Hi
I have a 2006 2.0 Sport that is in amazing condition that I’ve had for five yrs. I put this down to buying a good one in the first place then - whilst in souther France for the summer I got the car up in the air removed arch liners undertrays etc. Power washed, left for two days, anything loose wire brushed, the whole underside sprayed with Jenolite, left a day, then all cavities treated to dinitrol and the underside sprayed with Dinitrol chassis black. The whole process was done over a week and cost approx £100. The car still looks as good as the day I did it. I also own a 1990 UK MK1 that has received the same treatment.
I cannot recommend Dinitrol highly enough, it’s a lot more expensive than Waxoil for a good reason. Do the job once and do it right !
Good luck
I’ve got my NC booked in with MX5 Restorer in Pevensey, they do a F.O.C. 19 point inspection. They told me they will inspect while I can watch and they use a probe to look insode the box sections to establish if any rust issues exist.
All being equal I will get them to do a full box section waxing and underseal, I think they use Dinitrol products.
A tad more costly than DIY but they know where they need to squirt it. They appear to have a good name so worth a trip from Gatwick in my view.
Time will tell.
Roy
I had my 2010 NC Dinitrolled at South West Rustproofing in Westbury, Wilts. They had the car for 3 days, and were thoroughly professional. It was good enough to get a thumbs up from Mark at Total MX-5. It wasn’t cheap, mind you. The guys that did the job said It was the first MX-5 they’d seen that didn’t need welding. Hopefully you’ve caught yours in time.
Having owned a number of NCs I’d say that looks pretty normal for the year and quite a lot of it appears to be surface rust in your 2 year old photos. The idea of replacing the struts is a good one, but unless you’ve got serious problems in the sills etc I’d suggest you just go on and replace parts when necessary. The key factor is keeping the car in daily use which will help to maintain it.