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I've seen lots of articles about cleaning soft top drain holes but never thought about this one before..

Yesterday arvo I happened to see some dirt between the join in the black lower sill between the front quarter panel (immediately behind the front wheel) and the front of the door, on both sides.

I unbolted the panel (2 bolts at each side, underneath, 10mm from memory) and the under-wheel arch guard clips (8mm) and pulled the panel away from the bottom, flexed it out a little so I could get my hand in there, below the round indicators on each side.

I found caked dirt from 18 years worth of disintegrated leaves and sticks that have found their way down under the top edge of the bonnet and down the side drains either side at the front of the windscreen.

I got a stick in there and knocked all the dirt out.. you can see the result:



It was worse on the other side. That photo downplays it a little... more dirt there than you think.

Spent half an hour cleaning them all out properly, thankfully minimal spot rust around a couple of bolt holes only that is easily treated.

NA owners, might be worth your time checking this. The bottom of the panel should sound hollow if you hit it with your hand. If not, there's probably years worth of crap in there.

It applies to all cars.
Next check the drain holes in your doors (not as bad usually).

In damp countries it is pretty much the first spot to start rusting. Now it is cleaned out it might be worth treating the spots of rust and applying a generous amount of waxoil or similar to stamp moisture getting in to the paint / metal.

Yeah the dirt was all damp. Not surprised.

Other cars i've owned of similar age have all had debris down there that I've cleared every now and then but nowhere near as much as was in this one nor caked so much onto the inside of the panel, I was shocked. Previous owners obviously never looked once.

I used Pirtek lanolin oil on the inside of the panel to inhibit moisture. Will treat spot rust sometime soon, maybe rust

What? No ant nest in there? Surely a sign that your MX-5 has been pampered! Good tip though. It's something that needs checking and cleaning out every few years, ideally.

When I tried to remove the bolts, they were rusted and the head snapped off. Any ideas on how to remove the remaining part of the bolts?

Try an ez-out or whatever you call it. Its like a claw drill bit that you wack on your drill in reverse and it grabs stripped bolts out and stuff. Should be available at good hardware shops, bunnings etc.


I had to clean my inner quarters out when i rolled my guards. Same deal. Caked with crap and crud enough to fill up half a regular plastic shopping bag.

Give the inside surfaces a spray (as best you can) of fish-oil or similar rust preventative as it's one of the common places for metal cancer.

When I tried to remove the bolts, they were rusted and the head snapped off. Any ideas on how to remove the remaining part of the bolts?

Any easy method would be to jack the car up for clearance, drill the hole out, either re-tap the hole or insert a larger screw into the new hole.

Common issue when parts have not been removed in years!

What a great thread! I've been trying to get rid of ants in my car for months now - just found their nest. Also a red back spider.