MOT passed? As if there was ever any doubt. The day any of your cars fail will be a very chilly day in Pandemonium.
So its time for Zunsport grill in black, Jass number plate kit, new plates, Meisters and cobra and Stubby aerial kit. Cleverly repair cars here i come
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Another day another MOT passed. Just got to sort out replacing top half front, all rear bushes. New Springs, dampers, water pump, cam belt front of engine oil seals and rear cam shaft oil seals, some engine bay and battery well rust and Madge will be almost as good as new.
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Shiny!!
They look great. Are they plastic? I only ask as many a mechanic has advised me against alloy dust caps as they can fuse onto the valve threads.
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No, they’re metal of some sorts. I’ve smeared a little bit of red grease on the threads just in case.
Also managed to shorten the Jass motorsport number plate tow hook. So i am hoping it wont sit so far out now
I had a wooden knob on Daisy’s gear change but in the heat last year, the wood split so looked around for a new one. Couldn’t find one I liked so I went for one with red stitching to match the gaiter.
Amazon £13.99 before 5% discount. Came with various adapters for different screw fittings, suffice to say the one that was for the Mazda gear change lever was too short, but the three grub screws went in far enough to grip the metalwork.
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@Art_Tidesco - congrats on the MoT pass! Always satisfying.
Decided to continue roll-bar install, this morning. Quite happy with the quality of the roll-bar - it came free (in a big box) with the car. The new roll-bar is a bit beefier and heavier than the OEM - which I still think is a very cleverly engineered bit of kit.
Installation is straightforward - decided not to fit the the rear extension/bracing struts which offer-up against the top of the rear arches. Bracing plates are supplied to reinforce the outside of the arches - rear wheel-arch liner needs to be removed to fit these. Fitting these extra bits requires a bit more stripping out of the interior and drilling extra holes in the body. As fitted currently the new bar uses the OEM fixing points.
After I fitted the new roll-bar I drove around a few of the pot-holed/badly surfaced local roads. Less rattles but that could just be the lack of interior trim. Need to do a few more miles on a variety of roads to before I can judge whether the it has improved rigidity or not.
Old Vs New
New one in position - no fixings
Fixings tightened and hood locking mechanism installed
Hood clasp clears the top of roll-bar during opening/closing
View from the rear
Will think about stripping-out rest of interior and installing the extra bracing. One last thing…some of the interior trim will not fit back without a bit of trimming with a dremel.
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Well done, looks like a bit of an undertaking…be interesting to see a picture from a distance.
I see…the black wheels are offset by the rollbar. Looks really good. 
Update on roll-bar installation - in for a penny, in for a pound. Removed the rear parcel shelf and two side panels in order to offer up the two rear facing bracing struts. Realised I didn’t need to remove the parcel shelf to fit the additional struts, just the two rear side panels.
Rear facing bracing strut loosely attached to back of roll-bar
Bracing strut needs to be secured to bottom of rear wheel-arch
Two holes for each wheel-arch. The outer wheel-arch liner needs to come out, so I am going to do this in a couple of weeks time while the car is undergoing rust prevention treatment. The white material is there to stop me scratching the interior, it will be removed before final fixture.
Bonus material: one of the benefits of removing both rear side panels is access to the green sponge filters covering the drain holes - this is what 13 years worth of filtered crud looks like (trust me, underneath all that is a course green filter sponge).
Unfortunately, with the rear bracing struts in place, it is not possible to re-fit either of the rear side panels.
I was worried about water ingress without them so did what any normal bloke would do and poured two buckets of water over the roof and watched through the rear screen to see if any water finds its way onto the internal metal panels without them fitted. Answer is no, they do not appear to “guide” any water washing off the roof down to the drain holes.
TLDR: The 5-Race roll-bar is easy to fit but you will have to “modify” some interior trim panels to get them to fit back in - you will not end up with a “as factory” interior. Doesn’t bother me but might worry someone who wants to keep their car looking as “stock” as possible.
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Good decision on the bar, you have just turned an ‘ornament’ into a ‘tool’.
Thank you, Malc. I am hoping it will protect the “tool” in the driver’s seat holding the steering wheel if/when it all goes a bit wrong.
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Thank you. Ordinarily, I am not a fan of black wheels but the wheels and roll-bar came with the car. The colour combination is slowly growing on me. I still get jealous of red MX-5 owners. I think any shade of red really suits small sports cars - it just seems right.
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Well, I’m on my 7th MX-5. While Classic Red is lovely on the NA, Silver on the NCs works really well.
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