mx5cartalk.com

I've had my car back from the shop for a week and a half now.
Putting it in the carport last night, nice and close up behind our other car so it's out of the rain.
Then I let the clutch out without taking it out of gear.

Blank.

Two nice fresh holes in the bumper.

ouch, photos?

Not having a good run are you! Hope the damage is easy to repair.

ahh sh*t, that's no good matty..

i always park my car close to my brother's civic.. i've had near misses because of incidents like yours.. now i just don't put it in gear

I don't want to respray the bumper as it is a great way to make it easy to stone chip... (and because I'm cheap/too broke).

I think the solution is going to be to tape the front plate on flush so that it hides the holes. Might have to order a set of black pop plates too...

A consolation Matty is that from the drivers seat it makes no difference. I guess the dratted reg plate mounting screws did the damage. I wonder if you could get say stick stick on sheet ( clear flexible plastic one side adhesive) paint one side punch out with a wad punch and stick over the damaged area?

sliq wrote:i always park my car close to my brother's civic.. i've had near misses because of incidents like yours.. now i just don't put it in gear

I never park my car in gear, I'm too used to the auto's I used to drive where I would never need to check if it was in N or put in the clutch before starting
I guess I should get into the habit of putting it in 1st when I park but the handbrake seems to work so well

main downside is when someone decides to put it into 1st for me while it's parked

Pics...

doesnt fix your bumper but my dad hung a tennis ball on a string from the roof of his garage at windscreen height.

when it hits the window he knows to stop so he doesnt run into his old jeep

i've gotten into the habit of not letting out the clutch till the engine is off, cause i too almost drive right up to the car in front (the MX-5 if i'm in the Familia, or the fence if i'm in MX-5) & leave it parked in gear. i figure being in gear would make it bit more difficult to steal or tow away & put in more hurdles for anyone to get to the MX-5 since the Familia has alarms/immobilisers etc.

Matty wrote:I don't want to respray the bumper as it is a great way to make it easy to stone chip... (and because I'm cheap/too broke).

I think the solution is going to be to tape the front plate on flush so that it hides the holes. Might have to order a set of black pop plates too...

http://www.mx5plus.com.au/part_display.php?part=17&cat=5
I cant remember what it looks like on the car but im pretty sure it brings it nice and close to the front bumper so it should hide the holes.

kitkat wrote:http://www.mx5plus.com.au/part_display.php?part=17&cat=5
I cant remember what it looks like on the car but im pretty sure it brings it nice and close to the front bumper so it should hide the holes.

NA only...

Black Pop plates now on order Will probably tape it straight on to the nose, covering the holes.

If I can't form the plate to the right shape (curved in 2 directions, tricky) I'll use some black foam tape to trim the edges.

JBT wrote:NB Part

What's the difference? I took mine off my NA and put it on the SE. Fitted perfectly.

No difference.....just showing that it wasn't NA only as per Matty's post.