mrpham's summer build

ljs18 · Postby **ljs18** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:14 pm

Massive job, respect. I have just turned a shell into a road car and know how much work that is.

Postby **mrpham** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 6:38 pm

Paint Shop Update 3 - http://omgpham.com/paint-shop-update-3

Hell yeah another update! The guys finished all the repairs and high build primer has been applied. This will need to cure for a few days to let the solvents evaporate. So about mid next week they'll start blocking the primer to get everything flat and make sure there are no imperfections.

Both doors, I had them remove the factory "stone guard".

So happy seeing the car in primer, a sign of progress

The guys at the shop made the decision to paint the door jams too.

The area just in front of the boot had a lot of dents, probably from dropping the hardtop.

Repairs to a rusted area in the pillar.

Another before and after of rust repairs.

Postby **mrpham** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:02 pm

This & That - http://omgpham.com/this-that

Been stuck in bed with the cold most of this week, so spent my time doing a few small jobs for the Mazda.

First off I sanded my APR carbon fibre mirrors so that they could be sprayed with a clear coat, the original finish was ageing pretty bad. I used a combination of 400, 600 and 800 grit sand paper

Gave the transmission a quick clean and replaced the front seal and gasket on that front cover.

Couple weeks ago I bought myself a dial gauge and mount, decided I'll degree the camshafts myself this time around. And I have a degree wheel I purchased a few years back. Since I wasn't able to do much work today, I decided to have a play around with the tools

Mounted the degree wheel and dial gauge set up with the magnetic mount.

A quick exercise was to find true Top-Dead-Centre. I'll do it using the piston-stop-method but with a dial gauge instead of a piston stop tool. Basically.... on the upstroke to TDC, roughly 10mm before it reachs TDC, take note of the dial gauge measurement and the reading on your degree wheel in reference to a single point. Than take it past TDC and on the downstrok stop as soon as you reach the same measurement on your dial gauge, now take note of the degree on your degree wheel.

Mine happen to be 180deg and 108deg. To calculate the true TDC, simply take the average of those two readings. This happens to be 144deg on my degree wheel. From that you can loosen the degree wheel and zero it with your marker line.

Do this a few time to double and triple check your work, and just a quick visual inspection to confirm.

Postby **mrpham** » Fri Sep 04, 2015 1:15 am

Engine Assemlby - http://omgpham.com/engine-assembly

While the engine was out of the car, I removed my built head and sent it off for a quick check-over. Unfortunately for me, I was told that all the intake valves were damaged, the likely cause being poor air filtration (will expand on this at a later stage). So all intake valves were replaced, and decided to swap some new camshafts in.

Head all freshened up and the new billet camshafts (intake & exhaust).

The lifter bores had to be heavily modified for the new camshafts.

Re-built bottom end and genuine Mazda head gasket. Deck was surfaced, bores re-honed, *and new bearings/rings.

http://omgpham.com/engine-rebuild-part-1
http://omgpham.com/engine-rebuild-part-2
http://omgpham.com/engine-rebuild-part-3
http://omgpham.com/engine-rebuild-part-4

The valve train fitted and ready to be degreed.

Using the Lift @ TDC method, basically the amount of lift on the camshafts at TDC on the overlap stroke.

All degreed, but I'll go through the whole process again to double check. I did the measuring off cylinder no. 4 lobes at TDC, I'll do it again measuring off cylinder no. 1.

ndragun · Postby **ndragun** » Fri Sep 04, 2015 9:04 am

What cams did you go for?

Postby **mrpham** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 6:41 pm

Paint Shop Update 4 - http://omgpham.com/paint-shop-update-4

This will be the last paint-prep update! All panels have primer and sanded flat ready for base/clear coats.

My rear garnish used to be black, going back to white this time around. The shop also fixed up my radiator support, which was all hacked up by the previous owner.

Boot lid all prepped, it was initially in really bad shape. The frame was pulling down the outer skin and causing a lot of low spots. So the glue between the frame and outer skin was removed to allow everything to be flat, new adhesive will be applied.

Front and rear bars done.

Bonnet and hardtop.

I also ordered brand new rubbers from Mazda

Postby **mrpham** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:16 am

Paint Shop Update 5 - http://omgpham.com/paint-shop-update-5

OK! We're reaching towards the end now, base and clear coats are on every panel now. Next will be to paint the black areas, this will include: front and rear lips, side skirts, front quarter window frame, and the rocker panels. Everything will need to be fully cured before the guys block/sand everything flat. Than comes the flow coat...

The panels and doors are painted first. The guards and bonnet are secured on the mounting frame, this improves the overall finish by increasing the paint consistency from panel to panel.

Doors and rear bar. The front quarter window frames are masked off because they'll be painted black later.

Base and clear coats.

Front and rear bars.

Doors, hardtop and boot lid.

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

And the engine bay! It's painted with Audi's Aviator Grey, I think it goes well with the theme of my car. A lot of people ask me why I didn't shave the bay, and it's simple because I prefer the look of the standard bay. Has more character

So shiny and bright!

The money shot.

Rest of the other parts sitting in storage to fully cure.

Postby **Okibi** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:22 am

Looking great :mrgreen:

toppertee · Postby **toppertee** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 4:37 pm

Now for the nevy bit,
bolting it back together with out marking the paint...

Looks nice, this would have to be one of the cleanest mx5 on the planet :NETPOINTZ:

Postby **mrpham** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 6:40 pm

Okibi wrote:Looking great

Thanks!

toppertee wrote:Now for the nevy bit,
bolting it back together with out marking the paint...

Looks nice, this would have to be one of the cleanest mx5 on the planet

My engine bay will look like a bed when I put the engine back in, all the blankets... Hopefully the girlfriend won't get too pissy about that :p

Postby **mrpham** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 10:16 pm

Paint Shop Update 6 - http://omgpham.com/paint-shop-update-6

Paint has cured and the boys at J&D Quality Smash got straight onto it. The first coats of clear were blocked flat, weird seeing the car in a matte finish. Looks pretty cool but it would be a pain to keep it in good condition, so yeah nah.

The guys will be painting the rocker panels black and a couple more coats of clear will go over everything.

Not much else to say, so here are the photos I took today.