2007 MX-5 2.0 SPORT

[ChunkyMonkey1]

After 3 years of a new daughter and no fun car, I decided to purchase my Mx5 sport 2.0L with Bilsteins and an LSD from factory. I believe these were 10mm lower than standard mk3 NC1's.

This was the advert picture below


I set about preventative maintenance, I had heard there are 2 common spots that leak water, the 3rd break light and the grommets under the windscreen scuttle panel trim, so set about sealing them up.







I then set about installing an oil catch can to keep the intake clean,



And an old trick from my previous MK2 was to line the bonnet rubber gasket with some grey construction foam, like a big long sausage of it, to help keep out hot air from the engine entering the cabin space.



And a nice little decal, not to everyone's taste I'm sure but I like it...



I am planning on undersealing it next.

[ChunkyMonkey1]

It had a stainless "Lockwood" grill kit fitted



Not really to my taste, so up on the ramps to remove it and ta da.. much better I think



Also got a set of these Takata shoulder pads



And this nice little NC specific phone mount



Lot's more to do, luckily she already has a K&N panel filter fitted so that saves me a job.

[ChunkyMonkey1]

So my Bilthamber s50 cavity wax arrived,



Having the front of the car raised on my drive on Rhino ramps, I removed the undertray, and coated anything that looks like surface rust in 'Kurust' rust converter,

[url]

Then I sprayed all the cavities I could find at the front of the car.



And coated everything metal in 'Hammerite underseal with waxoil'







And I convinced my lovely wife to wash the undertray ??


That's the front of the car rust proofed for the foreseeable future, the middle and rear is on the to do list.

I noticed that when I filled the washer fluid bottle, a lot of floaty bits of scum swished around, so I removed the bottle and pump, and gave it a thorough cleaning with a bleach solution and ran it through the dishwasher. It is now squeaky clean


I filled it with water and added a few drinking water purification tablets to stop the mould reappearing.


Whilst under the bonnet, I used a syringe plunger to suck out all the break and power steering fluid from their respective reservoirs and refilled with fresh fluid. I plan to do the same to the coolant when I get hold of some FL22 coolant.



When the breaks needing doing ill do a full flush through.

I also fitted some Bosch Aerotwin wipers as the old ones had seen better days.

[BubbaDooDoo]

So these LED number plate lights arrived,



After removing the old lights, I cleaned it up and applied some s50 cavity wax using the lance to prevent the common boot lid corrosion issues.



Fitted, a nice modern white light.



I also hoovered the roof, and applied a good layer of Meguiars cloth top waterproofer/UV protection spray.




And of course fitted the PH decal,



And sprayed a healthy amount of s50 cavity wax into the rear cills by first removing this little rubber grommet on each side,



And then inserting the lance until I could hear it hit the back of the cill, then spraying and slowly withdrawing it, it was a bit messy as it dripped out of the cill drain holes, the s50 is not thick at all and kind of like water in consistency which helps it get into all the crevices and also not bung up the cill drain holes.



And then coating all the chassis parts with underseal

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Thursday 20th July 12:30

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Friday 21st July 17:52

[BubbaDooDoo]

Any surface rust I found I first neutralised with the Kurust.

Next on the list is to remove the rear wheels and arch liners and give them a good clean and underseal.

[BubbaDooDoo]

Xcore said:

How hard are these to turbo?

Stuck a kit on my mk1 and it was a right giggle

That does sound like fun, not sure how easy it is on these, I'd possibly try a 4-1 header first.

Sko77y said:

Looks a tidy example, certainly cleaner underneath than mine when I purchased it. Get some lowering springs and a fast road alignment and it'll transform it, from my experience.

Thanks, which springs would you recommend? I have a lot of plans for it

W201_190e said:

Lovely car.

covmutley said:

That looks to be in very tidy condition. Enjoy it!

Thank you both!

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Friday 21st July 17:56

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Friday 21st July 17:57

[BubbaDooDoo]

So the rx8 wiper stalk arrived, these have the intermittent wiper adjustable time period switch, where as the mx5s just had 1 speed for intermittent.

Below mx5 wiper removed



And then the rx8 one fitted




I also cleaned out the roof drain holes with a trombone brush and flushed through with warm soapy water and am happy to report not much dirt came out. Although I forgot to take pictures while doing this, it wasn't that interesting and is well documented online.

[BubbaDooDoo]

I couldn't resist and ordered this



I removed the original which did have a k&n panel filter fitted, nice to confirm.


Decided to clean up the ecu area and kurust any surface rust on the mounting brackets, which was probably absolutely pointless but I like knowing its clean and protected..



I also cleaned the MAF sensor with special contact cleaner


And the install finished...



I cannot wait to drive it to see what it sounds like!

[BubbaDooDoo]

A little update, the stock seat belt retainers were a poor design and caused the belt to get jammed easily, as seen below,



Fortunately mazda released an updated version on later models which I got hold of and retrofitted as seen below.



Much better.
Also did a little sound proofing, before,

And after


Also added some foam layers which I didn't take pictures of. Seems quieter with the roof up now, I'll do the doors when I get around to upgrading the ICE.

I also got hold of some of this valve cleaner and ran it through at fast idle as per instructions, this stuff has good results on some guys video on YouTube where he uses a borescope camera to show before and after. So thought I'd treat the mx5.



And I fitted this silicone elbow to go with my intake.



And fitted some clear led indicators,
Before

After


I've got some Jass seat lowering brackets to fit next.

[BubbaDooDoo]

Carlos24 said:

Love how thorough this is being done, looks a very clean car! What other power mods are you going to be doing?

Thanks, possibly a BBR manifold, as these mx5s have 2 cats, 1 in the manifold and 1 in the mid section,and it can get through the MOT with just the cat in the mid section I've read. There are fairly good gains to be had from removing the manifold cat, which should add a little exhaust noise too.

Also I've got a cold air ram air scoop to fit pictured below, it directs air from the grill in the bumper directly to the air filter. Bumper off job so it'll be a while before I get around to fitting that I think.

chrisnic0 said:

The car is looking really good and it's giving me some inspiration to get mine sorted! Just chasing a leaky door card atm. Where did you get the seat belt retainers from?

Thanks, I got them from MX5parts.co.uk link below
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384948943674?mkcid=16&a...

---

@Sko77y

Thanks mate, I've had 3 x mk2s in the past, then a 350z, now settled on a boat haha, loved the mk2s, wanted traction control and more power, realised the 350z was costing a lot to run, 19mpg, using oil, £150 a tyre etc. So back to an mx5, I lost 2 of my mk2s due to no TC catching me out in the wet etc. so had to go for the mk3. Very happy with it so far, TC has kicked in a few times already just coming gently of a wet round about so it's worth it's weight in gold to me. Lol

---

@Dapper

Oh man the Direnza intake sounds epic, quiet when you're cruising, and when you get to 4k revs there's an awesome roar, not chavvy or OTT just sounds great. Picked it up for about £75 second hand on ebay.

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Thursday 7th September 18:40

[BubbaDooDoo]

Small update,

Got a set of these delrin door bushes which apparently stiffen up the chassis.


Standard floppy rubber ones below,


Delrin ones installed.



The doors definitely have more a solid feeling close now. And slightly less rattles when going over bumps, nice cheap upgrade for about £25.

I also saw a BBR manifold pop up on ebay so had to have it lol they say there's good gains to be had from these.



Gave it a brass wire brushing all over.



Just started the process to remove the stock manifold, heat shields are off and nuts sprayed with duck oil left to sit overnight.



More updates to come.

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Sunday 29th October 08:42

And it's off, what a pain that was



Side by side comparison



Test fit

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Thursday 2nd November 20:22

[BubbaDooDoo]

And its on! That was a pig of a job lol



Thought I'd give the calipers a strip down, re grease and a paint. A little bright, only done 1 so far, might change colour to silver or light gold.

[BubbaDooDoo]

Changed them to black instead


Did a little order from Japan,


Below, master cylinder brace from Beatrush.

Below, Autoexe intake

Below PPF diff brace,

Below, greddy shift knob and silicone cover

I also fitted an ILMotorsport race cat center section.

[BubbaDooDoo]

Diff brace fitted


Got some yellow dot anti roll bars from an RX8 to fit next, stiffer and reduce body roll.

[BubbaDooDoo]

Fitted the rear rx8 yellow dot anti roll bar this eve with some poly bushes and adjustable links.



Gotta do the front next...

[BubbaDooDoo]

S600BSB said:

Great read - thank you. Does the third brake light just pull out of its fixings?

Thanks! It's push fit clips, little tabs underneath you can pop out with a flat head screw driver from underneath.

[BubbaDooDoo]

BlueComet said:

Interesting read.. We're living a similar story as I've also had no fun cars for the last few years since my daughter was born.

I've controversially gone down a different route however.



I've also been out with my Bilt Hamber products - Dynax UC for the wheelarch lips, and S50 Cavity wax for the sills

Keep us posted with how your NC adventure goes!

Great looking MG, nice green colour. Have fun with it! Thanks I don't get to drive it much but its better than nothing!

[BubbaDooDoo]

Fitted the rx8 yellow dot front ARB

You can see the size difference vs stock here,

And picked up this Bofi GV Style front lip from ebay which I fitted,

Daughters red kids chair came in handy lol

Next up, IL motorsport headlight eye brows, de tango headlights, and ram air duct which all require removing front bumper... need to get some motivation for that one lol

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Monday 22 April 23:05

[BubbaDooDoo]

After reading about the oem pressurised plastic coolant tanks cracking with age, following recommendations
I got a blit bling from the good ole USA



Compared to oem



Fitted



I also got a set of these harder engine mounts by IL Motorsport. Supposed to improve gear changes with minimal engine NVH increase.



Below you can see the old one on the table and new one fitted in the bracket.



All fitted.

Also went to the mx5 rally which was a good day out.



Lots of goodies to look at

And not my thing but chrome eat your heart out





These mx5s have got a big community and lots of customisable parts available, also being quite affordable.

Edited by BubbaDooDoo on Sunday 30th June 18:54