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Binned my MX5 into a hedge, page 4


Slartibartfast

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I've got one of those!  I did a track day and came round a corner to find a flipped MX5 - nobody hurt because rollbar, I decided then and there to get one.  But as you say, the worry since has been getting rear-ended (I've got foam around it now but you're still supposed to wear a helmet).

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  • 1 year later...

Let me know if you want a hand with it, shouldn't be too bad a job - there is lots of room at least.

What are the symptoms/how far gone is it? slight coolant loss, mayo on the oil filler cap or full on swedish sauna experience? Might as well do the belt and tensioner while you're/we're in there, and possibly the thermostat too?

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  • 1 year later...

Good news! False alarm on the OMGHGF. The car still lives. Stanky came round with his fancy testing thing that changes colour if there are exhaust emissions in the coolant. Nada. Swapped the rad, job's a good'un.

Although an AA man did put some k-seal in it, so who knows, maybe that sorted it.

Either way I'm happy.

 

Now if only I could find the V5 so I could tax it. I know it's here somewhere.

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  • 7 months later...

LOOK AWAY XTRIPLE

 

I may have slightly binned this in to a hedge. Lost the rear out of a corner, up the kerb (knackering all four alloys :( I love those alloys). It's been written off as uneconomical repair by the insurer, but the damage as far as I can tell is pretty minor and very repairable. So I'm buying it as salvage and plan to use the insurance money to fix it back up.

Thankfully I was completely unhurt, and no other car was involved.

Note to self: once fixed, fit more grippy tyres. I'm not skilled enough to control unexpected drift.

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  • Slartibartfast changed the title to Binned my MX5 into a hedge, page 4

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I was extremely lucky to miss that signpost. I wouldn't have walked away from that.

Looks like the rollover bar added a lot of strength to the chassis at the rear, so there doesn't appear to have been any chassis deformation. One of the shocks is dead. Guess that's the excuse I needed to finally get it on coilovers. All four alloys have either massive dents or chunks taken out of them. Which is a shame because I think they're pretty rare and they look great. I do have some replacements sorted already, something a bit more interesting than the stock MX5 alloys which I don't care for at all.

This is of course all assuming that there isn't any more severe damage. I get the impression the garage didn't look at it too hard. They just noted the need to replace a shock and four alloys on a £1500 vehicle and went ... nope.

This car is too damn good to abandon.

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2 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Did you get a green light from round the side or were you coming from the main road .... Did you have a blowout ....not much of a corner there 🤔🐈

There was a bend, but not a dramatic one. My own fault entirely.

2 hours ago, Back_For_More said:

Have you tried it moving under it's own power since this happened? What's it feel like? Looked at it at all?

Did it haul onto the recovery truck without too many grinding noises or anything falling off?

 

Put it in reverse in an attempt to get it out of the hedge, engine behaved normally, wheels did not move. Driveshaft(s) may be damaged, diff may be damaged, who knows?

Getting it down the kerb and onto the recovery truck was a challenge with one rear strut completely collapsed. The recovery guys, who were at the tail ends of their shift (and one was SUPER grumpy about having another job taking him too far away from home at 2am when he had to be up to take his kid to school next day) but they were very careful and admired the car. They gave it a look over as much as they could and seemed to think there wasn't much in the way of damage.

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Glad you walked away uninjured, it's never fun sliding towards stationary objects :( 

If it's just suspension damage, there are plenty of these being broken for parts - I'd be buying it back off the insurance if they write it off, I hope you've got it stored somewhere safe. 

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What @Jim Bell said. The metal shiny bits are replaceable. The pink fleshy bits aren't. In other words I'm glad you're ok. 

You could even get another scrap MK2 and make one good car from the best bits. 

This assumes you have unlimited time, money, space and tools. And teabags. 

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