How much would this cost....

[pmanson]

I was bored on the train to work this morning (but at least there was a train unlike yesterday) about what work I would complete on the Mazda if I ever had the money:

I'm thinking along the lines of me doing most of the work but paying the pro's where it matters (eg. new paint)...

Ok the plan would be:

• Strip the car totally, removing body from chassis etc
• New engine (either a turbo'd 1.6 or possibly a 2L out of a Mk2) and 6 speed gearbox (6th gear for cruising - say 2k rpm at 80mph)
• New suspension and replacing all mounts etc
• Uprated brakes front and rear (bearing in mind it's a 1.6) so maybe large fronts and 1.8 calipers/discs/pads on the rear
• LSD
• Some of sort of half roll cage so that it offers some roll over protection on the track but still allows you to get in and out of the car fairly easily
• Full body restoration (remove bubbling from rear arch, get rid of rear fog etc) then respray in white
• New bucket seats and harnesses
• New carpets throughout
• Possibly Mk2 dash and centre console
• New hood
• New wheels (probably 15" must be light)

So what sort of damage am I looking at? £10-£15k? Like I say it was idle thoughts on a boring train journey but it might be a fun project.

[MX-5 Lazza]

I'm not going to touch the subject of price but here are a few helpful comments on a few of your point:

1> Strip the car totally, removing body from chassis etc
There is actually very little striping to be done as the body & chassis are one and the same. The bonnet, boot, bumpers & front wings can come off but that's about it (other than the mechanicals & interior of course)

2> New engine (either a turbo'd 1.6 or possibly a 2L out of a Mk2) and 6 speed gearbox (6th gear for cruising - say 2k rpm at 80mph)
Mk2 is a choice of 1.6 or 1.8 - same as Mk1
I have a 6-speed but prefer the 5-speed. If you were super/turboing you could play with the final drive to get a more relaxed cruise without losing performance in the lower gears.

3> Uprated brakes front and rear (bearing in mind it's a 1.6) so maybe large fronts and 1.8 calipers/discs/pads on the rear
Mk2.5 Sport brakes front & rear would be more than adequate.

4> Full body restoration (remove bubbling from rear arch, get rid of rear fog etc) then respray in white
Good choice. If I bought a Mk1 I'd look for a white one

5> Possibly Mk2 dash and centre console
RUBY goes Tan - mk2 interior in a mk1 on PlanetMX5

6> New wheels (probably 15" must be light)
15" would give you the best balance between getting the best tyres and price

[pmanson]

MX-5 Lazza said:

1> Strip the car totally, removing body from chassis etc
There is actually very little striping to be done as the body & chassis are one and the same. The bonnet, boot, bumpers & front wings can come off but that's about it (other than the mechanicals & interior of course)

Ah that I didn't know...

MX-5 Lazza said:

2> New engine (either a turbo'd 1.6 or possibly a 2L out of a Mk2) and 6 speed gearbox (6th gear for cruising - say 2k rpm at 80mph)
Mk2 is a choice of 1.6 or 1.8 - same as Mk1
I have a 6-speed but prefer the 5-speed. If you were super/turboing you could play with the final drive to get a more relaxed cruise without losing performance in the lower gears.

Of course the 2L are in the Mk3's.... That would be the plan as 80mph is around 4k rpm at the moment and slightly tiresome on long journeys.

I could always look at rebuilding ours but it's on 181k!

MX-5 Lazza said:

3> Uprated brakes front and rear (bearing in mind it's a 1.6) so maybe large fronts and 1.8 calipers/discs/pads on the rear
Mk2.5 Sport brakes front & rear would be more than adequate.

Sounds like a good idea to me

MX-5 Lazza said:

4> Full body restoration (remove bubbling from rear arch, get rid of rear fog etc) then respray in white
Good choice. If I bought a Mk1 I'd look for a white one

Our's is white already and I love it.

MX-5 Lazza said:

5> Possibly Mk2 dash and centre console
RUBY goes Tan - mk2 interior in a mk1 on PlanetMX5

I'll have a read when I get home.

MX-5 Lazza said:

6> New wheels (probably 15" must be light)
15" would give you the best balance between getting the best tyres and price

That's what I was thinking...

[skinny]

i'd get a mk2 rs in white

[pmanson]

skinny said:

i'd get a mk2 rs in white

Where's the fun in that? I fancied a project.... (i must live in dream land)

[skinny]

oh it would still be a project

[NiceCupOfTea]

That Mk.2 interior is very nice - much prefer my dad's Mk.2 interior to my Mk.1, and being black with a black hood the inside of my car is rather sombre!

[kevham]

pmanson said:

MX-5 Lazza said:

6> New wheels (probably 15" must be light)
15" would give you the best balance between getting the best tyres and price

That's what I was thinking...

Nah - 14" is the way to go. Lighter and you can get Toyo T1-R in 195/55 14 if you want to stay close to standard.

[fivealive]

Depends on how far you want to go with restoration. My MK1 1991 had bubbled rear arches (when purchased as a restoration project 3 years ago), which looked superficial. Further investigation by gentle prodding, revealed a nightmare! they were shot from the inside, cause, a wrongly fitted rain rail after a replacement hood, so they had been filling with water over a long period of time. To save the car the only real solution was to replace the entire rear wings. The nearside being the worst to do. I'm not to bad at DIY but that was a major bobyshop job! and the only way to get a good Classic Red paint match was to have the entire rear end resprayed afterwards . . . lodsa dosh ! Still I think it was worth it as you can see. Pics on New member posting. Good luck