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Mk1 MX5: Fresh pics. £700 or swopz


Fabergé Greggs

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My experience with MX5s is that they're pretty honest with rust and don't hide things that are terminal bad. There are quite a few places around now that will fix the rot properly for not too ridiculous a price. Poking your head around those bits with a bright torch and a poking stick will quickly tell you how bad it is. Of course this all depends on price and the actual condition (i.e. if the tester was overzealous or not). If sub £500 and a ticket, just go for it. If >£1k maybe not.

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Be aware that some very early Mk2's ('97-98) can look fine on top but be appalling underneath. No-one seems to know why this is. Later ones tend to be fine. 

 

Thought it was the other way round? The later cars with the double skinned chassis rails rot out whereas the early ones are single skin and are fine.

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Thought it was the other way round? The later cars with the double skinned chassis rails rot out whereas the early ones are single skin and are fine.

 

Well don't know about now as they are all over ten years old, the oldest being 19 or 20 so they are sort of entitled to rot but this was certainly true of early ones for some reason whereas Mk1's that were only a few years or so older seemed a lot better. I've seen a number of really awful Mk2 S & T-reg'd undersides with good uppers, as others have said, Mk1's tend to hide their rot less despite them being not that much different from each other. 

 

At the end of the day, it pays to always look underneath the car! (OK, preaching to the converted here). 

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Mine is an import though (and so was my first one) and they do tend to be in better nick, plus this one was very thoroughly rust proofed when it was imported - even inside panels and so underneath is mint (not an effin' Polo either!) and so are the subframes. However, it has had a new drivers side wheel arch (no idea why, not rusty) and the very bottom of this new panel is rusty as fook! The cill itself is fine and well proofed.

 

The MK3 I had was as rotten as a 4 month old pear everywhere underneath and there was not a trace of any rust proofing having ever been appied. I was appalled which is why I flogged it sharpish!

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Throw the rusty bits away, keep the fun bits and make them more fun.

 

exocet4.jpg

 

That one is from an American company and is called the Exomotive Exocet but I'm sure something similar can be sourced in Europe. Not the cheapest or a particularly practical way of doing things but it'd be a good use of one that is too far gone (especially if you turbo it  :-D).

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Mine is an import though (and so was my first one) and they do tend to be in better nick, plus this one was very thoroughly rust proofed when it was imported - even inside panels and so underneath is mint (not an effin' Polo either!) and so are the subframes. However, it has had a new drivers side wheel arch (no idea why, not rusty) and the very bottom of this new panel is rusty as fook! The cill itself is fine and well proofed.

 

The MK3 I had was as rotten as a 4 month old pear everywhere underneath and there was not a trace of any rust proofing having ever been appied. I was appalled which is why I flogged it sharpish!

 

Agreed, my first '5 was a '94 Eunos and despite having paintwork from hell (red - lacquer issues, need I say more), and having lead quite a hard life, it was in great condition underneath with only a little minor surface rust on the suspension etc. The only rust on the upper was (predictably) in the rear of the sills which when I stripped it back to weld it up, was not anywhere near as bad as I've encountered in the past with old British stuff. 

 

My current 1990 (keeper) '5 still has what looked like primer in the sills visible before I soaked it in Dinitrol! 

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^^ That's generally my experience too. (With the honourable exception of my Ex-Channel Island example). The couple of greys I've had have been great underneath. 

 

Ironic then that back in the day, those 'Awful grey-imports' were slagged off for - amongst other equally invalid/BS reasons - having little rustproofing etc!

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Throw the rusty bits away, keep the fun bits and make them more fun.

 

exocet4.jpg

 

That one is from an American company and is called the Exomotive Exocet but I'm sure something similar can be sourced in Europe. Not the cheapest or a particularly practical way of doing things but it'd be a good use of one that is too far gone (especially if you turbo it  :-D).

That's actually a uk design http://www.mevltd.co.uk/kit-cars/mev-exocet which the us licensee has improved. A a summer toy I think it would be amazing.

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That's actually a uk design http://www.mevltd.co.uk/kit-cars/mev-exocet which the us licensee has improved. A a summer toy I think it would be amazing.

 

Oh interesting. They say that if you sell off unused parts you can get the price down to about £2,200. Not a cheap way to fix a borderline terminal MX5 but an ace weekend/track car for possibly under £3k is damn good value when you look at it that way (if you ignore the fact that MX5 are already decent at those anyway...).

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I reckon it is quite a cool idea really.   The owner is a bit of a wide boy and has terrible taste in colours for his demo cars but as it keeps the MX-5 running gear and suspension geometry in a lighter package I think the design is sound overall.   Much better than most kit cars and also cheaper.

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Oh interesting. They say that if you sell off unused parts you can get the price down to about £2,200. Not a cheap way to fix a borderline terminal MX5 but an ace weekend/track car for possibly under £3k is damn good value when you look at it that way (if you ignore the fact that MX5 are already decent at those anyway...).

 

Looks good, sounds good, price is good, but.

I have built a few* Kit Cars.

The extra bits add up to quite a lot.

The screen for example is around £500........yes you don't need one, might as well have a bike then.

Would say £5,000 might get you somewhere near and its still a bargain at that.

I may look into it further.

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And when you take into consideration that the Caterham 160 starts at £17,495 and that's the cheapest car they do a decently appointed Exocet for £5k plus the price of a rotten MX5? Can't argue with that really.

 

dsc_3290_01.jpg

 

But when you come to sell, the Caterham will still be worth £17,000.

 

Well that's what they will ask for it!

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Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm won't get a chance to look at it until next weekend, until which time I'll absorb myself in mX5 buyers guides..

 

I should really be fixing my Daf and X1/9 instead, but the idea of using this as a WBoD in the meantime appeals muchly.

 

If it ain't too bad and the price is low, it'll be the most modern car I've ever owned..

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The results are in.. 

 

The cills are rusty behind some previous plates. It's had a recent cam belt, it's got 100,000 miles, good tyres, standard recent dampers, general wear and tear, but is generally honest and straight. Oh and it's an "merlot" special edition which means a Purple with grey leather- a bit lurid but befitting of the 90's. 

 

£700 has been mentioned.. 

 

YAY OR NAY? 

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£700 sounds like "MOT but tatty runner" to me. Isn't this more parked up and unused for several years? Given rear calipers seize for fun even when the cars are in use, there could be expenditure ahead.

Wrong MX5 thread! I hear you though. It's definitely one step above tatty.. 

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I wouldn't be that desperate at that money if its gone crusty. 

They drive nice

Does it smell? The smell of mine was the worst bit. Like a bad tent. 

 

EDIT: It's all worth it for the gearchange really, it genuinely is the best of anything ever.

 

 

I need to have a proper drive of it, but on a wee scoot around the car park I couldn't believe how short the lever and throw is. I kept on thinking it couldn't possibly be in gear when it totally was..

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