Is it the end of the road for my NA?
Discussion
Hi all,
I took my 1992 Mazda Mx-5 for an MOT this morning. Having fractured a drop link on Sunday I knew it would fail, but I didn't expect it to be as catastrophic!
-The sills have been repaired before and these need attention again (major)
-Front bake pads need replacing (major)
-Hole in offside front wing (minor)
-All suspension bushes perished (minor)
-Fuel pipes corroded (minor)
-Brakes pipes corroded (minor)
-Brake discs worn (minor)
Using very arbitrary man maths, I reckon there's at least £1500+ worth of work. I appreciate the minors don't need fixing immediately, but I can't leave them indefinitely.
I bought the car for £700 a couple of years ago and it's required various bits and pieces in my ownership. Is it time to let it go? There's a fair few bits and pieces I think I can sell easily (Cybox exhaust, Newish roof & alloys with fresh rubber on).
My dilemma is then, what do I replace the Mx-5 with? I like to do track days and Autosolo events. So a GT86 would be an improvement, but would obviously cost me a chunk of change to get into.
Go on PH, what would you do?
I took my 1992 Mazda Mx-5 for an MOT this morning. Having fractured a drop link on Sunday I knew it would fail, but I didn't expect it to be as catastrophic!
-The sills have been repaired before and these need attention again (major)
-Front bake pads need replacing (major)
-Hole in offside front wing (minor)
-All suspension bushes perished (minor)
-Fuel pipes corroded (minor)
-Brakes pipes corroded (minor)
-Brake discs worn (minor)
Using very arbitrary man maths, I reckon there's at least £1500+ worth of work. I appreciate the minors don't need fixing immediately, but I can't leave them indefinitely.
I bought the car for £700 a couple of years ago and it's required various bits and pieces in my ownership. Is it time to let it go? There's a fair few bits and pieces I think I can sell easily (Cybox exhaust, Newish roof & alloys with fresh rubber on).
My dilemma is then, what do I replace the Mx-5 with? I like to do track days and Autosolo events. So a GT86 would be an improvement, but would obviously cost me a chunk of change to get into.
Go on PH, what would you do?
Depends on how handy you are/how much time you have
Probably a professional welding/bodyshop job
-The sills
and for peanuts at the same time
-Hole in offside front wing
You could do
-Front bake pads
-All suspension bushes perished
-Fuel pipes corroded
-Brakes pipes corroded
-Brake discs worn
for cost of the parts, a few tools and your time.
Rarely a decision made without some sentiment and man maths.
Also note that brake pipes and fuel pipes corroded can actually mean "crusty looking" and may only required a rub over with a scotch pad and a fine coat of grease as long as not actually badly pitted/thinned
Probably a professional welding/bodyshop job
-The sills
and for peanuts at the same time
-Hole in offside front wing
You could do
-Front bake pads
-All suspension bushes perished
-Fuel pipes corroded
-Brakes pipes corroded
-Brake discs worn
for cost of the parts, a few tools and your time.
Rarely a decision made without some sentiment and man maths.
Also note that brake pipes and fuel pipes corroded can actually mean "crusty looking" and may only required a rub over with a scotch pad and a fine coat of grease as long as not actually badly pitted/thinned
Thanks for the replies.
My concern is how much the sills are going to cost. Both inner and outer sills need cutting out and replacing. The rear arches look horrendous too, so surely it makes sense to get them done at the same time. Once that much metal has been cut out and replaced, is it worth then respraying the car (blow over, not bare metal respray)?
Regarding doing stuff myself, I'm more than happy to do the discs & pads. I don't think replacing suspension bushes sounds overly difficult, but could be extremely time consuming for a novice driveway hero?
The garage did say about rubbing down the fuel/brake pipes and coating in grease.
My concern is how much the sills are going to cost. Both inner and outer sills need cutting out and replacing. The rear arches look horrendous too, so surely it makes sense to get them done at the same time. Once that much metal has been cut out and replaced, is it worth then respraying the car (blow over, not bare metal respray)?
Regarding doing stuff myself, I'm more than happy to do the discs & pads. I don't think replacing suspension bushes sounds overly difficult, but could be extremely time consuming for a novice driveway hero?
The garage did say about rubbing down the fuel/brake pipes and coating in grease.
The sills are the expensive part. The rest I'm sure you could do yourself providing you have the tools & time. I don't have much DIY experience myself, so like you say could be a solid weekend of work for us novice driveway heros!
Where are you located? If you're anywhere near South Wales, I would highly recommend Mark at Total MX5 repair. He did a great job on my sills a few years back. He'd probably sort out the rest for a reasonable price too. MX5's are his raison d'être.
There's also a Saturday club there every week where you could have a chat with Mark and other owners, he/they will give it to you straight. You'll know then how much it'll cost you and if it's worth it to yourself to save it.
Where are you located? If you're anywhere near South Wales, I would highly recommend Mark at Total MX5 repair. He did a great job on my sills a few years back. He'd probably sort out the rest for a reasonable price too. MX5's are his raison d'être.
There's also a Saturday club there every week where you could have a chat with Mark and other owners, he/they will give it to you straight. You'll know then how much it'll cost you and if it's worth it to yourself to save it.
Drew106 said:
The sills are the expensive part. The rest I'm sure you could do yourself providing you have the tools & time. I don't have much DIY experience myself, so like you say could be a solid weekend of work for us novice driveway heros!
Where are you located? If you're anywhere near South Wales, I would highly recommend Mark at Total MX5 repair. He did a great job on my sills a few years back. He'd probably sort out the rest for a reasonable price too. MX5's are his raison d'être.
There's also a Saturday club there every week where you could have a chat with Mark and other owners, he/they will give it to you straight. You'll know then how much it'll cost you and if it's worth it to yourself to save it.
Agree about the sills Drew, that's the bit that frightens me. I don't mind tackling the rest.Where are you located? If you're anywhere near South Wales, I would highly recommend Mark at Total MX5 repair. He did a great job on my sills a few years back. He'd probably sort out the rest for a reasonable price too. MX5's are his raison d'être.
There's also a Saturday club there every week where you could have a chat with Mark and other owners, he/they will give it to you straight. You'll know then how much it'll cost you and if it's worth it to yourself to save it.
I'm based in Nottingham, so South Wales is a little too far to go. Thanks for the suggestion though!
Depends how good the rest of the car is. If it's generally in good condition then with freshly rebuilt sills it is maybe worth £2k upwards so financially probably worth saving.
If it's a really leggy worn out shed (which it maybe if you only paid £700 for it) then it's probably time to move on. If you are prepared to break it you will easily get your £700 back.
Have you considered changing to an NC? A lightly modified one is really very good, is faster than your NA and more comfortable too (don't believe the haters). You can get them from about £3k so is considerably cheaper than a gt86 and you can take the roof off too!!
If it's a really leggy worn out shed (which it maybe if you only paid £700 for it) then it's probably time to move on. If you are prepared to break it you will easily get your £700 back.
Have you considered changing to an NC? A lightly modified one is really very good, is faster than your NA and more comfortable too (don't believe the haters). You can get them from about £3k so is considerably cheaper than a gt86 and you can take the roof off too!!
There is always another way - give it a second life, but as something more extreme - I bought a rusty 1-owner NA that I planned on restoring, but after starting chopping the rot, decided a change of plan was needed - and so converted it into an Exocet, using a kit from MEV (conveniently just outside Mansfield)... It is certainly different, but still has the core feel of the MX5 to drive (although it is a little less practical!)
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UPDATE
So, 2 months later...
Found someone to do the bodywork through Mid-Derbyshire Car Club. Mick's done a really thorough job, cutting out all the rotten stuff, welding in new panels and fabricating bits and pieces where necessary. It set me back £700 in the end and I'm really happy with the job. It's currently just got primer on the rear arches, so I need to paint or wrap it myself at some point in the future.
I replaced the front pads and sorted the fog light out over the weekend. So, it just needs the drop links replacing (which I got delivered to my MOT garage ages ago) and it should pass its MOT and be back on the road tomorrow!
I'll deal with the rest of advisories over time. I'm going to look out for a second hand front wing in the same colour as my car. I think the next main priority is replacing the suspension bushes though.
So, 2 months later...
Found someone to do the bodywork through Mid-Derbyshire Car Club. Mick's done a really thorough job, cutting out all the rotten stuff, welding in new panels and fabricating bits and pieces where necessary. It set me back £700 in the end and I'm really happy with the job. It's currently just got primer on the rear arches, so I need to paint or wrap it myself at some point in the future.
I replaced the front pads and sorted the fog light out over the weekend. So, it just needs the drop links replacing (which I got delivered to my MOT garage ages ago) and it should pass its MOT and be back on the road tomorrow!
I'll deal with the rest of advisories over time. I'm going to look out for a second hand front wing in the same colour as my car. I think the next main priority is replacing the suspension bushes though.
drgoatboy said:
Nicely done. Get some paint on it quick if I were you. Primer isn't great at keeping rust at bay!
Thanks for the advice. I'll make sure to order some paint from Mx5parts.pharmvrs said:
Mine is in a similar state with lots of minors to resolve..... Where abouts in Nottingham are you? I’m in Watnall.
It feels like it's never ending! I'm hoping that if I continue to persist I'll end up with a really nice car, one day! Changed the brake fluid today, bled the rear calipers and then couldn't undo the bleed nipples on the front calipers. Frustrating! It might be a good excuse to upgrade to the big brake kit some time soon...I'm in the Sherwood area, pretty close to the city centre.
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