No convictions, 22 and no NCB yet. Costing me Ã,£1300 TPFT through Budget. They came up cheapest on Confused.com

I am concerned about the vinyl top, but its alright around here at least since we live in a nice area. Itll be a while yet before I can afford the hardtop.

Looks nice, its all standard, except for that little red throw switch, which is wtf. I got that immob. and its a right pita to have to duff it everytime I wanna start the car.

Im rather envious of the headrest speakers My interior got swapped for a blue n black one at some point and the seats afaik dont have them.


If i had a credit card..

edit: lol

that switch might be for a rear foglight if it is an import. saw an fto the otherday with a switch like that for a rear fog.

check out detailingworld.co.uk some of the pro guys can make your car look like new much cheaper than a respray.

Gorgeous car Nige!



.....now get a CB fitted!!

Thanks, but clue me up, whats a CB? Radio?

Oh and these guys had good recommendations on the MazdaOC forums:

http://www.prospray.net/contact.html, they definitely look pro. Not too far to Cheshire too.

Im gonna spend some time tomorrow cleaning it up a bit and finding out what all these bits do.

And draining the sills.


Worth me getting a different front spoiler do you reckon sdp?

Citizen Band radio allows you to talk on the go free, but others can listen in too, you can get quite a conversation going

CB is totally Smokey and the Bandit. Youll need to grow a stasch to go with the radio, tbqpfh.

nige, if I were you Id go over it with some T-cut, then give it a good wax polish... youll be amaised at the difference....

loads of people will probably slag the idea off... but it works really well, then you can always still get it re-sprayed in a year ?

Ive done it loads of times before Ive sold a car... always makes me think twice about selling !

Is that dirt or rust on the front edge of the doors?

http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=photo0011yw2.jpg

Im not 100% sure. The panel with the missing light must have been knocked and isnt quite fitted right so the door clacks against it at the moment, its probably doing a bit of wear and it needs seeing to. Ill check it properly tomorrow in the light.

Well Ive been out today, fitted a new rear cluster, fitted a new sidelight, cleaned all the windows inside & out and the lights (including the pop up lights), wiped off various grained in muck on the panels and finally adjusted the front wing that some muppet hadnt fitted properly Bolts missing and everything, it was out of alignment and as such was causing the wear on the door, where paint has now flaked off. I tried removing a bolt under the sill to take it off and it snapped - rusted right through - so I guess I will have to take it to the bodyshop to fix it. I think the bloke that had it last really wasnt bothered about the car, its clearly not been appreciated and looked after as it should have been. At least I got to clean it out and WD40 some parts. Ive saved some more on garage labour too.

Note to self: tighten remaining bolts tomorrow, empty and unclog drain points, vacuum/clean interior, polish plastic window, find what all the switches do.

Rattlecan primer black rust stop paint is starting to look good now, eh? :mrgreen:

Forgot how vehicles rot much more quickly over there. :shock: Ive honestly never seen a Miata with *any* rust, ever, just the bog standard peeling paint on the PVC bumpers.

Seems if you sink another grand into it, its still a heck of a deal, though.

Just to clarify, I meant the bolt had rusted through, not the whole sill, so ive got the thread end completely stuck in now and cant remove it. The car is actually in amazing condition for its age, Ive not seen any rust on the panels really, let alone trouble spots. It just needs dints chips and flakes repairing and that bodged panel sorting out. I reckon the previous owner fitted it, much like the bodged alternator. Shocking way to treat it tbh.

I might even go round to the passenger side and clean out/WD40 the other sill.

Ill have sunk over Ã,£500 into it on top by the end of the month. Indeed, considering this includes the expensive 60k service and parts plus a full suite of new silicon hoses that will outlast the car Id say its still an awesome bargain. It has niggles like the poor rear view, but I can fix that by upgrading to a hardtop or soft hood with glass heated rear screen.

You need a bolt extractor if the heads broken off. You first drill a teeny hole, then use the extractor. Theyre cheap and an essential part of any toolkit meant for older vehicles. Used mine plenty on various motorbikes.

http://www.coateshomecentre.com.au/tips_tricks/tip_extract_a_stripped_screw.htm

^^^ sometimes they work... but there pretty naff really

depends if it snapped because it was so rotten, or because it was rotten and tight.... those things never work on them if there tight

better off trying to get at the other side of it and using a pair of stilsons !