mx5cartalk.com

TheMissus will edit where appropriate after she gets home

I think her name is Monkey and this is what she looked like after picking her up off Saboteur. She's just about to click over 290000km but should be a \"new\" car by Easter 2010



After fitting the soft top and about to get detailed by my ever so perfect husband, ASE05





Before the polishing begins.....eeeew, badly faded



Halfway there



engine bay after detail





lookin' a million times better





The front end is better but ASE05 doesn't think it'll last long before the fade sets in again..



and finally the interior

Looking good.

And I thought I was the ONLY perfect husband.

Cheers Novice1

Thanks Novice1. He's not perfect, but he's perfect for me.

I'm not going to edit his post because he is so pleased with himself, instead I'm just going to add some stuff to the thread.

The car is named The Monkey. I am totally in love with her and how fabulous a car she really is. The plan is to completely rebuild and restore her before NatMeet 2010 - including a total rebuild of the original engine.

I need to point out that although the hard work and sweat in the polish and detail was his and my father in-laws, the rest of the work has been me with some assistance and my pink overalls are very grubby. So far we have done :

* replaced the after market diff and drive shaft with the original ones
* removed the hard top and put back the original soft top
* replaced the oil and oil filter, diff oil, gearbox oil and flushed the radiator
* polished it within an inch of it's life and made her beautiful and shiney

And there is so much more to do! I can't wait ... thanks ASE05 for humouring me when I had my midlife crisis early and sold my practical 3 year old 5 door hatch to buy an almost 20 year old sports to do up.

Nice work, It's amazing how much nicer it looks now.

Looking beyootiful .

Thanks JBT ... shame she wasn't shiney like this on Sunday. I was a bit at showing but not shining!

Sorry, didn't see you there lightyear. It does look like a totally different car. Top bloke my hubby for putting in so much elbow grease for me to make my baby beautiful.


Next on the list ...

* Ordered the personalised plate. It's totally cool but until the payment is processed on Monday I tell no-one what it is or some bugger will steal my idea! Watch this place

* Finally figured out why the fan won't come on when the engine heats up, but does when the air con is on. New Fan Thermostat Switch on order and will be picked up this week. Easy to replace so I will pop it straight in when it arrives.

You are an inspiration to all us non-mechanical types- I want to be just like you please!! Monkey is looking great already.

Lookin' very tidy indeed! Glad the car went to a good home

redshoes wrote:You are an inspiration to all us non-mechanical types- I want to be just like you please!! Monkey is looking great already.

I'm not a mechanical type yet so don't be too inspired ... the plan is that the work I am doing on the car will turn me into one of these. Plus the work I have seen some mechanics do ... no one but me will touch my beautiful baby!

saboteur wrote:Lookin' very tidy indeed! Glad the car went to a good home

I'm glad she came to live with us. Thanks for parting with her. I hear congrats are in order - that you have a new arrival coming to your garage soon?

ASE05 has told me I need to post these as proof that I am doing most of the work on the Monkey myself. I think he has a thing for a chick in (pink?) overalls ...

Now all is confirmed I can tell you the personalised plate I ordered ...

NMX589

YAY!

Next couple of steps are planned ...

* New stereo bought and to be put in next weekend (will upload photos of the head unit shortly)
* Old hard top sold today (Yay!) ... so order for new soft top will be finalised in the next day or so. We have narrowed it down to a couple and will make the final decision tomorrow or Tuesday after checking out some in person before buying over the net (Current soft top is not totally water tight and I am starting to get a bit over having a wet ass and no fish when it rains)
* bling latches for the soft top (a present from my adoring and long suffering husband ASE05 and courtesy of Ajay) will be installed at the same time as the new soft top

It depends on how many $ are left after buying the new soft top what I do next. Current, original engine will be coming out in the next 2-3 months so I can start work on that and that is when the REAL fun begins!

This is the new stereo ... chosen because it looks a little old school. Black with green LEDs and the same font as the air con and the rest of the dash but with all the new stuff - blue tooth, MP3 compatible and 6 stack CD player. Can't wait.

Very good

Like the pink overalls too