billybunters - from a bmw z4 to a mx5 se

[Lokiel]

I personally am really going to miss that red
:

+1 - rim colour was perfect too.

[billybunter]

Me too if I don't do a good paint job! and I did have a really good paint job

DAY 2.

started off with the bonnet and boot removal then into the inside cabin section to unbolt the brown davis roll bar. after that a few trim bits were removed like the rear carpet seat using a fork lt works alright.
through the maze of soft top bolts so I could finally pull of that pesky body liner which really is a pita to get at. best be a bit careful here as you don't want to crack the rain seal.

finally after a fair bit of fooling about -you get out the body liner...more to come on day 2.

[billybunter]

DAY 2

once the roof was pulled out of the car -held on by the 3 bolts either side here's what you have left. not much. looking at the rub back you can see where the red meets the white. even if I did rub up close to the liner you can see a problem. just like the outside window rubbers -still more to come

[billybunter]

DAY 2. EXTERMAL MIRROR REMOVAL

might help some-one. so if you want to remove your external mirrors

1.first off you have to pull your inside door trim and remove 3 press in type plastic trim clips plus 2 large screw in the door rest supports and a very small screw in the release clip. then just grab from the bottom and sides and pull out

2. your wiring for the tweeter speaker will still be attached so be warned.

3. I just unscrew the main speaker-pull it out and the power mirror corner sits directly above that and attached to the door-see photo. just use long nose pliers to grip the plastic and force it through its mounting hole then it will drop down to the large speaker cavity and you can just undo it

4. now you can go outside the car and twist the mirror sideways. you can use a bit of force here and it will spring away and lock. just use a phillips head screwdriver and undo and pull it out.

[billybunter]

DAY 2 DOOR HANDLE REMOVAL

well I have certainly had trouble each time I have met this challenge on this car. on both occasion lost the nuts either one or both and took anything up to an hour to find them inside the door. once they drop they are usually gone.

i'd been thinking this over for a while so today I decided to try something different and it worked and I thought of it myself too so here goes

after I removed the trim panel I shone the torch about and no wonder once that far side right door nut drops -its gone.....and it dropped again too prior to the start I decided to grab a sheet of A4 fax paper and slide that in the door on an angle.

no trouble with the fist nut. it came off and I got it no trouble. the far right you have to use a very long extension bar with socket and as usual the nut dropped followed by f//k it and then I saw the nut roll along the A4 and drop to the bottom of the door.

big smile and a perfect ending.

[KevGoat]

Sometimes the simplest of ideas are the best ....

[billybunter]

DAY 2.

soft top off sitting under the verandah. once off the car you can see the rain rail easily





about 9 months ago this panel above the gas tank had surface rust. it was cleaned up and primed and still appears fine





both seats were pulled

[billybunter]

DAY 2
True! i'd spent quite a bit of time chasing those nuts before and there are a couple still in there. i had no idea I would get to use it straight away. if I had not used the paper idea -i'd been stuffed

if you look at these photos of where I removed the body liner you will see tracers of gooey type sealant grease. well you have seen me playing wet/rubbing so I could have used that and just rubbed away- but that would be a huge mistake!

I would just be contaminating the work area with grease and transmitting it over my entire job and looking for trouble further on. the best idea go into the garage get the grease and wax remover - a clean cloth and totally clean up this area.

therefore avoid or try to avoid any problem before it starts and that was a big one just waiting for me. it ran from one side of the rear to the other. so where painting is involved any possible problem is a problem









CLEANED UP







END OF DAY TWO

[93_Clubman]

Yeah, a lot of work. but at least you'll get the colour & quality you want.

[madkeen]

Seeing a perfectly good MX5 stripped back like that is more terrifying than that bloody 'IT' movie trailer!!!
haha. Bully Bunter you are a mad man, but we love you!

[StanTheMan]

Seeing a perfectly good MX5 stripped back like that is more terrifying than that bloody 'IT' movie trailer!!!
haha. Bully Bunter you are a mad man, but we love you!

Quoted for truth. could never have said it better myself

[billybunter]

even I have to admit

1. I think I put the best spray job on a car in years and in RED then I decide I still like the white better I think I will have my work cut out to equal it but too late now

[Danny]

Can we have a competition and prize for guessing the original colour?

I saw a tiny bit of blue somewhere on it so that's my guess.

[speed]

Can we have a competition and prize for guessing the original colour?

I saw a tiny bit of blue somewhere on it so that's my guess.

It was silver

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[billybunter]

once upon a time or back in 2011 when I purchased it from QLd it was Sunlight Silver little did it know it would get a fair workout of options after that





DAY 3

I've decided to start on the rear end section and put in my 2 hours etc. well you might be able to remove quite a bit off a car in 2 hours but when it comes to rubbing back and working in difficult areas - its no-where near the same pace.

I ended up sanding around the bodyline seal-that didn't take long at all.







then moved to the rear end. I had plans to rub this right back to the previous white but after a while thought it over and this whole panel is completely covered by the rear bar and would be hours of work for nothing




so I will just wet sand the lot till I get the clear off and re-prime it again





looks like I will also be doing a bit of etch priming too. bit of metal showing up on a harder than normal rub...but we can't help that can we


after 2 hours that's how it ended for me and I will be back in the same area tomorrow looking for signs of missed clear coat and to re-rub the complete area. I thought about paint stripping the entire rear section but I recall pain stripping complete cars years ago for bare metal re-sprays and its a pretty messy job too

besides this will give me something to think about next time I decide I want to do a colour change not long after I painted it

so 2 hours a day-take my time and who knows some-one might say -what about SUNBURST YELLOW