Hi all. Just to introduce myself, I’m Justin
Ive just bought my 1st MX-5
A 1.5 20 plate. I’m based in Brecon. I’ve never owned an MX5 and am looking for some advice…
With the recent cold weather, the roads have been gritted by me. I am aware of some potential issues with rust and intend to get the car undersealed ASAP. In the meantime. I’m looking for some advice… I have a lawn sprinkler that I’m going to use (https://www.amazon.co.uk/HOZELOCK-Sprinkler-Small-area-Base-mounted-2515P0000/dp/B000QY366A) to wash underneath the car. I was wondering whether, because its dry but cold, will salt stick to the car or just fall off? Will introducing water make a ‘salt soup’ (I intend washing underneath the car each time it rains over winter to make sure that it’s as clean as can be). Also, if i rinse it, and its freezing outside, and any residual water left underneath the car freezes, will this be an issue? Should I i use something like ACF 50 to spray exposed bolts and metal etc… in the engine bay?
The car is due for an MOT and service in June. Is it worth having it serviced first before undersealing it? Also, what would you advise I have done in the service? Gearbox oil changed? How often does this need doing and how much roughly does it cost? Also, should I have anything else done other than the usual air/oil filter etc…
Thanks all. I look forward to coming to some meets!
the above from the on line ND service manual where milage or time given which ever comes first, though there is plenty of debate about that kind of thing. Being a high mileage NBFL driver I tend to go with the manufacturers recommendations once I have done the miles.
PS as regards the underseal if you want to avoid rust abvisories I’d get the work done before MOT, though adviseries on an MOT have never worried me so long as I have acted on them.
I only ever wash under the car with the jet wash, so not very well, occasionally 3 or 4 times a year when I am away from home and want to clean the car. Washing the under side when icy or risk of ice before drying properly is probably not a very good idea IMHO. Others may have different points of view.
I normally do mine if the roads have been salted coz its icy salt water gets everywhere including under underseal if it is chipped or scraped
best thing don’t take it out in the winter lol
I would do it once a month over the winter and at the start and end of the summer. Just use a ‘hockey stick’ attachment for your jet wash wand. Not expensive on Amazon and it will reach everywhere. Keep a little distance between the nozzle end and the underside, you don’t want to blast it with too much pressure. Just enough to get the muck off. There are SOME on this forum who would argue that alone is enough to mitigate the need for underseal. Not everyone. Personally I would do the underseal properly just the once and adhere to a gently underside cleaning schedule thereafter.
Do not use underseal as all that’s a 60 year old product that doesn’t stick well enough to the metal, thus allowing water and salt to sit between it and the metal, making matters worse, and worse still, hiding the rust.
Talk instead to Anand Viad. He removes everything that Mazda puts on and then does a proper job of putting on new seam sealant, primer, undercoat and Raptor top coat. With all the other MX5s it takes him a couple of days to remove earlier coatings. With ND it takes him two hours.
I think there are many folk with NDs who believe you can watch them dissolve and if you listen hard enough you can hear them rust away in real time. My experience is different to that. That said, my ND has nothing like the rust protection from the factory that my BMW has. I ran my untreated ND as a daily for 5 years & 30 k miles all around the NW and Scotland before I got it professionally dried out, cleaned and undersealed. In those 5 years there were a few patches of light surface rust here and there, nothing serious. Everything was properly sorted before underseal was applied. A couple of pics of the underside before it went in for the full treatment.
