MX5 Owners in here....bring your curling tongs

[adam cool dude]

Car is off now. I am bloody knackered even though 3 of us were doing it! Rear subframe bolts we horrible and snapped their welds so had to cut into the floor pan and hammer a socket on them! Just need to strip the chassis and get everything powder coated.

 

[Cob]

Just

lol

 

[adam cool dude]

lol

Rear end has already been apart. Just front end that is untouched. It is obviously a lot more easier now the chassis is out!

 

[wesimmo]

Rear end has already been apart. Just front end that is untouched. It is obviously a lot more easier now the chassis is out!

From where you are to the below took me bloody months of going back to bolts and getting new tools to cut stuff!

 

[Logsi]

Always butterfly back and forth about the idea of a little MX5 runabout for a bit of fun and tinkering. Had a look at a very low mileage 99 plate mk2 at the weekend and whilst the body was immaculate. The boot was a pond and quite a big misfire working it's way up the rev range. Dealer didn't seem to care about that when I mentioned it and the next day it was off the site so not sure whether it was sold.

Found a cheaper Euphonic edition close by which has piqued my interest again.

Basically has to be around 2k and has an LSD for me to be interested but the worries of rusting from the inside out are putting me off.

Maybe this is a fleeting fancy as I barely fit in them but I find the whole experience hilarious and wouldn't mind getting one, getting it mint, lowered on some nice TE37s and eventually supercharging.

 

[adam cool dude]

Always butterfly back and forth about the idea of a little MX5 runabout for a bit of fun and tinkering. Had a look at a very low mileage 99 plate mk2 at the weekend and whilst the body was immaculate. The boot was a pond and quite a big misfire working it's way up the rev range. Dealer didn't seem to care about that when I mentioned it and the next day it was off the site so not sure whether it was sold.

Found a cheaper Euphonic edition close by which has piqued my interest again.

Basically has to be around 2k and has an LSD for me to be interested but the worries of rusting from the inside out are putting me off.

Maybe this is a fleeting fancy as I barely fit in them but I find the whole experience hilarious and wouldn't mind getting one, getting it mint, lowered on some nice TE37s and eventually supercharging.

I always keep my eye out for import MK2 RS. No rust and the best of everything, short ratio 6 speed, LSD, 7.5k rev limit and 145/160BHP depending on facelift or not. A lot are under 3k as most seem wary of an import for some reason.

 

[Temujin]

Well i bought an 03 SVT. Over 100k miles but good service history, sills were done 3 years ago and are looking okay, chassis rails done last year. Only real issue is paintwork is not the best, and the rear arches are going to need some attention.
It is rather amusing to drive though, which is what I wanted out of a little run about, and I didn't pay an awful lot for it. If it goes bums up then I can likely reclaim most of the cost through parting it out anyway.
Now to start thinking about what I want to do with it, outside of usual stereo/speaker upgrades I'm thinking suspension and some wider wheels, Not fussed about power for now, maybe in the future though....

 

[dale1uk]

Well i bought an 03 SVT. Over 100k miles but good service history, sills were done 3 years ago and are looking okay, chassis rails done last year. Only real issue is paintwork is not the best, and the rear arches are going to need some attention.
It is rather amusing to drive though, which is what I wanted out of a little run about, and I didn't pay an awful lot for it. If it goes bums up then I can likely reclaim most of the cost through parting it out anyway.
Now to start thinking about what I want to do with it, outside of usual stereo/speaker upgrades I'm thinking suspension and some wider wheels, Not fussed about power for now, maybe in the future though....

Leave power till last, it's really not needed until you improve the handling. Wheel wise, a lightweight set of 15x7" alloys are my recommendation. Wide/heavy wheels may be ok for looks, but do the handling zero favours. Suspension wise i can't recommend enough a set of Bilstein B14s. Not the cheapest coilovers available,and many are put off by the lack of dampening adjustment, but they really are a fit and forget setup that are genuinely great at everything. I had them on my mk2 RS and they lapped up a European roadtrip from Newcastle down to Lake Garda with ease, but at the same time were great on UK trackdays and many laps of the Nurburgring. Brakes wise you don't need to go crazy with stock power. I found Yellowstuff surprisingly good, and never once experienced fade with them.

I massively miss my mx5, and when my circumstances change (have a 2 and 5yr old) I plan on trying to buy it back (sold it to a friend and have 1st refusal if she decides to sell it)

 

[Temujin]

Leave power till last, it's really not needed until you improve the handling. Wheel wise, a lightweight set of 15x7" alloys are my recommendation. Wide/heavy wheels may be ok for looks, but do the handling zero favours. Suspension wise i can't recommend enough a set of Bilstein B14s. Not the cheapest coilovers available,and many are put off by the lack of dampening adjustment, but they really are a fit and forget setup that are genuinely great at everything. I had them on my mk2 RS and they lapped up a European roadtrip from Newcastle down to Lake Garda with ease, but at the same time were great on UK trackdays and many laps of the Nurburgring. Brakes wise you don't need to go crazy with stock power. I found Yellowstuff surprisingly good, and never once experienced fade with them.

I massively miss my mx5, and when my circumstances change (have a 2 and 5yr old) I plan on trying to buy it back (sold it to a friend and have 1st refusal if she decides to sell it)

Ta! I likely won't do anything power wise for a good while if at all, quite enjoy it as it is for the moment.
Unsure i'd want to plough that much into coilovers to be honest, seems like the the Meister R are quite well reputed, but who knows where i'll end up at this point.
Wheel wise I really like the look of 7twenty style 44s but unsure if they'll be a bit heavy, want a bit more than 6j width of the current Enkeis though! I think most say not to deviate from the ET0 but i'd like a little more fill in the arches..

It has uniroyal rainsport 3 tyres, i'm not overly enamoured with them for rears, whilst they seem to have a fairly decent amount of grip it does spin up the rears real easy, unsure if this is just a quirk of the car and the current greasy roads though! Sure in the dry they're probably decent!

 

[bainbridge]

Removed the bose head unit in the NC and fitted a double din:

Wiring in the adaptor harness took a bit of homework but the install was straightforward. 2 second boot up and the unit automatically pairs with the obd adaptor and goes to Torque dashboard.

The unit autodims when the headlights go on and the illuminated physical buttons are the same colour as the rest of the interior buttons.

The new fascia looks oem and is a perfect fit and the bezel fits round the Atoto exactly.

Really pleased.

 

[Temujin]

Removed the bose head unit in the NC and fitted a double din:

Wiring in the adaptor harness took a bit of homework but the install was straightforward. 2 second boot up and the unit automatically pairs with the obd adaptor and goes to Torque dashboard.

The unit autodims when the headlights go on and the illuminated physical buttons are the same colour as the rest of the interior buttons.

The new fascia looks oem and is a perfect fit and the bezel fits round the Atoto exactly.

Really pleased.

Think I saw this on mx5oc or nutz? Can't remember which one!

How is it as a HU? I'm wanting to swap out the standard unit as it's basically 20 years old, and was partially set on one of the Pumpkin offerings, but happy to look into other (possibly cheaper) alternatives!

 

[bainbridge]

Think I saw this on mx5oc or nutz? Can't remember which one!

How is it as a HU? I'm wanting to swap out the standard unit as it's basically 20 years old, and was partially set on one of the Pumpkin offerings, but happy to look into other (possibly cheaper) alternatives!

Yes I posted it in MX5OC, it's a really good unit, all the features work great and it's one of those things tat feels like I've always had it, if that makes sense. No massive learning curve, everything just works great.

 

[DereksDontRun]

Removed the bose head unit in the NC and fitted a double din:

Wiring in the adaptor harness took a bit of homework but the install was straightforward. 2 second boot up and the unit automatically pairs with the obd adaptor and goes to Torque dashboard.

The unit autodims when the headlights go on and the illuminated physical buttons are the same colour as the rest of the interior buttons.

The new fascia looks oem and is a perfect fit and the bezel fits round the Atoto exactly.

Really pleased.

looks v nice and works well with the car's colours.

Doesn't leaving an OBD adaptor in drain the battery? thought they were permanently live?

 

[bainbridge]

The adaptor has sat in the obd2 port for over 2 years and I've not had a flat battery yet

I don't think the adaptor receives any power unless the ignition key is turned because I have to turn is past accesories to the ignition position for it to connect to the Atoto unit.

 

[Frozennova]

looks v nice and works well with the car's colours.

Doesn't leaving an OBD adaptor in drain the battery? thought they were permanently live?

The adaptor has sat in the obd2 port for over 2 years and I've not had a flat battery yet

I don't think the adaptor receives any power unless the ignition key is turned because I have to turn is past accesories to the ignition position for it to connect to the Atoto unit.

SAE J1962 dictates an OBD must have a permanent live on Pin 16


FWIW the OBD device we make at work draws 14-20mA in standby without an active Bluetooth connection.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 58 days to fully discharge an average sized car battery

 

[DereksDontRun]

SAE J1962 dictates an OBD must have a permanent live on Pin 16


FWIW the OBD device we make at work draws 14-20mA in standby without an active Bluetooth connection.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 58 days to fully discharge an average sized car battery

ah, cool, so v little drain. I remember having to jump-start my NC mx5 due to the boot light being left on for a long weekend, so I've always feared these OBD2 adaptors would have a similar effect for a parked up car. Good to know I can leave it plugged in without neeing to remove it each time I use it.

 

[dale1uk]

ah, cool, so v little drain. I remember having to jump-start my NC mx5 due to the boot light being left on for a long weekend, so I've always feared these OBD2 adaptors would have a similar effect for a parked up car. Good to know I can leave it plugged in without neeing to remove it each time I use it.

If it is a concern you can get switched adapters now so you can just knock it off if you know it's going to be sat a while.

 

[wesimmo]

Always butterfly back and forth about the idea of a little MX5 runabout for a bit of fun and tinkering. Had a look at a very low mileage 99 plate mk2 at the weekend and whilst the body was immaculate. The boot was a pond and quite a big misfire working it's way up the rev range. Dealer didn't seem to care about that when I mentioned it and the next day it was off the site so not sure whether it was sold.

Found a cheaper Euphonic edition close by which has piqued my interest again.

Basically has to be around 2k and has an LSD for me to be interested but the worries of rusting from the inside out are putting me off.

Maybe this is a fleeting fancy as I barely fit in them but I find the whole experience hilarious and wouldn't mind getting one, getting it mint, lowered on some nice TE37s and eventually supercharging.

Engines are 10 a penny.

If you find a nice shell and intend to supercharge anyway, buy it irrespective of the engine etc and get a spare built up with the supercharger when you're ready.

You can probably fix anything major for a few hundred with a bit of spannering and 2nd hand parts, welding and paint will always cost a fortune for most people.

 

[bainbridge]

SAE J1962 dictates an OBD must have a permanent live on Pin 16


FWIW the OBD device we make at work draws 14-20mA in standby without an active Bluetooth connection.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 58 days to fully discharge an average sized car battery

Fair enough, that makes sense. My mx5 is a daily so the longest time it's been sat is a fortnight when on hols. I'll remove it next time.

 

[visibleman]

Looking at a 2012 mk3.5 PRHT Venture over the weekend and had a thorough rummage through the MX5OC and MX5Nutz forums at buying guides. Car seems decent, reasonably low mileage for age and all checks out on the VCheck report but other than whats on the MX5 forums, has anyone got any additional things i should look out for?
Also read that the oil level should be kept at Max (or just over) on mk3's - how much of an issue is it if it's below? Just wondering if i do a runner if that's the case.