lolmx5's NA8

[speed]

Looking great, best colour too ;) Curious to know if the SE suspension lifted the car an inch above stock?

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[lolmx5]

Looking great, best colour too ;) Curious to know if the SE suspension lifted the car an inch above stock?

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Once i get tyre on the car i will post up the height of the car with the se shocks. it did look higher but my old shocks were blown. ill try find a stock mx5 compare them. Might not happen for a few weeks until i get some money for new tyres

[lolmx5]

Got some parts today for future plans still more to come but i thought ill give you a pic for these keen for everything to arrive

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

[Alex 2550]

nice collection of parts, i have a similar one accumulating lol.
Also very nice tool chest!! my chests are Kinchrome except one is a small old sidchrome probably older than me, mostly with Kinchrome in them but they have a bit of blue-point and "snappy tom" plus a little KC thrown in always wanted a snap-on chest.
As a joke one day i put a massive Kinchrome sticker on the bullbar of the snap-on truck hahahaha luckily the rep saw the funny side when he pulled up around 50km north.

[lolmx5]

ok so some updates ,
i decided to take out the seats for a clean and to replace the soft top as the soft top on the car wasn't in the best of condition. So i decided to buy an NB Soft top with glass demister, its not gonna be on for a bit because i need a new rail rail and other bits and pieces before i put it back together. But here we go.

So i first removed both seats for cleaning and to get the soft top out easier, i noticed that there was plugs under the seats and thought that they might be for the headrest speakers for the seats. I made a little speaker set up connected it all up and it works , so ill be running wires for the headrest speakers when i re-install the seats. makes it a lot easier for me to put them later in the build, was thinking to get some 3.5inch speakers to help out the type-s i have in the doors.

Mind the dirty floor i didnt clean it yet ahah

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

14786946_1862088557357847_941107597_o by lol mx5, on Flickr

gonna go jaycar tomorrow to see if i can find a matching plug if not might have to redo the plug so i can unplug it and plug it in when i want. But yea gonna wire up the seats for now (will be in next update) and install speakers later on.

also might try find some black seat dye and see if i get restore the seats to match new floor mates and the carpet (carpet could also get a little freshen up) But first gonna get an exacter first to clean them.


The condition of the soft top is not the best (Still way better then most i think) so i decided to get a glass Nb soft top, found a used one but still need needs a new rain rail so need to save for that. I decided to take the soft top off now so i could get prepared for the new top. Also check and found the hard top demister wiring so might need to wire up the soft top as well .

heres the soft top currently

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Rear window is in great condition, i will be selling it soon. If anyone is interested in the rear window let me know.

When i got to the removal of the soft top the little rips in the sides decided to give way and rip half way up the soft top so now old soft top is junk except for rear window.

after the soft top and carpet was removed, it revealed this.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

im not sure if thats bad or common for these but i decided to clean and remove all rusted bits. 2/3 Metal covers are in a good enough condition and are able to restored. The other (fuel pump cover) was beyond repair so i will be ordering a new one soon.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Sanded down and painted the small cover covering the fill up lines i think it looks good gonna paint the big one and paint the new when it comes in the mail.
Also had a ball cleaning it as it was so dirty. Again im not sure if this is bad but i thought it was and made sure it was done. Had a bit of scratches all around so im gonna go buy some colour matched paint to make sure it wont rust in the future and look nice.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Heres a pic of it all cleaned up and the restored fill up cover on, thought it looked awesome.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

also while i was under there taking the carpet out i found that the foam? padding under the carpet smelt like mold so i when down to clark rubber and got some heat proof foam padding inserts that im gonna cut and replace all original padding (except under the carpet as i down want to remove the dash to get to it). will have pic of that soon im sure that the new stuff will keep the car cooler and reduce road noise as well as smell.

More updates to come. Is this normal thing to see when taking the soft top off. not really any problems anymore, once i get the new parts should be good as new. has anyone had worse?

thanks anyone as alway feed back is always appreciated

[smy0003]

Mine were spick and span, I am extremely lucky though. Seems the majority of those covers look like yours or worse, google images show ones that have almost completely disintegrated. Between those covers and the ECU cover, Mazda could've done a bit more to protect from rust.

[lolmx5]

Mine were spick and span, I am extremely lucky though. Seems the majority of those covers look like yours or worse, google images show ones that have almost completely disintegrated. Between those covers and the ECU cover, Mazda could've done a bit more to protect from rust.

might have to check the ecu cover as well then ahah

[StanTheMan]

Very very tidy work.

[lolmx5]

more updates

ok so i finished restoring the big metal parcel shelf thing and put it back on, decided to also replace the foam inserts with new ones that i made out of a heat resistance (and sound resistance) foam. was cheap and i think will make a big difference once the car is complete. The old inserts were old smelt and just in bad condition.

Btw guys just got my iphone 7 so pics should be alot better

The rear shelf was not bad at all. just needed a quick sand and respray and it looked as good as new

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

i when down to clark rubber today and found this big foam roll with heat shield on it. Ended up getting what was left 1.5M for $22. got all the old inserts and recut them out of the new stuff, i need to get more to complete it might get some tomorrow, but i think it turned great and not only that but the new stuff is a lot lighter, could be saving at lest 5kgs all up when i complete it.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

I used double sided tape to hold it in place and it looks really good mounted on the car, its coming together really well. still a lot to do but she will be in great condition soon.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

original with double sided tape from factory, i made my own and it fitted really well.

smy0003 also pointed out that sometime the ecu cover may also be compromised by rust so i decided to check. this is what i found.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

the inserts under the carpet was ruined as well is im gonna replace it with the new stuff as well, it was wet still, i found that wired bc the car has been in the garage for about a month now, i check and there was no leaks from the heat core, but the ac drain was off so i put it back on.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

also got a wire brush sandpaper and a scraper to the ecu cover and it come put looking pretty good, not that big of damage under the rust. still solid metal and i was able to restore it with no problem
gonna clean out the floor now and replace all the inserts in both sides of the floor as well. Thank you smy0003 for your suggestions

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

will keep you guys posted with more updates as then come.. suggestions are awesome

[Apu]

Nice work!

The matting behind the seat that is really heavy, that is very effective sound proofing. I removed it and it was noticeable - you may not notice it unless you do it back to back...or drive with the top down a lot.

[luzinit]

Really digging the progress youre making!!! How are you restoring those rusted bits? Just sand/cleanup and paint?

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[lolmx5]

Nice work!

The matting behind the seat that is really heavy, that is very effective sound proofing. I removed it and it was noticeable - you may not notice it unless you do it back to back...or drive with the top down a lot.

I'll make a update date with a run down to see how this new stuff is


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[lolmx5]

Really digging the progress youre making!!! How are you restoring those rusted bits? Just sand/cleanup and paint?

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Yea lastly just using sand paper and a wire brush, make sure that the rust is all gone before I primer and paint, I put a few layers to make sure it doesn't happen again


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[lolmx5]

So with more progress and almost ready to put the car back together. completed passenger side foot well and cleaned the floor out, looks a lot better now and will no longer rust , ecu had no rust on it but there was leaves and other thing under there as well makes me thing that it might have been left in the rain or outside once but damage wasnt bad .

The car came out great, still need to do the other side but once thats done i can start preparing and install the soft top. after that most of the big jobs are done in terms of body and preventive maintenance. only thing left is driver side (make sure its ok) and a big clean up of the interior. Might have a look into New leather seat upholstery as well (what do you guys think, new black leather or keep stock fabric).

soft top should be getting new rain rail sometime this week and will should have it installed by the end of this week. once that is done its on to exterior, engine and other little things.

Replace a few of the nuts because they were just to far gone and an easy replacement with some spares i already had.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

But got to finish installing ecu cover today heres how it looked before.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

And after

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

with restored cover on and new foam under carpet

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

more updates soon, hopefully i finish the foam and under the carpet tomorrow and get on with the soft top install. ill keep you guys posted

[Adam_NAclubman]

I like how thorough you're being, a lot of this stuff most people would never bother to get back up to scratch