Spare Tire Relocation

Apr 17, 2007 6 Replies

Greetings and Felicitations!



Due to the death of my wife's beater, we are now happy owners of an '03 Shinsen (#711). We got it at wholesale price (local to central Indiana). I've been doing a little research and reading about the various things that can be done (and some that should be done) to improve this nice little car.



The first thing on the agenda is getting a roll bar. We've decided on the Hard Dog Deuce (side brace). Their claim is that their roll bar provides room for "full use" of both soft and hard tops. Can anyone verify this claim?



The second item is a hard top. From what I've read, the best bet is to get the OEM hardtop through the local dealership (who've been very nice, thankuveramuch). Apparently the OEM version fits better, holds paint better, doesn't leak (quite so awfully). Is this pretty much correct?


*** This afternoon I read some articles from the late 90's about moving the spare tire from the trunk to the area beneath the trunk-- necessitating re-route of exhaust. Is this possible, practicable, or a darn-good-thing for an '03 MX-5? There's a local exhaust shop that I know would be quite happy to help with this, if recommended.
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Any comments, hints, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


The Dealer wants a lot of money for a new Hard top. Advantage/ Disadvantage is that it will need paint to match by someone. Used top -- About $800-1200 for a good one. May or may not be correct color. If not add cost to paint.

03 latch difference may require replacing the front latches on an older top. I haven't researched this. Older tops have an all black interior. A new top can be ordered with a tan variation (Haven't seen one to comment on appearance.) Older tops may or may not have a rear window heater element. You may need to change the connector.

Yes. I've got one on my 2003 and my brother has one on his

1996. No problems with hard top or soft top.

I have, and I've done it. It's easy as long as you don't break off a screw. ;)

He will if it's an older top. I haven't ever gotten around to that...

Thanks, Grant!

After a little research, I found out exactly what you said about the NA-NB change. It's nice to know I won't have to work this mod! Like you, I prefer a real spare to a can of solvent.

Thanks, Chris.

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