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

visibleman said:
Fitting is as simply as removing the lower steering cowl (two phillips screws from memory) on the NC, removing the wiper stalk (as above) and then refitting your intermittent stalk and putting the cowl back.
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I was going to attempt to get this done today.

Haynes manual makes it look more complex. Has you remove the steering wheel, disconnect the air bag, disconnect the negative on the battery.

I prefer your version. :Dhttps://youtu.be/k5Q03aF0KCg
 
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First clean for a few weeks! Installed the clear Reflectors so car is completely de-chromed and as I want it now. No further plans for modifications really. I need to get a new front numberplate and plinth and that's it really :)

Maybe a hard top, but it's hard to source a good one.
 
Siliconslave said:
While this isnt the cars for sale apprection thread this is probably a better place for this amazing rocketeer MK1:
www.pistonheads.com

Mazda MX-5 Rocketeer V6 | PH Private Area

A Rocketeer MX-5 sounds great, but it'll take time and money - here's one they did earlier
www.pistonheads.com www.pistonheads.com
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That does look good. I must admit that I wrongly assumed with rocketeer conversions that the V6 was going to add a chunk of weight on the front.

Interesting what they said about the availability of mk1's in general. I'd been watching used prices with interest as with my one not being driven for the best part of a year I was certain it was going to get sold either now or next spring when people start getting all rose tinted about drop top ownership as soon as the winter gloom disperses...

...then I retrieved it from my parents house where it has been living due to multiple house moves. 11.5 months since it was last started my dad asked me while I was putting the battery on "do you think it'll start" first turn of the key it fired straight up. He just stood there saying "NO WAY! NO WAY IT JUST STARTED LIKE THAT!" :cry: He's easily impressed it would seem :p

I've had it for over 10 years but never actually had a garage I could keep it in (my old one leaked like a sieve and was full of junk) so parking it in it's new home was quite a new experience. First night it was back and I was out there at half past nine 'fettling'. Needless to say any talk of selling it has long since been forgotten! :o

If anything it will now become the car I always wanted it to be. Something to take an interest in and work on at my leisure without any pressure of having to get a job done before it started raining or before the end of the day because I need to get it off the road.

The brake light switch seems to be intermittent so I'm going to swap that out and check the ground points while I'm at it. Then it is a check over for obvious MOT fails, get a new ticket on it (hopefully), then a full polish to remove the dull spots from nearly a year under a car cover. Hopefully all being well I'll get a couple of runs out in it before the gritters come out at which point it will be back into hibernation.

My boy has only just turned two but early signs are that he's car obsessed! I want to keep the car long enough to at least take him to a couple of shows in it. As soon as he's big enough to go in a group 2 car seat (probably about a year to 18 months away) we'll hit the road and see how he takes to dads noisy car without a roof!
 
Many years ago I owned the NB soft top MX5 and I recall not being overly impressed the the offerings from Autoglym when it came to cleaning and protecting the roof. The past seven years I owned my 2011 NC PRHT MX5. Now I have recently purchased the ND model and now I'm back in a soft top I am wondering what others would recommend for cleaning and protecting the soft top over the winter.
 
Just ordered OEM replacement Bilstein shocks and springs for my 2009 PRHT which is currently on the original suspension. With top mounts and gaitors the price was £1200.

I was toying with the idea of coilovers, but decided to stay OEM for the following reasons:

1. I don't want to sacrifice comfort for handling, it's my daily drive and I only do a few track days per year.

2. I won't need to inform my insurance company. I already have 3 modifications listed:

Remap with power increase
4-1 exhaust manifold and stainless back box
RX8 ARBs

3. I read so many threads in the mx5 and Miata forums about people struggling to set up their car properly on coilovers and encountering problems, or being unhappy with the ride.

I'll get the parts installed, get a 4 wheel alignment done at my usual place and just drive without bothering with ride height, spring tension and rebound etc.
 
bainbridge said:
Just ordered OEM replacement Bilstein shocks and springs for my 2009 PRHT which is currently on the original suspension. With top mounts and gaitors the price was £1200.

I was toying with the idea of coilovers, but decided to stay OEM for the following reasons:

1. I don't want to sacrifice comfort for handling, it's my daily drive and I only do a few track days per year.

2. I won't need to inform my insurance company. I already have 3 modifications listed:

Remap with power increase
4-1 exhaust manifold and stainless back box
RX8 ARBs

3. I read so many threads in the mx5 and Miata forums about people struggling to set up their car properly on coilovers and encountering problems, or being unhappy with the ride.

I'll get the parts installed, get a 4 wheel alignment done at my usual place and just drive without bothering with ride height, spring tension and rebound etc.
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Aren't the Blisteins the oem sport suspension that's slightly lowered anyway over the oem stock suspension?
 
01001101 said:
Aren't the Blisteins the oem sport suspension that's slightly lowered anyway over the oem stock suspension?
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Yes, it's the Sport tech model which I believe is slightly lowered compared to stock. The car does sit a bit higher than I'd like but it's a comfortable daily, and when I see it in the office car park park next to the ubiquitous SUVs it's not exactly tall.
 
bainbridge said:
Yes, it's the Sport tech model which I believe is slightly lowered compared to stock. The car does sit a bit higher than I'd like but it's a comfortable daily, and when I see it in the office car park park next to the ubiquitous SUVs it's not exactly tall.
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interesting to see some before/after thoughts/pics

thinking of doing something similar with mine as it has somewhat of an on-stilts look, and whilst i've no intention of having to drive sideways over every speedbump i'm also no fan of having more arch gap than tyre :P
 
adolf hamster said:
interesting to see some before/after thoughts/pics

thinking of doing something similar with mine as it has somewhat of an on-stilts look, and whilst i've no intention of having to drive sideways over every speedbump i'm also no fan of having more arch gap than tyre :P
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The car is going to look the same because I'm replacing like for like, though it may sit a few mm higher because the existing 14 year old springs have probably sagged a bit.
 
bainbridge said:
The car is going to look the same because I'm replacing like for like, though it may sit a few mm higher because the existing 14 year old springs have probably sagged a bit.
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ahh, my bad, thought you were going from standard to sport tech.

i haven't got much further than "hmm, lower would be nice" stage of planning, so not sure what i'm gonna do but given it's entirely road use i can see a bbig attraction for sticking oem ish.
 
adolf hamster said:
ahh, my bad, thought you were going from standard to sport tech.

i haven't got much further than "hmm, lower would be nice" stage of planning, so not sure what i'm gonna do but given it's entirely road use i can see a bbig attraction for sticking oem ish.
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For road use I'd recommend OEM, though the car does admittedly look much better lowered.
 
bainbridge said:
Just ordered OEM replacement Bilstein shocks and springs for my 2009 PRHT which is currently on the original suspension. With top mounts and gaitors the price was £1200.

I was toying with the idea of coilovers, but decided to stay OEM for the following reasons:

1. I don't want to sacrifice comfort for handling, it's my daily drive and I only do a few track days per year.

2. I won't need to inform my insurance company. I already have 3 modifications listed:

Remap with power increase
4-1 exhaust manifold and stainless back box
RX8 ARBs

3. I read so many threads in the mx5 and Miata forums about people struggling to set up their car properly on coilovers and encountering problems, or being unhappy with the ride.

I'll get the parts installed, get a 4 wheel alignment done at my usual place and just drive without bothering with ride height, spring tension and rebound etc.
Click to expand...

£1200 to end up with stock suspension is slightly mad, MeisterR sportives are £600. I'm sure even the Koni kit would be a lot less and you'd only need to declare the lowering springs as they are an OEM type damper.

I've been out in a car with MeisterR ZetaCRD set towards the firm end and they were totally fine for the road.
 
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bainbridge said:
Just ordered OEM replacement Bilstein shocks and springs for my 2009 PRHT which is currently on the original suspension. With top mounts and gaitors the price was £1200.
Click to expand...
Personally, i would strongly recommend Bilstein B6 Sports (if shorter springs then the B8's due to shaft length) as a PRHT OEM replacement given the issues with Mazda's own Bilstein's, ie - it's a Mazda designed shock built by Bilstein that has a known weeping fault (both Mazda and Bilstein wouldn't comment if they had fixed the design when i emailed them), only Mazda stock them and they charge accordingly.
I only know this as i went through the whole rigmarole with my PRHT a few years back (had weeping all around) and after a few weeks, chatting to a load of other PRHT owners and a few MX5 specialists, they all pointed me towards the B6's which offer near-enough the same ride height (i think there's a mm in it on the back) yet feel exactly the same but are only ~£100 a corner and not the ~£320+VAT Mazda wanted to charge me.

As @Janesy B says, once you get over £6/700, you're in the coilover game and £1000+ gets you a pretty decent set of them.

adolf hamster said:
thinking of doing something similar with mine as it has somewhat of an on-stilts look, and whilst i've no intention of having to drive sideways over every speedbump i'm also no fan of having more arch gap than tyre :p
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Bilstein's with the Eibach springs is the usual setup if you're not wanting to go down the coilover route, which results in a 30mm drop. Pair it with a really good alignment (ie - not Mazda's standard setup which isn't great) and it'll be a great setup for road use.
 
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visibleman said:
Bilstein's with the Eibach springs is the usual setup if you're not wanting to go down the coilover route, which results in a 30mm drop. Pair it with a really good alignment (ie - not Mazda's standard setup which isn't great) and it'll be a great setup for road use.
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I'm not particularly against the coilover route, just feels overkill for what amounts to a bit of b road blasting.

Alignment is a thing, tbh i should have had it sorted already but only got her december and this year's been crazy with other life shenanigans draining both pocket and soul.
 
adolf hamster said:
Alignment is a thing, tbh i should have had it sorted already but only got her december and this year's been crazy with other life shenanigans draining both pocket and soul.
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Alignment makes a huge difference, even with bog-standard suspension; just requires finding a decent place that offer decent setups (that aren't Mazda's standard guff).

If you're near Chesham then alignment at Protyre is supposedly still ran by one of the ex-Wheels Inmotion guys (Joe) in the same building. I haven't used them since they were Wheels Inmotion and Tony Bones was still about but they developed a 'fast road' setup that was always/is decent for daily road use (the setup is mentioned on a number of forums, so it probably could be replicated elsewhere).
 
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Janesy B said:
£1200 to end up with stock suspension is slightly mad, MeisterR sportives are £600. I'm sure even the Koni kit would be a lot less and you'd only need to declare the lowering springs as they are an OEM type damper.

I've been out in a car with MeisterR ZetaCRD set towards the firm end and they were totally fine for the road.
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I’ve a set of clubrace and on full soft they’re like driving on a cloud. Puts most modern cars to shame the way it rides even at relatively low speed.
 
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