The current Testers Manual states that any HID conversion to lamp units originally fitted with Halogen lamps is a straight fail. The regs changed in 2018 presumably to tighten up on the then existing regulations. The omission of either wash or levelling is no longer relevant.
Really! Thanks for letting me know, didn’t realise there was a change recently.
I suppose it’s whether or not the garage would be knowledgable enough to tell if the car was originally fitted with them or not. My old Boxster S had then retrofitted and passed every year.
Thanks again though.
Finally wired up the USB part of the AUX/USB port that I installed into the center console. All I did was wire up a spare 12v socket to the original wiring, and placed a USB charger into it. This is hidden behind the dash, and the USB extension is plugged into it.
Secondly, when I replaced the storage bin, I accidentally punctured one of the rear speakers with one of the trim clips.
Was a bit gutted as these are about £25-£30 second hand on ebay. But unbelievably, I found one for £4 and snapped it up.
Perfect. £4 for a Bose speaker. Bargain.
I’m going down to the garage tomorrow morning to get back before the 24h LeMans starts (anyone else watching it?). They’ve asked me to take the old one off and bring it with me, which is fair.
One 11 month old shock absorber. Doesn’t look too bad, until…
That’s where it’s leaking, and no surprise. A consistent weld would help. Never seen anything like that on a shock before, I’m surprised it past quality checks.
Anyway.
I’ve been looking into alloy wheels to see what I’d like in the (not too distant) future, after the suspension springs have been swapped out for lower ones.
I’ve fallen in love with these:
Matt gunmetal multispoke MSW85’s, in 17x7 ET45 fitment for £427 for four including VAT and delivery. Same tyre fitment as my current wheels too, so no need to fork out on new tyres when the time comes, meaning I can invest in good tyres first.
Those with gloss yellow painted calipers behind them would look fantastic on a black car. That’s the plan anyway.
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Hear, hear. Absolutely. Go for it, it’s on my list of things to do to my NC 2.0 Stormy Blue
Those wheels should look great!
I’m hoping to catch some of LeMans Ger, who’s broadcasting it?
Eurosport, Sky 410
Thanks.
I’m watching it on Virgin 521. The commentary is utterly abysmal laced with puerile hyperbole
On Eurosport?
Aye.
TBH the Essh-ecks Bhoy seems to have gone to bed.
He was truly awful…like having a cheese grater rubbed on each ear.
Hope everyone is staying safe. Apologies for the lack of updates, I’ve just been enjoying the car and have had some exciting news lately… myself and Maddie are engaged as of Friday evening! We’ve had an amazing weekend, just a shame we couldn’t see family (local lockdown in Vale of Glamorgan).
Yesterday was a chilled one for us. I noticed the MX-5 leaning on one side so I popped out to take a look. Initially I thought a spring had snapped, but it turns out I had pushed the hub into the wheel arch a little too much before tightening the suspension bolts when replacing the front right shock absorber, so it was sitting a little too low. A quick adjustment and all is well.
However, when I jacked the side of the new shock absorber to adjust it, I heard a hissing from the other side. You’re not going to believe this…
Yes, the front LEFT shock absorber is now leaking too! I cannot believe my luck. The front right was just replaced for the same reason, and now this one?
All four shocks were new as of 12 months ago by the previous owner and undertaken by a garage in Weston. They were kind enough to supply a new shock absorber last month when the front right went as it was just inside warranty, but as they’re now out of warranty, I’ll have to source this one myself. Luckily I’ve found them for £67 on ebay brand new, so it’s coming Wednesday.
Now there’s only two things I can think of that’s caused these shocks to fail. The first is a bad batch of shocks, to which hopefully the rears won’t go as they’re a different type (same brand though). The second thing is that the garage didn’t tighten the suspension bolts under load when they were originally replaced with the previous owner, so for about a year up until my ownership the car was sitting far too high. Could this have been an issue for the shocks operating out of the designed range, and has caused a premature failure of both fronts?
Either way, the spare is on its way and it’ll be fixed by this weekend. How very, very weird…
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Could be possible, a bad batch very unlucky for both to fail.
You could have put them there, or someone has left a socket and bolt on the wishbone.
Don’t worry, that was my doing. Undid the brake line to get to the wishbone bolt, and that’s when I noticed the liquid.
The new shock is coming Wednesday, so will be fixed by the weekend. Quite annoying though…
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One thing I’ve noticed is that the car is leaning towards one side.
The lower side is the shock absorber I’ve replaced. The higher side is the shock that’s failed. I’ve loosened both sides of the suspension and adjusted it accordingly, but it’s still sitting at this angle.
Would a bad shock cause this to sit higher? Or, could have I adjusted the new side wrong somehow?
Did you tighten all the bolts with the suspension hanging? If yes loosen off and tighten with wheel on and sat on ground. Could be bush bound.
Just new to the forum and picking up my first MX5 this weekend (2011, NC). Looking forward to the world of MX5/Miata. Have to say this post is immense… Really loving the journey and your updates are very informative and brilliant photos of the before and after results. Keep it up Ger, amazing! Hope the shocks problem gets resolved too…
Very interesting and entertaining write up, it’s pretty obvious from the pictures that you’ve made a massive difference to the car 
I’ve got a NA myself, but I am pondering a NC for longer commutes (at some point post you know what) and maybe some light track work. I was thinking of a coupe (PHRT) as it wouldn’t need a roll bar fitting…but seeing what you have done I beginning to wonder if a ragtop would be better?
What do people think?
I did, aside from the bottom shock absorber bolt on the high side so you’re absolutely right in thinking that, which is why it was standing tall. I’ve written an update below.
I really appreciate the kind words, thank you! The car is going beautifully.
That’s an interesting one. I went with the soft top because of the ethos of the MX-5 itself. Simple and lightweight. The good thing about the PRHT is that it looks great with the roof up (not to say the soft top doesn’t), but it’s heavier, more to go wrong, and gets in the way enormously when fitting the roll bar for track work. If you were going to track it and you were serious enough to consider a roll bar, you should fit one regardless of the hard top. It’s not as strong as a conventional coupe due to it folding, and conventional coupe’s still have roll bar’s fitted. So I’d consider the soft top. But if you’re barely going to use it on track, then go for it.
Success with the shock absorber though!
Changed the shock absorber on the N/S/F, it was a doddle just like the other side. I lowered the jack with all of the suspension bolts loose and drove the car forward and back a few feet, and it settled perfectly level. That’s when I started to tighten the bolts, and did a bit of a booboo.
As this is the sport model, it has the strut brace. The strut brace fastens onto two extra bolts on each strut tower, and as I was rushing I didn’t use my torque wrench like I usually do. So guess what I did. Yup, sheered the bolt.
Thankfully it’s repairable as the bolts are attached to a sort of horse shoe piece of metal, and with the generosity of someone on PistonHeads, I had two spare ones arrive in the post.
Out with the old
https://i.imgur.com/bFVL8teh.jpg
In with the new
https://i.imgur.com/3uinuvyh.jpg
Phew.
https://i.imgur.com/XBrVczSh.jpg
Took the car for a drive to pick my girlfriend up from work, and the ride has improved even more so. It’s quite alarming, I thought the ride was good when I fixed the suspension height, but it’s clear the front shocks weren’t good since I purchased it from how different it is today. There’s no nervousness, which I put down to the characteristics of a small car with narrow tyres. I was fine with it before, found it quite playful, but it’s very sure footed with a lot less rebound from the front, naturally as the front shocks are now working as they should. It’s a joy to drive.
On the way to work a couple of days ago, the trip computer ticked over 1,000 miles since owning the car. So I thought it would be good to air my thoughts on the car after 1,000 miles of ownership.
My previous favourite car was the 2003 Toyota Celica T-Sport that I owned. I had lowered the car, fitted 4-pot brakes, and installed a few bits and bobs to subtly modernise the car. I loved it and regretted selling it, and through the 5 years of Porsche ownership I still missed it. There was a point where I went looking online at them, and even tried to contact the previous owner. The reliability, simplicity of the mechanics, ease of maintenance, how light and fun it was to drive, were all things I didn’t have with the Porsche, and after 5 years I knew they were the things I valued most in a ‘fun’ car.
The MX-5 is just that, and for once since owning the Celica, this is now my favourite car I’ve owned. It’s also my favourite car that I’ve driven for driving enthusiasm.
I’ll start with the sound. The response and sound of the 4-pot engine is better than I thought it would have been. I was worried it would sound like I was wringing the neck of a Fiesta if I were to push this, but it was more grunt than I expected of a 4-cylinder. Alright it doesn’t sound as tasteful as a 500 Abarth (probably the best 4-cylinder engine I’ve heard), and if there were anything I could do to get it sounding like that I would, but it’s certainly not disappointing standard. I’ll most likely fit an induction kit sooner or later, just to get that lovely growl with full throttle, but no difference in day-to-day driving. I probably won’t be fitting an aftermarket exhaust for sound purposes; there’s not much power gains in that alone, and sound wise, I’m not trying to make the car into something it’s not. It’s a small MX-5, not an S2000.
Handling wise, there’s so much confidence in driving it. I was a bit terrified of the Boxster, it was a 3.2 flat-6 with no traction control and no LSD, so good luck in taking a hair pin enthusiastically. With the 5, it’s got both. I’ve taken it out a few times with the traction control turned off to feel the rear move around mid corner, and am totally shocked with how predictable it is. Of course, this is mostly to do with the fact the car isn’t that powerful, but that’s the beauty of it. It’s not enough to catch you off-guard, but it’s enough to make you giggle when exploiting the RWD nature of the car.
I’ve not had an issue with the brakes yet, which I’m surprised with. The celica was notorious for feeling like you’ve stood on a soggy chip, but these are quite firm so far. There’s room for a bit more bite though, something which EBC green’s or EBC yellows would certainly give. I don’t think that the calipers would ever need upgrading on track use, they’re doing a fantastic job.
The transmission is a joy to use, and one of the better ones I’ve used through the years as standard. It’s not as snickety as my Celica with its brass bearings, but that was something I did myself and possibly something I could do to this. That said, it’s not needed at all. I find myself changing gear more than I should already. This, along with the driving position, makes a drive very engaging.
Maintenance wise, this car is a doddle. If there was anyone who wanted to have a fun, rear wheel drive sports car that’s cheap to own and easy to work on, I genuinely can’t think of another car that matches this. I’ve re-built a caliper (first time I did so) and have done the odd few jobs here and there so far, and every one of them has been easy. Changing shock absorbers was a matter of about 6 bolts, with no problems getting out of the wheel arch. It’s dead easy, and has the reliability to match. That’s what I love about the car more than anything, being mechanically minded I’m very much for owning a car that’s dead easy to work on and super reliable.
Things I don’t like? There’s not many. The drivers window could be automatic each way, rather than just down (yes I’m scraping the barrel here). It would be nice if the interior light came on when taking the key out of the ignition, rather than waiting until you open the door. A wiper adjustment stalk would be great rather than just ‘off, inter, slow, fast’, but I do realise you can fit one off an RX-8. You know, I’ve just sat here and have blurted all of the above in minutes, but I’m sitting struggling to think of things I don’t like about the car. I’m not a fan of the pre-facelift rear lights, but those can be changed and aren’t integral to the car.
In all, there’s so much to commend with this that I should have gone straight to an MX-5 after the Celica. The Porsche has been fun, undoubtedly, but most of all it’s really enabled me to appreciate a car like this. I can see why people own one after another.
Shame that it can’t get much use until the fire-breaker lockdown ends on Monday. Still, looks great in the Autumn colours.
https://i.imgur.com/WWO8CWeh.jpg
Next up, parking sensors! I’ve purchased the kit needed, and purchased a gong speaker from a BMW so that the sensors have a factory sound to them, which I’ll wire into the back of the dash. More to follow.
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