Rolley - It's A Boy! (NA6)

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:53 pm

Great idea Lokiel.

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Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 6:30 am

Lachy, reach is not too bad at 30mm. I think any more would get a bit annoying on a daily though.
As for the projects, I'm looking forward to getting a spare bit of coin so I can take them from "Bunnings" prototypes to tidy fleshed out final products.

Lokiel that is a fantastic idea. I have a bunch of old 6in speaker magnets stuck to the side of my tool box and never thought to use them!

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:19 pm

With all the rain we've had around here lately my lawn looks like a jungle, I can only just see the tops of the kids heads as they scream around in the undergrowth.

So being the responsible farther I am and with a Saturday morning free of distractions I got the mower out of the garage so I could get to the work bench and plastic weld back together the cracked instrument hood I picked up from Gladiator a couple of months ago!
It copped a bit of filler and I smooth filed then sanded it back before giving it a couple of coats of satin black.
At certain angles I could still see where the crack was so I went down and had a chat to a mate in a sign shop down the road, picked up some offcuts of vinyl, handed over some beer and went home for a play.

For a first attempt I'm pretty happy, I don't think it will fail but if it peels off in the first week I don't really care. I learnt a couple of lessons that will make it easier next time and I still have enough vinyl to rip out another three.

I also have a couple of meters of matte black under the bench so I will be experimenting with some side stripes in the near future too.

The lawn has yet to be tamed...

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:56 pm

Interesting! I like a bit of sticker work.

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:36 pm

So somehow its April…
I was sitting back watching the paint dry on my latest excuse to hide in the garage last night and realised There is A Lot of little things that I have done since my last update that on their own didn’t really warrant a post but when all put together amount to a fair bit of work done to the Little Blue bastard so far this year.
First thing is MX related but not actually work on the car. In another life I ran a small screen printing business doing stubby coolers. I still have the equipment and occasionally tear it out to do jobs for mates or print my girls or myself a shirt or two. I stumbled across a pretty cool T-shirt design by a Canadian bloke, problem he has no more…

Solution, get rid of the Nissan and the Toyota, slot in another couple of MX-5’s and print My own.

On to Rolley!

Some moron in a 4X4 opened their back door onto the RHR rear quarter denting it. Of course they just left and nobody caught a number plate so I had a go at PDR. I pulled the battery and got up in there and eased the dent out by about 75%. It’s as far as I’m prepared to take it with my limited knowledge on the subject. It can wait till/if I get around to respraying him.

Having the battery out revealed how rooted the paint was under it. I couldn’t put it back together knowing what was under there so I had at it with the Bi-carb soda to neutralize the acid. Gave it a good scrub with a wire wheel and prepped it for a squirt of paint.
Turns out The fiddly bits cans from Bunnings are an OK match for Mariner Blue. I wouldn’t be attempting anything on the exterior with it but for the boot I am pretty happy with the results!
Once this battery fails I’ll get rid of the lead acid and put something better in there, Solid or Gel. I just can’t justify the $150+ while it is still working perfectly though.

Operation Bikini top is still progressing well. The prototype got a lot of use so I could work out as many of the kinks as possible before moving on to MkII.
Not having a roll bar has meant I have had to get the brain ticking on the neatest way to have a removable hoop that needs no tools and can fit in the boot, while still being rigid enough to support the center rod that keeps the front Bow in place and stops it from rocking back on the locks.

After a lot of thinking I had a new hoop bent up from 25mm exhaust tube. It slides over two studs I installed in existing holes next to the seat belt top mounts. I want it to be completely reversible and not make life difficult down the track when I put a roll bar back in.
A big plus is if the boot is chock full on a trip the hoop can stay in place with the roof up. The Bikini can be rolled around the front bow and stored behind the seats too if really squeezed for space.

I have gotten my hands on some nice black canvas, webbing straps and the hardware to strap it to the Frankenstein bolts. I have cut the final shape for the top and just need to get it all stitched. You will have to wait for more pics on this…

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:43 pm

Swap a T Shirt for a drive?

MJT_MX5 · Postby **MJT_MX5** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:21 pm

Just read through the build, turned rolley into a really neat Na, looks great.
How good are those T-shirts, Would buy one off you if you make more.

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:40 pm

Cheers guys,

The screen is still intact so I can print again anytime. I don't want to mess with forum rules, PM me if you have questions.

Magpie that is a scary offer. I'm afraid it would either make me very disappointed every time I drove mine after yours OR the mod bug would bite hard and I'll end up divorced :wink:

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:47 pm

I'll even put some E85 in the tank for you so you get the whole experience

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:50 pm

Next on the list was tackling a boot light. I wanted it to be a tidy fit so I picked up some neat COB panel LED’s of ebay and hit the wreckers for a door switch. Using a lump of play dough I stole from my daughter and opening and closing the boot on in in various spots, I worked out a good place to mount the switch which would keep it completely inside of the sealed area of the boot lid and make the hole drilled for it as inconspicuous as possible.
Turned out to be and existing hole in the right spot, I just had to expand out. I then folded up a small metal tab for the switch to close against it hooks over the body on the lip the boot seal attaches to.

The wiring was fed through the boot lid and down the RHS hinge to a fuse and directly onto the battery.
It’s temporary at the moment while I wait for the fuse block I ordered to arrive. With the extra circuits for the Window timer and a couple of other things I have planned I figured it best to get a proper fuse block and solid mount it to the body. I like Tidy with my wiring. (pics to follow)

So my freebie radiator blew a top tank on Thursday. Luckily not far from home so out it came and in went one I picked up for a 6pack to get me out of trouble.

It came with fans too so I will be rigging something up to make them look nice and neat on this 50mm radiator I picked up from Gromet89 here on the forums today. No rush I’ll probably wait until the 6pack radiator pops.

So from here we move on to the projects I have in the works.
I came across a diff for sale on facebook a couple of weeks ago for CHEAP so I thought I’d start a bit of a collection. Eventually I’m sure I’ll upgrade to a torsen or similar but for the driving I do at the moment 1.6 diffs are just fine.
I got this one out of the boot when I got home and checked the oil and spun it up to check out the bearings best I could (too busy talking and forgot to do it when I picked it up) All felt good and a big bonus!
It turns out it’s a viscous LSD. I had a bit of a read up on them and most people seem to agree that a 25 year old viscous diff will be pretty much shagged by now. I decided to do the bench tests I found for it on the big forum and it is all still within spec cold.

So it will be going in at some point down the road. Plans are to get my hands on a full set of bushes, wheel bearings and calliper kits and take the old boy off the road for a month or so and work my way from end to end.

Seeing as my sun visors have been living in the map pocket behind the passenger’s seat for the last couple of months I have been tinkering with making an interior light for the driver’s side. Its only just started, I have carved down the back of the mount and opened out the hole to accept a 10mm LED. I just need to work out if I can run the wiring down the inside of the A pillar or if I will have to work out something with the trim.

The 3rd coat of enamel went on these this morning before work. I’m going to give them a wet sand and another coat before I test fit them. The wiring and switches is still to come out of the wreck I bought them off but in a couple of months these will be fully functional too! I'll have to get my hands on some gloss black vinyl and wrap the windscreen surround.

Here's a tease of the next two projects. Nothing original, but I'm sure they'll cop a bit of a twist by the time I'm done with them.

Rolley.

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:04 pm

It's finished!
Possibly a bit late in the year to show off my new Bikini but hey, I'm an exhibitionist...
Came in just under $250 all said and done. Most expensive bit was getting the trimmer to double stitch the binding on for me, my mate who bound my floor and dash mats said his machine wasn't up to 5 layers of canvass.
I will have to get out and get some decent photos but here's a start.
I'm over the moon with it.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:20 pm

Are you testing the new top at QR on 25/05/15?

Rolley · Postby **Rolley** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:37 pm

Magpie,
I'll be out to say G'day and watch proceedings but I'm still a few months away from taking him out on a track for a good flogging.
I need to build up some cash for a helmet amongst other things...