lolmx5's NA8

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 9:28 pm

ok Update time

So recently i was talking about the tan interior and i really like the idea but for now thats gonna be on hold for a while so i can do my research and save for a better way to do it and get newer and better parts.

but lets get on to the car

so i decided to clean under the bumper and get engine bay a little clean. made sure not to spray any major electrical components. anyway it turned out great used a bit of degreaser and a micro fiber cloth for all the stains but it mostly came out great

also unplugged the lights and covered the connections to make sure there was no water getting in them.

Let it to dry in the sun and after an hour ran the engine for a bit to make sure it was all dry.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Also gave the bumpers a bit of a spray.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Lets get to the fun stuff, so i picked up a set of a genuine foglight kit. I think these look awesome and give the car a much better look. there are the yellow version so there JDM af ahah. Anyway i when to see if my car was compatible but as most of you already know its not on aus delivered mx5s

, but that didn't stop me from doing it.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

I first ran the factory foglight wiring to what i thought would be the factory position as i couldn't find any pics of where the wiring was ment to be run i decided to go my own route all i knew was it was ment to plug into the factory harness on the driver side of the car.

i left my front bar off for this, it made it so much easier to do. Heres where i ran it.

I started off by mounting the relay in the next they other relays, i think these are the light relays? im not sure, but i also used the ground point directly under it so it was a good position for it, mad sure the lights dont hit it and continued to ran the wiring to the front of the car thought the holes in front of the right light.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

then ran the other end of the wire to the factory position and tired every loss part down to and made sure it was secure.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

once that was done i needed to fine a signal wire a power source and a on/off source for the switch then run wires to the engine bay.

first i found the 12V source for the relay. i used a piggyback fuse and taped into the wiper fuse. I then ran the cable to the engine bay. (Red Wire)

I also ran the signal wire from the foglight switch to the engine bay in the same way. (Green wire)

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

then i found a live wire that only was on when my parkers or headlight was on. I found this using a test light and taped a wire into it the solder and heat shirked it to make sure it wouldnt short on anything. (Black and red cable was live when the parkers are on.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

then When to jaycar and got a few connectors that work with the factory harness for extra clean points. :lol:

made a little harness then pluged everything into the switch. the 2 outer pins where for the light in the switch according to some wiring diagrams i found, but dont know why theres no clear section on the switch for a light (Or is there, i know theres a light in the switch because i opened it up but not clear plastic) but i found a ground and used the black and red signal wire to wire them up and the two middle pins are for the foglight relay. Top goes to the black and red cable and green goes to the engine bay. Wired the plug up clean up the wires then pluged it all in.

(havent wired the ground in this pic)

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Then i when to the engine bay to plug up the wires we ran. Red and green wires (these colours match the relay wires). also using a plug from jaycar i wired them plug them in and it was time for a test.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Plug the foglights in and tested, It worked

fog lights only come on with parker lights and when the ignition is on they look great. :JDM:

AF

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

cleaned up the engine bay wires with some electrical tubing and zip tied it down.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Then it came time to put the bumper back on (that was also a struggle ahah but found where all the nuts and bolts go)

(Me trying to remember where all the nuts and bolts go ahah)

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

also got the rear one on as well

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

And here what she looks like now

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

will update you guys agin when more happens

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 9:53 am

Ok update. made cleaning session happened, when to to Woolworths and rented the rug doctor, best machine I've used to clean the inside of a car ever it looks brand new again

, i did all the carpet and seats. and it only took like 2 hours (since it was already apart ahah) car is starting to really come together now will be hopefully regoed but the end of next month but with Christmas and all that coming up might be a little longer. but heres how she looks.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

as so while working on the car i finally got to mount my front lip, used some nuts and bolts to hold it on.

First i mount it with just the 2 side bolt then marked it all up. Drilled some holes and put the nuts and bolts on not that hard tbh.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Also put the undertray back on since it was in the air

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

While the interior was apart and easier to get to thing under the dash i decided to replace my pedal rubbers. they were worn (ive seen worse) and well since the hole car was getting freshen up might as well do these. they only cost about $5 each and make it look a lot better. i also painted the accelerator pedal as it was starting to go silver and im not about that.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Thanks more to come,
next few mods i want to do are:
wire up rear demister
timming and engine clean
wheel alignment
chrome door stills
rear lip
R Package rear spoiler (when i find one ahah)
Polish rocker cover
find factory strut brace
silver speaker surrounds
Nardi gear nob (maybe wood if i decided to go tan interior)
older style rear garnish

and well alot more i cant think of at them moment ahaha

thats it for today updates soon

luzinit · Postby **luzinit** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 10:18 am

What an update... Digging the front lip and foggies. How good are woolies vacs? Have been meaning to do it on my car ever since I bought it last November

Any plans for performance mods or are you aiming to freshen it up to bring it as close to factory specs as possible?

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bruce · Postby **bruce** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 10:41 am

I do like a good engine bay scrub.

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 10:41 am

Nice work! Looks really clean. Looks like you've got a bit of the classic red bumper fade, any ideas on tackling that?

Sent from my LG-H815

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:13 am

luzinit wrote:What an update... Digging the front lip and foggies. How good are woolies vacs? Have been meaning to do it on my car ever since I bought it last November

Any plans for performance mods or are you aiming to freshen it up to bring it as close to factory specs as possible?

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

The woolies vac is great used it in 3 of my cars before and everytime it works amazing brings out so much dirt you cant see you would be very surprised.
At the moment its just a freshen up up until i get a blueslip as at lest in NSW the car needs to be pretty much stock for my to register an interstate car. do plan on doing a little bit of performance mods later on ie exhaust sway bars and things like that but not to crazy.

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:15 am

smy0003 wrote:Nice work! Looks really clean. Looks like you've got a bit of the classic red bumper fade, any ideas on tackling that?

Sent from my LG-H815

haha yes it has, theres little bits around the hole car. i did take the bumper to a panel better when it was off the car, he said is should be able to get it back up to scratch from a little bit of testing he did on it. but i do plan on getting a full respray later on down the line. I will be preping the car myself to save as much money as possible.

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 2:41 pm

ok guys she heres the latest.

i finally put the interior back together, car is looking awesome. i also ran wires for future headrest speakers. I used some of my sony speaker wire i had laying around and decided to run wires for the seats. I also when to jaycar and got some connectors so i can get that extra clean finish and able to unplug the seats when i want to take them out. i repined the wires already under the seat.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

First i ran one set of down the back of the seat (i used a piece of the old soft top to do so). I then pulled that wire out and measured and cut a total of 4 lengths of wires to run both left and right for speakers for each seat.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

I ran the wire in the slit in the back of the seat and to each speaker hole in the headrest. i then ran both wire down to the front of the seat and tied them up.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

I used some wire tubing i also had laying around to make the wires look cleaners. Then put on the connector and zip tired it down, i then proceed to install both seats and get ready for its first dive in so long.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

i took it for a short drive around the block and it felt amazing to drive. Like a brand new car i was actually amazed how much it changed since i first got it

more to come found a early model rear garnish so i will be putting that on

heres how she looks a little more cleaner then before ahah

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Still waiting on a few part and still need to put my heat shield on. Also gonna wait a bit to polish my rocker cover (Probs when i do timing). but engine bay is looking good.

more to come stay tuned

pepejesus · Postby **pepejesus** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 5:44 pm

That radiator looks like it's gonna go any second now

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 5:48 pm

Indeed!
A bit brown there, would certainly benefit from a replacement.
Car is very tidy, loving this thread.

Sent from my LG-H815

pepejesus · Postby **pepejesus** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 6:02 pm

Yeah car looks mint!

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 9:07 pm

Ahah yes as far as I can tell with all the paper work that car from the car, that radiator is original to he car, getting into summer I do plan on replacing it when it comes time to, brown doesn't match the rest of the black

.

Have one coming in soon, gonna replace all cooling lines as well with silicon

Gonna be fun times

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lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 2:08 pm

Small update

Got my door stills on

ive read somewhere that under the door still they tend to rust so i when down to clark rubber and got some little rubber spacer so it would hopefully not happen, i know that this will mean taking them off ever so often to clean under them but i think it will be worth the trouble.

i also got some stainless steel cleaner to and wiped them down. i think they more the car that much cooler

and as alway pics are here.

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

Untitled by lol mx5, on Flickr

more to come as more stuff happens

a222133 · Postby **a222133** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 3:23 pm

Congrats , great journey ! I am a little surprised at the rust in the cabin , owned mine new since 90 and after 340 000 ks the only rust was on the fan shroud [ damp leaf matter ] found at a total " bare shell " rebuild , though we never let the cabin flood even in QLD thunder storms .

lolmx5 · Postby **lolmx5** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 3:33 pm

a222133 wrote:Congrats , great journey ! I am a little surprised at the rust in the cabin , owned mine new since 90 and after 340 000 ks the only rust was on the fan shroud [ damp leaf matter ] found at a total " bare shell " rebuild , though we never let the cabin flood even in QLD thunder storms .

thanks man

well from where the car was kept (with the previous owners) on the beach side in Tas, and the fact that when i took the old soft top out of the car i found the rain rail to be split in a few places. I think its pretty good haha now that i think about it im really glade there wasn't more damage. but it came up great and im so glade on how she is coming.