That’s good to hear (no pun intended). Is your car a Mk3 by any chance? If so, did you manage to do all this from above, or did you have to remove the panel behind the seats?
If you could take a picture of the foam in place, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve developed tinnitus in my left ear over the last month and I genuinely think it might be from the drain tube noise. The rubber flaps inside the tubes are pointing down and I thought the only way to rectify it was buying new tubes, but I’d rather try your method first.
The drain grids are right ay the top of system, you simply part lower the roof and reach in behind the outside of each seat from outside the car and pop them out with your finger tips.
Each side of the PRHT has a tubular drain from the rubber seal around the base of the back window, and a moulded plastic drain from the top of the B-pillar near the seat-belt guide. These discharge onto the grating which then exits through the flaps to under the car.
I’ve not tried to remove the gratings yet, a good strong wet-vac underneath the car held over the outlet with a hand making the seal better seems to be highly effective - no brushes needed.
Hot soapy water seems to free off most dried-on gritty deposits and helps the flaps seal better afterwards.
Finally managed to get the speaker upgrade finished and she sounds frickin’ awesome I did a couple of comparison videos if anyone’s interested although not sure how well the phone’s microphone picked up the difference
Replaced the cam cover gasket on my Mk2, which was weeping oil. As many people already know, aftermarket ones don’t last for long. This time it’s an OE type. I noticed that it’s thicker in section. The good news was that the 23 year old, 42,000 mile engine looked as clean inside as the day it was put together in Japan.
The car hasn’t been on the road since last October. I had replaced the rear discs and pads plus one new caliper just before it was SORNd. I have new front discs and pads to go on and then I’ll tax it and use it over the summer.
My son, who now has his own car detailing products business (as in they are made to his specifications and under his own brand label) has offered to have a real good go at the paint work, which has suffered by having been outside all winter. Then my old hatchback (which still has its winter tyres fitted!) might take a rest for a few months.
How about when you’re driving? I upgraded every element of the audio system, added an amplifier and soundproofed the doors - the audio quality is excellent when I’m not moving, but it’s awful when I’m driving. The mid-tones are very harsh, even though I’ve turned them right down, so I wondered if it’s just the acoustics of a small cabin. My previous car was a Megane CC and the factory audio was fantastic.
Tbh, I haven’t yet been out for a drive although I will be on Sunday so shall report back then. Food for thought Out of curiosity, did you soundproof the rest of the cabin?
I haven’t touched my MX-5 audio yet but I did on my Z4 which had a similarly small cabin, I fitted an in-dash power amp and £350 worth of Focal speakers, I found similar to you that it was great stationary but not so great driving. I think part of the problem is that with more cabin noise (even with the deadening) you need a lot more bass, but a decent sized subwoofer in either the Z4 or the MX-5 would render the boot unusable for anything else. Under seat subs don’t really cut it. I’ve just resigned myself to the fact, rightly or wrongly, that great audio on the move in a 2 seater convertible isn’t realistically attainable.
That said it does depend on expectations, having a fairly high-end setup at home mine are a bit on the high side…
For me, bass isn’t a problem. The amp and speakers put out so much that I daren’t put on Loudness or Bass Boost or the speakers would literally blow themselves out of the doors! It’s really the mid-tones that are the problem. I’ve got a few ideas left to try - adjusting the high pass and low pass filters on the amp for starters.
The laccy band is there because I found the foam baffles had moved, perhaps from air pressure up through the tube.
I’ve put the bands at the edge so the foam baffle can operate as a flap and float upwards if flooded with water.
Thanks for posting those. Unfortunately, I’ve got a soft top and the drainage system is different and harder to get to. It may be that replacing the tubes is the only answer.
I doubt its so very different.
It’s the soft top that has more need for clearing out the drain tubes and that usually involves inserting a trombone brush down the tube from the drain grid, so you must be able to get at it.
I did a couple of comparison videos if anyone’s interested although not sure how well the phone’s microphone picked up the difference
Out of curiosity, did you soundproof the rest of the cabin?
