Meet Mindy, Daves MK1 NA MX5

[Chillax]

Damn! Only just saw the replies here! Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. That bottom bolt was an absolute mare! And thanks Rhino for the offer, wish I’d seen this post as I’d already went and ordered the new coil pack and leads from Andrew at Autolink. Might still take you up on the offer though as it would be good to have a spare! I did do a wee test on the coil pack by arcing the sockets individually which showed 1 and 4 had a very weak and very intermitent spark. 3 and 4 had a healthy spark.

Have to say though, amazing service from autolink, parts arrived this morning! All fitted and Mindy running sweet as a nut now, fault cured! 

Big thanks to Gayle for helping me in the garage today, my hands were too big to get to the bottom bolt on the coil pack even with a ratchet spanner (bought these specially to do the job, only they are pants and won’t ratchet when on the bolt!). Real swine to get to, but Gayle saved the day! Pic below showing Gayle with the offending bolt (and Mindy’s nice new red HT leads!)

It’s great having a wife who’s such a wee petrol head and loves any chance to work on the car! Can report Mindy is now driving perfect, and a lot smoother than she’s ever done.

[Chillax]

Just been on our first proper road trip with Mindy. Gayle got me a murder mystery weekend for my birthday at a very nice hotel in Pitlochry, Perthshire. We decided that we’d take Mindy as Gayle knew of some cracking roads in that part of Scotland, so would be a great wee test for the car.

 

Gave Mindy a once over before we set off (oil, coolant, brake/clutch fluids etc) then off we went. Mostly motorways until we got past Perth and on the road to Inverness. Have to say that was the one bit I wasnt looking forward too, going by how Mindy drove home on the motorway the say we bought her, but she totally surprised me. She is happy on the motorway, cruises along at 70mph no probs, with occasional we jaunts upwards of that. No horrible shakes or vibrations now that she has her new suspension, and it was quite a relaxed trip. Once we turned off to head for Pitlochry, Gayle took us on another route that goes up to a place called “Queens View”. This is the most beautiful tourist viewpoint, with staggering views of the hills/mountains and across Loch Tummel.

 

Mindy having her first wee rest at Queens View!

 

And the best cappuccino ever when we arrived at the wee cafe there

 

The views from Queens view over Loch Tummel

 

Then we headed back to Pitlochry to explore the town and our accommodation for the weekend, Fishers Hotel.

 

The staff were great, the food awesome and the murder mystery a right laugh!

 

For the trip home, Gayle planned a great route, taking in some beautiful little villages and towns along with some of the best roads we’ve been on! She knows this area very well so as soon as we hit the route she smiled and said “enjoy!”

 

First place we stopped off at was Kenmore, a stunning little village.

 

Next we headed along some even better roads to Killin, another stunning village.

 

The river was impressive, with its waterfalls and large rocky area. Although loads of rocks you could walk out on, these are pretty much covered over during winter when the water level rises

 

We had a look through a little arts/crafts/thrift shop which used to be a mill. Had some old vinyl LP’s for sale too (yes, we had a good rumage and bought one!). We also popped into “Falls of Dochart Inn” where we had the best home made scones ever! They were blooming huge!!!

 

From there we headed through the hills, east and back towards Perth. Avbsolutely an amazing drive and loved every second of those wee twisty roads! Our first trip done, and Mindy never missed a beat. She drove perfect the whole trip, and was so much fun! Now we’ve seen what she’s like on a trip (we covered 250 miles all in) we want to take off for more weekends away! We did notice a slight noise from the left rear which I think may be the start of a wheel bearing going, so will get that looked at although it wasn’t loud or anything. Other than that, flawless. Love this wee car!!!

 

Oh, and so many waves from fellow MX5 drivers, from mk2’s to mk3’s and even the latest mk4!

 

Also got a wee video of Gayle driving down the narrow twisty road from Queens View which I’ll post up once I’ve finished editing it.

[Chillax]

So, after much thought we decided we didn’t like the tombstone seats we fitted. Only one thing for it then…

Buy these for Mindy!

Nice 2 tone black/red leather seats from another MX5. Apart from some very slight wear on the drivers bolster which we’re going to have repaired locally, and needing a clean, these seats are pretty mint! Well chuffed with them and even the undersides (unlike the original bases on the tombstones which we had to swap which were rusty as hell) on these look like brand new.

Got them for the bargain price of £70. Apart from afore mentioned slight bolster wear which appears to be just the colour that’s worn off, there is no damage/tears or rips anywhere on them.The guy even threw in the matching red leather gear gator and handbrake gator. Really chuffed with these. Going to get them properly clean and then conditioned, then get the restorer to repaint the bolster. A very happy chappy! Can’t wait for them to be ready to fit!

Suppose the good thing is from an originality point of view, they are the same as the original seats we took out, only in leather, so kinda more in keeping with the car.

 

[AndrewR]

They look in excellent condition - good colour contrast too. 

[Chillax]

@AndrewR

They look in excellent condition - good colour contrast too. 

Thanks Andrew. Yes, think I got a bargain with them to be honest! Think Mindy will look sweet with these fitted.

[rhino666]

I replaced the original cloth seats on my 1997 MK1 with a set of black leather ones from a MK2.5. Should have done it years ago - they are a great upgrade and very comfortable.

Hopefully you will get the same benefit from yours.

Great photos by the way - guess that is with a quality SLR camera.     

[Chillax]

@rhino666

I replaced the original cloth seats on my 1997 MK1 with a set of black leather ones from a MK2.5. Should have done it years ago - they are a great upgrade and very comfortable.

Hopefully you will get the same benefit from yours.

Great photos by the way - guess that is with a quality SLR camera.     

lol the photos of the seats, and Pitlochrie trip were all from my samsung phone. Some of the other photos further back in the thread are from my DSLR though.

Totally agree, the original cloth seats she had were terrible. Looked so cheap. The tombstones look great, but just aren’t comfy enough for us (plus we like the leather seats, just look more up market). The new seats will also help us with our plan to create a litlle limited edition of our own.

[Chillax]

@rhino666

I replaced the original cloth seats on my 1997 MK1 with a set of black leather ones from a MK2.5. Should have done it years ago - they are a great upgrade and very comfortable.

Hopefully you will get the same benefit from yours.

Great photos by the way - guess that is with a quality SLR camera.     

lol the photos of the seats, and Pitlochrie trip were all from my samsung phone. Some of the other photos further back in the thread are from my DSLR though.

Totally agree, the original cloth seats she had were terrible. Looked so cheap. The tombstones look great, but just aren’t comfy enough for us (plus we like the leather seats, just look more up market). The new seats will also help us with our plan to create a litlle limited edition of our own.

[rhino666]

I wasn’t too bothered about the look of the seats to be honest, although the leather ones are vastly superior in that respect.

What really shocked me was the added comfort, especially noticable on a longish trip in this hot weather.

The ones I got are the heated variety from the MK2.5 but as the car is only driven in the warmer weather I shan’t be bothering to wire that up. Just types shan’t and realise that the ’ says an ‘o’ missing but what about the two 'l’s:-)     

Re the camera I was referring to some of the great shots you got on your trip. I moved from cheapo point and shoot to a Canon SX50HS bridge camera. It has a manual about an inch thick and loads of buttons, dials and menu options. I have just left it on auto and taken well over 5000 photos with it. A DSLR is the way forward for superior photography - perhaps one day after I get over how good the bridge is on the simplest setting.       

[Chillax]

@rhino666

I wasn’t too bothered about the look of the seats to be honest, although the leather ones are vastly superior in that respect.

What really shocked me was the added comfort, especially noticable on a longish trip in this hot weather.

The ones I got are the heated variety from the MK2.5 but as the car is only driven in the warmer weather I shan’t be bothering to wire that up. Just types shan’t and realise that the ’ says an ‘o’ missing but what about the two 'l’s:-)     

Re the camera I was referring to some of the great shots you got on your trip. I moved from cheapo point and shoot to a Canon SX50HS bridge camera. It has a manual about an inch thick and loads of buttons, dials and menu options. I have just left it on auto and taken well over 5000 photos with it. A DSLR is the way forward for superior photography - perhaps one day after I get over how good the bridge is on the simplest setting.       

Can’t beat a good bridge camera to set you up for the DSLR! I’ve still got my bridge camera (Fujifilm finepix , think its a 6000) and love it as it’s one built in lense covers all situations. Even bought an adapter for it so I can use some of the lens filters I bought for the DSLR. The one thing I do like about the full fat DSLR though is how easy it is to get great depth of field. Just twist the focus on the lense and you can either focus on the background or focus on the subject. Have to go through quite a fwew settings on the bridge to do that, but still great all round camera. My 1st (late) wife bought me it when on hols in the Lake District for my birthday way back in 2006 I think it was, camera still going strong. i’ll try and find some of the arty shots i’ve done with it over the years. Oh, and I find “Auto” covers all eventualities! lol

Good to see someone else that’s into photography!

 

 

[Chillax]

So, Mission accomplished! The restore kit all arrived so we got busy in the garage. Didn’t get any photos during the restoration of the seats as we didnt want our phones near the dye stuff etc. The repair on the drivers bolster was really easy as it was only a little worn, no tear etc, just mainly the colour had worn off.

 

First up, we cleaned both seats thoroughly with the professional leather cleaner (German stuff, and instructions were also in German! Had to translate!) to get them nice and fresh.Applied with a sponge applicator, then wipe off with damp white cloth. To be fair, they weren’t really that dirty, but still our white cloths were dirty by the time we finished.

Next used the leather filler to smooth out the area, dried with a heat gun then after another wee thin coat of filler onto the dye. This stuff is awesome! You get a kit with loads of colours, and you mix up the colour you need. It’s amazing how many different shades of black there can be! Mixed it up to match ours, and applied several thin coats (think it was seven coats in the end) drying in between with the heat gun to speed up the process. The dye base colour also has the sealer built in, to give a nice soft sheen just like the original finish.

While I worked on the dye, Gayle treated and conditioned the seats, which made the leather nice and soft again.

Can’t believe how good they look! They don’t look brand new, the leather having some ageing to it, but that’s what we wanted anyways. They look like they belong to the car rather than standing out. Also did the cleaning stage on the handbrake and gear Gators then conditioned them too. All fitted looks amazing in there now!

Before the refurb (can just make out the wear on the bolster)

 

And fitted

 

Will get a better pic of the bolster next time im in the garage. Seats a super comfy, and look pretty cool I

[Chillax]

.decisions decisions. We have decided to look for a new house, because as much as we love this wee house, the huge garden, and of course big driveway and double garage, this area is becoming a nightmare. The local teenage pondlife are getting out of control. The road we live on is a big, wide main road (30mph limit) and we’re next to a very bad junction. There have been so many crashes where cars trying to come out of that junction have been side swiped as they simply can’t see whats coming without putting the car almost halfway into the road. We have to come out of there everyday as our drive entrance is to the side of the house and into the street where that junction is. That little street also leads to the scheme that we all now affectionately (not) refer to as “The Bronx”. It’s where most of the local pondlife live!

 

Unfortunately, said teenagers are now racing about on motorbikes (ex-stolen bikes, no number plates, lights etc and no helmets worn) on the road and pavements, and come tearing out of that same junction in front of cars etc without a care in the world. They also pull wheelies up and down the street, just because they can. there is litterally no police presance anymore, so they do what they like when they like. There’s also an older bunch (in their 30’s), one of which who regulary comes tearing up from the scheme and out onto that main road in a petrol go kart!  They honestly don’t give a toss about the law, or what happens when they knock a kid or other pedestrian over, or damage your car etc when they crash when trying to show off. They drive with intent to intimidate anyone near by.

 

So, we have decided to look for a house in the borders, within a wee village. We’ve always wanted to stay in the country, so have been to view many houses.None have been suitable due to either not having a garage, or not having the space to build one. I have come to thinking that my passion for cars (and having so many!) is seriously hindering us getting a new house. As much as I realy don’t want to, I’m thinking about selling off two of my three cars. The Honda Civic Aerodeck will stay as I could never sell that, too many sentimental reasons why and I’d never recoup anything near what has been out into that car. Plus it earns it’s keep being an estate!

 

Which leaves me with Mindy mx5 and Carly Cooper. I’m in turmoil deciding whether to sell both these, so we only have to look for a property with room for a single garage. Plan would be sell the mx5 and the cooper, and buy a newer mx5 to use as my daily driver. Looking at an NC (mk3 or 3.75) with retractable hard top as it will be used all year round, and also because my commute will be a lot further than currently due to the houses we’re looking at being so far away.  Really don’t want to sell either of them as I love them both, and it’s taken me nigh on 30 years to realize my dream of owning a mk1 mx5. Totally sucks!! But my reckoning is, if I get an NC, at least I’ll still have an MX5. Will still break my heart to sell Mindy though

 

What do you guys think?

[ast]

I think that a NC will not be an effective substitute for a NA. MX5s survive perfectly well outside. In fact, I think my 96 has started deteriorating because its now garage for the first time in 20 years (in this country). Or look for a garage to rent.

Bit of a grim reason to move though. Ask your local MSP to do something about it.

[AndrewR]

Sorry to hear your woes - hope you find a house somewhere soon that fits the bill. What a shame if you have to sell your MX5 as I’ve watched with interest the transformation over time and it now seems a greatly improved car. If you can find a why round it I’d be tempted to keep it as its a lovely example. 

[Scottishfiver]

Dave,

I agree with Saz about an NC not being such a “visceral” substitute for Mindy. I know why you enjoy Mindy ( we’ve driven each other’s cars) much as I do my own Mk1 which is why after 15 years of ownership, I elected to save it from scrap. Part of the reason why both our 5s went the way they did was their long tenures in unheated lock-ups after being used in the worst Scottish weathers imaginable as work dailys.

NC’s are. on a raft of levels, more competent & practical as a daily, but older ones are now going  the same way in areas that the NB went bar chassis rails, not to mention the much-written about engine issues of the 18oo’s in particular. They are more complex and costly to put right. A cheap older NC, I think, will bite. So, unless you can spend more on an really solid low miles garage queen example, I’d think again. That would defeat the fiscal exercise anyway. What you would get for Mindy, and I’m in the same boat value wise, will have a loose-change impact on the overall accounting, but the car may be a deal maker towards your exercise. Only you can do the numbers. 

I would say your personal dignity, indeed safety and peace of mind, are far more important than any cars will ever be…and you know well where I’ve been with both ours. 

In our street within two weeks there have been two serious RTI’s, one a high speed head on right outside our house. Despite witness accounts, the Police did little given there was no need for a meat waggon thanks to airbags. It’s a decent enough area but our road is a main rat run to the main arterial road out of Falkirk to Glasgow. During tghe summer holidays, we know of 2 or 3 near misses with kids at risk due to speeding vehicles & motorbikes. The Police were engaged, but to no avail. The manpower & resources are simply not there, nor are Courts prepared to put the hammer down.

In conclusion, from your vivid description, you need to get away from there.As for MPs. Policing and so on well  I’m sorry… Don’t forget what my son’s job is and he would say go whistle as regards to “re-educating” and locking down the local ferals. It’s not going to happen. There are thousands of communities in the UK needing de-toxed and they live on a day to day basis with low-level and barely controlled anarchy. The UK is broken in many respects, and I think you need to upsticks and let them get on with their moronic behaviours…as far as possible from you two. People first, cars second.

  

[Chillax]

Apologies guys, thought I’d updated this! We struggled to find a house with garage (and got gassumped on 2 houses we put offers on) so decided to start reducing my cars co make finding a house easier. Wee Carly Cooper is gone, sold to a chap at my work for his mrs, so the Civic Aerodeck which was a show car is now my daily driver! My other workmate wanted to buy Mndy, but after much deliberation and after watching car SOS and Wheeler dealers restoring Mk1 MX5’s, Gayle said "right that’s it! You aint selling Mindy!

So we’re deffo keeping the MX5! And as luck would have it, we finally found our wee house! Its in the village that was top of our wanted list, but where we thought we’d never be able to afford one! Reason we can afford it though is it needs fully renovated (Electrics, boiler, all windows as currently single glazed, and fully decorated as its its s in the 70’s!) But we love it! It has a brick built single garage with power already there, plus a car port next to it. It has an absolute massive garden and long, very ling, driveway so end result is I could have kept the mini too. Gayle has also said that as we have so much land and money left over, ive to get my double garage built too! 

Just need to get this place sold now so we can get moved! So glad Mindy is staying! You guys were right, replacing her would not have been as good as having the mk1!

Oh, and Robin, what you told me on the phone about the stress with buying/selling the house…omg you were so so right mate! It has been the most horrible, stressful thing we’ve been through (including my heart attack!). Will need to call you soon for a catch up!

[RUSS_AITKEN]

Hi guys, we’ve just acquired a Mk2 Phoenix in black with brown & black heated leather seats. I know a fair bit about mk1’s but next to nothing about ‘2s. It’s current registration is A11WEE, but the original owner wanted to retain that as a condition of the sale, so it’ll get something 52 plateish soon I think. Is it a Mk2 or a 2.5?

What I really wanted to know was what was the leather cleaner you used as I need to do a bit of a refurb on the driver’s seat bolster.

Sorry to ramble on on your superb thread! Very jealous of Mindy, what a great job!!

 

Cheers!

 

Russ

[rhino666]

@RUSS AITKEN

Hi guys, we’ve just acquired a Mk2 Phoenix in black with brown & black heated leather seats. I know a fair bit about mk1’s but next to nothing about ‘2s. It’s current registration is A11WEE, but the original owner wanted to retain that as a condition of the sale, so it’ll get something 52 plateish soon I think. Is it a Mk2 or a 2.5?

What I really wanted to know was what was the leather cleaner you used as I need to do a bit of a refurb on the driver’s seat bolster.

Sorry to ramble on on your superb thread! Very jealous of Mindy, what a great job!!

 

Cheers!

 

Russ

Hi Russ - it is a MK2.5 for sure.

 

Dave

Sorry to hear that your life has been blighted by lowlife and you have been forced to move. I moved from Coventry to South Devon about 8.5 years ago. Got used to the plethora of lowlife in Cov to be honest but as getting older, very pleased to be in sleepy South Devon, living down a country lane where the boy racer is an elderly farmer in a tractor.

I hope the new move allows you to relax and build a triple garage - you know it makes sense.            

 

[IanHP]

The DVLA will re issue the Reg No that the car originally had before it had a personalised plate. My NB has has two personalised plates in its lifetime but now has the reg number it was first issued with in 1998.

[RUSS_AITKEN]

Thanks Rhino n Ian! Any news on the leather restorer OP? Thanks!

 

Russ