2006 Mazda Mx-5 2.0 - budget track toy

[Mont]

The morning after it returned back from Germany I threw the baby seat in the passenger side and it went back to work doing daily commuting duties. With the price of fuel these past few months I get twice the mileage to a tank using the MX-5 than I do in the A6, which is running a mighty 18mpg in and out of work, but mainly I just love driving this thing.

A few of us also went down to Mondello a few weeks ago. Sunny and hot in the morning. Wet in the afternoon. Drove down, round Mondello and back up home without any issues. I'll probably skud myself saying this but I love how this wee car just takes it.

Also I absolutely loved this!

 

[Mont]

The wee MX-5 ended up becoming a predominant commuter car since last summer. Apart from a lack of space for big things, the wee car is comfortable, modern enough but not over-modified to still be compliant for everyday use.

Then it got to MOT time in April and it failed for having a couple of holes up in the rear arches/boot floor, as well as holes in the two brace bars (which I argued aren't structural) but failed as they are bolted to the subframe. Also something mentioned in the fail sheet about the rear subframe needing descaled, but nobody I knew had any idea what that mean't.

I left the car in to Ryan at Ryfab who did a great job welding up the rear arches and replacing the two brace bars with two new ones. I'd certainly recommend him, especially as one of the patching was at the fuel filler pipe which I believe puts off plenty of other Welders.

Back to MOT and it failed again on the subframe needing de-scaled. I asked the Tester what that was about and he said it looked a bit crusty and to tidy up for inspection, so got this done and back to MOT for a third time where the Tester found a hole in the sub-frame this time. F@ck sake. Does it need replaced or will they accept a patch? The Tester intimated that they'd accept a patch. Right. So back to Ryan at Ryfab (not his fault for not spotting it as it was hiding in an awkward spot, and unfortunately he came back with bad news that it wasn't repairable. In hindsight this was for the best as thinking back on it I wouldn't want anyone in this car if it wasn't right.

Getting the car up on a lift I realised the car was pretty bad underneath. A warning to anyone looking at Mk3s lol

I was left stuck with a dilemma. The car may not have been financially worth spending that much money on any more repairs, but on the other hand I've had alot of fun with this car and had intended to keep having fun in it. Also, as Covid has affected the prices of used cars, I'd have to potentially spend up to £1k replacing this with another one around the same age and mileage, and could still have the same rust lurking underneath. Thankfully a good friend decided he'd break his Mk3 and had recently blasted and refurbed his subframe.

I'd to wait a couple of months for him to have some time to work on it for me but a few weeks ago he did the following:

- Everything from the gearbox, back came off the car.
- Removed and replaced the subframe with a fresh blasted and painted one.
- Stripped the diff and drive shafts
- Transferred his better transfer hubs, suspension arms and diff carrier
- New polyurethane diff mounts
- Removed the arch liners and painted the underside of the car with 2 coats of Wurth underbody protection
- Fitted RX-8 front and rear ant-roll bars
- Replaced the headlights with de-tangoed ones
- Fitted genuine Mazda foglights and stalk switch
- New Roddison Racing front pads
- Copper greased all the brake lines

Some pics of the work:

Anyone who owns any older MX5 will be familiar with this on the floor lol

 

[Mont]

The car flew threw MOT last week and I'm putting some miles on it. Soon it's to go back to my mates so we can:

- Fit a better condition Mazda steering wheel as the stitching has came away from mine
- Fit a set of heated leather seats and install the switches
- Spanner check
- Full alignment

I've missed not doing any track days this year but will be back next year with a vengeance, and giving some serious thought to taking this back to the Nurburgring again.

Also I think the car is now a keeper. I can’t think of anything else that I’d want, that can do what this can do, at the budget I'd spent on it. It needs two rear quarters and a front wing, but perhaps next year. I kind of like it looking a bit rough on top but solid underneath. I’ve genuinely really happy with this old rusty piece of sh*t lol

 

[FM155]

That's a list of very worthwhile upgrades in there along with the repairs. Deffo a keeper with all that done and probably doesn't owe you that much in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Ben P]

Nice work. In 2013 I had a 2007 NC Sport and it looked close to yours underneath
That looks class with the detangoed headlights and the wheel/tyre set up looks so good.

 

[TheDaniel]

Love this wee thing! Makes me miss mine. That was a nasty surprise but good to see she's getting some love. The heated seats are defo a good upgrade. Although mine was just on/off switches. There were better ones on the face-lifts with multiple settings..

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[FM155]

The bucket seats in mine are great when competing but pretty friggin uncomfortable getting there and back. I'd consider something that's a bit more comfortable if I knew they'd keep me in place during events. The difference is amazing compared to normal seats.

 

[PAULW]

Heart of a lion doing all that work but at least you now know that you've a good car underneath.
Get it coated in dinitrol or bolt hamber now and forget about the rust for years

 

[Gaz86]

If there's one thing these cars love to do its rust! Even my old one which was pretty clean underneath, no obvious signs of rust and was well treated underneath developed a hole a few inches long in the sill I didn't find out until the new owner took it to MOT thankfully. Did you clean it back to bare metal before applying the Wurth stuff?

 

[Mont]

Thanks all. Yeah I think I'll hang on to this one now as long as I can and chip away at it. For the price I originally paid for it I think I've more than got more than my money's worth in smiles.

Love this wee thing! Makes me miss mine. That was a nasty surprise but good to see she's getting some love. The heated seats are defo a good upgrade. Although mine was just on/off switches. There were better ones on the face-lifts with multiple settings..

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Thanks mate. Those look really useful. Didn't you put an RX-8 wiper stalk on yours with the option to change the time on the intermittent wiper?

 

[TheDaniel]

Thanks all. Yeah I think I'll hang on to this one now as long as I can and chip away at it. For the price I originally paid for it I think I've more than got more than my money's worth in smiles.



Thanks mate. Those look really useful. Didn't you put an RX-8 wiper stalk on yours with the option to change the time on the intermittent wiper?

Yes indeed! Mine was kindly donated to me by @Ben P .. Unfortunately forgot to swap it back when I sold the car on! .. But definitely a worth while upgrade if you daily it like I was. I changed mine over in less than 10 mins and I have feet for hands lol

 

[Graham]

Nice work. In 2013 I had a 2007 NC Sport and it looked close to yours underneath
That looks class with the detangoed headlights and the wheel/tyre set up looks so good.

Mazda need to let them rot, to force folk to buy newer ones. They are so good otherwise, that people would own them forever if they didn't rot.

 

[Mont]

I’ve booked another trip to the Nurburgring this June and the MX5 is going back for its second visit.

I decided to spend a massive £60 on this Android powered CarPlay unit from AliExpress thinking it’ll help with Nav and just having choons for the trip.

Pretty happy with it although I ripped the screen protector off thinking it was just for packaging and the reflection now is shocking. Ordered a replacement screen protector which should hopefully sort it.

Also fitted a set of heated leather seats from a car that a friend was breaking. Really freshens up the interior and the heated seats were brilliant over the colder months there.

 

[Ben P]

Fancy trackskills in april mate? Few from here heading again!

 

[FM155]

See a lad on a fb group for MX5 rally cars has one of these with a 2.5 engine and full cage that he uses for road rallies and targas and seems to do well in it.

 

[Mont]

Fancy trackskills in april mate? Few from here heading again!

Thanks. Would love to come but the prices for the ferries to Germany are double last year and insurance on all the cars last month too has me getting it tight.

I definitely want to get to one after I come back though. What are you bringing?

See a lad on a fb group for MX5 rally cars has one of these with a 2.5 engine and full cage that he uses for road rallies and targas and seems to do well in it.

Yeah. That’s def on the to-do list once this engine dies. Pretty sure the 2.5s are US only? So would need to import one. Seems to make them real nice and torquey.

 

[Ben P]

I definitely want to get to one after I come back though. What are you bringing?

100% appreciate nothing is cheap anymore!

Im taking my hairdresser convertible 4 series

 

[Mont]

100% appreciate nothing is cheap anymore!

Im taking my hairdresser convertible 4 series

I own and MX5 and a Mini now too ffs. If it wasn't for my awful haircut I could probably easily be mistaken for a Hairdresser too from people who'd be bothered to stereotype lol

(not that I care )

 

[Ben P]

At least you have hair

 

[Dynam0humm]

Yeah. That’s def on the to-do list once this engine dies. Pretty sure the 2.5s are US only? So would need to import one. Seems to make them real nice and torquey.

They're around 180bhp but I think over 40lbs/ft more than the 2.0.

The problem is that they run out of puff at 6k because they were built for MPV's and trucks etc, so if you want to get the most out of them it quickly gets expensive. Still a good option if you've a borked 1.8 or 2.0 though.

 

[Dan.86]

Great work on this. My FIL bought one late last year and this is literally a carbon copy of what he has now experienced.

Wish I had of read in more detail sooner as Ryfab would have been a good shout for him. He bought a new subframe from a place in Downpatrick and it’s a great fit.

 

[Mont]

I think I'd seen that place in Downpatrick, possibly on eBay? It would have been my next option had my friend not decided to break his car.

Genuinely no complaints with Ryfab. Seems a really genuine guy and would go back again if I needed to.

Hope your FIL is happy again with his.