Banzai!
April 2014 - We’ve bought an MX5. Why I hear you ask? Well. Having decided to pack up the bikes I needed a new hobby. I've always liked old cars, so toyed with the idea of a 50’s, or 60’s classic. Perhaps another MG, or an ALFA Spider to keep our 159 company. Then I got to thinking about doing a couple of track days - in something that will manage OK without too much modification. Then the sun came out for a day or two. All of a sudden I was looking for a cheap track day weapon which wouldn’t soak up too much money and didn’t have a roof!
I really wanted another TVR, but the budget wouldn't quite stretch that far this time. An Alfa Spider was still near the top of the list too although owning two of Italy’s finest at once would surely be too much for my nerves and bank balance! I also flirted with an MG TF for a bit. They’re cheap, but I just couldn’t do it. The world is awash with K-series head gasket horror stories, (my brother had one and it went twice in one year and my sister had a brand new ‘F’ back in the 90’s and that went bang after just 6 months), and although they look nice and are quite tempting - really you’d have to be very brave or committed to almost permanent spannering.
So - relatively cheap to buy, reliable, track worthy and good on insurance. Got to be an MX 5 then.
Not convinced? Have a read of this
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=30071
And here it is. A 1996 Mk1 1.8 NA. Three owners prior to me and only 53,000 miles under its tiny belt. No airbags, no power steering, no electric windows or central locking. Just a 1.8 engine and for its age very tidy bodywork and interior, and lots of previous bills and service history. I probably paid slightly over the odds for it (at a dealer), but its obviously been very well looked after and hardly used for the last few years and doesn’t have any of the sill and wheel arch rot issues which are common to most 5’s of a certain age. (They may well have been done at some point, but I don't have any evidence of this).
Early impressions. Goes great, no mechanical issues at all. Its very small and I’m quite tall, so the driving position is a bit of an issue - but I've bought a slightly smaller steering wheel which has helped there. It came with hideous fake wood on the centre console, so that was peeled off straightaway and also had a horrible wooden steering wheel, so that went too. Also I didn’t realise that the interweb is awash with accessories - so have already begun what will inevitably become a wallet shredding programme of ‘improvements’. All in all it has remained largely original and unmolested, which is pretty rare. It even still has its original Pioneer KEH-1300 Radio Cassette that works perfectly for those of you who remember such things.
So far I've fitted a Pipercross induction system, which basically is a posh air filter, a Mountney steering wheel, a chrome gear knob, some shiny new air vent surrounds, a stainless grill and door sills and….the replacement of the ashtray and new rear mudflaps. I think that's about enough for now! Runs like the proverbial watch and on a recent Hereford, Hay on Wye, Brecon borders Sunday day out with the folks in glorious sunshine, did exactly what it was designed to do.
Updates
August 2017.
Have just realised that its been quite some time since I updated any of the details here about our MX5. Well,as of today, August 1st 2017, there's.....almost nothing to report, other than another faultless MOT performance earlier this year, and that the mileage is now on the wrong side of 60,000. 60,466 to be precise. He continues to perform without any issues at all and is still looking bodily very healthy. If anything happens in the next year, I'll let you know. In the meantime, we'll just keep on clocking up the fun!
March 2018.
Hes out of hibernation after another winter under cover. Oil and filter changed and started right up...followed by another faultless MoT on 26th March. Just totted up the miles and we've done 7822 since we bought him in April 2014. Had the cambelt cover off over the winter to take a look at the belt. Its been 10 years since the last change, so in terms of years it's due, but has only done 10,000 miles since the last change. It looked brand new, so I may well leave it. On the hunt now for a decent set of tyres. It's on four budget ones at the moment, which I've completely failed to wear out in the past four years! Loads of tread left but I think I may treat it this year.
May 2018
I've splashed out on a set of Dunlops: 'Sport Blue Responses' to be precise, (£210 for the set fitted), and what a difference they've made. Everything is quieter, sharper, more precise. I should have done the this years ago....had no idea a decent set of tyres would make such a difference.
March 2019.
Hes out of hibernation again...this time having spent the winter tucked away in dads garage. As usual, he fired up straight away and drove back from Hereford to Penarth perfectly. Over the winter I fitted a replacement boot lid (£20 on eBay) to replace the one with the fitted luggage rack, which I've never liked. Been on the lookout for one without the rack and also with no brake-light for ages. I didn't expect too much for the money, but its fine. Went on with no bother at all and the colour match is good.
While it was resting over the winter I had a quick look underneath to see how he was doing and found a hole in the cat. The exhaust system was looking a bit ropey too, especially the welded on chrome tailpiece. So, we've splashed out on a new stainless system and new cat from MX5 parts which our local garage is going to fit at MOT time. And that's not all! To celebrate his 5th year with us he's also having a new cambelt kit which includes the tensioner and water pump. Its only 12,000 miles since the last cambelt change....but it has been 11 years. The old one looked brand new, but better safe than sorry. While there he'll also have his annual oil and filter change.
Whats next? Well, mechanically hes spot on.He has 23 years worth of swirls, scratches and little dents and a little bit of poor paintwork around what must have been (an unrecorded) welded sill repair on the OS panel behind the drivers door. If all of that sounds terrible, well it isn't really. The car still polishes up fine and is wearing his near 1/4 century well and most importantly still structurally really good causing us no welding problems or deterioration in the past 5 years. But because its such a good car overall I might just save up this year and get him painted over next winter. Or, we may sell him (and the Legacy Wagon that we don't really need now) and revert to just one interesting car. We'll see. If he goes though, he'll be a cracking buy for someone.
Service and MoT history
Updates
August 2017.
Have just realised that its been quite some time since I updated any of the details here about our MX5. Well,as of today, August 1st 2017, there's.....almost nothing to report, other than another faultless MOT performance earlier this year, and that the mileage is now on the wrong side of 60,000. 60,466 to be precise. He continues to perform without any issues at all and is still looking bodily very healthy. If anything happens in the next year, I'll let you know. In the meantime, we'll just keep on clocking up the fun!
March 2018.
Hes out of hibernation after another winter under cover. Oil and filter changed and started right up...followed by another faultless MoT on 26th March. Just totted up the miles and we've done 7822 since we bought him in April 2014. Had the cambelt cover off over the winter to take a look at the belt. Its been 10 years since the last change, so in terms of years it's due, but has only done 10,000 miles since the last change. It looked brand new, so I may well leave it. On the hunt now for a decent set of tyres. It's on four budget ones at the moment, which I've completely failed to wear out in the past four years! Loads of tread left but I think I may treat it this year.
May 2018
I've splashed out on a set of Dunlops: 'Sport Blue Responses' to be precise, (£210 for the set fitted), and what a difference they've made. Everything is quieter, sharper, more precise. I should have done the this years ago....had no idea a decent set of tyres would make such a difference.
March 2019.
Hes out of hibernation again...this time having spent the winter tucked away in dads garage. As usual, he fired up straight away and drove back from Hereford to Penarth perfectly. Over the winter I fitted a replacement boot lid (£20 on eBay) to replace the one with the fitted luggage rack, which I've never liked. Been on the lookout for one without the rack and also with no brake-light for ages. I didn't expect too much for the money, but its fine. Went on with no bother at all and the colour match is good.
While it was resting over the winter I had a quick look underneath to see how he was doing and found a hole in the cat. The exhaust system was looking a bit ropey too, especially the welded on chrome tailpiece. So, we've splashed out on a new stainless system and new cat from MX5 parts which our local garage is going to fit at MOT time. And that's not all! To celebrate his 5th year with us he's also having a new cambelt kit which includes the tensioner and water pump. Its only 12,000 miles since the last cambelt change....but it has been 11 years. The old one looked brand new, but better safe than sorry. While there he'll also have his annual oil and filter change.
Whats next? Well, mechanically hes spot on.He has 23 years worth of swirls, scratches and little dents and a little bit of poor paintwork around what must have been (an unrecorded) welded sill repair on the OS panel behind the drivers door. If all of that sounds terrible, well it isn't really. The car still polishes up fine and is wearing his near 1/4 century well and most importantly still structurally really good causing us no welding problems or deterioration in the past 5 years. But because its such a good car overall I might just save up this year and get him painted over next winter. Or, we may sell him (and the Legacy Wagon that we don't really need now) and revert to just one interesting car. We'll see. If he goes though, he'll be a cracking buy for someone.
Service and MoT history
Here is a record of the paperwork, MOT history, service history and all of the work that I've done to it since purchase in 2014.
Gallery
Gallery
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| April 2014 |
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| April 2014 - hate that boot rack. It'll have to go! |
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| April 2014 with new smaller Mountney steering wheel so that I can get my legs in! |
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| Lots of bills, all the book packs, spare key and all the old tax discs and mot's |
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| We've replaced all four discs and front calipers during our ownership |
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| Still looking tidy in 2017 and as reliable as ever |
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| Stainless exhaust from MXParts from the cat back, and a new cat too. (March 2019) Sounds great and definitely helps the engine breath easier. The old cat was completely clogged up! |
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| May 19th 2019 - Still looking good and running better than ever |
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| Engine bay May 2019 - the Pipercross filter was fitted back in 2014. Unfortunately I didn't think to keep the original air filter box in case anyone ever wants to return it to standard spec. It's had two cambelt changes in its life. The first in 2008 at 51,000 miles and the second in 2019 at 63,000 miles. |
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| May 2019 - wheels could use a pro refurbishment. I think they've simply been painted in the past - but they've been like that since we've had the car and haven't deteriorated |
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| Looking great with his new rackless bootlid, which luckily arrived in good condition and was a good colour match |
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| All factory stickers present and correct - so its unlikely ever to have had a full respray, but its definitely had some localised repairs |
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