1990 Mazda Miata MX5 - service

[MiataMark]

Dec 20, 2020 13:04:53 GMT MiataMark said:

Oh and the reliable German Alfa replacement is potentially looking at a large bill for a possible coolant leak, known issue (N13B16?).

Postscript to this, a £7.50 'T' piece in the coolant system needed changing, sounds cheap but £300 labour (specialist not main dealer) to swap out.....

[jonomisfit]

If it just having a better visual appearance for a while is the goal, have you though about wrapping it?

The material isn't too expensive and you can get ok results at home

[ballbagbagins]

Could you try graffiti paint and if that looks pants take it to the bodyshop?

You could potentially waste the cash spent on graffiti paint if it turns out rubbish. Or, you could save 3.8k if you're happy with the graffiti paint.

You could even just spray one wing.

[tom13]

I know the final finish would be good but even with prices rising on mk1s now you can buy a pretty good one with nice paint for around 4k. You could have a very good job done for £1500. Not saying it would match your 4k paint quality but it would be nice and you wouldn't have to worry about smashing it on trackdays.

[craig1010cc]

I’d vote for either a graffiti paint job (have a look at the gloss finishes Rich has got on his 121 and pollits zx) or have a go at a roller paint job. Did my mini 10 years ago and it’s still looking good.

A cheap paint job will tidy it up, but also not make you afraid to use it in case it gets chip or scratch.

[MiataMark]

For the first time in long time I actually got out some spanners and did something on the MX5.

I've been meaning to get an offset number plate mounting for ages and finally ordered the parts from JASS. A couple of hours fumbling around in the wet underneath the front of the car and it was mounted up, not helped by potting on the bracket upside down to start with.

I cut down the size front number plate (not sure if this is legal).

Not sure I like how it is angled so might make up a different bracket, I';d also like to have it so it's easy to remove. I'll look to get as small a legal front plate as I can, still rectangular as I don't like having a square front plate.

Yes I need to give the front a claen and fill the holes from the number plate and the badge for a nice smooth look.

[MiataMark]

After sitting outside since well before the end of last year and the MOT ran out in December, I wasn't necessarily expecting it to start but first turn of key and it started up. So lets try an MOT, fully expected it to fail and driving there the idle is way up but surprisingly...

The advisories are the same as last MOT and should be simple to fix, I'll probably get the brake pipe fixed by the garage at teh next MOT. This is in stark contrast to the £600 it took to get the Discovery through its MOT. (The mileage is actually kms, so I did less than 300 miles in it last year)

What's next, Tax it, service it, use it a bit, get it painted (which will cost more than its value), there's a MX5 meet at the Haynes Motor Museum in July that is a good target.

Need to sort out the Idle control Valve but hopefully a bit of use will help.

For those eagle eyed MOT testers I did change the number plate for a legal one with the BS mark...

[MiataMark]

I decided to go ahead with the respray (full on restoration more like), but in order to keep the cost down I'm going to do some of the prep myself, mainly strip some of the paint and removal of anything I can get away with and still be able to drive to teh paint shop...

First things to go were the stickers on the back, being careful of the Miata badge. Then I've started on the paintwork, I;ll be mainly sticking to the flat panels and going back to what I guess is the primer, but at least getting past the bad top layer which is probably a bad respray.

Before



After



Bonnet next and filling some holes in the bumper, I've got some correct plastic bumper repair filler.

[MiataMark]

Full respray, doors/bonnet/boot off, windscreen out and replaced, lots of new seals etc. Aerial hole delete and number-plate/badge holes on front nose-cone filled.

Even the wife is impressed.

There are a few issues, the front bumper paint has cracked and will be replaced (whole nose cone at body shops cost). Need to replace the sidelights but MX5parts are out of stock for the ones I want and need a new passenger door mirror. Will go back to silver 14" Enkei wheels.



Don't ask how much....

[skodacious]

Looks awesome - hope those last few bits you mention get sorted easily 👍

[nickduncan]

Looks lovely, always nice to have a shiny car

[MiataMark]

To give an idea of how thorough the work was,





They normally work on Land-Rovers and Jaguars, although they normally have something more interesting on the go.

[MiataMark]

Discovery note, I know it;'s not the main purpose of this thread but occasional updates on the rest of the 'fleet' are allowed.

My wife reported hearing a 'thunk/clang' sound from the Discovery and then there was a grumbling noise on the over-run. Took it to L-R specialist we use, and rear diff had gone. Fitted a good second-hand unit for ~£300, runs much better now. Had a look at teh diff lots of bits of swarf and chips off the teeth, told the wife it was her aggressive driving

[westbay]

Brave,brave man ...

[MiataMark]

I've only been out in it twice and somehow I've picked up some damage, something has scraped the front (driver side) wheel arch... Looking back at the other images it definitely wasn't like that when I collected it.



It's going back tomorrow for the replacement nose cone, I'll get them to sort out this as well.

[nickduncan]

That's the problem with shiny paint, it seems to attract silly-billies that can't drive, hopefully it will buff out

[MiataMark]

Jul 7, 2022 15:01:00 GMT nickduncan said:

That's the problem with shiny paint, it seems to attract silly-billies that can't drive, hopefully it will buff out

Most of it will and the small chip can be filled, it's back at the body-shop for the replacement nose-cone they'll sort out the chip as well. Will get it back on Tuesday in time for an area MX5OC 'shine & show'...

[MiataMark]

Having a nice shiny car I decided to enter my first 'show', the MX5OC South Western region annual show and shine...

I'd got it back from the body shop the day before...

miata_130722-3 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

Some people were interested, did hear some comments about nice to see a car that was being used prompted by the roll cage.

miata_130722-1 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

miata_130722-2 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

Last years winner (not allowed to compete) a BBR turbo model

mx5oc_130722_4 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

mx5oc_130722_5 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

It was a hot evening,

mx5oc_130722_1 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

I do like the current (ND) model.

mx5oc_130722_10 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

This one divided opinion (I think the discussion was actually about headrest speakers though), not my cup of tea though.

mx5oc_130722_2 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

Nice Nardi steering wheel, not so sure about the 'veneer centre console.

mx5oc_130722_3 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

Nice wheels (14"), I think I'll go back to silver (or light grey) wheels.

mx5oc_130722_6 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

Fronts...

mx5oc_130722_8 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

and backs.

mx5oc_130722_7 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

I didn't win anything, let down by the state of the interior (it can't be anything to do with the paintwork).

The eventual winners for the categories (the different generations), the green MK1 took overall.

mx5oc_130722_9 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

Next year after I've sorted out the interior I'll be back!

[MiataMark]

This should probably go in the post 2000 area.

Both washers on my 1 series packed up, did look into doing it myself but various YouTube videos did show that it was quite involved. One video even had them removing the front wing (the washer bottle and pumps are hidden in the wing behind the front wheel). So took it to the BMW specialist I use, £335 later all fixed The charged £90 for diagnosis, where as I would just have assumed they were broken and dived straight in, the on-board computer told them they were inoperable.

Oh for the simplicity of older cars....

[MiataMark]

No not BMW E30 BBS alloys that I'd like as an alternative wheel for the MX5, but the boring wheels for the boring daily 1 series...

When I bought the car the wheels were in a bad state, lacquer lifting from the diamond cut etc, but I put off doing anything until I needed to change the tyres. The my wife managed to kerb both the drivers side wheels avoiding a cyclist, taking out both tyres and denting one rim, so new tyres were more urgent (luckily they were near to replacement anyway) so 4 new Uniroyal RainSports and put off the wheel refurb'.

The state of the wheels...



Last week were were in holiday so put the wheels in for a refurb', as they need the car for 5 days.

A few retro spots while on holiday, no pictures but an immaculate white and green Edsel Station Wagon in Minehead was a highlight. Having lunch at the Royal Oak (highly recommended) in Withypool (Exmoor) these were in the car park.



I particularly liked the A40 as my Uncle Basil had one and my cousin and myself used to sit in the boot area.

At the nearby coffee shop (also highly recommended) this pump is sadly not in use...



34p a gallon would be 7p a litre, unless my maths is way off.

For the wheel refurb' I opted not to have diamond cut and went for a light grey (BMW ferric grey), looks quite good I think (wheel centres are on order, £54 at BMW I've ordered some Bay copies at £11). I used Platinum Alloys in Swindon very good service, they had a classic gold 13" Ferrari wheel in that they were trying to colour match.

(For some reason that picture makes the MX5 look dirty around the wheel arch, it isn't).

Now I need to get the 14" Enkei hollow spoke alloys I've got for the MX5 sorted out.