MX5 Owners in here....bring your curling tongs

randal said:
Anyone know what's going on with MX5Nutz? Is it dead? I tried to create a new account after I didn't get a password reset email for my existing account and still nothing. Been 3 days. :(

Been tempted by a MK3, want to see their classifieds!
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Forum turned to mostly crap a few years ago when ownership changed hands. There was a server migration or similar maybe two weeks ago and its been dead since then
 
Hey Phil, cheers for the reply. Dang. Pistonheads Classifieds is beyond useless these days too unless the car you want is on page 1 of the search results.

eBay and Autotrader it is then I guess.
 
As much as I hate facebook, there's a couple of reasonable groups for buying and selling - 'MX5Nutz For Sale' and 'MX5 Cars N Parts'. They're both quite active and I've had better luck finding parts and cars on there than I did on eBay etc.
 
Fitted a Moss Cobalt stainless steel exhaust to my mk2.5 this week.
Being a little older than most, I still consider exhausts as a consumable that will need to be replaced, so couldn't resist the Moss sale a couple of months ago.
Looks well made. The only downside I could say visually being that it appears to have an extra cowling around the exit pipe, which appears to only be there to make it look bigger. Just a bit naff IMO.

Fitting was done by a local indy, who's comments were frankly unprintable, though clearly they got it on in the end.

On the road. At tickover, very similar volume to standard, just a little more baritone. Definitely sounds better than the standard exhaust, which IMO made the car sound more like a spin drier. Under light load, pretty much the same. Give it some beans, sounds great. The only downside I've found being at 30-40mph in uphill sections, when it drones a little. In short, definitely sounds better for 95% of the time, so I can live with a bit of drone.

All in all, I'm happy with it.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Fitted a Moss Cobalt stainless steel exhaust to my mk2.5 this week.
Being a little older than most, I still consider exhausts as a consumable that will need to be replaced, so couldn't resist the Moss sale a couple of months ago.
Looks well made. The only downside I could say visually being that it appears to have an extra cowling around the exit pipe, which appears to only be there to make it look bigger. Just a bit naff IMO.

Fitting was done by a local indy, who's comments were frankly unprintable, though clearly they got it on in the end.

On the road. At tickover, very similar volume to standard, just a little more baritone. Definitely sounds better than the standard exhaust, which IMO made the car sound more like a spin drier. Under light load, pretty much the same. Give it some beans, sounds great. The only downside I've found being at 30-40mph in uphill sections, when it drones a little. In short, definitely sounds better for 95% of the time, so I can live with a bit of drone.

All in all, I'm happy with it.
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I nearly got one myself as my IL Motorsport exhaust (fitted by the previous owner) is a bit too loud for me if I give it some beans. It also has a loose baffle which, when cold, makes it sound like the sort of Honda Civic you'd expect to see with holes cut into the rear bumper ;)

Unfortunately I've got one of the late mk1's with the awkward catalytic converter length so it wouldn't fit :rolleyes:

When I finally give up on the current one I think I'll have to get a custom made job :(
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Fitted a Moss Cobalt stainless steel exhaust to my mk2.5 this week.
Being a little older than most, I still consider exhausts as a consumable that will need to be replaced, so couldn't resist the Moss sale a couple of months ago.
Looks well made. The only downside I could say visually being that it appears to have an extra cowling around the exit pipe, which appears to only be there to make it look bigger. Just a bit naff IMO.

Fitting was done by a local indy, who's comments were frankly unprintable, though clearly they got it on in the end.

On the road. At tickover, very similar volume to standard, just a little more baritone. Definitely sounds better than the standard exhaust, which IMO made the car sound more like a spin drier. Under light load, pretty much the same. Give it some beans, sounds great. The only downside I've found being at 30-40mph in uphill sections, when it drones a little. In short, definitely sounds better for 95% of the time, so I can live with a bit of drone.

All in all, I'm happy with it.
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Odd that they had fitment issues, mine was spot on, and that includes the awkwardness of none of the rest of the exhaust system being stock due to the turbo.

It might be worth grabbing some powerflex exhaust hangers, as both me and I think @Gayjin had issues with it causing the mid pipe to resonate on one of the underbody braces.

They're perfect tone wise though, quiet when driving lightly around town and then a nice deep but not overly loud tone when pressing on
 
Frozennova said:
Odd that they had fitment issues, mine was spot on, and that includes the awkwardness of none of the rest of the exhaust system being stock due to the turbo.

It might be worth grabbing some powerflex exhaust hangers, as both me and I think @Gayjin had issues with it causing the mid pipe to resonate on one of the underbody braces.

They're perfect tone wise though, quiet when driving lightly around town and then a nice deep but not overly loud tone when pressing on
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Maybe it was just my local indy making a mountain out of a molehill. Either way, now fitted and I can't hear any odd resonances.
As you say, without really changing the volume very much, does change to the tone of the delivery and in a positive way.
 
Frozennova said:
It might be worth grabbing some powerflex exhaust hangers, as both me and I think @Gayjin had issues with it causing the mid pipe to resonate on one of the underbody braces.
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For me it was a couple of things - my mid-section rotted and i replaced it with a sleeved section - played it too safe (I.e. didn't cut enough off by about 2-4cm) and so the mid silencer resonated against one of the 146 tie bars mine has.

However, I recall the joint of the mid section to BB being under load so it wanted to rotate the BB - i had to replace a couple of hanger rubbers due to this.

BUT, when I did the clutch, I had to remove the mid pipe completely for access, which I didn't do for the above exhaust work as the studs/nuts looked grim, but surprisingly they came off fine. Also a brace had disintegrated. Both of these have allowed the exhaust to shift nicely and both the mid pipe and BB sit fine.

Frozennova said:
They're perfect tone wise though, quiet when driving lightly around town and then a nice deep but not overly loud tone when pressing on
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Agreed - I live in the country and it's just about right as sound carries and I leave early in the morning. The Milltek on the Evo is comparatively much more obnoxious, but even then, it's no Nur Spec R!
 
I'd love to have a "Phil" of my own one day, but afraid just having a base spec 1.8 mk1 would just be a rusty money pit, Even if I do find a relatively low miler.

How much typically does it cost to fix the more common areas of an Mk1 MX5?
 
The mk1 doesn't suffer from the same front chassis rail issue of the mk2. So from a rust perspective, it's just sills, which are circa £650 all in.
Having said that, the mk1 will clearly be older, and I've read of them starting to pick up electrical gremlins.
 
So the mk1 will be less of a money pit than a mk2.5 for example?

I like both cars, Love to pick either mk1 or a mk2 up as a lil project and maybe boosting, never had the opportunity to mod a car before due to how tight money was for me, If things go right I may have a new job which will really land me in the money every month.
 
Uncle_Gravy said:
So the mk1 will be less of a money pit than a mk2.5 for example?

I like both cars, Love to pick either mk1 or a mk2 up as a lil project and maybe boosting, never had the opportunity to mod a car before due to how tight money was for me, If things go right I may have a new job which will really land me in the money every month.
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rust wise yes.

I'd say mk1 but I own one so who am I to talk.

didn't have any electrical issues but mechanical I've had quite a few, probably because my car was driven once in a while and sat under covers mostly.. I drive it hard, trash it everywhere so it does break lol.
 
What is the Mk1 to go for? Anything spec wise specifically or just try and find one that's just been looked after?
I also have someone in the family, their parents have a Mk2 S-VT which i'm kinda keeping an eye on if they do think about selling.
 
grudas said:
didn't have any electrical issues but mechanical I've had quite a few, probably because my car was driven once in a while and sat under covers mostly.. I drive it hard, trash it everywhere so it does break lol.
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That is just old age TBH. I've had a few bits and bobs on my one since I bought it but nothing major. Electrical wise my one will flatten a battery, sometimes overnight, with the permanent live enabled... so I've just pulled the fuse :o Who needs an interior light and radio anyway :p I will get round to tracking it down one day...

As for which mk1, it really depends on what you want from it. Some people will say you need to get one with an LSD which, if your usage is like mine, is a daft comment. For me it was whatever I could get that was tidy. Ended up buying a mega low mileage car which wasn't really my intention, it was just the best one available at the time. TBH it isn't really the spec that I wanted being a 1.8i S in BRG but I think I made the right decision getting a solid car over everything else.

While there are plenty of nice mk1's still out there I don't see huge numbers for sale these days.
 
Seen a few lowish milers going around the 2-2300 mark, but none seem to mention condition underneath.

Think maybe the best places to look are specialist type sites, BBR seem to sell the odd Mk1 now and then but they're asking big money themselves, so not too sure where i'm looking really for a decent car.
 
Uncle_Gravy said:
Seen a few lowish milers going around the 2-2300 mark, but none seem to mention condition underneath.

Think maybe the best places to look are specialist type sites, BBR seem to sell the odd Mk1 now and then but they're asking big money themselves, so not too sure where i'm looking really for a decent car.
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If you want a minter check mx5restorers website.. they've got a couple most of the time for sale. Expect to pay a bit more tho, 4k+

I paid £2k for mine and rust wise it is solid.
 
Uncle_Gravy said:
So the mk1 will be less of a money pit than a mk2.5 for example?

I like both cars, Love to pick either mk1 or a mk2 up as a lil project and maybe boosting, never had the opportunity to mod a car before due to how tight money was for me, If things go right I may have a new job which will really land me in the money every month.
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The mk2 is basically a modified mk1, with a revised nose for the lights and a new interior. Under the skin, it's apparently very similar. The key change from a rust perspective was the telescoping front chassis rails, introduced for better crumple during a frontal impact. Unfortunately, their design is basically a rust magnet.
On a more positive note, there are several groups with "fixes" for the issue with the rails and the cost is known.
So if you exclude those, I'm not expecting my own mk2 to be anymore of a money pit than a mk1. Being newer, it's probably reasonable to expect the other components to last better.
 
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