Road legal, briefly

The first week with the MX-5 went pretty much how you would expect from a 24-year-old roadster: a clean inspection, a snapped belt, roadside troubleshooting, and an exhaust upgrade that turned into more work than planned.

Not perfect, but exactly the kind of chaos that makes an old car feel like a project.

Starting with the exhaust

Before the car was officially on Dutch plates, I found a Kobalt stainless steel rear silencer through the German marketplace. I wanted a single-exit exhaust, preferably stainless, and Kobalt has a solid reputation for quality.

The condition was almost like new, so the plan seemed simple: remove the old rear silencer, bolt on the Kobalt, done.

Of course, it was not that simple.

Rust had other plans

The original exhaust was completely crusty. The bolts between the midpipe and rear silencer were too far gone, so I decided to replace the whole rear section properly.

I ended up with a Malian stainless midpipe. It is basically more of a straight pipe than a silenced section, which sounded fun, and after some forum digging the diameters seemed to match the Kobalt setup nicely.

RDW first

With the RDW inspection coming up, I left the exhaust alone for the moment. With temporary plates on white cardboard, a one-day registration and insurance, I drove to the inspection station in Heerenveen.

Driving it for the first time in the Netherlands already felt good, even on temporary plates. Luckily, the car passed without drama.

Roadside reality check

That good mood lasted about ten kilometres.

Near Joure, the check engine light came on. Nothing looked obviously wrong, so I carefully continued. A bit later, near Sneek, the electronics started acting weird, the engine shut off, and it would not restart.

Standing next to a 100 km/h road with your freshly imported MX-5 is not exactly the dream first drive.

The culprit

At first I thought the alternator had seized, because the belt had snapped. But the alternator was basically new and turned fine, so my best guess is that the belt may have been fitted too tightly.

The snapped belt had whipped around the crank pulley and destroyed the crank position sensor. Without that sensor, the engine simply had no idea what was going on.

Back in the garage

My brother towed me back to Bolsward. Not the victory lap I had in mind after a clean RDW inspection, but luckily the damage was clear and not too expensive.

I ordered a new multi-belt and crank position sensor, then went back to the exhaust. The old system had to be cut out, the rubbers and gaskets were replaced, and the Malian midpipe and Kobalt rear silencer went on with the original catalytic converter still in place.

Back to life

Once the new belt and sensor arrived, everything was back together within about two hours.

Turning the key was still a little tense, but luckily it fired up straight away and ran perfectly again.

How it sounds

I expected the new setup to be louder, especially with the Malian midpipe being basically a straight pipe. But the Kobalt tones it down a lot.

It sounds a little deeper and slightly louder than stock, without becoming raspy, sharp, or annoying. A proper upgrade, but still very usable.

First week ownership

So, first week summary: passed inspection, broke down, got towed back, replaced a belt and sensor, and fitted a stainless exhaust setup.

A little chaotic, but also kind of perfect.

The Dutch registration has now been approved. Tomorrow I should be able to get the plates made, and then the MX-5 can finally hit the road properly.