[ OUR CARS ]
72 | TOTAL MX-5 |^ Summer 2019
RIDE RESOLUTION
When I rock up to Cleverley
Repaired Cars’ yard and see that
Vince will be working on my car,
I almost turn straight back
around and head home. Not
because I don’t like Vince. Not
that I don’t have anything other
than the utmost faith in the
quality of his work. But simply
because my car has become a
bit of a nemesis for Michael
Cleverley’s right-hand man, and
I think I should spare him the
anguish of once again doing
battle with it. Especially as he’s
come in on a Saturday.
My car always seems to
MK1 1.8
Run by: Brett Fraser
Owned since: 2016
Total mileage: 127,494
Latest costs: £625throw up a problem or several
when Vince is working on it.
Last time was the worst. What
should have been a simple
clutch change of the type that
Vince has done a thousand
times before, turned into a
nightmare of rusted and seized
fittings. One stud in particular
took the thick end of two hours
to remove... So when I decide
not to turn around after all – I
really want the work done –
and jump out of the car, I’m
slightly bemused to see him
smiling. ‘Ah, here we go again,
Brett,’ he chuckles. ‘Just what is
it about your car?’
I shrug a guilty little shrug,
unable to furnish him with a
straight answer beyond the
facts that my car is now pretty
old, gets used year-round and
isn’t garaged: the ideal
playground for corrosion.
Luckily today’s task involves
suspension, an area of the car
where water and salt almost
never get to...
Yep, I’m finally getting round
to doing something about thesuggested I try as a means of
improving the situation. They’d
raise the ride height a little and
give the dampers a greater
chance of travelling through
their full range of movement.
But before I could get them
fitted, I was distracted by the
notion of tackling the problem
head-on and going down the
coilover route.
‘For road use just stick it back
on standard suspension,’
proposed Michael Cleverley. I
know he’s right, the greater
compliance of the factory
setup compensating for the
greater body roll through
corners, but I don’t mind being
jiggled around a bit if my car
doesn’t have to look like it’s on
stilts. And besides, I haven’t
seen any of Michael’s cars on
standard suspension...
So, which coilovers? Don’t go
too cheap was the general
advice. And there was lots of
love for MeisterRs. But then
flicking through the MX5Parts
catalogue I spotted some fixed
ride height Gaz coilovers,car’s dire ride quality. Regular
readers may recall that when I
bought my mk1 from a 70-year
old gentleman in Swansea, it
was already fitted with a set of
adjustable Koni dampers and
some lowering springs. While
I’ve always loved the car’s
ground-hugging stance, the
crashing ride and dismal body
control has made it a nightmare
to drive quickly down rough
roads – you know, the sort of
crappy surfaces that about 80%
of Britain’s roads are now
comprised. Playing with the
adjustment knobs on the
dampers didn’t make any
substantial difference, or any
good one, at least, so I’ve simply
adjusted my driving style – as in
slowed right down – whenever
it’s bumpy ahead. Worse than
the straight line rodeo
simulation was the fact that if
you caught a lump mid-corner,
then the nose would leap
alarmingly off-line.
Sitting on a shelf in my shed
is a set of Jass Performance top
mounts that boss Vlad