Mot 11th March 2019

21 years old and a pass on the MOT with no advisories.

 Next job on the list is to have the wheels renovated again as the paint is beginning to lift where the jet wash has done too good a job.

Front brake pads fitted on 28th February 2019 plus cleaning of disks.  Also added Cataclean in preparation for MOT

Full Synthetic oil change at 65711 miles

MOT 2018 passed at 65464 miles

Mot Passed but did renew the centre exhaust section before the test.  This was not an advisory from last year but noticed a small leak during last summer. Cataclean added as routine in February 2018.  Still using V power fuel as standard. Green stuff front pads will be changed this year. Not bad for 8 years life!

Mot passed again in March 2017 without advisories. Oil and filter change at 65300.

Changed oil and filter (Mobil 1) W5-30 at 65300 miles (October 2017) after using Wynns engine flush.  Ready for another year.

MOT passed and only 600 miles since 2015

MOT time is nearly here 2016

New Catalyst  fitted in preparation for the MOT

MOT 2015

SSB passed again having done only 850 miles last year.

Oil Change at 62000 February 2015

Time for the yearly oil change before the MOT on the 17th February.  Did an engine flush this time with Wynn's Engine flush as the car has not been used a great deal over the past year.

27th October 2014

A terrible thing happened to the poor Mazda in the garage.  A shelf that had been up for 14 years fell onto the car leaving dents in one side.  A complete side respray was called for - wow - what a lovely paint job! Now back in the garage safely tucked up!

Oil change at 60000

Its been a while since SSB has been out and about. An oil change at 60500 on the 1st November 2013 sees it set for the winter. The hard top also went on and will stay on until the weather improves. Less than 1000 miles driven since the last MOT which SSB passed back in March.

One last thing.  The original headlamp bulbs are back in as the MOT regulations prohibit the HIB bulbs.

passenger side sill

Still good! Just to show that there is no rot in the passenger side - this was repaired in 2010 and still holding as good as ever!!

MOT 2012

It had to happen - SSB failed its MOT with a rusty sill. The shame of it. After less than 2000 miles since the last MOT, the rust had got to the drivers side sill. A trip to Nikita Autocraft had a new sill put in place and a brand new MOT certificate granted. SSB lives to fight another day! Now has 58300 miles on the clock.

Oil and Filter Change

It has been a while since SSB (AGH) has been out of the garage but on Saturday 25th February 2012 SSB was treated to a new filter and 5w30 Mobile 1 Oil. The hard top also came off as it was ready for Summer (temperatures in the 13 -18oc for the last few days even though it is only February). Another year awaits the open top!

Auto - Dent

Over the winter SSB had collected a number of dings from just being in the garage. A local chap called Rob from Auto Dents came over and dings removed. Rob is a true artist in the old fashioned sense. He will not rush the job and understands the structure of metal. He caresses the dents out with 100's of metal rods of all different sizes. http://www.auto-dents.co.uk/ .Worth every penny if you have a dent and have not scratched the paintwork.

MOT February 2011

Yes! Passed again after less than 1500 miles being covered from last year. Well, I say pass as it technically failed and then was then immediately passed. I had knocked the connection to the headlamp bulb (RHS) when I last cleaned the engine bay. The MOT tester said that technically it failed but as all he had to do was plug the bulb in again, he would not fail it. Very good of him I have to say.

Car tax for the year came to £210. Next on the list is a full oil change in May and then SSB can enjoy the summer!

(SSB has only been out for 2 runs this year as it has been so poor weather wise)

Front end service

Decided to have the Cambelt changed as the last one was done in 2004 at 27,300 miles. Had the waterpump and thermostat, alternator belt and antifreeze changed - wierd orange colour as its now long life they use - and I have gallons of blue 2 year stuff! Everything changes! Cost - a whopping £300 plus VAT at 20% but that did include genuine Mazda parts troughout.

Grand Start Up!

4th January and SSB still under its cover - the weather and salt on the roads have kept her in the garage - decided to run the engine and drive up and down the garage - started 1st time after such a long rest! Ran for 15 minutes or so just to get the fluids hot. Must get her out on the roads when it is dry. Happy New Year!

Time flies by.....

The last entry was in September.....blimey, I am slipping. 3 months have gone by and apart from enjoying 'SSB' when the weather has been good, little has happened in the little MX5's life. She had a good polish in October but that is about it. The weather is so terrible at the moment ( promised to be snowed in) that I have not had the opportunity to put the heated pads into the seats. Something for the future. 'SSB' rests peacefully under a cover inside the garage with a battery conditioner connected to keep her warm. If nothing else happens, a very 'Happy Christmas' to you all. Warm Weather to come ( we hope).

Warm Seats

The time has come to install heated seats to SSB. After some research on Ebay (OK, I just searched for 'Heated Seats') a package arrived in the mazda garage from Waeco with heated seat inserts. All I have to do now is to:

• Remove the seats


• Take the seats apart


• Insert the heater elements


• Put the seats back together again


• Install the seats


• Drill holes for the switches


• Connect the electrics


• Start the engine


• Warm the bum!

I'll have a go over the next few weekends if i get the chance.

Update - February 2011 - it cannot be done as the seats are leather and have ribs running through! Heated seats in the Terrano me thinks!

September 2010

It has been a quiet time for SSB as the only things to happen has been an oil change and lots of enjoyable driving. The aluminium radiator has been removed as the silicone lower pipe sourced from Ebay had a pin prick leak - only found this out after I had removed the radiator. Have also pressure tested the engine (fine) and block tested the engine ( fine). Moral - do not buy second hand parts from the internet! They are second hand. Next thing over the winter is to have Sam Goodwin of Nuneaton replace the cam belt, followers and Water pump. Will wait until December time for this!

Notes on installing the alluminium radiator

What the advertising does not tell you when you purchase the radiator is that the fixings for the two fans are approximate. This means that you will need to adjust the holes on the top of the cooling radiator fan and the holes on the bottom of the air conditioning radiator fan by approximately 5mm to the left ( looking from the front). Now, I thought I could be clever and force the cooling radiator into place - its only plastic - wrong! it snapped one of the supports - a quick fix was to araldite back into place after doing the job correctly (with a file.) The longer job has involved purchasing another fan (ebay) and fettling correctly in the first place - moral - do not rush - its not plastic - its black metal!! Also, have plenty of 6mm washers to act as spacers when installing - the old radiator is much smaller and is rounder. The end result is worth it just to see the shiny radiator in place! (don't think it makes a jot to the cooling as the original radiator is so well engineered)

Silicone Heater Pipes & Water Wetter

To go with the new radiator I have decided to install new silicone hoses - purchased from mx5parts - cool in yellow! The reasoning for the new pipes is the fact that the current pipes leading from the heater run very close to the new exhaust manifold. The new silicone has a melting point of 450 degrees. Also forgot to add that I added a bottle of Redline's Water Wetter to the 50/50 antifreeze mix. So far, I have not seen any difference on the temperature gauge but cannot do any harm - can it?

Keep cool

The summer fast approaching and I have decided to concentrate on the cooling of SSB. I have managed to purchase a racing aluminium radiator complete with a set of yellow (yes, yellow!) silicone hoses. I will be fitting these over the coming months. The radiator has a double core so should just fit in place of the single original one. I will know soon! I have been told that lightweight Aluminium Radiators are more efficient than standard radiators and will help keep engine temperatures down and are ideal for track use or modified cars.

It provides :

- Greater cooling capacity than any other radiator on the market
- Full alloy radiator with custom polished top and bottom tanks designed for a perfect FIT.
- Perfect for performance upgrades
- This aluminium core light-weight racing radiator will achieve 40% more cooling capability than a standard radiator
- Massive 42mm thick for maximum cooling efficiency,
- Made from aircraft quality aluminium with OEM fitment; no modifications required

Easy Oil

Ever had enough of crawling under the car - I saw this device on Ebay and thought I would give it a go. It attaches to the compressor. A tube is placed down the oil dip stick tube and the oil extracted under the force of the vacuum. The kit comes with 2 different size tubes. I will write a report when I have changed the oil later this month. Note to all - Asda is selling Mobil 1, 5-30 5 litres at £32.00! Buy it now and save £18 on the Halford price.

End of the wood!

The gear knob finished the whole 'wooden look' of the interior. Very smooth to the touch and fits like a glove. Thanks Mx5Parts.

Two Mazda's or should that be Mazda x2!

See previous post!

Whats this - MAZDA GIRL!

Well I will be blowed, another Mazda joins the family - this time its Gaynor in her new Mazda 2 Sport! Over the Easter weekend we were at the Mazda Garage and saw this lovely Mazda Sport just calling out for an owner - 'No, I do not need a sport version' Gaynor cried but after a short drive in the 120BHP car, the love affair had begun. Cruise Control, Traction Control, Climate control and those little mirrors that fold in sold the car to us both (I can hear Dad saying already that they are all things to go wrong!) Private plates to celebrate Gaynor's 50th and she is as pleased as punch. We should perhaps change the site to Racing Mazda's!!

AGH becomes SSB

The time has come when all middle aged men have the 'crisis' and want to pretend that they are once again young. When I came across K50 SSB, not only is it my initials, my age but also a reminder of long ago when I was heavily into radio engineering - single side band - was the professional long distance carrier medium I used to work with. The plate had to be mine and looks jolly grand on the little MX5! The actual plates are 'domed carbon fibre' and have just become legal from the DVLA - have a look here if you are interested. They are not the cheapest on the market but sure are professional compared to the run of the mill plates you can purchase on the high street.

Quiet March

Its been quiet for AGH this march. She came out for two days when the weather was fine and indeed blew the cobwebs away after a long day at work. After each run I have been experimenting with Meguiars alloy wheel detailer - very good - just spray on and dust off the brake dust. Apart from this we are waiting for a spell of decent weather so that she can be let loose on the roads. With Easter fast approaching I hope to find at least two fine days as I plan to give the garage floor a coat or two of light grey floor paint. Very smart!

Tracker

Having done so much to AGH! over the winter I finally took the car to a professional alarm company who upgraded the CAT 1 alarm to include a GPS tracker and paging system. For obvious reasons I will not go into further detail but can confirm that it is monitored at every stage.

The finishing touch!

The finishing touch had to be a wooden handbrake cover - beautiful!

Keeping in touch!

Over the past few months I have been collecting the bits together to make up a in built phone. I already had the handset of the Nokia 810 from a previous project so as the components came up on Ebay I have assembled the complete kit. The ashtray was removed to accommodate the readout - perfect fit! I also managed to purchase a JVC double din head unit and sub base which were installed during the cold winters nights.

Racing Wing is installed

It is still bad weather outside so ideal for inside jobs. Three 8mm holes were drilled into the boot in preparation for the install of the freshly painted wing. Problem......on the provided template one of the holes in the middle has the wrong measurement - more on this later. Add black silicon and offer up top the body - after a little jiggle, the two outside bolts are fastened leaving the middle one completely out of alignment - lucky that the wing covers the new hole in the boot! Drilling up from below solves the problem using a self tapping bolt - the wing is made from a composite material that is very light but also very strong. The whole thing is completed a day later with the chrome surrounds and a touch of 18J paint to the underside of the bolts. A new LED high intensity brake light completes the job - very smart it is too! Will it make a difference to handling of the car? Of course not!


What I had of course forgotten was that the wing now added weight to the boot so that when opened, it promptly shut itself again! After using a stick to keep it open I found a boot lifter on Mx5Parts and this solved the problem - note(1): I was sent the left hand instructions with the right hand strut - doubled the time stripping the boot! Result is that I now press the button and up pops the boot and stays there - worth every penny. note(2): Drilling the 8mm hole is impossible unless you have sharp (very sharp) drill bits - do not even attempt unless they are brand new and start with 1mm and work up to 8mm. Whatever Mazda made the boot hinge from it was not ordinary metal!

MOT passed with flying colours

AGH! went in for its yearly MOT yesterday and passed with flying colours having done just less than 2000 miles since the same time last year.

Viewed in Australia!!

Thanks to Michelle and Steven in Australia who have voted for the car in the Ultimate Finish competition!

Ultimate Finish competition

AGH came third in the competition out of 60 entered!!

Father Christmas left a Dual Action Polisher by Meguiars under the Christmas Tree. After warming up the garage (to above freezing!) I had a play with the new tool with the result that the bonnet and boot are now rather shiny! As Father Christmas shops at Ultimate, I could not resist entering a competition to win a track day for the best presented car.

Rear Boot Spoiler

To finaly complete the exterior of AGH I have been researching the purchase of a rear boot spoiler. The one from MX5 parts was just too expensive and the ones found on Ebay did not follow the original pattern. Eventually I decided to take advice from Martin at MX5city and ordered a Mazda copy of the original complete with colour match spraying. I will report on the fitting in due course but have been told it is simple to do. What I have discovered is that the spoiler still enables the boot rack to fit - another purchase along with the genuine alluminium case ready for the summer trips! This concludes the modifications to the exterior of the car.

16" Alloy Sport Wheels go on

The weekend saw the 15" wheels and Bridgestone tyres come off AGH and the renovated 16" sports alloys fitted to the car. The Goodyear Eagle - D3 F1 tyres 205 / 45 / 16 look the part and I can confirm that thet transform the handling of the car. The increased cross profile now makes the car feel 'planted' to the road and the very smallest movement of the wheel translates to movement on the road. We (the royal we) will see how things progress in the weeks to come. I am now considering a trip to Nottingham Alignment Services to have a full geometry setup done.

Help from Dad

Always need help from the 'experienced one.' Dad dropped round to assist in the install of the windscreen chrome. Could not have done it without him. Thanks dad.

2010 and it is time for chrome!

January has arrived in the AGH! household and it is time for the chrome to attach itself to the racing green shell. First came the wing mirrors followed by the door handles. Then followed the front window frame and the clear side repeaters. Last to complete the line up was the interior mirror!

That is it for the bling- stately but not brash.

Stainless steel widgets

What do you think of these? Stainless steel added to AGH!