MX-5 Owners Club National Rally and other Bits

So a few weekends ago, we did a bit of a polish on the old guy.  We took all the lights off, polished them, and got out the T-Cut - the paint had faded to pink again.  The T-Cut did a crazy good job at making it red again!  The polymer finish stuff I had used before didn't really stand the test of time, so this time, it got good old fashioned wax.

Lights removed, ready for some polishing

That's better!

This is all in preparation for the next weekend.  And what a weekend!  The MX-5 Owners Club held their annual National Rally, at Northampton.  Spread over three days, it was full of stuff to do; all of which I wanted to do, but very little I actually got to do.

Ready to go...

Oh well, next year!
The missus and I went to the events on Saturday, which were held at Silverstone race track.  We got there around lunch time, and we watched the cars go round!  The club has secured track usage on the Stowe circuit for us, and lots of people took out their daily drivers for a spin.
This was a very tempting prospect for us; I've always wanted to take the car out on the track, but I had some things I had to do first.
Just before I got the MOT done, the car developed a tiny vibration in the steering wheel and the floorboards.  I ignored it; thinking it was would go away.  Shows you how much I know about owning 20 year old cars!
The vibration got steadily worse.  On the way up to Silverstone, the vibration was getting rather distracting.  It started creating rattles in the dash, which are my worst enemy!  Anyway, the vibration was enough of a worry for me that I didn't take Hugo on the track.  The next rally I hope to do this, as it  looks like the most fun you can have in a car (one without a backseat, anyway).

In the open pits.  The Kit car in the front started life as an MX-5.

We toured the infield and looked at all the awesome cars.  There were some seriously sweet rides there.  There was a black Mk1 with what looked like 13 inch wheels, lower than anything, and he was really fast and smooth on the track.  So fast, my camera couldn't focus, so I missed that picture.
There was a Mk1 painted like the Japanese flag, which grabbed my attention.  A supercharger!  Ooooh, I know what I want for Christmas!
They had some track only cars as well; the drivers would take you out for a few laps in a quick fashion,  we saw one lady come back in from her laps and she looked like she was in shock - she was very pleased with her laps!
After grabbing a quick (overpriced) bite of food, we headed to the club tent and got our map instructions for a fun drive around the Northampton countryside.  Off we went!

The weather held out for us while we hung out at the track - a bit cold, but no rain.  You can see it looked rather imminent in the photos.  About five minutes into our drive, the hood went up in a hurry - torrential rain!  It lasted about 10 minutes, and we weren't bothered for the rest of our drive but we did get a bit cold.

Awesome single lane roads - the SatNav proclaimed 'Driving on - Road'.

Some ducks in the road, having a kip.

The planned course for the drive was unbelievable.  I had no idea that Northampton was so beautiful.  The quaint villages, the thatch-roofed cottages, sprawling fields under massive skies, and of course the wicked, twisty one lane roads!  The drive couldn't avoid A Main roads completely, but they were kept to a minimum.
We stopped at a free range farm shop and grabbed some potatoes and some eggs - we were waved off on our way out by the chickens!

Chickens gather to watch us cart off their unhatched children.

We ended our drive at a pub, the Ward Arms.  Not our first choice for pubs, but it was mostly empty, and served lovely bitter shandies and a nice plum ale.  And the lady behind the bar was lovely!

We didn't actually complete the entire drive, as the car was vibrating like mad - getting worse and worse...  The drive was mostly 30-40mph cruising, and that's when it was at its worst.  So we got on the motorway and headed home.

We hit rain, and saw a rainbow.  The quality of the light was extraordinary - very bright and high contrast but dark at the same time - photos couldn't do it justice.

So, Sunday....
Where is this vibration coming from?  I got the car up in the air, started it, and put it in gear.  The back tires spinning freely, I watched them carefully.  sure enough, they weren't anywhere near round.  There is some pretty profound egg shaped tyres going on here!  The back tires passed the MOT, but looking at the sidewall, they are perished.  So new tires are up next.
As the dash felt like it had rattled itself to bits, I took the bottom cover off the steering column trim and fished out the LED light I had installed ages ago and had fallen inside.  I carved a new (smaller) hole in the plastic, and put the LED in there - now it shines on the key lock, so in the dark I can find the keyhole! Yay!
Since doing the rear brakes, the hand brake hasn't been quite right, so I adjusted it (again).  It's still not where I want it to be, so I'll have another look when I can.
I also fished around with the wiring for the fog lamp and the rear defrost.  One wire had worked itself loose so the light wasn't coming on when the defrost was switched on.  All better now!
The factory supplied jack has been getting a real workout from lifting Hugo in it's lowered stance, and it's pretty much given up.  I will need to get another one to replace it.  It just never ends....

So we're off to Lincoln again this week for a four-day visit to work on the house.  Hopefully the car will give us a fun ride up north!