Phil's Restorations and Mazdas in the Mist
19 February 2022 / Words and Photos: Senia Gaunson.
We started off our day of adventure from Haywards Bay, a little late on a drizzly Saturday morning.
Wally led us along a wet Macquarie Pass, only to be held up along the way by an upturned SUV who
had obviously taken Macquarie Pass for granted, not realising the speed warnings along the way
were there for a reason, wouldn’t happen in an MX5 we thought, they grip the road much better
than that!
Coffee and breakfast at Burrawang General store and lots of chats with other, like minded MX5
members is always a fun time. It was good to see Bryan and Ann Hicks from Sydney, as well as John
and Frances Molden from RPM, join us, along with a couple of our new members, Damian and Julie
Sims.
From Burrawang, Phil led us back to his home at Windang, where he and Jennifer spoilt us with
coffees, teas and cakes and showed us Phil’s amazing workshop and restoration project, an MX5 NA,
nearing completion. I know NOTHING about car restorations, so Bob will continue this story……
Phil has done an amazing job rebuilding his Mazda NA. It is to such a high standard that people
reckoned they could eat their dinner off the underside of the car.
Phil discovered that one of the wires inside the petrol tank had lost some of its’ insulation, that could
be a potential fire hazard. He was concerned by this and thought it may be a common problem in
the NA’s.
Phil’s garage was impressively clean and tidy, with parts filed in neat containers, with spare engine
and gearbox available as well, just in case. The paint job in acrylic lacquer was also impressive, in a
dark BMW green colour. His library of folders on the various topics of NA construction should make
him an authority on the restoration of this model, and would be extremely useful to other restorers.
Everyone was impressed with the high standard of work and we look forward to seeing the finished
car at the various car shows.
Senia and Bob Gaunson
