A confused but keen newbie.

[talisman]

Hi all.
Just bought a 1998 ,1.8 , mx5 and had to tidy the rear arches and one rear sill. By tidy i mean hmm, err, like, fibreglass and filler lol.
So joined a few mx5 forums and it seems the mx5 is a bit of a rust bucket.
So looked at the body shops the forums promote /mention and they all do a good job but at a price.
Have been looking locally to find a welder who can help to just patch as required. Dont see the point in fitting complete panels as i dont think they are necessary. My 5 isnt that bad.
Then i thought , well do it yourself and that led me to this forum.
I have done a bit of body work on an old VW camper many years ago. Still have an old diy welder somewhere,will have to track it down. I live on a narrowboat most of the time and would have to work from my old mums place.
Anyway, im starting to ramble lol. Im still looking for a car body diy guy in the Devizes area, but im also investigating buying some kit and having a go, time will tell.
Looks like an interesting and friendly forum.

 

[skotl]

Welcome

Folks on here are very friendly and helpful, and almost all of them are better at welding than me

Feel free to ask about pretty much anything!

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome to the forum:

I owned an MX5 about 5 years ago, it was a Jap import and not a bit of rust on it, was a 1991 model and had really been cared for, even came with the original owners manual, was not a lot of help though..it was in Japanese

 

[BrokenBiker]

Welcome

Folks on here are very friendly and helpful, and almost all of them are better at welding than me

Feel free to ask about pretty much anything!

youve not seen my welding then haha

as with steve, ive had an mx5, although i never drove it, just bought and sold but not a spec of rust on it from a 1995 model

 

[Robotstar5]

Welcome aboard.

 

[talisman]

Checked that old welder.
Its a SIP Migmate 105 circa 2000.
I never really got on with it lol.
Think i will look to a newer /better model, hopefully it will be easier to use.

 

[BrokenBiker]

SIP arent the best, there are plenty of used good quality machines about that will do the job though

 

[Cobbler]

Lovely little car the MX5, my wife has had an '89 one for about 9 years, well she thinks it's hers! It's a Eunos import, no rot in it. Their not really rot boxes, what else is there around of that age to compare it with, their all gone. We only tax it in the summer now & it only comes out when the suns out & top down.

 

[ibrooks]

They aren't really any better or worse than the rest of their contemporaries and as others have said there aren't so many of the cars of that era around to compare like-for-like. Imports can go either way as they didn't get as much protection as the UK cars because they don't use salt on the roads over there so in general a fresh import won't be rusty but if it's used over winter here it'll go rusty in very short order. Of course a lot of the older cars now live in a garage over winter.

I've got a '95 1.8 and I had to do a fair amount of welding at the rear of the sills and the bottoms of the rear wheel-arches. The sills are proper thick stuff (as cars go) but conversely the rear wings/arches are quite thin. The structure at that bottom corner possibly does make them a little prone to problems as there are about 5 layers of metal all coming together forming plenty of areas for water to seep in between and sit rusting it long after the thing has come out of the rain.

I'm seriously torn at the moment over selling it or spending it's value on importing an Autokonnexion hard-top. I think selling it is going to win as I'm never going to use it as a daily driver so it seems silly for it just to sit in the garage gathering dust (it hasn't moved since December).

Iain

 

[mikejack]

ive never had an mx5 , but remember fireball xl5 !
welcome !!!!

 

[KemppiFrog]

From what I remember, the project leader on the MX5 recreated his ideal sports car from his youth. So no surprise it looks and handles a bit like the Lotus Elan.

BTW, Welcome
KF

 

[talisman]

I have an old 1990 , 2.4 manual , Hilux Surf. This was my regular driver ,but will now use mainly in the winter months.
By the way it has less rust han the MX5 although it has a few battle scars lol.
I really like the MX5 and smile every time i just look at it.
Have just got in touch with an old work mate and he is a good welder.
He is going to have a look for me.