Early mid-life crisis: the MX5 story. ***Minor job 16/8***

[fatharris]

Another change of vehicle.

 

 

Wales beckons.

 

[davehedgehog31]

MX5 are great little cars, a hoot to drive. 

[Jim Bell]

Are you just driving different cars round in circles? Youve been in about 4 so far and youre still not even in the right country.

[fatharris]

Are you just driving different cars round in circles? Youve been in about 4 so far and youre still not even in the right country.

ORLY?

 

Thirty seconds ago.

 

[Bucketeer]

I can't wait to see what's next. Another vehicle or another Harris.

I'm guessing they're meeting Rolf and his Nissan Serana diesel at the M4 services.

[fatharris]

TRAFFIC MAYHEM

[Twiggy]

Are you just driving different cars round in circles? Youve been in about 4 so far and youre still not even in the right country.

 

Yes, I was starting to think it`s a convoluted way of getting from Cambourne to................. it is Wales, isn`t it ?

 

 

TRAFFIC MAYHEM

 

Toll on the M4......... that`s par for the course this time on a summer Friday. Taking the M48 next ?

[hairnet]

ORLY?

 

Thirty seconds ago.

 

from 5 o clock this morning

 

rating: poor

[Supernaut]

Fucking hell!

 

Are you there yet?

 

I've done a full day at work, come home from work, then fitted a dashcam and fire extinguisher to my car in this time!

[fatharris]

We're having a brew before we set off.

[Twiggy]

Excellent ! Take care on the journey home

[gm]

Excellent ! Have fun on roundabouts and corners on the way home

[Jim Bell]

Set rightfoot to HOON.

Set course for starbase HARRIS.

 

Ready number two? Well hold it in.

 

ENGAGE!!!!!!!

[SiC]

Why did you go Bristol then Bath on the train and then double back on yourself to drive over the bridge on the busiest day of the year??! It's almost like you wanted to get stuck. Sounds lunatic. Why not take a train from Bristol to Wales??

[Bucketeer]

^^^^ Because you can never drive too many vehicles in a day or visit too many places beginning with B?

[fatharris]

About to go back on the road, top-down for the first time. Annoyingly, the moment the keys were handed over, it started to piss down with rain, it's down to a spit now so I'll go for it

[dollywobbler]

That Saab 900 was sitting in pretty much the same spot as the Honda S-MX when I waved goodbye to it back in May.

[fatharris]

We arrived home safely about an hour ago.

 

 

Now, the reason for the van.

 

 

Included in the purchase price of the car was an absolutely stonking spares package. This included:

 

A hard top

Front and rear bumpers

Bootlid

Bonnet

Full set of lights

Full set of alloys with decent tyres

Two leather tonneau covers

Another windbreaker

A monsoon car cover

Two doors

Set of headlight motors

Rear number plate panel

 

Amongst other things.

 

Full write up and pictures tomorrow, for now, it's time to relax before Chats heads back up in the morning to return the van.

 

All in all, an excellent day.

[fatharris]

And Chats has departed, heading back to Bath. Van has to be returned for 1pm otherwise we invite an additional two days' charges

 

Many heartfelt thanks to Alex, he made the trip so much fun!

[fatharris]

So, some photos, and a bit about the car.

 

 

It's a 1998 1.8 "Classic" run-out special for the MK1, with leather seats. This particular example has been owned by my friend Chris since 2011. It's been his daily commuter for ages until early this year.

 

It's by no means perfect, but it's a good place to start, thanks to a combination of mates rates, and the plethora of spares included.

 

It's not had a wash in at least six months and the local area is a bit of a building site at the moment, so it was very dusty.

 

The paints a bit faded:

 

 

There's a grotty OSF wing with paint runs to suggest it's not the first lease of life it's had.

 

 

There is also a crusty sill end. It's still very much solid and would pass an MOT like that, no bother.

 

 

Dirty rear end.

 

 

This sill has been properly, professionally replaced in recent years (paint blended in and everything). Nothing to worry about here.

 

 

Happy 1.8 twin cam buzz box. Think there's a sports exhaust too, as it sounds the bollocks when giving it the beans in 2nd gear.

 

 

 

Nice, clean, simple, unobtrusive dashboard display.

 

No fuel low light though. Bet that catches me out on day

 

 

Now, when I collected this, I said there was a unique downside that could be described in three words, and it wasn't "rusted to fuck".

 

It was....

 

MINOR TREE DAMAGE.

 

 

Yes, during a cold wet day, when pulling into a grassy passing pace, the MX5 just...carried on sideways a bit. Slowed a bit when it went into a muddy bit, before coming to rest via a tree.

 

 

As you can see, it's pushed the door handle in, and when I got in it, it wouldn't unlock.

 

 

So, straight into business as usual!

 

 

Door card came off, four screws in total and a few pop clips.

 

Gave the lock rod a sharp tug, and a wonderful "clunk" was heard.

 

 

SUCCESS.

 

For now, I'll keep the door card off to make it easier to lock/unlock, but when the weather improves, the plan is to swap the door out entirely.

 

It's also recently had a new lambda, cat, clutch slave, amongst other items.

 

The long term goal is to slowly bring back up to standard and keep it for summer use.

[gm]

Well purchased my first mx5 was a 1997 mk1 1.8, silver with red leather seats but with very similar spec to yours, cracking little car that was.

 

Your door doesn't look too bad, at least it's only the passenger side. That front wing though - yuk ! I would expect a battle with rusted bolts on that at every turn, I've changed a couple and the bracket between the plastic nose cone and the coroner of the wing is a bugger to get to. If everything else is undone, chop the bulk of the wing away for easier access to that tight corner. There's a 'secret' bolt inside the wing near the side repeater that can also be a pain to get to, many socket extensions are required there.

 

Or apply a bit of gaffer tape over the hole and get out and enjoy it

[gm]

Low fuel light kit - looks fairly straightforward

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Miniature-LED-Low-Fuel-Warning-Light-Module-696/251309976772?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D52956%26meid%3D60238ecf19c047978a16d9cacf642198%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D251309976772%26itm%3D251309976772&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A4dc90b5b-8ce9-11e8-97e2-74dbd1803ea8%7Cparentrq%3Abd02b8691640a9c555393cc7fff7267c%7Ciid%3A1

 

[Jim Bell]

Tell you what you cant buy mate; Character.

 

That cars got it.

 

Looks like a pisslaugh.

 

 

05 and 24 please.

[brownnova]

MX5s are amazing imo... I've had mine 3 years (a record for me) and I still love it every time I drive it.

 

Have fun with it!

[mitsisigma01]

Have fun , makes a perfect shitter with a bit of sparkly stick every now and then . Mines a mess , leaky , tappetty and other random noises but that's what the volume button is for on the stereo provided that the speakers haven't rotted in the door cards because they seem to soak up moisture better than a sponge . Enjoy

[fatharris]

I had a few hours free this evening, so I decided to spend it wisely. My parents are coming down tomorrow, so they're going to look after the boy for an hour whilst I take MrsH out in our new motor to await her approval. A bit of an issue if she has to clamber over the drivers seat to sit down!

 

 

Part of the spares haul included a replacement door in Brilliant Black, and as I couldn't unlock it with the door card fitted, I started the removal.

 

Door card was simple - four screws and the winder handle.

 

I disconnected the wiring loom - only the speaker cables run into the door - much easier than Herman's doors.

 

 

Next up, check strap pin. Tap with a hammer and punch to free it.

 

 

 

 

Then, four 12mm bolts. I chose to leave the hinges attached to the chassis to minimise any alignment issues.

 

The door is nice and light too - no helper required to lift it off.

 

 

Next up, I stripped the old door to remove the key barrel. The donor door didn't come with keys, and the drivers' door is a bit of a pain to lock. Will investigate later.

 

 

Door card came off the donor - I chose to re-use the original door card as the donor was dusty and I didn't want colour mismatches.

 

 

The access hole to pop the brown clip holding the rod. After that, it's just a spring clip holding the barrel on. This was the original barrel fitted in place.

 

Whilst the door was off, I cleaned the internal face adjacent to the hinges, as it's the easiest time to do so. I also greased the window runners.

 

 

Then, it was simply a case of threading the cable loom through the lightning hole, and attaching the four bolts. This time, the doors leading edge fouled on the front wing, so I used a washer on each bolt to give me the correct clearances.

 

 

Next, the speaker was refitted and the door card reattached. The previous door had a missing securing clip for the window winder - this was present on the donor door, so I used it.

 

 

And all done! A locking, working door that has a functional window (the skin damage on the old door prevented the window lowering)

 

 

Finally, last job of the night, I gave it a wash, and cleaned the glass internally.

 

 

Comes up pretty nicely! There are battle scars all over, but it doesn't detract from a pretty looking thing.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

[hairnet]

must do this one day

[Sigmund Fraud]

No fuel low light though. Bet that catches me out on day

 

They also don't have a "lights left on" warning buzzer ! Ask me how I know...

[mitsisigma01]

Was there a shield covering the back of the speaker , if not you'll be needing one , the speakers don't last long without one . Have you discovered if yours has speakers in the headrests ? Not exactly 6x9's but better than the door speakers directed at your legs !

[purplebargeken]

Well bought.

 

Would love to have a go in one at some point just to compare to the MGF.