Mk1 MX5 – one good car, one written off!

Johnny-Five

Johnny-Five

Johnny-Five

Associate
Joined
5 May 2009
Posts
15
Hi guys,

Just a bit of advice really. I've had my Mk1 for close to 7 years now and love it to bits. A friend of mine recently wrote his Mk1 off. Drivers side damage... front wheel took most of the impact. Bent suspension and scuffed all the panels down that side.

The car itself is a 1.8, lowered, roll bar hoops, Super Drager exhaust full system including a manifold that looks like a work of art!, boot spoiler etc

Now to the question, do you guys think it's worth buying and putting the above bits to mine? Mines a 1.6 and was possibly thinking of even transplanting the 1.8 in mine along with the brakes etc. The manifold won't fit a 1.6 so would have to drop the whole engine.

Thing is my 1.6 had done 100,000 but is such a sweet little engine and still feels like it has loads of life. The 1.8 has done 80k and again feels very healthy.

So... worth doing or do you think its more hassle that its worth? He wants £300 for his car.

Cheers!
 
All of the above is worth at least £300 so yeah if you've got somewhere to put it, it can't hurt!
 
Janesy B said:
Not another smashed up MX-5

:(

Sounds worth it providing you have the space/time.
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Yeah... it was a lovely 5, silver, great condition went and handled brilliantly. Tracked it quite a few times. Sold it to a mate then weeks later the guy lost control and smashed it into the wall of a small bridge. Real shame.
 
With such owner club following the spares on an MX-5 would be easy to shift and even with keeping the engine I imagine you could make your £300 back. Therefore, free upgrade!

(And you could flog your 1.6).

Ensure you check how it effects insurance before hand though, don't want to be stung!
 
bledd. said:
what a strange place to sign up, JUST to ask that question.
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i was thinking that as well... Shirley MX5 Nutz / OC would be better place?

The damage location would most likely write off the shock and calipers (or at least make me pretty damn paranoid about using them...)

Apart from that if you have the time and space to strip it down you might be onto a winner for £300 :)
 
bledd. said:
what a strange place to sign up, JUST to ask that question.
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Not really... already posted on a few MX5 club sites but had naff all response... came across this site due to a healthy MX5 post that popped up whilst searching and already had some response from you guys! :)

Firestar_3x, no wasn't my car, it was a mate of mine. He sold it onto the guy who then proceeded to stuff it.
 
Johnny-Five said:
Hi guys,

Just a bit of advice really. I've had my Mk1 for close to 7 years now and love it to bits. A friend of mine recently wrote his Mk1 off. Drivers side damage... front wheel took most of the impact. Bent suspension and scuffed all the panels down that side.

The car itself is a 1.8, lowered, roll bar hoops, Super Drager exhaust full system including a manifold that looks like a work of art!, boot spoiler etc

Now to the question, do you guys think it's worth buying and putting the above bits to mine? Mines a 1.6 and was possibly thinking of even transplanting the 1.8 in mine along with the brakes etc. The manifold won't fit a 1.6 so would have to drop the whole engine.

Thing is my 1.6 had done 100,000 but is such a sweet little engine and still feels like it has loads of life. The 1.8 has done 80k and again feels very healthy.

So... worth doing or do you think its more hassle that its worth? He wants £300 for his car.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Brakes- Yep, worthwhile upgrade, not hard to execute
Engine- is yours a 90 or 115bhp 1.6? If it's 115 I would question if it's worth the effort. If it's 90 then yes certainly go for it.
Exhaust- sounds good, have it!
Suspension- erm that will be damaged won't it from what you've said?
Roll Bar Hoops- unlikely to help you in an accident so unless you really like them I wouldn't bother unless going for a proper roll cage.

£300 is probably about right and you will most likely make your money back from selling other bits off the car. You do however, need some space to strip it and some space to store all the booty from it.
 
Yeah... suspension is out of the question. Shame as it's just the drivers side front that is bent.

My engine is 115bhp so maybe not worth the hassle... but then means I can't fit the full exhaust system as the the manifold wont fit the 1.6 block.

The hoops do seem more cosmetic than structural so maybe flog them on.
 
Johnny-Five said:
Yeah... suspension is out of the question. Shame as it's just the drivers side front that is bent.

My engine is 115bhp so maybe not worth the hassle... but then means I can't fit the full exhaust system as the the manifold wont fit the 1.6 block.

The hoops do seem more cosmetic than structural so maybe flog them on.
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;) Flog the exhaust on and buy a nicer one for your car with the proceeds. I'm just not sure its worth all the hassle of an engine swap for the upgrade. I would be tempted to flog off everything apart from the brakes and then use the money to buy some better suspension + exhaust for your 1.6 Then when thats done you can perhaps look towards a turbo for the 1.6 if you crave more power.

You will probably get £200 for the 1.8 engine if you hold out for it.

EDIT, one thing to note is that if you are thinking of going turbo shortly you will be wasting your money on buying a flash 1.6 exhaust as you will need a different exhaust and manifold for turbo anyway!!
 
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Yeah will prob do as you suggest.

My Mk 1 already has a nice system... just not the manifold. It's lowered too. Just hasn't got adjustables like the silver one. Talking of suspension... and you seem to know your stuff ;) I'm looking at replacing mine for a fully adjustable set up. One thing that I'm a bit puzzled about at the min tho is that the car feels really firm and if you push down on a corner there is no bounce at all. But on the road it's lost all the taughtness and does bounce over bumps. I can almost feel the car squirming through corners. Is this down to worn bushes do you think?
 
Johnny-Five said:
Yeah will prob do as you suggest.

My Mk 1 already has a nice system... just not the manifold. It's lowered too. Just hasn't got adjustables like the silver one. Talking of suspension... and you seem to know your stuff ;) I'm looking at replacing mine for a fully adjustable set up. One thing that I'm a bit puzzled about at the min tho is that the car feels really firm and if you push down on a corner there is no bounce at all. But on the road it's lost all the taughtness and does bounce over bumps. I can almost feel the car squirming through corners. Is this down to worn bushes do you think?
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Saitrix is the man to talk to about this although he may blind you with science a bit!!! Could be defective/worn setup, ***** lowering springs, cut springs, god knows. I'm not knowledgable in this area. I can tell you it shouldn't do that. The standard set up is usually reasonably comfortable although a bit crashy if worn and it will roll a bit but offers a nice compromise between comfort and performance. It sounds like this would be a great upgrade for you. The current flavour of the year is a system from phil at performance5 tho if you want to save money there's various setups kicking around on ebay for much less second hand.
 
What suspension you running at the moment then? Sounds like you may have it running too low and the suspension is running on bump stops, what ride height you running from arch to axle?

Also what sort of budget we talking? If you have the cash either go for P5 setup or Gaz, but that is like £600 area, which is a lot! You can sort out your suspension to an acceptable level much cheaper. What do you want from your suspension and what sort of roads do you do a lot?
 
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