Let's try this again - Alex's NB

[A.Chen89]

Hey everyone, thought I would post up a thread seeing as how I never got around to doing one.

You may have seen my old car running around, and I thought it would be nice to post up some pretty pictures and maybe provide some light entertainment .

So a couple of years ago, I was in the market for a car as I realised I had some money saved up from working nights at a toy store. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was on my red P's at the time since I caught the train to uni. This limited the choice of cars as the P plater's before me couldn't handle boost too well.

I started looking at the usual P plate cars and quickly realised that I didn't want to pay inflated prices for banged up S13's with SR20DE's or the front wheel drive offerings from Honda or Toyota. Luckily, my friend recommended having a look at MX-5's. Never really considered them since I thought they all had astronomical prices (being a convertible and all) but then I had a look at one in Orange and the rest is history!




Bought this green gem off a club member who looked after it very well. Very tidy, came with a hard top, and the paint was in very good nick! Even had a fair bit of bling and dress up pieces. Top guy too; got a full tank of premium when I picked up the car!

As a side note, ten points to whoever can guess who makes the vinyl around the centre console!



Gave it a wash the day after and this is how it looked. The styling wasn't quite my cup of tea and I had an urge to mod, so over time I started to change bits and pieces on the car.....(continuing this post after I fill some petrol up in my new car!)

[gobsmax]

interested in seeing where this thread goes....

[Regie]

interested in seeing where this thread goes....

As am i

[Hjt]

I think it's like the Titanic, we know the storyline but continually watch waiting for the drama (and accident).

[A.Chen89]

Instead of a wall of text, here's some photos of my car over the past couple of years! Over the time I did the standard MX-5 mods, e.g tyres, brakes, suspension bits, seat, sick pod filter and muffler for the noise etc. Seeing all these shiny bits on other cars at runs was a bit of a motivator .




A while ago I took my first spin Wakefield and wasn't too keen on keeping the Indonesian tyres that came with the car. I thought it was a good idea to grab some wheels as well. Really wanted some stock wheels but then an opportunity came up and I settled for something else:



Swapped over the clear Altezza style lights for some NB8B lights, preferred these over the NB8A ones:



Really liked the idea of a GV lip since it looked great and gave the illusion more more low, so I eventually got one!



Always wanted a bucket seat and I was sick of my left knee rubbing on the centre console around Wakefield so I picked up a Sparco Junior:



Went to Tokyo Autosalon earlier this year, sat in a few seats and decided to splurge on a new seat plus some roll over protection:



Obligatory shot of car on track (thanks gussteinberger!), doing what it does best!



Also obligatory video of the car in action:



And here's just some other random pictures:

Leaving the driveway of death:


The groovy centre console:


Using the space saver because a tyre called it a day:


Being practical and heading to the wheel shop:


Parked between two 2JZ boats:

[A.Chen89]

Things were going pretty well until two weeks ago this happened:



I was approaching a set of traffic lights, which were yellow for a while. The cars in front sped off and ran the yellow. Being the upholding citizen and responsible P-plater that I am, I checked my rear view and started to slow down. I came to a complete stop, looked ahead and then looked in my rear view again to find a van. I looked ahead again and next thing I knew I felt the rear end collision and rolled through the clear intersection. Luckily I made it to the other side, but as soon as I saw the rear I knew it was terminal. Turned out the van driver didn't see the red because he was on his phone .

On a side note for those playing at home, you can see the imprint of the van's license plate on my bumper. Guess which state its from .

My rear license plate ended up sitting smack bang in the centre of that intersection for a good two weeks before I could get to it. Lucky no one noticed and ran off with it to commit some fuel theft . Retrieving the plate on the other hand, wasn't such a fun experience.


I was pretty devastated at this stage and wasn't sure whether I would wait out the rest of my P's to purchase a S15 defect mobile, or another type of rear wheel drive car. Ended up deciding to get another NB since I already had some bits and pieces for it and had some plans for the next big mod. Definitely wanted a car with a six speed and quite liked the interior of the NB8B's so I hit up car sales.

This is, I guess, where the story gets interesting!

Had a look at a couple of NB8B's which were pretty average and then had a looked at one with black leather seats, and a funny blue MX-5 sticker on it. This kind of seemed like an odd combo. Thought I would have a look at this one since it had been owned by a club owner judging by the club sticker on the windscreen. The owner said she was planning on getting rid of the club sticker and the funny blue one but never got around to it. Hopped in the car and when this caught my eye, it finally clicked .



Turned out the car was owned by pretty active forum/club member!

Had a chat to the owner, sussed out the car and after a few days it was mine! Haven't taken any photos of it since its been dark but I'll chuck one up tomorrow for a reveal!

[A.Chen89]

Bit slow on the update but here it is!

Regie's tic tac!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1346485489.841520.jpg

[Hjt]

Please let me make you a p plater/offset bracket!

[A.Chen89]

Sure, I'm open to that, otherwise I'll rock the blue tape look for 5 months

[Smokinscotty]

Good to hear your ok and back on the horse bud!

[PaulF]

My rear P plate is duct taped to the plastic garnish. But that garnish is all cracked and broken on mine anyway.

[Guran]

Sorry to hear about your loss ... but welcome back! It's fabulous seeing the return of Tic Tac.

[-alex]

Soo pumped that you bought this car..!

[bear2230]

All hail the return of the mighty Tic Tac. (Go team silver) You know she has been loved.

[A.Chen89]

Small update:

Conducted some automotive archaeology the other day as I tried to pinpoint a pretty funky smell in the cabin. Also give the carpet a good vacuum and found 50 cents. Score.



Also got a chance to strip my green wreck today. Headed over to a mate's place and took bits and pieces of the car.

Managed to pull the motor out in record time with his new engine crane:


Actually, I just stood around while he worked his magic.

Plenty of space in the bay:


Started to put the first bits of my old car back onto the new one. Part number 1: Wheels!
Before:


After: