illisha na8 montego blue !

[Roadster2]

A preview showing some front end changes that have been made...

[Roadster2]

And the wheels in progress!

[bootz]

This car has some serious cred but is crying out for a quality camera shoot that will do it justice.

Such a lovely car!

[Roadster2]

This car has some serious cred but is crying out for a quality camera shoot that will do it justice.

Such a lovely car!

You are 100% correct about that, I'm not doing the build any justice with these pics . The plan is once all the exterior bits are on, I will have some quality photo shoots along with other mx5's. I do have a decent camera, just need to learn the art of taking photos haha.

[Roadster2]

So.. a number of changes have been made in the past couple of weeks, buckle up!

KG works rear view mirror. I’m a sucker for brushed/stainless steel looking items and this piece always stood out for me.

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Nakamae transmission tunnel and side step interior (black with black stitching). Absolutely love with this piece. It really dresses up the interior and compliments the seats nicely.

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Speaking of interior, the M-speed seats, they’re in! The seats definitely feel nicer, hold you in better and give a nice retro vibe. However when mounted on runners, the fibreglass shell sits high. In fact I’m sitting higher than stock! Not the worst outcome for me since I’m not tall to start with, but this is not the seat for those that are tall/want to sit lower. I suppose this is where Nakamae Type R’s shine by comparison. The other con I didn’t realise with this style of seat is that the angle of the seat and headrest means you can’t really press and rest your neck back. Most of us probably don’t rest our heads on the headrest while driving but I find it nice to be able to get into a laid back seating position when at traffic lights. Not anymore .

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Front end changes

The Barchetta Bumper is also now on! The plastic reinforcement bar was cut on the sides so that the bumper could fit as well as allow for the wiring to go through. Also got around to installing the freshly painted Garage Vary Type 2 Headlight lid. It gives the front end a bit more styling by complimenting the Barchetta bumper.

The RSA’s are also now on. I do like the front end more when the RSA’s are pointed up. Light output isn’t as bad as I thought but then again I replaced whatever was in there with a pair of osram night breaker bulbs. To finish off the front end I added an R package lip and a side number plate bracket for some JDM points.

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Lastly I had the OEM RS LE Side skirts painted and installed! Installation required drilling 4 holes into the body which I got the body shop to do since you only get one go and I don’t exactly trust myself ha. The body shop suggested that they could use glue to hold the skirts rather than drilling which would be permanent. Although I wasn’t entirely convinced that they would hold up over time. Since this is my forever car, I figured it would be best to go ahead and drill the holes and have the painter use anti rust paint so that I don’t have to deal with future rust issues. Fortunately in Australia, mx5’s aren’t really prone to rust and with the car being in the garage all the time, I can minimise how often it sees the rain. Love the look of these skirts, it’s probably my favourite part on the car in fact. The curve, it's all so subtle yet gives the whole car more aggressiveness. It really feels like it should have been on all mx5’s from factory.

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There are still a few more things I would like to do for the exterior but I’m happy with where it is. The next phase will be focusing my efforts on the interior and creating something that’s full of bling! There is a lot to be done…the interior might look respectable from afar but it's covering alot of things that require attention. The gauge cluster has a crack on the glass, the center console is a different musty old shade + has a crack, my current door cards flap against the delrin door bush every time I open the door because of the lack of door clips. So basically I’ll be going with a replace and ‘upgrade’ approach for every interior piece! Sadly I’ll be reducing the number of mods for the rest of this year due to the AUD as well as well as blowing my budget through the roof, but nevertheless stay tuned for more updates and pictures!

[Lokiel]

LOVE the retro interior and the Nakame padding is worth every penny IMO (yes, it's expensive for those who don't know. but once installed you LOVE it).

Speaking of interior, the M-speed seats, they’re in! The seats definitely feel nicer, hold you in better and give a nice retro vibe. However when mounted on runners, the fibreglass shell sits high. In fact I’m sitting higher than stock! Not the worst outcome for me since I’m not tall to start with, but this is not the seat for those that are tall/want to sit lower. I suppose this is where Nakamae Type R’s shine by comparison. The other con I didn’t realise with this style of seat is that the angle of the seat and headrest means you can’t really press and rest your neck back. Most of us probably don’t rest our heads on the headrest while driving but I find it nice to be able to get into a laid back seating position when at traffic lights. Not anymore

This is exactly the sort of product evaluation people want to hear so thanks for including your thoughts on them without being prompted.

[Roadster2]

Thanks! No doubt the nakamae type r seats are truly a work of art. Not to mention the build quality is unreal. I've seen second hand sets look brand new after years of use. And for those reasons you can expect them to hold their value second hand. Unfortunately with the current AUD and alot of my funds dedicated to the restoration of my wheels amongst other things, 4k odd was just a bit too steep for me.

I should mention that I have no regrets with my current seats considering their resemblance to the type Rs, the fact that they are made in Japan by a reputable company using high quality materials while also being less than half the price of nakamaes. But in saying all that, I also think someone spending 4k odd on the type Rs won't be left disappointed either.

No problem! I always try to be objective as possible when giving an analysis so that you can get a good idea of the positives and negatives and come to your own conclusion!

[Roadster2]

Just another photo showcasing the angle in the side skirt.

[Roadster2]

LOVE the retro interior and the Nakame padding is worth every penny IMO (yes, it's expensive for those who don't know. but once installed you LOVE it).

woops just realised you were referring to the padding ha. The padding as you said is definitely well worth it. I think it was much cheaper than some of the other options they have for sale, so this one was easy to justify.

[bootz]

I think you are aiming at Sharka ++ level of NA awesomeness, and that is saying something.

[Roadster2]

I think you are aiming at Sharka ++ level of NA awesomeness, and that is saying something.

High levels of praise! Thank you kind sir.

Definitely some of the inspiration comes from Sharka, especially if you look at our cars from a side view. If it wasn't for seeing what the oem rs LE skirts look like painted, I probably wouldn't of got them in the first place, as he's probably the only one to have them colour matched. Also, his car was the first I saw with gold star sharks against montego blue paint. Aside from that, I'd actually say my biggest inspiration is pete aka oldgrayleather on instagram. I often like to see my car as a toned down version of his (mini flares compared to his larger ones, tamer star shark specs, tamer rear end, and we also have the same front end)!.

[Roadster2]

aand to end the weekend on a high note!

[ManiacLachy]

Love those wheels They're going to look amazing once fitted!

You probably posted elsewhere, but what are the specs?

When it comes to wheels for MX-5's I'm always torn between classic JDM looks, which are usually heavy and badly sized and not the best for performance, especially higher power performance; or a good sized light wheel, which leaves only a few overly used options.

[Roadster2]

Love those wheels They're going to look amazing once fitted!

You probably posted elsewhere, but what are the specs?

When it comes to wheels for MX-5's I'm always torn between classic JDM looks, which are usually heavy and badly sized and not the best for performance, especially higher power performance; or a good sized light wheel, which leaves only a few overly used options.

Specs were originally 14x6.5+0 and 14x6.5+13, now being relipped to 14x7+7. Chose this size as it will fit perfectly under stock rolled guards. I would of liked to go wider but then tyre options become extremely limited. For 205 wide tyre you only have nitto nt01 and for 225 wide tyres you only have r888. Both are proper slicks that won't suit my street car which gets dríven a couple times per week.

Surprisingly the star sharks aren't as heavy as I imagined, for a wheel with all the material in the design, revlimiters 14x6.5 +0 pair weighed 5kg and his 14x7-6 wheel was 5.5kg odd. So I don't think there will be a drawback in feel from the rpf1s? Tyre choices wise, going from 225 wide tyres to 195 will certainly have a noticeable difference! I'm looking at falken azenis rt 615k+, should be able to find a nice balance with them.

[Roadster2]

ALL DONE!! New bolts, valves, final hand polish, seal and SSR caps. Booked in for tyres and an alignment by the end of this week.