gm

fearing the worst, i removed the drivers side wing to see what horrors lurked not quite so bad as “foamy bob” hadn't been at work on this side. still, at least i know what i’m up against- will see what dvee8’s mate says tomorrow

very similar to how my green v-spec looks the black one was also a v-spec but i did this to it great little cars

first one of the year down at teeside https://flow.alphatiming.co.uk/teesside/book/activity/h_57AZ0sGEu3y7sMOlzvBQAD/availability?d=2024-02-12 i might finally find out if the cooperS is any good on track

a lad who does welding that @DVee8 knows through work is coming to have a look on friday, if he offers a reasonable price i may be tempted to throw more money at this - i’m already “baws deep” into it, what’s a few more quid ?

the frustrating thing is that i’m not planning g to keep this one - as soon as it’s done it will be up for sale. anyone mad enough to make me an offer as it stands just now ? it’s mechanically sound, someone with more enthusiasm for welding could have themselves a bargain ! @loserone ?

anyone want to see how solid the other side is ? nah, me neither not quite as bad but still a pain in the arse. i suppose i’ll need to whip the front wing off and check behind there too

i’m pretty much playing it by ear with the welder settings so will give it a go - it’s frustrating getting it just right on nice clean metal on the bench then it going hopelessly wrong when doing it for real i’ve got a few days off work and the forecast is shite for this week so i’ll get stuck in and report back

i arrived home from work to find a surprise delivery on my doorstep should come in very handy, many thanks @DVee8

great news - it started first time after the show not so great news - she no longer trusts the car and a replacement will need to be found i’ve been dropping hints about her trying an automatic for a while now as her clutch control isn’t the best, maybe this could be a blessing ? suggestions for a smallish (corsa sized) four door petrol automatic anyone ?

some kind of euphemism ? this year will mark 20 years of mx5 ownership for me - can’t see me changing sides now

so i swept up the remains of my sill removed the outer wing for better access and had another poke around not great potentially fixable but not straight forward by any means. i’ll have a go at the other side, if that is ok, i’ll make an effort at this one, if not, well, best not to think about that just yet. the mot expires at the end of feb, the black one is due at the end of march - and that needs welding too. bloody mazdas

you know how young and impressionable we all are round here !

that is a good corner, i’ll give it a go

i had to do the mercy dash to rescue mother gm tonight - her and pals were heading to whitley bay theatre for a show, whilst lost in the town centre, her astra stalled and wouldn’t restart. i legged it through and found them all still sitting in the car (i did suggest they pop into the ‘spoons round the corner for a cuppa) stranded in the middle of the road, several foot off the kerb. not one passer by had offered help or to push the car to the side of the road we’ve had trouble with this in the past but a replacement clutch switch appeared to have solved the problem. maybe i should have bought a genuine replacement and not a cheap aftermarket part. anyway, i jumped in and gave the clutch pedal a good stomping, turned the key and got them going. i’m now killing time in the aforementioned ‘spoons while they enjoy the bootleg beatles if it doesn’t start when they come out, the sodding thing is being abandoned and i’ll take them all home in the bini. bloody moderns !

this seems to happen every few months, the chester moor roundabout on the A167, it’s a 50mph limit on that stretch too

still no response from the seller, ebay have just refunded me. great - three weeks wasted waiting for a delivery they had no intention of sending

hellfire - i thought my little mazda was bad but i’m sunday league compared to that ! good luck

only one problem i’ll have a good poke around the rest of the car before committing myself, unfortunately i’m into this for a good few quid so need it mot’d and on the road to have a chance of breaking even

the front wing, whilst being in good condition, didn’t seem to be very secure. perhaps that is because there’s not much there to secure it to oh you dirty bastard this is not what i signed up for. (remember this is the car with a £2grand bill for sill restoration in november 2021) i went inside and opened a beer

chop, bend, etc spot welds to hold in place and slightly less shit pidgin shit round the edges i’ll grind that back in a bit, but first there’s something else i need to look at…

you know how get to carnegie hall, don't ya ? practice ! maybe if i use finer wire ? yes, that’s more like it

in the meantime, the green monster has been getting a bit of attention first off ditch that rattly old heat shield then there’s this to attend to new work light proving very effective chop chop weetabix template made find a suitable sheet of tin and get cutting time to test out my christmas present body hammers ha ! not a chance ! break out the big guns bish bash bosh now the easy* bit oh fuck, that’s terrible ! turns out i can’t weld for shit …to be continued…

the Exo has been hibernating since the end of november so i thought it might be a good idea to check on the state of the battery still showing 11.8v after 8 weeks tucked away in the garage round at me mams house - i’d better hook it up to the trickle charger but, just in case, maybe i should see if it will start ? damn thing fired up first turn of the key ! bloody impressive that shame it’s not going anywhere for a while yet i stuck it on charge anyway, won’t do any harm

same here, ordered sun 7th, still waiting