Hi All
After a bit of agro with the dealership I bought the car from, Iām now the proud owner of a 2012 MX5.
One question I have is thisā¦I want to make sure the soft top material is kept clean and waterproofed. The manual talk about water-based leather treatment !!! or vinyl top dressing.
I have a Vauxhall VX220 and I use Fabsil (the canvas waterproofer) which seems to work well.
What should I use on my fabby new MX?
this is what I used this spring;
a really good job & completely waterproof. do it every year & the hood will last forever.
you can also buy a recolouring kit. same as above but with the addition of a brush on colour before the water proof stage.Ā
Croseo - Welcome!
Determine first whether itās a cloth/mohair or vinyl top. As far as I know, the NC2 (your model) doesnāt ever come with a vinyl lid but I might be wrong. I use Fabsil Gold on mine and for Ā£12 a bottle or so itās worth itās weight inā¦wait for itā¦gold.
In all seriousness, itās still beading after circa 4 months on the roof (as Iām sure you know with the VX220). Give it a good clean with baby shampoo first and a soft bristle brush and youāre laughinā!
Happy motoring!
Hi All
Thanks for the repliesā¦ Iāll take a look at both the Renovo stuff and the Fabsil Gold! Benz3neā¦ how soft should the soft brush be? Like a fingernail brush?
Plus 1 on Fabsil.
Shop around and youāll pick up 2.5 litres for about Ā£15 - Ā£20, which is enough to waterproof the hood half a dozen times.
I havenāt tried the Fabsil regular, I went straight for the gold. The 1L does the hood twice, in effect. Iāve had no issues.
As for brush, I went for a shoe brush - if itās soft enough to not scuff leather shoes Iām happy using it on the roof. Plus youāll have some slip/lubrication from the baby shampoo while itās being cleaned. Then a regular shed-less paintbrush for the Fabsil. Jobās a goodun 
Thanks for the adviceā¦ shoe brush and fabsil gold it is!
Hi Benz3ne
Re. your advice with the baby shampooā¦ Iāve not heard of using that beforeā¦ how do you use it? Diluted in water and rinsed off? What makes it better than anything else?
Thanks mate!
Alright Wooders!
I just went for Johnsons Baby shampoo because itās fairly soft stuff (not chemically harsh) - it has had absolutely no ill effects when cleaning the roof. I had a bucket and the brush for cleaning, put a dollop onto the brush and damped it after rinsing the hood once and then kept spreading with added water until the entire hood was covered. It probably doesnāt make it any better than anything else but it foams like thereās no tomorrow and it got a LOT of grime out of my hood. Let that dry as it was a fairly sunny day and used the Fabsil Gold thereafter with a paintbrush. In another couple of months Iāll probably reproof again but will use the Renovo renovator (for colour) to take it back to a pure black.
In short - itās a mild soap, I used perhaps two tablespoons worth for the whole roof and even that was probably a tad much. Shoe brush to āexfoliateā the hood, rinse down, let it dry, slopped on some Fabsil liberally. Let dry again, one more coat of Fabsil, let dry then done.
Hope this helps!
Hi mate!
Thanks for the explanationā¦Iāll go buy some today and get working on it tomorrow!
On another subject, when I bought the car, I had it checked over by my local friendly garage and he said it was all fine except it has something that he says all MX5s suffer from - some corrosion of the cross members underneath. Are you aware of this? If so, what can be done to prevent it getting worse? Paint with rust inhibitor and some tough paint like Hammerite?
Yeah itās a common and well-reported issue with Japanese cars, generally speaking. The MX5 is no exception, unfortunately. A lot of people have theirs rustproofed/treated with Dinitrol or Waxoyl or similar. If you want to stem the spread of rust, Iām sure some rust inhibitor and a light coat of something tough will do the job for the meanwhile. Iāve not gone for any of the options myself, though I know I probably should.
Some people go the whole hog and donāt drive them in the wet in any way, shape or formā¦ which I canāt wrap my head around.
Iām sure youāll smart it up pretty nice.
I no longer have a soft top, but when I did I used the baby shampoo/Fabsil combo for regular maintenance and then Renovo dye every few years to maintain the colour I used 75mm paint brush to apply the Fabsil
Josh
This seems good advice I have just bought a new Z Sport 2018 and I have no idea on how to clean the hood especially after bird poop. I have read much about fabric hoods vinyl etc I have no idea what mine is, the manual doesnāt state it. Anyone any idea? Itās my first MX-5. Thank you
Ā
It will be fabric so treat as such with products mentioned above.
My personal choice has been the Autoglym products for cleaning and Fabsil for waterproofing. You can also use a baby shampoo (itās mild) and a softish brush (old toothbrush) to get out any stubborn dirt, bird droppings or mildew.
I find with my car being garaged it doesnāt get a great deal of dirt on it,Ā I just spray it over mostly with the hose and wipe over with a clean microfibre cloth, it keeps it looking good.
Ā Try getting into the habit of vacuuming the hood every time you do the interior. I use the little soft brush attachment. All very sad I know but it makes me happy!
Ā
You will have a fabric roof.
I have just used Renovo on mine, first the āFabric Soft Top Cleanerā and then the āUltraprooferā. It took less than 20% of a 500ml bottle of the cleaner and about half the same sized bottle of proofer.
It wasnāt very dirty, I bought the car at 6 months old last September and it has been outside with a half-cover on it, but it seemed sensible to make sure it was clean before reproofing (water had stopped beading on it).
A lot of people use Fabsil, Iām sure itās fine.
I resisted the temptation to scrub the roof when using the cleaner, it seems to me it will just advance wear and raise fibres. I used a soft car wash brush. The cleaner should lift the dirt off. Spot clean any difficult looking bird deposits and rinse before washing the whole roof. Rinse thoroughly before proofing.
I also usually vacuum the roof when I wash the car. At the moment there is loads of blossom blowing around and this weekend dandelion seeds and, appearance aside, I donāt want them accumulating in the drain channels.
When I do wash the car, usually with Turtle wax shampoo from a 20l container I bought years ago, I donāt usually wash the roof - it stays clean anyway with the half-cover on and I donāt see the point in washing out the water resistance.
How to clean and seal a Mohair Hood
(ChrisRS Valeting & Detailing)
A nice sunny day and not too cold is essential to aid drying
Equipment:
Large car soft bristle wash brush
Nail brush
Wet & Dry Vac ā¦ set to wet
Dry vac
Bucket
1" Detailing Brush or 2" NEW Paintbrush
Container for the Sealant
MF cloth
Fabric/Convertible roof sealantā¦Renovo/Fabsil/ Similar products
Ā
Method
In the bucket, mix a mixture, using around 100ml of each of the following:
Johnsons Baby Bath or similar
Milton Sterilising fluid, to kill Algae spores
Bilt Hamber Surfex APC or similar All Purpose Cleaner
Warm water to 3" in the bucket
Wash the roof in sections with the soft brush and then lightly with the nail brush to remove ingrained dirt. Do not apply any pressure
Suck out the moisture with the Wet Vac
Allow to dry for an hour in the sun
Dry vac the roof and leave a little longer
When satisfied that the roof is dryā¦It doesnāt take longā¦Thatās the nature of Mohair,
Pour the sealant into container and apply section by section with a 1" Detailing brush
Each section should be lightly wiped with the MF cloth after each section
Wipe any Sealant off the glass immediately, or mask and cover the windows, prior to starting
Ā
Your Hood should now look brand new again!!
Great write up Chris
Exactly what I did several years ago and hood still looks great with no algae
Plus 1 for the Renovo stuff, I used it on my car a few weeks after purchasing and itās amazing.Ā