2006 Mazda MX-5 NC 2.0 Sport
Discussion
Accelebrate said:
Sure! Do you have anywhere in particular in mind?
snotrag said:
Where are you Geraint? Lots of MX-5 OC and MOT trackdays coming up next year.
Strongly reccomend Blyton Park as a first go, I'll be there a few times again next year in mine.
I'm in Cardiff, so that's quite a drive! I don't mind a drive but there are a few close by; Llandow circuit being one that looks quite interesting.Strongly reccomend Blyton Park as a first go, I'll be there a few times again next year in mine.
SlowcoachIII said:
What alignment settings did you go with? I'm looking to get mine done soon and have heard about many different settings that people have applied to theirs. I doubt I'll be tracking the car so would prefer a more standard setup but you never seem to hear about those!
I just went with the standard believe it or not. They'll enter your registration and will put the car back to factory. For as long as your shocks/springs are in good condition, the difference will be night and day. Mine's far more stable and predictable.SlowcoachIII said:
What alignment settings did you go with? I'm looking to get mine done soon and have heard about many different settings that people have applied to theirs. I doubt I'll be tracking the car so would prefer a more standard setup but you never seem to hear about those!
I have -30mm Eibach springs on mine, OEM Bilstein sport dampers, and had a custom geometry by Spires Tuning (Royal Leamington Spa). Unfortunately I can't find the numbers but I'm sure if you give Matt at Spires a ring he can help. He is a true perfectionist when it comes to alignment. Along with fresh bushes my NC was transformed, and still drives very sweetly even though that was a few years ago now. Be wary of trying to run too much camber, you can go too far - previously Blink Motorsport had set my front axle to -2deg camber (I have their numbers for my car), it's running less now, and was a joy on a track day, very progressive and balanced.Thanks for the responses both.
I have standard springs and updated shocks so that’s why I favour a standard setup. Good to know places can do that.
I am just down the road from Blink Motorsport so I’ll probably get it done there. RenesisEvo - I assume the excessive camber is from a more aggressive setup given the work on your suspension?
I have standard springs and updated shocks so that’s why I favour a standard setup. Good to know places can do that.
I am just down the road from Blink Motorsport so I’ll probably get it done there. RenesisEvo - I assume the excessive camber is from a more aggressive setup given the work on your suspension?
Re the trackdays, Abingdon is a bit of a drive (M4-J13 and up the A34), but MSE do great days and there is lots of room for error on an airfield. I cannot recommend them enough for beginner days either as they have great coaches and the mentality is fun not flat out. Plus you get to meet Erling Jensen, Jenson Button's namesake and have him b
k you if you're naughty.
Combe is closer and often good value, but you may wish to check if your insurance covers you there - mine excludes it specifically - and with good reason. It's a great track, but can catch you out. If you do meet grass, it's unforgiving as the barriers are close by. I saw Gigi Galli bin his WRC Lancer there, so I know I, and many others are in good company.
k you if you're naughty.Combe is closer and often good value, but you may wish to check if your insurance covers you there - mine excludes it specifically - and with good reason. It's a great track, but can catch you out. If you do meet grass, it's unforgiving as the barriers are close by. I saw Gigi Galli bin his WRC Lancer there, so I know I, and many others are in good company.
Some brilliant info about tracks, I can't thank you enough. WIll note all of this down! Very much looking forward to it now.
The wooden gearknob kept clicking and creaking everytime I used it, and it was starting to grind on me. I tried to remove it but when I used superglue on the thread, some of it must have dropped onto the shaft and glued the thread to the stick.
It put up a fight with some pliars but eventually got it off.
So I've decided to go back to the old one temporarily but, after feeling how weighted it is, it's now there permanently. I've had my fun with the wooden gearknob!
However, it does look a state
It also doesn't match the interior. The interior is full of silver highlights (gaitor base, steering wheel, handles, gauge surrounds, etc), but this is the only part that's chromed. I've decided to respray it in the same silver as the rest of the interior.
Easy enough to take apart, the numbers are stuck down with tape and the silver piece here is screwed into the knob with a single screw.
One coat of primer, spray and lacquer later, and we have a finished result.
Very happy with the finish of this. Cost me nothing to do, looks almost new and now suits the interior. Thoroughly recommend doing this for other MX-5 NC owners.
The wooden gearknob kept clicking and creaking everytime I used it, and it was starting to grind on me. I tried to remove it but when I used superglue on the thread, some of it must have dropped onto the shaft and glued the thread to the stick.
It put up a fight with some pliars but eventually got it off.
So I've decided to go back to the old one temporarily but, after feeling how weighted it is, it's now there permanently. I've had my fun with the wooden gearknob!
However, it does look a state
It also doesn't match the interior. The interior is full of silver highlights (gaitor base, steering wheel, handles, gauge surrounds, etc), but this is the only part that's chromed. I've decided to respray it in the same silver as the rest of the interior.
Easy enough to take apart, the numbers are stuck down with tape and the silver piece here is screwed into the knob with a single screw.
One coat of primer, spray and lacquer later, and we have a finished result.
Very happy with the finish of this. Cost me nothing to do, looks almost new and now suits the interior. Thoroughly recommend doing this for other MX-5 NC owners.
SlowcoachIII said:
RenesisEvo - I assume the excessive camber is from a more aggressive setup given the work on your suspension?
Can't comment, was done by the previous owner. It only had the lowering springs. I did a lot of work getting everything back up to scratch - the dampers and bushes were shot, no amount of messing about with springs or geometry can fix that. The transformation was remarkable.Thought I'd visualise my future plans for the car again, except I did it with the standard wheels. I'll be honest, I love the look!
Front before
Front after
Rear before
Rear after
Seats before
Seats after
Wheel before
Wheel after
The interior is just ideas at this stage, I may not do them all as it could be too much, but it's food for thought. Respraying the wheels, interior parts and putting the stripe on the door is all incredibly cheap; I'll be doing it myself so it won't cost more than £50 for the whole job. The steering wheel re-stitch would be a bit more expensive, same with the rev counter. The most expensive items here though is the suspension and the rear diffuser. Suspension isn't so expensive, but the diffuser can be due to delivery. I have an idea for the rear lights that includes red vinyl with a section cut out the middle, but then to wrap the whole lamp a second time with clear vinyl so that it doesn't peel.
First things to do will be the suspension, wheel colour, caliper colour and the side stripe all at the same time. The wheels would be off so to do the springs so may as well paint them and the calipers at the same time.
Front before
Front after
Rear before
Rear after
Seats before
Seats after
Wheel before
Wheel after
The interior is just ideas at this stage, I may not do them all as it could be too much, but it's food for thought. Respraying the wheels, interior parts and putting the stripe on the door is all incredibly cheap; I'll be doing it myself so it won't cost more than £50 for the whole job. The steering wheel re-stitch would be a bit more expensive, same with the rev counter. The most expensive items here though is the suspension and the rear diffuser. Suspension isn't so expensive, but the diffuser can be due to delivery. I have an idea for the rear lights that includes red vinyl with a section cut out the middle, but then to wrap the whole lamp a second time with clear vinyl so that it doesn't peel.
First things to do will be the suspension, wheel colour, caliper colour and the side stripe all at the same time. The wheels would be off so to do the springs so may as well paint them and the calipers at the same time.
Changed the interior to be a little less yellow.
Roof handle now has a yellow badge, rather than full yellow. Steering wheel plastics are now black.
Bit better. I may well be doing a deal with someone soon with some NC2 tail lamps; he wants some NC1 tail lamps so we're going to swap, plus me giving him £100 as they're worth more. It's a fair deal and I'll definitely be doing it. He lives quite close by, so we may do a socially distant meet with masks to exchange them, but I'm a bit skeptical and aren't taking any risks with lockdown seeing as I teach, it would be a bit irresponsible. Would be simple to do socially distant and outdoors though, so I'll think.
Roof handle now has a yellow badge, rather than full yellow. Steering wheel plastics are now black.
Bit better. I may well be doing a deal with someone soon with some NC2 tail lamps; he wants some NC1 tail lamps so we're going to swap, plus me giving him £100 as they're worth more. It's a fair deal and I'll definitely be doing it. He lives quite close by, so we may do a socially distant meet with masks to exchange them, but I'm a bit skeptical and aren't taking any risks with lockdown seeing as I teach, it would be a bit irresponsible. Would be simple to do socially distant and outdoors though, so I'll think.
It had its MOT today, first one with me. It passed, with only some slight rust on both the front/back brake discs to be noted. He did mention that they performed fine and I'd may as well keep them for a while longer, but I'll see how much it niggles me first.
We both took a look underneath the car, and it was great to hear him say that it's solid with no worries of rust. Seeing as I'd like to keep it this way, I'm going to wait until the weather warms up a little before rust proofing it.
There's a lot of people who have the sills filled, which is a horrendous idea. There's a drain that carries water from around the roof area through the sills and onto the road. It's this that gets blocked, fills with water, and rusts the sills from the inside out. This is common on all MX-5's and is the achillies heel of them. Filling the sill up will prevent rust, but will also prevent the water from escaping, thus... yup, causing rust.
The biggest thing you can do is to keep clearing the drain hole with a 'trombone' cleaner, which the previous owner had done and had given his to me. In the summer, I'll be coating the sills in an anti-rust coating to prevent rust from the outside, whilst cleaning the drain will keep it rusting from the inside. Both of these should prevent any problems. If in the future they do occur, I'll be picking up a mig welder and doing the job myself, but with 46,000 on the clock and no rust, it'll be quite easy for me to maintain knowing the solutions. It's the poor souls that buy an MX-5 that don't know these issues and naturally won't know to clean the drains, that have the issues in the first place.
In other news, my helmet is arriving in a week (horray!) and I can start looking at some track days when lockdown becomes a little less strict in the future months. I'll admit, being locked down is making it very tempting to start modifying the car for the track - suspension, brakes, etc. I know I said I'd drive the car on track as stock first, but I also didn't think we'd be in another more strict lockdown either. Working from home is quite tedious now, so a project on the car may help.
That's my excuse, anyway.
Also, ten points on who can guess the two cars (one shell) in the distance.
Always good when they pass! 
The bulk of the water from the soft-top runs through two dedicated drain holes which are inboard from the sills on each side. These are the reasonably large holes that you rod with a trombone brush.
The sills have smaller drain holes where the seam along the bottom of the sill meets. I’m not sure if they carry any water from the roof, but they certainly drain moisture that enters through fixing holes and bungs in the arch liners. They’re worth cleaning out with something like a thin screwdriver from underneath the car as they can block with rust and paint flakes.
I wouldn’t be put off using cavity wax inside the sills and other cavities of the car. The Dynax S50 that I used on mine is very thin as it’s designed to seep into every seam and crevice. A lot of the S50 excess drained out through the drain holes on the seams whilst I was applying it and didn’t block them. You’re left with a thin wax coating inside the sill rather than them being full up with anything.
The bulk of the water from the soft-top runs through two dedicated drain holes which are inboard from the sills on each side. These are the reasonably large holes that you rod with a trombone brush.
The sills have smaller drain holes where the seam along the bottom of the sill meets. I’m not sure if they carry any water from the roof, but they certainly drain moisture that enters through fixing holes and bungs in the arch liners. They’re worth cleaning out with something like a thin screwdriver from underneath the car as they can block with rust and paint flakes.
I wouldn’t be put off using cavity wax inside the sills and other cavities of the car. The Dynax S50 that I used on mine is very thin as it’s designed to seep into every seam and crevice. A lot of the S50 excess drained out through the drain holes on the seams whilst I was applying it and didn’t block them. You’re left with a thin wax coating inside the sill rather than them being full up with anything.
Accelebrate said:
Always good when they pass!
The bulk of the water from the soft-top runs through two dedicated drain holes which are inboard from the sills on each side. These are the reasonably large holes that you rod with a trombone brush.
The sills have smaller drain holes where the seam along the bottom of the sill meets. I’m not sure if they carry any water from the roof, but they certainly drain moisture that enters through fixing holes and bungs in the arch liners. They’re worth cleaning out with something like a thin screwdriver from underneath the car as they can block with rust and paint flakes.
I wouldn’t be put off using cavity wax inside the sills and other cavities of the car. The Dynax S50 that I used on mine is very thin as it’s designed to seep into every seam and crevice. A lot of the S50 excess drained out through the drain holes on the seams whilst I was applying it and didn’t block them. You’re left with a thin wax coating inside the sill rather than them being full up with anything.
That's interesting to hear about the S50. I've heard horror stories about people using cavity wax so I didn't want to risk it, but that sounds quite tempting...The bulk of the water from the soft-top runs through two dedicated drain holes which are inboard from the sills on each side. These are the reasonably large holes that you rod with a trombone brush.
The sills have smaller drain holes where the seam along the bottom of the sill meets. I’m not sure if they carry any water from the roof, but they certainly drain moisture that enters through fixing holes and bungs in the arch liners. They’re worth cleaning out with something like a thin screwdriver from underneath the car as they can block with rust and paint flakes.
I wouldn’t be put off using cavity wax inside the sills and other cavities of the car. The Dynax S50 that I used on mine is very thin as it’s designed to seep into every seam and crevice. A lot of the S50 excess drained out through the drain holes on the seams whilst I was applying it and didn’t block them. You’re left with a thin wax coating inside the sill rather than them being full up with anything.
There's a very slight knock when going over larger humps, like speed bumps, especially when driving off them. It sounds quite hollow and like it's the strut brace.
It's not the drop links. I've had the MOT garage check it all over for me due to the noise and everything is solid. It's not the brace as I've removed it and driven without it to test. I've driven with the strut rod nut slackened and tightened (read somewhere that loosening it slightly helps), and it doesn't change it. All bolts seem fine, the top mount doughnut seemed fine too. Shock absorbers are new too. Bit of a strange one.
You can only hear it when the suspension travels quite far in a short space of time, like over a speed bump. All other bumps and pot holes doesn't make a sound.
Any ideas? It's not the end of the world if I can't stop it, just something I've picked up.
It's not the drop links. I've had the MOT garage check it all over for me due to the noise and everything is solid. It's not the brace as I've removed it and driven without it to test. I've driven with the strut rod nut slackened and tightened (read somewhere that loosening it slightly helps), and it doesn't change it. All bolts seem fine, the top mount doughnut seemed fine too. Shock absorbers are new too. Bit of a strange one.
You can only hear it when the suspension travels quite far in a short space of time, like over a speed bump. All other bumps and pot holes doesn't make a sound.
Any ideas? It's not the end of the world if I can't stop it, just something I've picked up.
Great thread. I ran a mk3.5 for a couple of years, it was a good car and I had some great adventures in it.
MX-5 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
MX-5 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Craikeybaby said:
Great thread. I ran a mk3.5 for a couple of years, it was a good car and I had some great adventures in it.
MX-5 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
MX-5 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Beautiful car, I'd love to get the NC2 or NC3 in the future, specifically in white. I have a thing about white cars after purchasing my Focus, buyconsidering mine has 45,000 on the clock and is in superb mechanical/cosmetic shape, there's no need as it would only be for a colour/bumper change.
Which is a shame...
Dynax S50 is very runny in application and leaves a very thin film. If you scroll down on this post, you can see the before and after on the seam sealer: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... - it really is thin.
It comes with a two foot hose and multidirectional nozzle, designed exactly for poking into drain holes and liberally coating the hard to get areas. The Dynax UB I added afterwards is more akin to marmite in texture, much thicker and designed for the exposed areas of a chassis. MG ZS, capable of out-rusting an MX5 sill...
It comes with a two foot hose and multidirectional nozzle, designed exactly for poking into drain holes and liberally coating the hard to get areas. The Dynax UB I added afterwards is more akin to marmite in texture, much thicker and designed for the exposed areas of a chassis. MG ZS, capable of out-rusting an MX5 sill...
geraintthomas said:
There's a very slight knock when going over larger humps, like speed bumps, especially when driving off them. It sounds quite hollow and like it's the strut brace.
It's not the drop links. I've had the MOT garage check it all over for me due to the noise and everything is solid. It's not the brace as I've removed it and driven without it to test. I've driven with the strut rod nut slackened and tightened (read somewhere that loosening it slightly helps), and it doesn't change it. All bolts seem fine, the top mount doughnut seemed fine too. Shock absorbers are new too. Bit of a strange one.
You can only hear it when the suspension travels quite far in a short space of time, like over a speed bump. All other bumps and pot holes doesn't make a sound.
Any ideas? It's not the end of the world if I can't stop it, just something I've picked up.
Nothing to report, but still have this 'clunk' over bumps, more notably coming down from a speed bulb (where it extends and contracts, as if there's a gap). Still not figured it out.It's not the drop links. I've had the MOT garage check it all over for me due to the noise and everything is solid. It's not the brace as I've removed it and driven without it to test. I've driven with the strut rod nut slackened and tightened (read somewhere that loosening it slightly helps), and it doesn't change it. All bolts seem fine, the top mount doughnut seemed fine too. Shock absorbers are new too. Bit of a strange one.
You can only hear it when the suspension travels quite far in a short space of time, like over a speed bump. All other bumps and pot holes doesn't make a sound.
Any ideas? It's not the end of the world if I can't stop it, just something I've picked up.
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