Bringing my brother’s ‘92 MX5 mk1 SE back to life
Discussion
I figured that as this is going to be a long project, I might as well start a project page to detail the process along the way. Don’t expect it to be fast paced, I can see this taking quite a while given some of the things needed.
I’ve recently found myself the owner of a sort of barn find 1992 SE version mk1. It’s sort of a barn find because it’s been in my barn for 7 years as it belonged to my little brother who had to park it off road as it needed the sills doing and he planned to do some upgrades at the same time.
As projects often do, it slipped when he had kids and it just sat there for years. Very sadly, during the first lockdown last year, my little brother took his own life. It’s taken a year for me to get round to the Mazda and I’d like to bring it back to life as something to hold on to that was his as I have lovely memories of driving places in it with him.
As you can imagine after 7 years in a barn, it’s going to need a fair bit of work. Most immediately, I’ve found that mice have eaten into the wiring so most of the wires under the bonnet are damaged. I need to pick up a loom and try to replace all the various bits under there, hoping it will mostly be a case of unplugging and replugging the various sections. At the same time, I want to remove the alarm/immobiliser because the fob no longer works and I hate alarms anyway. He had a new set of shocks waiting to go on along with a full set of poly bushes.
If I can get the car running by sorting the wiring loom, then it would probably be a case of pulling off the shocks, brakes, wishbones and subframes. Blast and paint the frames and wishbones, replace all the bushes, fit new shocks and then refurb the callipers and might as well fit 1.8 size new discs and pads. Oh and new tyres because they’ve perished.
Cosmetically the car is in reasonable shape, the interior, despite a bit of surface mould on the seat should come up with a decent scrub some leather treatment and the hood needs a new zip out window section.
I’m expecting this to be a long process and, while it’s not ‘money no object’, I’m not trying to make a profit because I plan to keep it long term and just get it to a point where I can enjoy driving it on nice days and perhaps the odd track day and keep it going in my brother’s memory because he loved it.
I also know that I’m bound to uncover more things that need doing once I get started. I’m sure I’ll be in need to lots of advice along the way.
I’ve recently found myself the owner of a sort of barn find 1992 SE version mk1. It’s sort of a barn find because it’s been in my barn for 7 years as it belonged to my little brother who had to park it off road as it needed the sills doing and he planned to do some upgrades at the same time.
As projects often do, it slipped when he had kids and it just sat there for years. Very sadly, during the first lockdown last year, my little brother took his own life. It’s taken a year for me to get round to the Mazda and I’d like to bring it back to life as something to hold on to that was his as I have lovely memories of driving places in it with him.
As you can imagine after 7 years in a barn, it’s going to need a fair bit of work. Most immediately, I’ve found that mice have eaten into the wiring so most of the wires under the bonnet are damaged. I need to pick up a loom and try to replace all the various bits under there, hoping it will mostly be a case of unplugging and replugging the various sections. At the same time, I want to remove the alarm/immobiliser because the fob no longer works and I hate alarms anyway. He had a new set of shocks waiting to go on along with a full set of poly bushes.
If I can get the car running by sorting the wiring loom, then it would probably be a case of pulling off the shocks, brakes, wishbones and subframes. Blast and paint the frames and wishbones, replace all the bushes, fit new shocks and then refurb the callipers and might as well fit 1.8 size new discs and pads. Oh and new tyres because they’ve perished.
Cosmetically the car is in reasonable shape, the interior, despite a bit of surface mould on the seat should come up with a decent scrub some leather treatment and the hood needs a new zip out window section.
I’m expecting this to be a long process and, while it’s not ‘money no object’, I’m not trying to make a profit because I plan to keep it long term and just get it to a point where I can enjoy driving it on nice days and perhaps the odd track day and keep it going in my brother’s memory because he loved it.
I also know that I’m bound to uncover more things that need doing once I get started. I’m sure I’ll be in need to lots of advice along the way.
Ok, so I seem to officially have a project. Today I went out with the shop vac and removed years of mouse nests, dust, cobwebs, nuts and straw from the engine bay and gave it a good brush over. I can now see just how much of the loom has been nibbled away.
Last time my brother came down, he found the mice had eaten the HT leads so bought some more and those were stored on the shelf. Unfortunately, he didn’t stuff anything into the plug wells and they were full of solid corrosion. Took me two hours with a screwdriver steadily chipping away at it then blowing the bits out with the compressor and vaccuuming them away before I could get a socket on it and gradually get them all loose. I’ve left them in for now and have shoved shop towel into the wells to keep them clean. Also had to take the air filter and shroud off to get to worst of the mouse debris so shoved some shop towel into the air intake so stop anything getting in there too.
Once that was done I cleared out the boot, took out the carpet and gave that a good brush and vacuum. Theres a bit of light rust where the battery goes and where the jack is stored but it’s fairly surface and I’ll add that to the list of work as it’ll need wire brushing, treatment and then some sort of paint or sealant before the carpet goes back.
A quick vacuum through the inside and that was the car done for today so I put some spare shelves in the barn behind the car so I can start storing bits for it until they’re needed. I have another set of shelves to bring in from the other barn which has all the spares he’d bought on them so they can all come to one place.
The next job would seem to be trying to find a replacement engine bay loom for a '92 1.6 SE with anti lock brakes. I called Autolink and they said that looms are so different from model to model you really need to find exactly the same model to get a loom from which sounds like it could be a tough call. Anyone have thoughts on whether that’s true or would most mk1 looks be fairly similar?
As always, pictures:
Last time my brother came down, he found the mice had eaten the HT leads so bought some more and those were stored on the shelf. Unfortunately, he didn’t stuff anything into the plug wells and they were full of solid corrosion. Took me two hours with a screwdriver steadily chipping away at it then blowing the bits out with the compressor and vaccuuming them away before I could get a socket on it and gradually get them all loose. I’ve left them in for now and have shoved shop towel into the wells to keep them clean. Also had to take the air filter and shroud off to get to worst of the mouse debris so shoved some shop towel into the air intake so stop anything getting in there too.
Once that was done I cleared out the boot, took out the carpet and gave that a good brush and vacuum. Theres a bit of light rust where the battery goes and where the jack is stored but it’s fairly surface and I’ll add that to the list of work as it’ll need wire brushing, treatment and then some sort of paint or sealant before the carpet goes back.
A quick vacuum through the inside and that was the car done for today so I put some spare shelves in the barn behind the car so I can start storing bits for it until they’re needed. I have another set of shelves to bring in from the other barn which has all the spares he’d bought on them so they can all come to one place.
The next job would seem to be trying to find a replacement engine bay loom for a '92 1.6 SE with anti lock brakes. I called Autolink and they said that looms are so different from model to model you really need to find exactly the same model to get a loom from which sounds like it could be a tough call. Anyone have thoughts on whether that’s true or would most mk1 looks be fairly similar?
As always, pictures:
So it’s been a little while, I picked up the steam cleaner and gave the engine bay a once over which revealed just how badly the loom is damaged. I’ve been trying to find a replacement loom but finding one with ABS is proving to be nigh on impossible.
The lovely people at MX5Mania have been trying to source one but they’ve not been able to find anything either. So there appears to be three options really.
Pull the entire loom out and replace it with a standard loom from a 1.6 NA, I’d have to replumb the brakes and this option would leave me with no abs.
Buy a standard 1.6 loom and then splice in sections of the new loom where the damaged sections are in the old loom. 1 cable at a time, soldering and heatshrinking everything. For sections of the ABS wiring, I’d just have to make up new bits from the remaining new loom peices. Turns out NA looms are built as a single piece, there are no connectors so it’s an all or nothing change.
Just wait and hope for the correct loom to turn up on the used market but that might not even happen so let’s discount that.
Given I’m planning to up grade the power eventually. I’d really like to keep ABS as I think it’s one of the best safety devices on modern cars (despite learning to cadence brake many years ago) but it does sound like a really tough way of doing things and very time consuming. Plus I’d be left with a loom that’s full of repairs and solder joints so any future problems would be a nightmare to trace down I expect.
Any thoughts on those two options from the crowd?
The lovely people at MX5Mania have been trying to source one but they’ve not been able to find anything either. So there appears to be three options really.
Pull the entire loom out and replace it with a standard loom from a 1.6 NA, I’d have to replumb the brakes and this option would leave me with no abs.
Buy a standard 1.6 loom and then splice in sections of the new loom where the damaged sections are in the old loom. 1 cable at a time, soldering and heatshrinking everything. For sections of the ABS wiring, I’d just have to make up new bits from the remaining new loom peices. Turns out NA looms are built as a single piece, there are no connectors so it’s an all or nothing change.
Just wait and hope for the correct loom to turn up on the used market but that might not even happen so let’s discount that.
Given I’m planning to up grade the power eventually. I’d really like to keep ABS as I think it’s one of the best safety devices on modern cars (despite learning to cadence brake many years ago) but it does sound like a really tough way of doing things and very time consuming. Plus I’d be left with a loom that’s full of repairs and solder joints so any future problems would be a nightmare to trace down I expect.
Any thoughts on those two options from the crowd?
One thing I have bought is replacement brakes. Trying to move the car showed the brakes to be seized and I ended up having to drag the car with the tractor and a pulley system to get it back in the barn. So, for the sake of just being able to push it around within the barn it makes sense to sort the brakes out. I could refurbish all the callipers myself which is a bit of a sod of a job but I’d like to upgrade the brakes at some point anyway and MX5Mania had a very lightly used big brake kit that had just come off a car so that’s sitting here waiting to go on and I might as well fit some braided lines while I’m at it and that’s an entire new uprated braking system to be fitted with new fluid for the princely sum of around £300.
A great and also somewhat sombre project. It looks like a good little car though, I like the wheels, don't think I've seen them before. Not much more to add really other than I will be watching and best of luck with it. I'm passively looking for an MX5 myself, used to have a Eunos about 10 years ago which we really miss, but I dread to think what shape its in by now, it had 260k kms on when we sold it!
Very sorry to read about your brother.
As for the car, are all of the wires beyond saving? Would it be impossible to work out which are the critical ones to bring power to the ECU, fuel pump etc, just so you can go through the basics of spark, fuel and compression? Obviously you'd want more durable replacements long term but that might be a good first step?
As for the car, are all of the wires beyond saving? Would it be impossible to work out which are the critical ones to bring power to the ECU, fuel pump etc, just so you can go through the basics of spark, fuel and compression? Obviously you'd want more durable replacements long term but that might be a good first step?
SafetyThird said:
One thing I have bought is replacement brakes. Trying to move the car showed the brakes to be seized and I ended up having to drag the car with the tractor and a pulley system to get it back in the barn. So, for the sake of just being able to push it around within the barn it makes sense to sort the brakes out. I could refurbish all the callipers myself which is a bit of a sod of a job but I’d like to upgrade the brakes at some point anyway and MX5Mania had a very lightly used big brake kit that had just come off a car so that’s sitting here waiting to go on and I might as well fit some braided lines while I’m at it and that’s an entire new uprated braking system to be fitted with new fluid for the princely sum of around £300.
I’m sorry to hear about your brother and restoring this car should help with the better memories you have. I would check the state of the brake hardlines first before changing any part of the system, and look at it as a whole, master cylinder included. I would do a survey of everything and anything in doubt just replace it.With regards to the wiring harnesses just get replacements if your time poor, if not make up new ones if you can get the connectors.
Car looks great in black on those wheels. Sounds like it'll be a labour of love, it'll still presumably need the sills fixing that it was originally laid up for, plus all the subsequent deterioriation. But NAs are recognised as classics and it looks great and has good memories, so worth it for non-financial reasons.
On the brakes... I had a 200hp S13 for four years with no ABS, drove it a fair bit, and never felt it was a liability. Given that it sounds like restoring the ABS is going to be an obstacle to your progress, when there's so much that needs doing, my personal thought would be if you can't obtain an ABS loom, go back to non-ABS just in order to be able to make progress with the car.
I had a SE about 20years ago and relived my youth buying a 92 in Nov 20. Got it back on the road and sold it in the spring as it really wasn’t as good as I remembered.
Looks like yours has a couple of extras on it from standard SE spec. I had to replace the brake lines front to back on mine and they were different due to the ABS.
Have you tried Autosparks for the loom? They have been used on Salvage Hunters:classic cars a couple of times and say they can make any loom to order - https://www.facebook.com/autosparkslimited/
I still have a workshop manual for the Mk1 - if it’s any use to you, PM me your address and I’ll send it over
Good luck with the project and keep the updates coming
Looks like yours has a couple of extras on it from standard SE spec. I had to replace the brake lines front to back on mine and they were different due to the ABS.
Have you tried Autosparks for the loom? They have been used on Salvage Hunters:classic cars a couple of times and say they can make any loom to order - https://www.facebook.com/autosparkslimited/
I still have a workshop manual for the Mk1 - if it’s any use to you, PM me your address and I’ll send it over
Good luck with the project and keep the updates coming
Likewise my sympathies there. There's a BMW 318 Compact in my outbuilding which belongs to a 5 year old girl due to a similar tragedy. I find myself a trustee for her too. It's a really awful thing to happen.
I've long liked MX-5s. My dad prefers Mk1s and I've had 2 Mk2.5s. My current Mk2.5 needs new wings front and rear. I have the panels but haven't had the time to do the metal work yet.
I look forward to following your project at your own pace. If your barn is nice and dry then the brakes would be a good idea. If not, then there's a chance the new discs will rust up and the calipers get sticky during the ongoing project, so depending on that I might be more tempted to just remove the brakes and secure the car with chocks until it's nearer time to go driving.
I too might be tempted to repair the existing wiring loom and wait until such times as you can get the correct one. You have plenty metal work to keep you busy by the sounds of it and by the nature of these things you'll find a bit extra rust repair on the inner sills when you remove the outers. I'd concentrate on the hot work first and worry about the more "systems" type things once the shell is ready to go.
I've long liked MX-5s. My dad prefers Mk1s and I've had 2 Mk2.5s. My current Mk2.5 needs new wings front and rear. I have the panels but haven't had the time to do the metal work yet.
I look forward to following your project at your own pace. If your barn is nice and dry then the brakes would be a good idea. If not, then there's a chance the new discs will rust up and the calipers get sticky during the ongoing project, so depending on that I might be more tempted to just remove the brakes and secure the car with chocks until it's nearer time to go driving.
I too might be tempted to repair the existing wiring loom and wait until such times as you can get the correct one. You have plenty metal work to keep you busy by the sounds of it and by the nature of these things you'll find a bit extra rust repair on the inner sills when you remove the outers. I'd concentrate on the hot work first and worry about the more "systems" type things once the shell is ready to go.
@mattman thanks very much for the kind offer of the manual, but I have a couple of them already.
As you can see, the loom is chewed everywhere, there's barely any of it left untouched so I think repairing it is a non-starter.
So either do the abs delete, which you can get kits for such as https://www.prolinebraidedlines.com/products/mazda... along with a master cyclinder and servo off a non-abs machine, which is easy to come by from the breakers
or have an entire loom built by auto sparks but I can imagine that costing a small fortune and they won't even quote unless I send them the old loom.
Annoyingly, the loom was built in one piece, there are not connectors except at the ends of the loom.
As you can see, the loom is chewed everywhere, there's barely any of it left untouched so I think repairing it is a non-starter.
So either do the abs delete, which you can get kits for such as https://www.prolinebraidedlines.com/products/mazda... along with a master cyclinder and servo off a non-abs machine, which is easy to come by from the breakers
or have an entire loom built by auto sparks but I can imagine that costing a small fortune and they won't even quote unless I send them the old loom.
Annoyingly, the loom was built in one piece, there are not connectors except at the ends of the loom.
MrBig said:
Is a replacement loom from an ABS breaker car an option?
Been trying to find one for a while now. The mk1 1.6 with ABS is very rare, abs was only available on the special edition model and, after 30 years, they're rare as hens teeth. Even standard looms seem thin on the ground now.This is going to be a great tribute to your brother and a lovely thing to own that will help you remember him in happy times ever time you see it. If ever there was a great reason to resurrect a car, this is it.
On the ABS/wiring issue. If it is any help at all in your decision on how to tackle this, I've had four NA's and the only one I didn't like was a late UK car with ABS. ABS wasn't what is now. It was crude, and would kick in far too early and clumsily and frankly I'd much favour my chances on a non-ABS car in an emergency. It's far easier to bleed the brakes without it too. It should be easy enough to un-plumb the unit as you'll then be using parts from any old MX5. You'll need to get rid of the dash warning light I imagine but it seems a far better route overall than a difficult fix on a unit that wasn't much use in the first place.
On the ABS/wiring issue. If it is any help at all in your decision on how to tackle this, I've had four NA's and the only one I didn't like was a late UK car with ABS. ABS wasn't what is now. It was crude, and would kick in far too early and clumsily and frankly I'd much favour my chances on a non-ABS car in an emergency. It's far easier to bleed the brakes without it too. It should be easy enough to un-plumb the unit as you'll then be using parts from any old MX5. You'll need to get rid of the dash warning light I imagine but it seems a far better route overall than a difficult fix on a unit that wasn't much use in the first place.
I think I'm definitely leaning towards removing the abs. There's so much to do and repairing that would be a really long and difficult task. many of the wires are so short you'd have to remove them from the plugs to replace and that's bound to end up damaging the plugs beyond repair and then you're back to square one.
Current plan is to get it up on stands and possibly build a frame for the chassis rails to sit on rather than just have it on axle stands. Then in no particular order do the following.
remove wheels, brakes and shocks
remove bonnet
removes seats
remove interior carpet
remove front wings & bumper
use a suspension bar to support engine
remove loom
remove front subframe
remove suspension wishbones etc
remove rear subframe
remove abs system and all brake lines
strip bushes from suspsension arms and subframe
blast and powder coat suspension arms and subframes
repair rusted sills and possible rear wings if needed
treat surface rust on inner wings and coat with undersea of some type. Not sure which options to use for this yet.
treat surface rust in engine bay.
treat surface rust under car and wheel wells
treat surface rust in boot
fit new loom
new braided brake lines throughout
new poly bushes into suspension arms and subframe
new silicone hoses throughout engine bay
refit subframes and suspension arms etc
fit new suspension (coil overs already in hand)
fit new brakes (big brake kit already purchased)
refurbish wheels and fit new tyres
refit wings/carpet etc
see if it starts
service engine.
MOT
Drive it at last.
Current plan is to get it up on stands and possibly build a frame for the chassis rails to sit on rather than just have it on axle stands. Then in no particular order do the following.
remove wheels, brakes and shocks
remove bonnet
removes seats
remove interior carpet
remove front wings & bumper
use a suspension bar to support engine
remove loom
remove front subframe
remove suspension wishbones etc
remove rear subframe
remove abs system and all brake lines
strip bushes from suspsension arms and subframe
blast and powder coat suspension arms and subframes
repair rusted sills and possible rear wings if needed
treat surface rust on inner wings and coat with undersea of some type. Not sure which options to use for this yet.
treat surface rust in engine bay.
treat surface rust under car and wheel wells
treat surface rust in boot
fit new loom
new braided brake lines throughout
new poly bushes into suspension arms and subframe
new silicone hoses throughout engine bay
refit subframes and suspension arms etc
fit new suspension (coil overs already in hand)
fit new brakes (big brake kit already purchased)
refurbish wheels and fit new tyres
refit wings/carpet etc
see if it starts
service engine.
MOT
Drive it at last.
Good luck in restoring the car, it's a great thread.
I've not had an MX5 before so I can't suggest much to help from experience, but I have worked with a few low volume/specialist wiring contractors, and having watched bad obsession they rebuilt the wiring loom for binky. Could a motorsport loom manufacturer re-build the broken sections of your wiring or build the broken ABS sections into the loom of a breaker?
I've not had an MX5 before so I can't suggest much to help from experience, but I have worked with a few low volume/specialist wiring contractors, and having watched bad obsession they rebuilt the wiring loom for binky. Could a motorsport loom manufacturer re-build the broken sections of your wiring or build the broken ABS sections into the loom of a breaker?
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