A day polishing my MX5 and boy, is it shiny!

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Furious Driving
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[martin]

Watch your metal zipper from banging on panels you've polished! Also a tip, fold your towels twice, you will have 8 different clean sides instead of two! Roadster looks lovely now. That dent adds character! Not like it's a new car

[alansorbie]

Be wary of going too low on the suspension. My Eunos was very low with a decent set of coilovers. The seller offered to put it back on standard Mazda suspension but I thought a lowered car would be fun. In real life it got beached on speed humps, and when I tried to raise the ride height it just compressed the soft primary springs on the coilovers and meant the stiff secondary ones did all the work and it was scary on wet welsh roads due to no suspension compliance. I went back to Mazda suspension in the end. Turned out they knew what they were doing for a road set up!

[ben_jam]

For me, this is the best car in the fleet. I can't wait to see a set of original wheels on it and the many tweaks to the exterior and interior that you've got lined up.
You'll find it very hard to move this one on, if that's the plan..

[S-Ltd]

I bought two mk1s seven years ago, a Vspec and an S-limited which I still own. I spent a day on each car getting rid of 20 plus years of crap which was hugely satisfying. I sold the Vspec on 5 months later for a £700 profit so it's well worth the effort.

[EuropaSman]

I know others have suggested a glass rear window conversion Matt, but in meantime it could be worth trying Greygate Plastic Polish. I'm aware that some MGF owners use it, and I've used the product myself when I used to restore 1970s GPO telephones. For the sake of £10-£15 it could be worth it because you can use it to restore other items like rear light clusters, plastic headlights, etc.

[gryfandjane]

Now that is one splendid-looking MX-5! Congrats to Diamond Brite for their products, and to you for supplying the elbow grease. 😊

[Ashfielder]

Funny you mentioned upgrading headlights for visibility. That was one of the first things I did on mine, the lights were very dim. Now I have better visibility and people can see me coming. I’ve also just bought a 1970s Maserati air horn which I intend to fit as a further barrier between myself and the errant Nissan Qashqais of the world.

[VoodooChild]

Meguirs Plast-RX clear plastic cleaner and polish is really good for the back screen. I used it on my old mk1 Megane cabriolet that replaced my MX5!

[drewwagar]

Those V Spec floor mats are proper hens teeth - keep hold of them! :) I upgraded my headlamps to "crystal clear lenses" with OSRAM nightbreaker bulbs - makes a huge difference and doesn't look much different to standard. Fabulous job on the paint - looks lovely now! If you do want to upgrade the suspension go with Meister-R coilovers over any other brand - better ride and comfort than standard suspension on soft settings, adjustable ride height (without compromising spring compression) for looks and can be set to firm for spirited driving. But get those alloys changed first! :)

[skodakatie]

The paintwork looks so much better, a night and day difference.
Well done Matt❤.

[jacobfoster]

As a Silverstone Roadster owner, loving this new addition to the fleet. If you're looking for suggestions on wheels look into E30 BMW 15x7J BBS rims, can find them surprisingly inexpensively and with 195/50R15s they fill out the stock arches very nicely. I will say those awful front and rear badges need to go.

[andyarmstrong]

What an amazing result! PDR for the front wing? Nothing to lose.

[paulie-Gualtieri.]

Looks great Matt! Well worth getting the rest the bodywork fixed. Mazda 6 head unit with built in sat nav would look great one for sale on EB 25 quid

[michaeltutty]

Very interesting video, and a great job cleaning it up. Fantastic. Did I see the Hella logo on one of the headlamps? If not, nothing beats Hella NightVision. However, the PIIA Ultra White H3 is the best bulb for the job. No glare or spill to blind other drivers but illumination on the road better than any LED light I have seen. There are flasher relays available that are compatible with LED bulbs for turn signals. Means you do not need to muck about with resistors to keep the signals from hyperflashing.

[brendanmccabe]

Nice car, good find. Amazing what a timeless car the MK-1 MX-5/Eunos/Miata is. I'd really like to find a rust free example although I'd then probably want to put a V8 engine in which would probably turn it into a different car.
Shame about that wing but at least it's not too unsightly and can live until you can sort it out.
IIRC you can swap the roof with a MK-2 version with glass rear screen which may be of use but as you'll want to drive with the roof down as much as possible may be a false economy

[neilgoodfellow-horton]

Looks superb Matt. Wish my UK NA looked this good.

[nordvestgaming]

Just something I would personally recommend is if in the future you are claying a car, go ahead and hit the glass, the windshield especially as there is often embedded contaminants in it as well. Granted not nearly as much as you would find in the paint as glass is much harder but you might be surprised how much comes off on a car of this age. It will have the same benefits as claying your paint and is definitely worth doing if you are already doing the rest of the car anyway. It also helps preps the glass for a glass sealant/ coating if you want the windows to really bead water and be easier to clean.

[MatthewJohnCrittenden]

Great colour, mine is mid-life crisis red. Agree they get a lot of attention, all good. You'll have to prise mine out of my cold, dead, fingers :)

[arieplomp]

Amazing result Matt! Nice job! A freshly washed car allways drives so much nicer! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[paultaylor]

Well done Mat, looking very respectable now.