Fiting meatle grill to MX5

Doug Matheson · Post by **Doug Matheson** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:24 pm

Just wondering if anyone out there in MX5 land has fitted a custom grill to
their car. Repco sell these in various colours and I thought it could look
O.K ,although fog lights and tow hooks might get in the way.
Cheers Doug

Colin Francis · Post by **Colin Francis** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:48 pm

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:24:58 +1200, you wrote:

Just wondering if anyone out there in MX5 land has fitted a custom grill to their car. Repco sell these in various colours and I thought it could look O.K ,although fog lights and tow hooks might get in the way.
Cheers Doug

Doug . What you call Tow hooks are in fact only tie down hooks for boat
delivery. If you use them for towing you will bugger up the whole front of the
car. They should be removed to residt the temptation to use them for towing .
Just cut wholes in the grill for the foglights .

SEE http://www.teammiata.com/libs/tie-down-hooks.htm

"The front tie-down hooks (sometimes called tow hooks), are NOT meant for towing
but are properly called tie-down hooks. They are used only for shipping the
Miata - first from overseas and then aboard a car hauler to the dealer. The
dealers should probably remove them as part of the prep work - but they don't.
If they are ever used by a tow truck operator to tow your Miata it will cause
serve damage to the nose of your Miata. Of course the operator is not
responsible for any damage and their mistake will cost you some big bucks. If
you ask the dealer to remove the tie-downs during a regular service visit they
will usually do it free of charge."
--
Col

http://miata.cardomain.com/memberpage/684887

Chic Lynch · Post by **Chic Lynch** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:39 am

Colin,

The current thinking on the Tie down/tow hook issue is that they are
perfectly good for towing. It's one of those internet myths that has
spread out of control. The issue apparently was that the older tow trucks
would attach to the hooks and lift up which could have damaged the
bumper. Somehow this information mutated into Tow hooks are evil!!!

PS The misinformation was so widespread that in the early nineties
hundreds of Miata owners sent their hooks to a guy called Jeff Dofing of
the Central Florida Miata Club who welded them together into a sculpture
which he presented to the Miata club of America. Mine are still in my
garage, because they were too expensive to post

)

Cheers

Chic

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:48:26 +1200, Colin Francis wrote:
On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:24:58 +1200, you wrote:

Just wondering if anyone out there in MX5 land has fitted a custom grill

to their car. Repco sell these in various colours and I thought it could
look O.K ,although fog lights and tow hooks might get in the way.

Cheers Doug

Doug . What you call Tow hooks are in fact only tie down hooks for boat
delivery. If you use them for towing you will bugger up the whole front
of the
car. They should be removed to residt the temptation to use them for towing .
Just cut wholes in the grill for the foglights .

SEE http://www.teammiata. com/libs/tie-down-hooks.htm

"The front tie-down hooks (sometimes called tow hooks), are NOT meant for
towing
but are properly called tie-down hooks. They are used only for shipping the
Miata - first from overseas and then aboard a car hauler to the dealer. The
dealers should probably remove them as part of the prep work - but they don't.
If they are ever used by a tow truck operator to tow your Miata it will cause
serve damage to the nose of your Miata. Of course the operator is not
responsible for any damage and their mistake will cost you some big
bucks. If
you ask the dealer to remove the tie-downs during a regular service visit they
will usually do it free of charge."
--
Col

http://miata.cardomain.co m/memberpage/684887

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:33 am

I fitted a (meatle?) mettle grille to my MX5 some months ago. I bought one
with cutouts for the tow hooks as I wanted them left on the car. A year ago
I had the top tank of the radiator split and had to be trucked back to town
for repair. The hooks made it very simple for the tow truck driver to secure
the car to the deck of the truck. It did look rather small and sad up there
though! My grille is black so it wouldn't stand out as a feature.
I don't have the factory fog lights but have fitted a couple of running
lights using the two bolts at the top of the opening. This required no
cutting of the grille.

Grant.

Janet & Jeff Curtin · Post by **Janet & Jeff Curtin** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:36 am

Mx5.s have even been dangled from the hooks by crane to prove they are
strong enough for towing with damage to the car.

Janet&Jeff.
X-Message-Info: A2qyToRgF9SU+LtYS+L+j1N0bmK+XTY5XY+jySJ6BgU=
Received: from mc6-f16.hotmail.com ([65.54.252.152]) by
mc6-s18.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.6713); Sun, 19 Sep
2004 05:42:22 -0700
Received: from majordomo2.host4u.net ([209.150.128.179]) by
mc6-f16.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.6713); Sun, 19 Sep
2004 05:42:21 -0700
Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by majordomo2.host4u.net
(8.11.6/8.11.6) id i8JCdVb23744 for mx5list-list.morpheus; Sun, 19 Sep
2004 07:39:31 -0500
From: Chic Lynch <mx5list@lynchz.com>
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
X-Mailer: PocoMail 3.03 (1740) - Licensed Version
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:39:26 +1200
Message-ID: <200492003926.388650@home-p43ghz>
In-Reply-To: <1GJNQWn3Nh2tAzwz0oHnUlSOEYOD@4ax.com>
Subject: Re: Fiting meatle grill to MX5
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Sender: e-admin@mx5club.org.nz
Precedence: list
Reply-To: MX5List<mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Return-Path: e-admin@mx5club.org.nz
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 19 Sep 2004 12:42:22.0057 (UTC)
FILETIME=[1B907D90:01C49E46]
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html by demime 1.01d

Colin,

The current thinking on the Tie down/tow hook issue is that they are
perfectly good for towing. It's one of those internet myths that has
spread out of control. The issue apparently was that the older tow trucks
would attach to the hooks and lift up which could have damaged the
bumper. Somehow this information mutated into Tow hooks are evil!!!

PS The misinformation was so widespread that in the early nineties
hundreds of Miata owners sent their hooks to a guy called Jeff Dofing of
the Central Florida Miata Club who welded them together into a sculpture
which he presented to the Miata club of America. Mine are still in my
garage, because they were too expensive to post

)

Cheers

Chic

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:48:26 +1200, Colin Francis wrote:
On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:24:58 +1200, you wrote:

Just wondering if anyone out there in MX5 land has fitted a custom grill

to their car. Repco sell these in various colours and I thought it could
look O.K ,although fog lights and tow hooks might get in the way.

Cheers Doug

Doug . What you call Tow hooks are in fact only tie down hooks for boat
delivery. If you use them for towing you will bugger up the whole front
of the
car. They should be removed to residt the temptation to use them for towing .
Just cut wholes in the grill for the foglights .

SEE http://www.teammiata. com/libs/tie-down-hooks.htm

"The front tie-down hooks (sometimes called tow hooks), are NOT meant for
towing
but are properly called tie-down hooks. They are used only for shipping the
Miata - first from overseas and then aboard a car hauler to the dealer. The
dealers should probably remove them as part of the prep work - but they don't.
If they are ever used by a tow truck operator to tow your Miata it will cause
serve damage to the nose of your Miata. Of course the operator is not
responsible for any damage and their mistake will cost you some big
bucks. If
you ask the dealer to remove the tie-downs during a regular service visit they
will usually do it free of charge."
--
Col

http://miata.cardomain.co m/memberpage/684887

Doug Matheson · Post by **Doug Matheson** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:04 pm

Thanks for the advice on the tie/tow hooks Colin. You learn something new
every day
Cheers Doug

David & Judy Kerr · Post by **David & Judy Kerr** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:07 pm

Where did you get your grill from?

Dave.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:32 pm

I got it from here:

http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/

Great service and very quick. Ordered on a Friday night (our time) and it
arrived 10 days later by post. Very easy to fit. At the time I couldn't find
anything locally and orderd mine on the spur of the moment. It's basic
black. I was more concerned with protecting my radiator etc than enhancing
the appearance, although that's always a bonus. As an old conservative I
decided against the polished stainless steal one. Would like to see one
though.
I questioned meatle then got it wrong myself! I will write one hundred times
it is metal!!
Grant.

Doug Matheson · Post by **Doug Matheson** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 11:06 pm

Yes I must learn to spell as well or at least check the spelling in my
emails before sending them
Doug

Who is online