Post by mk1pingu on Oct 25, 2016 22:46:29 GMT
So, here we are... finally!
Figured I would start this to help me keep track of what I've done to the car and progress etc. Hopefully it might be of interested to some of you lot, and I'm sure I'm going to have LOTS of questions along the way haha.
One of the main reasons I wanted a Mk1 was because I've never really worked on cars before. I figured really it's the perfect starter car to modify and learn in the process.. I'd like to get a bit more confident and a bit less 'scared' to touch stuff! It helps that my cousin is currently building something rather jizz-worthy (Mk1) & hoping for a silly amount of BHP – So I always have him to run too when I get stuck lol. Shoutout broseph!!
The slight problem with this now is that I love it so much my other car simply isn't getting used. So I'm selling it, and looking again for another Mk1... it's fair to say the bug has bitten, hard. Originally I wanted an E46 M3 but figured I'd A) Be too scared to use it on track for fear of binning it / being hit. B) Would need to learn to drive the thing first. Oh, and I'd be way too scared to work on it. Haha.
I've loved cars since playing with them on my car mat aged about 4. I also love motorbikes and got my full licence at 19 (now 4 years older... Christ that's worrying.)
So, enough of that BS, after well over 6 months of looking every single day on every forum/site/FB group available (Yes, I'm a fussy bastard..) many rotters avoided, and a few nice ones missed by minutes.. and some in Scotland.. I found what looked to be a great base. I was after something half modified to save spending £1000 right away on coilovers and a rollbar. So this is what I bought. Grab a cuppa and enjoy my mx5 rambling..
94' Mk1 1.8 S Special Eunos Roadster. 130BHP, 93K miles, Pretty much brand new Meister coilovers (Covered less than 400 miles!) and a very new GC Fabrications GC3 roll bar fitted properly. It also has an MX5 Parts stainless exhaust, and a (bodged) Mk2 K&N typhoon filter! Makes such a great noise. Original yellow front and rear strut bracing. Nardi wheel.
That all important Torsen LSD which works incredibly well, I've not owned a car with an LSD before so immediately felt the difference - wouldn't want another car without one now.
New-ish vinyl roof, headrest speakers, JVC radio etc. Original 14” BBS with all centre caps, in pretty good condition actually. Nice to have a working oil pressure gauge too!
It even has front fogs that were never wired up.. for that pure JDM goodness yo! (Will be coming off.)
And most importantly... no major rust problems. Looks clean, all original spot welds are there etc. There is a small area that is slightly browning but I'm not too worried about it. I looked at 5+ before this one, and this one is miles better than the others I saw. In an ideal world I would have liked to buy one that had been repaired properly already, but, beggars can't be choosers and I simply wasn't prepared to wait any longer!
It's a long way off what I'd like the car to look like, but nothing that can't be changed in time! Previous owner was into his Porsche's, hence the colour scheme... which I'm not keen on.
Here is is on the day I picked it up. Standard forecourt picture haha:
So... I've owned the car pretty much exactly 1 month as I type this.
As soon as I got it home from the 1 hour motorway drive, I immediately took it down my local playing ground – the lanes of the Chilterns.
My mind was blown.
The car is around 10 months younger than me to the day, when it came out the factory over in Japan and lived there until 2001, I still find this hard to believe now. How did they make such a good car in 1989!
I always looked at MX5's and thought nothing of them because of the power they make N/A. I completely overlooked the fun factor. I'm fully aware they are not necessarily 'fast' cars, but my god are they fun. Down a twisty country lane hearing the engine/exhaust just feels so engaging, like a little go-kart in comparison to my trusty E46 330CD lump haha. I just can't get over how well it handles/holds the road, and it's not even got decent tyres. Just a package that makes you smile (no-homo..)
93,000 miles in 23 years works out to an average of 4000 per year, sickening! Haha. I can assure there will be no garage queen here. Infact, I've done nearly 850 miles in 1 month already.
Plans for the car is basically a proper service up; it doesn't have too much history, but does have a few service invoices for bits like new plugs, alignment, oil filter & change last year. Along with a new front caliper.
I'd quite like to have a go at a few trackdays and events, santapod etc. Even if I'm the slowest there, at least I'll be having fun and learning lol.
So I'm hoping to add some bits to the car, (Wheels, rubber, alloy rad, seat and harnesses) ready for some action early next year. And try to skimp on weight wherever possible.
The bad points I've found so far are this:
- Coolant leak from the expansion tank. Seems to just spit random amounts out. Never very much mind, but something isn't right. It's on the original rad which looks.. old. Lots of reading into this sounds very head-gaskety, but I won't assume the worst just yet. Have lots of cheaper parts to replace first and see! (Will want an ally rad at some point anyway..)
- Transmission 'noise' on hard acceleration in 4th or 5th gear.
- Handbrake doesn't do much.
The current tyres are budgets are quite frankly hilarious. You hardly need to touch the accelerator if it's just rained, and oops... I most definitely have not done any donuts in the wet – something I've always wanted to do haha.
So there we have it. More updates to follow when I get a moment to write up what I've done so far!
Cheers,
P.s. Pingu is because of the plate, and it's black... I'm not into Pingu like that, you sicko's.
Figured I would start this to help me keep track of what I've done to the car and progress etc. Hopefully it might be of interested to some of you lot, and I'm sure I'm going to have LOTS of questions along the way haha.
One of the main reasons I wanted a Mk1 was because I've never really worked on cars before. I figured really it's the perfect starter car to modify and learn in the process.. I'd like to get a bit more confident and a bit less 'scared' to touch stuff! It helps that my cousin is currently building something rather jizz-worthy (Mk1) & hoping for a silly amount of BHP – So I always have him to run too when I get stuck lol. Shoutout broseph!!
The slight problem with this now is that I love it so much my other car simply isn't getting used. So I'm selling it, and looking again for another Mk1... it's fair to say the bug has bitten, hard. Originally I wanted an E46 M3 but figured I'd A) Be too scared to use it on track for fear of binning it / being hit. B) Would need to learn to drive the thing first. Oh, and I'd be way too scared to work on it. Haha.
I've loved cars since playing with them on my car mat aged about 4. I also love motorbikes and got my full licence at 19 (now 4 years older... Christ that's worrying.)
So, enough of that BS, after well over 6 months of looking every single day on every forum/site/FB group available (Yes, I'm a fussy bastard..) many rotters avoided, and a few nice ones missed by minutes.. and some in Scotland.. I found what looked to be a great base. I was after something half modified to save spending £1000 right away on coilovers and a rollbar. So this is what I bought. Grab a cuppa and enjoy my mx5 rambling..
94' Mk1 1.8 S Special Eunos Roadster. 130BHP, 93K miles, Pretty much brand new Meister coilovers (Covered less than 400 miles!) and a very new GC Fabrications GC3 roll bar fitted properly. It also has an MX5 Parts stainless exhaust, and a (bodged) Mk2 K&N typhoon filter! Makes such a great noise. Original yellow front and rear strut bracing. Nardi wheel.
That all important Torsen LSD which works incredibly well, I've not owned a car with an LSD before so immediately felt the difference - wouldn't want another car without one now.
New-ish vinyl roof, headrest speakers, JVC radio etc. Original 14” BBS with all centre caps, in pretty good condition actually. Nice to have a working oil pressure gauge too!
It even has front fogs that were never wired up.. for that pure JDM goodness yo! (Will be coming off.)
And most importantly... no major rust problems. Looks clean, all original spot welds are there etc. There is a small area that is slightly browning but I'm not too worried about it. I looked at 5+ before this one, and this one is miles better than the others I saw. In an ideal world I would have liked to buy one that had been repaired properly already, but, beggars can't be choosers and I simply wasn't prepared to wait any longer!
It's a long way off what I'd like the car to look like, but nothing that can't be changed in time! Previous owner was into his Porsche's, hence the colour scheme... which I'm not keen on.
Here is is on the day I picked it up. Standard forecourt picture haha:
So... I've owned the car pretty much exactly 1 month as I type this.
As soon as I got it home from the 1 hour motorway drive, I immediately took it down my local playing ground – the lanes of the Chilterns.
My mind was blown.
The car is around 10 months younger than me to the day, when it came out the factory over in Japan and lived there until 2001, I still find this hard to believe now. How did they make such a good car in 1989!
I always looked at MX5's and thought nothing of them because of the power they make N/A. I completely overlooked the fun factor. I'm fully aware they are not necessarily 'fast' cars, but my god are they fun. Down a twisty country lane hearing the engine/exhaust just feels so engaging, like a little go-kart in comparison to my trusty E46 330CD lump haha. I just can't get over how well it handles/holds the road, and it's not even got decent tyres. Just a package that makes you smile (no-homo..)
93,000 miles in 23 years works out to an average of 4000 per year, sickening! Haha. I can assure there will be no garage queen here. Infact, I've done nearly 850 miles in 1 month already.
Plans for the car is basically a proper service up; it doesn't have too much history, but does have a few service invoices for bits like new plugs, alignment, oil filter & change last year. Along with a new front caliper.
I'd quite like to have a go at a few trackdays and events, santapod etc. Even if I'm the slowest there, at least I'll be having fun and learning lol.
So I'm hoping to add some bits to the car, (Wheels, rubber, alloy rad, seat and harnesses) ready for some action early next year. And try to skimp on weight wherever possible.
The bad points I've found so far are this:
- Coolant leak from the expansion tank. Seems to just spit random amounts out. Never very much mind, but something isn't right. It's on the original rad which looks.. old. Lots of reading into this sounds very head-gaskety, but I won't assume the worst just yet. Have lots of cheaper parts to replace first and see! (Will want an ally rad at some point anyway..)
- Transmission 'noise' on hard acceleration in 4th or 5th gear.
- Handbrake doesn't do much.
The current tyres are budgets are quite frankly hilarious. You hardly need to touch the accelerator if it's just rained, and oops... I most definitely have not done any donuts in the wet – something I've always wanted to do haha.
So there we have it. More updates to follow when I get a moment to write up what I've done so far!
Cheers,
P.s. Pingu is because of the plate, and it's black... I'm not into Pingu like that, you sicko's.
le sigh