Aidos' 2001 NB

aidos · Postby **aidos** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:20 pm

Hey everyone, first time posting on the forum.

I have recently come into the possession of this 2001 MX-5. It has been in my family since new as my Mum's car, but since she has recently passed away it is now registered in my name. The original plan was to sell it but I'm starting to think that I might regret selling it in a year or two.

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It is very clean with only 37,000 kms on it. Seats were retrimmed in leather as part of delivery. Curious as to what it might be worth? If I decide to keep it I'll have to give my sisters some money as it's part of the estate.

If I decide to I'll keep it as a weekender type car and maybe do some sprints and hillclimbs with it. About 10 years ago I did a lot of that sort of stuff in a Datsun 1200 and it would be fun to get back into it. After doing a bit of research they seem to be a great platform to modify and tinker with.

charcoal · Postby **charcoal** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:24 am

Great looking car

pm sent

Code4 · Postby **Code4** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:55 pm

If you enjoyed your Datto you'll regret it if you sell this. For value compare it to others the same year and add a few thou for the low mileage. I'd guess anywhere around $12k upwards.

aidos · Postby **aidos** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:48 pm

Had an opportunity this afternoon to put the car up on hoist so I drained and refilled the gearbox and diff along with a oil+filter change for the engine. Looks pretty good underneath, no visible leaks anywhere and the slightest amount of surface rust on the exposed bits of metal/boltheads/exhaust etc.

The timing belt is coming up to it's 18th birthday so definitely needs doing sooner rather than later, is there a recommended kit available with good quality belt/gaskets/pulleys/seals etc? With that job will come a cooling system flush and refill. Not sure on the water pump, are these known to fail regularly?

The fuel gauge isn't working correctly. I actually ran out of fuel while the gauge read between 1/4 and empty, and the light hadn't come on yet. So I'll be pulling the sender unit out to suss that out. Will get a new fuel filter for it as well.

Front tyres were replaced last year but rears are the original made in 2000, so they need replacing for peace of mind.

I had to tidy up some wiring insulation over near the ABS module as there was a little bit of rodent damage, mainly just replacing electrical tape that had been nibbled.

Other than those little things the car feels like new still, sits really well on the road with no rattles or squeaks. I've pretty much made up my mind that I'm going to keep it, the sentimental value of it outweighs any sort of money I could get selling it. I regret selling my Datto back in 2013 so I'm not going to make that mistake this time.

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:08 am

Nice score, you will enjoy it, My low km NB pails into insignificance compared to yours, mine has 56k km on it.

Danny · Postby **Danny** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:58 am

If you haven't yet do join the MX5 Club. One of the best with a lot of activities from track to social available.

Car looks beautiful and well worth keeping in that condition.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 10:42 am

aidos wrote:The timing belt is coming up to it's 18th birthday so definitely needs doing sooner rather than later, is there a recommended kit available with good quality belt/gaskets/pulleys/seals etc? With that job will come a cooling system flush and refill. Not sure on the water pump, are these known to fail regularly?

Gates do a good kit.
Comes with the belt, cam seals, replacement tensioner spring, and I THINK new pulley.
It's worth the small price premium for the extra quality.

I had a generic kit put into mine a few years back ("racer brand" that a workshop used) , the belt stripped it's teeth 60,000km in.......... so avoid that.
Being a non-interference engine they dont bend valves or anything, so no damage occurs if a belt goes. But you still end up waiting for a tow truck....

As far as waterpumps, they dont really fail often. No more than any other car really.
BUT, since they're behind the timing belt etc, it makes sense to just spend the extra $80 or so on a new one while you're in there.

Mine has a GMB water pump in it, no issues in the ~110,000km it's been in there.
I think GMB are the company that makes the Mazda OEM replacement pumps these days anyway.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:17 am

Nice car.
If it was an NA with that few kays it would be worth a squillion bucks.

aidos · Postby **aidos** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:24 am

hks_kansei wrote:Being a non-interference engine they dont bend valves or anything, so no damage occurs if a belt goes. But you still end up waiting for a tow truck....

Good info. Being a mechanic that mainly works on diesels I forget that sometimes a snapped belt doesn't always end in disaster.

MX-5 mania do a pretty comprehensive kit at around $300, I'm thinking it might be worth it to ensure there will be no issues with ageing seals/bearings as I put more kms on it.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

RS2000 · Postby **RS2000** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:24 pm

Nice car!
Water pump should be like new at 37,000 k's, but I don't even replace them at 100,000 when doing timing belt.

aidos · Postby **aidos** » Sat Nov 10, 2018 5:11 pm

Today I replaced the original rubber brake lines with braided HEL lines for peace of mind if anything else, relying on nearly 20 year old lines isn't the most comforting thought.

Also disconnected the wiring in the steering column for the annoying "key in" beeper, best mod so far

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Sat Nov 10, 2018 5:18 pm

aidos wrote:Today I replaced the original rubber brake lines with braided HEL lines for peace of mind if anything else, relying on nearly 20 year old lines isn't the most comforting thought.

Bear in mind that while braided lines feel better etc, they do wear faster than factory rubber lines.

Essenstially dirt etc gets trapped between the braids and the rubber and abrades it over time.

So yeah, they'll be nice, but dont expect the same 20 year lifespan you would from stock ones

aidos · Postby **aidos** » Sat Nov 10, 2018 5:28 pm

hks_kansei wrote:
Bear in mind that while braided lines feel better etc, they do wear faster than factory rubber lines.

Essenstially dirt etc gets trapped between the braids and the rubber and abrades it over time.

So yeah, they'll be nice, but dont expect the same 20 year lifespan you would from stock ones

The lines i've fitted have a plastic coating over the braid, pretty much the same as the factory braided lines on my KTM enduro bike. If anything was going to wear out from dirt ingress it'd be them, but nearly 20,000 kms of bush bashing and they are doing just fine.

Time will tell I suppose, plus I doubt that factory lines are still available from Mazda. If they are I'd imagine they'd be $$$

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Sat Nov 10, 2018 5:35 pm

Not sure if Mazda still make them.

Brake shops can make them up, but yeah, usually costs more than braided.
I think the last set my GF had made up for her NA was about $250 (Brand new, but most of the cost was for the ADR test from memory)