MX5Ireland

Hi all,

As I've only had one 5 for nearly ten years I now find myself having to go search for a replacement. When I bought mine I did very little checks. I hear a lot about rotten cars especially from the UK. So when looking for my replacement where are the rust hot spots that I should worry about and how should I physically check for them.

Although one of the cars I want to look at is a members and I'm sure it's perfect this info may help other to be members in the future.

Cheers,

The sills, you'll need to take the rear wheels off so bring a jack and stands. There is a plastic liner you need to remove, its very easy, 4 x 10mm bolts, then pop out the rubber bung inside the rear wheel arch and have a look inside. I found that first turning on the torch on my phone, then opening the camera app allowed me to get the lens and light up to the hole to view inside.

The bung is here :



Also check the jacking points, chassis rails and boot floor. If its a mk2, be sure and check the front chassis legs (have a quick google for instructions on how to check).

It's worth to check carpets behind and under the seats as most cars would have leaking roof/rainrail/seals/drain problems. Have a plastic plug puller/lifter handy(I made one out of fork:-))

Deivis

Also check both sides in the boot. Battery/water leaks. Other side antennas blocked drain could cause problems.

Deivis

As per Steve ,sills are main problem but some ex UK cars have major rusty front chassis rail s(mk2 2.5 only) not mk1 really. We might have car to suit you if your in the market.99 mk2 genuine Irish car ,just passed NCT today AND its 10th anniversary model with all the goodies,6 speed box, Torsen type 2 LSD ,Bilsteins all round,two tone interior and trimmings,blue contrasting soft top ,polished alloys ( need polishing again properly) Its the 10AE blue colour exterior .Alarm ,eleccy aerial ,strut brace all genuine Mazda fitments. Needs bodywork touch up/repaint some areas,but all good otherwise. Bargain @ 2450e as is 086 8226506

Steve/Robert

When you look in the sills what would be acceptable? As in will there be a little run or should you see no rust at all. And when should you walk away. I'm going viewing a car in the next week so this will be essential info to have.

a little surface rust is ok, you can treat it with ferrozine/dinitrol/wax

This side I replaced :


It looked fine on the outside but I did some poking after seeing the inside and this was the result :


The other side (driver's) was fine, didn't take a pic before spraying in ferrozine unfortunately but you can see the difference :



Have just picked up some Dinitrol to treat inside of the new sill :
http://www.cleancar.ie/dinitrol-ml-3125 ... rosol.html

Thanks for the thread. A lot of MX-5 listings make a point of claiming them to be rust-free, but I'm concerned that with any car this age it's just a matter of how hard you are prepared to look...

steve, how much dinitrol do I need? one can enough?

and where do I get ferrozine?

I picked up a litre or so of Ferrozinc from B&C paints in Galway. It was enough to cover the majority of the underside/wheel arches/sills of the car. You can dilute it down too with water so it'll get in all the cracks.
Haven't used the dinitrol yet in the new sill so not sure how much you'd need, will let you know how far a can goes.

Took the wheels off my car and checked the sills. No external rust and really solid sills. Can't believe it as she has been parked for 5+ years. I'm still thinking of buying a newer one though. I'm going to have a look inside the sills tonight.

Presume when inspecting the outside the tap of a rubber hammer would tell you a lot too?