mrpham's summer build

Postby **mrpham** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:53 pm

Ready To Be Towed - http://omgpham.com/ready-to-be-towed

The final stretch before the Mazda gets towed away, engine came out pretty fast since I did all the prep work earlier this week.

Engine out! Head will be removed and sent away for inspection before it gets bolted onto the rebuilt spare block I have.

Engine bay will get a quick scrub before the body shop does a proper clean and sand.

Every bolt that was removed has been bagged and tagged.

A friend hooked me up with these 31-pin Deutsch connectors, ordered new pins and extraction tool so just waiting for those to arrive. These will be used so I can quickly unplug the engine from the car.

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:36 pm

Who's doing your paint job, John?

slug_dub · Postby **slug_dub** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:05 pm

New bottom end has more CR I hope?
Your detail in prepping the car for paint makes my head swim... I'll give you money's to do that to mine??? :mrgreen:

Postby **mrpham** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:59 pm

Gladiator wrote:Who's doing your paint job, John?

I'm using these guys:
https://www.facebook.com/JDQuality

They were recommended by a few friends and I went to check out some of their work and was happy with what I saw.

The car will have all the colour coat sanded off, than primer and sealer is applied. Two coats of Crystal White and 2 coats of clear are applied and it'll be fully cured before they do a flow coat. This involves the clear coat being blocked/sanded flat and a further 2 coats of clear applied (mixed at a different ratio). Basically the final flow coat is super flat and glossy

Postby **mrpham** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:01 pm

slug_dub wrote:New bottom end has more CR I hope?
Your detail in prepping the car for paint makes my head swim... I'll give you money's to do that to mine???

Nah this bottom end has just been rebuilt to standard spec. I did all the assembly myself to see if I would be confident in doing a high comp build myself, and I'm not confident in my skills to do that. So I'll leave the high comp build for later and get some more qualified people to do the job!

Yeah a lot has been removed hahaha! But the more stripping I do myself, the less it'll cost me

ndragun · Postby **ndragun** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:49 am

mrpham wrote:...and I'm not confident in my skills to do that. So I'll leave the high comp build for later and get some more qualified people to do the job!...

Boooooooooo.

I like where you're going with the 31 pin deutsch connectors... In hindsight I wish I had of done that.

Postby **mrpham** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 9:54 pm

Off To Body & Paint - http://omgpham.com/off-to-body-paint

Today was a good day

my Mazda was towed off to J&D Quality Smash Repairs.

Everything all set aside and ready to picked up.

Looks tough without the rear bar!

Tow drive arrived around 8.30AM and had her loaded up for a 30mins drive.

Sort of weird seeing your car get towed away, good weird though.

Once arrived at the shop, we continued removing a few more bits and pieces from the car. Things like rubber seals and everything in the door jams.

Quickly cleaned up one side of the engine bay using wax & grease remover with 3M Scotch Brite pads. Cleaned up really well and gets the surface some what ready for primer and paint.

Decided on the engine bay colour, this is Audi's Aviator Grey. Clear coats will be applied on top of this too.

More updates next week!

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:49 am

I really enjoy following threads like this, can't wait to see how the paint job goes. I think we all dream of an immaculate respray at some point.

Postby **mrpham** » Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:29 pm

Powder Coating - http://omgpham.com/powder-coating

Last week I dropped off some brackets, head-light assembly and sway bar at the powder coaters, got them back today and everything looks awesome!

Before:

After...

Postby **mrpham** » Sun Aug 09, 2015 11:36 pm

Received an update from J&D Quality Smash Repairs on Friday!

Pretty happy with the schedule and I'll be dropping in whenever I can to take photos for everyone

Postby **mrpham** » Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:59 pm

Paint Shop Update 1 - http://omgpham.com/paint-shop-update-1

Dropped by J&D Quality Smash this afternoon and gave the boys a visit to see how everything was going

Very happy with their progress and quality of work.

In the final process of stripping.

Engine bay cleaned, prep and primer will be next.

Front windscreen and hardtop glass removed.

I purchased 2nd hand bonnet to replace my hail damaged one, the paint on this was in great condition so it'll be sanded and primered. Same goes with the boot lid.

The front bar getting a bit of love and in final stages of prep before primer.

Postby **mrpham** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 6:13 pm

Paint Shop Update 2 - http://omgpham.com/paint-shop-update-2

Quick visit today

A lot of work has been done, the guys have stripped most of the panels and are now finishing off repairs. The next update will probably see the car in etch primer.

The guys started taking panels back to bare metal because the factory paint was so bad, just part way through getting everything smooth and flat. There were a few dents here and there.

I also chose to have the factory stone guard removed. Never liked it too much.

So bare.

The front quarters, bonnet, front and rear bars have received primer and just waiting to be blocked back.

Lots and lots of repairs and prep to go...

A few common rust areas on the MX-5 getting repaired.