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Greetings fellow Tribute owners. I have finally taken the plunge, bought myself a very smart Mk2 MX5, complete with hardtop, and ordered the convertible kit from Chris. This will be very much a trip into the unknown for me. I've stripped an rebuilt motorbikes in the past but never anything on this scale.
I'll post some pictures of the base car over the next few days and hope you will bear with me as I ask some pretty dumb questions.
Greetings fellow Tribute owners. I have finally taken the plunge, bought myself a very smart Mk2 MX5, complete with hardtop, and ordered the convertible kit from Chris. This will be very much a trip into the unknown for me. I've stripped an rebuilt motorbikes in the past but never anything on this scale.
I'll post some pictures of the base car over the next few days and hope you will bear with me as I ask some pretty dumb questions.
Greetings fellow Tribute owners. I have finally taken the plunge, bought myself a very smart Mk2 MX5, complete with hardtop, and ordered the convertible kit from Chris. This will be very much a trip into the unknown for me. I've stripped an rebuilt motorbikes in the past but never anything on this scale.
I'll post some pictures of the base car over the next few days and hope you will bear with me as I ask some pretty dumb questions.
Trip to the local scrap yard also proved very fruitful. Set of headlights, Mondeo grill and some original 1960's Lucas rear lights off a rust bucket behind the office.
Getting there, need to remove the bonnet release cable and flare out the wheel arches, although I might wait until I've got the kit to make sure I bend it the right amount.
A few "top tips". If you have a load of crappy old tools inherited from parents and grandparents Halfords have a special deal on their professional tool kits and they're pretty good, with a life time warranty, when lying on your back trying to remove the back bumper make sure your dogs aren't about as it's difficult to undo bolts with a dog licking your face and the door mirrors unbolt from the outside (which I discovered after taking off the door card).
I have a feeling, with the hardtop, the MX250 might look a little like this so some rear wing vent mods to be done and searching around for some appropriate rear lights. Also decide to go for quarter light mirrors which look to be in keeping with the retro look.
Are you planning on removing the rear glass from the hard top, inserting a vertical panel inside, and then extending the rear roof line to be closer to the shape of the original? I think the solid band that goes around the base of the current rear screen would act as a solid base. It will look very neat if you do.
Although its none of my business, the MX5 hard top is quite distinctive and it will be recognisable if left untouched.
I'm going to see what it looks like with the standard hardtop but, as you say, it screams MX5. Not sure if my building skills extend to moding the roof at this stage but it is certainly worth thinking about for "stage 2"
Are you planning on removing the rear glass from the hard top, inserting a vertical panel inside, and then extending the rear roof line to be closer to the shape of the original? I think the solid band that goes around the base of the current rear screen would act as a solid base. It will look very neat if you do.
Thanks I was wondering how to get whats left of my hinges off as I cut them to make brackets to mount reversed on opposite sides to attach my gas struts to.
I could have kept the originals as Chris has done in his demo but external chrome look more period, mini hinges are too small, morris minor hinges are too curverd, Morris Oxford / Hindustan Ambassidor from Royal in New Delli are ok, you may need to beef up the steel behind the hood to stop flexing and to help profile the lines.
Do check that you need to go this far with the Mk1 though as the captive bolts may be more accessible simply by removing the carpet under the bay where the soft top folds in. Also, have a look at the info about the rain gutter as if you damage this taking the soft top off it has to be replaced.
A few questions I hope some of you can answer. Am I right in assuming, because of the age of the car, it must have a rear fog light, reversing light, catalytic convertor and white and yellow number plates front and back respectively. If I choose not to fit these for "track" use they would have to fitted when presented for an MOT.
Also, there are some new rules coming in about MOT's around all cars having to be fitted with the original, or equivalent, suspension units (no more scrapping along the ground all you 206 owners!) unless it's MSA registered for race use. If I get the car registered as an MX250 I presume I can fit whatever I want WRT suspension as it's what I care to specify.
Patrick.
