(Pic heavy) Rusty MX5 hairdresser driftcar MOT restoration

[octo0072000]

Ah I see good point. I think choice of test centre is important. Have to forgive me I am a little slow. Historically the subject of welded diffs on internet forums seems to produce a bit too much heat so I had my hard hat on!

i ran a V8 Land rover lightweight body range rover chassis 20 odd years ago
bit of a beast that was quite happy to spit the planet gears through the rear diff i could not fit the big 110 rear axle rear prop too short engine and box was moved back 10 inch rear axle was on a panard rod same as the front
so that was welded ran it 2 years like that only did 50 miles a week on road though front tyres wore more than the backs

so been there also run suzuki with a lockrite diff fitted only unlocked on corners that was not nice too much banging and crashing and lurched ever time it unlocked good off road not too good on it

 

[stuvy]

iv noticed a few suzukis with welded diffs, iv only ever been in one E30 beemer with a welded diff and that thing bounced like hell as we took a tight slow corner!!

 

[octo0072000]

iv noticed a few suzukis with welded diffs, iv only ever been in one E30 beemer with a welded diff and that thing bounced like hell as we took a tight slow corner!!

that's thing no tight corners
as both wheels are going at the same speed no diff something has to give so the tyre skips jumps going back in time cars had no diffs or only drove one wheel some chain driven cars used a free wheel think pushbike two chains one driving each wheel so on corners one would drive the would free wheel

 

[Wallace]

The brake test can be done on the road using a decelerometer instead of the rollers if you have a limited slip differential or a welded differential etc.

 

[mahesket]

Hi mate, this looks like a good project. I myself came on here in search of wisdom to be able to weld my mx5 up for its MOT due in March. rear sills and drivers front chassis rail.

Got my welder last month and i'm hoping to start making some serious practice in the new year. just sorting out proper size gas etc.

Are you on nuts? Have i seen your car driving through sheffield before?

Here's my 5 looks half decent in this photo.

 

[slimjim]

we need decent pics, I have an MX5 that needs some sill work, that I need to do when I get roundtoit

 

[secretsmoker]

OK took a few more pics last night. For some reason I always forget to take them in the daytime when there is light! Photography is more my misses' area so forgive the crappy quality!

Next batch are not for the faint hearted!

Drilled out the skirts to see what horrors lurked underneath...Rear sill (Driver's side)

Front sill (also driver's side)

Yikes! I have seen similar on the rear sills rustwise, although the ones on this are also bashed up quite badly from bottoming out. Chassis rail box sections and passenger's side sill will also need attention eventually but are not quite as urgent!

The plan as it stands is to do repairs a section at a time try to keep it useable and continue to take it around on vans until I can get it all done. I will try to be as gentle as possible with the grinder and remove a layer at a time hopefully taking better photos after each step so that I know where I am. Guessing I will eventually end up welding up at least 3 layers on the front and the affore-mentioned 5 on the rear! It's a big job but needs doing.

One thought I had though, as the flange is essentially fooked all the way down am guessing that the whole sill front to rear may need to be replaced, in which case I will probably need some brace bars to weld up before I do anything else.

Not sure if the skirts were to cover the rust or whether they helped to trap moisture to fuel it. Either way the amount that needs to be cut out is considerable. I wanted welding practice so this could be perfect assuming I can find some solid shiny metal somewhere! Also wondering where I am going to clamp the welder but we will cross that hurdle much later!

The boltheads securing the wing underneath popped right off even after being soaked with penetrating oil and left for hours! most things are like this on old 5s but never found any that bad before. They will need redrilling/threading eventually but are the least of my worries! hah

The rest of this shell is fairly solid so seems a shame to waste. I am gonna need a fair bit of galv sheet and some outer sill panels (cheapish and shaped better than I could manage) and a few bits of tools etc. I am gonna have to fabricate most of the sections at home but I like a challenge. Time is not a problem, cash...well lets just say it will get done but not all at once!

This car had a hard life in the past and deserves some TLC. I am actually quite excited to get started on this

 

[secretsmoker]

i ran a V8 Land rover lightweight body range rover chassis 20 odd years ago
bit of a beast that was quite happy to spit the planet gears through the rear diff i could not fit the big 110 rear axle rear prop too short engine and box was moved back 10 inch rear axle was on a panard rod same as the front
so that was welded ran it 2 years like that only did 50 miles a week on road though front tyres wore more than the backs

so been there also run suzuki with a lockrite diff fitted only unlocked on corners that was not nice too much banging and crashing and lurched ever time it unlocked good off road not too good on it

Sounds like the V8 Rangerover my mate used to have back in the day when a tank of fuel didn't cause bankruptcy! That thing was so much fun and absolutely terrifying round corners...not as terrifying as the little Suzuki Rhino though. Another of my friends used to borrow his folks convertible one. Bloody freezing in winter as the heater was also rather ineffectual. Anyhow we were REALLY in to rallying at that point and I lost count of the amount of times we went round corners on two wheels, wrong side of the road about to tip over into the path of an oncoming van Still alive tho, good times.

 

[secretsmoker]

Hi mate, this looks like a good project. I myself came on here in search of wisdom to be able to weld my mx5 up for its MOT due in March. rear sills and drivers front chassis rail.

Got my welder last month and i'm hoping to start making some serious practice in the new year. just sorting out proper size gas etc.

Are you on nuts? Have i seen your car driving through sheffield before?

Here's my 5 looks half decent in this photo.

Glad to see some other folks with love for Roadsters. Nice to see some that are still shiny.

Are your sills anything like these? Most other ones I have seen you can at least make out the structures and how they go together. I think I will need to refer to pics to see what mine is supposed to look like before I begin!

Sounds like you are all set, I also need to procure quite a bit of tackle before the business of welding can begin. I think the prep work on the first section is going to keep me fairly busy for now as I want to try to keep it slow and methodical for when I begin to start feeling like I am way out of my depth haha!

I am on Nuts from time to time and also Driftworks occasionally. I am the one inviting the torrent of abuse with my endless newbie questions haha. Gotta start somewhere though.

Yeah you might have seen this car although not on the roads, mostly at Santa Pod. I know folks in Shef, got a mate that makes the sound systems at the club Dirty Little Secret whose crane I will be attempting to borrow next time I need to swap an engine over. Anyone know someone who has written off an S2000 lately? Heard it's technically possible to shoehorn the engine into a 5, guessing it would destroy the balance of the car. Would love for some of that VTEC goodness to find it's way into my 5 eventually!

 

[mahesket]

These are the only two images of my sills i have with me at work so i'll stick them up as they may be of some use. will try and get some more at the weekend. they are quite bad but not as bad as yours lol.

HTH

 

[slimjim]

you can buy new sills

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-MX5...rParts_SM&fits=Model:MX-5&hash=item2c67926721

 

[secretsmoker]

Aha! Thankyou thankyou. So cheap too! I was nearly about to by just the back part for about the same. Amazing find.

Just need to figure out whether there is anything left that I can actually attach one of these to haha! I have a feeling it is going to take me some time to build up the insides all the way down enough to be ready for the sill but I am tempted to order one of these now as that seems quite reasonable.

 

[secretsmoker]

Ordered the panels for the front portion of rear arch/wing and a new outer sill panel.

I need to take some pictures of what happened last night when I waved a wire brush around then lightly tousled with a screwdriver the crusty remainder of the front and rear sill section! Explosion of dusty crap the knee deep in powered car. Rather funny

Appears the reinforcement panel and sill end panel are not as easy to get so I will need to figure out how to build up from scratch.

A couple of newbie questions...

I am about to cut out the whole outer sill section; is it enough just to weld a couple of bars in bracing into the door aperture or do I need cross bracing too? Presumably I am best to do this with the car sitting down normally on the ground not raised with pressure already on the rails?

Where is the best place to get some Zintec sheet in the Derby/Notts area?

Is there any way I could connect to to add in some vertical box sections doubled up for extra strengthening on the rear jacking points?

Sometimes the diff is not accessible for jacking without wood and it's often nice just to be able to raise one side. I don't like using the rear jack points on the sill now I have seen how puny they are

Just need to figure out whether there is anything left that I can actually attach panels to haha! At least when the panels arrive I should be able to see how they marry up and exactly what needs fabricating to get it all sewn up...

 

[secretsmoker]

The missing 90%....

Haha you folks are going to like this... Pic heavy update.

I would advise anyone to do the same, in calculating the "limits" of your project then assume you have an Ice-burg . . . your mission, if you choose to accept it, is the find the missing 90%

Turns out the majority of the rust on this car has been caused by a recent(ish) bodgered up repair to the front and rear of the drivers sill. There was a suspiciously pronounced panel at the rear which I started poking with a bar CHECK OUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT...!

Under the panel is what's left of the old sill and many dangerous looking rusticles...

What was left of the front sill after more enthusiastic treatment...

Back end of a slightly agricultural previous patching up job.

The car basically just pooped out about half a kilo of powdery matter from this side, other side may well be similar hahah!

Whew! time for a bit of a break to drink some single malt (it's christmas and officially off working weekends for a while wooohooo) and contemplate the horrors awaiting me in the garage...
Sinister trumpet harmony...

Anyhow almost done prepping the bits I am hopefully keeping; gentle grinding/wire brush and rust converter seems to have done wonders for some bits I was previously worrying about. Just need some zinc sploddoning onto the exposed bits when everything dries out. A little bit more to do on the passenger's side sill and arch which I will try to get done tonight if not too inhebriated!

Need to get a fancy Makita grinder or something tomorrow the one here is not up to the job. Probably ought to look at brace bars before cutting- any thoughts on this?

Turns out the central section of sill is fairly solid so may not need to remove.

So then...Saturday night...

Girlfriend has officially left for her annual xmas migration to the folks house so basically I have an all nighter planned finishing de-rustifying the rusticles then hopefully doing something fun like getting responsibly hammered on Talisker and repairing my drifted splitter/nosecone with a load of fibreglass and aluminium mesh ting...Whoop whoop I'm living it up tonight!

Time for a change of music, like 80's film montage gettin it done montage music...any suggestions? Starting with the best of the cars nanananah

 

[Wallace]

Something my old man drummed into me; "Do it right and do it once!" If you have a full sill to go on don't stick it over the old one, remove it completely and replace anything on the inner sill or floorpan that has corrosion and you will find the welding easy. Also, find out where the sill drain holes should be and make sure you reinstate them. Don't give yourself a deadline, take your time as it will pay off in the end.

 

[secretsmoker]

Good advice. Thankyou. This was also my conclusion until earlier today, my old man came over to look at what I had been up to and suggested that perhaps I could just leave the centre of the current sill in!

 

[octo0072000]

well i did say it would be a lot worse when you cleaned it off but that's rough for a mx5
as do it once or get a better shell

 

[Epicyclic]

That first pic looks like you set about it with a carpet beater!
Being an optomist I hope the other side is better...
Once you know how bad it is, it can only improve.
Good luck.

 

[mahesket]

Have you managed to make much progress on this over the break?

 

[ibrooks]

Good advice. Thankyou. This was also my conclusion until earlier today, my old man came over to look at what I had been up to and suggested that perhaps I could just leave the centre of the current sill in!

So long as it and what's behind it are good then that's fine. Future problems tend to arise when new metal is just stuck on top of rusty stuff. It keeps festering and before you can blink the new metal has also rusted through.

Mine has just been dropped off this morning for paint to go over the new metal that I glued in over the past couple of months.

Iain