New 'ish (to me)

[Tribal Chestnut]

Bought this on 13/2/11. Wonderful little car. My little girl loves it & the girlfriend is warming to it, especially after having a little pootle around.

Had to take it up to Liverpool (400 mile round trip) & had no issues at all, bit noisy perhaps & when warm the CD player packed in (not that I could hear it anyway), but other than that it was fantastic.

The wheel needs swapping for something of a sensible size (currently 365, prob go for 320) but other that that, at 6'2" I have no gripes squeezing in.

Unfortunately I do have a few grumbles, however. There is no central locking, which is a bh when the immobiliser is very keen & I have a Tot to strap in, & I managed to flatten the battery having left the sidelights on, so a little buzzer would have been handy. This latter issue results in my big moan - battery access. I know Japs are small, but getting the f*****g b****y c**t of a battery out was a right sod. Whoever designed the restraint strap in mine needs to suffer. Also, I managed to break both poxy fog lights reversing off a driveway when visiting my younger brother in Bristol.

Now getting a few creaks from the front suspension & I need to get the alignment sorted, so it looks like some new shocks might be in order. Need a roll bar too - any tips on who can S+F a good one in the Herts area? Tried P5 but they're not doing much ATM.

Strangely I've now started to get all excited when I see another Mk1, but no one else seems to care, apart from a bald chap I pass now & again.

Despite my whinges, I'm actually very happy with the car. Even contemplating a track day or two once the problems are sorted.

[-Pete-]

Tribal Chestnut said:

Bought this on 13/2/11...

Is it the one at the front or the back of the photo? Enjoy yourself!

[MX-5 Lazza]

When I had a Mk1 I don't think I ever drove it with just the sidelights on (If it's dark enough for side lights then it's dark enough for headlights) and you can't miss having the headlights on

The suspension creaks are more likely to be the front ARB bushes. Spray a bit of 3-in-1 or similar in them and see if that stops it.