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9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

 So it looks like it needs a new plug - I'll treat it to a full set, I'll take that over an alternator replacement any day.  I reckon the plug was getting towards the end of its life anyway (the car had been stood for ages which probably didn't help) and all the farting and spluttering the car did when the battery was running out was enough to put the final nail in its coffin.

It's worth doing the plug wires while you are at it on those engines too. New plugs and ignition leads make a massive difference to performance on them. mx5parts is the general go-to place for decent bits. 

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On 6/18/2019 at 6:24 PM, chaseracer said:

...the Blingo shat its crankshaft sensor...

Said component is here, courtesy of my excellent neighbours' equally excellent son, who happens to be a mechanic at the very dealership I bought the car from all those years ago.

I shall attempt to fit it today.

PRACE BETS NOW!

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Had some family business in the midlands. Normally that means me in the MX and @Mrsbrownnova in the Saab. But with the MX5 now out of MoT, and the Saab having failed it’s MoT on Friday it meant a quandary. 

With no dangerous fails I took the Saab which left Mrs_brownnova to utilise the 2CV all day. On my arrival back home last night she has announced that she enjoyed being in the 2CV all day so much that we’re definitely getting another 2CV... 

She’s definitely a keeper! 

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16 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Had some family business in the midlands. Normally that means me in the MX and @Mrsbrownnova in the Saab. But with the MX5 now out of MoT, and the Saab having failed it’s MoT on Friday it meant a quandary. 

With no dangerous fails I took the Saab which left Mrs_brownnova to utilise the 2CV all day. On my arrival back home last night she has announced that she enjoyed being in the 2CV all day so much that we’re definitely getting another 2CV... 

She’s definitely a keeper! 

I'm still trying to convince Mrs SiC to drive the MGB but failing. Even only driving up to the garage. :(

She says she has zero interest in driving my old cars. I shouldn't complain too much as she doesn't mind travelling in them though (yet).

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1 hour ago, chaseracer said:

Said component is here, courtesy of my excellent neighbours' equally excellent son, who happens to be a mechanic at the very dealership I bought the car from all those years ago.

I shall attempt to fit it today.

PRACE BETS NOW!

That went well.

Even the HBoL says, with typically misleading understatement, that "access is difficult" on the 2.0HDi, whereas the pez and the 1.9D appear to be a doddle by comparison.  First, I made a list of the things I would have to remove and - more importantly - replace in such a way that the car worked afterward.  Then I made a cup of tea.

Sensibly, I've decided to mow the lawn instead and call Tame Mechanic in the morning.

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Treated the Prelude to a good clean since its a rare nice day in Glasgow, driven over 300 miles in it this week in mostly rainy conditions so it was manky. I've been debating with myself all week whether to sell or buy something else to run alongside it, I could be doing with a more economical wafter as the mileage this week will become the norm.  Having 2+ motors hasn't really worked for me in the past though as I usually just drive one and the others just sit doing nothing but costing me tax and insurance. So meh basically 

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Had a quick drive down the m3 to Basingstoke to view this x1/9 at lunchtime. Got a message from prospective purchaser that the people were out all day, but I could look at it on the drive if I wanted.  

Didn’t go entirely to plan as I managed to dent a plastic panel on an Audi parked on the road. No damage to the Mercedes at all. I checked with the neighbours, including the old dear next door who cheerfully told me how she’d mistaken the brake for accelerator last year and shot across the road and knocked down the lampost! However, no neighbours knew the car. Probably means the owner is out with the fiat seller. No paper or pen on me, so have let the potential x1/9 buyer know to pass on my details if they ask.  I’ve a feeling it could just pop back out if you could get behind the wheelarch liner. 

Anyway, car was ok, but not spectacular. I took lots of pics. How old do you reckon the tyres are? I could only see one with a date code, and that was 1997!

Not too shabby, but a few marks here and there and some bubbling round the screen. One wheelarch needs work and it needs a new radiation ASAP. Advert said no rust and it was £5500.

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That went well.
Even the HBoL says, with typically misleading understatement, that "access is difficult" on the 2.0HDi, whereas the pez and the 1.9D appear to be a doddle by comparison.  First, I made a list of the things I would have to remove and - more importantly - replace in such a way that the car worked afterward.  Then I made a cup of tea.
Sensibly, I've decided to mow the lawn instead and call Tame Mechanic in the morning.
Yeah, I did that with EGR valve, I got as far as bring up to my elbow in grotty oil before thinking "balls to this"

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

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17 hours ago, EssDeeWon said:

Thats interesting because my NS chrome bullet mirror on my 75 has been broken for ages, had tape around it since like forever.   So how much of a pain and what DIY skills are required to remove the old one and replace with a non broken unit?  Does the door card have to come off?   I only ask that as I read somewhere once that it did if you wanted to replace the door mirrors.

yes, the door card and the liner thing around the window has to come off too, the mirror is held on with 3 8mm bolts/nuts behind where the tweeter speaker in the corner of the door lives and all that need to come off to get access to them. you don't need to interfere with the speaker itself, just all the liner thing with the speaker grill needs to be lifted off, and to do that, the door card needs to come off.

worse part is getting the door card on and off, it is held on by 2 big spring clip things in the middle of the door card. sometimes they are a proper 'mare to get on and off.

as for diy type skill level, well, i managed it without stabbing myself of blowing anything up, and i am  a menace to myself when using a screwdriver.

when i pick up a "tool" local tradesmen start to weep....

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today we have been over to Sedgefield to the new car show at Hardwick Hall Hotel. these are some of the things that we have seen, and yes, we did attend a Rover 75 club stand thing in a Mini 1000.

well i use the old Rover everyday for work, so weekend time i want to drive something else. And Rodney Mini been the current favorite. 

i enjoy the basic nature of the car, and the fact that we are now getting along, means that i am enjoying the car like i hoped i would last year, when each time i used it the cart would break....

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Stuck the MX5 up on the ramps today for a poke about.  I should start by saying that the photo I took of it yesterday flatters it somewhat - the hood is scruffy, it has rust bubbling up round the rear arches, and the nearside front wing is not quite the right shade of blue.  It's still a respectable enough looking thing though, especially from the driver's side.

Condition wise it's much as I expected.  The offside rear arch is bubbling up at the top, the nearside is going round the front edge above the sill.  The offside sill is on its way out at the back as they usually are - I reckon the rearmost 8" or so will need replacing / plating over for a test.  The nearside sill appears to have been done at some stage and is in better shape, but that is going around the wheelarch lip as well.  The rest of the underside and the subframes don't look too bad - there's surface rust, but I couldn't find any real grot, and the rear subframe goes "clong" rather than "crunch" when stabbed with a screwdriver, which is good.  So overall not as bad as it could have been, and definitely not the worst MX5 I've seen.  And it was cheap enough that I can forgive it a lot.

I took it for a spin up the coast road this afternoon - the first drive I've really had of it on "proper" roads as the run home was almost all motorway and dual carriageway.  It was most enjoyable, although it took me a little while to get used to how sensitive MX5 steering is, and it confirmed that the missfire is indeed only when lugging at low revs - pottering along is OK, and caning the crap out of it is fine too - I took it up to the redline a couple of times and it was smooth as you like.  Not massively quick, as it's only a 1.6, but nippy enough to get past the Sunday afternoon ditherers.

I've bought it a new pair of wiper blades (why does every single car I buy have shagged wiper blades?) but that's all I've done to it thus far - I'll order a set of plugs and do those next weekend.  I also need to have a play with the hood as it's not folding down quite as far as it should, and the radio doesn't currently work (not that I'd spend much time listening to the radio in an MX5 anyway), but other than that all seems shipshape.

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On 6/23/2019 at 12:19 PM, brownnova said:

Had some family business in the midlands. Normally that means me in the MX and @Mrsbrownnova in the Saab. But with the MX5 now out of MoT, and the Saab having failed it’s MoT on Friday it meant a quandary. 

With no dangerous fails I took the Saab which left Mrs_brownnova to utilise the 2CV all day. On my arrival back home last night she has announced that she enjoyed being in the 2CV all day so much that we’re definitely getting another 2CV... 

She’s definitely a keeper! 

So, after 2 car purchases, 2 car departures (counting Kermit), a house purchase and an engagement, you decide now I’m a keeper? ??‍♀️?

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