billybunters - from a bmw z4 to a mx5 se

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:13 pm

i decided to go back to the front end on the SE today and rub off the tri colour paint I placed on a few days earlier and then remove the bar. pretty straight forward apart from this hidden bolt location above the top wheel arch mold. tricky to get at but can be done with a bit of patience

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:19 pm

once you remove the front bar its a lot of work to go in and clean up this area - lots of tight spots to get into. I could have got out of it and forgot about it totally but seeing i'd like to do this job properly I have no choice but to pull it down and get into it :lol:

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:21 pm

so to get into it better off with the hood - front bar support and the headlights and after that a lot of hard rubbing with the 400 wet and dry sandpaper

speed · Postby **speed** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 5:21 pm

Loving the enthusiasm!

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billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:09 pm

thanks - you could say it's keeping me busy :lol:

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 11:03 am

Certainly worth doing properly. Forgotten how much work was involved from when you painted it white.

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 1:30 pm

well I have to do it right or the best I can do it anyway!.....as I am being watched by another interested party with a better paint job :lol:

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 5:27 pm

first thing today was the work on pulling the scuttle bay area apart then giving it a good wash down with grease and wax remover. after that the usual 400 wet rub with the sandpaper.

although mostly a hidden area I though I might as well do it thorough and as usual it took more time than expected

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 5:30 pm

after that I moved over tp the passenger side door and pulled the exterior mirror then the windscreen surround rubber and cut it back too, the wrenched out the delrin door blocks

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 5:34 pm

followed by rubbing down the passenger side inner door, good idea for removing the rubber seal rather that just pulling it out and ripping the rubber and stuffing it - just squeeze the rubber where it is attached to the clip and pull it one side and slip it out of its hole then slide it the other way - no damage.

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 5:36 pm

after that I had a good look at the interior wher I tried to do the colour change from red to black. I did thye job alright but I had sprayed around the problem. so I pulled the lot and now will re spray the complete interior too :lol:

this time properly :wink:

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:53 pm

6 years or so ago when I painted the car I had no idea how to get the door weather strip to window off so just masked up to the rubber and eventually paid the price with paint chip. looked a bit untidy so to cover that move I ran a 6 or 8mm chrome molding over the top. it looked passable and served the purpose of the cover up.

looking at that same weather strip yesterday I could see I have a problem festering all over again. this time I took a better look at it as I had the door cards off. either end of the strip is clipped to the door by a rubber plug and looking from the inside of the door I could see 3 clips holing it on but in total there were five.

so I shone the torch in there with the window fully down and thought if I could get a couple off I might be able to get the lot. I used the end of a small paint scraper to push the clip dead centre as I pulled it down and pushed it towards the exterior of the car. it popped and I did the same with the second. after that I just moved the unit up and down and it worked loose and it was out pretty quick.....so all good

you can see now they are out ...why they are out :lol:

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:54 pm

damaged paint

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:59 pm

after that I thought I might as well take the door handles too :lol:

I could see they were held on by 2 10mm nuts plus the 2 rods to actuate the door. last time these too were left alone but suffered no ill effect.

I used a long nose pliers to gently turn the plastic holder on the bottom rod to the left and the top one flicked straight up. left side 10mm was easy to get and I noticed a rubber plug in the door so pulled it and it lined up nicely for 10mm nut number 2.

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 5:03 pm

after that I decided I might as well chase that body line black body line which goes around the rear of the car and the soft top rest on. I masked it too and it also wore the chrome strip from paint chip.

that was easy said than done and it involved a fair bit of work. passenger seat out to give me some room plus the console and then the brown davis roll bar