New car into the fold!!

Hi there peeps. Just had a new addition to the jap car family this weekend!

Please say hello to, (My other half who is technically the owner insists we keep the name given by the previous owner!)

MISSY MX5!!









As you can see she's a 1990 MK1 MX5, 1.6 n/a.

She's a present for Lyn, (my other half), and also a bit of a project for me!! She's a bit scabby and rough around the edges but the chassis is sound and so is the interior, and more importantly the hood is good and watertight too!!

Got a few plans already, mainly tidying the bodywork, bit of a service, maybe an engine rebuild in the future! The rear arches need attention as they're a bit scabby, the sills need a little bit of work too. Paintwork is not bad, but may end up with a respray eventually after I've done the bits of rust. Found the exhaust has a nice hole in it! Well, the mid silencer has basically come away from the rear pipe, the silencer has split all the way round and pulls away from the pipe when you wobble it!!! Also needs undersealing, but need a garage or a nice warm, dry weekend for that!!

I'll update the thread as I get the jobs done, or as I come across any problems along the way!!

Bet she will be well pleased mate......nice car for the Summer Dude....

Nice little project mate will be good to see the progress

^^^ already having a few nice days to have the top down. The Mera hasn't got a sunroof

Neithers the corolla mate

Well, decided to make a start on the revival of the old girl today, loads to do and not really sure where to start!! So I started with the basics, a service!! I won't bore you with pictures or too much detail!!

Did the basics really, oil and filter, air filter, plugs and leads, alternator and PAS belts. Tried to do the fuel filter but failed due to lots of rust and nuts with rounded heads!! The fuel filter sits underneath the car and should be covered with a plastic shield, but it isn't. Therefore it has been covered in water and road salt and is just one block of solid rust!! I'm currently waiting on a new bracket and bits for the fuel filter. I need to change the timing belt but need to find out whether I need just the belt or the pulley set as well.

Also had to reset the base idle, as she had a nasty habit of stalling when coming to a stop and putting the clutch in. Turned out to be very low so definitely needed doing!! Elsewhere I changed the window regulator and motor on the passenger side due to a snapped cable. The car came with all the bits so it was as easy to replace the lot rather than try to fit new cables!!

That's it for now, gonna tackle the rust next, hopefully shouldn't be too bad. The majority is just surface rust, so just a bit of work to get rid, treat and prime!! There are a couple of spots though, the bottom of the N/S front wing has gone, needs cutting out and a new piece welding in!! Then the rear arches, they need a lot of work!! The best way would be to cut them out and weld in new, but I'm not that skilfull and can't weld for toffee!! Will cost a fortune to get it done properly. I think it's gonna have to be the cheats way, grind the rust out and use filler or fibreglass to rebuild and reshape them!!

Well I'll keep you posted, and next time I'll get some pics up!!

Cool

Be a nice project.......

Well, was hoping to get started on the rust this week as the weather is good. Unfortunately I'm still waiting on a few bits I've ordered of t'internet!! Guess it will have to wait for now!!

In the meantime I recieved this today!!



This is a style bar that Lyn quite fancied so being the generous chap that I am, I bought it!! No structural issues, no crash or roll protection, just purely cosmetic!! In order to fit it, I had to remove this!



Which took me all of about two minutes!!

Two 10mm bolts and a ratchet spanner later, and voila!!



And here it is with the tonneau cover I found going cheap too!



That's it really!! Although I did show the Rex a bit of love today too!!

Still waiting on my flap wheels and Scotchbrite pad to arrive, so the rust is still sat there, taunting me and getting away with eating the car slowly but surely!! So I decided to do a couple of little jobs that needed doing anyway.

Finally recieved a parcel I've been waiting for for a few weeks now. Turns out the guy who I bought the bits from had been ill and hadn't got anyone else to send it for him!!! Oh well, better late than never. So I now have......

Replacement boot carpet and trim, the existing one is a bit on the mouldy side!!



A replacement fuel filter with bracket, the one on the car is solid with rust and I've had to butcher it to get it off!!



A plastic shield for the fuel filter, which hopefully, in conjuction with WD40 and copper grease, will prevent the same from happening again!!



And a new gearshift and handbrake gaitor, gearknob and replacement cubby, which goes where the ashtray is!!



I won't bore you with too many pics and details, just the two!

Before.



And after!!



Definite improvement I think!! Hope the weather is this good next time I'm off work, I want to get that rust sorted!!

little things make a big difference, looking good.

Nice touch's....

Alrighty then!! Finally got my arse into gear yesterday and decided to have a go at this rust. As I'm a complete novice at these things, I thought I'd try an inconspicous area first!!




I removed the sill plate and thought I'd tackle the small bit of rust there. This is what I was looking at.



So I assembled all the bits I'd need for the job in hand.



Including the all important brew!! First things first, I got to work on it with my angle grinder and a 40 grit flap wheel. Bit awkward due to the door being in the way, I really couldn't be bothered to take it off so I worked round it as best I could. I was left with this.



I was planning on treating it with a rust eater so I bought some of this.



Applied it and left it to do it's thing!! Then the battery on my camera died, and my phone was flat, and even my iPod had died!! So I carried on without a visual record. (More for me than anyone else!! So I could see where I went wrong, if I did!!)

Basically after it had reacted, I keyed the surface and mixed and applied filler. Then we had a small family emergency so I packed in for the day.

This morning I started again. This is how I left it and so I set to work sanding it down to something like smooth.



After what seemed like an eternity it was virtually there. Not perfect, but not bad!! I switched to a finer grit and carried on. Eventually it looked like this.



I was happy with it so I thought I'd have a go at masking up so I could paint it. This turned out to be a bit of a nightmare for an incompetent fool like me!! Eventually I'd managed to cobble it all together and I was ready to start!!



This is after the first coat of primer, while it dries I'm having a brew and some food and updaiting this thread!!



I'm planning on wet sanding it and priming a few times until I'm happy with it, then attempt the top coat!! Should be fun!!

Inbetween coats of primer I'll get the back wheels off and get it jacked up ready to start the arches!!

Any comments, critiscisms, advice or anything else is welcome!!

Well we've come to a grinding halt. Turns out the rear arches are way worse than I anticipated! There's more filler and rust than there is metal!! So I'm left with two choices. I either stump up the cash and get a proffesional to cut out the old and weld in two new rear arches and sills, or I call it quits.

This is what I found when I started working on the arches this afternoon.








As you can see the metal, (where there is any!!), is completley rusted all the way through. I told Lyn who has fallen completly in love with the car over the last few weeks, and she said if I don't get it fixed I have to buy her another!! So I suppose I need to weigh up how much it will cost to repair the car, against how much I can get for breaking it, with a view to buying another!! The joys of motoring!!

ouch, someone beat you to the bodge, i hate that.