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The new adventures of brownnova! A lot of broken vehicles


brownnova

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7 hours ago, gm said:

somewhat predictably, the mk1 gets my vote - if it's in good condition, you and the young 'un can get out and enjoy driving it, safe in the knowledge that it will sell easily and maybe at a small profit when it is time to go. a needy mk3 could spoil the fun and end in resentment. 

being a late uk car, is it 1.6 or 1.8 ? remember this is when the 1.6 got de-tuned my Mazda to make the 1.8 appear more impressive :( (more likely for insurance costs or to target folk who just wanted a pretty convertible and weren't planning to hoon) 

but, most importantly, as has been said : pop up lights ! 

image-54f9bafa8aebd.thumb.jpg.7ebb3aabf665cc87fcb7ca25d90254c8.jpg

Our R reg mk1 1.6 monza mx5 takes poverty spec to. The extreme. 

92 bhp 

Keep fit windows. 

Key to open the boot.

Manual doors.

A heater but no air con.

Seat belts but no airbags

We retrofitted power steering which takes about 1/3 of the power. 

 

Needs new front wings. 

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I have had all three marks, all three were 1.8s mk1 and 2 were autos and the mk3 was a manual(the last manual car I drove!) I'll be honest and say 'I loved all three!' The mk1 was definitely the prettiest and felt the most fun but had more rattles and squeeks (not many though) and the Mk 3 felt very grown up compared to the others with a better roof operation (a whole 1 handle to twist instead of 2 on the others) and was a very solid feeling car. The mark three was also the rustiest of the sodding lot! Perfect on the top but brown underneath everywhere.

To be honest I'd have another mk3 but it would have to be an auto but I'd prefer a mk1 or 2 but manual -they are ust such fun cars to have.

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Good man - best of both! I think I always struggle with replacing a model of car with exactly the same model again. We missed our old Eunos after a reasonably lengthy ownership and I bought three mk1s after that in the intervening years. They just didn't feel like our original car though. We missed that specific car, and no imposter could replace it. 

Here's our original trying to get intimate with the Hilux I owned at that time.

Looking forward to your photos and of any developments with a mk3 too! 

IMG_20200817_121824_263.jpg

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2 hours ago, New POD said:

Our R reg mk1 1.6 monza mx5 takes poverty spec to. The extreme. 

92 bhp 

Keep fit windows. 

Key to open the boot.

Manual doors.

A heater but no air con.

Seat belts but no airbags

We retrofitted power steering which takes about 1/3 of the power. 

 

Needs new front wings. 

Of that spec list, the only thing I would change would be to add electric windows - the manual winder is in just the right place to dig in my knee on corners :( 

I've never driven a U.K. 1.6 car so am intrigued to see if they do feel underpowered - I suspect they are perfectly good for day to day life - it's still a great handling car that weighs next to nothing. 

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9 hours ago, gm said:

Of that spec list, the only thing I would change would be to add electric windows - the manual winder is in just the right place to dig in my knee on corners :( 

I've never driven a U.K. 1.6 car so am intrigued to see if they do feel underpowered - I suspect they are perfectly good for day to day life - it's still a great handling car that weighs next to nothing. 

It was quick enough, until we have the Power steering fitted. And the cam belt was replaced at the same time. Every since, it's felt like it's struggling a bit  in the mid range.  

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On 20/02/2021 at 12:21, brownnova said:

“Fancy some croissants for breaksfast”

”Yeah, that sounds nice”

”Ok I’ll nip to the shop, anything else we need?”

”A baguette for lunch if that’s ok?”

5EDD6D8D-1236-4039-971B-E0D48CCD4D3D.jpeg

Genuinely didn’t realise the cliche until I was walking out of Tesco towards the car. 😆

 

image.png

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11 hours ago, gm said:

Of that spec list, the only thing I would change would be to add electric windows - the manual winder is in just the right place to dig in my knee on corners :( 

I've never driven a U.K. 1.6 car so am intrigued to see if they do feel underpowered - I suspect they are perfectly good for day to day life - it's still a great handling car that weighs next to nothing. 

Didn’t feel too sluggish on the test run. I was worried it might do... but then I had travelled there in the 2CV so everything is relative 😆

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12 hours ago, gm said:

Of that spec list, the only thing I would change would be to add electric windows - the manual winder is in just the right place to dig in my knee on corners :( 

I've never driven a U.K. 1.6 car so am intrigued to see if they do feel underpowered - I suspect they are perfectly good for day to day life - it's still a great handling car that weighs next to nothing. 

My eldest is about to sell his Mk2 1.6 which is perhaps the Popular Plus spec.  By 2002 I think they all had ABS but this has electric windows, central locking, power steering and that’s it.

I had a 1.8 last year and the 1.6 doesn’t feel much slower, perhaps because it’s lower geared?  I can’t remember how many revs the 1.8 was doing at 70mph but this feels a bit busier

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36 minutes ago, New POD said:

I wonder if you can get a mk1 front end to fit. ? 

Why would you? I'm all about the curves and the integrated headlights. I must be the only 924 owner whose least favourite styling feature was the popup headlights...

Make that a 6 month ban then. 

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On 2/26/2021 at 1:25 AM, Ghosty said:

A clean mk1 is a good prospect, charming, engaging to drive, appreciating classic, pop up lights, etc. 

If you're thinking about another MX5, get the mk1. That, after all, is what you're missing, and long term, I reckon it's a lot better prospect.

Do keep in mind however that mk1 and 2 MX5 aren't approved to run E10 fuel according to gov.uk. 

Regarding the E10 fuel, can you elaborate please as I own a MK1. 

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  • brownnova changed the title to The new adventures of brownnova: A thread of collection related activities.
2 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Regarding the E10 fuel, can you elaborate please as I own a MK1. 

Most fuels, at least the standard 95ron widely available in the uk contains ethanol at 5% and you'll this stated as E5. There are other standards either currently available or potentially available in the future with high ethanol content such as E10 at 10% and for performance applications E85 is available in some counties.  Modern engines will happily take higher ethanol but older engines might have components,  usually made of rubber which slowly deteriorateans in ethanol and these engines should not use higher ethanol mixes. I assume that's what is meant,  I don't personally know what Mazda mx5 engines need or don't need.

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