I purchased a 95 1.8 NA in early December
So far
4 branch and stainless exhaust
14 inch wheels with Yokohamas
Competition Clutch
Wire brushed everything underneath and sprayed
Cone filter to replace box
New classic COBRA seat
Four point harness
Roll over bar
What next?
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2 mx5’s, 2 private plates and some mods! Oops. Makes you smile though!
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Actually 4 plates but 2 were big birthday presents!
Bought a 1.8 nc1 off Ebay last november. It was part repaired damaged that the owner had repaired, o/s front wing and bonnet only, with second hand panels but then had lost interest before they were painted.
Got the car home on a trailer and found out that he had also replaced all the tyres and brakes with new. Just a couple of minor things to do then it passed its mot first attempt.
I’ve installed front dogs, had the bonnet and wing painted and now have a really nice usable car for swmbo use when lockdown ends. All in all a nice cheap tidy car.
Dogs= fogs predictive text
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I imagined a team of huskies dragging an MX5 across the snow … 
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A VW campervan plus a shed load of camping equipment. Done about 100 miles in the van since Christmas.
Tartan boxer shorts ( what else?), 2 tins of compressed air ‘puter cleaner, PPE masks & gloves, 2 memory sticks, 5 ring binders & a packet of colour coded inserts off Amazon so far.
Exitin’ stuff eh?
Oh…and a slow cooker. Hey Big Spender…
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confirm there is no rust after looking inside the sills and all access inspection holes. You don’t see it on the outside - not until the very end.
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tell us what you plan to use it for and what you budget is - budgets vary between £100 and (I was reading the other day) the £70k someone has spent on one.
It’s the mystery alternative to a turbo or a v6 - two dachunds on treadmills either side of the block. The one under the exhaust manifold has a little fire retardant suit.
This Pinot is grand.
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1 Where can I find a diagram of inspection holes?
2 Autotests and trackdays
Bob
You can do some or all of this re inspection. Ideally borrow or buy a borescope. Lift the sill scuff plates and there should be inspection holes under it. You can shine a powerful torch into one hole and look into another just with a naked eye though to get an idea. The torch on an iPhone is actually ideal for this. If it’s all grey 2k that is good. If it’s rusting at the bottom that is bad. Also has someone been cleaning out the drain holes at the back. There are two on either side of the sill lip that are critical. Use the borescope to look down the hood drain holes. Then look very closely and critically at the rear arches - feel all round them for any rust. There is sometimes a grommet at the front of the rear arch you can remove although I don’t have these due to botched welding by a previous owner. Remove the front wheel arch protectors and examine the state of the arches especially at the rear as if it’s bad there it will have got into the A post. Ideally remove the front wings too. Many owners repaint the inner wings with2k for peace of mind. Check the front chassis rails while you are under the arches, you can also look down them if the nose cone is off. Check the floor rails. Remove the nose cone and check the bumper brackets - these are heavy gauge steel but mine had actually rusted through! While your at it check if the water bottle holder is sound - mine was literally none existent - rusted away (it had just had it’s mot no advisories when I found this sorry tale).
I’d do some or all of this for peace of mind before doing auto test prep as you’ll otherwise be bolting stuff onto an unsound car.
There are some old favourite failure points on mx5 nas to that it’s good to fix early on if they are a problem. The cam sensor o seal ring at the back of the engine cost £2 but if it’s failing it can drip oil all over the heater hoses and knacker them. The clutch slave sticks when it’s old too. I’ve a new slave and I put a braided hose to the slave. If the radiator header is green it’s on its way out so time for a nice shiny alloy one. They also respond poorly to old or tired plugs and leads. Lead choice is a MX5 NA sub culture.
If the car is sound then sprint and hill climb drivers usually go with Meister R coil overs .Also the brakes are adequate but Ferrodo DS pads are popular with racers and sprinters - not just in mx5. You can also put braided hoses and put a strengthener plate behind the master cylinder if you are going to be hitting those brakes.
Engine work is easiest left to a specialist - most offer an upgrade for stage 1 or 2 for not too expensive.
I’ve got strengthened floor rails welded in mine (MX5 restorer) but bracing of any sort is good and you can get strut braces, rear frame braces, butterfly braces, door bars, braces that bolt over the floor rails - I sometimes wonder about the weight when all that is added. Flyin Miata on line catalogue shows what is available. You can update the sway bars too but then it’s getting onto personal preference. You can update the bushes too. I can’t bear poly bushes and have hard rubber il bushes but lots use Superpro. There is a whole MX5 NA subculture on Bush choice.
A biggie and a must is get the suspension set up once you have added the bits you want to add - it’s all adjustable and I take mine to a specialist for this as they will set it up properly for you. It’s principally the elliptical bolts that hold the lower suspension Arms on together with the tracking. You can get cam locking adjusters (bolts) as they do wander off their preferred settings.
Thanks it was the car specific stuff I was after, I may do the engine in the future (built and tuned FORD 2.3 ecoboost to 425 in our GT racer.