After reading through Ger’s post I got a bit inspired and decided to post up some details of my new 5!
I was down in Portsmouth at the end of August, visiting friends and I asked what had happened to the guys MX-5 that he used to have. It seemed to have been replaced by a Clio! Turns out, he just needed something cheap with more seats and so had bought his Mum’s Clio and the 5 was stuck outside his parents house waiting for him to get around to trying to sell it. A bank transfer later and I drove it back home to warwickshire that weekend!
It’s a basic spec 1.8 and was looking very sorry for itself. It clearly needed a lot of work to clean it up and it was full of water from blocked drain channels, but, the engine was sound, mileage was reasonable, it had been kept up to date with servicing and the bodywork was solid. I had bagged myself a bargain!
After the drive home I decided straight away that the first thing it needed was a new stereo! I can’t live without Android Auto anymore. So the standard Pioneer Double Din went in. Then it was on to the cleanup. I’m afraid I don’t have the detailing tools or the skills of Ger, so I booked the car in to a local firm for the detailing. They made a video! I realize it’s essentially a marketing video, but I’m going to share it here, as it really does show how much work goes into restoring the car and how good a job these guys can do.
After the detailing was complete I knew I had to figure out what was going on with all the water in the car. I need to dig out the photos I took of that job, so I’ll post again next week.
This car is going to be a long term project. I have a lot of plans for it, but I have to pace myself a bit with how much I spend on it and when. Right now though, loving being an MX-5 owner and really looking forward to the journey 