Lachstock and Four Turbo Charged Cylinders ['04 NB SE]
Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 10:56 pm
Finaly, I have an MX-5! And now the garage thread to document it. Can never have too many SE garage threads, right? 
I flew down to Melbourne to buy this car from another forum member, alexpav. Car was as described, looked great and so I gave Alex my cheque and began the long drive back to Brisbane! I have to say, Victoria has the best freeway I've been on in Australia, and once the sun was out, the roof was down and the rock 'n' roll was up! And I had that stupid grin on my face that I'm sure you all know well
Stopped in Sydney Friday night to stay with my (would-be) brother in-law for the night, pretty wrecked by the time I got there after driving I think about 10 hours. And to top it off, he lives in the inner city and this was my first time driving in Sydney, not as bad as I expected though. I had Google maps in the passanger seat telling me where to go
We went to a local pub for dinner and a few beers, then I was out like a light!
Back on the road early after a quick coffee and bacon and egg roll from Deus Ex Machina cafe - man they were good! I drove up to Pie in the Sky, just outside the city on the old Pacific Highway to meet Nevyn72, and my first taste of some twisties in the Five. Nevyn has been my chat buddy on the forum for several months, with a TON of PMs back and forth discussing his car and my potential cars, he's been very helpful and patient with me so it was great to finally meet and chat face to face.
After a pie and coffee, Nevyn and I had a poke around the car, he pointed out a few spots to watch for, like clogged drains and wet carpets. He took a few photos with his proper camera and gave me a few tips on where to go as I left for some twisties. Following his advice I left Pie in the Sky and continued up the Old Pacific Highway for a while, enjoying some more turns. Signs said 60, but 80 was more fun and I loved shifting down from 4th to 3rd and blipping the throttle
Got caught in a few down pours along the way. I managed to power on through the first one with nothing more than a wet forhead, but the others got too heavy, the traffic slowed and I had to pull over to put the lid up 
Once my fuel gauge was looking scarily low, I re-joined the main freeway, topped up and carried on to my next stop at Grafton, which would set me up for a nice easy cruise home on Sunday. Found some pizza and beer before another nights deep sleep.
I was up bright and early once more, however the sun wasn't. Fog was everywhere, and it must have been <10 degrees. Still, like a stubborn kid with a new toy that I am, I dropped the roof and drove on. The fog was heavy, the heater was on, I think other motorisits thought me insane. After about 100ks the fog wasn't clearing, I gave up, pulled over and put the roof up again. The plan was to pull into Kingscliffe for a breakfast by the beach, I finally got there, the sun was out again, so the roof was down. Had a great feed, took a stroll then back in the car for the final leg!
Pulled into the driveway around midday, said hello to my girlfriend, then straight out to the garage to see to those drain plugs and carpets!
The previous owners had installed a TT style stylebar, that came out, then the carpets. Man I hate those christmas tree plugs. Got my first taste of working in that cramped area behind the seats. Both the rear drains were clogged, though only one side was wet. The drivers side mustn't get wet often for some reason, but it was still clogged. I dried out the carpet, which was ondly a little wet were the passenger rear drain was. I also pulled out the panel in the parcel shelf that is untreated to remove some surface rust. Back in it all went, plus the OEM windblocker.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to give it a wash and clean after that long journey, but that will happen today I think. This morning I took it down to get a Roadworthy, then off for registration!
I flew down to Melbourne to buy this car from another forum member, alexpav. Car was as described, looked great and so I gave Alex my cheque and began the long drive back to Brisbane! I have to say, Victoria has the best freeway I've been on in Australia, and once the sun was out, the roof was down and the rock 'n' roll was up! And I had that stupid grin on my face that I'm sure you all know well
Stopped in Sydney Friday night to stay with my (would-be) brother in-law for the night, pretty wrecked by the time I got there after driving I think about 10 hours. And to top it off, he lives in the inner city and this was my first time driving in Sydney, not as bad as I expected though. I had Google maps in the passanger seat telling me where to go
We went to a local pub for dinner and a few beers, then I was out like a light!Back on the road early after a quick coffee and bacon and egg roll from Deus Ex Machina cafe - man they were good! I drove up to Pie in the Sky, just outside the city on the old Pacific Highway to meet Nevyn72, and my first taste of some twisties in the Five. Nevyn has been my chat buddy on the forum for several months, with a TON of PMs back and forth discussing his car and my potential cars, he's been very helpful and patient with me so it was great to finally meet and chat face to face.
After a pie and coffee, Nevyn and I had a poke around the car, he pointed out a few spots to watch for, like clogged drains and wet carpets. He took a few photos with his proper camera and gave me a few tips on where to go as I left for some twisties. Following his advice I left Pie in the Sky and continued up the Old Pacific Highway for a while, enjoying some more turns. Signs said 60, but 80 was more fun and I loved shifting down from 4th to 3rd and blipping the throttle
Got caught in a few down pours along the way. I managed to power on through the first one with nothing more than a wet forhead, but the others got too heavy, the traffic slowed and I had to pull over to put the lid up Once my fuel gauge was looking scarily low, I re-joined the main freeway, topped up and carried on to my next stop at Grafton, which would set me up for a nice easy cruise home on Sunday. Found some pizza and beer before another nights deep sleep.
I was up bright and early once more, however the sun wasn't. Fog was everywhere, and it must have been <10 degrees. Still, like a stubborn kid with a new toy that I am, I dropped the roof and drove on. The fog was heavy, the heater was on, I think other motorisits thought me insane. After about 100ks the fog wasn't clearing, I gave up, pulled over and put the roof up again. The plan was to pull into Kingscliffe for a breakfast by the beach, I finally got there, the sun was out again, so the roof was down. Had a great feed, took a stroll then back in the car for the final leg!
Pulled into the driveway around midday, said hello to my girlfriend, then straight out to the garage to see to those drain plugs and carpets!
The previous owners had installed a TT style stylebar, that came out, then the carpets. Man I hate those christmas tree plugs. Got my first taste of working in that cramped area behind the seats. Both the rear drains were clogged, though only one side was wet. The drivers side mustn't get wet often for some reason, but it was still clogged. I dried out the carpet, which was ondly a little wet were the passenger rear drain was. I also pulled out the panel in the parcel shelf that is untreated to remove some surface rust. Back in it all went, plus the OEM windblocker.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to give it a wash and clean after that long journey, but that will happen today I think. This morning I took it down to get a Roadworthy, then off for registration!
... 