Cars, they’re a bit like kids; great when they’re doing what they should be doing but when they keep acting up and costing you a packet you want to give them away Luckily for me when I was a kid and for Maurice, it wasn’t an option. Had savvy, young graduate Tom Chance had his idea for donating end of life cars to charity a year earlier, my smurfmobile might have had a different ending to his days. If you have no option but to scrap an MX5 (I know some of you do and I dislike you intensely for it) then I’ll let Daniel from Giveacar explain why you should give them a call (and I’ll like you all over again )

Obviously you want to keep your Mazda running as long as possible but unfortunately one day it may become so worn out that you can no longer run it and on that sad day you’ll have to decide which option is best for disposing of it. Now there is a new way, instead of just scrapping it you can donate it to charity and we’ll ensure that your chosen charity gets the best value possible from it.

Since Giveacar has started we have been proud to receive 56 Mazdas, one generous soul even donated one in such good condition it raised £1,122 for Action for Children at auction. In fact with an average donation of just over £100 a car Mazdas are amongst the best donations that we receive. (For comparison the average donation is around £80.) Probably in part due to the number of Mazda enthusiasts looking to buy parts!

We raise money in two, arguably three, ways. If we are given a car that is too old or damaged, like most of them are, then we scrap it with one of our contractors.  If the car is more modern or recent then we send it to a car salvage auction or even to a proper car auction. The idea behind this tier system is, obviously, to raise the maximum amount for the donor’s choice of charity. This approach also allows us to ensure that we take the most environmental approach to car disposal.

If the car is scrapped then it is taken by one of our contractors. These are ones we have selected as giving us the best value, but are also fully registered with the environment agency. This means that each car is depolluted by having all hazardous chemicals taken away and non-metallic parts removed before the body is crushed and sold onto a scrap metal processor. Likewise tires are usually shredded and sold on to act as filler material for a wide range of purposes such as flooring for sports halls and embankments.

In contrast cars sold at salvage auctions are often brought by enthusiasts to be restored to working condition. Though some are broken up and sold for parts. This stands in contrast to normal auctions where the car is simply sold on to the highest bidder. Either way our contractors ensure that the change of ownership is registered with the DVLA and we do our best to get the best value.

We will happily donate to any charity registered in the UK. So for example even though the NSPCC isn’t on our charities list we will still accept donations for them and give them the same value. Those charities which are registered with us get some additional advertising by being on our site and it allows us to process their donations more quickly than otherwise.

If like me, you have paid to have a car scrapped and the watch as it travels off on the back of a lorry only to realise there’s still 30 quids worth of fuel in the tank and gone DOH! I would have been a whole lot happier knowing every available pound would be squeezed out and given to a cause I personally supported. So, now’s your chance – a quick call to Giveacar on 020 0011 1164 could give your old banger a new lease of life.

Anyhoo, I booked a day annual leave to finally waxoyl the underside of the car, I bought the Waxoyl in December, it’s been sitting in the dining room ever since. No.7 has a vehicle lift which is perfect for the job meaning I can stand comfortably under the car and get easy access. Armed and ready I toddled along at 10am this morning only to find out that the water supply was off at the unit – the underside of the car needs jet washing before the Waxoyl is applied, so no water was a bit of a bummer. We couldn’t really complain at the landlord’s lack of ability to come and fix it as he’s not long fell off a ladder and broke both his legs. Call me churlish but I think he has a few more important problems of his own

So, was it a wasted morning? No – I got to see the underside of Maurice for the first time and he’s in very good nick. A good clean and the Waxoyl should bring it up a treat. I also spotted a small hole in the front pipe of the exhaust, so I can go looking for a replacement and get that done when he’s next on the ramp. The engine got a thorough checking for leaks and he also got an oil change. All in all he’s in great condition, albeit still a bit cosmetically challenged – so the Waxoyl will be a job for a bit later and I’m going to do some more prettifying jobs so he’s looks pucker for the summer.

So now you’re up to date with what I haven’t been doing. You’ll be glad to know I have had a stern word with myself and have started work on Maurice again.

What are winter tyres and why use them during the winter months?

Previously, there has been a huge lack of awareness in the UK about winter tyres. Either motorists didn’t know they existed or they thought they could only be used in heavy snow or ice.

In fact, drivers will see benefit from using winter tyres on slush, ice, frost and even wet roads, in fact any time the temperature dips below +7 degrees centigrade.

In some EU countries such as Austria, Germany and Finland  winter tyres are legally required. There is however, no legislation or guidance in this country.

2010 has been a turning point in the UK. Demand has increased dramatically as the country is gripped by prolonged periods of snow and motorists realise that winter tyres aren’t only effective in snow and ice but also on wet roads at cold temperatures. Advice for motorists is to talk to their tyre retailers. If they don’t have any stock left this year, talk to them about next year and get your tyres changed in October – along with the rest of Europe – before the weather worsens.

How do they work?

Unlike summer tyres (everyday standard tyres in the UK), winter tyres do not harden at lower temperatures. This means they give you a much better grip on the road and the ability to stop in a shorter distance, increasing your safety on the road.

The rubber compound of a winter tyre is very different, it’s designed specifically to work in temperatures under +7 degrees centigrade. It also has  more natural rubber so they don’t harden when it’s cold, which means increased grip on the road and greater safety. What happens to a summer tyre when the temperature drops is that the compound loses its flexibility, making it less grippy in low temperatures.

On ice and snow winter tyres provide grip that no summer tyre can match.  A vehicle fitted with winter tyres will come to standstill on a snow-covered road (from a speed of just 30mph) after 35 metres – with normal tyres the braking distance required is a further 8 metres (43 metres); another two car lengths.

What if I don’t want to change my tyres twice a year?

It is recommended that you switch to winter tyres in the UK between October and March and back to summer (or our standard tyres) from April to September. This will give you the best performance in terms of handling and braking distances. Some retailers have been offering tyre hotels to help you store your ‘out-of-season’ wheels. If you are reluctant to change your tyres twice a year, you can use the winter ones all year round. They are as quiet and comfortable as summer tyres and, thanks to advanced compound technology, they don’t wear any more quickly.

There’s a slight trade off with stopping distances as a winter tyre doesn’t stop as quickly in the dry as the standard tyre. However, on balance if it is not possible to switch in the winter, experts say you are better off with winter tyres all year round. This is because the difference in stopping distances of summer tyres in winter is far greater than for winter tyres in the summer.

A big thank you to Conti UK for answering the question that’s been bugging me why not just have winter wheels on all year round if they’re more suited to our climate? The answer is we should. Accidents are six times more likely during the winter months due to road conditions, so if winter tyres improve road grip and can be used all year round, it makes sense to me to use them all year round. Having had a few slides already this year on the rural roads around here, I’ll be swopping to winter tyres from now on – all year round. What about you?

Jon Quirk has written for Autocar Magazine, been Editor of Europe’s biggest motoring community Pistonheads and is currently digital producer for WhichCar’s website.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
A random one! I had read Autocar since I was a foetus but like most people, I didn’t ever dream that it [motoring journalism] could be a feasible career. Instead, I studied economics at Newcastle then went on to attend the MA in Auto Journalism at Coventry.

2. Was it your first career choice?
In a dream world, yes, but my folks were very pragmatic and made me have a back-up plan!

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
Getting on the ladder. Without a doubt, the MA course opened doors but you have to really want it to stay there. A quick tip for any prospective talent is not to wait until the application deadlines – I’ve seen recruiters stop answering emails after the first 20 CVs.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Know it’s a cop out but I have to say all of it. I feel massively privileged to be a part of this industry though I still can’t quite understand how cars can elicit such different and extreme feelings in us. I think we’ll forever be working it out…

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Dad.

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
Don’t stop writing. If you’re not writing, you should either be having lunch, sex or a shit.

Andrew Noakes has 15 years’ experience writing for Fast Car, CAR, Auto Express, Classic & Sports Car, Classic Car Weekly and the motoring enthusiasts’ website PistonHeads. He’s written and contributed to more than a dozen books and currently lectures part time at Coventry University as well as continuing to be a freelance motoring writer.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
At 18 I went to Loughborough University to do a degree in Automotive Engineering. I was sponsored by Ford, and worked for the company in Brentwood, Basildon, Swansea and Dunton in the ‘sandwich’ year of my degree course in 1990/91.

2. Was it your first career choice?
Yes. I’ve never really wanted to do anything else.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
At first, convincing employers that I could do the job. The way to achieve that is to get published – anywhere, regardless of whether or not you get paid much or even at all ­ so you have something to show off.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Being given privileged access to cars, people and events on behalf of the reader.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
The two writers who made the biggest impression were LJK Setright and Phil Llewellin. Sadly I never met either of them. I did see LJKS the first time I went to a motor show press day, but didn’t summon up the courage to go and
talk to him!

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular  most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
Make better notes. Publishing works at a frenetic pace and it’s easy to get swept along into the next story and the next issue and lose track of what went before. Ten years later you return to the same topic and wish you could remember who gave you that bit of info years earlier, or where that rare classic came from.

Antony Ingram is one of motor journalism’s new faces and is currently a freelancer writer and photographer specialising in green technology. He writes for All Cars Electric and Green Car Reports.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
I essentially made contacts. Although I’ve just finished studying for a degree in journalism, the best thing I did was get myself on Twitter and follow a few people that I’d come across when writing articles for an old blog that very few people ever read. I spotted a tweet by my now-colleague Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield that High Gear Media was running a competition to win an iPad for the best published article, open to anyone. I submitted a few, and although I didn’t win the iPad, they did offer me a job!

2. Was it your first career choice?
More or less. My BA degree was in business and I’d been giving thoughts to working in marketing or PR, basically something with a bit of a creative aspect. I attended a seminar on journalism in my final year and ditched all thoughts of the business world as I realised I wanted to write for a living. I signed up to do a journalism Masters degree and the story continues from there.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
The irony in spending large amounts of money and stress putting myself through university when all I could have done was make connections and look for writing opportunities.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Knowing that at some point I’ll be able to ditch my boring, non-journalism day job and make a living from writing.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Many different motoring journalists. Includes, but not limited to, Chris Harris from Autocar/Drivers Republic and latterly EVO as he’s got a thoroughly enviable job and incredible talent for both driving and writing; James May for being a talented writer who has achieved even greater success as a presenter and likewise Clarkson, who started small and has worked hard to make it big.

Another seasoned pro is Richard Aucock with ten years experience writing for AutoExpress, MSN Cars, The Sunday Times, Car Dealer Magazine and is currently Managing Editor of Motoring Research Ltd.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
I approached it initially as an enthusiast, writing for car club magazines and the like. My big break was winning the IMCO Motoring Writer of the Future award in 1996, presented by the Guild of Motoring Writers. Two years later, I won the Sir William Lyons award, something I’d advise all potential motoring writers to enter. It’s a great award and really does give you the foot in the door to the industry. From then, it was hard work and patience, for a good few years!

2. Was it your first career choice?
Motoring journalism! I went to uni to study engineering, but did it with the intent of getting into motoring journalism. Had it not worked out, trainee manager at Sainsbury’s was on cards.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
Patience! Seriously, it took years – and then a whole year after uni working at Sainsbury’s, to get into the industry. Gets you down something awful at times. What helped for me was setting myself goals along the way: made it seem that bit more achievable.

4. The best aspect of your job?
Being a part of the car industry. It’s great, driving cars, and always will be – but eventually, that becomes but a small part of the job. It’s a constantly changing industry and motoring journalism has to keep up with it, so there’s always something new going on and ALWAYS something to watch and talk about. I love the car industry and playing a small part in it is quite something for me.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
In the first instance, probably Steve Cropley. I wrote to him as a kid – he wrote back, spoke to me on the phone, gave me the encouragement to stick at it. I still have the letter! There have been many, many others, though…

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular  most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
Be tireless! Read everything, research everything, geek out, always learn and be prepared to learn. Oh, and be ready to pounce when an opportunity arises.

Tristan Young has been Editor in Chief for BusinessCar, editor of Fleet week and deputy news editor of Autocar as well as writing for The Sunday Times and the Daily Express. He’s currently a freelance writer.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
After muddling through school I went to uni to study (of all things) zoology. While there I got involved in starting a student magazine and finding that sort of thing fun, I then did some work experience at Auto Express. After uni I did a journalism course (NVQ) in London and at the end of the course one of my tutors put me in touch with Automotive Management magazine which was looking for a sub and writer. I think I got the job because I was willing to work for fewer peanuts than the next guy.

2. Was it your first career choice?
Absolutely. Dedication and enthusiasm count for a lot in this business.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
It’s either giving up a perfectly good staff job running a well respected magazine for the insecurity of the  freelance world. Or, getting over my extreme dislike of flying. As I write this I’m on a plane heading back to the UK from a car launch in Austria.

4. The best aspect of your job?
The cars and fancy launches are great, but I’m a news man at heart and the buzz of getting an exclusive news story is very difficult to beat. In a broader sense, doing something I love means I’ve never seen journalism as work.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Tricky question. In journalism it’s a guy named Tony Willard who taught me a huge amount when I was at Automotive Management. For all the other stuff it’s got to be my family.

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
When you borrow a more senior colleague’s Honda Accord Type-R for the weekend a few months after starting at Autocar and it starts to go wrong on a tightening left-hander in the Cotswolds: don’t lift.

Sam Burnett is another new recruit at the beginning of his career. He has written for AOL’s Autoblog, television’s Fifth Gear website, motoring site Verdict on Cars and  Auto Trader.

1. What route did you take into motoring journalism?
I knew I wanted to apply for automotive journalism MA at Coventry University – I was working in parliament when I applied, and my MP had very kindly given me a subscription to Autocar for Christmas, so the obvious thing for me was to write to the editor there and see if I could get a week’s work placement. That sealed the deal for me, talking to the people who worked there and seeing how  a magazine came together.

Following the MA (I’ve just recently graduated but finished lectures before the summer) I’ve been lucky enough to get regular freelance work from people I’ve got to know over the year. We youngsters (I’m 26, so I use the term loosely) are lucky that there’s now an established way to launch yourself at the industry, where before there was nothing.

2. Was it your first career choice?
It’s hard for me to say yes or no here – I have always wanted to do everything, so first or last career choice is neither here nor there to me. I want to be a writer in the medium term, so that’s my career choice. I have already dabbled in politics in my short life, to mild success and considerable enjoyment, but it’s the themes of a job that attracts me, not the specifics – politics and the automotive industry are remarkably similar when you boil things down to personalities and power and war. Fun stuff.

3. The hardest part of getting to where you are now?
The hardest part? I’ve not done a great deal, but you soon realise that the chancest encounters can lead to new things. All of my freelance work has come about through placements I did during the masters – being nice and getting on with people is as important as being able to write proper. I suppose the hardest thing is deciding you want to do it in the first place – it wasn’t easy getting the cash together for a postgraduate course, and breaking into car journalism is a neurotic game. I daren’t give any good advice because I’ll have competition.

4. The best aspect of your job?
At the moment I am very much enjoying meeting lots of people and seeing how different outlets work. Every car journalist has worked everywhere, and you can pick up tips and great anecdotes from everyone. I like learning stuff, though, like how to tell the difference between a Fiat Scudo Combi and a Fiat Scudo Panorama Family. These are the foundations a great career is built on, I’m sure.

5. Who, if anybody, has been your greatest source of inspiration?
Writing-wise my favourite person is Tim Moore, who is actually a travel writer. He has an exquisite way with words and will have you howling with laughter whilst also imparting interesting facts about things as diverse as donkey care and the history of Monopoly. In the car world, I did my MA dissertation on CAR magazine, and had the honour of interviewing four of its greatest editors – Steve Cropley, Gavin Green, Richard Bremner and Jason Barlow. Those last two were particularly underrated but all four had vision and really got the ethos that made that magazine great, the sense of adventure that draws me in to writing about cars.

6. If you had a time machine handy (like we all do!) and you could pay yourself a visit at the beginning of your career, what would be the singular most important piece of advice you would give your younger self?
I think I already am right at the beginning, so I would turn that one on its head and visit my older self and tell him to retain the enthusiasm and willingness to learn that I hope I have right now. I get upset when I hear car journalists moaning about something they have to do – what privileged and exciting jobs we all have, there are a million things I’d especially rather not be doing.

So that’s it then – start off in politics after taking a degree in Zoology, then enter a competition to win an iPad and hopefully win your dream job! Why didn’t I think of that before!

Oh, okay then, how about have a passion for cars, find other like-minded people, start writing and keep going until you get to where you want to be?

When I removed the headlight unit there was a fair bit of corrosion – greeny, old copper looking colour – on the pins of the bulb and in the connection. It’s a sign moisture is getting in which isn’t a good thing. To get a good connection again, sand down back to the metal to get rid of the corrosion and apply a liberal dollop of Vaseline. Vaseline repels moisture keeping the connection clean and improves conductivity. It’s useful for any electrical components especially on those cars that have poor electrical connections which can cause intermittent failures in lights, arcing in bulb units and burnt plastic mounts. You’ll quite often see white grease in bulb units - it’s a common trick of the motor trade to improve and maintain electrical connections.

So whenever your electrics are causing problems, slap on some Vaseline!

I would normally you ask for any other ideas at this point but this time I don’t think I will

Snow causes havoc in the UK, mostly because we don’t get that much of it but we do get cold winters and plenty of ice.  Canada and others countries fare much better because they expect it so they are always prepared. So that’s the answer then, isn’t it? Be prepared.  There’s already been a few very bad crashes reported due to ice on the roads, so to help make sure you’re not one of them, here’s my comprehensive list of tips for driving safely this winter.

Regular winter checks for your car

Keep tyres inflated to the correct pressure – cold causes tyres to deflate – they can loose 1 psi for every 10° of temperature drop.

Check for worn treads, a minimum of 3mm but the deeper the better for more grip.

Ensure there is sufficient anti freeze in the cooling system and keep it topped up.

Keep the windscreen washer fluid reservoir topped up with proper windscreen wash, not just water. Winter roads are dirty roads and even a light dusting of road grime can hamper visibility.

Keep oil topped up

Check all lights and indicators are working and keep them clean

Replace windscreen wiper blades if damaged or worn

Before you set off

Defrost thoroughly – it’s illegal to drive with just a small viewing window!

Use de-icer on car locks or heat the key on a radiator to help unfreeze frozen doors.

If you do use water to clear your windscreen of heavy frost and ice – use warm, not hot water.

Lift wiper blades up before you defrost the windscreen; this ensures they are moving freely and aren’t frozen. Don’t use them to help scrape ice off the windscreen, it can damage the blades.

Scrape before you de-ice – it prevents that nasty sludge pile of de-icer and ice – it can only defrost so much! You’ll also use less de-icer and it’s quicker. Invest in a proper scraper, they’re all of 99p from a car shop or garage.

You shouldn’t, but if you do run the engine whilst you’re de-icing, remember not to leave the car unattended, it might not be there when you come back!

Scrape any snow off the roof. It may be cute to leave your car with a snow hat but as it melts it can slide down the windscreen and suddenly block your view.

Don’t forget to defrost wing mirrors too

Driving safely and keeping control

Keep your distance from the car in front – stopping distances can be ten times greater on slippy roads.

Drive smoothly, manoeuvre gently and keep a slower constant speed to help avoid the need to brake.

Pull away in second gear - this allows greater traction and helps prevent the wheels slipping and that awful wheel spinning, sliding start.

Don’t stay in low gears, get into a higher gear such as third to keep slow constant traction. High revs and power are often causes of sliding.

Use your gears to slow the engine down, rather than your brakes.

Keep both hands on the steering wheel. Heavy snow and ice can make road surfaces very uneven; a wheel dropping over a chunk of ice can cause the steering wheel to pull out of your hands if you’re not careful.

When you do have to use your brakes, do it gently. Start slowing well before a junction and ‘pump’ the brakes gently – stop gradually instead of immediately.

‘Listen’ to your tyres – the sound they make as they travel over different surfaces will give you a clue as to how the car will react as you’re driving and how much grip you can expect to have. Crunching on snow, a slush as it melts, no sound – you’re probably on ice.

Slow down well before a bend and keep a constant speed driving round it.

If you do skid – don’t hit the brakes. Turn into the direction you are skidding, so if the rear of the car swings left then turn the steering wheel left, if it skids right, turn the wheel right. Take your foot off the accelerator until the wheels have regained some grip and then accelerate gently and slowly to maintain control out of the skid.

The best prevention of accidents in bad weather? Don’t go out if the weather’s really bad unless you absolutely have to! If you do, allow plenty of extra time for your journey and to defrost your car.

If you’ve any helpful hints for driving safely in the winter months, please leave a comment Safe driving!

I bought these luvly puppies from MX5 Parts – these aren’t the stock version but an upgrade, as the price was the same as the regular MX5 headrest speakers it seemed daft not to buy them.  When I opened the box I thought no way would they fit, but the clever peeps at MX5 Parts have obviously met people like me before and put a printed sheet in the box saying they do and pictures to show how to fit them. The front grill of the speaker doesn’t need to go in, so they are actually smaller than they look.

To change them to this version is a quick and easy job – it really was, it took me ten minutes to do each seat! Something actually went as planned for a change Unzip the top of the headrest – the zip runs over the top and is covered by a seam of fabric – pull the front down to expose the speakers. Remove the four screws on the front and the three larger screws that fasten the speaker to the actual seat. Grab the unit firmly and pull it away from the seat. Stick a screwdriver through the front to pull the speaker out of it’s casing and expose the connectors on the wires. Pull these off their fittings – they just slide off.

The two wires, once disconnected need to be pulled through the side of the casing. There’s a rubber grommet in the casing wall; use a screwdriver to prise it loose and pull the grommet – NOT the wires to free them from the casing. Once the grommet’s out, you can slide the wires and their connectors through the hole.

On the back of the speaker box is a template to use to mark where you need to cut parts of the foam away for the new speakers to fit. Don’t be fussy or bother about being too neat, I used a steak knife to cut the semi-circles right back to the metal frame of the headrest.

Once the circle was cut I just grabbed the side of foam, dug my fingers in and pulled – it came away neatly from the metal and in one big chunk. It also makes much less mess than trimming trying to get a neat edge. Fit the connectors onto the new speakers – there is a wide and a narrow connector so you can’t fit them to the wrong terminals - just slide them on.

The nifty thing about these speakers is the backs are magnetic, so once the connectors are on, just position them and they click into place onto the metal frame of the seat and stay there! No fitting required! They’re really smart looking so it’s almost a shame to cover them up, but just pull up the front of the cover, zip the headrest back up and that’s it – jobs a goodun’

Is the sound any better? Oh yeh, noticably – well worth hacking a bit off foam for! Door speakers next, to complete the surround sound, ear bleeding experience

Nice, quick delivery, not too cheap at £25.00 but it came with an adaptor kit so it would fit the car properly. It’s a quick job, apparently and should take 5 minutes to do. I hate it when people say that, I just know it’s not going to be the case with Maurice. If it involves removing a bolt, screw or fastening of any kind, I can add at least an hour as there isn’t a bolt that has been removed on the damn car in the last twenty years – they all require a lot of persuasion to shift!

First off, remove the old mast. The base of the aerial is flat on either side, where the arrow is pointing – this is your grip point. Get a very large pair of pliers and unscrew it – mine needed some coercion with a load of WD40 and some brute force. It took over an hour to get it to budge – 5 minutes my a*@&, I knew it

Good news is, it is only a one minute job when the old mast is off. Screw in the metal screw fitting that comes with the aerial, pop on the black plastic top bit and then screw in the stubby aerial. Job’s a good’un. Actually, now it’s fitted, it looks really nice, much better than the old wire coat hanger mast. Talking of which, keep hold of it,  it makes the perfect roof drain hole cleaner!

The new soft top makes the car look much smarter but it does really show up the paintwork and bloody awful alloys. Get a load of these:

More than a bit tatty looking, with big chunks of paint flaking off and what looks like a load of silly string etched into the rims – apparently this is a sealant tyre fitters use – begs the question how far do they think the tyre goes onto the wheel?

I wanted a quick, tidy up job as the wheels needed to go straight back on the car – I’ll restrip them at a later date or get some newer ones to restore all chromified – but for now I was armed with:

• Hycote Alloy Paint – a steal at £3.99
• Hycote Clear Lacquer – again £3.99
• A small can of Nitromors paint stripper gloop – £3.98
• Assorted sandpaper, a wire brush, paintbrushes, masking tape & latex gloves – £5.00 from the local car boot

Obviously, take the wheel off the car first! Give it a good all over scrub – I used Autoglym Engine Bay Cleaner to get rid of the brake gunk etched into the inside of the wheel and Boy is that stuff good!

Just spray on the Autoglym, take warm water and a wire brush, give it a vigorous scrub, a good rinse and off it comes. Magic stuff Once the wheel is cleaned thoroughly, I took some sandpaper and wet sanded the front of the rim until it ‘felt’ perfectly smooth.

Take masking tape, cover the valve and then tape from the rim over two inches of the tyre using 6 inch strips. This gives something to stick the paper to that will cover the wheel – almost like gift wrapping it!

Put the latex gloves on and follow the instructions on the Nitromors tin – careful – if it gets on your skin it burns! Use a brush to spread the paint stripper all over the exposed paint. Leave for five minutes. Add another layer and leave for fifteen. The paint wasn’t that thick so it scraped off quite easily after it bubbled like this:

Word of warning: this is what it will do to your skin if you’re daft enough to splash it about! Scrape off all the peeled paint, give it a rinse in soapy water and finish by scrubbing it with a wire brush to get the last stubborn remnants of paint off. Let it dry thoroughly and repaper the wheel as before. Shake the can of Alloy paint and spray a light first coat - it’s touch dry within ten minutes on a warmish day and then you can apply another thicker coat. Give it another twenty minutes and apply two coats of the lacquer.

While I was waiting for the wheel to dry, I did the centre caps. I hate them, but they’ll have to do for now I just tore off 1cm sections of masking tape and spiralled it round to cover the centre emblem. Two blasts of alloy paint and two of laquer and hey presto, I hate them just a little bit less now.

Mask off and spray the inside of the wheel, remove all the paper and put it next to the original and take a photo so it looks like this! Okay not necessary if you’re not blogging about it Bung the wheel back on and admire.

Okay, so the alloys look tidy now, but they make the tyres look naff and they really show the body work up! This is like decorating a house, once you start one room you have to keep going until they’re all done. Anyone any ideas of how to buff up tyres and keep ‘em buffed?

Rather than put anybody off buying a topless pocket rocket I put together a FREE guide so you know what to look for when buying a used Mazda MX5. There aren’t many faults but some are best avoided and as there are so many on the market you can afford to be choosy.

From what to look for in the bodywork, engine, handling and those hidden expensive boogies, you get free access to all the tips I wish I’d known about when I bought mine! It may well save you a small fortune and more importantly you’ll be sure of bagging a bargain that you can use as a fun car, daily driver and even on the track.

So grab a copy, it’s short, concise and to the point and best of all it’s FREE!

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