Hi, this is my first post on the forum so here goes. Last year we bought a 1991 Mk1 which we knew needed much TLC and some body work. Both sills would eventually need attention and the back wheel arches had, had work done previously using filler though this had been done neatly and the respray was ok for the time being. We bought the car with the intention of getting these things done over the next few years and eventually a full respray. We paid £900 and mechanically it has been sound but the hood was old, leaky and faded so we paid about £300 to have a brand new one fitted as soon as we had bought it. Now the bad news - This week it went for it’s first MOT with us and it is worse than we thought. It needs a new front sub frame and new back and front chassis rails as well as the above mentioned bodywork. Our mechanic is not an MX5 specialist but has advised us to get rid of the car. It has a sentimental value as we bought it for our wedding day last year, but are we just going to throw good money away if we choose to do all the work that needs doing? We’ve read up on some of these issues, but it feels like we have a mega problem here. No one so far is willing to mention a possible cost of all the above, not even our mechanic who I think is afraid there will be no end to it. Has anyone taken on a restoration of this size and if so any advice especially an idea of costs would be most welcome. We know we could/maybe should cut our losses and could buy another Mk1 for £2000 + but would we just be buying a new load of trouble or have we just made a bad first time buy? Another point worth making is that we are not diy mechanics and sadly we wouldn’t be able to tackle any of this work ourselves.
If you have emotional attachment and treat it as a restoration then you could put your head into a different mindset. The costs are probably going to be equivalent to or more than a replacement car but it’s all about what it means to you and if you have the budget to restore her.
If you can afford the work the choice is difficult,do you buy another then find problems or keep it as you know it mechanics are good.The repairs will be more than the car is worth but car ownership is not the most sensible choice.
It is unusual for the subframes to be completely shot; mostly it is a case of just surface rust, and a leaky engine taking care of the front subframe.
These sort of discussions (cutting losses etc) never crop up (or rarely) in classic car circles; your mechanic is just viewing your car as just another old Japanese car. Grumpybadger is right; view it through the prism as a restoration rather than fixing an old car, it is probably worth it. None of the issues described can’t be fixed.
Used, good subframes are cheap:
http://www.autolinkmx5.com/subframe-front-mazda-mx-5-mk1-used-1206-p.asp
Its probably worth getting the mechanic to arrange for it to be powdercoated, I expect for a fairly modest price (though the subframe is probably fine as it is). I’m not sure what is involved in replacing the subframe; in my imagination, I’d expect that the engine doesn’t have to be removed, just supported.
I just had both front chassis rails replaced on my mk2.5, £450 all in and a great job. There are places that specialise in these little fun cars, and the cost does not have to be excessive.
As for the front sub frame I know a lot that have got a good second hand front and rear sub frame and got them powered coated and swapped over, not an expensive job.
Suffolk Mazda has a number of good sub frames for sale as they strip a few cars every month. http://suffolkmazda.net/ they also did my chassis rails for me.
Many years ago my Mk1 had advisory’s for the rear sub frame needed replacing the surface rust was cleaned off and painted with old engine oil eight years later and the same sub frame has passed every MOT without a mention !!!,
If you are happy with the rest of the car, in my opinion it is worth doing as grumpybadger suggested and treat it as a restoration project.
I would look for one of the recommended mx5 specialists as they not only know the cars but are very adept at putting a good quality repair in place.
Wherabouts in the UK are you?
While I agree this sort of work is best left with a specialist unless you are experienced, quite a lot of the stuff on the Mk1 can be handled at home even if you have no experience. It’s certainly a great little car to learn on.
Where are you? We could probably recommend a specialist locally who knows what he is looking at
Many thanks for the response and the positive comments.
Another concern was the degree of difficulty in removing the existing sub frame on a 26 year old car i.e. rusted on bolts and consequent damage to other connected parts in the process, this too was mentioned by our mechanic.
We are in Harrogate, but would happily take it further afield if need be. Following internet research we did wonder about Thrussington Garage near Loughborough which has been featured in an MX5 mk1 restoration recently. Any opinions/comments on this idea again gratefully received.
Take it to Carl at CBS Autos Nelson. He’ll give you an honest opinion
Ebay has the bits
Front subframe with carriage around £35
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-MX5-EUNOS-MK1-1989-1997-FRONT-SUBFRAME-1-8-1-6-USED/150986720049?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D86482fd8988d45418c1aad84cb256a99%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D151400877053
Rear subframe same price
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-MX5-EUNOS-MK1-1989-1997-REAR-SUBFRAME-1-6-USED/151400877053?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D43649%26meid%3D7bc67158545c405984a552a4465798d6%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D151400877053
If you are doing a full restore yes get them powder coated and big guess £150 each.
Big number again say £400 per subframe to change them but I will look at that later.
Say a broken spring or two and a full brake recon and that could hit £500 at least but maybe it does not need that.
I think the front chassis rails may not be a problem but allow say £1,200 to sort the rear end with sill and arch repairs.
Therefore without seeing the car we are talking £3,000.
I think when an MX5 person looks at the car it may be nearer £2,000 as I agree with SAZ that some of the bits are probably OK but that is for an MX5 specialist to say.
Now my thoughts and happy for people to not like them but that is the way it goes.
You will find it hard to find a clean MK1 but they are around and that would be say £2,500 to £4,000.
You can also get a minter Mk1 Import for say £5,000.
There will be very clean early Mk3 cars say 2006 for around £3,500 which is what I would go for.
I hope that helps but these are just big guess numbers it probably could do with a clutch as well at that age.
PM me a phone number if you want to talk about it but for the avoidance of doubt. I do not do that work on other people’s cars as I have plenty to do at home.
Yes was talking to Carl at last month at the Restoration show he is booked up for about 4 months at the moment because he just does it right first time .
This is a front subframe removal probaly £700 to do that for labour.
MX5 City at Conisbrough near Doncaster are not too far away from you down the A1 and have lots of experience at this type of repair.
Have a look at their blogs www.mx5city.com/blog
Whilst not having had any corrosion work done they have done some panel respraying for me and I have seen the repairs to a badly corroded Mk2.
Mike at Thrussington Garage (actually in East Goscote) is a great mechanic; I will be using him for some body work on both of my MX5s (probably).
The £5k import will not be a minter. Minter Mk1s in Japan sell for £7-10k to the Japanese. £5k is pretty much the entry level price for a lower grade import these days, so hiding a lot of past history, principally accident damage. A car commercially imported and selling for £3k, is one that is 200k yen FOB.
The costs listed above sound a lot if all done in a oner, but it sounds like this car doesn’t need everything doing at the same time.
That cheap £3.5k Mk3 probably also has some big bills around the corner, and they are just not as nice as the original models.
SAZ
I have looked at three of these £4k, now £5k import cars due to exchange rate etc. I have been all over them and had them on the ramp and they were as mint as can be for a 20 year old car. As always the fresh import cars that you have looked at may well not fit that description, therefore buyer beware as we know is always the case but there are from time to time even new cars that are a headache.
If you look at the last line of the owners first post, he advises he is not up to doing the work himself, therefore I have tried to give a flavour of labour costs.
If you look at the work involved it is only the more experienced owner that has a chance of doing this.
Again we disagree over the early MK3, there are some 20k mile 2006 is cars that are in great condition others that have lived near the coast or have been driven up here in Scotland during the winter that do not fit that description. I have no problem at all recommending a clean Mk 3 that has been well serviced and has minimum rust.
With regards to how nice the cars are that depends on your use of the car and people all use our cars on a different basis. We use the MX5 as a tourer. We have done Aberdeenshire to Le Mans area and regularly do 300 to 350 miles going to Yorkshire and the Peak District, this summer we will do Cornwall via the Lake District and Reading.
For those journeys I know what car I will drive as there will be a lot of motorway work and that would be a six speed Mk3. Now if we are doing 40 miles of country roads to see friends on B roads I am happy to take any MX5.
Therefore on this occasion SAZ we will agree to disagree and live to drive many more MX5 miles!
Thanks to all who have replied and for the further info. on possible costs. We have a lot to think about and will look into the suggested specialists.
It sounds as though it could be more positive than we initially thought. We looked at the underside of the car whilst it was at the garage last week and there are definitely corrosion holes in all of the areas mentioned in my first post. Sadly the previous MOT only stated that there was ‘some corrosion’, but it had been passed ok and then the MX5 specialist who did the hood gave it a service and checked the bodywork/chassis and declared it ‘sound’, so clearly both of these checks missed some major problems. Oh well, we’ll give it all some more thought and then get some definite costs, but the posts have helped us to look at the problems a bit more clearly. Thanks again.
MX5 NAs without issues are becoming 5k and rising. I wish it were not so but on the upside, if the rest of the car is working you are not going to feel like you are throwing money away if you spend money on it. If you buy a Eunos you may get a goodun but you don’t know the history - your car now, your post suggests, works bar the rust.
My subframes are sound but look very ratty and I am ordering some to clean, powder coat and then build up off the car and then fit which is recommended by specialists. At this point you can do the wishbones too and renew all the bushings and if you sort the bodywork, you’ve resolved most of the issues that kill MX5s.
I know you mention you don’t think you’ll be able to do the work yourself and we are all different. However, I and everyone else on here who does work on their cars all had to start somewhere and mine was getting a transaxle off an Alfetta I’d bought in haste to try and get it to someone to mend it 20 years ago. Its very satisfying learning to do bits although it does depend on how much space/garage/time you have. What I will say in my few months of MX5 NA ownership is there are no more supportive, friendly, interested and responsive enthusiasts to offer support and advice.
If you get a Mk3 you could spend a long time getting it to handle right - personal experience with a new one in 06.
Finally I went to lots of MX5 specialists to seek to buy a car and then to help with the bits I cannot do. I cannot speak for the others because the people I chose and have made absolute sense to me ever since are AK Automotive at Rowlands Gill. Its 90 miles from Harrogate rather than the 45miles to Doncaster though. I am closer to AK Automotive. They have sister businesses that do bodywork and also import.