Post by danmarr14 on Nov 22, 2020 15:48:00 GMT
Hello all! I am Dan and I'm from Cheshire. I made the mistake of buying a NA for £850...
This is Maisie - the NA MX-5 1.8 Merlot Special Edition I bought in October 2020 for the sum of £850. Little did I know then, that this "well priced" option was going to become the author of all my pain!
Here she is, currently in the sunlight with the roof down. As you may notice, there's some black tape on the front. More later...
Fantastic to drive, although when on the test drive with my friend a misfire developed. All rest seemed good though and got the green light from my friend after a cursory glance at the sills and arches , but we knew that there was a MASSIVE cut on one of the rear arches, with t'other looking like it may need sorting too. A quick test drive and we seemed happy with it although it did develop a misfire. Canoe. THANKFULLY it was cured by a new set of spark plugs so 10 quid down already!
Bringing it home, all seemed well until NHS Track and Trace ordered me into Self-Isolation as I had likely been "exposed" to the Coronavirus (talk about indecent exposure), but 11 days later I was free and able to go drive. 00:01 on Sunday morning, in the car and off! Well not quite, buggering about with 3 different keys at the early hours meant I didn't know which key would start the car. Figured it out in the end though, so drove about for an hour and was chuffed. Until I got to the Davenham roundabout that is... turning normally, the car's backend stepped out for no reason whatsoever. Hmm, I thought, and got out when parked to see all 4 tyres were low but especially so the rear left. In the morning, I went to pump pressure up in all of them thinking they were merely low, went for a quick test drive of a mile or so and the rear left was flat again. Canoe Mk2. Upon putting pressure in again I heard a BANG, which in hindsight was the sound of 2 4-finger sized holes exhaling at the same time (on the back of the tyre!). 1 friend pop over later, we stick the spare on, go to the National Tyres in Northwich for a dirt-cheap tyre whilst I run the other ones down before forking out for some nice tyres (and rims!), and the amount of rubber dust off the rim and on the floor was rather alarming...
Next up, I order some new discs and pads and my friend offers to fit them, so he spends 2 and a bit hours buggering around with the rear calipers which seem to have had better days. You're damn right they did as the Handbrake was as much use as offering me a salad, so the car duly failed it's MOT. 1 rear caliper, 1 brake line, 1 exhaust gasket, they also fit the front discs and pads whilst I am there and it turned out to be an expensive week...
Which brings me to now! I've done ZERO to the car so far, apart from buying a proper hood cover for when the hood is down. Next on the list though, is those rear arches... behold, the problem!
and for context
Yeah, it ain't great. I have taped it up to try and keep the water away but I know the whole thing is gonna need replacing properly, and yes I am budgeting to do both this side and the other at the same time. According to the paperwork it was last done in mid-2016 so I'm not surprised it's gone so soon, but it has been like this (but in a much lesser state) for around 10 months so gulp... I have spoken to Steve Prembleton (sorry Steve if I have spelled your name wrong!) but not shown him yet - does anyone have any recommendations for bodywork places, and for places to steam clean/underseal the car once the arches are done. ALSO, the wings are suffering, specifically only where they join the top of the bumper (the front left is still intact, the right is basically gone now) so all advise will be welcome!
I will in time list the mods I will do for the car - for now the only thing I am gonna do is change the washer jets out for the spray type from the Maverick.
This is Maisie - the NA MX-5 1.8 Merlot Special Edition I bought in October 2020 for the sum of £850. Little did I know then, that this "well priced" option was going to become the author of all my pain!
Here she is, currently in the sunlight with the roof down. As you may notice, there's some black tape on the front. More later...
Fantastic to drive, although when on the test drive with my friend a misfire developed. All rest seemed good though and got the green light from my friend after a cursory glance at the sills and arches , but we knew that there was a MASSIVE cut on one of the rear arches, with t'other looking like it may need sorting too. A quick test drive and we seemed happy with it although it did develop a misfire. Canoe. THANKFULLY it was cured by a new set of spark plugs so 10 quid down already!
Bringing it home, all seemed well until NHS Track and Trace ordered me into Self-Isolation as I had likely been "exposed" to the Coronavirus (talk about indecent exposure), but 11 days later I was free and able to go drive. 00:01 on Sunday morning, in the car and off! Well not quite, buggering about with 3 different keys at the early hours meant I didn't know which key would start the car. Figured it out in the end though, so drove about for an hour and was chuffed. Until I got to the Davenham roundabout that is... turning normally, the car's backend stepped out for no reason whatsoever. Hmm, I thought, and got out when parked to see all 4 tyres were low but especially so the rear left. In the morning, I went to pump pressure up in all of them thinking they were merely low, went for a quick test drive of a mile or so and the rear left was flat again. Canoe Mk2. Upon putting pressure in again I heard a BANG, which in hindsight was the sound of 2 4-finger sized holes exhaling at the same time (on the back of the tyre!). 1 friend pop over later, we stick the spare on, go to the National Tyres in Northwich for a dirt-cheap tyre whilst I run the other ones down before forking out for some nice tyres (and rims!), and the amount of rubber dust off the rim and on the floor was rather alarming...
Next up, I order some new discs and pads and my friend offers to fit them, so he spends 2 and a bit hours buggering around with the rear calipers which seem to have had better days. You're damn right they did as the Handbrake was as much use as offering me a salad, so the car duly failed it's MOT. 1 rear caliper, 1 brake line, 1 exhaust gasket, they also fit the front discs and pads whilst I am there and it turned out to be an expensive week...
Which brings me to now! I've done ZERO to the car so far, apart from buying a proper hood cover for when the hood is down. Next on the list though, is those rear arches... behold, the problem!
and for context
Yeah, it ain't great. I have taped it up to try and keep the water away but I know the whole thing is gonna need replacing properly, and yes I am budgeting to do both this side and the other at the same time. According to the paperwork it was last done in mid-2016 so I'm not surprised it's gone so soon, but it has been like this (but in a much lesser state) for around 10 months so gulp... I have spoken to Steve Prembleton (sorry Steve if I have spelled your name wrong!) but not shown him yet - does anyone have any recommendations for bodywork places, and for places to steam clean/underseal the car once the arches are done. ALSO, the wings are suffering, specifically only where they join the top of the bumper (the front left is still intact, the right is basically gone now) so all advise will be welcome!
I will in time list the mods I will do for the car - for now the only thing I am gonna do is change the washer jets out for the spray type from the Maverick.
le sigh