Did you finally find “ the one “ James ?
Which model did you get in the end.
I had mine down at Paul Roddisons today for its MOT and a service.
All passed no problems and no advisories either, well pleased
Well I’ve bought one - whether it’s “the” one…
Silver 2009 NC 2.0 Sport. There’s a pic near the end of my introductory thread here:New to the forum - hoping to be an MX-5 owner soon
Will probably give Paul a visit at some point to advise on suspension/lowering.
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This is really an excellent bit of work, much appreciated.
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I took the 5 for a short run around my estate and can say that from cold, the shifter is definitely better and less reluctant to engage than before. It should get even better once the ‘box is up to temp too, so all in all I’m very pleased with the results so far.
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Plate out of stock at mx5Parts currently. I want to do this along with oil, clutch adjust, shift boots and possibly the bushing?
Barrie
Hi Barrie I changed my gearbox oil to Castrol Syntrans , filled gear turret ,and changed the gear lock out plate last year didn’t seem to make much improvement for me. have read a few reports over on Miata Net where owners have said changing the bush seemed to make things worse how true that is I don’t know. Next thing for me to try is clutch adjustment . It is still very stiff from first to second gear when cold fine once things warm up . Ford motorcraft gear oil seems highly recommended over in the States it’s supposed to improve cold shifting a great deal , I might give it a try will wait and see how things are after I’ve adjusted the clutch .Regards Bob .
Thanks for that Bob its the usual stiff 1st to 2nd when cold, as you say, fine when warmed though. My thoughts were to try everything related (including clutch adjust)
Barrie
I changed the bushing on the end of the gear rod from the plastic one to the brass one, it didn’t solve the issue. It has improved shifting a little bit but 1st and 2nd are still pretty horrible when the box is cold. Seems like it takes a while to heat up as well, I can drive for 20 minutes before 1st and 2nd feel like they should.
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I think it could really be a case of they all do that sir this time.
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That sounds about the same as mine .
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I read this on line before my last fluid change and intended getting some FoMoCo fluid, but then spotted that Castrol Syntrans also comes in Ford specific flavour, not just the ‘Multi-vehicle’ variant, so went with that instead. Presume this is very close to the Ford branded stuff.
Ford Syntrans
Hi McTrucky did you find any improvement in gear shifts with it .I didn’t know that Castrol do a Ford spec oil . Might be worth a try perhaps.
Want to say "Yes, it was brilliant "; but in all honesty I can’t say. I do know my box is almost as good as new though with a combo of this oil, lube in the turret and new lock plate.
Makes sense that if there is a specific Ford oil spec, and our gearboxes are built to use it, then that is what we should use.
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I did this change at 120k miles. There was hardly any wear on the reverse lockout (maybe also done by a previous owner), and no improvement in 1st to 2nd when cold after it was done. Perhaps just a characteristic of these boxes? At least they don’t fail like ND boxes.
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Getting the biting point out of the carpet made an enormous difference to my car.
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Yay, the plate is now back in stock at MX5 Parts. Mine is on the way 
Saturday morning is now booked for fettling.
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If you experience gear change problems only when cold and it’s fine when warm then it’s nothing to do with this plate.
Think about it logically, nothing changes about the plate in 5 miles of driving so if there is nothing physically wrong with it then you’re wasting your time and money replacing it.
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Mine has always had issues and as I’m already replacing the plastic bush with the brass shifter bush (the one I think you do for MX5 Parts) I will do the plate too. It’ll save having to go back again if I see that is the problem.
Where is your bite point though?
If it’s in the carpet, then clutch drag is your problem and you need to adjust the pedal/pushrod.
I adjusted the bite point a while ago but the issue I’m addressing is selecting first isn’t as clean as I’d like, hot or cold, and also there is some play in the gear lever so I’m fitting the brass bush to see if that helps.
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