Before any of you suggest an exhaust centre, haha, very funny 
, please hear me out. I need a new rear box as one of the tail pipes has fallen off; the baffles had gone too, so I knew the day of getting a new one was coming. However, Iām thinking of having a non-stock one fitted - never done this before - so I donāt know whether Iām best taking the car to an independent to have it done, even if it means I source the rear box itself. Would anyone have any recommendations? Iām near Radstock, and I know of MX Heaven which is about 50 miles south of me, so Iām willing to travel up to a similar distance, but I just wondered if there was anyone else I could try?
The potential issue in removing your old one will be rusty nuts x 2 bolting the back box flange to the midpipe. Apart from that I would suggest itās an easy job removing the box to replace.
Tools required are minimal although you may want a set of ramps to get the rear a little higher.
Most exhaust fitting centres will likely fit it for you (ask first of course) if you canāt DIY it.
Cobalt do a decent back box for the NC, @ Moss Europe, they can sometimes have nil stock as they are a popular item.
If you were close to stortford id offer to do it for you, it is an easy job.
I got a malian back box for mine which was cheap ish but decent workmanship
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I can second / third that this is an easy task. Iād suggest wd40 on your existing bolts generously and regularly a few days before to make it as easy as possible to remove. If itās anything like an ND with rubber hangers for the exhaust itās worth spending Ā£10 on the tool that helps pry them off.
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Id recommend replacing the rubbers already on the car, when i changed mine they were rust welded on to the hangers and although i did use the old rubbers they could have done with being replaced
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When I was living in Bristol I took a couple of cars including my NBFL to Infinity Exhausts just off J18 on the M32 in Dodington. Even though I am now in London Iād not hesitate to go back there for anything exhaust related, Give them a call or drop in to let them know what you are after to get a quote. Good luck.
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Is that Stortford, as in Bishops Stortford? Thatās a shame as Iād be only too happy to take up on your kind offer, as I would like to learn how to do these things. My wife made a fair point, which may or may not be a valid one, and thatās if I have a go myself and come across an unforeseen problem, the car go be off the road and not driveable to someone who could fix it; but maybe thatās not really a likely outcome? It would be ideal if there was someone in the Western region who fancies giving me a hand with it.
Thanks for that. Iāve taken a look at their website, and they look really impressive. Unfortunately, probably more than Iād like to pay at this time.
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Interesting your comment about the Malian box, as thatās the kind of price Iām looking to pay, at the moment the only two I could find for less than Ā£300 is that one and the Gravity Performance rear box.
Thanks for that. I am tempted to do it myself, itās just trying to convince the OH. Although I think she was secretly impressed that I managed to remove the passenger side drainage tube successfully! . Iāve looked at the Cobalt one and it does look good, but I didnāt really want to pay that much, although I totally accept you get what you pay for.
The only thing Iāve found with the change of back box is a bit of resonance at certain rpms (2-3k) but with some pipe lagging in the gap in the parcel shelf its an easy cure.
And the malian one sounds really nice without being over the top
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Yeah I did mean bishops stortford, so sadly a long way away from brizzle
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MX-5 Heaven is closing down, I think.
Iām glad you mentioned this, as I meant to make a post of it. I was down at their place a few weeks ago and asked them the same. Theyāre not closing down, just the online shop is, but the way theyāve worded it is misleading, as you thought the same as I did initially, and I asked the question of them because someone else had thought they were too!
I had a custom stainless steel backbox made for my Corolla T-Sport (the ādailyā) by Dorset Performance. Theyāre down the road from MX-5 Heaven at Winterbourne Abbas Tyre & Auto Services. Took about 3 hours and they build it with you, customise the sound, looks etc. Lifetime warranty so fit and forget. cost me Ā£520 all in. Good fun, I went for a stock back box as itās the daily with an acoustic tip so just a bit deeper and more purposeful.
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