mx5cartalk.com

Hi All,

Long time stalker of Mx5, first time owner!
I've had the idea of owning an mx5 ever since owning and loving an Mr2 a few years ago.

Since I recently got married and being persuaded to stop riding motorbikes, the wifey suggested I get back into tinkering and enjoy cars.
So I recently purchased my first Mx5 .

It's a 2003 NB8 Classic Edition (100 made for Australian Market) sold in Cerrion Silver Colour, with Blue Roof and leather interior details.
Just ticking over 100K Kms, the owner has had the car since 2004. No modifications what so ever and genereally in quite good condition with the servicing being up to date, however not the 100K service yet.

Bad points, I think the guy I bought off was definitely showing some bad signs of not being all there mentally . Firstly, he had kept the car garaged and averaging 1000Kms per year for the last few years. Secondly, his idea of keeping the paint pristine was to never give it a cut or polish. Finally, He had given his log books and spare key to his mechanic who had closed down and moved shops, and now he has no way of remembering the name or finding the log books for the car.

Pics:





My plans for the car are loosely as follows:

> Clean her up, detail interior, clay bar and polish exterior, Clean engine bay, Clean the soft top, and clean the carpet.
> Ensure servicing is all done and up to date - Start new service log or track down old service log - Timing Belt, All fluids, some gaskets, filters etc.
> Sound system - Get a decent blue tooth head unit, Upgrade speakers, do sound deadening in doors.
> Upgraded Suspension (coilovers or shock+Spring combo) and refresh tie rods, joints, and bushes.
> Wheels and Tyres upgrades - something that would suit the colour and car shape.

If anyone's seen the car before at a local workshop - please send me a PM, let me know I'd be keen to talk to the workshops to track down the books.

Welcome to the obsession Ahmad!
Your newly acquired classic ED looks really clean. When I 1st got mine it had been in storage for so long rodents had nested in the air filter!!!
Seems you got the initial plan of action in place- once that is sorted you’ll need to do the mandatory 1st 500k weekender run!
Sounds like we will be seeing more mods to come. (P.s, I did think about upgrading my sound system, but I hardly play the radio preferring the engine noise, so I got myself an ultimate ears mega boom Bluetooth portable speaker, just figuring out a way to mount it inside the car)

Was the guy you bought the car from tall and very slim with the name, Geoff? Parramatta area. If so, I know a bit about this car but can't help with the log books.

Welcome & congrats! When timing belt is replaced as part of the 100k km major service, replace water pump also.
Mazda Australia have visibility of service history while serviced at Mazda dealers - phone: 1800 034 411, or email: <CustomerServiceEnq@mazda.com.au>, with the VIN from the firewall.

rb_love wrote:Timing Belt

Welcome Ahmed. Looks like you have a nice example there. The paint comes up looking good in the photos

I've upgraded the head unit in mine, but as the top's down most of the time I rarely switch it on - as Daffy mentioned, prefer the sounds of "nature"

Daffy wrote:Welcome to the obsession Ahmad!
Your newly acquired classic ED looks really clean. When I 1st got mine it had been in storage for so long rodents had nested in the air filter!!!
Seems you got the initial plan of action in place- once that is sorted you’ll need to do the mandatory 1st 500k weekender run!
Sounds like we will be seeing more mods to come. (P.s, I did think about upgrading my sound system, but I hardly play the radio preferring the engine noise, so I got myself an ultimate ears mega boom Bluetooth portable speaker, just figuring out a way to mount it inside the car)

Thanks Daffy!
This car looks very clean - in fact the paint is in really good condition, and after going through the interior trim with a tooth brush and leather cleaner, it's scrubbed up very nicely too.
A BOSE Bluetooth speaker sounds like it'll do the job, alas I want to get something that refreshes the dash too a little.
What I've figured out is the drivers' side speaker and tweeter are not working, so maybe an upgrade to all will be helpful.

Blesif wrote:Was the guy you bought the car from tall and very slim with the name, Geoff? Parramatta area. If so, I know a bit about this car but can't help with the log books.

Not that one unfortunately, this was a short older gentleman from Hornsby area.

93_Clubman wrote:Welcome & congrats! When timing belt is replaced as part of the 100k km major service, replace water pump also.
Mazda Australia have visibility of service history while serviced at Mazda dealers - phone: 1800 034 411, or email: <CustomerServiceEnq@mazda.com.au>, with the VIN from the firewall.

rb_love wrote:Timing Belt

Thanks mate! his is super helpful! I've shot off an email to them and hope I get something back, perhaps I can try to start a new log book and collect the past stamps as I figure out the service history.

KevGoat wrote:Welcome Ahmed. Looks like you have a nice example there. The paint comes up looking good in the photos

I've upgraded the head unit in mine, but as the top's down most of the time I rarely switch it on - as Daffy mentioned, prefer the sounds of "nature"

Thanks Kev! Since buying this car, there hasn't been a single day that's less than about 5 million degrees in Sydney - So I haven't even had the joy of driving with the top down yet

On topic, I've purchased the head unit and wiring harness, some upgraded Bosch wiper blades, and Ill be ordering the sound deadening and speakers so that I can get it all installed in the Xmas New Year break.

Hoping to have some nice cruising weather next week

rb_love wrote:short older gentleman from Hornsby area.

Hornsby - coincidentally MX5 Mania, one of our forum sponsors with a great reputation for all things MX5, used to be located in the Hornsby area, but moved to Dural. Quite possible that an MX5 owner in Hornsby would have taken his MX5 to them - so I'd email, call or visit them as per the following details:
David & Simone
MX5 Mania
Unit 3/827 Old Northern Rd Dural
9482 3238
email: info@mx5mania.com.au
http://mx5mania.cart.net.au/
Good luck!

93_Clubman wrote:

rb_love wrote:short older gentleman from Hornsby area.

Hornsby - coincidentally MX5 Mania, one of our forum sponsors with a great reputation for all things MX5, used to be located in the Hornsby area, but moved to Dural. Quite possible that an MX5 owner in Hornsby would have taken his MX5 to them - so I'd email, call or visit them as per the following details:
David & Simone
MX5 Mania
Unit 3/827 Old Northern Rd Dural
9482 3238
email: info@mx5mania.com.au
http://mx5mania.cart.net.au/
Good luck!

Thanks mate, yeap I have it booked in for the big service with them in January. It would be an amazing coincidence if it was previously serviced there.

rb_love wrote:Thanks Kev! Since buying this car, there hasn't been a single day that's less than about 5 million degrees in Sydney - So I haven't even had the joy of driving with the top down yet

Simple, go for a drive in the evening, less traffic too!

Xmas light viewing from a roadster with the roof down is great, the visibility of walking with the speed of driving.

Update:

I started with trying to get the sound system upgrades underway.
I purchased:
*Pioneer MVH S305BT Head unit - which has spotify compatibility, and the wiring harnesses
*Single Din Pocket (for phone and other things)
*Kicker CSS684 5"x7" Splits which fit in the stock positions
*JayCar sound deadening

The head unit, which should've been the simplest of the mods, took the longest, using the head unit removal pins, I think I bent the springs on the sides of the head unit back instead of bending them in, which meant alot more research and more dash bits off to get to the back of the unit and eventually squeeze the standard unit out and fitting the head unit in was super easy!



Next up was door sound deadening and speaker replacement....
Opening the speakers from the JB hifi packaging was abit of a dissapointment, seeing the speaker magnets squashed up the back of the cones on the mids. I decided to wire up and test, and the sound was distorted on both sets 4 weeks on and I still havent had any good traction with JB hifi and getting my speakers replaced. SHAME!




I went ahead and did the side I had opened with sound deadening though, just to see the difference:


I'd say it's not an amazing difference but it is definitely noticeable for blocking road noise.
I'll do the passenger side when my speakers are replaced.

Next thing on the list was Window tints. I got a good hook up with Custom Kid Window tinting: https://www.facebook.com/customkidindustries/
He does alot of dealership work for the dealers in the Penrith Area and came recommended.
I chose to just do the doors and not the back window (since not much sun hits driver or passenger from the back). Went with a fairly light 35% Johnson InsulatIR film (which is good for heat).
Gives it a nice look and saves my arms from getting burnt on the long drives.



After this, the car was taken to Mx5 Mania where David and team worked their magic for the 100K service including:
-Engine Oil and Oil filter and sump plug washer
-Replace Timing Belt and Tensioner Pulleys, and tensioner spring
-Replace Cam Seals/Crank Seal Seal and Cam Cover Gasket
-Replace Waterpump and Waterpump Gaskets and o-ring
-Replace Coolant
-Replace Woodruff Key
-Replace Geabox and Diff oil change
-Replace Fuel Filter
-Compression test (190PSI on all 4)
Unfortunately I wasn't able to get much out of the old owner or Mazda still about service history so we'll start again with the new log books, but alas David said the head looked very clean when they opened the cam cover, and the compression test produced a solid result.
Driving the car after that was a good experience (peace of mind) and felt good to drive, so next was to give her a good wash and a detail of the interior.




I will return from overseas in Feb, so i'll have more time to do my research for next steps which are:
* Suspension refresh, coilovers, cv joints, and perhaps some bushings.
* Wheels and Tyres - something that will look nice with the colour perhaps

Cheers for tuning in

93_Clubman wrote:

rb_love wrote:short older gentleman from Hornsby area.

Hornsby - coincidentally MX5 Mania, one of our forum sponsors with a great reputation for all things MX5, used to be located in the Hornsby area, but moved to Dural. Quite possible that an MX5 owner in Hornsby would have taken his MX5 to them.

Did you ask MX5 Mania if they knew of the vehicle or had the service book or service history?

Yeah I did mate, but no luck.

93_Clubman wrote:

93_Clubman wrote:

rb_love wrote:short older gentleman from Hornsby area.

Hornsby - coincidentally MX5 Mania, one of our forum sponsors with a great reputation for all things MX5, used to be located in the Hornsby area, but moved to Dural. Quite possible that an MX5 owner in Hornsby would have taken his MX5 to them.

Did you ask MX5 Mania if they knew of the vehicle or had the service book or service history?

Update in the new year!

New years eve with the little green cutie was awesome! My wife and I drove up to where the greens is in north sydney and parked in the middle of the street like so many other people and watched the fireworks from the car with the top down! but then had to stand up as the crowd got bigger.
After returning from my trip overseas I finally sought out to fix the stereo, mounting a set of Rockford Fosgate 5x7" 2 way coax speakers rather than the kickers - I still have the kickers and JB hifi still not responding to anything to me! real shame
I kept the stock tweeter and did the rest of the sound deadening too. It's not the best sounding but then again it's good enough for a convert...

Along with that, I managed to fix the greasy non working electric mirror switch - for those that aren't aware of how to fix follow instructions here: https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=469267 ... word of warning, becareful, you may blow the radio fuse... I did - not sure why but it's a 10amp mini fuse.



After this I took the car down again to Mx5Mania where the boys help put a set of yellow speed coilovers - I had also bought and mounted the GV style front lip. Seeing the two together looked great and on my way home I even spotted a lovely little BRG NA - possibly someone on here:



With the coilovers in, I decided to go for a drive down the old road to see the difference in handling - it felt absolutely awesome, very flat around corners and felt like I had more traction! The tyres are sumitomo - first time for me even hearing of the brand but I was pleasantly surprised in the performance for just some light bashing.



The last few weeks I've been thinking about what else I want to do, one of the biggest items obviously was wheels. I managed to find a set of Kong Flatouts (Copys of CE28s) with Yoko Cdrive and Kumho HS51 tyres on them - in OK condition for a fairly good price so couldn't say no to that. Fitted them on and got the alignment done - it's looking very very nice on these wheels and I'm keen to see how the wheels and tyres would've impact the drive so hopefully get a chance soon to go out for another weekend drive down the old road.
For now here's a picture of it sitting pretty: I think the colour matches well and the dish is what I was after - only thing now is the side skirts and maybe caliper paint.



That's all for now - I'm really happy with the car now, alot of little niggly bits (cleaning and fixing) I've done every now and then on the weekends which has made the car really feel comfortable and reliable. So happy for it.

Cheers for tuning in

Looking good! Seems as the mods bug has officially bitten