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Post by exoRy on Mar 17, 2014 20:43:03 GMT
Hi All.
My name is Ryan, I'm 25 and from Coventry.....
("Take me out" style introduction out of the way, I'll get on with the important stuff)
I first saw the Mev Exocet about a year and a half ago (around Oct 2012) and was instantly grabbed by the price and the looks.
Loved how unique it was and the side of the car look so "exposed" and lightweight. I've never attempted anything like this before (I've only ever changed the wheel on my car once and that was it), but still thought I could give it a good attempt and use it as a good learning experience for when I need to do general maintenance/stuff for MOT on my daily driver (Peugeot 207)!
After a year or so of umm-ing and ahh-ing (and lurking on the forums every night - no exaggeration!), I finally decided that I should just go for it! Went to see Stuart in MEV HQ in November time, to see the workshop and ask tons of questions that I'm sure he gets bored of answering!
Started looking for a suitable MX5 around the start of December, trawling ebay/gumtree every night. Saw quite a few candidates however most were miles away and in their condition was too good!. I really wanted a car that needed a bit of body work doing (to help keep the initial cost down).
An ad in the shoutbox advertising 2 MX5s (both write-offs) was put up just before Christmas, skip forward to first week of Jan, I popped down to Essex with my mate and the car transporter and picked up the following car for £400.
Ideal and its only done ~59900 miles 
Got the car back home (was sitting on my parent's driveway until the first week of March). Covered it in plastic sheeting as it was having a bit of trouble keeping water out. New battery bought (the old one lasted a week or two then just gave up), not that experienced with buying cars, however could definitely tell that thing was running sweetly.
Got the car VIC'd start of March (didn't fancy a Q plate when it comes to IVA/Registration) and got it into its new home (below). Was a bit unsure about how the VIC would go (I was guaranteed that the car would pass by the previous owner), however was worried as the back of the car had been subject to quite a big impact and I've read online that they can get quite arsey when there's damage and sometimes refuse to look at the car if its considered "dangerous" (also phoned VOSA twice, spoke to 2 different people and got 2 entirely different answers to the same question - put me at ease as a first-timer  ).
The morning of the VIC, I got up early to clean the interior, the clumps of fluffy mould on the seatbelts/seats/roof from the damp could have rendered it a hazard to the inspector.
I needn't have worried, car passed and the guy didn't seem to care much and was pushing me to get it taxed and on the road!
Sent off the Docs for the V5 and declared it SORN, so thought i'd have a go at stripping it over the weekend.
What lovely weather for it! Armed with my mate (who's as mechanically inept as me) a set of tools and the enthusiast workshop manual (Granger and Shoemark), we started work!
Here's a few pics from the weekend
 
Got the back end panels removed (was hit from the rear in its accident)
 Struggled to get the rear seat bolts out (on both sides) as there was not a lot of room to get my arms in a get some force behind it. So I used the brace bar (from behind the seats) to give it a bit more force. Came out easily with me pushing against it. 
My mate who came over to help
 
Close of play Saturday 
Starting to run out of room in the garage, so metal was left out for the scrap man this morning!
Amazing what you can find under the seats; a walking map and some prescription medication 
Will see how well the pills work next weekend. May increase work rate or may be oestrogen and give me lady parts 
Sunday: Made a start on the dash
Can't really see it from the photos, but the left rear wheel is slightly toed in from the accident. Was made aware at the time of purchase, hoped it would be something small like one of the suspension arms, however on closer inspection it seems to be that one of the upper suspension arm mounts on the rear subframe has been bent. Not a massive deal as I've seen a few floating around on ebay/gumtree for ~£50
So plans for the build: proper strip down (most bushes I've seen the edges of look tatty and probably need replacing), get everything sandblasted and powder coated, and it's just in time for a major service (water pump etc).
Maybe looking to turbo in the future (after I've had a play with it of course), however can't really say as I've never been in one/seen one moving (in the flesh) so not sure of the power it comes with due to the weight loss.
Can say so far I've learnt incredible amounts just from reading build guides on this forum alone and didn't realise I was going to enjoy last weekend as much as I did. Can't wait for the next one already...... |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2014 20:45:08 GMT
Keep it coming mate, loads of help from some great people on here
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Post by biggunz on Mar 17, 2014 21:09:56 GMT
Welcome!
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Post by steadfast on Mar 17, 2014 21:27:24 GMT
Looking good, and welcome to the club. Any idea on a color scheme yet?
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Post by jgilbert on Mar 17, 2014 22:52:38 GMT
Welcome, I'm sure you have read it on others posts but take time to label ALL the electrical connections well. Take lots of photos and then take even more. It helps when you start the rebuild process. Good luck and keep the posts coming.
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Post by gwnwar on Mar 18, 2014 6:07:36 GMT
Welcome to the forum.. Looks like you have had a great weekend.. Here is a link to some info and wiring on the MX5s www.mellens.net/mazda/ and if not a member check out and join(free) www.miata.net/lots of info and good Garage Section.. |
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Post by miket on Mar 18, 2014 7:51:16 GMT
From my recent novice experience I'd add something I wish I'd known/done before dismantling - to use the braking system to push out the front caliper pistions. (Hope it's not too late).
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Post by reeves on Mar 18, 2014 20:06:49 GMT
Why push out the calliper pistons? (Can you guess I'm a novice too!)
Watching this closely as I'm in a very similar position. Moving house next week (fingers crossed) so aim to start in the summer / autumn , can't wait!
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Post by exoRy on Mar 18, 2014 20:33:27 GMT
Thanks for the welcomes, info/links and advice guys! steadfast - not too sure on the scheme yet, originally had in my head (way way back) that I'd go orange panels on black chassis. But recently I've seen Nobby's build thread and really like the white on black (reminds me of the first time I saw the BAC mono). Had a thought today though - has anyone done a yellow/blue combo?? I think yellow panels on a blue frame might look ok??? Thoughts? miket - like reeves I'm a bit curious about getting the calliper pistons out. However do I (can I) reassemble the brakes without the pistons so it can still be on its wheels as I push/pull it out the garage to work on it? Or would I have to have chock the wheels? I'm planning to drain the fuel tank soon too, was sold to me with half a tank (if the fuel gauge is to be believed), was thinking about a standard syphon - hose in the tank to get this into a can. Also, I'm coming pretty close to getting to a point where I'll properly turn it off till it's "Exocet-ed", is there anything I should do/can be made easier with battery still connected and engine able to run??? |
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Post by scooby1929 on Mar 18, 2014 21:02:52 GMT
There is a drain hole at the bottom left side of the tank
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2014 22:31:49 GMT
Thanks for the welcomes, info/links and advice guys! steadfast - not too sure on the scheme yet, originally had in my head (way way back) that I'd go orange panels on black chassis. But recently I've seen Nobby's build thread and really like the white on black (reminds me of the first time I saw the BAC mono). Had a thought today though - has anyone done a yellow/blue combo?? I think yellow panels on a blue frame might look ok??? Thoughts? miket - like reeves I'm a bit curious about getting the calliper pistons out. However do I (can I) reassemble the brakes without the pistons so it can still be on its wheels as I push/pull it out the garage to work on it? Or would I have to have chock the wheels? I'm planning to drain the fuel tank soon too, was sold to me with half a tank (if the fuel gauge is to be believed), was thinking about a standard syphon - hose in the tank to get this into a can. Also, I'm coming pretty close to getting to a point where I'll properly turn it off till it's "Exocet-ed", is there anything I should do/can be made easier with battery still connected and engine able to run??? There is a yellow on blue car on here somewhere, mines yellow on gunmetal |
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Post by gwnwar on Mar 19, 2014 5:48:37 GMT
You can roll the unit around with out the calipers or there brackets on the car..There will also be no parking brake so have some wooden block handy. If you are planning to strip down all running gear loose the rear axle nuts 1 1/8" before removing brakes to stop wheel from turning.. Fuel tank drain on bottom of tank left side.Have a couple of short buckets to drain fuel into..
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Post by miket on Mar 19, 2014 7:57:25 GMT
reeves - I wanted the callipers out because I knew my brakes had a history of being useless and the discs/pads showed that continued to the current day - so I wanted to do a refurb of them. The rears can be wound out but the fronts can't - so if you're planning a front brake refurb it's easiest to remove them whilst the braking system's intact.
exoRy - I'd read (possibly in Rod's manual) that it's easy to damage the fuel tank drain plug/area so I opted to cut into the lowest fuel line,... but I knew I only had a litre or so left in and I still found messing with fuel very unnerving. I later found there was some still fuel in there and successfully syphoned it out with a slender tube - a transparent one so that I could can see the fuel rather than drink it. There's still a tiny bit in there so the drain hole may do a more thorough job.
If you're going to work on the fuel system within hours of 'turn-off' and have had it running then depressurise the fuel system.
Also put the headlamps up (no biggie if you don't).
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Post by exoRy on Mar 25, 2014 20:56:47 GMT
Not much to report from the weekend I'm afraid. Worked on the car all day Saturday, however looking at the photos I've taken, it doesn't look like I've done much. Managed to get the dash out, not as easy as I was hoping, lots struggling to get the wiring loom off the metal bar which supports the dash and getting my fat fingers in the gaps and getting screws out.
Got it all off and out, carpet out, fuel system depressurised, and began separating the rest of the loom from the body. Again garage is filling up rapidly with bits and pieces, have had a quick look on ebay/gumtree and there doesn't seem to be such a booming market for pieces of MX5s as there was from build threads a few years back??
Fuel system was much easier than I expected, thought it'd take about 30mins to get my head in gear and get it done. Instead; start up car, locate fuel relay, disconnect, listen to car quietly slip away - not be be started again til it's been "Exocet-ed". Took 5 mins!
Made a little start on the engine bay - only got a chance to remove air filter and heater pipes. Will these heater pipes need to be blanked off when I come to put it all back together??
Anyway here's how we looked close of play on Saturday
Had the best of intentions to get back working on the car on Sunday, but a comedy night and drinks for a mates birthday called and spent Sunday a shell of my former self! Definitely struggling to handle it like I used to 
Next weekend; continue with getting most of the loom from the rear/interior out, then get back on the engine bay.
Haven't spotted any "big bolts" which hold the body to the PPF yet, are there many/am I blind?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2014 21:02:22 GMT
Good work mate, keep it up...
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