gm's unhealthy obsession with mx5s - squeezing in a few last drives before Exo goes into hibernation

[gm]

38 minutes ago, paulplom said:

I'm at doves. I've picked you a bottle up.

£9.60

 

 

 

What a guy ! What time are you home ? I’ll nip through 

[paulplom]

About an hour. Hopefully.

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[gm]

back in the garage, I tidied up the parts I did yesterday

that floor might need a sweep

yep, definitely needs a sweep

ready for action

a couple of hours later I'd finished all the little bits and I was ready to tackle the big one  

the difficulty here is getting in all the nooks and crannies, should be fine once painted

glad I had the mask on, it was spotless inside (grubby fingerprints excepted)

think I might have a shower before I go shopping for me mam

so that's both subframes, eight wishbones, four uprights, a pair of diff mounts and a brace bar all ready for paint.

what a horrible job, sand blast and powder coat next time, for sure.

 

 

[The Moog]

That's why I used bilthamber stuff that you leave it to soak in .

Looking good though .

[gm]

oh bugger, I've just realised I've still got all the brakes to do  

[gm]

no Mazda fettling today as that garage needs cleaning before anything else can happen

all the parts safely stashed in the boot of the Honda, there's no way I'm risking leaving them outside incase it rains

and a couple of hours later and cleanness has been restored.

I collected a blowtorch from @paulplom (many thanks) so tomorrow, I'll have a go at those suspension bushes

[paulplom]

Mine behaved all the way home strangely. Topless of course.

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[gm]

I hàd a quick go at burning those bushes out but the smell was pretty nasty and, as the neighbours were all enjoying the sunshine in their gardens, I thought I'd better leave it for another day  

so I got my shaft out and gave it a jolly good clean

looks ok but as I had a can of engine paint handy

then I sat in the sun and literally watched paint drying  

the power plant frame (the manky aluminium truss leaning against the wall) was in dire need of a scrub - the evil looking green stuff in the bowl was piss poor at shifting the gunk so a wee drop of petrol was needed

big improvement

I might give it a quick coat of wheel silver but it won't be seen under the car anyway

Hopefully my chassis paint will arrive tomorrow and I can crack on with those subframes

 

 

 

[gm]

Moogs mega paint arrived today so I wasted no time and got stuck in

something easy to kick off, the front hub carriers - first coat on and they are looking pretty good

the front subframe turned out well too

the rear subframe was always going to be a challenge as it's an awkward shape and was a bit of a rusty mess

first coat on and it's not too bad

I'll need to buy a rattle can of this stuff to get into all those tricky corners

even with both garage doors open, the fumes were pretty strong - must be good stuff then  

 

[loserone]

Would like to see that stuff up close, it looks very interesting.  Might ping you next time I'm at my 'rents dropping off supplies

[gm]

Always welcome, I'm around most days, for another week anyway  

[paulplom]

You don't hang about. When are you back to work?

[garbaldy]

/\  When he's finished building his car obviously ? ?

Does that paint supposedly kill rust or just hide it ?

[gm]

2 hours ago, garbaldy said:

 

Does that paint supposedly kill rust or just hide it ?

Treats rust and kills it, apparently (I had to go back and check)

https://www.arc-rite.co.uk/corroless-glass-reinforced-black-rustproofing-rust-killer-chassis-paint-choose-size-2167-p#horizontalTab2

[gm]

3 hours ago, paulplom said:

When are you back to work?

not sure but it won't be long, I need to keep moving on this quickly while I have time  

[gm]

the weather was suitably crap enough today that the neighbours weren't hanging out laundry, gardening or barbecuing which finally meant it was time to get busy with @paulplom s blowtorch

yay, fun with fire !

casualties

survivors

another thoroughly unpleasant job ticked off the list

 

[gm]

following from yesterdays bush removal session, I thought it about time I cleaned my nuts  

these have been soaking in vinegar for a week, I rinsed them off and gave them a light coat of wd40 to keep the rust at bay

check out me fancy arb droplinks

then it was time to set up for a marathon painting session

first coat on

i'll flip them over and get the other side after dinner, it's pretty quick drying this paint.

 

[320touring]

I may need to get a tub of that.

 

Good work GM

[gm]

more parts have been arriving so I spent yesterday finishing off that steering rack

reluctant to spend £41.52 EACH ! on genuine Mazda gaiters, I opted for a universal set which fitted nicely once trimmed to suit.

rebuilding the rack turned out to be a mistake as its a bit of an awkward shape to store - it can live on the kitchen floor for now

[paulplom]

Take the plinth off under the units and put it under there.
No tripping over it when you're pissed.

[spartacus]

Just posting to say I'm following this with great interest. I think the kit car boat has sailed for me but you're doing a grand job of allowing me to build one vicariously without the mess!

What's the paint like once it's opened, does it go off quick in the tin, or is it good for use in the future? I was impressed with the results of por 15 but coming back to it a couple of weeks later it would be solid, either that or the lid would be seized on!

[gm]

more universal parts

I've not done CV joints before so watched a couple of youtubes to see what was in store - looked simple enough, how on earth did this take three hours ? and the mess ? christ on a bike, what a horrible job, it will be new driveshafts next time

 

the actual joints seem to be ok, it's just the boots that need replacing

snip, snip

I finally got round to fixing the vice onto the worktop, car battery is there to counterbalance as the worktop is temporary

starting with the inner joint

a quick tap and the end cap is removed, revealing some pretty manky old grease

clean it off and the circlip can be removed

replace the end cap or this will happen and those "bastarding greasy malteaser bastards" will drop out and roll away under the car

 

bearings recovered, cleaned and replaced, end cap on and the inner joint can be removed

moving on to the outer joint, the bands were snipped off and the cover removed

looks like the aftermath of a weekend in Dublin  

old grease cleaned out, plenty of new grease stuffed in and new boots can be fitted

a wee bit heavy handed here, I took some of this out 

with a new boot fitted it was time for the Olympic level swearing to come in to play

what an absolute pig f*cker of a job these metal clips are to fit - thankfully I had the stereo on fairly loud as the naughty words were flying fast and furiously

there are a couple of pics missing as everything was covered in grease by now

finally all back together

what an utter sod of a job, and I'm only half way there. the drivers side is further complicated by the shaft being permanently trapped in the hub

but by now, my technique and language were well practiced and, as quick as a flash, we have 

good as new(ish)

 

 

[gm]

9 minutes ago, spartacus said:

Just posting to say I'm following this with great interest. I think the kit car boat has sailed for me but you're doing a grand job of allowing me to build one vicariously without the mess!

What's the paint like once it's opened, does it go off quick in the tin, or is it good for use in the future? I was impressed with the results of por 15 but coming back to it a couple of weeks later it would be solid, either that or the lid would be seized on!

I'm happy to hear you are enjoying my ramblings   the fun stuff is yet to come

As for the paint, it probably will set in the tin as my used paint brushes are scrap the next day - my usual trick of wrapping them in cling film and sticking them in the fridge was futile.

I bought a 500ml tin which has done two coats on all of the wishbones and one coat on the subframes, I've another tin on order for those subframes and a rattle can for the hard to reach bits, there's various other bits (steering column, pedals and brackets etc) needing painted so I'll get my use out of it.

 

 

[dome]

Excellent work. I hate driveshafts and CV boots. And don't start me on stretchy CV boots. We don't talk about them in this house any more.

Are you marking off days on you calendar till you can go and pick up your kit?

[gm]

As if ?  

(actually because I kept forgetting what day it is during lockdown !) 

[gm]

today's job was to give the mx5 that isn't in pieces a quick clean and take it somewhere nice for some 'for sale' photos. I went to a pub carpark instead  

 

did I mention that the exhaust is noisy ? 

 

then I filled the tank and went for a hoon  

I'll do a proper for sale advert later on but if anyone local @loserone @Shirley Knott @DVee8 @paulplom @Robson3022 fancies coming for a cheeky test drive (even if you're not really interested in buying) you are welcome to come round and have a go. 

[paulplom]

How much you after? Have you done a for sale thread yet?

[gm]

not yet, I'm needing to nip to the shops for me mam, will get one done later this evening  

have an engine bay shot to keep you going 

[paulplom]

Would you sell the dipstick seperately?

[gm]

come and have a drive, you'll want more than the dipstick