Seniorita. The built not bought restoration.
Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:39 pm
Why not create a build thread. Here's a bit of backstory first:
As many know, I am currently restoring from scratch a 1990 MX5. She reached 450,000km, and although the engine is still strong, the rest of the car started to feel a little bit weak and let down.
Part of the problem was that because I'm always working on other vehicles, my own gets neglected.
HKS_Kansei and I have moved into our own place, with two separate massive garages. This means that I now can house her undercover permanently... and WORK INDOORS. Oh... the joy. It means I can take my time, and do it right.
A good friend of mine (the co-owner of the Volvo actually) has moved the states and his parents and him have very, very graciously leant me his 626 wagon as a run-around whilst I complete the work. (The wagon is a thread on its own!)
This prompted me to.... strip the guts out of her completely... and knuckle down.
As an aside, I work as a classic car mechanic, so do these types of restoration every day. This also prompted me to do it, as I'm a little bit jealous of how good some of the customer's cars are to drive and look at. Everything fresh and rebuilt. So good. I kind of wanted that for myself.
A few notes on this build:
1.Exterior Paint. I've tossed and turned over this, trying to decide on a different colour. I can't. I spent hours with colour swabs, images, discussions with many... and I can't put my finger on the exact colour. So that will be left for now. The red paint is still decent, so it can stay. I'll just polish it up when it comes time for the test drive.
2. Engine. Over, many, many beers, myself and many others have offered differing opinions on what should happen. Yes, it has 450,000km on it. It's still very strong though, and I have a strange fantasy of seeing how long it can go. Can I rebuild it? Of course. Do I have the money to buy the parts to rebuild it properly? No.
I'm leaving the engine as is. It will go straight back in. I can do a swap in 8 hours, so if need be in a year or so when this one blows up, I can spend a day putting another one in. I will then have the money to rebuild this one properly.
For those wondering about the engine: I just service it regularly and I don't drive it hard. I'm aiming for it to last to 700,000km, which by having a look inside a while back... it will. :-D Hold me to it.
3. The rest of the parts I will refurbish myself. I'll be making serviceable diff uni-joints and the like. Working with classic cars where parts are low, you learn how to take even the craziest things apart and rebuild them. Whereas most people now, just go and buy a new one.
Basically, this is a labour intensive build. Very much built, not bought. I know it's all very cool to go and buy brand name parts off the shelf, but I'll work with what I have instead.
So... I started in January of 2013. The end date is May 28th.
I don't have that many photos of stripping her. Let's just say it was done fairly strategically and as organised as possible.
I wire brushed the engine bay completely.
Image attached.
Currently, the engine bay is POR15-ed black.
I'm currently painting the entire undertray with Wurth SKS underguard. It's a great product I've used on other restos. It's fairly non-toxic. You can spray on, but I find dabbing it on with a ratty paintbrush gives the best results. This stuff looks factory and will refresh everything underneath. The other benefit is trade price is only $28 for a litre bottle, which goes a long way.
I'll wrangle HKS into taking a photo of the underbody and I'll post it up.
Next Stage:
-Painting the engine
-Making up all new brake and clutch lines (it's easier to get them right without the engine in)
-Re-install engine and gearbox.
-Sandblast the hell out of a heap of parts and paint them, ready to install all new rubber bushes
- And... the list goes on.
Ciao for now... back to the garage!
As many know, I am currently restoring from scratch a 1990 MX5. She reached 450,000km, and although the engine is still strong, the rest of the car started to feel a little bit weak and let down.
Part of the problem was that because I'm always working on other vehicles, my own gets neglected.
HKS_Kansei and I have moved into our own place, with two separate massive garages. This means that I now can house her undercover permanently... and WORK INDOORS. Oh... the joy. It means I can take my time, and do it right.
A good friend of mine (the co-owner of the Volvo actually) has moved the states and his parents and him have very, very graciously leant me his 626 wagon as a run-around whilst I complete the work. (The wagon is a thread on its own!)
This prompted me to.... strip the guts out of her completely... and knuckle down.
As an aside, I work as a classic car mechanic, so do these types of restoration every day. This also prompted me to do it, as I'm a little bit jealous of how good some of the customer's cars are to drive and look at. Everything fresh and rebuilt. So good. I kind of wanted that for myself.
A few notes on this build:
1.Exterior Paint. I've tossed and turned over this, trying to decide on a different colour. I can't. I spent hours with colour swabs, images, discussions with many... and I can't put my finger on the exact colour. So that will be left for now. The red paint is still decent, so it can stay. I'll just polish it up when it comes time for the test drive.
2. Engine. Over, many, many beers, myself and many others have offered differing opinions on what should happen. Yes, it has 450,000km on it. It's still very strong though, and I have a strange fantasy of seeing how long it can go. Can I rebuild it? Of course. Do I have the money to buy the parts to rebuild it properly? No.
I'm leaving the engine as is. It will go straight back in. I can do a swap in 8 hours, so if need be in a year or so when this one blows up, I can spend a day putting another one in. I will then have the money to rebuild this one properly.
For those wondering about the engine: I just service it regularly and I don't drive it hard. I'm aiming for it to last to 700,000km, which by having a look inside a while back... it will. :-D Hold me to it.
3. The rest of the parts I will refurbish myself. I'll be making serviceable diff uni-joints and the like. Working with classic cars where parts are low, you learn how to take even the craziest things apart and rebuild them. Whereas most people now, just go and buy a new one.
Basically, this is a labour intensive build. Very much built, not bought. I know it's all very cool to go and buy brand name parts off the shelf, but I'll work with what I have instead.
So... I started in January of 2013. The end date is May 28th.
I don't have that many photos of stripping her. Let's just say it was done fairly strategically and as organised as possible.
I wire brushed the engine bay completely.
Image attached.
Currently, the engine bay is POR15-ed black.
I'm currently painting the entire undertray with Wurth SKS underguard. It's a great product I've used on other restos. It's fairly non-toxic. You can spray on, but I find dabbing it on with a ratty paintbrush gives the best results. This stuff looks factory and will refresh everything underneath. The other benefit is trade price is only $28 for a litre bottle, which goes a long way.
I'll wrangle HKS into taking a photo of the underbody and I'll post it up.
Next Stage:
-Painting the engine
-Making up all new brake and clutch lines (it's easier to get them right without the engine in)
-Re-install engine and gearbox.
-Sandblast the hell out of a heap of parts and paint them, ready to install all new rubber bushes
- And... the list goes on.
Ciao for now... back to the garage!
and cream for the hard top. 
. The paint is already mixed and sitting there. I figured this will work the best with my chosen exterior colour, and with any future colour changes. 
