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I have an SP turbo , and have some rear noises/clunking . Anyone recommend an excellent mechanic or workshop in Melbourne that knows their way around SP turbos ?

SP have a turbo & inter cooler bolted bolted on. expectation is that ecu would be a bit different and the have a dump pipe. That's it. the VVT engine is identical to the standard NB. if you have have a noise in he rear it sounds like rear suspension Diff. Nothing to do with the SP bits

Im not trying to take away from the SP because it was special in its day. and it still is for what it is. but its an Mx5 has a VVT motor. a driveline & a diff. just the same as all others.

my point is that if you have a trusted mechanic already from previous cars . they should be able to sort your clonk in the rear.

^^^^ Wot Stan said.

If it is a stock SP, it will have the stock NB8B open diff, which are generally pretty bullet-proof. In which case the clunking might be something in the rear suspension that is bent or broken, even an exhaust hitting something, not a big deal for any competent workshop.

If it is not stock that opens other possibilities, but even so a decent workshop should be able to handle it.

Hopefully someone from Victoria will chime in with some more specific suggestions.

C'mon Victorian guys where are you???
Not from Vic, so no idea on MX-5 dedicated or specialist Mechanics there.
BTW Facebook is where everyone asks questions now sadly. As you can probably tell the forum is a bit unused. Don't expect to much of an educated answer to any question you ask though through Facebook though.

As the others said a SP is just a bog stock NB8B MX-5 with a Garett 2560 or 2860 Turbo. They have plumbing to suit including intercooler, pipe work and exhaust. I believe the ECU is just the NB8B ECU. Chiptorque in QLD, cracked them for Mazda Australia from memory. Hence why they offer tuning factory ECU's for all NB8B's and SE's.
So any mechanic that deals with NA or NB MX-5's is good for them.

We may be able to point you in the right direction before you even visit a mechanic if you supply some more information.
1. Is the car standard or has it had a few modifications?
2. We may be able to point you in the right direction if you provide a little more detail.
a) Is it at low or high speed?
b) Is it when going over bumps?
c) Is it when turning really tight corners?
d) Is it when going forward or reverse?


Your noise could be as the others said, Diff or Suspension.
Another common one from the rear can be the exhaust swinging around hitting the under body bracing. You can test that out yourself. Just grab the rear exhaust section and see it you can swing it around enough to hit anything.


A lot of SP owners upgraded their rear diff centres to clutch plate LSD's as the open centre was a joke with the amount of power and torque these cars had.
A lot of aftermarket diffs do making clunking noises especially in tighter corners. My one did it when reversing and turning at the same time on my SE.

A lot of SP owners also changed their suspension out for coilovers. Some brands use pillow ball top mounts and these are prone to clunking noises over bumps as they are metal on metal vs the stock rubber mounts.

Robby wrote:10 years Sunlight silver

Robby wrote:My name is Rob , I have an SP with some minor issue relating to exhaust and clunking noises when engine still cold,
Can anyone recommend excellent mechanic who knows way around SP turbos?

???
You posted these in the SP owners thread.
You have had it for 10 years. What mechanics have you been using for those 10 years?
Ok so I gather you know if it is standard then or not if you have had it that long.

SO it only happens when cold. Why do you say exhaust?

Like I asked in the previous post.
a) Is it at low or high speed?
b) Is it when going over bumps?
c) Is it when turning really tight corners?
d) Is it when going forward or reverse?

And a further question. Is it clunking while stationary which makes the above 4 question irrelevant if that is a yes?

Robby wrote:Anyone recommend an excellent mechanic or workshop in Melbourne that knows their way around SP turbos ?

Mr B who owned an SP used to get Gerald & Chaz @ Mammi Motors 10 Industrial Drv Somerville 5977 7973 https://www.mammimotors.repcoservice.net/ to look after their MX5 turbos.

MX5 FACTORY in Ringwood.

Possibly a cracked power plant frame at the diff end. The extra torque puts additional load on the frame and they crack at the top near the floor. I kept a spare one in the garage just in case (all my spares are gone now though). No idea on Melbourne workshops - probably asking on Facebook will get the response you’re after.