Monday, 24 December 2018

End of the beginning

This post is more for me than it is for you.

You see I've got my MX5, and if you didn't know, that little acronym (or whatever it is) appears in many of my conversations these days. If not all of them.
I don't name cars, it's a car, but I certainly have built up quite an attachment to this car - it's been a voyage of upside really, unlike that project beemer that sucked the soul from me...

So this post?
Well, I did this,



Then I did this,



Which is great, and I love the look of the car as a result. A bit of race car and some style. I know it's stylish as it's a style bar. And certainly, it's not any sort of rollover protection. I actually think it might be a paper roll covered in alfoil, but that's OK, it looks ace.

Then yesterday I fixed a few other things on the car, and this got me thinking about all the jobs I've done on the car, so without further fanfare behold the list (mostly in chronological order):

  • Swapped indicators for smoked lenses
  • Swapped reflectors for clear lenses
  • Fitted chromed filler cap
  • Fitted clear centre brake light
  • Swapped factory stereo for Pioneer with USB. And handy cubby
  • Fitted antenna remote switch - down for USB etc.
  • Fitted a stupidly expensive radiator cap (never again)
  • Fitted stainless radiator airflow plate
  • Replaced handbrake lever for steel affair
  • Removed sun visors and fitted blanking plates
  • Removed the dodgy in-car phone kit (not complete)
  • Serviced the car which included rocker cover gasket replacement and brake grinding (one was sticking on)
  • Painted the strut brace red
  • Fitted fancy oil breather (apparently a bit suspect)
  • Swapped the oil filler cap for a nice one
  • Coloured the dip stick red - in keeping with highlights
  • Replaced the standard induction kit with K&N free breathing kit
  • Cleaned the headlights - they're not Euro yellow ones mmmkay
  • Replaced the cigarette lighter with a twin USB charging port
  • Relocated the front number plate to where it used to be, and should be
  • Decent sun strip fitted
  • Fitted a fire extinguisher
  • Fitted a fake roll hoop, that looks nice
  • Replaced the little nylon gear selector doobrie - nice shifting!
  • Replaced the nylon window winder guide for the driver's side - nice lifting!

Beyond that, I have a lovely aluminium radiator to fit over the break, and I'm waiting on some bolts to reaffix the various cable retainers - they being pulled out in the service.

When funds allow I'll be putting a sporty exhaust on it. Not because I'm hunting for the elusive 5% gain, but because as you'll see from the list above, I like this car and I like enjoying this car so having sound a little bit more racecar is fine by me!

I'll keep you posted!

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