I thought I’d give an update since my post a couple of months ago.
Unfortunately there was no getting away from the fact that the oil rings and a few things had shot it, so the difficult decision to either 1) send to the Mx5 graveyard, 2) strip and rebuild engine, 3) buy a second hand like for like engine, or 4) buy a Duratec 2.5.
After agonising over the options and doing some more research and already being emotionally invested, I decided to go with the strip down/rebuild option, so I would know exactly what I have under the bonnet, which was hopefully an engine that would last for another 100k+ miles!
So, I spoke to a few reputable Mx5 restoration specialists and all sounded like good options.
Then I can across Martin at DuratechNC, who features quite a lot on the forums and highly recommended. It’s a 4 hour drive from me so sent up on the back of a low loader but my faith in Martin was not misplaced. It took a few weeks, and I’ve only driven 300 miles, which was an amazing drive across the Pennines home and the engine feels superb and an absolute joy to drive with no oil burn or consumption whatsoever.
Anyone faced with the same dilemma, I recommend speaking to DuratechNC www.duratecnc.co.uk before pouring B12 or anything else down your cylinders, trying different oil etc. He’s a straight talking Yorkshireman with tonnes of engine experience, fairly priced, very honest and no hidden surprises or costs. I feel totally vindicated in my decision to go down this route and can now get back to enjoying driving again and have confidence in getting to Italy on a roadtrip in July as planned. Thanks all for your advice.
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