Thanks for the drive out on Sunday to Mere, enjoyed meeting some of you and seeing your babies… including new member Blue (if only my dogs would sit quietly like that!)
I promised a couple of you an update on my visit to Bruce at Rocketeer, so here goes…
Firstly - he’s moved!!! Good job I double checked the address, no longer Hungerford but a nice unit just outside Whitchurch.
My wife and I spent a good hour or so (thank god she’s a petrol head too) with him. Firstly the car up on the ramps… some you win, some you lose - and this one I’ve won - it may have been a cheap eBay purchase but it’s straight and solid; had a good poke around and inspection with the endoscope and nothing more than a little stabilisation and wax-oiling needs doing (it’s had a sill at some point but it was done well). One of the chassis rails shows some corrosion but doesn’t need immediate attention and as we’re going to have the engine out we’ll do them both then as a precautionary measure… and all the suspension, springs, tie bars etc etc in great condition
Then a drive out (as a passenger as it was a customer’s car) and I was sold; hook line and sinker - I know tor the MX5 there are cheaper ways, and quicker, more powerful options, but this approach suits me…
Yes, that’s the result - I’m going to be doing a restomod… having a good look around his workshop and work in progress and really impressed with the quality and attention to detail, and some discussion about options (I’d love to do this myself but time and an mildly arthritic hand would make this take years) I’m more than happy to put myself in Bruce’s hands.
It may vary a little once started, but the engine etc (obviously), sort all the little dings, new rubbers and a re-spray (though it’s so good under the bonnet etc can get away with not having to do that); interior retrim - not going mad, just redoing the seats and refresh the plastics (was tempted to put some classic buckets trimmed appropriately in matching leather in it but this is going to be a daily in the summer and trying to get out with the roof up might be tricky) and a little work on the NVH; toying with whether to do some suspension work and new wheels, but to me it sits just right as it is, so if it’s not over powering the 15s I think I’ll leave them stock - it’s always something I can do later.
So, in summary, I’m eventually turning it into something like that baby Jag everyone thought it was when i had my new one in 1999, but want it to look as close to stock as possible externally.
I’ve got the car for the summer, so possibly at some more meets before it gets dropped back to Bruce late in the year. Am I mad spending whats looking like 20x what i paid for the car to do it? Probably, but even for that money there’s nothing new, or nearly new, that excites me as much - and this will be a car pretty much built for me. I sold my original MX5 after a years ownership back in 2000 to chase the power, but now I’m older and wiser (though my wife may disagree on one of those!)…
Right, will update you on progress once things start happening, but the suns out and I’m sure I need to go and get some milk… about 10miles away down some back roads
The Facebook group is a great place to get help and advice