03x09 & 03x10 - Mazda MX-5 NA (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler Dealers, the
show with a passion for modern classics.

We're on a mission to save
cult cars from the crusher.

This time I'm on the trail of a
car whose roots are in the 60s.

It was launched in the 80s
and it's still in production today.

Yes, you've guessed
it, it's the Mazda MX-5.

Ideas like the pop-up
lights were borrowed from

the much-loved Lotus
Elan from the swinging 60s.

The short, sweet styling was a great
antidote to the 80s excess of other cars.

The MX-5 was an overnight sensation.

Simple, straightforward
mechanics and well-sorted

handling made this
car both fun and reliable.

Now, there ain't many cars
you can say that about that's

got two seats, a ragtop
and an affordable price tag.

These are the boffins responsible for
one of the world's best-loved ragtops.

Hard to believe, but they created
one of the decade's top posemobiles.

In 1989, all you needed was eight grand.

That's 15 grand in today's money and
you could enjoy your place in the sun.

The fingerless mitts and the flyaway
hair were, of course, optional extras.

Mazda have sold over 700,000 MX-5s,
so there's plenty available secondhand.

It's our mission on
Wheeler Dealers to buy and

restore a car for no
more than three grand.

And then I've got to sell it on
for a profit. Let the search begin.

Right, looking for an
MX-5 is, frankly, easy.

They're everywhere. They're on
garage forecourts, in the classy

fires or even marked up
outside people's houses for sale.

The problem is, is finding
one at the right price.

They seem to bottom out around £2,000.

Remember, I've got a limited budget and I
want to save some money so we can do it up.

The only thing I can do is
flick through the bargain section

of the weekly trade magazines
and see what I can find.

As suspected, there are pages and
pages of MX-5s in this magazine to sell.

And finding the right one at the
right price has been kind of difficult.

But there is one that
leaps out the pages to me.

Just listen to this. Little blue
one, 1990 on a G, MX-5 UK model.

It's not the UNOS Roadster,
the import from Japan.

It's got everything going for it,
but just listen to the price. 1750.

Now, that seems too good to be true.
I think I should give it a ring.

Hello, yeah, I'm ringing about the MX-5.

I'm looking for a convertible in
deepest, darkest winter, which

is perfect because that's when
they're at their least appealing.

Come spring, sellers can add a few
hundred pounds on the price of any rag top.

But on a cold day in February, you've
got a good chance of doing a deal.

Well, spot on. She says it's a perfect
little car. It's got a rip in the roof.

It's got a little bit of
rust around it. Needs a

little bit of work, but
it drives like a dream.

Well worth a look, and I'm going
to see it tomorrow. I'm excited.

You must be Robin.

I am.

How are you, Mike?

All right.

Thank you very much for taking
the time out to show me the car.

Straight away, rust.

Yeah.

Quite a lot of it, actually.

I've never seen one go rusty here, to
be honest with you. That's quite unusual.

And look at this, the roof as well.
So why are you getting rid of it?

It's just starting to cost me too
much money with the insurance,

tax, NM18, all the work that
needs to be done to it, really, so...

It smells. It smells musky. Is it leaking?

It probably is, yes, from sort of
the window and where it's damaged.

Okay. Round the back.
Oh, looks nice and straight.

Wow, what's happened to the roof?

That's where someone tried to get into it.

And why is the window held up with tape?

That's the glass slipping.

Oh, so that's the cure?

Yes.

The glass is slipping. Forget the
mechanic, just put some tape on it.

Yeah.

The lights pop up okay?

Yeah.

It goes all right?

Yeah, it's a lovely little runner.

Okay, good. Well, that's
the next thing I need to do,

really, is just to give it
a drive, if that's okay.

Okay, yeah, that's fine.

It'll take me about 20
minutes for a test drive.

Keys?

Thank you very much.

Okay.

See you in about 20.

Little roundabout.

That's what it's all about.

The throttle, the open
road, wind in your hair,

bugs in your teeth,
freezing cold, but who cares?

Because I'm having fun.

Lovely bit of oversteer, very controllable.

The gearbox, wow, it's so precise.

It's like a Winchester r*fle,
the way it just selects the gears.

It's so precise, weights
up feasibly on the steering.

And if you think these are
not sports cars, listen to this.

Oh, yes.

Let's make no bones about it.

I am a huge fan of Mazda MX-5s.

Now, I know there's a few
problems with this car, but

they're all niggly little things
that are easily repairable.

Ed can do them, I'm sure, in an afternoon.

One of the main
things I'd really like to

do is do something
about this drab interior.

We need to repaint around a windscreen.

If we can get this car sorted,
we're going to end up with a cr*cker.

Roll on the summer.

Can't wait to get the old bins
on and get down the seaside.

Wow.

I can't fault the way it drives, Robin.
It drives fantastically. You're dead right.

There are those few problems with
the rust and the interior needs tidying up.

I've definitely got to do
something with the interior.

So, with all that in mind, I
was going to make you an offer.

I know it's very cheap
anyway at £1,750,

but I was going to
start off at £1,500 cash.

No, absolutely not.

You're hard, you, aren't you?

Someone will come along and pay me for it.
As you say, it's a nice little motor.

Do you know what? I think you're right and
I don't want to miss it for that reason.

So, £1,550?

No.

£1,600 cash.

£1,600?

Yeah.

I'll bet you're end.

I think I bought a very cheap car.
Thank you very much.

You're welcome. Cheers.

So, a sports car for shopping
trolley money. What a result.

I'm convinced we got
a bargain, but will my

long-suffering mechanic,
Ed, be mad for the Mazda?

Ed.

Hello, sir. How are you?

You all right?

Yeah, not bad at all, but you can't wait.

Get your glasses on, get your shorts on.

Winding your hair experience.

You've done it again, man.

This is the worst MX-5 I've ever seen.

Don't you dare worst MX-5.

This is so rusty.

That is no problem.

It's one panel, goes round a windscreen.

It's going to be easy to point.

I've got to take the screen out.

I've got to take the wing off.

I mean, it's a pain.

You haven't got to take
the wing off to get to there.

You must get off.

It goes all the way down there.

You can see the rust just
ebbing down the bottom.

But it's only got a few bolts.

You can have bolts now.

I've heard that before, man.

It's morning's work for you, Ed.

Nothing more.

The roof, look at this.

It's in tatters.

There's a whole bits of tape
holding it all over the place.

Ed, have you ever heard
of re-skinning a roof?

You can buy these covers for these roofs.

I don't know how much
money they are, but I'll find

a cover for this and you
can put a new one on it.

It'll look brand new.

It'll be fantastic.

All right.

Well, okay.

Well, to be honest with you,
it's a little bit dank in here.

It stinks.

It does smell, yeah.

That's because the roof's got holes in it.

It's leaking down onto the seats, onto the
carpets, and it's making that musky smell.

But don't worry about that, Ed.

Okay.

Because I know it's dismal and it's
dark in here, but we can brighten it up.

And once you get the roof off,

it makes a whole heap of difference.

And once we put some
tricky bits up on the dashboard,

it's going to look fantastic.

Gear sticks are going to have to go.

Yeah, gear sticks got to go.

And we've got to do something
with the smell, obviously.

Whether we rip the interior
out, change the seat covers,

or just scrub them up.

I'll have to leave that one to you.

I'll see how I feel.

Yeah, okay.

Cool though, innit?

Yeah, it'll do.

It'll do.

Ariel's missing.

I know it's missing.

I was thinking we'd go for one of them coat
angle ones, but I know you'll replace it.

But look how clean it is.

No, it's good.

It's absolutely spotless at the back.

I was also thinking about,

although these cars drive fantastically,

and this one particularly
drives really well,

she asked maybe sorting
out the way it handles,

because I'm going to get
some torsion bars, front and rear,

stiffen up the suspension,

make it handle that little bit better.

No, that's cool.

It'll make it easier for me to sell.

Yeah, no, that's good.

You like it, don't you?

That's all right.

I mean, the wheels could be
sported up a bit as well, I reckon.

Well, you could either clean
the wheels up, or if there

is enough money in the
budget, I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll treat you to a
different set of alloys.

I like it.

I think you really will
look like a hairdresser.

Right, fella.

Get it repaired.

Get it fixed.

Thank you, sir.

Enjoy it.

See you later.

I will do.

Driving this Mazda back to the
workshop was a bit of a mixed experience.

It handles fantastically, but the inside
of the car stinks like a fisherman's sock.

Now, that's mainly because the roof leaks

and all that water is
dropping into the interior,

making it damp, and
it's now festering horribly.

So my first job is to take off the roof,

remove the interior so
it can all be replaced.

If you've got a socket set and a
screwdriver, then you'll be fine.

Just remember to keep all
the nuts and bolts together,

otherwise you may be in deep
trouble when they go back on.

Now, I've got a bit of work to do still.

I've got to undo a whole load of
screws on the back of the roof here,

but to get at them, I have to put
the roof up, so I'll see you later.

Now, that really is topless motoring.

Now, it's a real shame that you guys at home
can't smell how rancid this interior is.

Basically, all the water from the
roof has been running onto the carpet.

It's been sitting there, mildew's growing,

mold is growing.

It is disgusting.

Now, the only way to get rid of this

is actually to take the carpets
out and throw them away.

But to get at them, I
have to take out the seats.

Now, they're held on with some runners,

and they're held on in turn by
two bolts at the back and two

bolts at the front, so that is
what I'm going to start with.

These seats not only smell past
it, they actually look past it, too,

so I'm going to have to replace
it with the whole of the interior.

Now, ordinarily, that would
be quite an expensive thing.

Because there are thousands
of these things out there,

chances are we should be able to
get something from a salvage yard.

In the meantime, this is for the bin.

As with any well-made car,
the carpets aren't just chucked in.

They're actually held down
by some special plastic parts.

Now, the three main components
to this are the center console,

and you have two sill-top
covers on either side.

I've got to be very careful when
I'm removing these because

if I break them, of course,
I can't put them back in.

Now, with the last screw undone,
I'm not just going to wrench this off

because, of course, there's some
cables for the electric windows to remove.

So I'll just ease it out carefully.

and then pull off these connections here.

And there we have it, one center console.

Well, goodbye mildew, goodbye mold.

With the carpets out,
I'm pretty chuffed because

the floor pan and internal
panels are all rust-free.

It seems that the water
was only surface-deep.

The seats in the carpet are now history,

which means I can get to
work on the rusty A-pillar.

Now, the thing is, that
rust can be quite extensive.

So to make sure everything's
going to be okay, I need

to remove the front wings
and also the windscreen.

Now, it's a bonded windscreen,
which means it's stuck in with

a special glue which needs
specialist equipment to remove.

So I've enlisted the help of a professional
to make my life a little bit easier.

The mobile windscreen removal man, Martin,

charged me just £75
for this, but I'll have

to pay him £75 to
put it back in as well.

Worth remembering for the budget.

Well, now the windscreen's off, I
can actually get on with the wings.

And this may seem rather a strange
thing to do, to actually pop up the lights,

but I need to get access to all
the bolts that hold the wings on.

So now I can start.

I guess I'm lucky because
these wings are bolted,

not welded to the frame.

Even so, it's a fiddly job and
you need to take off the wheels

and inner plastic wings to get
decent access to all the nuts and bolts.

And there we have it, one wing.

Now, I didn't think it was going to
be too hard, but it did take a while

because I had a lot of
bolts and screws to undo.

But now I've done all this
side, I get to do the other side.

With the wings off the car, I can now
see the full extent of this rust damage.

And the really good news is
that under the wings, it's all okay.

And also, on the passenger
side, it's also pretty good.

The real horrible rot is
down here on the A pillar

of the driver's side and
also under the scuffle.

Now, to be able to get at that,
I need to take the bonnet off.

So just when I
thought I'd got rid of the

socket set, I'm going
to need to use it again.

I'm going to repair this
rust in two different ways.

For the lighter rot just down here,

I'm actually going to grind
it down with a wire brush

and then paint over with
a special rust treatment

which converts the
rust into a firm material

I can put some filler
on and then paint it.

For this really, really
rather serious rot here,

where it's actually eaten
away the whole of the A

pillar, I'm going to have
to put in some new metal,

weld it in place, a bit of
filler, and then some paint.

And hopefully, everything will be sorted.

Now, of course, I'm going to use a grinder.

So first of all, goggles
and earmuffs as usual.

Now, this is a bit of metal
I've just cut from the car,

and you can see it's very rusty
and well worth removing from the car.

I need to replace that with some steel.

Here we are.

And of course, you can see
quite clearly they're different sizes.

So what I need to do is make a template.

The best way to make a template

is to trim down a bit of card.

It's easier to sort out the
problems on paper than in steel.

Form the card around the A pillar

until you're 100% sure that
it's the right size and shape.

Then lay the template on the steel and
Mark around it with a heavy pencil line.

All I have to do now is
cut out the metal itself,

put the bends in, and then pop it
into place and weld it into position.

Now, that sounded really easy, didn't it?

Well, the truth is this kind of work
requires a lot of skill and experience,

but the only way you're ever going
to get that is by giving it a go yourself.

My tip is to practice on
something throwaway

before you start having
a go at your prize Bentley.

You'll need a decent vice,
strong clamps, and a piece

of heavy iron to help
manipulate the softer steel.

Well, that looks pretty good now.

So the next job is welding,

and it may distort just a little bit,

so any sort of discrepancies I can
normally tap back into shape with a hammer.

Now, you can see I've got
some clamps holding this in place,

but it's only just so I get
the first couple of tacks in.

But while I'm talking about tacking, it
makes sense to do this very, very slowly.

Put too much heat into the panel, and it'll
distort, and then it'll look all ripply,

and there'll be even more
filler I have to put in later on.

I'm just welding the metal into place.

Don't worry about being too neat here,
as you can always grind away the waste.

Well, that's some pretty
good distortion-free welding,

so all I have to do now is
smooth it off with a grinder.

With all of the welding ground
down, I'm now at the stage

where I can smooth out
these lumps and bumps

with a smear of filler.

But before I can do that,
I need to treat this rust.

And I have this magical liquid here, which
completely chemically transforms the rust

and stops it dead.

It takes about three hours to dry,

so all I have to do is paint it on.

There you go.

After three hours, there's no more rust.

But my next concern is this
shiny paint here is gonna stop the

filler from adhering, so I have
to prepare it by sanding it down.

Filler-wise, use a golf ball of
paste to a pea-size of hardener.

Mix them up well until the filler is one
blended color, and then spread thinly.

It's been about a quarter of an
hour, and the filler's hard now,

so I can now go over it with a sanding
pad and actually get it all nice and flat.

I'm happy that all the
repair work's done here,

but I'm gonna have
to paint this with a bit

of primer before I can
go over the top coat.

But I am actually gonna paint the whole
of the windscreen frame with the blue paint

because it'd be very
difficult to try and feather it in.

So before I can do any of that,

I need to sort of rough up
the surface, give it a key,

with effectively a scouring pad.

Now, as always, a good paint finish
is determined by all the preparation,

so I'm gonna wipe
the panels with a bit of

pre-paint to get rid of
any grime, dirt, and grease.

I've covered all the repaired areas with
primer, and now I'm gonna flat this off,

basically smooth it out, with some 800
wet and dry paper and a dab of water.

And that way, it'll be
lovely for my top coat.

Now, this is an aerosol
can of our top coat.

I got the code from the car.

It was DU, which apparently
transfers to mariner blue.

So let's see what happens.

Now, to be fair, this has
been quite a laborious process,

and when you think all I've been doing
is repairing the rust on these A-pillars,

but when you look at the finished
job, it is almost immaculate.

And once I've actually cleaned all
the panels and polished them all up

and got all the colors back together,
it's gonna be nearly good as new.

Remember our smelly old black interior?

Well, here's our fragrant new one.

Well, new to us anyway.

Now, that is our whole load
fresher than that disgusting

interior I've already had
to rip out of the Mazda.

But as you can probably
tell, it's not brand new,

and that's because that
would send us way over budget.

But I did manage to find these.

in a specialist breaker's
yard, and I got a bargain.

This pair of seats, 120 pounds,

the front carpet, 20 quid,

and the rear carpet, 15.

So I've got a complete
interior for 155 quid.

The interior trim is going back in,

no trouble at all.

My meticulous storing of the
nuts and bolts has certainly paid off,

but it is still a sea of
black plastic in here.

Mike promised me he'd
drop into an MX-5 specialist

to see if there's anything he
can do to lift the tone a little.

So time to catch up with
our budget-blowing hero.

Oh, Val, this is fantastic.

You've got everything in here.

So where do we start?

Chrome on the interior.

What you want,

just some little bits to lift the interior.

Set of vent rings, door handle rings,

side demisters, and a
nice little bit for the middle.

Next, gear knob, handbrake
sleeve, genuine Mazda,

exactly what's fitted to the current model.

Great.

Anything else?

Door seals.

Where you open the door, nice seal plate.

Oh, I like that.

I mean, that's the type of thing
you find on a Bentley, isn't it?

What are these bits here?

Right, front grille, very important.

The front of the car,
that's where the radiator is.

All you've got at the
moment, a dirty, great hole.

Yeah.

So a front grille, absolutely vital.

Stop the stones going in.

Do you know what?

Even I could fit that.

That looks a doddle.

Yes, fantastic.

Do you? Expensive?

No, £59.

Have one. Yep, done.

That's a roof.

That's a roof.

Is it really?

Yeah, and that'll take
you four hours to fit.

No way.

Yeah.

No, it won't take me four hours to fit.

I'll be having a cup of tea.

It'll take Ed four hours to fit.

Well, lucky you.

I couldn't resist it.

I bought some other little bits,

a performance air filter, some strut
bases to stiffen up the suspension.

The vinyl roof is already in
the car and I've spent only £600

and I'm not worried about
that because that's money I'm

guaranteed to get back because
I know it's going to transform

our dowdy little rag top
into a very cool convertible.

Right, time to get to Ed's
and give him the stuff.

Ed.

Hello, sir.

Hello, mate. How are you?

I'm fine, are you all right?

Good to see you. Yeah, not bad at all.

I see you've been working quite hard.

Yeah, this looks nice. What's this?

This is your new roof, Ed.

Okay, it looks like a lot of work then.

It's not a lot of work.

It's just a stitch on the hood.

It's going to be easy on you.

It's a doddle.

Why was in this place getting a hood?

I got so excited.

They got rows and rows of all nice little
trinkety bits that you can put in the MX-5.

Look at them.

Oh, that's cool.

Kick plates for the door.

How nice are they?

And look at this.

It's the bling grill.

Okay.

So a really easy job.

I've got loads of other little bits for
you, but what have you been up to?

Well, as you can see, I've already taken
the roof off in preparation for this bit,

but just smell here.

It's fresh as a Daisy.

It is, actually.

Nice smelling.

It was musky before, wasn't it?

It was horrible.

It's because of all the water in there,
and there was lots of mold and things.

I just managed to get hold of some new
seats and new carpet from a breaker's yard.

Well, secondhand, but it's good as new.

Oh, fantastic.

They look like the old ones.

Well, they are exactly the same stuff.

It's just much better condition.

Well done.

Well done.

And the majority of work
has been on this A-pillar here.

Remember that little bit of rust you had?

Yeah, there was a tiny little Mark there.

Actually, it was a huge hole.

I had to take off the wing, the
bonnet, and the windscreen to get at it,

and I had to cut out a
big chunk of metal there

and then sort of reform a new piece of
metal, put it in, fill it up, paint the wood.

I'm really sorry, Ed.

Really sorry.

But it looked fantastic.

What a job.

It looks like you put
in a brand new A-pillar.

Well, I might have
swallowed that, actually.

It would have been a lot easier, I think.

It had a rusty A-pillar,

torn roof,

but it was undeniably storming to drive.

I knew we could turn this baby around.

So Ed has been getting
his hands well dirty.

First up, the hood needed replacing,

so that had to come off.

The old damp seats and
carpet went straight in the bin,

and newly new ones were fitted.

Then Ed treated the
nasty rust on the A-pillar,

but he had to remove the
wing before he could work on it.

Then, in a moment of true workshop magic,

he cut and welded on a replacement panel,

filled it, primed it, and finished it
off with a couple of coats of blue.

We've got a budget of 3,000 pounds

to buy and restore a car, and so
far, we've spent two and a half grand.

Ed's still got plenty of work to do to
our little MX-5 to get it ready for sale,

and while he's getting
on with it, I'm off to meet

a guy called Brian Adams,
who's got a mint MX-5,

and he's going to talk me through what they
like to live with on a day-to-day basis.

So, why an MX-5?

Mainly because of the 60s styling,

but with modern technology
and virtually faultless engine work.

This is really what I consider to be
the modern equivalent of a Lotus Elan.

And tell us about the driving experience.

What do you like about it so much?

Responsiveness is great.

Braking's good.

Turns into a corner.

You just need to play with it.

It wants you to play with it.

Well, Brian, this is a lovely place to be.

This Glen Eagles pack that
you've got in here with the

leather across the dashboard
and all this nice fake wood.

Plastic wood.

If you was going to buy one of these,

what is the thing to look
out for mechanically?

The normal sort of things, Mike.

It's just the rust factor,

although there's not a lot of it.

Just have a look around the
struts and that on the front.

But the main thing is the seals.

Also, there's two different engine flavors,

isn't there?



What do you think is the best?

This one's the 1.8, with the 1840.

I've been told that the 1600

is a smoother engine,
but I thought, well, 1840,

couple more brake horsepower.

So that's why I went for this.

Now, just saying, I've got a Dowdy
MX-5 and it's pretty bland inside.

What is the route to
take for aftermarket bits?

Are they freely available?

Absolutely.

There's chrome bits
and aftermarket exhaust.

There's aftermarket everything for these.

Right, now, your one
is obviously original and

you keep it original
and it's a very nice car.

I was going to ask you, though,

if you would let me have a little go.

Well, yeah, go on then.

Thank you very much.

Now, the MX-5 has always had a bit of a
reputation of being a bit of a girl's car,

but I think that
moniker is wrong for this

little motor because it
is a proper sports car.

It drives like a proper sports car and
I think it looks like a proper sports car.

Oh, yes!

Woo-hoo! Fantastic!

It's like a go-kart.

It's fun on wheels.

It weights up wonderfully on the steering.

Very, very, very dynamic.

Wicked little bit of kit.

Now, the difference between
Brian's car and our car is huge.

Brian's car is the Glen
Eagles Special Edition.

It's got everything that he
wants in his little sports car.

It's got the leather interior.

It's got some nice alloy wheels.

We've got none of that.

We've got a completely boggo
standard, as they come basic Mazda MX-5.

Once we sprinkle
some fairy dust over the

dashboard with some
nice little trinkety bits

and we change the
gear knob, change the

handbrake handle and
just liven up the interior,

we're going to end up with a car that
both me and Ed could be very proud of.

All Ed's got to do is
work hard and we'll end

up with a little motor
that's as good as this.

And I know that at the
end, we will have a queue of

people begging to buy
that little baby off of us.

Okay, playtime's over.

Let's see how Ed's
getting on in the workshop,

making our car go as good as this one.

This performance air
filter makes the car drive

better by increasing
the airflow to the engine.

As a stock system, what normally happens,

the air is cleaned by
going through this hole here,

down this tube, into
the bottom of the air box,

through a paper element filter
and then back into the airflow meter.

But what this does is
make all that redundant.

So what we do is get rid of all of
those bits and just bolt this into place.

So my first part of the job
is to take all these bits out.

It looks scary removing
this large plastic unit

from the engine bay,
but apart from a few bolts,

one electrical lead and
a hose is an easy job

that should give you a couple more
horsepower and a raughtier exhaust mode.

This is the component
I've just taken from the car.

I've also got the air intake pipe.

As you can see, how cumbersome

this air cleaning assembly
really is when it's on the car.

Right now, the air
goes in through this tube

all the way down here
and into the air box and then

it goes through the filter,
which I can now show you.

It's a paper element filter and you
can see that it's dirty on one side

and clean on the other and
that's of course how it's working.

So all the dirty air from the road,

sand and grit and stuff,

all the dirt gets stuck on this side,
the air flows through nice and clean

and of course goes straight to the engine.

So essentially these two
things do the same job,

which is why I'm going
to junk all this plastic stuff.

and in fact the only bit I'm going
to keep is the airflow meter here,

bolt these two together
and then that way of course

there's going to be
loads more air that's going

to get into here and
therefore into the engine.

Putting the new unit together isn't rocket
science and you don't need fancy tools.

The main filter just bolts to the airflow
meter with a cork gasket in between.

Well there we have it.

So all this stuff is for the
bin and this is for the car.

The new filter needs
protection from engine

heat so a metal shield
is included in the kit.

It looks good and bolts
straight onto the old mounts.

Another nice quick job.

Now because the air
box is no longer with us,

the airflow meter needs to
be supported by something

and handily in the kit
there are some little

brackets here which I'm
now affixing to the car.

This is the only tricky bit,

getting the old hose back on.

My little tip is to use washing up
liquid as a lubricant and there she goes.

In the kit comes some special oil.

It sounds a bit of a strange thing to do

but what it means is by
putting a surface of oil.

over all this foam,

any sort of grit and dirt actually
sticks even better to the filter

which means even cleaner
air goes into the engine.

One new air filter and definite performance
benefits for any potential buyer.

Well now our performance
air filter is fitted to

the car, let's see what
the engine sounds like.

Well that does sound a lot better actually,
a bit more racy, a bit more throaty

but I think the real benefit of that air
filter is going to be felt on the open road

and talking of which,
I'd better get on with

fitting those suspension
parts that Mike got me.

These are aftermarket suspension
struts and I've got one for the front

which goes in here,

one for the back which
goes back there somewhere.

It's actually quite simple.

In the chassis here there's kind
of a U shape, a gap where the

gearbox has to go and what
this does is it's like a metal bar

that just bolts in and kind
of holds all that together,

ties it together and that way

when you're driving
along and the suspension's

moving around you don't
sort of feel the wallowiness

of the chassis flexing, it just
keeps everything really, really taut

and the cool thing is that
they're actually mounting holes

already in the car for
these parts, it's great.

All you need is a socket set

and some lubricating
fluid if the screws don't go

in first time but I'm
having no problems at all.

Apparently you can do this
while the car's on the ground

I am so happy that I got my ramp
because it makes it so much easier.

Now that's looking pretty
secure so on with the back one.

Fitting the back brace is exactly
the same procedure and is a doddle.

It's great that such a straightforward job

will immediately improve
our MX-5's handling.

This car has been let down by its looks

and a lot of that is down to the wheels.

If you look here, they're too
small for the arches for a start

but also the aluminium's all corroded and
pitted they're just going to have to go.

These are our new rims and as you
can see they're white with five spoke

but what makes them
really special is the fact that

these are 15 inch whereas
the old ones were 14 inch

and that means these are
actually going to fit the wheel arches.

Mike found these rally
style rims on the Internet and

scored a real bargain only
£300 a set, including the tyres.

If you're going to fit new wheels and tyres

always redo the tracking
straight after to avoid uneven wear.

Mike has blown a fair chunk of our budget

on this shiny bling stuff
to freshen up the interior.

Now I can see what he's trying
to do but it really isn't my taste

and to be fair Mazda spent millions
of pounds developing this vehicle

and a lot of that money went
on the aesthetics of their design.

Now they didn't use chromey bits
round all these bezels so should we.

But Mike is in charge of the purse
strings and I do trust his judgement

I can only assume he's got a
specific kind of buyer in mind.

I just hope he's right.

Now for the final touches in the interior.

Jobs like these are great.

They're pretty easy and
make an immediate impact.

Some people go over the top
with aftermarket bits on the inside

but Mike has got me
fairly discreet steel trims

for the handbrake, gear
stick, air vents and doors.

Current sports cars
have trims like these fitted

as standard so I guess
people must like them.

It's actually quite a cool kit because
it comes with little alcohol wipes

because it's very important
that you clean the dashboard

before you actually try and
stick these little bits of chrome on.

Because they are just
stick on, it's so easy.

You don't even need adult supervision.

On they go. Fantastic.

And here is the finishing
touch to our bling interior.

It's a stainless steel kick plate with
MX-5 nice and proudly written on there.

It's very simple to fit.

Double sided sticky tape
just sticks it onto this surface

but of course this surface has
to be grease free and grit free

and there was no alcohol wipes in the
kit so I'm going to use a bit of pre-paint.

Well the good news with this grille
is that it comes with instructions.

The bad news is they're in German

so I'm going to follow the
pictures and see what happens.

Bolt on grilles for this and indeed
any other car are usually dead simple.

This time a few Phillips
screws hold the grille in place

and you don't even have
to drill into the bodywork.

Mike told me this would take seconds to fit

and this time I've got
to admit it, he was right.

Well that's our front grille done
and of course all that interior

bling is done too including
those lovely MX-5 kick plates.

And actually now everything's
in place it doesn't look

quite as cheesy as I
thought so all credit to Mike.

Now I've gone and saved the best till last.

This job is actually quite complicated.

I'm going to reskin the roof so
there are no leaks whatsoever.

I have my new roof and
of course I have the old roof

for which I'm going to
retain just the framework.

All this old material is going to go

but I've been told that
professionals who do this

day in and day out take
about three and a half hours.

I've got my work cut
out for me on this one.

The job is a challenge.

At least 20 rusty
fasteners to be prized off,

clasps to remove and rivets to
drill all without deforming the frame

because you still need
that to be in tip top condition.

When you've got all that off
the hood should just fall away.

I called a couple of franchise dealers

to see how much they'd
charge for a job like this.

The bill for labour only is around £200.

so it's worth tackling yourself if
you're brave or patient enough.

Well that's taken me an
age and that was the easy bit.

The new hood is tensioned
from the front and back

so I'm putting the middle on first.

A special trim hides the seam.

I'm using a light hammer to help get it on.

For the front lip the hood
relies on tension to work.

There's no way around using brute force.

Well this is a little tricky.

But I won't be beaten.

Well that's the roof done.

It was an absolute
nightmare but it's now finished.

All I have to do now
is attach it to the car

and I hope that's
going to be a lot easier.

And after many tedious
hours the hood is ready.

I'm looking forward to
seeing if it'll work on the car.

It should just go back onto
the old hinges and it does.

Well now this roof is
bolted down at either side

on the hinges the next work
is all the way on the back there.

So I have to actually put
the roof up and get inside.

After the graft I've put in to
get the hood onto the frame

doing up a few screws while crammed into
a hot dark space is a walk in the park.

All the bolts go straight
back in without a problem.

Perfect.

Oh man, refitting that roof was so tough

and it took me ages but it
was definitely worthwhile doing

because it's completely transformed
the look and the practicality of this car.

Just one more thing to go.

Now that's sorted.

And it is.

The Mazda MX-5 is finished
and it looks good enough to eat.

It's time for the beauty shots.

I saw this early MX-5


It drove well but the interior
stank and it looked tired.

I closed the deal at a bargain £1600.

Ed got to work right away.

The damp interior was ripped out completely

and salvaged carpets and seats improved the
look and the aroma of our cute sportster.

The rust near the A pillar
was worse than it looked.

The windscreen had to come
out, the wing had to come off.

A fiddly job in itself just
to be able to work on it.

After grinding away the rust,

an exact template of the
missing metal was created,

welded on, filled and
finally primed and painted.

Good job, Ed.

A sports air filter under the bonnet
and suspension strut braces under the car

improved the Mazda's power,
engine note and handling.

And new wheels, tyres and
classy add-ons for the interior

added that bit of sparkle that the
Mazda needed to turn it into a winner.

Finally, the old leaky hood was binned

and a brand new one
went over the old frame.

It wasn't an easy ride for old Ed

but every time he delivered.

The salvaged seats and carpets were £135.

The fee for getting a
windscreen in and out was £150.

The performance air filter was £65.

Wheels and tyres came to just £300.

Aftermarket interior and exterior trim
came in at £270 and the new hood was £195.

The car cost £1,600 so now it
owes me a shade over £2,700.

Ed. Hello, Mike. Are you all right?

I'm very well, mate.
How are you? All right, actually.

Wow. Look at that.
Looks awesome, Ed. Well done.

Check out your little grill on the front.

Oh, cracking. They said it'll
only take five minutes to fit.

It actually took me six.

Six? Not bad at all. Not too bad.

What do you think of the wheels?

Well, they're not really
my favourite to be fair.

I did prefer the old ones

and although these do fill the wheel
arches a lot better, I'll give you that.

Ed, come on, put your pipe and
slippers away. They're fantastic.

Before, this car was just ordinary.

Now it sticks out.

Compromotive alloy wheels in white.

It makes the car look more sporty.
It's what everyone wants.

And they're only £300 for the whole set.

It's filled up the wheel arches.

That was too good. Good value for money.

Good value for money.
I think it makes all the difference.

Fair enough. Well, check out
the bling in the interior there.

Now, I wasn't so sure about
this when we first put it in

cos it's a little bit chav but actually
it comes out really, really well.

I mean, obviously, you've
got all these lovely little

chrome bits and pieces
here and it looks really nice.

Ed, remember before, it was very
dark, very bland, very dismal inside.

But it has just lifted it up.
Was it hard to do?

Yeah, well, actually they're quite easy.
You just actually stick her on.

Are you kidding me?

Yeah, it just looks clean a bit off.

See, I do give you easy jobs.

You do indeed. And, of course,
got the handbrake and the

gear knob as well so they
look really rather super too.

I see you fit in here quite nicely.

I know.
I need a slightly bigger car for me.

You look ridiculous.

Kick plates are in the side.
You've got little trims on here.

Yeah, it's all there.

Knew into it. Had that horrible
smell before as well, didn't it?

Yeah, it smells quite fresh now.

It looks lovely. Cracking.

So, Ed, please tell
me, underneath this

tonneau cover, nice
touch, is a brand-new hood.

There is indeed a new hood.

You did manage to fit it.

I did, but it was a bit of a Jigsaw.

It did take a long time.

There's so many little
bits and pieces and stuff.

But once it's up, it looks really good.

Cool. Well, I don't want to keep it up.

I want to keep it down
because I'm getting ready

to take this car out onto
the open country roads.

But what's it going to drive like?

Well, it should be a lot better actually

because I've now also put
braces on the suspension at the

front and the back and
it's got a new sporty air filter

which should give it a
better sort of engine noise

and it should maybe
make it perform a better too.

Cracking. I can't wait for my summer blast.

Let me just prepare myself.

Okay. Very stylish.

Of course. Keys, please.

Absolutely. Enjoy.

Thank you very much.

Oh, yes.

Whoo-hoo! Fantastic!

This is what this car is all about.

The countryside around me, sunglasses on,

and a cracking little open-top sports car.

Whoo-hoo!

That young lady called Robin, it
was very doubting, very sorry for itself.

Rips all over the hood,
and it looked nasty and tatty.

It stunk inside.

But Ed has done that marvellous
transformation yet again.

h*-h*-h*!

The gearbox!

Wow! It's so precise.

It weights up beautifully on the steering.

Ed has really done it again, hasn't he?

He's pulled the rabbit out of the hat.

Now, it could be really
greedy and market this

car this time of year
with the sunshine out,

over £4,000.

But I'm actually going to ask mid to late
frees and I'll settle on the round 3.6.

And whoever buys it will get a
cracking car for cracking money.

I think there's only one
more thing left to say.

Whoo-hoo!

The sun was shining,

so I've done a full
advertising blitz for our

little Mazda MX-5 and
I had a lot of interest.

The young lady standing
behind me, she's called Angie.

She's already driven
the car and look at her.

She's perfect for it.

Let's see if I can get it sold.

So, Angie, what do you reckon of it then?

It's lovely.

The interior's cracking.
I love the interior.

I love all these bits.

All these little bits, they
just add to the interior

because it was really dowdy
before and we've just lifted it up.

And do the headlights work?

Yeah, if you press that button
there in the middle of the dashboard.

Whoo-hoo!

There you go. Pose factor.

Yeah, very nice.

Yeah, I do like it.

Cool, isn't it?

Very nice.

Underneath here is a
beautiful new hood on the car

because the old one was
ripped, it was torn, it was nasty,

it was horrible and I got
my mechanic Ed to change it

and we got the original
tonneau cover for it as well.

Just finishes it off.

Is it electric or is it manual?

No, it's just two clips
and it folds straight back.

It's really easy.

It's lovely, isn't it?

It's nice and tidy round the back.

Yep. Is this an import?

It's not an import.

No, this is a proper UK registered car.

And do you like these wheels?

I love the old wheels.

I do like the wheels but I think
they're going to be hard to keep clean.

They're not going to be hard to keep clean.

Once a week, bucket of water outside.

Well, you're going to be cleaning them.

I'm not going to clean them.

They're really easy to look after.

It just adds more dynamics to the car.

It makes it look lovely.

It's a beautiful little thing.

Yeah, it's nice and clean.

And what I do like is the grill.

Oh, you like the grill?

I'm glad you pointed that out.

Nice little touches.

That was my idea, that was.

Yeah, I do like this.

Really easy to do and
it is a good little touch.

Yeah, it is.

We've changed the air filter which
has changed the exhaust note.

It makes it sound that much better.

Yeah.

We also put some scrub braces across the
chassis and that stiffens it up and makes

it handle a lot better.

Oh.

So, Ange, I've advertised it for £3,800.

£3,800?

I think it's a bit too much.

Oh, everyone says that.

When they come to buy a
car off me, it's too much money.

Well, how about £3,600?

Cash.

Yeah.

Hold out your hand.

You've bought it.

Well done.

Thank you.

Well done.

Nearly £900 profit.

I feel mighty fine
about that and it's great

the MX-5 is back on
the road for the summer.

But I get the biggest kick knowing
that we took a rotter and made it regal.

Our glorious MX-5 is finally sold and I'm
really pleased it's gone to a good home.

Join us next time on
Wheel of Dealers when we

save another motoring
icon from the crusher.

See you soon.

Salah.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.