PH made me buy this...

[KevSeymour]

I was looking for something fun to drive on a budget, and according to the countless threads on PH on that very subject my best option was the MX5.

So there i was, battling with my masculinity, looking at various MX5’s and trying to come up with witty responses to all the inevitable jokes I’ll be the subject of.

And then, about month ago I bought this…




(seller’s photos)

Now I know that some would look upon that as a perfectly serviceable car, unfortunately I wasn’t one of them. The previous owner is a nice enough guy, just got a bit carried away with the red. So I set about removing the worst of it, namely the stripes and the style bar.


(taken at the Renault/Nissan Sunday Service)

Since then I’ve added a 300mm Momo steering wheel, Gaz suspension and some BMW E30 BBS alloys that I had refurbed and wrapped in Toyo T1R’s.

Last weekend I attended the technical photography session organised by Garlic at Teddington Studios, and took these…


MX5 Reflection by kevseymour, on Flickr


ZoomZoom by kevseymour, on Flickr


MX5 Full Lock by kevseymour, on Flickr


MX5 Doing Lines by kevseymour, on Flickr

Then i took it to the Sunday Service at BMW, taking the scenic route there along with several other PHers from the Herts, Beds and Bucks region. It was all going so well till I ground out the car at about 80mph, but it’s been welded up now so all is good again.

I’ve also had the geometry setup by Chris and the boys at Finishline in Graveley, Herts. Finishline prepare 4 MX5's for the Ma5da racing championship and they've had some good results (including a win), so it's fair to say they know what they're talking about. My first impressions are very good, i took the car on my favourit local back roads by way of a test and it didn't disappoint. The car feels much more solid on the road now, I didn't realise just how 'loose' everything was before.

They increased the ride height too, i think i'm running 120mm at the lowest point of the car - so now i don't scrape on the speed humps outside my house, or ground out, hopefully.

That's all for now, but i'll update as and when there's something worthwhile to share.

[TotalControl]

I so need an MX5 again. Good job of getting rid of the stripes.

[Lets Torque]

Very Nice!

I prefer your take on how you think the MX-5 should look as I to echo what you say about the red!

Great pictures aswell

[minimatt1967]

Good save, I was beginning to think the worst, those red stripes were ghastly. Like the 3er rims too. Great pics.

[Mr.Jimbo]

Nice, like that!

I've wanted an MX-5 for ages (worked in the inaugural season of Ma5da racing as it happens), so got to drive the racecars a bit, and the fact I've got 4 E30 BBS with basically brand new T1Rs on in the garage are my main reasons...

Plus, it'll be cheaper than tracking the scoob!

[Flat_Steve]

Lovely '5, congrats on the work you've done, looks much better.

[TomJS]

Once you got rid of the dodgy red bits, that's a smart little car. I liked the old wheels better if I'm honest, but hey ho.

[AlVal]

nice job, its a lot classier looking now, respectable to show up anywhere in. Black makes it more legitimate as a man's car imho also.

Enjoy, and keep up the photography lessons

[JFReturns]

Glad you got rid of the style bar. Now fit a real one!

[Stig]

Nice one - glad you got rid of the stripes, wrong car for them (and red too - urgh!!!)

You need a V8 for stripes

[KevSeymour]

Thanks everyone.

AlVal said:

nice job, its a lot classier looking now, respectable to show up anywhere in. Black makes it more legitimate as a man's car imho also.

Enjoy, and keep up the photography lessons

I made a specific effort to avoid a red one (despite 75% of the mx5's for sale locally being red!), so i'm quite pleased with the black. It's got a little way to go before i'd call it respectable though, there are lots of areas where the paint isn't great, i'd like to get it resprayed next year but for now i'm happy to bomb around in it as is.

JFReturns said:

Glad you got rid of the style bar. Now fit a real one!

That's in the plan, but i'll have to be really careful which one i get. I'm 6'5" so i'll need a substantial roll bar if it's going to protect me in an actual roll. The trouble is those ones all put the main hoop quite close to where me head should be which is a head trauma risk, and usually they have 'legs' that mount down behind the seat, reducing seat travel. It's probably going to be a combined seat/roll bar effort which just complicates it further.

[JFReturns]

KevSeymour said:

JFReturns said:

Glad you got rid of the style bar. Now fit a real one!

That's in the plan, but i'll have to be really careful which one i get. I'm 6'5" so i'll need a substantial roll bar if it's going to protect me in an actual roll. The trouble is those ones all put the main hoop quite close to where me head should be which is a head trauma risk, and usually they have 'legs' that mount down behind the seat, reducing seat travel. It's probably going to be a combined seat/roll bar effort which just complicates it further.

TR Lane TD? It is quite tall, and I think it fits under the hood... (not sure)

[KevSeymour]

That's one of the possibilities, but it depends what i can do to protect my head.

[hughcam]

Head Trauma may be better than no head in a roll over though A roll bar was always something that stopped me pushing my mx5 down a country lane!

[soad]

Looks much better, those stripes a bit too much!

[nickmac209]

Well done for removing the tat, I miss my MX5 a great deal, I will replace it one day!

[KevSeymour]

A little update, the removal of the red interior put in place by the previous owner was a project i'd been keen to do since getting the car. Partly because it was getting a bit tatty, partly because the red wasn't really 'me' and partky because it gave me the chance to make something to allow me to fit some decent speakers with the tweeters in the right place! (Genesis Audiophile 16.03's if anyones interested, will be run off a freshly refurbished Genesis P4 Ultra).

So after a couple of weeks of evening spent in the shed i've gont from this:



to this:



I just need to get some gearstick and handbrake gaitors made up in the same suede, and sort out something in the way of a door pull. I had bought some leather straps to use but they're way to big. Thinking along the lines of the Boxster Spyder, if i can secure it to the door neatly enough.

My amplifier comes back from refurb on saturday, so having already done the cable run i should have it all in and working in time for Wilton House on Sunday.

Edited by KevSeymour on Monday 26th March 20:58

[Mr.Jimbo]

I've used a company on eBay called Topgaiters for my last two cars, I bought some suede M stitch gaiters for the E30 from them, and when I got the scoob I asked if they'd do me a custom one, as they only sold leather ones. Got black suede with red stitch and it was the same price as standard, they're top quality.

Only recommending them as I'm really impressed with them, nothing to do with me personally.

[KevSeymour]

Thanks, but as with most things that i've done/will do to this car, i prefer the DIY option (as you'll see in my next post)

[KevSeymour]

Got a bit more done today, firstly my amp arrived back from The Amp Doctor, having been fully refurbed, so i wired that in. I didn't take any photo's of that because the wiring is a bit hap-hazard at the moment. I'll tidy it up during the week and take a photo.

By god do my speakers sound good now! I really don't think i need a sub, the deadening has had such a great effect. Very pleased.

Then i fitted my new gaitors, i gave the old red ones to my Mum to copy and she did a fine job.

After that, because i'm going to Supercars at Wilton House tomorrow i though i'd better give the car a clean. I even polished it, which isn't like me at all!

I've been driving around with my numberplate in the windscreen since i got the car, i've not been stopped but it's probably only a matter of time. All the while i've had a stick on number plate waiting to go on, i had been waiting to get the car resprayed but i've decided to put that off till next year now, so i fitted it today.

Then i took pictures...


IMG_6348 by kevseymour, on Flickr


IMG_6339 by kevseymour, on Flickr


IMG_6342 by kevseymour, on Flickr


IMG_6355 by kevseymour, on Flickr

I just need to sort out some S-Special mats now.