Mx-5 as beginner project car?

Buying a ‘5 and Insurance advice Buying Advice
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Hi, I’m looking into buying my first project car, I’ve heard that mx-5s have quite simple mechanics and are easy to fix and modify, would this be a good start for a complete novice to begin with? Or should I begin with some £300 banger to learn on, only thing is I want to stay focused and enjoy the car I am working on, I love the look of the mk1 mx-5. I would like to buy one for around £1000? Just after your opinions and advice on what i should do, i do have an indoor space to keep it although is this necessary? Just looking for a general view of the car; part costs, reliability, fuel costs. It also wouldn’t be my daily driver just abit of fun for the weekend and to work on :smile:. 18 from Derbyshire, look forward to reading your replies! Cheers :+1:

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Hello Welcome along, I’m sure people will pitch in with advice here.

Personally I think the MX-5 would be a great project car, mechanically they’re fairly straightforward and more to the point there is lots of documentation (online) from problems people have encountered, search is your friend.

Bodywork as on any old car may need attention, another great learning opportunity in fabrication/welding/painting too if you wanted to explore these areas.

Good luck with your endeavors and if you do decide to go ahead with an MX-5 create a build thread and share pictures and progress, we all appreciate looking at other peoples cars and work.

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Of all Mx5’s, I would say the Mk1 is the best choice to raise form the dead.
On the one hand, it’s likely to be the most irritating at shed prices, conversely most bits are readily available, and pretty cheap. They are also very flexible to upgrades eg brakes, diffs, and mills. Big Boy’s weekend Meccano stuff if you have tools, space, and a bit of help.
Electrics are naturally getting ropey in their old age.
I’ll wager most of your project time will be applied to rot, rot, Ohhh…another bit of rot.
And then, some rot.
As IanH says, Google is awash with great resto stuff, and loaded with parts suppliers.

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Thanks for the response guys, ive done some research and think ill take the plunge in a few months, i have a garage to keep it but its like 10 miles from my house so maybe buy a cover? Going to weigh up other factors but think i just need to do it haha :+1: