illisha na8 montego blue !

[Roadster2]

God that looks and sounds terrible, can you give it back please?

sure but I'll have to you with the NA premium tax

[Craig]

God that looks and sounds terrible, can you give it back please?

sure but I'll have to you with the NA premium tax

Nah cancels out with depreciation!

[Roadster2]

depreciation...that's a term common amongst NC owners

[Roadster2]

Finally collected all the parts that will be going in for paint! Last piece are some rev9 flares. Small, subtle with a hint of aggression and should suit my other set of wheels which are currently getting a full restoration (no spoilers on them for now but it is 1 of the other rare parts that I own). Apologies for the poor quality pics in this post, they were all taken on a whim. Test fitting the rev9 flares..

[Roadster2]

The latest impulse buy…Reproduction of Datsun Competition seats. These are a replica/reproduction of the seats you could option directly from Nissan for your Zed or Hakosuka back in the day. While I’ve always lusted for a pair of Nakamae Type R seats, it was too difficult for me to justify spending 4k+ AUD on a pair of seats, especially given the resemblance to these seats (I’ve heard Nakamae’s were styled after the Datsun competition seats?). Although I should note that these are even more identical to the Silk Road classic bucket seat. Anyway, a used set of Nakamae’s would probably have to be imported from the US (since I’m yet to see someone in Aus with a pair) and they’d end up around 3.2k AUD. Undoubtedly, Nakame seats hold their value quite well, and you could attest that to Nakamae’s craftsmanship being unrivalled.

Anyway, why bother with a replica you may wonder? Well these aren’t your run of the mill replica seats. They were purchased from Barrel Bros who are known to only work with high quality; in fact they’re a wheel shop that imports rare wheels from Japan and will only sell them refurbished! The seats are actually made in Japan by a company called M-speed and they use the exact same materials to wrap the fibreglass shell, same sizing, same everything as the original Hako seats! There are alot of cheap knock offs of these seats out there and if you look close enough you’ll be able to notice texture differences, so definitely be careful if buying from elsewhere. I know that the secretfactoryUSA also sell the exact same seat, although they were more pricey.

I managed to acquire the seats with head rests and harness loops for an incredible value of 1500 AUD (on sale). While 5 years of mx5 ownership has taught me to not purchase something you’re not completely content with as you’ll find yourself spending more down the line, I can definitely say I’m pleased with this choice.

The seats hold you in quite nicely but they do definitely suit smaller builds. They were after all made for Japanese butt's in the 70's . I'm about 5 ft 7 and a size 30 waist but I can't imagine someone with a size 34 waist feeling comfortable in these personally. The seats have built in mounting holes but I'll need to have cross pieces made to fit onto the stock rails (figures crossed I can use the stock rails).

Picked up these seats during work hours(and still at work ) so I'm yet to unbox but here's a few pics from the net so you can get an idea of what they'll look like in a car.

[Roadster2]

Since I’m bored at work, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to spill out a part that has been in hiding for a while…introducing the second rare part I own, a set of 4x100 Star sharks in 14x6.5 +13(one pair in black) and 14x6.5+0(one pair in gold)! Ever since seeing a set on Revlimiter mx5 back when my car was bone stock in 2014, I’ve always told myself that I had to have a set. As you know Star Sharks are exceedingly rare, I'd estimate some 100 sets were made and prices nowadays reflect that.

Fortunately they came in pretty good condition, with no major dents or significant oxidisation on the faces. That said, they are currently at Barrel Bro’s getting some very special treatment in the form of a full restoration. As part of the restoration, I’ve decided to resize them to 14x7+7 square with the iconic gold faces. Why 14x7+7? Well it fits perfectly under stock rolled guards (I’d rather avoid pulling the guards). I also couldn't accept running 6.5 inch wide wheels having currently run 8 inch wide Rpf1's and falling for the more meaty look. Lastly, 14x7+7 also happens to be an original size for 4x100 Star Sharks (although I’ve only seen one set in this spec). I’ve considered rebarrelling to a more aggressive spec like 14x8+18 but then tyre choices become extremely limited. Speaking of tyres, it looks like 195/60/14 Falken Azenis rt615k+ will be the way to go for me due to their affordability and performance. I only do about 3000km a year at best, so I do expect these to last a couple of years. If anyone has experiences with these, please feel free to share!

Suffice to say, I am very excited to seeing how Montego blue paint, Barchetta bumper, rev9 oe flares and Star sharks come together. Staying true to the theme of subtle with notable hints of aggressiveness as I've mentioned throughout this build . Pics to come once mounted in the coming weeks hopefully!

[Roadster2]

Bit by Bit, piece by piece, the vision is coming together. Amazed at how well the flares suit the car while retaining a factory look. The R package spoiler is also a nice addition. I feel the height it brings helps to balance out the rear lip nicely. Remind me to take some better pictures, I'm not doing Montego Blue any favors. Although it's not particularly an easy colour to capture well.

[Roadster2]

With the bigger bits for the exterior coming along nicely, it's time to focus on the more subtle details.

Side skirts!

There have only really been two side skirts that have stood out to me. One is the mazdaspeed A spec type 2 skirts. A friend of mine who unfortunately parted and sold his mx5 out had a pair of mazdaspeed a spec type 2 skirts on his montego blue na which also happened to have rev9 flares! Having been fortunate enough to visualise how the combination would turn out, I personally felt they would overshadow and look too busy on my car, particularly where it meets with the mini flares. I've included a couple of pics of his car because it is a sweet thing and perhaps some of you may like the look and thus be inspired!

The other option was a pair of rs limited oem skirts, the only factory option side skirt ever made for the mx5! For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this part, The RS Limited was a special model produced for the Japanese market during 1994. Production was limited to 500 and the specification was one of the highest seen on a mx5 at the time. The most notable piece was the Recaro carbon kevlar bucket seats borrowed from the RX-7 which tend to fetch around 4k second hand! While 500 RS limited editions were made, it's estimated that only 250 odd were optioned with the side skirts.

Anyway, a pair of these lovely skirts turned up for sale in the UK and I was fortunate enough to grab them right away. That makes this my third and final rare item! The skirts are more understated in appearance which is perfect for me since I want the skirts to be a subtle visual addition to the car.

Having seen a pair on revlimiters car, it was a no brainer to me that they needed to be colour coded. I'm a bit hesitant about drilling into the body, so I may need to do some research to seeing if there are other workable alternatives, any suggestions The skirts are in decent condition, nothing a bit of paint and filler can't fix. Not looking to install these atm as there are too many other things to focus on but aiming to have them on by the end of next month!

[Custardtart]

I love this car, those seats are exactly what I’d have in an NA.

Where’s the rear wing from?

[PaulF]

The seats look awesome! No pass-throughs for a harness though and the bolsters look a bit too big for a standard belt? Curious to see how well they work once you've got them installed.

[Roadster2]

I love this car, those seats are exactly what I’d have in an NA.

Where’s the rear wing from?

Thanks!

The rear wing on his car is a Mazdaspeed A-Spec Type I Rear Wing/Spoiler.It's a great looking piece that is quite rare, but they can be found if you are patient.

[Roadster2]

The seats look awesome! No pass-throughs for a harness though and the bolsters look a bit too big for a standard belt? Curious to see how well they work once you've got them installed.

Thanks! It's definitely a nice retro look. Seeing as its a street dríven car, I don't have any intentions of running a harness. The bolsters are big, no idea what complications will arise with the install but I'll keep you in the loop!

[luzinit]

Build is coming along nicely, lots of rare parts! I'm still kicking myself for not jumping on the RS limited that was for sale a few years back with those Recaro RS seats in them... Have you got any pics of what the side skirts look like on the car?

[Roadster2]

Build is coming along nicely, lots of rare parts! I'm still kicking myself for not jumping on the RS limited that was for sale a few years back with those Recaro RS seats in them... Have you got any pics of what the side skirts look like on the car?

Thanks! Lots to happen in the coming weeks, will update this thread accordingly. Ahh I think I remember that one! It had low k's and was listed for 14,500 at the time? Definitely a rare specimen, I haven't seen another RS limited in Australia. I'll be pushing to have the side skirts painted and on the car by end of next week, so hopefully I'll have some nice shots soon.

[Roadster2]

Hi All,

It's me again. Bit of an update.

My dash has been rattling around for quite some time now. It all started when I first purchased my car, the glove-box wouldn’t close and I was told that the only solution was to replace the dash since the latch part within the dash was damaged. I presume someone must of closed the glovebox too hard? So for the next few years, I drove around with the glovebox taped up to the dash. Effective but quite ugly as you can imagine.

After a few years of ownership, a BRG tan dash popped up for sale and the idea of a BRG interior piqued my interest(what was I thinking?). In all honesty, the idea stemmed from the fact that I initially wanted a BRG mx5 more than anything. After running the tan dash for a year or so, I decided I wanted to go back to a black dash and so I bought a second dash to go in (the one I have now). After another long day spent replacing the dash, me and a friend found that the dash would refuse to line up properly on the sides so we think I happened to purchase a dud. I think it had some more damage in other areas but I can't remember too well now. Despite this, the dash went in and the result was a rattling dash that made driving alot less comfortable and enjoyable. It didn’t help that the clips on my cluster hood were all broken so it was hardly stuck together.

Recently I managed to source a near new OEM cluster hood and a dash in great condition barring a tiny crack in the corner on the passenger side (I plan on putting a leather dash cover in the future which will hide it anyway, more on that later). The dash swap will be done by my local mx5 shop as it’s one of those jobs that leaves me full of headaches and a sore body the next day . Being inspired by the attention to detail of some of the other builds here (BRGNA8 being one that has appeared on this particular forum), I figured I should go ahead and have the NA heater core unit replaced with a NB heater core while the dash is out. The NB heater core unit being much newer also has aluminium pipes as opposed to copper. Less likely to fail and result in coolant all over my carpet.

Didn't snap any pics of the dash since its nothing fancy(although you can see a glimpse of it to the left)

Lot’s more to come!