Hi to all on this forum

[RonA]

I've been following this website for some years now & recently decided to subscribe.
My main interest in welding stems from my ongoing restoration of a 1934 Wolseley Hornet special & laterly from trying to sort out my Mk1 Mazda Mx5 which in a misguided moment I lent to my daughter only to have a taxi driver try to park on the back of it (written off & bought back).
I undertook a welding course many years ago(gas & Arc) but reasonably priced Migs were a pipedream at the time, so when I finally got my hands on one I have had to experiment to get the best out of it. Within the last year I jointly purchased a tig set which I am still struggling to master.
This forum seems to be populated with some very talented & knowledgeable people & is a great source of both info & inspiration.
RonA

 

[troppo]

Welcome to the madness Ron. I`d love to see some pics of the wolsely, they were a beautiful car. You`ve come to the right place for any help and advice you need, theres plenty on offer here.
cheers
troppo

 

[RonA]

For troppo

Thankyou for the warm welcome Troppo. Fotos of my woseley as is & as it should be hopefully one day. RonA

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome to the forum and nice project going there, a point of interest...I had an MX5 for a while, was a 1.8 Eunos from Japan, was a great car for the Cumbrian back roads, top down and exhaust rumbling, decided to sell it due to a long term demolish and workshop rebuilt.
Probably the only car of many that I still regret parting with.

 

[RonA]

Driving the MX5

Hi Steve,
You are right the MX5 is a delight to drive & that was my main motivation for buying back the "wreck".

I have since aqquired a MK3 MX5 cabriolet & whilst its also fun to drive still like the Mk1 better.

In my formative years I once owned a Lotus Elan (on which alledgedly the MX5 was based). The MX5 is the car Lotus should have built, mine used to break down weekly, but the MX5 never let me down once.

RonA

 

[FranV8]

Hello and welcome from anotehr MX5 (Eunos) owner!

Loads of fun, mine's an early 1.6 (1990). The '5 was based on the Mazda board trying out a Triumph Spitfire and MGB across the mountains in Japan. Althought he Elan wasn't mentioned in the tract I read, there must ahve been one of those stripped down in a Mazda workshop somewhere. Even the engine looks like it was styled based on the Lotus Twin cam.

Interesting how the Mk.1. seems to be preferred for the driving experience, the weights between Mk1/2/3 were all about the same, and there is more power in the Mk3, although it is rumoured that the suspension is compromised on the Mk.3 to be made a little higher than intended to meet Euro regs. I believe, it it doesn't already have the dealer fitted 'sport' suspension option, you can improve thing's a bit with lowering springs/ geometry adjustment. The Mk.1 just had that low speed 'chuckable' thing that many an old English roadster used to possess.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Mods...Please ban and severly punish anyone else from reminding me how good it is to own an early MX5... memory in overdrive and being tempted too much to go looking for another.

 

[RonA]

My Mk1 MX5

The Mk1 MX5 I currently have under repair is the English version with the 1.8 Engine but without the benefit of Air con, electric windows etc, in Neo green which all the paint shops say is BRG. Perhaps the Japanese couldn't bring themselves to say BRG.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Mine was also BRG, air con was really powerful but always seems a strange extra to have on a soft top. Electric windows were a PIA, took ages to lower.
I got a workshop manual and even the owners book with it, both in Japanese..I tended not to use those for some reason.
I would certainly buy an import again, mine had been really well looked after, was told most imports are the same, car care seems a high priority to Japanese owners.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Sold my MX5 18 months ago and still miss it.


That Wolsely's a pretty little car. Look forward to seeing yours finished.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Sold my MX5 18 months ago and still miss it.
View attachment 23415

That Wolsely's a pretty little car. Look forward to seeing yours finished.

Thats a beauty, looks the bee's knee's...

 

[Wozzaaah]

I loved it but it was getting so little use I had to say goodbye.
1990 1.6 Eunos with some nice Mazdaspeed goodies on it.
Sold it to a friend for a little more than I paid for it and she loves it so it all ended up good.
(I didn't rip her off btw, I bought it off another mate for a silly price. )

 

[KemppiFrog]

Is that Wolsley a six? with paired middle cylinders
The story about the MX5 that I heard... Was that the the project leader was asked to produce a car that he would have wanted to own when young. Lotus Elan was the only thing that he lusted after, ergo, MX5.
A
Back in the early sixties (bare with me) I used to cycle past (on the way to school) a rust bucket in some-ones front drive (Walton on Thames). I finally asked him what and how much. Singer Le Mans and you can't afford it... He actualy would have sold it for around £50. Weep.. But he was right, I couldn't have bought it.

I had some (minor) connections with Lotus in the 60s and 70s. Met Colin Chapman a few times too. Pity they are at the back of the F1 grid now.
A