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This is actually something that Terry aka Tezzax5 suggested.

The bottom of your front quarter-panel collects debris.
Not sure if this is a problem with NB and NC models, but it certainly is with NA.

There are 2 bolts that are either 12mm or 10mm (Tez's Clubman had 12mm and my povo-pack had 10mm) on the underbody just infront of the door seam, and 2, 8mm/phillips-head bolts in the wheel-well.

Undoing all 4 will allow you to leverage the bottom-rear part of the front quarter-panel.

Get an ice-cream container, place it under the seam, and pull the panel back a few cm.

Long story short, I managed to fill 1/8 of a medium size ice-cream container with debris that got collected in there.

Good tip to help reduce the chance of rust.

Very easy to do ... so do it!

Thanks Terry!

And while you're there, spray a bit of fish oil in there too!
Further reduces the chance.. smells a bit for a day or too but its well worth it!

L.

I think I can go one better ... recently removed the front panel on the NA with a view of looking for a missing bonnet bolt which fell off down the crack in the engine bay into the side panel.

Was surprised to find a rusted old snap-on ratchet tool wedged behind the panel!

Now I don't know whether I can try to return this tool and take advantage of their life time guarantee ... obviously without a receipt this one would have to remain a pub story.

Obviously the previous owner or mechanic dropped it in there (how they did, I wouldn't know) but couldn't be bothered to retrieve it.

how does it get in their?

Good bbq story DH. I'm just wondering what kind of a mechanic would leave (assuming) a perfectly good Snap-on item.

Water drainage hole behind the firewallto the side. I dropped the cap off my clutch master cylinder down there and had to take off inner gaurd to get it back.

There have been quite a few threads on this lately. I found a Stanley knife in my guard once - I was wondering where that had gotten to.

sabretooth wrote:There have been quite a few threads on this lately. I found a Stanley knife in my guard once - I was wondering where that had gotten to.

I found one in my guard too, not the type I ever would have owned, I blame Mazda

I feel jipped now ... all I found were leaves and dirt.

I found placing neatly cut plastic mesh at each side of the panel below the windscreen prevents leaves from building up in the guards.
Without the leaves in there I have noticed that there is no longer any dirt / mud buildup ..... cool, gas and groovy.