Post by adam1001 on Jul 23, 2012 0:21:48 GMT
Having slipped down to page 10 of the forum I thought it was really time to update my thread. According to my initial plan, I'd have had the car on the road now for about 2-3 months. Unfortunately due to work commitments it's still very much in build stages at the moment. Work on the car stopped completely around April-May time (I was also best man at a friend's wedding which rather held things up too) and soon my garage turned into a no-go zone. The thought of loads of rusty, oily bits lying around everywhere was enough to put me off and the more time passed the less attractive it became. Finally I approached what seemed like an impossible task and actually it was fine. Due to some extraordinarily good labelling (if I don't say so myself) I very quickly worked out what went where. I'd recommend you take time labelling all your nuts, bolts, clips etc. (I bagged all mine up, 200 bags for a quid at Poundsaver).
I managed to wheel the engine out to the back of my house and hose it down with copious quantities of Jizer which did the trick. I still haven't detailed it, but I figure that can come later, at least it's all clean.
I also cleaned up most of the other remaining bits. By far the nastiest job was the brake callipers and holders. I'm guessing that there was some nasty stuff in the dust (after all pads used to have asbestos in them) as I got a nasty cough and my throat went slightly numb for a little while so I'd suggest anyone doing this wears a mask.
Once all the bits were ready, building the PPF back up was astonishingly quick compared to the strip-down. I hadn't marked the prop, so getting it in the right place was a bit of a 1 in 4 chance, but I spent quite a bit of time trying to decode the rust marks on it and I think I've narrowed the chances down slightly.
The significant point was fitting the wingstays to the front hubs: this was the first melding of old and new.
Here are the wheels all finished in black with their new tyres:
Fuel and brake pipes all fitted:
I soon had the PPF assembled (minus brakes) and with the help of a friend lifted the new chassis onto it. I'd bolted the PPF up a bit short, so I'd advise leaving the three PPF to gearbox bolts loose to adjust the length to fit the chassis. Lots of jiggling later it all fitted.
My lovely stainless exhaust which didn't fit. I finally managed to get a refund agreed on Friday.
I was particularly unhappy with the TA Technix shocks as they were touching the driveshafts at the back so I started looking into other brands. Then I found another MX-5 on Ebay with BC Racing shocks on it and decided to buy it. Admittedly it's a pretty convoluted way of getting free coilovers but it was a fun mission and I reckon I should make a good profit. It had 14" 8J Compomotives, IL Motorsport headlights, a style bar (which was 'fixed' in with 2 screws) and loads of other goodies. I stripped it back to a standard car which sold to a Nigerian fraudster in Luton (well he sounds like one anyway). His wife apparently bidded on it by mistake and he's far too busy to come and collect it at the moment. The joys of Ebay.
My mum made me a cake for my birthday in June, but for some reason the 7 of '37' went astray.
I've had it with my Citroen C3 so I bought a new toy today which is a bit nice. It'll keep me going until the Exo's on the road anyway.
And that pretty much brings me up to date. I'm currently fitting the brakes and then I'll move onto the petrol tank.
I managed to wheel the engine out to the back of my house and hose it down with copious quantities of Jizer which did the trick. I still haven't detailed it, but I figure that can come later, at least it's all clean.
I also cleaned up most of the other remaining bits. By far the nastiest job was the brake callipers and holders. I'm guessing that there was some nasty stuff in the dust (after all pads used to have asbestos in them) as I got a nasty cough and my throat went slightly numb for a little while so I'd suggest anyone doing this wears a mask.
Once all the bits were ready, building the PPF back up was astonishingly quick compared to the strip-down. I hadn't marked the prop, so getting it in the right place was a bit of a 1 in 4 chance, but I spent quite a bit of time trying to decode the rust marks on it and I think I've narrowed the chances down slightly.
The significant point was fitting the wingstays to the front hubs: this was the first melding of old and new.
Here are the wheels all finished in black with their new tyres:
Fuel and brake pipes all fitted:
I soon had the PPF assembled (minus brakes) and with the help of a friend lifted the new chassis onto it. I'd bolted the PPF up a bit short, so I'd advise leaving the three PPF to gearbox bolts loose to adjust the length to fit the chassis. Lots of jiggling later it all fitted.
My lovely stainless exhaust which didn't fit. I finally managed to get a refund agreed on Friday.
I was particularly unhappy with the TA Technix shocks as they were touching the driveshafts at the back so I started looking into other brands. Then I found another MX-5 on Ebay with BC Racing shocks on it and decided to buy it. Admittedly it's a pretty convoluted way of getting free coilovers but it was a fun mission and I reckon I should make a good profit. It had 14" 8J Compomotives, IL Motorsport headlights, a style bar (which was 'fixed' in with 2 screws) and loads of other goodies. I stripped it back to a standard car which sold to a Nigerian fraudster in Luton (well he sounds like one anyway). His wife apparently bidded on it by mistake and he's far too busy to come and collect it at the moment. The joys of Ebay.
My mum made me a cake for my birthday in June, but for some reason the 7 of '37' went astray.
I've had it with my Citroen C3 so I bought a new toy today which is a bit nice. It'll keep me going until the Exo's on the road anyway.
And that pretty much brings me up to date. I'm currently fitting the brakes and then I'll move onto the petrol tank.