JoshuaM's Midnight Blue NB8B

[Apu]

It might be that I've been lucky with AAMI

My experience with Youi has also been good - dealing direct with the repairer was great (Merv Newby at Rydalmere)...excellent in fact.

[speed]

Glad you are getting somewhere.
I'm with Shannon ' s and have agreed value and choice of repairer. Think repairs also have life time warranty.
Might be worth checking out.

[joshuam]

Glad you are getting somewhere.
I'm with Shannon ' s and have agreed value and choice of repairer. Think repairs also have life time warranty.
Might be worth checking out.

I would love to! But unfortunately they are one of the ones ruled out because I'm under 25

Interestingly, they are also underwritten by AAI limited which is AAMI..... yet everybody loves them.... looks like paying to fix cars properly the first time and giving fair valuations / agreed values makes enthusiasts happy, who would've guessed!

[Black_Penguin]

I've been with Shannons since I was 21, just give them a call at renewal time. Meeting the "enthusiasts" criteria can be a bit hit and miss although. Just Car may be another option that would be a bit more understanding.

[track_addict]

I been with Shannons for just under a year and I'm 24. I've got a clean history and have had all my cars in my name since I started driving. Weather that helps of not I don't know. Give them a call.

[joshuam]

Thanks for the tips everybody. I just read their basic online quite requirements and then wrote them off because of the age, but I'll check it out once all this claim stuff is done.

Unfortunately nothing is happening for a while. After a week and a half trying to get a hold of the insurance again, they approved the quote for the repairs. Called up to book and their first available time is MID DECEMBER!!! After I pointed out that I was leaving the country that week and would be gone for 2 months they managed to 'squeeze me in' on the week of the 30th of November. I guess it must be a decent enough shop if everybody is willing to wait this long! It will be a 5 day repair.

The plan had been to not change the roof or lower the car again until after all the repairs were done, but my rain rail died in the last week and the holes in the roof are getting quite large, and I really need to get my wheel alignment so I don't prematurely wear out these tires, so it just needs to be done.

So I am going to change the roof next week some time, with the help of my father. Lowering and alignment will probably happen around the same time.

[jeffreyg]

Have used BMC numerous times over many years- they do very good work and are good to deal with. I was referred to them in the first place by a friend and have always been happy.Hope you have the same experience
Cheers
Jeff

[SileNceR]

Sucks that you've got to wait so long to get the repairs put right, but at least you're waiting for a reputable repairer this time instead of a re-work at the original place.

[joshuam]

Have used BMC numerous times over many years- they do very good work and are good to deal with. I was referred to them in the first place by a friend and have always been happy.Hope you have the same experience
Cheers
Jeff

Thanks Jeff, it is always good to hear positive recommendations / reviews from people who actually care about their cars!

Sucks that you've got to wait so long to get the repairs put right, but at least you're waiting for a reputable repairer this time instead of a re-work at the original place.

Honestly, I would SERIOUSLY consider just putting up with the dodgy work rather than risk that shop damaging anything else unrelated on my car.


The last few posts have been getting a bit boring with just text and insurance problems, so here is another render I did up recently for some side stripes (Sorry, you will just have to imagine my white wheels on there, because I don't have any side profile shots with them yet ). A single line I thought was a bit blocky, but the thin pin-striping top and bottom which I liked is quite a retro look which isn't in line with the rest of the styling.

So this is a first draft of what I came up with, taking inspiration from some of the NC factory stripes. As before, the stripe stops on the door, to avoid the massive body curves just behind it which make them look wonky (and I would like the factory NB1 side skirts at some stage).

[Lokiel]

I'm digging this look.

JMO:
. tyres need white lettering too. One of the ex-MX5 owners used nail polish to paint the lettering - never kept the car long enough to report how well that held up though.
. not a fan of the "upside-down exhaust" look on the lower stripe (prefer you just continue the top stripe all the way).
. the curved ends at the end of the stripes should follow the curves of the door

[joshuam]

I'm digging this look.

JMO:
. tyres need white lettering too. One of the ex-MX5 owners used nail polish to paint the lettering - never kept the car long enough to report how well that held up though.
. not a fan of the "upside-down exhaust" look on the lower stripe (prefer you just continue the top stripe all the way).
. the curved ends at the end of the stripes should follow the curves of the door

Thanks for the tips, they're always welcome

With the silver wheels, the white lettering would work really well, but with my bright white 16" wheels on now I think it might be a little bit too much. That is always another thing to add though later if I think it is still missing something. At least now I can fill in Pirelli instead of Maxxis

I actually already mocked up the same design going all the way to the end of the door right after I posted the pic. It didn't quite look right to follow the line of the door in the middle of the panel. I think the issue here is that your eye wants the curve to be both parallel with the door edge and curved like the bottom of the door at the same time.

I also agree that the curve up isn't looking 100% at the moment, but I think it needs something to signify that it was my intention to end the stripes at the door. I think if the pattern follows along the same the whole way it looks almost as if I just forgot to do the section behind the door.



I'm thinking the next attempt might be to trace out the full curve of the bottom of the door and shrink it (maintaining aspect ratio) to be the cutoff for the stripe on an inset design. I may make the bottom stripe a tiny bit narrower too. My only issue with that is finding a nice way to include the pinstripe above.

[ManiacLachy]

White on blue always looks awesome. But I agree, with white wheels, white lettering will be a touch too much.

I like the second render best so far, stripes going into the back of the door, with the up kick at the end. I'm sure you'll tweak it a little more before you're satisfyed though.

I think the third render looks unfinished, like the stripe was meant to continue but you ran out of material.

[Magpie]

This hurts but I agree with ManiacLachy in the bottom render looks unfinished.

If matching the door line at the end mirror the same curve to the start of the stripe and put the MX5 to the end of the stripe as this will draw attention to the middle of the car as opposed to the front wheel.

[SileNceR]

I'm thinking the next attempt might be to trace out the full curve of the bottom of the door and shrink it (maintaining aspect ratio) to be the cutoff for the stripe on an inset design.

This would work I think, trace the door curve and offset that to the stripes - do that with a similar length to the original render.

[joshuam]

Thanks for the advice But Magpie... the front bit was the only thing I was happy with! Haha, I understand what you are saying though. I'll test that out once I am happy with everything else.

I GOT THE CURVE RIGHT!!! (Well, I think so anyway )



Yeah, I know, I wasted a lot of time this arvo I had the idea of the flag type thing as another way to fade it out. It works well on some Porsches but I'm not feeling it on the MX5.... the door is a lot closer to the back wheel on our cars which is probably part of the difference. My top 3 of this lot would probably be 1,4,2. I think bringing the edge in allows me to not 'close' the top line and gives it a very clean look.

Thoughts welcome!

Went to the Automotive Plus Garage Sale today (and I didn't think to take a single photo!), it was nice catching up with a few people I had met before, and a meeting a few new people.

One of those was Lachy! (SpeedRacer decklid + twin hoop was amazing..... next year!) We chatted for a bit and the side stripes came up so I did a mock up of some on his car as well in the simple Porsche style. Making it difficult for me by not having side profile shots on his project thread! (He did say he'd need to take one, but I felt like a challenge ).



I got a chance to see Magpie's car, but he was driving off before I got to put a face to a name/car.... sounded like a beast though!