hoodedreeper's MX5 NC1 Sport

[Bozwell]

this'll sound like the usual cliche, but they really do feel like they are on rails. With the true 50/50 weight distribution it takes quite a bit to unsettle them on cornering.

Mine was in a similar condition to when you first got yours, just a little bit of corrosion now appearing on the right rear wheel arch and the rear underside part of the sills starting to corrode. The perils of using one in the snow and salt.

I have had a Honda S2000 for about a year but just couldn't gel with it. For me using it as an everyday driver the MX5 is a much better car. Also the S2000 would do about 28 miles to the Gallon but in the MX5 I was getting 38 MPG.

[Bozwell]

that's the only picture I have of it.

No modifications apart from 215/45x17 tyres. Makes the speedo accurate though with the slightly higher tyre wall.

The original buyer ticked a few boxes for extras. It has the pedals, the chrome roll over bars, the hard top, bonnet gas struts and did have the funky fuel filler cap but that has been changed back to a standard one at some point.

I may do something with it one day?

[hoodedreeper]

I dusted the camera and flash guns off and spent an evening practicing some photography













On the way to work one morning the car developed a slight misfire. I removed the spark plugs to have a look and they look ok with cylinder 1 and 3 having oil on the threads. I had a look through the service history and remembered the car hadn't been serviced since 2020 (only covered 4k miles since then) probably due to Covid.

The car is currently on 58,228 miles and the plugs are due to be changed at 62k so not too far off



So it was a good time to do a service and changed the rocker cover gasket. Working at a local motor factors helps with sourcing (most) parts and it certainly helps the bank balance



The rocker cover gasket was straight forward to change, surprisingly.



(YT video is scheduled for 22/10/22 1:00pm BST)



I recently started a throw back series on my Youtube, keeping it MX5 related the first 2 NA projects are online

[hoodedreeper]

Updates are few and far between, especially with Christmas around the corner. The build has pretty much came to a hault until next year, something I knew would happen eventually.

I did manage to carry on with some more rust repairs. Awhile ago when the calipers got a lick of paint, I removed the rear arch liners to check the pockets where the inner arch met the sill.

I found this (no surprise being a common fault/area)



I noticed a couple of areas underneath that needed some underseal, while I was under the car I cleaned up the areas the other side of the arch/sill pocket and found this





My friend Barry had visited my work and we got chatting about our cars. I mentioned about the rust and he offered to help out if I covered the cost of the gas, happy days!

With the car on his ramp, the first job was to remove the side skirts. I knew the clips break, but Mazda decided to mould the side skirt clips in opposite directions, leaving you no choice BUT to break them (thanks Mazda!).



The outer sills are in fantastic condition. This was one area I was dreading to check, looks like I'm pretty lucky (for now). I had a look down into the inner sills and although there is a tinge of brown, I don't think its a major concern. I will get this looked at again, I do plan on applying a rust treatment and cavity wax in the Spring/Summer time next year.

With new clips to hand it was no issue. I found a seller on eBay that sold replacements for the Mazda 3 and 6 which are indentical. Bare in mind the very first clip underneath the skirt is smaller than the others, so that was re-used.

The corrosion was cut out ready for a repair plate, followed by Hammerite Kurust, seam sealer and 2 coats of underbody seal.



The areas behind the pocket received the same process, this time I took a few more photos











An an autumn/winter snap (I need to start taking more random photos)

[hoodedreeper]

It's been a loooooong wait for the day I can start doing modifications to this. The reason is because in April I'm getting married (this is now the 4th date due to Covid). Once that was done I could finally get the ball rolling with the project.

Unfortunately this has now changed and I'll no longer be able to carry out any plans and the car will be for sale in the coming months. My R34 is now in need of some money thrown at it and thats my main priority when it comes to the cars in the fleet.

Its a huge shame, but financially there isn't a way to keep the NC and do the work on the Skyline. So if anyone in the UK is looking for an NC1 Sport, please consider this.

Anyway.... onto a small update

We've seen numerous cold mornings and it does make for some nice photos



I've had a mysterious squeeky knock for a couple of weeks and today I went to investigate.

I started off with replacing the drop links. Looking through the car history they were advised in 2019 and all 4 had been replaced. With the new ones fitted I took it for a test drive but the noise was still there.



The next area to check was the anti roll bar bushes. I sprayed some WD40 into the bush and took it for another test drive, quiet as a mouse.

I got the car on axle stands again and begun to remove the x2 14mm nuts that hold the bush bracket on. I gave the bracket and the roll bar a sand with some 400 grade wet and dry. The anti roll bar didn't have any corrosion which was a surprise





The new bushes were installed and everything put back on/together. Once the wheel nuts were torqued up I took it around the block and the noise had disappeared, happy days!

Its not an exciting update, but its a good feeling to sort a small issue out for a low cost.