it's my first car at 21. Even a 1.4 focus would have been more than half that. Strangely I found the same insurer would offer different quotes on different comparison sites so worth shopping around
Don't worry, I spun mine into an Essex hedge in the first week of ownership which prompted four new tyres and an alignment check. I've used Skidmarques in Hutton, or Elite in Dagenham. Pretty sure Skidmarques will check it for free and only charge you if something needs adjusting.
Dandycars do a good job with under sealing for the money. My advice would be to get it as clean underneath as you can before taking it in. Jack it up, stick it securely on stands and break out the degreaser, a selection of brushes and the hose and be prepared to get dirty! Do all the nooks and crannies, particularly around the inner lips of the arches etc. Dandycars weren't keen on cavity waxing when I spoke to them, and mine hasn't been done, but other alternatives are available, e.g. Google "Dinitrol Treatment Centres", I think there is one in Chelmsford.
Russ at Everything MX5 in Romford is also good to deal with, if you don't mind the "rustic" appearance of their workshop. Don't wear your best shoes if you visit them!
Has it had a cambelt in recent history? If not, you might want to consider getting that done, along with a water pump. That would also be a good time to get various oil seals, o-rings and maybe the cam cover gasket done to stop any oil leaks. A lot of jobs, especially basic servicing, are DIY if you are a half competent mechanic, can follow a manual and have somewhere to work. These days, at this time of year I'd rather pay someone to work in a cold garage on my behalf. When I was a student I thought differently!
Have you joined the MX5 Owners Club? The local region has regular tech days where you can get access to advice and a ramp for small jobs and also a good monthly meet-up in Kelvedon Hatch. One of the local OC guys also has his own garage in Bulpham (I think), might be worth checking out.
For paintwork advice there is another forum called DetailingWorld with some good how to guides on it.
Dandycars do a good job with under sealing for the money. My advice would be to get it as clean underneath as you can before taking it in. Jack it up, stick it securely on stands and break out the degreaser, a selection of brushes and the hose and be prepared to get dirty! Do all the nooks and crannies, particularly around the inner lips of the arches etc. Dandycars weren't keen on cavity waxing when I spoke to them, and mine hasn't been done, but other alternatives are available, e.g. Google "Dinitrol Treatment Centres", I think there is one in Chelmsford.
Russ at Everything MX5 in Romford is also good to deal with, if you don't mind the "rustic" appearance of their workshop. Don't wear your best shoes if you visit them!
Has it had a cambelt in recent history? If not, you might want to consider getting that done, along with a water pump. That would also be a good time to get various oil seals, o-rings and maybe the cam cover gasket done to stop any oil leaks. A lot of jobs, especially basic servicing, are DIY if you are a half competent mechanic, can follow a manual and have somewhere to work. These days, at this time of year I'd rather pay someone to work in a cold garage on my behalf. When I was a student I thought differently!
Have you joined the MX5 Owners Club? The local region has regular tech days where you can get access to advice and a ramp for small jobs and also a good monthly meet-up in Kelvedon Hatch. One of the local OC guys also has his own garage in Bulpham (I think), might be worth checking out.
For paintwork advice there is another forum called DetailingWorld with some good how to guides on it.
Edited by cwinterb on Thursday 27th December 14:31
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