Any reputable welders for arches/sills in ireland?

SaulHeno · 23 May 2022 18:24

My model of MX-5 is: 99 Mk2 1.6
I’m based near: Ireland
I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Rot

Well lads, only had the car 9 months and the arches (and the sills under i imagine) are in a sorry state already to say the least. Looks like the last owner just cobbled a bit of filler together to pass it’s last test. I’ll throw some photos of it for an idea of the extent

I know it’s probably worse under, and since i only paid 3000€ (~2500£. That’s a lot for one compared to you guys in the UK i think, but there just doesn’t seem to be many for sale over here. Every other 5 was in the same/worse nick for 2000 more) i don’t mind atleast trying to pay the value (at least) or more to have a solid shell to keep. But I’m also not opposed to tarping it and getting something cheap to get me round for a year or two. I just want it done once and done right.

My local body/welding lad that did my Golf before this politely declined the work, he’s too busy unfortunately. I trust him to do it properly or tell me otherwise, but I don’t really have anyone else now that he’s out.

Does anyone here know of any lad on the island at all that can do it and do it well? Preferably someone who’s done it before.

I’m toying with the idea of ferrying across the pond to either MX5 City or the MX5Restorer and leaving it there for a week or two, maybe even getting a refreshed hardtop while i’m there if budget allows. What’s everyone’s experience with these lads? I’m assuming it’s roughly 2500-3000£ for sills and arches depending on severity, am i way off here or?

SaulHeno · 23 May 2022 18:28

And more…

ast · 25 May 2022 10:05

North or South?

MX5Ireland doesn’t look all that active these days. The Northern Ireland section of the MX5 Owners Club is fairly active; reach out to them, to find out who up there is best trusted with bodywork.

On MX5ireland, one of the members is/was Frank Smyth; he’s from the North but lives down south. He’s on MX5Ireland, and recommended Declan Magee at Lusk Car Care, on the basis of some work on a Jag XK8.

In GB, there are several places who can do a good job; most of them will do the welding and basic bodywork, and then farm out the paintwork. I had 2 sills, arches done, with a repainted rear bumper, for £1700 but that was a few years ago, and the work took 3 months (or 3 months to get the car back, largely due to the paintshop). I’ve had a couple of NAs done by Thrussington Grarage in Leicestershire. MX5restorer wanted £900 a side, and I don’t think the work would have been any better.

I would suggest you carefully inspect the condition of the front chassis rails, particularly around the front anti-roll bar mounting points, and the subframe mounting points. If they are shot, add at least another £500, and most garages will recommend both sides are attended to.

Its unrealistic to expect any of these places to do all the work in a week. Most of them are heavily booked up. Added to that, they won’t do the paintwork themselves, so someone else’s diary to be coordinated. You could see what the price is to repair and prep for painting.

Most places won’t give a firm quote until they start digging into the car to see how bad it is. To get it done right takes time.

Andrew5 · 25 May 2022 12:51

Try here, East Engineering in County Down, haven’t used him myself but seems to be the go to guy for MX5 body repairs.

SaulHeno · 25 May 2022 13:03

That is a good of an answer as i could have dreamed for, thank you so much!

Im in the south, dead midlands. Yeah MX5Ireland seems to have died a death. I cant even reach an admin to make an account to see past posts, its a bit sad. Thats a good shout for the North section Ill have to look.

I’ll have a look into Declan, could prove fruitful.

Ive seen there is a big marke for repairs in GB, its made the prospect of shipping it over more and more appealing. Thats a great price you got, I hope i can come somewhat close in my endeavors. Yeah i seen a few posts about the restorer being a bit pricier, plus hes on the other side of the isle so a bit of a faf to get to for me.

Lovely photos, that is a beautiful job and colour I have to say.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I took a look at the frame rails, wiped away a bit of dirt and saw orange. Promptly stopped touching it knowing my finger would go through, so thats shagged as well and another thing I wanted done along side. 500£ is the figure i see around a lot and honestly for frame repairs thats more than ok in my eyes.

The more I thought of the “week” part, the more unrealistic it seemed. More leaning on the side of buying a beater to skirt around in while its being done. I think I got the figure from MX5City who claimed “about a week” to do their repairs, but they quote 1000-1800 per side including paint and prevention. But thats pushing on astronomical if its on the higher end.

I agree with you there, doing it right takes a time. Even my local bodyshop lad, he told me he could patch it to make it to the test, but that id just be tearing it back out again after to do it properly. Im glad I found an honest lad to just tell me that.

Thanks again, I really appreciate the help!

SaulHeno · 25 May 2022 13:03

Ill have a look into him, thanks for the tip!

ast · 25 May 2022 16:34

Again with the frame rail, there are “repairs” where they just plate over the rot, and then there are repairs. Those qwho have done a lot of them, have worked out how to do a long lasting repair (and this is very structural, more so than the sill) without removing the engine etc.

You’ve sunk £4k into a car, probably another £2-2.5 k (seriously consider a full repaint). What are fresh imports going for in the Republic now. Back in the day, I remember making a trip down to Mototec to see the recent imports, though I ended up getting one in Lisburn. I see JDM imports are back up in Ireland.

MX5Ireland does have a list of contacts:

http://mx5ireland.com/set_serv.htm

SaulHeno · 25 May 2022 17:16

Yeah there’s not a chance of me plating over the frame, that’s just hiding the rust. If i’m doing it, it’s getting done right. Fully cut out the rot and new steel back in its place.

I do see where you’re going there, and honestly my mind is teetering to the same place. I’m not sure about imports, i haven’t seen any pop up at all and i do tend to keep an eye on the classifieds for mx5s. There’s only about

There’s JDMAuctionWatch here (they’re actually based just down the road from me funnily enough) and they have down roughly 5.5k€ (4670£) to get one to dublin, and that’s before registration charges, which are infamous here. And that’s a sight unseen auction.

There’s only about 9 cars going before 2002 on the entirety of DoneDeal it seems (kinda like our Gumtree. Everyone sells here). Between 3.5k for a rusted out and in pieces eunos, and 10k for an nb that should be up for around 6 at best. It’s quite dire.

Registration is only 900€ there about but only if it’s bought from the north (brexit, eh?), but then there’s the hassle of the process.

Also, should add. I will not be insured on any MK1. Or on a 1.8 MK2. And i don’t even think on a jap import 1.6 MK2. Our insurances here have specific “was it registered in japan” questions on the forms sometimes. It’s a farce.