Mazda MX-5 MkII
James shows us his Mazda MX-5 MkII, but will it ever join a CCW road run? There is hope…
2001 MAZDA MX-5 NB
This might be the first report, but I’ve owned this MX-5 NB for almost two years. My father bought it from a friend for £300 and then he passed it to me.
My old man, being the good fellow that he his, offered to get the Mazda fixed as a gift for my 40th birthday. As my 41st birthday hurtles closer ( yes, I know, I don’t look it) I’ve still not enjoyed the MX-5. I’ve been informed it’s ‘at the top of a to-do list’ – I do wonder what’s on the remainder of the list!
Project MX-5 began after it had been sitting idle for more than three years. We got it jacked up and supported on wooden blocks and axle stands. With the wheels removed, inspection of the brake discs determined that while they showed little wear, the surfaces were too pitted with rust to be reused. New discs and pads ordered, and within two days they were fitted. All five wheels had different makes of tyre with varying amounts of wear and showed some age degradation. We changed the lot. Now the engine… it turned over, but wouldn’t fire up. A new fuel pump got the engine to start, but with a worrying metallic clunking at idle. Given that the car had been left for three years, we feared that its oilways could be gunged up. Hoping a full service would sort that out, we fired up the engine again – but still the clunking echoed through the Essex streets. We then removed the drive belts from the power steering pump, alternator and water pump to try to diagnose where the noise was coming from – and it was none of the above. We now started to suspect serious camshaft issues.
My father had a poke at the crankshaft drive-belt pulley up front and discovered a gremlin. No bigeared monsters here, but a broken fixing lug from when the cambelt was last changed. The hard plastic camshaft cover was touching the edge of the pulley so we levered it back into its rightful position with a screwdriver.
With the engine fired up, I’m not sure who was happier – us for fixing it, or our neighbours, who now didn’t have to listen to our pit-lane rumbles.
There’s still much to do on the MX-5 both underneath and aesthetically. The discoloured door mirrors and the massive hole in the roof look very shabby (and insecure), but we’ll get there.
The MX-5 will drive again. I’m just not quite sure when.