The NC Soft-top's storage box

slowpoke · Postby **slowpoke** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:22 pm

Would someone give me some idea of the capacity/usefulness/ of this storage box, please?
Cheers!

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:59 pm

SP, do you mean this box or the soft-top space behind the seats where a deck bag could go (see foreground of 2nd pic)?

2007 Miata between seats.jpg

Gerris Deck Bag.jpg

slowpoke · Postby **slowpoke** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:44 pm

I'm referring to the area behind the seats. In Mazda's Feb 2009 Specifications leaflet mention was made of the existence of a "Storage box (behind both seats)" in the Soft-top and the Soft-top Touring. This feature was not available in the Roadster Coupe which instead has a 'well' for the roof to reside in when lowered. As both S'top and R/C are listed as being the same overall length (4020mm), it seems reasonable to suppose that the storage box fills the area where the 'well' is in the R/C... I'm hoping that someone on this Forum will enlighten me as to what useable space, if any, lies behind the seats of the s'top model. Please?

JBT · Postby **JBT** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:27 pm

You can fill it to the top of the headrests if you don't plan to lower the soft top. It will take two MX-5 Club of Qld spray jackets if you do.

slowpoke · Postby **slowpoke** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:35 pm

Thank you JBT and 93C'man for helping to clarify the situation for me. Cheers!

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:44 pm

The two "storage" areas behind the seats is roughly the same size as the box in the middle. Say 220 x 200 x 200, so as John says virtually useless. Too short to fit a drink bottle.

The area under the soft top, when it’s folded down, you can keep a couple of coats. Once the thickness builds up too much the top gets pushed up at the back when clipped into place. You can definitely store more in the back in an NA & NB than the NC. Also access into this area when the top is up is restricted to the space between the roll bars.

slowpoke · Postby **slowpoke** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:29 pm

Thanks Charlie Brown for clarifying the picture. But what a bummer!!!! One wonders why did they build it like that?? I had been hoping there would be a useful area such as TRs' MGBs' and even Sprites and Midgets had behind the seats. Given that the R/C and S'top models are the same length I had been hoping that extra storage space would exist in the S'top model. Planning on using the space in the R/C for extra storage defeats the purpose of having an opening roof tho! I'm wondering if the 'storage box' could satisfactorily be removed? I wonder has anyone done this to her/his S'top model?

JBT · Postby **JBT** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:43 am

Apart from looking bad, I doubt you'd get any extra storage as the plastic moulding covers the fuel tank etc. Hint: pack your stuff in the boot in shopping bags and you'll get a lot in there.

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:48 am

slowpoke wrote:One wonders why did they build it like that?? I had been hoping there would be a useful area such as TRs' MGBs' and even Sprites and Midgets had behind the seats.

Back in "those days" the rear deck area wasn't taken up with the folding soft top, so you could store stuff back there.

In the Mk1 Sprite you just folded the seats forward and chucked all your gear through the opening as there wasn't a boot lid. It was a pain in the arse when you needed to get the soft top, bows and side screens out.
The Mk.2 and 3 had a useable area and a boot lid but again it was painful erecting the soft top.
The Midget (Mk.4 Sprite) came with the folding soft top but this took a lot of room out of the rear deck, more than the NA & NB.
The MGB’s had the batteries located under the rear deck panels and the fuel tank in the back. In the NC the fuel tank is under this deck, part of the safety rules for modern cars so the fuel tank isn’t ruptured in a rear end crash. And yes, from memory the B had more useable space than the NC.

With the NC, the roof takes up most of the area plus you have the panelled in section for the roll bar between the roof and the seat, so there is less area than the NA & NB. You can only access it by stuffing gear back there between the roll bars with the top up. No chance with it down or partly down.

In reality your idea of cutting away the plastic panelling behind the seats to get access wouldn’t work because the roll bars get in the way. The three existing cubby holes are positioned between the roll bar legs and go in just far enough to miss the folding roof.

There is a thread somewhere on this site that talks about luggage for the NC that enables you to maximise the use of the available space. JBT’s method of shopping bags suits him but I don’t want to walk into a hotel carrying shopping bags so I’ve gone for the wheel aircraft carry-on bags and some small soft bags for the side spaces and the floor well.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:20 pm

SP, the 3 big pics in Hammer's following post give you an idea of the NC R/C skeleton:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=45542&p=574765

br3w · Postby **br3w** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:48 pm

My NC was built in Nov 2008 and the manual says there should be two storage boxes behind the seats. But all i have are plastic panels (no handles) - anyone know why they are blanked out? wouldnt mind hiding my mp3 box in one and maybe a baseball cap and some tools in the other. Feel jipped!

Postby **mx5racing** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:23 pm

My NC was built in Nov 2008 and the manual says there should be two storage boxes behind the seats. But all i have are plastic panels (no handles) - anyone know why they are blanked out? wouldnt mind hiding my mp3 box in one and maybe a baseball cap and some tools in the other. Feel jipped!

Ive got 2 of these complete trims asy's from the latest 2 NC's we just finished stripping for racing. They are sitting in the top of my bin along with all the other plastic bits that came out of the cars....

If you want one send me an email to - chris@targaracing.com.au and I will pull one out of the bin. Let me know before tomorrow lunchtime as I'm off to Targa Wrest Point

then and the bin gets emptied Tuesday :shock:

You will have to collect it or organise for someone to collect it as we cant do postage on it.

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:41 am

My NC was built in Nov 2008 and the manual says there should be two storage boxes behind the seats. But all i have are plastic panels (no handles) - anyone know why they are blanked out? wouldnt mind hiding my mp3 box in one and maybe a baseball cap and some tools in the other. Feel jipped!

If you have the hard top model it doesn't have the cubby holes as the folding mechanism takes up all the space.

de Bounce · Postby **de Bounce** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:39 am

There are a number of detailed photo's of what is behind the plastic trim in a soft top NC on this thread
http://www.mazdatalkforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=582

Personally: I pack less and take a credit card :mrgreen: