16x05 - A Lotta Miata (2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5)

[bunniefuu]

I know what you're thinking, but this is
not a Miata. It's a 2004 Mazda Speed MX-5.

They bolted the turbo underneath the bonnet
and that four-cylinder now does this.

Just look past the
leaks. Wow, that has lost

a lot of oil. And ignore
the horrible noises.

It doesn't get any better than this.
I don't think so.

Luckily for Ant, it only needs
a couple of slight tweaks.

He doesn't know how good he has it.

Are you telling me
they're getting parts for the

world's most produced
roadster ever as difficult?

Yes.

I'm just outside of Los
Angeles International

Airport and I'm on my
way to go and see a car.

It's the Mazda MX-5.

Now the one that I'm on my way to go
and see belongs to a guy called Jake.

Now Jake doesn't have
the vanilla-flavoured MX-5.

No, no, he's got the
raspberry ripple flavour.

He's got the Mazda Speed. Now
for those of you who don't know

what that means, the Mazda Speed
is the one with the turbo engine.

They only made a limited
number of these cars.

So that means that this
car was rare out the box.

It means that this car is desirable.

Now Jake is asking $7,300 for this car.

And for a 2004 Mazda MX-5,
Mazda Speed, that's not a bad price.

I know that there is a marketplace
for it, but that marketplace is tiny.

It is limited because of the nature of
the car, because it's so mental to drive.

But I know if you can dial some of
that stuff away but keep the drivability,

we possibly might be able
to open it up to a much wider

market and therefore drive
ourselves a nice, tasty profit.

There it is, a little Mazda MX-5.
Looks great, doesn't it?

Hey you, Jake?

Oh yeah, hey, are you Mike?

How are you doing? I'm Mike.

Hey, I'm great. How are you?

Very good. Thank you for giving
up your time today. I appreciate it.

Yeah, sure, of course.

Very excited about seeing
your little MX-5, Mazda Speed.

What a great looking little car.

Thanks, yeah, it held up really nicely.

How long have you had it?

About two and a half years.

Two and a half years?

Yeah.

And have you had fun in it in that time?

It's super fun.

Super. Looks absolutely fantastic.

This side on the paintwork, very nice.

Door shuts are good.
I love that Mazda Speed kick still.

The rear light surrounds.

Yeah.

They've been colour coded.

Yes.

You didn't do that, did you, Jake?

No, I haven't really done anything.

Good. The wheels, they're not standard.

They're not standard.

No, so they would need to be changed.

Oh yeah, look at that.

No rips, no tears, solid glass in the rear.

Yeah, defroster.

Very nice.

And there it is.

Yeah.

Yeah, there's been, wow,
that's expensive stuff as well.

I know this stuff.

Dump valve.

Yeah.

And we've got the cold air intake.

Cold air intake.

Which is on the hot side of the engine.

Not where I would have
put it, but it's nice to see.

Yeah.

And the stripe brace, I'm
gonna be honest with you,

somebody's spent some
serious money under this hood.

Yeah, well I think that stripe
brace is actually factory.

That's part of the Mazda Speed kit.

Looks great, doesn't it?

Yeah.

Really good.

Does it drive nice?

It drives great.

It's a Miata.

Of course it drives great.

Some MX-5.

It's actually got it written
on the boot of the car, MX-5.

There's not a Miata badge on it.

Is it like a Japanese word or something?

I don't know, it sounds like a sneeze.

Or it sounds like something you go
to your doctor's and get a cream for.

My Miatas are playing up.

The Pacific Coast Highway underneath me,

the ocean to my left-hand side.

Does it get any better than this?

I don't think so.

Now what makes a driving
experience in these cars

absolutely fantastic is
their eminent reliability.

They very, very rarely brake.

But what they did with this car
is they took it to the gymnasium.

They gave it a little
bit of ill*gal steroids.

They bolted a turbo underneath the bonnet,

and that four-cylinder now does this.

That's a quick car!

But it does have a few
things that I don't like about it.

One is the stupid noise it makes
in between the gear changes.

So when I accelerate, take
my foot off the accelerator...

Sounds like a Victorian steam train.

It really does.

That's the dump valve
releasing the pressure.

But it makes you look
like a bit of a hooligan,

if I was to be honest with you.

And I don't think people like that.

Well, that's for the interior.

One is this stupid little boost
cage that a gabber is aftermarket.

It's been put up there on this A-pillar,

and it just looks ridiculous.

I get why people want it.

They want information.

But why do I need to see that right there?

It's in my visibility.

It's in the way when you're
turning round a corner.

And that's rather nasty,
so I'll do away with that.

It makes you enjoy the beach.

Did I enjoy the beach or what, huh?

You live in paradise round here, don't you?

Ah, it's so nice.

It's absolutely incredible.

And, yeah, I had good fun in that car.

It's exhausting,
though, isn't it, that car?

It's absolutely tiring driving it.

It's such an event.

Every time you put
your foot down, it's, ah!

And then it's, ah!

So, yeah, it takes your breath away.

It really does.

So I was going to make you an offer.

Okay.

You want $7,300, correct?

I think so, yeah.

Would you take a fair
offer of six grand for it?

I don't know, six?

That's a little mean.

I've got to try somewhere.

I'm just being, you know,
come on, come on, you want it.

Six grand is a good offer.

I don't know, how about,
ah, can you do, like, 67?

$6,700?

Yeah.

I still think it's just a bit too much.

Okay.

I've come up a bit.

How about if I said $6,250?

It's getting warmer.

It's getting warmer.

How about we just $6,500, right?

Right down the middle.

$6,500.

Yeah, okay.

You got yourself a deal.

Great.

Fantastic.

Thank you very much.

And I've just bought myself
a Mazda Speed MX-5.

Not me either.

These cars will appeal to those punters
wanting true Italian sports car experience

without the price tag and without the
constant trips to your local mechanic.

Cost effective, reliability,
and performance.

Who's with me?

Ant.

Ant.

Yeah, there you are.

What, do you think I'm
just standing behind the

door poised, ready for
your arrival, Your Highness?

Well, of course I do, because
I sent you a text message

20 minutes ago to say I'll
be in exactly 20 minutes.

That one right there.

Oh, yeah, I just got it.

Look what I got you.

All right.

Nice, eh?

Yes, now this is a great car.

This is the fast one.

Yeah, there you go.

The penny's just dropped.

This is quite rare, isn't it?

Rare out of the box, and you know why?

Because they were going to
build probably tens of thousands,

but they only got five and a half
thousand in at a production run.

Guess what?

Factory burnt down.

To the ground.

All the parts, everything, all went,

which means that this
car is rare to begin with.

And rare means valuable.

Of course it does.

And it also looks quite nice.

You like it, don't you?

Everything looks to
be in pretty good order.

Oh, yeah, the dashboard's good.

You know what I think about these.

They're just...

I hate boost gauges.

Don't you have a personal collection
of boost gauges in your house?

Yeah, but can't.

No.

A solution involves a rubbish bin.

It doesn't involve a rubbish bin.

It might involve a little bit
of clever recycling, though.

Open the bonnet, and I'll
just explain a couple of things

that's underneath
that you're going to like.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I want to start it up first.

How good is that?

Look, you can see that boost
Gauge going up and down.

Look at it.

It's like taunting me, winking.

It's nasty, isn't it?

Open the bonnet.

Oh, yeah.

Whoa!

At the moment, this car's
got this ridiculous dump valve,

which is right here.

OK, but how ridiculous?

Right, really, it's...

You want to get rid of this
dump valve because it makes a

ridiculous sound, and the
boost Gauge, which, to be fair,

I would rip off within
minutes because... Absolutely.

It offends my eyes.

Then on the outside, obviously,
the wheels have to go there.

Yeah, they're not the correct
wheels for a massive speed.

There's another big
problem with this car as well.

It's got a leak.

Oil or water?

It's an oil leak.

OK, is it coming from here?

Yeah.

Here or here?

Well, it's coming from the best one.

The best one out of all three.

Which one?

Which is the middle one.

The gearbox.

That's not the best one.

Of course it's the best one.

It's just a nice little gearbox leak.

I'm going to let you address
the problem of the gearbox leak,

and I'm going to alleviate
some of the stress from you,

and I'll do the really hard
graph, the sweaty work,

and I'll go and find a proper
set of massive speed wheels.

All right.

Mike is absolutely right.

The Mazda MX-5 doesn't deserve the title
as a hairdresser's car, because it's not.

Particularly not this one, the Mazda Speed.

See, Mazda Speed was Mazda's
in-house performance department,

and they created some
great and really fast cars.

And this, 2004 Mazda Speed,

that does 0-60 in 6.7 seconds,

which means that that car
was faster than the most

expensive competitor back
in the day, the BMW Z4.

It was also up there with Lotus.

Now, Lotus, well, they're
a race car company.

You know, I've got to
hand it to Mike, though.

Getting hold of a Mazda MX-5 is easy.

It's the greatest-selling
roadster of all time.

There's loads out there,

but getting hold of a Mazda
Speed in this condition,

old boy's done all right.

See, looking fine on
the outside is one thing,

but fine on the inside
is totally different.

And Mike tells me that there's an
oil leak somewhere in the middle,

and an oil leak could be nothing, or based
on this little bit of oil on the floor.

Unfortunately, it could be everything.

The gearbox is going to have to come out,
which isn't nearly as easy as it sounds.

First, I get the car on the
ground so I can unplug the battery.

Then I pull out the window switches,

shifter knob, centre
console, lower shift boot,

and finally the shift lever.

Everything else comes
off the bottom of the car.

The front crossbar, rear subframe brace,

engine undertray, and
the gearbox undertray.

That has lost a lot of oil.

Right, well, there's the leak.

In fact, there's two leaks.

But what worries me the most is
that somebody's obviously had a go.

because of the state of this sealer.

I mean, why has the gearbox
had to come out before?

Now, getting the gearbox
out is no mean feat.

In order to clear the way,
the exhaust, prop shop,

and Mazda's unique power plant
frame all have to come out first

before I can finally
remove the gearbox itself.

Well, that is a lot of steps.

As expected, the whole unit's filthy.

First things first, a good clean-up.

All this stuff's cleaned up really nicely.

It's actually amazing what you can do
once you apply a bit of elbow grease.

And, of course, have a parts washer
because my gearbox itself looks brand new.

Now, a lot of car manufacturers,

they put one of those fibrous
gaskets between the gearbox sections,

and it's that gasket that
helps keep the oil inside.

The thing is, on the Mazda gearbox,

the tolerances are so good
that they don't use a gasket.

They just use a thin bead of sealer, and
it's the sealer that keeps the oil inside.

Now, this gearbox is
manufactured by a company called

Asyn, and when they
ship it brand new to Mazda,

very, very crucially, it has orange
sealer in, but it's not this orange.

This sealer here, that is the wrong orange.

So what happens is, is
somebody owns a Mazda,

they get an oil leak, they
look at the orange sealant,

and then they run down
to the local car parts store,

they buy the orange
sealant that's on the

shelf, they go to
the till, they pay for it,

they then fit it in the car,
but it's the wrong orange.

The customer is actually
blinded by the colour orange.

I've said the word orange a lot.

In order to reseal it,

I've obviously got to
take the whole thing apart

so I can get to those
joints in the casing.

What I'm actually waiting
for is the sound of a nice tap.

as the reverse pivot shaft drops.

Right there.

Mike never complained
about any gearbox issues.

He said it drove really nicely.

So actually, in terms of gearbox internals,
that's as far as I'm going to go,

which means this has
really only turned into

a sealant issue to keep
oil inside the casing.

So I'm going to have
to clean up this surface,

this surface, and then the
two surfaces that join them.

Now, to clean this surface up,

I'm not going to be using a blade

because it's made of aluminium
and it might scratch the surface.

I'm actually just going to go
with this little abrasive pad.

and just work the surface till it's clean.

This orange stuff is called RTV and it
stands for room temperature vulcanising,

which means it actually goes hard
in the air, although more scientifically,

it's the moisture within
the air that causes it to cure.

This is the tube that Mazda recommends

and strangely, the new
sealant is actually grey.

Now, before I put any sealant to
rejoin my gearbox back together,

I have a little cheat which
meant I kept my gearbox in place

and it involves a
clever use of fishing line.

So what I need to do is get
a couple of lengths of this.

Now, the trick is I'm
going to use my fishing wire

to hold my reverse pivot arm in
place while I get the bell housing on

and it can be quite tricky
because this needs to

be slotted in here and
hold in that position there.

So the first bit of fishing wire.

goes over the top,

pulling that reverse pivot arm outwards.

The second bit of fishing wire, and
this is where it's going to get fiddly,

goes around the bottom.

and then if I tape that in place...

Now, hopefully the tape is
holding tension on my fishing line,

which is holding it exactly in the right
position for me to put a bell housing on.

Now, if this little trick works,

I would have saved a couple of
hours stripping out the gearbox.

Now, if I open up this tube,

apply my nib.

The key is that I want to
get a really consistent bead

of sealer around the edge
that I've already prepared.

Now, I'm not going to
smear that with my finger.

I mean, you can, but I prefer not to
because of the risk of contamination.

Even if the very slightest,
smallest bit of molecule gets in there,

it could upset the tolerance differences

and ultimately that would
mean a leaky gearbox.

And that's what I'm trying to avoid.

Now, if this is all lined up correctly,
if I take this reverse pivot shaft,

it should insert and slide
inside the reverse pivot arm.

Now, that's holding it all in place.

I'm just going to put a
bit of thread seal on it.

Now, with that secured in there,

I should be able to just draw
the bell housing open slightly.

so I can remove the fishing wire.

Perfect!

I'm not going to fully torque these
bolts or these bolts down just yet.

I'm going to give it a little bit of time,
allowing the sealer to cure properly.

It takes about half an hour.

The sealer's been given
plenty of time to cure

so I can put the gearbox
back together and reinstall it.

Of course, that means I
have to reinstall the prop shaft,

exhaust and all the various
mounts, braces and crossbars.

A job that would cost at least
two grand with a mechanic

is fixed with a bit of elbow
grease and a $12 tube of sealant.

That's less than ten quid.

You'll probably spend more on lunch today.

To be fair to Mike, he got me a
really clean car on the outside.

When I finish this job, it's going
to be really clean on the underside.

I must get my head around
getting it clean on the inside.

Mike's brought me an
amazing MazdaSpeed MX-5.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Getting hold of a
MazdaSpeed in this condition,

old boy's done all right.

There's still plenty to be done
to get it back to tip-top condition.

Wow. That has lost a lot of oil.

Right, well, there's the leak.

I've managed to fix the gearbox leak
but now it's time to work on the inside.

And by inside, I actually
mean inside the engine bay

because one other thing that
Mike was complaining about

was the noise created
by the blow-off valve.

It's tough out there. What's happened?

Trying to find parts. It's really hard.

I got that. Look.

I want it out of here, don't you?

Yeah, it's the internal trim panel
for the inside of the windscreen.

Do you know how hard that was to find?

Well, I imagine it would be quite easy.

No, it wasn't, and then I'll get you this.

Mike, this is the biggest-selling
roadster of all time.

Getting parts for an
MX-5's relatively simple.

It's tough. Tracking down all
these parts isn't a walk in the park.

You know, I'm not in the
air-conditioned workshop.

Are you telling me they're getting parts

for the world's most produced
roadster ever as difficult?

Yes.

Right, lovely. OK, well, let me
just give you a bit of perspective.

because, ultimately,
I've been fixing the Ollie.

Have you? Simple job.

You know to fix the Ollie, you
have to take the gearbox out.

You know to take the gearbox out,

I have to take all the strut
bars off the monocoque,

drop the power plant
frame, take the prop shaft out,

the front section of the exhaust,
the rear section of the exhaust.

While it was out, I gave it a nice good
clean-up, put it on the bench, blew it apart,

sorted out the RTV to get
it sealed so it's now oiltight.

Then, before putting it back in, I fitted
your lightning flywheel and a new clutch

and then I lifted it back in
and, of course, everything that

I took off the car, I had to
go back where it came from.

Where are the wheels?

Good point.

Mazda speed wheels are difficult to find.

There's not a Mazda
speed shop on every corner.

There's not a tree growing
Mazda speed wheels.

So I'm going to have to get
back out there on the front line,

sweating, doing the tough stuff.

That's what I've got to do.

So, trust me, here's your
bits that I've got for you so far.

I'm now going to get
back out there in the

trenches and find you
those wheels, all right?

Love you.

Love you too.

Right, well, I mean,
the part that Mike was

originally moaning about
was this blow-off valve.

Now, a blow-off valve's needed

because when the driver
takes their foot off the throttle,

yes, the engine powers down,
but the turbo's still spinning

and with the throttle body closed, it
actually seals pressure within this system

and it's that build-up of
pressure that can cause damage.

The blow-off valve opens up, releasing that
pressure down this pipe into the intake.

Somebody's removed the
factory-fitted Mazda blow-off

valve and they've fitted
this aftermarket one.

Now, yes, this aftermarket
one's more reliable,

but the side effect of
that reliability is it's louder.

There are people out there
that want that loud, whooshing

blow-off valve sound, but
Mike and I are in agreement.

We don't.

We want that kind of humbler,
quieter, smoother Mazda.

That's the Mazda that
people are going to buy.

But I'm not going to throw this one away.

The factory blow-off valve in the
Mazda has a reputation for breaking.

This one, this aftermarket
one's way more robust.

The trick is, I just
need to make it quieter.

And to do that, I'm going to apply a
principle that's used in an exhaust sil*ncer.

It's always best to work with cardboard
first before committing to metal.

I can work out what I need in a template

and then translate the
cardboard template into aluminium.

Now, if you make a mistake,

you can just add a bit on with some tape.

Now, this might look like
some sort of strange, bizarre,

and rather ambitious shape,
and that's because it is.

See, the point I'm trying to
do is use every single available

millimetre of space that's
underneath my Mazda bonnet.

and then take it from
cardboard and make it aluminium.

Once I know the shape fits,

I need to start building it
into a three-dimensional box.

There's actually a surprising
amount of space in here,

so I'll be able to have
a bit of a sil*ncer.

tucked up underneath the valve.

I don't want it to just be an empty box,

so I'm going to weld
in a series of baffles,

kind of like a maze for
the horrible blow-off sound.

See, the thing about sound is it
travels through the air as energy.

So when sound hits
something, yes, it bounces off,

but ultimately whatever
it hits absorbs some

of that energy, and
when you boil it down,

sound is just vibrations in the air.

So when it hits these baffles,
those vibrations are absorbed.

It makes the sound quieter.

So what I've done is I've
managed to make this.

so it sits within the hole.

I'm going to have a pipe here.

The sound is going to enter this,

take a little path through
my maze of baffles.

Each time it hits a baffle, it's
going to absorb some of that energy.

It's going to reduce
bit by bit by bit by bit

till it exits here, down
there, even quieter.

Now, I've got hold of this.

It's a 90-degree bend in
three-quarter-inch aluminium.

I'm going to cut this,

and this is going to act
as my inlet and my outlet.

Now, I've just hit it with an orbital
sander to get rid of all the welds.

What I'm after is that
kind of clean factory finish,

and then eventually I'm
going to get this powder-coated

in the same textured red so
it matches the rocker cover,

and that way it'll look like Mazda did it.

Once the sil*ncer is in place,

I replumb the intake hose,

then remount the blow-off valve.

It's such a snug fit that I
can use the existing bolt

in the core support to
hold the sil*ncer in place.

You know what?

It kind of looks a bit like Texas.

It has been an absolute joy working on this
Mazda, and I've got to hand it to Mike.

He went and got a really good car.

So, in return, I'm going to
spend a bit of time detailing

and making sure I hand
it over to him perfect.

But one thing I have
noticed is the previous

owner has put these
awful lens surrounds on.

Bad decision.

So, although I haven't
talked to Mike about it,

in my opinion, it's better to ask
forgiveness than it is to seek permission.

So, these...

..are going.

And I must chase him for those wheels.

Now, today, I'm on the hunt for a set of
wheels for our Mazda MX-5 MazdaSpeed,

and they're very, very difficult to find.

So, what I need is a good
set of MazdaSpeed wheels

because the ones that
are on it, they're not bad.

They're sort of aftermarket tacky
ones, but I want the proper set on the car

because it'll really
help me come sale time.

See, the problem is
they were made in a

limited run by a company
called Racing Hearts.

I've looked out there online.

There are a few sets out there,
but they're really expensive.

So, I thought, you know what?

I'm going to grab the ball by the horns

and I'm just going
to go out and see if I

can find a set, do a
bit of window shopping.

So, I thought outside
the box and I thought,

where do you go and get a
set of Mazda MX-5 wheels?

Well, you need to go
where there's going to be a

load of Mazda MX-5s, and
that would be a racetrack.

Or a car park, as we say in the UK.

What's your name? Alfred.

Alfred, nice to meet you. I'm Mike.

Alfred, nice little car.

I don't want to stop you having fun.

I'm actually looking for a set of wheels.

I need a set of wheels
for a Mazda Speed MX-5.

You wouldn't have a set, would you?

I don't, but you might want to
check with Brian, the instructor.

He takes his wheels off and puts on
racing wheels and so he might have some.

Really? Yeah.

Okay, and where's he then?
He's up in the paddock, is he?

He's up there, yes.

Lovely. Alfred, very nice to meet you.

And you.

Right, let's get up there.

Hello.

Which one of you is Brian?

I'm Brian.

That's you. Hello, sir. How are you?

I'm Mike.

Hi, Mike.

Nice to meet you, Brian.
Yeah, not bad at all.

Sorry to disturb your conversation, Brian.

No worries.

Which one of these cars is yours?
Is it this one?

Driving this Mazda Speed today.

Oh, you're driving that, okay.

That's a Mazda Speed as well, is it?

Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I like that.

That's very cool.

Well, listen, I am absolutely desperate

and I'm standing right next to a set

of very nice-looking Mazda Speed wheels.

because I've got one.

I've got a 2004 Mazda
Speed, nice kind, it's in red.

It's got an aftermarket
set of wheels in it.

They just don't do anything for the car

and I want to put the
original correct wheels

back on the car and
think it would really help it.

And I'm after a set of Mazda Speed wheels.

What are these? Are these your spares?

That's my street set.

So I've got the race set
on the car, race day is

ending, I'm going to put
the street set back on.

Would you take $600?

I bought cash for me today as well.

I can pay you. I can pay you today.

I couldn't do $600.

How about $900?

Make it $700 and we've got a deal.

$800 and I give you a run around the track.

I'll let you run.

Yeah, I'll have that deal.

That's fantastic.

It's light, it's flingable.

It's tunable.

You're loving this, aren't you?

It's so much fun.

You are loving this.

Somebody is telling you this is your job
today to just go out and take people for...

Toss the car around, have a good time.

Oh, brilliant.

I don't know, I think my stomach's
happy that we've landed after all.

That was absolutely fantastic.

I really appreciate that.

It was really good.

You're an amazing driver and having
these experiences made me realise

just how much I'm going
to enjoy my massive speed

once I get behind the wheel of my own one.

So you want to go again?

Yes, please, I wouldn't mind.

Now this looks really good
and it's going to look even

better when it's painted
to match the rocker cover

but unfortunately at the
moment it is only half a job.

You see, the sound that Mike
was moaning about is created

by the valve but the sound
that he's actually hearing,

it comes from here, the air filter.

See, that's the thing about sound waves,

they travel and they travel
within the space that they're given,

whether it's a seashell
or an orchestra hall

and so far all I've done is I've
changed the sound wave's journey.

I've put them through
this maze in this increased

capacity box but unfortunately
they still need to exit

and it exits here at the air filter

and at the moment the air filter's.

directly facing the driver, it's
acting as a kind of loud speaker.

So if I relocate the air
filter from here to say here,

well that's going to
make a sound difference.

Now this aftermarket induction
kit is actually quite good,

it definitely improves
performance and it's got

way better flow than the
one fitted by the factory.

In fact, as soon as Mike opened up the
bonnet and I saw it, I thought to myself,

wow, someone spent some cash here,

I'm definitely going to keep it but I'm
also definitely going to make some changes.

Now I am going to keep this,

this is the mass airflow sensor,

so this is essential to the
effective running of the engine

but instead of going via that elbow here,

I'm going to throw that away,

I'm going to put the filter.

directly onto the MAF like so.

and then join this.

straight on here and you'll see
straight away it's relocated the air filter

from somewhere around
here to further away down there,

away from rather moany Mike.

Step two of my plan is to
create a shield for the air filter.

However, this one won't need baffles,

just a container to direct the noise.

With the science behind
sound waves in mind,

you can actually see
how it's going to work.

The fact that the shield has a lid and
three sides means the sound waves

can't go anywhere near
the c*ck, they're going to

have to go forwards towards
and out the edge of the car.

Now I've placed the solenoid

and the ECU on the back of my
shield so I have good access to it

and then I'm going to run the ECU wire.

through the bulkhead.

and inside the car.

Now the good news is I
don't have to drill the bulkhead.

because there's plenty of holes

that already exist.

and they have grommets.

And the reason I'm pushing it inside
is because this lovely little unit here,

this goes within the safety of the c*ck.

Now a lot of people,

they like to put the control
unit on display on the dash,

but Mike and I are agreed,

we want a more humble, subtle car.

So I'm actually going to
hide it in the glove box.

And then I probably.

want to mount it there.

See it's really cool, it's now
within reach of the driver.

Even the passenger can have a play.

I think it's fair to say

I've made my position pretty clear.

I just don't like these.

And don't get me
wrong, I like the gauges.

I like the fact it's a boost Gauge.

I just don't like the fact
it's fitted there onto a panel.

It looks like an afterthought.

Now when you think
about early classic cars,

you think about how simple they were,
they gave the driver limited information.

Just the essentials like speed,

oil pressure, water temperature.

And as the industry has evolved,

modern cars seem to give the driver
tons of information like the tyre pressure,

the temperature of the air outside,
even what to have for breakfast.

There's a kind of charm and
simplicity that seems to be lost.

But I'm not going to lose this.

I'm just not going
to fit it right there.

See this is a Mazda Speed.

It's the only MX-5
that's fitted with a turbo.

We have to have a boost Gauge.

Now Mike's come up with an idea of
placing the Gauge inside this vent here,

which in fairness seems
like a bit of a compromise.

But it's a compromise
I'm willing to make.

Bank card.

Behind the side here.

There we go.

That was quite easy.

And that comes out.

Take this off like so.

Got it.

This isn't a case of fitting a
round peg into a square hole.

because it just so happens
if I reassemble that with the

little bezel, the Gauge
actually fits perfectly in it.

I'm not going to fit
that just yet because.

I need to do some plumbing.

The A-pillar trim is
fairly easy to remove,

but I do need to be careful when unhooking
it from underneath the windscreen trim.

For my next trick,

I need to get the wiring
run through that vent.

I stick a bit of welding wire through
the hole until it appears under the dash.

I then pull out the boost
Gauge wires and use a bit

of electrical tape to attach
them to the welding wire.

I can then drag it all
back through the vent.

Success.

Now this little white

capillary pipe here, this takes
a feed from the inlet manifold.

It's a direct feed as well.

Whatever pressure is in the inlet
or in the turbo exists within this pipe.

So when I rejoin it to
my fittings on the Gauge,

it gives an accurate reading.

Look at that.

I think it's meant to be there.

And if I just check,

woo!

See, that's the difference.

It actually looks like it
was supposed to be there.

Yeah, we've sacrificed a vent.

We've got a boost
Gauge in a turbo car.

And to Mike, that's valuable.

There's no doubt that the
2004 Mazda Speed MX-5

is an absolute
beast on the road.

Whoa!

But it was never going
to reach its full potential.

without some heavy lifting.

It's got a leak.

Thanks to Anne, this car is no
longer an as*ault on the ears.

or the eyes.

They're going.

While I managed to track
down the correct wheels,

it was exhausting.

We spent $6,500 on the car.

Clutch and flywheel, 764.

Boost controller, 416.

90-degree tubing, 61.

A pillar cover, 43.

Stock Mazda Speed wheels, 800.

Powder coating, 285.

For a grand total of $8,869.

That's 6,820 pounds.

All done in 22 man-hours.

So what's better than this?

Me and you on the
Pacific Coast Highway,

roof off, join our lovely
little Mazda Speed.

John, I'm actually a
little bit unimpressed.

I mean, don't get me
wrong, this is beautiful,

but I thought you'd want
to take this car a little

bit, you know, somewhere
a bit more ambitious.

Well, I'm going to be honest with
you, I'm a little bit unimpressed as well.

Well, well, you mean you're
disappointed with the car?

It just feels like, you know,

the little Mazda Speed
that I dropped off to you.

You're winding
me up, aren't you?

No, not really.

Why?

Okay, have you not noticed the little boost
Gauge that's maybe slightly nicely lit?

I've noticed that.

It's really nice.

That boost Gauge is
really nice because it

used to be up here and
it was really annoying.

Do you remember this?

Oh, yes.

I've got that little boost thing
that you can adjust the boost.

That's why you've
hidden it in the glove box.

Well, it's currently
in low boost.

Yes.

So it's about seven
and a half PSI.

So let me just press that.

Yeah.

That's called high boost.

Now try it.

That's more like it!

Alright.

Okay, I'll take it all back.

Do you like roller coasters?

Yeah, why?

Because I'm about to take
you on a roller coaster ride.

Oh, my God.

That is fast.

Oh, that is quick.

He's not on the track.

Track or road.

He's on the road.

It is a road.

It's not a track.

Oh, my gosh.

Do you know what?

It is epic, isn't it?

That is really good.

What have you done?

What have you done to this car?

Come on, sunshine.

Let's take it all in.

You've been a little bit quiet.

on the remainder of this show.

Are you feeling all right?

Yeah, I'm feeling a
bit queasy, actually.

Not surprised.

Not surprised the way
this car gets down the road.

And I got to tell you,

nice touches, Ant.

What happened to
the rear light covers?

Yeah, I spent a
lot of time on those.

Getting rid of them, they're now filed
in the kind of the box of chavvy crap.

Yes, I'm surprised.

What do you think of the wheels?

I really like them.

Good.

Oh, Ant,

you have smashed that.

I don't know what I'm looking at here.

It looks fantastic.

Tell me, what on earth is that?

Think of it as a sound barrier
because if you remember,

there was quite a lot
of noise in the c*ck.

because the air filter there
used to aim towards the driver.

No good.

So I relocated it,

aimed it so the sound
travelled outside the

car, then put this
shield on the front, rear,

and inner side so that
deflects all those sound waves.

And where'd you get this from?

Is this like a Mazda part?

No, no, I made that.

You made that?

Yeah, this is like a bespoke...
Inside here, inside that cavity,

think of it as a kind of a labyrinth.

It allows the...

You know, it's like a muffler for sound.

So it's like an exhaust
system for the boost?

Yeah.

All right, please,

try not to make me sick.

Make sure your arms are
inside the car at all times.

Check your seat belts
nice and tight because, son,

we're about to go...

Whoa!

An experience!

Okay.

This car, for what it is!

I knew I could make you choke.

It's not the choking
that worries me, it's

the fear of going off
the edge of the cliff.

Don't worry,

you've got me behind the...
Oh, look, there's a sign that says,

be prepared to stop.

And, dare I say,

if you pardon the
pun, a roller coaster.

Oh, look at the... Jesus.

Got it.

Give me a minute.

Come on!

Look at the way it just.

leaps out of the corner.

What a car.

Oh, my God!

What a car.

That is just brilliant.

Let's go through it.

Convertible.

Yeah.

Rear wheel drive.

Front engines.

Yeah.

Manual.

Two-seater.

Yes.

Sports car.

It's everything, yes.

Great at selling
sports car of all time.

Absolutely.

And it's great value.

Yes, it really is.

It's not big money, is it?

No, there is not a
box it doesn't tick.

It's really good.

Do you know, this is the best.

engineered British sports
car there's ever been.

A genuine tear in my eye.

I'm really sad to see
the back of this little

Mazda MX-5 because
it's been such a thrill

to have through the workshop.

It drives so nicely.

Now, I've advertised it
out there in the wider world.

The first person to turn up is
this lovely young lady behind me.

She's called Liz.

So, Liz.

Yeah.

We've had the drive.

You like that?

It looks great.

Drives great.

Yeah, great.

I'm very interested.

Well, actually it's a surprise

for my son's birthday.

He's turning 18 and I
want to give him a car.

What?

You're going to buy your son

this car for his 18th birthday?

Yeah, my son Alex.

Well, I'm going to tell you, Liz.

This is a very rare
sought after car.

It's from an era when
they only made a few of

these turbo-driven MX-5s
or as you say in America,

Miata.

And they only made a few of them which means
your son will be a very lucky young man.

Yeah, I would really,

really be interested.

in trying to work it out.

Okay.

Yep.

Okay, good.

Well, he sounds like a
lucky young man because

Mum is going to have
to get out of her purse

at least $10,000.

Wow.

Can we work maybe a little deal?

$9,000?

You just want to round it
down a whole thousand dollars.

We can't do it for $9,000

but because you said it's
for your son's 18th birthday,

from the Wheeler-Dealer family to
your son Alex, you say his name is?

Alex.

To Alex,

I'll make a special discount
for you, a one-off price.

I'll let you have it for $9,500
and a bit of a birthday present.

What did you say?

Oh, that's so great.

Yes, we have a deal.

Just bought yourself

a Mazda Speed MX-5.

Well done.

Thank you so much.

Lucky man.

So $9,500 for our little MX-5.

I'm really delighted with that.

That translates into 7,500 pounds.

And young Alex,

well, he's got himself a
cracking birthday present.

I can just see him
now with the roof off,

driving down the
road with his friends.

Actually, he's made me a little
bit jealous, to be honest with you.

Anyway, if you want to
see more cars like this,

being turned around
by me and Ant,

and making somebody's
dream come true,

then join us again
on Wheeler-Dealers.

Tala!