This is my new project car, been searching a while for clean late mk2.5 for my next project. The plan is to update a MK2.5 to my interpretation of the ultimate OEM+
Found this very nice titanium grey 2005 1.6 Icon in Gosport. The main owner had it for 10 years before being briefly passed through an intermediary to myself. Done 19,000 miles, looks and drives like a car that’s a couple of years old. Few bits of surface rust underneath but the sills and chassis rails are nice & solid. Interior feels like a new car! Been garaged for most of it’s life the previous owner apologised for taking it out in the rain once in 10 years
Paint I’m really pleased with as it’s probably the best I’ve ever had on an MX5 (this is my 5th)
The 1.6 is pretty gutless but that’s not important for what I have in store for this car. Plans are to keep it largely stock looking outside, the wheels are getting updated to a set of ND 16" to clear the new 280mm disks that are going front & back and to give it a bit more grip. A set of Meister CRD will be going on to a sensible height to tighten up the handling but still get over speed humps.
Still need to find a set of SVT under body braces as the Icon seems to have only been fitted with the rear ones not the full set. Other plans for outside include a set of silver reflectors and sport rear mudguards. I’ll leave plans for the drivetrain for another day
Couple of jobs this weekend, first was to remove some foam from the drivers seat to give me some more room. I’m now low enough but I think I still could do with some more knee room so I’m investigating a steering wheel spacer from SuperMiata. This was the first seat I’ve had that hasn’t had a rusty base! not done one with heating elements before so carefully removed these before slimming the foam down & re-gluing back onto the foam.
end result looks a bit less taught, but you wouldn’t know unless you were looking for it. I’ll probably experiment with taking a bit more/less out in some of the areas over the next few weeks to get it how I like it.
Next job was to try and sort out the notchy gearchange, the previous owner had just had the gearbox and diff oil changed so that probably wasn’t the problem so I looked at the turret oil. It was only about half full and didn’t look like it had ever been changed. Even after just 19,000 miles this is the colour of it!
It doesn’t look like anyone has ever taken the console out before as all the sound deadening foam was still intact and the upper and lower boots were good as new. Refilled to the correct level with fully synthetic gear oil then cleaned & regreased the upper ball socket & bushes. Pleased to report the gearchange is now MX5 smooth
After lots of research on Miata.net there’s been good feedback on the steering wheel spacers made in Italy by GiacomoRS, they make them for lots of cars and specialise in steering wheel spacers for cars that want to keep the original wheel & airbag. Ordered one from Italy, it looks like a nicely engineered solution and eager to try it out when it arrives. Extends the wheel by 55mm
Did the second iteration of a foamectomy on the drivers seat and I’m more happy now on the shape of the seat & support. I put some foam back on the base as my first attempt sunk too much, plus carved out most of the back centre section (25mm) and replaced with a 10mm thinner foam that keeps the shape of the leather but deform more easily when you sit on it. Then glued the heating elements back on top and re-fit.
Today I treated the surface rust under the rear arches and behind the splash guards. The level of underseal under there is pitiful (why am I not surprised) I removed the rust, ground it back down the treated with Kurust, then paint, then underseal. A few nooks and crannies but not as bad as it could have been, it all seems to be surface rust where stones have pierced the underseal and started rusting underneath it. This is a 19,000 mile car that’s been garaged most of it’s life, so no wonder some cars rot away where they stand!
Today was the turn of the suspension, was going for all four corners but only managed the fronts as one of the droplinks seized on and I had to get the grinder out Good job they’re cheap so ordered a pair from MX5parts to arrive this week.
New suspension fitted all round now, still needs an alignment but no more 4x4 stance. Took the car for a drive this evening and for the first time it started to feel a bit like my old mk1. Made me smile
Also trial fitted a set of 15" Watanabe RS-4 eight spokes I had in the garage. I tried these when the suspension was at the original height but they didn’t look right - a bit lost in the arches. However now the car’s lowered…
Brakes, ever since I bought this car I always thought the there was something very non-mx5 about the brakes, they feel a bit ‘distant’ it stops quick enough but with less feel than my old mk1. It’s a very late mk2.5 with ABS and 1.6 engine. On further investigation it looks like I have:
Standard 1.8 / 1.6 mk2 brakes (255mm front, 251mm rear)
15/16" master cylinder (as fitted to NBFL Sport)
9.7:1 brake booster servo (as fitted to NBFL Sport)
The NA & NB (not mk2.5) usually have a 4.74:1 brake servo and 7/8" master cylinder. This means that my car has the big brake booster and a bigger servo, but smaller brakes. That’s over twice the assistance of a 1.8 mk1, and more fluid being pushed against the same size brake calipers & pistons. No wonder the brakes feel a bit over servo’d, this master cylinder/servo combination was originally found on the Sport brakes which have bigger pistons and need more fluid to move for the same amount of travel as standard brakes.
It’s all original OEM fitted the car even has it’s original Mazda pads, so I assume Mazda must have gone a bit “comfort oriented” with the last NBFL cars.
Anyway, what to do? time to investigate fitting Sport calipers & disks to balance the setup I think.
And a very nice looking cooling setup has just arrived, Interestingly I measured the new thicker rad + fans setup and it’s 30mm slimmer than the OEM rad + fan
The steering wheel spacer turned up last week and was duly installed. It’s definitely given me huge amounts more legroom although I’m still getting used to the steering wheel looking a lot larger now it’s nearer to me!
Refurbished the sport brakes this week, one was sticking which became apparent when the piston came out, new pistons & seals along with slider pins & boots. Decided to buck the trend and go with silver not red.
Also replaced the original double din radio with a Blaupunkt unit that I think looks nice and OEM. It has an actual volume knob and thankfully doesn’t have hundreds of tiny buttons and neon graphics like most single DIN aftermarket radios. It includes phone integration to take calls, seems to work fine with Siri for voice activation, microhone is integrated into the front of the unit, plus bluetooth streaming & plays music through radio & USB rather than CD. Not too bad for £67 from Amazon I thought There’s a tiny amount of background interference with ignition on, but it’s not noticeable when the engine is running with all the other noise in an MX5 ! It was really easy to fit with a £19 kit from Connects2 which just clips into the space left by the OEM radio leaving you with a single din hole + cubby tray. The kit came with harness adaptor from the Blaupunkt to Mazda loom so took about 45 mins to fit including removing the old one, and it all just worked.
After much deliberation and changing my mind many times I have gone with the 16" ND wheels in shadow chrome. Very pleased with the result as the colour really suits the platinum paint on the icon and the way they change colour depending on the light/angle is quite striking.
You didn’t happen to buy them from Nottingham did you? I was considering a very well priced set of these that were for sale about a month ago on gumtree??
No I’ve had them for a couple of months and reconditioned them in shadow chrome as they used to be silver. If you buy them with tyres it’s worth noting the mk4 tyres are too tall to use on a mk2 so need changing anyway!
Good job they’re cheap so ordered a pair from MX5parts to arrive this week.
There’s a tiny amount of background interference with ignition on, but it’s not noticeable when the engine is running with all the other noise in an MX5 ! It was really easy to fit with a £19 kit from Connects2 which just clips into the space left by the OEM radio leaving you with a single din hole + cubby tray. The kit came with harness adaptor from the Blaupunkt to Mazda loom so took about 45 mins to fit including removing the old one, and it all just worked.
