Wassup's Na6 - Toad

[CM sport]

Yes that's an original steering wheel. It is the standard mono wheel with the centre still on. If you pull it off it will look like all the other mono wheels on here with the matching mono horn button.

[marty085]

I'm also surprised you lost points for non original stereo. It looks like a factory stereo with the CD option fitted.


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[Lokiel]

Lol, I'd probably end up with -ve points given all my modz

[wassup]

I'm also surprised you lost points for non original stereo. It looks like a factory stereo with the CD option fitted.


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Yeah, it's an interesting point you raise. The deduction was due to the add on CD player which according to the senior judge was not fitted at factory but a dealer option (was factory fitted for LE's). The winning NA also had one fitted and was penalized as well and had been for every year it had competed.

[The Green Goblin]

saw this in town not too long ago.. looks clean man.

mind me asking where & how much you purchased your front lip?

[wassup]

saw this in town not too long ago.. looks clean man.

mind me asking where & how much you purchased your front lip?

Thanks!

The lip came from Japan by a company called GR Craft. Also available from YJ. It can also be purchased from R Speed which is where my rear lip came from. The material of the R speed lips and quality just isn't as good as the Japanese example.

http://page19.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x300296980

[wassup]

I thought i might put up here the tasks undertook in preparation for this years Concours event. There's very little information out there specific to Mx5's and Show and Shine prep so heres what i did and a few pictures taken along the way. Hopefully this will be of use to anyone considering in taking part in future years!

So, approx 4 weeks out having decided that i would take part i had a bunch of things that i knew needed to be done to be a contender, afterall, this was going to be my first ever attempt. With this in mind i did a brain dump one night thinking that the best way would be to have a checklist that i could work to. The list quickly grew over time but it was no doubt the best approach. Below was my full list of tasks.

Times quoted is effort not duration.

• Polish lights (brake and headlights) - Polish and detail original units 1.5 hours
• Headlights - remove and refit originals 15mins
• Radiator cover - na8 air guide needed to be removed for Na6 originality 5mins
• Fog lights - remove 30mins
• Side indicators - Mazda clears to be removed and original amber' replaced
• Clean and detail spare tire 30mins
• Clean and detail suspension and wheel arches 32hours
• Detail shocks and springs 4 hours
• Touch up underbody paint 4hours
• Remove Front/ rear spoiler R package spoiler 30mins
• Clean Exhaust and tip 2hours
• Refurb rear heat shield 1hour
• Clean tool kit and jack 2hours
• Refurb and refit baby teeth 1hour
• Touch up control arms 2hours
• Clean rear of bumpers 2hours
• Touch up bumpers 2 hours
• Clean and detail under tray 1hour
• Clean and detail plastic wheel arch trim 2hours
• Wax coat undercarriage 4hours
• Inspect wax application
• Engine clean and detail 1.5hours
• Touch up front suspension 2hours
• Clean nuts and refit underbody trim 3hours
• Clean and fit Daisy wheels 4hours
• Drop car
• Remove NB Wind deflector
• Detail under dash. Pedals
• Clean Boot 2hours
• Clean rear seatbelt and soft top area 1hour
• Remove Cup holder
• Engine touch up 1hour
• Remove JDM Sunglasses holder
• Touch up and clean boot paint surfaces 1hour
• Replace broken bonnet holder clip
• Refit and polish orig. Boot lid 1hour
• Paint correction and polish. 16 hours
• Wax 1hour
• Wash 1.5hours
• Clean glass
• Clean tonneau cover and fold
• Remove seats clean seat rails 2 hours
• Clean binnacles and dash
• Clean seats and carpet incl scotch guard 2hours
• Clean Softtop inside and out
• Door sills clean and touch up 2hours
• Logbooks and tool kit

Alittle over 100 hours in prep not including about 20 trips to SuperCheap and Repco

Pics to follow

[wassup]

Some pictures taken during the concours prep

Before shot of door check strap area


Old and new door straps. The old ones werent holding the door open on inclines.


After shot, all cleaned up


Cam cover replaced with another i had media blasted. Internals looked all good!



Daisy's brought out from storage. Tyres were more than 10 years old and had less than 10psi. Time for a cleanup





Checking the extent of the work ahead of me. Lots to do


Had to remove the front and rear R Package spoilers. The rear was a pain and it was easier to remove the whole bumper assembly which uncovered this.
May as well clean these areas too while im at it.




For a 23 year old car these were the only rusted attachments. Theyre only a year old and came with the rear spoiler from R-Speed. Not impressed. Front spoiler came from Japan so unsurprisingly was in great shape.

[wassup]

Brake lights needed some work and gave me an excuse to get from under the car.



One set polished and the other original.


Gave all remaining lights the same treatment



Rear exhaust heat shield also got refurbed after being pointed out by Apu


Car prepped for some serious degreasing


Suspension after shots. The crappy pics really dont show the amount of work thats gone into this area. Removing the baked on grime, grease and dirt was hard work.



Boot area striped, degreased, polished, waxed and vacuumed. Battery vent tubes checked for safety and to avoid penalty points during judging!



Carpet was defluffed and thoroughly cleaned. black hides dirt really well.


Even the fuel filler shield and jack bar was touched up. Tool kit and jack was degreased and given a once over with a metal polish.


Seats and interior was given a quick once over. The seats had been recently reupholstered with new covers and seat foam so i took the opportunity to wipe them down and apply scotch guard.



Car completed and reassembled. Now time for a final washed!



Magi Snowfoam. This stuff is great when used properly.
This product is just a prewash and should not be used as a substitute for the wash mitt and bucket(s).
The proper consistency should be like shaving cream for maximum dwell (upto 20mins). Warm water should be used for the initial mix.




Nice reflection but white unfortunately just doesnt reward the same way a darker or metalic colour would after a serious detail.



Under cover till show day!


Being judged by the interior and exterior judges.


Red NA6 on the right was the eventual concours winner.




And the only decent picture i took the day after the event as i was assisting with the judging of the NC class.

Link to larger image
http://i.imgur.com/VO70esV.jpg

[Jeo]

That's a really nice run through of the work involved. Thanks

[meanmx]

Very impressive. Well done

[CM sport]

Now that is some serious dedication right there. I thought that I was just an overly picky person but it seems as though I'm not the only one now haha.
Car looks brilliant by the way.

[Okibi]

Interestingly enough i also lost 5 points for a non original steering wheel! ...

I commend the massive amount of work you put in, your car looks stunning.

I'm not a fan of concourse events especially when they don't invite experts to do the judging.

I remember a car with an off the shelf kit including a dodgy piggy back card got more points in performance modification than one properly engineered custom turbo system with ECU and improved cooling system.

At Natmeet I lost points because I had extra items in the original tool kit, we were driving back to South Australia, I wanted additional items in case I broken down in the middle of nowhere. I only included the original tool kit because a club member had lost points for not having one at the previous Natmeet. Makes concourse at Natmeet a joke when some people drive thousands of kms and others trailer their cars there.

I'm more a fan of "show n shine" so members are encouraged to drive their car more and modify them.

[wassup]

Now that is some serious dedication right there. I thought that I was just an overly picky person but it seems as though I'm not the only one now haha.
Car looks brilliant by the way.

Thanks!

It would be fair to say that mx5 owners, at least those on this forum are dedicated and picky, just about different aspects. I would hate to see what I would get upto if I went down the modification path, at least working to a factory stock look there are finite limits to how carried away I can get. But the mind boggles sometimes

Okibi: I know how you feel and I guess alteast for NSW they catered for this by having a Bits and Bling event along side concours which allowed those with fantastic modifications to take part and I think this decision really worked out. I may be a little biased but I think concours has a pretty important role in maintaining faithful examples of the mx5 marque and the fact that they are 'generally' pretty anal with the judging hopefully means a well maintained number of NA's, and in time NB's and at some point NC's will exist for everyone to appreciate.

My recent posts show that whilst I was somewhat over the top with my approach it was what was done to to come within a whisker of winning concours and what got me the best in show award, hopefully it'll help others in getting a start. First time is always daunting especially not knowing just how far you should go.

[wassup]

Wow.. 4 months to the day since my last post. Time flies.

Nothing major to report until recently - the last few months I've satisfied my frequent e-window shopping at your typical Mx5 retailers by sourcing bits and pieces that will address areas in which points I had been lost at the concours. Some of these being a new cover for the fuse box in the engine bay, this one with the sticker showing the fuse box layout and a new coolant over flow bottle, also with its sticker. Details details competitors beware!

So, the more interesting news!

I found me one of these on YJ





Till next time.