Okay – I thought I’d start with something easy. Wiper blades – can’t get much easier than that! The motors run fine so there’s no need to replace those – I just need to decide on some blades. Did I mention, that being decisive is not one of my strong points? Stick me in a car show room, Halfords or any car part place and I act like a starving donkey between two bales of hay – in other words, I just stand stare, ogle everything, pick up every available pack and marvel at the ingenuity, time and craftsmanship that has gone into making the most simplest of objects that should cost a few pence ending up costing an arm and a leg. Don’t get me started on the packaging. Maurice needs to be done on a budget – a very small budget, after all he’s a very small car So, I need to overcome my natural state to be a marketing man’s dream and learn to be practical, thrifty and decisive. So, first I had a look on t’internet to see what was out there in terms of wiper blades. I found a cracking site – I love the widget that tells you what wipers go with your car. Then I nearly fell off my laptop at the price, £25 quid for a couple of bits of rubber! I don’t care if they’re Bosch – I believe they make washing machines -and I’d want one for that price.

Then I found these 3 edged wiper blades – correct me if I’m wrong but I see 9 edges there or am I just being picky If you haven’t driven an MX5 you won’t appreciate just how small the windscreen is and how much less visibility you have than in a normal grown up size car – they is tiny and as the rear view mirror and your tax disc holder seem to take up most of the allowed room on your windscreen – whopping big wipers aren’t a good idea in my mind.

So I kept on looking and found these Who’d have thought it! Pink windscreen wipers! OMG! Ick! Blurg!! Far too Jordanesque – did I mention I’d like this car to look GOOD. Pink wipers are out then, lets go for good ol’ black at a reasonable price, that just do the job.

What I bought:

I ended up buying Bosch Wiper Blades Super Plus – why? I like the name – BOSCH – I like saying it and no I didn’t pay £25.00, I dropped in at my local neighbourhood car store – remember them? the kind of shop with people you know, that smile and chat while they grease the arms of the wiper and then fit the blades for you? Well, they said they’d be fine, so that’s good enough for me and they only cost me £5.99 each. Not the cheapest I’ve seen but they’re black, small, neat and the guy didn’t look at me like I was barking mad when I asked him not to fit them for me! According to the pack they will give me maximum screen contact, up to 300hrs use, silent wiping and a clear view of the roads in all conditions and are easy to fit! Last time I tried to fit wiper blades I managed to get them upside down and anyway but the right way up, but this pair have an idiot proof pre-mounted Quick Clip making ‘changing your wiper blades quick and easy.’ They don’t know me very well do they?

What I did:

Took off the old wiper blades – the old ones had a small clip that held them in the arm of the wiper – the photo’s not so good but you need to press it to get the wiper off.

This is the bit where I generally spend ten minutes turning the wiper round to work out which way it goes. Lift the arm upright and turn the blade so the rubber side is uppermost. Slide the hook of the arm through the hole at the side of the clip as in the photo.

Lift the hook over the top of the clip and pull up the wiper to clip it firmly in place.

There we go! New blades all fitted – make sure they sit snuggly on the windscreen and it doesn’t hurt to squidge a bit of grease or WD40 on the hinge of the arm to make sure they keep running smoothly. Who said this restoring cars was going to be difficult?

Other stuff you might like.

• What you need to know about engine oil…
• How to change the oil on your MX5
• Replacing the air flow meter…
• Changing the sparkplugs on an MX5
• Changing the air filter on an MX5