It’s finally taxed and insured my Mk1 today, having bought it 3 weeks ago, and having replaced the clutch and serviced it in the meantime. I therefore thought it would be rude not to sieze the opportunity
to take it out for a good blast into the peaks with my brother in his
VXR (which he’s just fitted a full Remus system to - so it sounds the
mutt’s nuts!).
Managed to cover about 100 miles (all with the top down, and heater on 
)
and had a nice blast along with the VXR and an RX7 that joined us for a
bit. The little '5 held up pretty well - the Astra is obviously hugely
faster, but I was having just as much fun and keeping up in the
twistier bits pretty well!
We stopped off at Monsal Head for a cuppa and a couple of quick photos
(the roof’s up as we’d been for a wander round - that was soon put
right!)
Overall I’m thoroughly impressed with my new little toy - even more so
since I’ve bought it and got it on the road for very little…
I just hope my 4500 miles on the insurance policy is going to be enough - especially if I’m taking it to Le Mans!
I like Classic Red.[:D]
Very nice and very shinny[:)]
Looking great for a car that’s getting on for 20yrs old. [:)]
Ditto!
Red’s got to be one of the best colours for the 5 when in good condition like yours[Y]
If I do decide to buy another MX-5 (MK1) as bit of a project red will be near the top of colours I would like, along with black and silver.
I would love a Merlot but I don’t think my budget would stretch to that.
Thanks for all of the positive comments guys - it certainly scrubs up pretty well, and I’m sure will be looking even better when I’ve had some time to give it a proper good clean!
I’ll be sure to keep this thread updated with pics and news!
Quick news for today - been busy doing some jobs on the 5!
In the week, I got a numberplate plinth and new front plate - the previous plate was manky, and just screwed straight to the bumper - so that’s tidied up the front end a lot!
I also sorted out swapping the battery for a new one, as the one I had got on was okay, but going flat when the car had sat for more than a couple of days, so thought I might as well stick a new one on there!
I’ve also been busy today, having had the opportunity to borrow the 4-post lift at a mate’s garage again (where I did the clutch the other week!) - so I got the car up in the air and stripped & rebuilt the brakes on all 4 corners (I had been suspicious that one of the rear calipers was being a bit sluggish). Everything looked perfectly in order and appears to be working fine - so it was really just a case of stripping everything, cleaning and reassemble with the odd dab of copper grease!
I’ve been carrying on racking up the miles - and it’s driving better and better as the miles go on! I think it’s loosening up after having been stood for almost 5 months - and now I’m confident that all is well mechanically, so it’s going to be getting plenty of use as the weather gets better!
Right that’s all for today (no new pics, I’m afraid!) but I’ll try and post some more up if I manage to go anywhere picturesque soon!
Hey Browno,
Nice original looking Mark 1 and of course in the best colour, Classic red[:D]
Enjoy!
Ben
Well - thought I’d put up an update, as I’ve just been lurking on here for ages, and not posted for a while.
I’ve still got my little '5 (almost 2 years to the day from buying it), and all is going well.
It’s got through 2 MOTs with no major problems - just a small plate on
the front chassis rails for the first one (looked like it was corroded
as a result of jack damage), and straight through the last one. It’s run
faultlessly - just had servicing, fuel and replacing a front caliper
that was a little sticky (it would have probably freed up, but I got a
replacement for £50). I added a set of Rokkor coils to it last year, as I
thought the standard shocks were getting a bit tired - they feel great
to me for the road, but the car is now VERY low (even with the coils set
to about 1/3rd up all round) - time to adjust it up a bit next time
it’s on the ramp!
It is however, starting to look ropey around the arches and sills, so
it’s in for some attention (I bought a quarter
panel for it 6 months ago, just been waiting for my mate to fit it in!) -
once it’s all done and it’s had another good service, I think
it will be good to go for a long time.
It’s not doing loads of miles, but I use it virtually every day in the
week for work - it’s up to 129,500, so has covered 5700 in 2 years. I
think for this year, once the bodywork is sorted, I’m going to treat it
to a nice set of 15" rims, and try to get it onto some MOT events (I’m
aiming for Finmere in April).
Anyway - on with the pictures!
This is what it looked like when I left it to be sorted:
Passenger side, with split along the arch
Driver’s side - with old repair starting to look crusty, but seemingly easily fixed.
It’s been jacked up and the bumper, numberplate panel and lights whipped off - and the passenger side looks like this:
The Driver’s side has had a bit of grinding, and looks like this:
Inside the arch is looking a bit worse for wear though 
The big hole in the o/s arch sorted with a big repair section
Repair panel made and welded to o/s sill (obviously, in progress here!)
Quarter panel welded in place
Welds tidied and filler applied to edges and sanded:
Filler applied to n/s (was being sanded as I left today)
The plan was primer today, then paint tomorrow… Then I’m going to give it some mechanical TLC on Thursday…
I’m certainly less scared now than when I saw the size of the hole!
Time for another update - it’s looking good now!
Primer applied to new panelwork and remainder of rear end keyed -
numberplate panel prepped and loosely held in place (we’re painting the
bootlid as it had a couple of scratches and the number plate panel had
been polished so much that it had gone through the paint in a couple of
places!)
Spray enclosure built up around the car (it’s a small local garage - no
dedicated spray booth here - just an empty workshop and some well
positioned sheeting!)
And paint applied:
It’s now going to harden off for a couple of days before having schultz
applied to the sills and arches and the paint wet-sanded and machine
polished before rebuilding it all back up…