Silver Stone Mk1 MX5 Project

[House86]

Decided I needed another project to keep me busy, had a MX5 about 3 years ago that I always regretted selling so bid on one on ebay and ended up the winning bidder at £960, first time bidding on a car I hadnt been to seen so was apprehensive to what I had brought.

So here it is -






1992 1.6 MX5 in Silver Stone Silver.

The good bits are that its had the Sills recently done and the underneath looks really clean with minimal rust and the car looks like its been serviced regularly with a cambelt change about a year ago.

The thing that lets the car down is the bodywork, the clearcoat has started to peel mostly noticable on the bonnet and boot, going to try to see if I can compound it out but think it might be too far gone. If I cant get it better will probably just buy some good second hand ones from someone breaking one.

Both the bumpers could do with replacing too as front one has a crack in the bottom and the rear is marked and has a hole in it.

First job was to give it a clean as looked like it had been sitting under a tree for a while so was covered in crap and bird poo.

Next onto the interior that had a load of leaves in it and needed a good clean as loooked like it hadnt been done in a while.

Before -



Removed seats -



and looking much better now and found 24p




Have ordered a new offset number plate holder as the one on there is cracked so hopefully get that fitted next week.

Havnt got any real plans for the car just tidying it up gradually with some mods on the way, going to start with the chassis, underseal it and fit some new brakes, going to respray the wheels for now until I get some replacements and get new coilover suspension eventually. Then sort out the bodywork and would like to take it out on track for some fun

Edited by House86 on Sunday 12th August 13:28

[House86]

Forgot to add this is what my last one ended up looking like

[House86]

Decided to do a couple of free mods in the engine bay, started with removing the Charcoal canister that does nothing just to improve the look of the bay.



All removed -



Then drilled some holes in the airbox to get a bit more induction noise

Nice to find a brand new filter in there -



All drilled out -



All finshed and looking a bit better in there.




Tried to polish the bad paint on bonnet and boot but the clear coat is too far gone so have managed to source some good second hand ones and also a new rear bumper to replace the cracked one, pick them up next week

[House86]

ECG1000 said:

I enjoy projects like these. Keep the updates coming!

Cheers will do, brought it just for a bit of fun really and to keep me occupied

[House86]

So drove along to South Coast Roadsters in Wimborne Minster to collect a bonnet, light covers, boot and rear bumper to replace the damaged ones on the car, great sevrvice from Jack and would recommend to anyone looking for secondhand parts.

Fitted my offset number plate bracket the other day to replace the cracked plinth.

Before -



and fitted, someone had screwed right through the number plate into the bumper so has left two dents in the plastic. Also you can also see how bad the paint is on the bonnet in this pic -



Got the new bonnet and light covers fitted, so much better than before -



Still on the lookout for a new front bumper as the paints all cracked, has a crack at the bottom and its dented where the old number plate was.

Next fitted the boot lid, paint was just as bad as the bonnet and also still had some rear lights that I had shaved the lettering off that look better than the milky ones on there at the moment.

Lights before -



and both bits fitted -



Getting there with the bodywork, still need to fit the rear bumper and also have a debadged rear number plate panel in primer from my last car that I need to respray to replace the cracked one on the car. Hopefully get the rear bumper fitted over the bank holiday weekend

[House86]

MikeDrop said:

Looks like it has a lot of potential! I had a Silverstone Silver 5 previously, in much worse condition than this and ultimately ended up int he scrapper

What's your plans with it?

I'm currently updating a thread on my 1.8 VR Limited - Clicky. If you're interested

Looks like you’ve got a good project of your own, think they look great with a rollbar

Plan is to just tidy it up a bit and replace bits as and when I can and just enjoy driving it with maybe a few trackdays too.

Not planning on spending much doing it up but we’ll see how that goes

[House86]

Had a productive Bank holiday weekend, managed to fit the new rear bumper after many broken fixings and snapped bolts, nearly all the fixings were rusted and had to hacksaw a few off, guess thats pretty normal for a 26yr old car tho -



Also gave the daisy wheels a refesh in gold, before -



and all done -




Went out earlier to take a few pics -








Next think im going to give it a good service

[House86]

Shaun-zht0g said:

Wow, looks very presentable now!


Is it a distorted picture? To me the wheel before painting doesn't look very round?

Wheels are fine people, its my Iphone camera, sometimes the camera doesnt work so took this one as a panoramic pic lol

[House86]

Have given the car a service changing the oil, spark plugs and Ignition leads.



Car had a small misfire between 3-4K revs when the engine was cold, so thought id try changing the plugs and leads to see if that would fix it, and success it seems to drive fine now with no misfire, the plugs I took out didnt look too old but changed them anyway so it was probably the leads that needed changing.

Done a few cosmetic bits in the bay too, the blue ignition leads now match the coolant hoses, also decided to paint in the lettering on the rocker cover in black to make them stand out more, and finally painted the manifold cover black to cover the rust on it.

Before and after pics -

[House86]

Decided to de-tango the front indicators as dont really like the orange in them. Stuck them in the oven for 10 mins to soften the glue and prised them apart so I could remove the orange lens and then reheated to stick them back together.

Before and after -





how they look all fitted with some chrome bulbs in -



Started Spraying my debadged rear number plate surround just need to lacquer it now, so hopefully get that fitted the weekend

[House86]

TheJimi said:

Not a good look, imo, from the front where the screws have went through the bumper for the old plate.

Holes and indentations are very visible.

I'd be putting centre plate back on.

I do agree the bumper looks crap, but not going to spend £20 on a new plinth and then a new number plate for it when I can get a hole new bumper for £30-40. Still on the lookout for one

[House86]

Got around to spraying and fitting my debadged rear number plate plinth I already had in the garage, quiet happy with how its turned out and like the smooth look it gives.

Went for a drive to take a few pics -





Not sure weather it needs a spoiler or not, maybe just a lip spoiler on the boot?

On other news I've managed to get a better front bumper that isn't cracked but it still needs sanding and respraying, might start it next week if I get time

[House86]

Been a bit slacking with progress on this lately, have started to prep the new front bumper now, still lots of sanding and filling to go

Decided to start undersealing it today using some Hammerite Underbody Seal I already had in the garage, managed to get the front arches done today and why I was there decided to give the calipers a lick of paint to brighten them up.

Before -




After -



Quiet happy with the result, still have the rear arches to do and the rest of the underside, also am going to Hammerite the Suspension arms at some point as they need doing.

[House86]

Tax was due on the car so have decided to Sorn it for a couple of months so I can try and sort a few bits on it over the next few months.

Finished Undersealing the rear arches and painting the Calipers blue last weekend.

Before -



quiet happy with how they came out




Some of the Jobs I wanna get done -

- Underseal bottom of car

- Paint Suspension Arms

- Fix washer Jets not working

- Paint Windscreen Surround Black

- Paint Mirrors Black

- Finish preping Front Bumper & Fit

- Fit Roundels to doors

- Retrim Doorcards

Should keep me busy for a bit

[House86]

Have had a couple days off so decided to paint the windscreen surround and mirrors in Gloss Black, paint on both needed doing anyway as was flaking away and faded.

Started with the Surrround first -



then the mirrors, didnt take any pics of them before but this is how they've turned out -





Think they look better now in black, happy with how its turned out, did try some white Roundels on the doors but have now decided I dont like them so not doing those now.

Next thing is i've started to retrim the doorcards to make the interior a bit more interesting and nearly finished sanding the front bumper ready for paint

[House86]

Finished retrimming the doorcards in Faux light grey suede material and got them fitted today -

Interior before -



Doorcard before I started -



Removed the plastic door handles because there too bulky and ugly and replaced them with some black pull straps, more room in the interior now.



Also retrimmed the centre console lid in the same material and also ordered a Jass Ashtray surround to finish off the centre console -



and all finished, happy with the outcome and think the interiors a bit more interesting now than just Black everything

[House86]

MRichards99 said:

Really like the black windscreen surround, I've just got black mirrors and I like the difference they make, and the gold daisies look better than I imagined they would in my head.

Thanks think the surround in Black goes well with the black roof and mirrors, happy with how they’ve come out.

[House86]

MX6 said:

Nice project, liking the work you've done there.

Not sure about the door card lining though, I probably would have stayed black/dark grey but just personal preference.

Yeah wasnt sure about the colour to start with but has grown on me more now, wanted something a bit brighter than black/grey as was a bit dark in the cabin

[House86]

DaveTheRave87 said:

Looks like a great wee project, all the best with it,

Thanks

[House86]

therealsamdailly said:

Looks really smart. Hows the front bumper coming on?

Been slacking with the bumper, still needs a final sand down. Will try to get the sanding finished next week on it ready for painting.

Not sure wether to wait to paint it when the temperatures warmer or not, if anyones got any tips?

Might take the old bumper off first to see how many fixings have rusted and need replacing