Retro themed 97 Montego Blue Roadster

[BRGNA8]

This is what they must mean when they say love at first sight..

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Looks great mate! I remember when Mark took my watanabes to get refurbed and he sent me progress photos. Looking so good man! Cant wait to see these on your car

[roadster2]

Looks great mate! I remember when Mark took my watanabes to get refurbed and he sent me progress photos. Looking so good man! Cant wait to see these on your car

Thanks mate! Yeah it’s incredibly exciting seeing the progress photos. Seeing the new lips, it really brings out the ‘dish’. Right after he sent me those pics, I went and watched Mighty Car Mods YouTube video where Barrel Bro’s restored their SSR MK3’s . Not long to go, pushing to get the skirts and wheels on by mid to end of next month !

[oldgrayleather]

Such an amazing part of the journey! Barrel Bros would usually send me updates at the end of their day which meant I had the pleasure to wake up to some shots of the progress they were making. Can't wait!

[roadster2]

So.. a number of changes have been made in the past couple of weeks, buckle up!

KG works rear view mirror. I’m a sucker for brushed/stainless steel looking items and this piece always stood out for me.

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Nakamae transmission tunnel and side step interior (black with black stitching). Absolutely love with this piece. It really dresses up the interior and compliments the seats nicely.

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Speaking of interior, the M-speed seats are in! The seats definitely feel nicer, hold you in better and give a nice retro vibe. However when mounted on runners, the fibreglass shell sits high. In fact I’m sitting higher than stock! Not the worst outcome for me since I’m not tall to start with, but this is not the seat for those that are tall/want to sit lower. I suppose this is where Nakamae Type R’s shine by comparison. The other con I didn’t realise with this style of seat is that the angle of the seat and headrest means you can’t really press and rest your neck back. Most of us probably don’t rest our heads on the headrest while driving but I find it nice to be able to get into a laid back seating position when at traffic lights. Not anymore .

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Front end changes


The Barchetta Bumper is also now on! The plastic reinforcement bar was cut on the sides so that the bumper could fit as well as allow for the wiring to go through. Also got around to installing the freshly painted Garage Vary Type 2 Headlight lid. It gives the front end a bit more styling by complimenting the Barchetta bumper.

The RSA’s are also now on. I do like the front end more when the RSA’s are pointed up. Light output isn’t as bad as I thought but then again I replaced whatever was in there with a pair of osram night breaker bulbs. To finish off the front end I added an R package lip and a side number plate bracket for some JDM points.

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Lastly I had the OEM RS LE Side skirts painted and installed! Installation required drilling 4 holes into the body which I got the body shop to do since you only get one go and I don’t exactly trust myself ha. The body shop suggested that they could use glue to hold the skirts rather than drilling which would be permanent. Although I wasn’t entirely convinced that they would hold up over time. Since this is my forever car, I figured it would be best to go ahead and drill the holes and have the painter use anti rust paint so that I don’t have to deal with future rust issues. Fortunately in Australia, mx5’s aren’t really prone to rust and with the car being in the garage all the time, I can minimise how often it sees the rain. Love the look of these skirts, it’s probably my favourite part on the car in fact. The curve, it's all so subtle yet gives the whole car more aggressiveness. It really feels like it should have been on all mx5’s from factory.

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There are still a few more things I would like to do for the exterior but I’m happy with how its proceeding. It does however feel like something is missing...but I'm hoping that the star sharks will fill that void.

The next phase will be focusing my efforts on the interior and creating something that’s full of bling! There is a lot to be done…the interior might look respectable from afar but it's covering alot of things that require attention. The gauge cluster has a crack on the glass, the center console is a different musty old shade + has a crack, my current door cards flap against the delrin door bush every time I open the door because of the lack of door clips. So basically I’ll be going with a replace and ‘upgrade’ approach for every interior piece! Sadly I’ll be reducing the number of mods for the rest of this year due to the AUD as well as well as blowing my budget through the roof, but nevertheless stay tuned for more updates and pictures!

[oldgrayleather]

Congratulations! So much progress. It must be very satisfying to see the exterior transformed. Looks fantastic!!

[roadster2]

aand to end the week on a high note .

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[HarryB]

Yess! Dream wheels for sure in my book, and that colour scheme is absolutely gorgeous.

[turboedpickup]

Can't wait to see them on the car!

[roadster2]

ALL DONE!! New bolts, valves, final hand polish, seal and SSR caps. Booked in for tyres and an alignment by the end of this week.

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[roadster2]

Picked up a KenAuto Dosukoi rear bar the other week. Aim of this item is to improve chassis rigidity in the rear. I’m a big fan of bracing items, the FM butterfly bracing kit made a huge difference in feel. Even if they’re not proven to result in better performance/lap times; I’d argue that I can drive faster as they give me more confidence through driver feedback.

Installation is a 5 minute job, probably the easiest part you can install on a mx5 ha. I can’t say I noticed much of a difference with this item though, but in fairness the simultaneous install of a replacement dash and seats, meant a lot less rattles on bumps. So it’s a bit hard to isolate the difference that the dosukoi bar makes. It does feel like the car is little less unsettled over bumps at the rear but it could just be a placebo effect... A friend of mine did say that he goes over the same bump every day and with the dosukoi bar now installed, it feels less noticeable.

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[roadster2]

They're on! They look absolutely incredible...photo's don't do it justice. I was fortunate enough to have a tyre shop mount them on carefully. Ready for a proper photoshoot...

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PS: The tyre fitter parked the car in a disabled spot, not me

[HarryB]

Looks stunning as expected! Looking forward to the photoshoot outcomes

[BRGNA8]

Oh my goodness! Congrats mate that looks amazing!!!

Dibs if you decide to sell the starsharks!

[roadster2]

Oh my goodness! Congrats mate that looks amazing!!!

Dibs if you decide to sell the starsharks!

Gotta give all the credit to Barrel Bros, so worth it.

Can't say I'll ever sell since it's my forever car. They do still pop up every year or so, still very much attainable. Although you'll need to be prepared and ready to spend big.

[oldgrayleather]

They're on! They look absolutely incredible...photo's don't do it justice. I was fortunate enough to have a tyre shop mount them on carefully. Ready for a proper photoshoot...

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PS: The tyre fitter parked the car in a disabled spot, not me

Congrats!!! Today, today is a special day. Looks fantastic.