new member intro

[mal.com]

Hi I've recently bought a NA MX5, I live in Batemans Bay inferno area, the car came from Sydney as my motorcycle replacement therapy (historic Bmw R100, Triumph Tr6) just before Christmas. I've been thinking about the shift over to the dark side for some time and health issues has prompted the move.
The car has been extensively tweaked, some bits I like, some I'm not so sure about, Its been fitted with very wide wheels and race day tyres, SS exhaust system, alloy radiator, yellowspeed coilovers, leather seats, weird headlights and blinkers. It only had a measly 107k kms when I picked it up, I have most of the original parts so a restore is possible. It came with the perfect black hard top as well as an good soft top, but the back window is stained.
Its absolutely brilliant on the road, I've raised it 20mm and softened the ride a bit, now I can negotiate speed bumps and driveways.
For March my wife and I will be taking the MX5 to Tasmania, first night Lakes Entrance, then Melbourne for 2 nights, ferry to Tassie, then 3 weeks cruising around those magnificent roads.
I've enjoyed reading some of the posts on this forum, and am learning a lot.
cheers
Mal

[Mr Morlock]

Tassy is terrific for sports cars by virtue of scenery and roads where you can take advantage of driving a sports car. Lots to see of course including car things. The car museum in Launceston is a must see and it has some fabulous motorcycles - I took quite a few photos and very partial to the British classics- they had a Vincent Black Shadow when I was last there. Equal measure of cars which get changed regularly - it's a don't miss for car / bike guys. Good move in getting back to normal height in the car- bumpy ride kills the enjoyment in my view. Insofar as mods are concerned on the car if they work well and dont interfere with comfort then maybe you leave it. A standard NA is still a very good car with good levels of comfort for a sports car. Sports cars are really great fun and much safer and more civilised than motorcycles. You can put the roof down and drive in shorts , t shirt and sunnies and talk to the partner. Have a great trip.

[KevGoat]

Welcome. Looks like a nice car you have there! Touring Tassie will be a great way to get to know it too!

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[Alex 2550]

Welcome mate,
Nice looking car you have there, definitely the best generation but I may be bias hahahaha.
There is a few of us around the area from Nowra down, I’m down bega way near quaama actually also inferno area.
Again welcome to the obsession once everything stops burning maybe we should organise a catch up with everyone.
All the best.
Alex.


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[Jeo]

Looks very tidy. Well done.

I'm not a huge fan of the turn signal intakes but I don't find them at all offensive. What's weird about the headlights?

[madmort]

When in Tassie, be very careful of the roadkill on backroads, dead wallabies, possoms and wombats seem to be everywhere and can do damage to low vehicles. Didn't see many live ones.

[93_Clubman]

Welcome & congrats!

[Daffy]

The car looks mal, (though I am kinda biased to red!) looks like you chose a great 1st road trip to take down south. You’ll have to get a garage thread going- its a great way to document the car’s mechanical progression.

[LiteIsRite]

Welcome to the forum, Mal! Good looking car you've got there.

My bucket list includes a tour of Tassie in my NA6... please post some photos and a report of your adventures there.

[mal.com]

Hi all and thanks for the welcome, yes we do know the back roads Tassie quite well, we lived in the north for 20 years. We had a small farm 50 Km out of Lonnie, connected by a plethora of narrow winding roads.
Attached photo of lights they're good/ok, but I think I prefer the original wide eyed look.
I have plenty of other jobs on the to do list. F'rinstance, someone removed the front plastic inner guards, probably to accommodate the tyres, I'll try to re install them, now that the car is raised they may fit. I've got the plastic guards but not the little plastic clip fittings.
I plan to go to Milton this Tue for the coffee morning with the south coast MX5 owners. Our Eurobodalla historic vehicle club has two club rides/drives per week so the car will get plenty of social trips. I'll put it on historic registration when we return from Tassie.
cheers
Mal

[CeramicND]

Car looks great, similar in many ways to my NA track toy. What size wheels and tyres is it using. Those tyres look like toyo r888's (good for the track, not so much for wet roads).

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[BradK]

Hi Mal

I picked up my MX-5 2 weeks ago - also as a replacement for my BMW R1150GS and my partners VStrom 650. So far I’m really enjoying moving on to the next phase.

We can take it out on days that would be just too hot to go out on the bikes with the knowledge that if it get too extreme, we can put up the top and turn on the air. We have been caught in the rain a few times too. With the combination of open air motoring and protection from the elements, when required, its the perfect motorbike replacement. The Roadster Sport exhaust put a smile on my face just like the Beemer’s Staintune did too. :-)

Like yours mine has coil overs and I’ve already scraped on a service station entry and a speed hump so I’m a little concerned that its too low but I figure its been this height for many years so maybe I just need to use it some more before I make any changes.

We are just planning our first “post bike” Snowy Ride in the MX-5. So we might see you when we are enjoying some of those excellent south coast roads.

[mal.com]

Hi CeramicND
The tyres are 50-205-15, Toyo Proxes R888R, wheels XXR 527 15x8, I'll change the tyres over to something less extreme if & when it ever rains again. I did read in a review somewhere suggesting that they're not too bad in the wet.
I'm open for a swap, if someone wants a set of race day wheels & tyres in exchange for something slightly less radical. They're a year old but only a couple of thou k's
Brad I've been on a few runs around here of late, (down from Sydney + Kangaroo Valley ) up to Canberra) but with the fires, all our magnificent forest drives are devastated, the Armco was melted in places along The Clyde mountain. If your down this way do call in, we're always ready for a run
Cheers
Mal

[Alex 2550]

hey Mal
look like jass performance low pro headlights and are definately JASS TSI's.
if you are up for a ride the bombala bike club is doing the burnt sticks run in late march i think, bombala down brown mountain to eden and back up to bombala for dinner and raffles ect to raise money for those effected by fires. its not a 1% have to ride a harley wank of as thing.
ill most likely attend at this stage and will be on a fairly unique black DRZ400 kitted out as an adventure bike, its hard to miss me...... unless you drive a Kia Carnival but thats another story lol