Aaron
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Posts: 207 
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Post by Aaron on Mar 16, 2016 20:57:19 GMT
Just a brief opening post to kick off this build thread  After an extremely trying past week and having to pass up the opportunity to own Alan's lovely S-ltd, I find myself the owner of a nice little S-special. Due to recent events my budget for a 5 took a huge hit(pretty much wiped it out). The attempted car share plan never really got off the ground and it resulted in me scraping together the remnants of my budget and making a 150 mile dash down to London to see this S-Spec. As it turned out this particular 5 was owned by a lovely couple who lived in a rather affluent area (always a nice start to a car viewing). The 5 was the lady's pride and joy and was only being sold as they now needed more seats in their "fun car". The 5 itself was imported in 2000 and bought for £8500 by said lady, it came to this country with 43000km on the clock and currently sits at just over 99000km. The 5 has got full Mazda main dealer service history, with any little niggle they have encountered checked out and sorted things like £400 electric window kit's, youch! There are a few bits and bobs to do but nout major, it's got all it's S-special goodies bar two BBS centre caps. All in all I'm pretty happy and for £925 I'd say I've got a bargain going by what is out there at a comparable price! Here is a little pic of new and old from yesterday.  |
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Post by Horney on Mar 16, 2016 21:28:48 GMT
Wow thatt seems a bargain!
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Post by joeytalent on Mar 16, 2016 22:17:36 GMT
Bargain! Moaaaar pics!
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Aaron
Chats A Bit
Posts: 207
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Post by Aaron on Mar 17, 2016 19:12:18 GMT
Took the 5 to Fast Eddy's in Norwich today for a little inspection on the ramps, good news is it's as solid as I had thought when I bought it! Always a nervy moment when it's going up on the ramp for a thorough inspection, but everywhere is solid, there's a couple bit's of surface rust but that is all There are a few of the usual leaks(rocker cover,CAS O ring) and we're going to renew the belts and water pump etc as they are still the original one's(62K miles on the car) for peace of mind. Aside from that it's still got all it's original S-Spec goodies, though the Bilstein and BBS will soon be replaced. Eddy couldn't believe I'd only paid £925 especially as it has a genuine mk2 hardtop with heated rear window As you may have guessed by the title I'm going to go for an OEM+ style, so am currently rounding up some bits as and when the budget allows. Nout much will happen for the next couple of weeks until the belt's etc are done but after that it'll hopefully pick up pace as my budget begins to renew. Whilst I'm here I'd just like to mention how nice Eddy was today, fitting me in at a days notice before he cracked on with his day's schedule, it was much appreciated and gave me the opportunity to put my mind at rest, as I don't know about everyone else but there is always doubt with a new car! Also a thank you to Skuzzle motorsport who also were happy to inspect the car free of charge, unfortunately they are 180 miles away but hopefully I'll get down there sometime soon, I hear their ITB packages are pretty good Couple of pics from today after I gave it a quick wash...   |
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Post by zoona on Mar 22, 2016 8:11:06 GMT
why do other people find the real "one lady owner" cars?
What are your plans? Or is it a secret? Sounds like ITB might be on the cards...
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Post by wannabe on Mar 22, 2016 10:32:32 GMT
That is a steal!! I always miss these cars too, zoona, you're not alone  lol |
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Aaron
Chats A Bit
Posts: 207
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Post by Aaron on Mar 24, 2016 18:14:39 GMT
why do other people find the real "one lady owner" cars? What are your plans? Or is it a secret? Sounds like ITB might be on the cards... I went down there to view with the assumption it was going to be a heap, photo's weren't great on the ad, but it just kept getting better and better when viewing pure luck! Plan currently is to give it it's yearly service and replace all the belts for peace of mind, once that is done, fit some goodies I've already picked up and then take stock. ITB's I think will be the way forward |
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Aaron
Chats A Bit
Posts: 207
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Post by Aaron on Apr 4, 2016 17:54:53 GMT
Okay, little update.... So after having the 5 inspected at FastEddys we decided seeing as this is to be a daily, it'd be best to renew all the usual bits and bobs under the hood. Especially things like a noisy original water pump and a crusty cam belt So along with the water pump and cam belt, the Rocker cover gasket,spark plugs,Auxiliary belts and CAS seal were replaced. Also the engine oil and coolant were replaced with fresh stuff as were the gearbox oil and diff oil. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the 14 degree timing mod done and replace the panel filter with a performance one. Here is the old girl all polished up, definitely a bargain at £925  In the past 10 days since the last post I've sourced the two missing BBS caps, well actually I bought 4 so now have 6! Also VX220 seats on runners ready to go in, a Mazdaspeed rear spoiler, Jass low pro's, Smoked sidelights and side indicators/markers. Hopefully hooking up some BBS RZ's tomorrow too. Grabbed some S-spec mats,yellow strut brace and roll bar for the other S-spec. Only I forgot the strut brace wouldn't fit with the racing beat induction kit it has. Here are the seats....  It's such a nice driving 5, whisper quiet, the engine feels really strong, you can definitely feel that this is a low mileage car and one that's not been used in anger very often if ever(previous owners used it predominantly for the school run in London!). That's all for now |
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Post by wannabe on Apr 4, 2016 18:17:30 GMT
Also VX220 seats on runners ready to go in Here are the seats.... Just to be a massive PITA...  ... may I ask if you can push the OEM seat right back and then drop a tape measure down from the roof to where the back of the seat cushion you sit on meets the base of the seatback, to measure the distance / headroom? Then do the same when you have the new seats fitted? It would be really useful to have some empirical data on how much the VX220 seats drop the seating position down from standard! |
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Aaron
Chats A Bit
Posts: 207
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Post by Aaron on Apr 4, 2016 18:23:26 GMT
Just to be a massive PITA... ... may I ask if you can push the seat right back and then drop a tape measure down from the roof towhere the back of the seat cushion you sit on meets the base of the seatback, to measure the distance / headroom? Then do the same when you have the new seats fitted? It would be really useful to have some empirical data on how much the VX220 seats drop the seating position down from standard! Well that is a massive PITA! Jokes, I shall do that no worries. |
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Post by wannabe on Apr 4, 2016 20:38:23 GMT
Just to be a massive PITA... ... may I ask if you can push the seat right back and then drop a tape measure down from the roof towhere the back of the seat cushion you sit on meets the base of the seatback, to measure the distance / headroom? Then do the same when you have the new seats fitted? It would be really useful to have some empirical data on how much the VX220 seats drop the seating position down from standard! Well that is a massive PITA! Jokes, I shall do that no worries. Legend!  |
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Aaron
Chats A Bit
Posts: 207
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Post by Aaron on Apr 5, 2016 19:34:12 GMT
Well that is a massive PITA! Jokes, I shall do that no worries. Legend! I gained a whole 1 1/4 inches of headroom, such a difference to the driving experience, pretty chuffed. Will pop out again when I have time and paint the frame and get the side bolster repaired. Couldn't get the two rear passenger frame bolts out so for now that awaits install.  Also debadged the front plus sidelights and side reflectors changed.  Aside from that replaced the panel filter with a pipercross one plus a couple holes drilled into the air box. Timing moved to 14 degrees and added a breather. |
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Post by wannabe on Apr 7, 2016 13:57:31 GMT
Legend! I gained a whole 1 1/4 inches of headroom, such a difference to the driving experience, pretty chuffed. Will pop out again when I have time and paint the frame and get the side bolster repaired. Couldn't get the two rear passenger frame bolts out so for now that awaits install. Awesome, thank you for taking the time to do the measuring! An inch and a bit isn't much (said the actress to the bishop ) but it's a world of difference if one's head/hair is distractingly touching the roof previously. |
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Aaron
Chats A Bit
Posts: 207
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Post by Aaron on Apr 9, 2016 13:18:10 GMT
I gained a whole 1 1/4 inches of headroom, such a difference to the driving experience, pretty chuffed. Will pop out again when I have time and paint the frame and get the side bolster repaired. Couldn't get the two rear passenger frame bolts out so for now that awaits install. Awesome, thank you for taking the time to do the measuring! An inch and a bit isn't much (said the actress to the bishop ) but it's a world of difference if one's head/hair is distractingly touching the roof previously. Makes a hell of a difference to the whole experience, much more go kart like, feel more connected to the car. Got the other seat in today, courtesy of an impact wrench+plus gas+a new decent 14mm socket! Started to install the Low pro's however I was a part short but the seller will send them shortly so that's on hold for the time being. Got me some BBS RZ's so will grab some spigots for them and pop them on, will I be able to use the existing wheel nuts? Had a little tidy of my garage/gym so I could get the front in out of the rain to do the low pro's.  |
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Post by wannabe on Apr 10, 2016 12:30:13 GMT
Awesome, thank you for taking the time to do the measuring! An inch and a bit isn't much (said the actress to the bishop ) but it's a world of difference if one's head/hair is distractingly touching the roof previously. Makes a hell of a difference to the whole experience, much more go kart like, feel more connected to the car. Cool I'm just not sure an inch is enough for me! lol I might be going to visit Motordrive soon - I like the idea of custom padding/fit, and the one I've sat in at a meet was really quite low - not that I can really afford £500 for a seat + fixings + fitting, but...  |
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lol
