Tsia's tasteless MK2.5

Hello ladies & gents,

I figured it was about time to post my little MX-5 project on here. First of all, apologies, this is partially an introduction thread, partially a project thread. Mostly the latter. My friends and I recently decided we wanted to do a trip to the Nurburgring next year to see some friends that now live in Germany and to do a bit of driving, however I trust my Supra about as far as I can throw it/drive it. Which is nowhere. Nada. It's a big turbo build that has been giving me way too much hassle, so I figured it was time to get another car specifically for this trip - and what else could it be but an MX-5?  

I decided on a MK2.5 as I preferred the styling over the earlier models, but really wanted a low to 'okay' condition, high miler car. I got exactly what I was looking for, with a hard-top! Here's how she looked when I arrived to view her: 



There was a bit of rust on the paintwork here and there, but I wasn't too fussed. The car wasn't expensive and it only needs to get me to Germany and back, after which it's fate will be decided. Anyway, first things first I had to de-yellow those headlights and give them a quick coat of HT black paint:




The car already started to look a bit more 'modern' but that didn't stop my friends from calling it a hairdresser's car still - so I decided to put a stop to that by doing this to my cam cover as I was replacing the seal: 



...and now you see why I put 'tasteless' in the thread title. Anyway... I've got no idea what happened to the radiator with the previous owner, but I had to swap that out as a matter of urgency. Here's a comparison picture to show you why:



Pretty bad right? Anyway, time for a few 'quick fixes' on the car. LED lights, replacing bulbs and replacing the god-awful standard aerial:




Now that was out the way, my eyes turned to the wheels. First I needed to change the stock 14s to 15s so I could get my tyre of choice (NS2Rs), but there wasn't much available. Luckily, nearby a bloke was selling some terrible 15" wheels with NS2Rs with less than 1k miles on them for less than the cost of two tyres. I got these in the interim until I decide on what wheels I'll actually be going with. I might have little to no taste, but I couldn't stand the colour the wheels were in:



So a trip to Halfords later for some spray cans, and we ended up with this:



Overspray? Not a word I'm familiar with. Anyway, since then I've decided to not bother with the side-mount number plate or indeed a mount at all, I'll just be fixing the plate to the front of the car. Here's how she's sitting today (and yes I know the plate is wonky - this was just a test with some masking tape!): 



The list of things to do before the trip to Germany are:
Fit some (already purchased) GV style side skirts and a matching front lip
Fit a ducktail spoiler
Replace discs and pads, inspect rear passenger side brake. It seems to have uneven wear on the disc.
Find some wheels, probably some TeamDynamics
Get the tracking and alignment done
Replace clutch because it's on the way out
Possibly fit some coilovers if I can find a set cheap enough that aren't awful

 I hope you found my pictures relatively unoffensive and look forward to sharing some more soon! Also, here are some pictures of the Supra that I have a love/hate relationship with: