That’s a fair assessment. My head is now spinning with what to do then. I think il visit this car this weekend and see what condition it’s in, if I can get it for a fair price then il keep a side pocket of money for the future
Thanks all, great to get everyone’s perspective and experiences. Very helpful and nice to see a good community feel to the forum
Check the thickness of the wheel arch lips, and if there are wads of filler sitting there. If its thick, then they’ve dumped filler on top of exisitng metal. MX5restorer makes great play of spot welds, and whether they are there or not. Perfectly good repairs are made without need to reproduce the spot wells; its important to check that thickness. It should be the thickness of two thin sheets of steel. Some repairers will seal the edges, to prevent ingress of road water, grit. Check the jacking point. Its not part of the outer wing; some bad repairs will attempt to for the outer sill panel and the jack lip from a single sheet. But the jack lip is actually formed form the inner sill. If its deforned inwards, its possibly a sign that the inner sill is largely absent or has lost integrity.
When looking at later “special editions”, the biggest challenge will be convincing the seller to wise up, in terms of perceived value. The seller shouldn’t really adding value to the car because its a Conran special edition. So make sure that in reality, its not a £950 car with an added £1000 because its a Conran. Given the rust on both sides, it sounds like it. Don’t be swayed by Axminster carpets. It needs a £1000 in body repairs, plus probably some other bits and pieces (drivers seat might need a little attention). Corrosion was first picked up in 2014, and apparently not acted upon.
Thank you. I feel pretty critical of other people’s pride and joy sometimes so glad to hear perspective from an mx5 owner.
I’ve looked at a Conran which has been sat for 3 years, rotten rails, sills rusted a tad either side, couldn’t change the cambelt 6 years ago because they couldn’t get a pulley off, needs a service too and possible brakes but it was via my uncles brother in law so I could have bought it for £500 and hopefully solved everything but I think it maybe a moneypit.
Platinum number 29/100…think I got a bit caught up by this though