Woodstock Chris's 91 Malibu

[91 Malibu]

I thought it was time to start this, it will be more of a history of it rather than pages of mods because of the limited number available in this color there won't be any major mods. Below is a pic of how it looked when I 1st bought it.

MX5 Woodstock 004.JPG

MX5 Woodstock 005.JPG

History.
It was originally sold by Werribbe Mazda on 12/12/91 to a guy in Wantirna, it did not have p/steering or a/c & had a different reg number to the 1 it has now,from the service history I have it looks to have been owned by the 1st owner untill july 05.I have no history on it between late 05 & october 09 somewhere during that period it had the rego changed to the current reg number.In october 09 it was bought by forumite Cosmo from a ANS car warehouse in Preston & had only 114615 klms on it, judging by the service history I have untill 05 I would think it was the original klms. At the time Cosmo bought it, it was still all original including the wheels.
Cosmo made the following tastefull changes to it. these are what I have receipts for there may be more (if you read this Cosmo please add any extras I havent put in)
Superlite rims & Bridgestone Adrenalin 195/50R15.(sadly the superlites had to be changed due to the offset & my refusal to roll the guards to avoid the rear guard rub)
Blistein shocks off a clubman & std height King springs,Sony CD player & clearwater speakers,chrome vent rings,new heater slider knobs, dash light globes changed & new instrument hood(assuming the old 1 broke when the new dash globes were fitted).
Then on 21/8/10 I bought it from Cosmo, I replaced the radiator with a new 1, my brother was working for a radiator place at the time & got it for me dirt cheap old 1 was ok just the tanks had turned brown.Also replaced the battery as the old 1 was not a sealed battery got that cheap too as my son is a mechanic.
Have made a few more changes will list them another time probably bored you with enough for now

[91 Malibu]

12 months ownership today.
Changes I have made in the 1st year
Speedy legend wheels 15x6.5, these were fitted due to offset of the superlites that came with the car.As a result steering is alot lighter & overall it feels better having correct offset.Very good change.
NB glass window softtop, plastic window on the original roof had been tinted making it very hard to see out of.NB glass window roof is alot easier to use & see out of.Very good change.
Tein ss coilovers, changed from Bilstein shocks & standard height king springs. A huge improvment on ride comfort & handling. Don't feel like my spine is being pushed into my skull when hitting bumps anymore. Also lowered it so it doesn,t have the FWD look anymore.Excellent change.
K&N panel filter, was returned to me from forum member originally had it in my 1st NA6, Not much benefit good to be able to clean it & re-use it.Good change
Ashtray cup holder, again was returned to me by forum member originally had it in my 1st NA6, No benefit can only be used while stationery can,t change gears with drinks in the holder. Useless change.
Woodstock, softtoy see car name in sig. Useless change

Next 12 months wishlist
Style bar no longer on wishlist have got 1 just need to clean it up & re-paint it before fitting.
Town & country exhaust probably just a catback will talk to them when I have saved enough pocket money.

Long term wishlist
A full respray.

[91 Malibu]

009 by foxys fotos, on Flickr


006 by
foxys fotos, on Flickr

Style bar fitted, paint came up ok. Has improved the handling & stiffened the rear suspension even more. Pretty happy with the way it handles now, just need a good 4 wheel alignment now to finish it off.


003 by foxys fotos, on Flickr

Next job will adding some bling, got some chrome gauge rings to put on the 3 small gauges & I am thinking about either adding white face gauges or an aluminium face plate & keeping the gauges black. I am swinging towards the later to give it more of an old style appearance.

[emexv]

Looking nice Chris!!!

[91 Malibu]

Decided to do a bit of bling to the gauges. My plan was to add the aluminium face plate,chrome rings, white face gauges & white face heater panel, but I changed my mind & decided to leave the gauges & heater panel black.


Gauges 001 by foxys fotos, on Flickr

Here is the gauge face after fitting the aluminium plate & the gauge rings. The plate was not a great fit so it has left a couple of gaps between the plate & the chrome rings, but I still like the way it turned out. I might re-do it 1 day if I get hold of a better fitting plate


Gauges 009 by foxys fotos, on Flickr

The finished product.


Gauges 010 by foxys fotos, on Flickr


Gauges 012 by foxys fotos, on Flickr

[PaulF]

Looks good. The plate does a nice job of brightening it up without over-doing it.

[91 Malibu]

Timing belt at 122klms
My son & I finally got around to doing the timing belt & oil change,Decided to change it as I couldnt find any info in the history of the car to show it had been done. I bought a kit form Mania & was very impressed with it. The kit had everything needed to do the job.Glad I waited untill my son had a spare Saturday to help, so much easier when you have access to all the right tools.
It looked like the belt may have been changed at 100klms as it should but glad we did it as it looked like none of the seals or the water pump had been changed when it was done, the seals were getting brittle & the water pump looked a bit tired.
Seems like a waist of time pulling it all to bits & only doing half a job.

[marty085]

Also lowered it so it doesn,t have the FWD look anymore.

what's the front-wheel-drive look?

[itrungs]

Also lowered it so it doesn,t have the FWD look anymore.

what's the front-wheel-drive look?

I think he meant 4WD look. LOL, i read it as front wheel as well and got confused.

[91 Malibu]

Also lowered it so it doesn,t have the FWD look anymore.

what's the front-wheel-drive look?

I think he meant 4WD look. LOL, i read it as front wheel as well and got confused.

Yep meant 4WD look

[de Bounce]

Looking good
Need to take it on another good run!

[Mr nanotech]

Still think you should have kept the old wheels. Flat guard roll that you'd NEVER see because it's only lipping the inner guard would have been all you needed to lower it. Maybe run the tiniest bit of neg camber and you would have been set.
I still don't understand how they made the car hard to drive.

[91 Malibu]

I do agree Josh I prefer the look of the old wheels & I'm looking for similar wheels now but with no more than 35p offset.
As much as I like the JDM look its not what I want, I am trying for more of a classic sports car look, I guess I'm more into the classic look as I'm an old bloke.
I'm not sure why it made it less fun to drive but I do know the steering was heavier & it didn't seem to like the corners as much as the current set up. The 1st run I did with it down the GOR with the car club I had to sit near the back of the pack & let others pass when possible, I was really wrestling it around the corners. May be someone can explain why, I think it has something to do with widening the track. May be it had something to do with the combo of the offset, bilstein shocks & std height springs may be all three things contributed into making it less enjoyable to drive.

[Mr nanotech]

I doubt it was the wide track, shockers and so on. I've dríven stiffer and wider setups than that and feels just as agile as before. To be honest, I'd probably start looking for a gym if turning those wheels was a chore.

[91 Malibu]

I decided I preferred the look of the superlites that were on the car when I bought it, so I decided to buy myself an early Birthday present & got these.

Untitled by foxys fotos, on Flickr
Now fitted & 4 wheel alignment done

Untitled by foxys fotos, on Flickr

Untitled by foxys fotos, on Flickr