Just bought a Mk1 MX5! Advice sought from the experts.

[decampos]

... for the wife to learn to drive in. Was indifferent at first but after a day, I'm completely sold. It's such a fun little car. The charm of it reminds me of a mini I used to own, but unlike the mini, it seems really tight, lively and well put together.

I have a couple of little niggles and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction:

Driver's electric window is stuffed. I took the door card off assuming it was something simple like a cable slipping off a pulley or something. The motor whirrs though it sounds like crunching grit and nothing moves.

The ventilation slider that switches between defroster, heat in the footwells, heat in the face etc. appears to be stuck in defroster mode. By 'stuck' I mean the slider slides but nothing changes. Anyone come across that?

Any pointers very much appreciated!

[elephantstone]

Cant help with problems but if your wife is learning to drive in it and i am guessing it will become her car when shes passes.. Get a full wheel alignment done on it and make sure its got matching decent rubber on it. Make it as predictable as possible.

[MikeOxlong]

The window cable might have snapped.

Get a 2nd hand mechanism and fit it. Easy enough job to do wouldn't take any longer than an hour. Clean and re grease all the runners for it too.

[Pit Pony]

Did it have electric windows as standard? If as standard MX5parts do a kit.

If none standard, like mine, I had a 2 sets of cables.

[decampos]

Thanks for the replies chaps. Yes, factory electric windows, it's the 'v-spec'. MX5parts has a kit eh? I'll look into that. it has air conditioning also but that's buggered.

I'm currently trying to sort the bugs. The steering wheel is slightly off centre. I thought it would be a simple job but on closer inspection it appears the whole steering column is slightly squiffy. My first thought was maybe it had a smack into a curb or something but it drives flawlessly. Anyone have any ideas?

[Oldandslow]

That should be sorted as part of an alignment.

I'd say the MX5 was a hard car to learn in. Responsive throttle and steering, learners tend to be clumsy making big inputs and overcorrections until they've had a lot of practice. Be a great first car though