I need some advice, well lots of advice really. I’ve never owned an MX-5 before so know very little as what to look for in buying a resto project.
A mate of mine is sell a ‘M’ reg MK1 1.8i in red with pink bits (faded paint). From the photo’s he sent me it doesn’t look to bad for a car that has been stood for a few years. He tells me the backs of the sill have gone, it has large dent in the drivers side wing so will need removing to be repaired or replaced. The engine is OK and the LSD grips well, from what he can see it looks like it needs brake disc’s all round (very rusty) and good clean inside and attention the drivers seat as its alittle worn with getting in and out of the car. The hood is in good condition with no leaks, is has alloy wheels, but one of them is a different pattern (like a Minilite?). The mileage on the speedo says 130,000 but I noticed on the speedo face its say km/h so don’t know if its miles.
What I need to know is, where else do these cars rot structualy, like is the chassis or inner wings pron to rotting? I’m not put off with having to weld the car up, but need to know where to look for the problem area’s. Also are the mechanical and body parts easy to come across. My mate is looking for £700 but I can have it for £500.
At that price is it worth doing? Any advice and opinions are most welcome as I’m a MX-5 virgin.
Hi, regarding Rot - Sills, arches are your common problem areas. Have a check under the car as well- has it been treated with underseal etc. This will give you a good idea of the chassi condition. When the car was imported and how long it has been driven on our salty roads will affect the condition of the bodywork etc.
Check under the carpet in the boot for rot spots. A Mk1 of that age will probably have slow or broken electric window motors - sometimes some lubricant will fix but often a new motor is required.
On an Eunos the speedo will probably be in KM’s as you said so that around 85-90k miles (I think [^o)])
Parts are readily available and easy to come by… most factory parts are pretty cheap too on the MK1’s and with more than a few of them already at the breakers or the salvage yard you might be able to go scavenging and save some ££’s
MX5 parts is a poplar choice and ebay gets a good lookin too for parts.
Other people might correct me if I they think I am too harsh here but for a car with an odd wheel that has been standing for a long time (so will need a full service all fluids etc changed) and probably a cambelt change unless you can prove it has been done recently, also that needs all 4 corners of the brakes done and probably wont have any MOT etc I would not be paying anywhere near £500 for it but thats just me.
You would be spending £500+ to put everything right and I have saw a few people get a lot of MK1 which doesnt need half this work done for £900 -£1400.
To completely contradict myself if you really want a restoration job a 5 is the way to go!
Thank you for your replies, I’ve taken it all onboard and I think you are right, I will get a better car for less money than what I would have to spend on my mates to get it M.O.T’d and then painted. The reason I was looking at his was that I don’t have thousands to spend straight away and thought it may have been a quick cheap fix for my first MX-5, I’m probably better off looking for a up and running M.O.T’d MK1 then.
As you can weld, the most pressing issue will be the sills, which you can fix for about £20 (bit of steel sheet, and some paint). On MX5s, usually only the outer panel goes, where you see the rust. The rest of the car will be quite rust resistant.
Don’t assume £1000 MX5s won’t have rot, or be requiring a similar level of initial servicing. They might have a ticket, which will be meaningless.
Brakes; 4 discs are well under £100, £50 on a set of pads. £10 brake fluid.
The dent; it might pop out. If not, the rear wing isn’t a huge amount of money from mx5parts.
Red paint; always goes pink, often can be buffed back to a presentable finish.
MX5 parts readily available; a lot are now getting broken up for Westfield projects.
Interesting that the car has a metric speedo and the radiocassette looks like my old Japanese one (so it’s presumably an imported Roadster) since it has a UK rear numberplate panel instead of the squarer Japanese style, and the orange (not red) rear bumper reflectors are UK-spec too. Can’t make out the bonnet badge, but that looks like a Mazda one, not a Japanese Eunos one.
Not necesarily a problem with a £500 car, but a bit of history explaining the changed parts would be good to have (i.e. has it been rear-ended, possibly weakening/cracking the differential carrier arms?).
Not necesarily…
Back when this car was imported, in 1998, Donutz (anyone remember them, RIP) was doing a good trade in new UK MX5 rear panels, so much so, Shing Fung started making a “replica” (wasn’t really the same). There might have been some fear at the time that the then new SVA test will have compelled fitment of a UK rear. MCL tried cracking down on sale of UK specific parts, by charging outrageous prices for the same panel. They also slammed on a £300 exchange charge on the UK speedometer. Serious rear damage (enough to damage the boot floor and the rear wings) is easy to spot. If there was an accident in the car’s past, probably a long while ago. Any problems with the diff will have showed up very quickly.
Present owner looks like he enjoys it. Its got a certain brutal honesty to it (gippy rear wheel aside), and so deserves saving. Body work will be easy to sort out; undamaged offside front wings are easy to track down, as people always smash up the nearside wing. Even the roof doesn’t look too bad; has plenty of life in it.
Got me thinking again about this resto project, I just wish the weather was a bit better so I could get up to Cumbria and have a look to put my mind at rest. He does say the engine is very sweat and to say its been stood for a few years it does drive fine, gearbox is great and the LSD brilliiant, no fluid leaks from at all. Even though the brake discs are rusty it brakes in a straight line and the hand brake works well (my mates drive is very steep, a good M.O.T test!!). The hood is in great nick, no water leaks and the rear window is fine, the headlight pop as they should, but the electric windows are sticky and the face plate for the stereo is missing.
The previous owners went abroad for while working and have now decided to stay and sell up, hence the reason why the MX-5 hasn’t been used and had to be moved off the drive, this is how my mate came to have it a few weeks back.
It has had two previuos owners, farther and son.
Would be nice to think I could buy it and get it M.O.T’d for under a grand[:D]
Its absolutely essential that the engine is flushed and fresh oil put in asap. 1.8 oil pumps are prone to blockage. I’ve seen engines that have been left standing get wrecked in very short order.
I would say it depends how cheap you can get it for, how much of a project you want & how much of the work you are able to do yourself.
As a comparison i have seen plenty of better condition ones sell recently WITH MOT for between £700 - £1000 & a MOT failure with cill problems in better condition for £100 (would have snapped that up myself if it were local to me).
Bear in mind it needs a set of alloys too & probably tyres, unless you are lucky enough to find a matching one.
As they say “you pays your money and you takes your choice”
Point in case…No pictures on this one so would need to ask him for some but he would be happy with £1000 including a hardtop (which you could sell for about £400 if you didnt want it) Which means £600 for a very good condition Roadster with MOT & 4 matching wheels.
I had seen that one and thought it looked OK and like you say with a hard top I was very interested, but then I noticed it was an Auto[^o)] not for me.
I’m not going to buy the MK1 resto project, even though I was very tempted and after talking to him today it wouldn’t need much to M.O.T it, but my other half has put her foot down and says she doesn’t won’t a tatty looking car that needs work parked on the drive as we have already have two restoration projects of different cars in the garage, I see her point.
So if anyone wants to take it on then let me know and I’ll give you my mates telphone number.
come the summer, you will be kicking yourself for not buying the 5. we bought ours as a project, a couple of weekends work and now we “just go for a drive” when was the last time you wanted to do that, in a eurobox?
I’ve just purchased this weekend a very tidy 1991 V-Spec, but I’m still trying to find a home for my mates resto project. I feel its just to good to break and with a weekends work I bet will see it M.O.T’d, its got a good roof, 1.8 engine and an LSD that works.
come the summer, you will be kicking yourself for not buying the 5. we bought ours as a project, a couple of weekends work and now we “just go for a drive” when was the last time you wanted to do that, in a eurobox?