What did you do today?

[Tony Hayward]

Ian

That looks like it should work. Keep up the good work on the paint!!
Back to latest plan-new (used) MX5 seats in black leather, and recover the back seat to match-always something to spend money on! Front seats are done, just the back to go (plus door panels and rear quarters and carpets, if I can be bothered).

Regards

Tony

[R_D_Olivaw]

Hi Tony,

It sounds like we're doing similar things. I just want to get the car back together before I start tackling the rear seats, door cards and carpets.

The rear of my recovered Mazda seats are vinyl, but if you don't realise you'd think they are leather like the front section. Due to costs I was thinking of having the new rear seat covered in vinyl. I need a new rear seat because the roll bar fouls the original one. The seat cushions are fine and vinyl. Maybe I'll try doing it myself, as long as it doesn't take me three years to do.

[R_D_Olivaw]

There is a rumour going around in my head that I've finished painting my car. Now I'm sure I've been here once or twice before and rumours aren't always true, but there is a possibility that's not the case this time.

I know there are some blemishes that will need sanding and polishing. I also know one bit on the boot will need attending to at some point. I also know that I need to get better with the DA polisher to get more shine into the lacquer; however, I do believe this is the furthest I've been so far without thinking, I really need to redo that.

If everything goes to plan (let's remember I've been doing this for about three years now), I'll start putting the car back together so I can start working on the inside.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ambtcxgj727ka7/IMG_5656.JPG?dl=0

[Tony Hayward]

Ian

You cannot be finished yet!!! I thought this was your life's work!! You will have nothing to do now!!!
Seriously though, well done; you have more patience than me. Mine went to a bodyshop to have some defects remedied and came out with a full respray!! Excuse was they couln't match the colour, but it looks identical.

Never mind, on with the interior-waiting for an appoinment with the trimmer to do the back seat (22 Sept).
If you don't fancy doing the seat yourself, can I suggest approaching a local furniture retrimmer? I did and after instant refusal to touch car seats, I persuaded him that it is the same as a sofa-held together with tacks or staples, so he relented. Remember the back seat is basically bits of plywood. The gent in question has done two of our suites, a Victorian daybed plus other stuff so I know his work is good.

Regards

Tony

[R_D_Olivaw]

Hi Tony,

I think my neighbours and family were getting concerned that this was going to be my life's work and I was getting a little concerned about my future well-being.

With reference to your point about matching colours I can understand completely. The reason I will have to redo my boot is that I decided to spray just the corner of it. The paint came out of the same tin that I'd sprayed the boot with last week and yet the colour is different. Luckily the boot has a ridge, so I'll just re-spray the bottom of the boot below the ridge and even if the colour is slightly different you won't notice it.

Just looking forward to putting it back together and teaching myself how to make a new rear seat. How difficult can it be?

[R_D_Olivaw]

I finished sanding and polishing the top half of the car today and I'm rather pleased with the results. I plan to refine the polishing further, but for now it's more than adequate. I even got as far as putting the rubber in that surrounds the glass just to get it out of the box and used to being on the car. I know you're supposed to put it on the glass first, but I wanted to trial fit it, and what a pain it was even without the glass. (Mr. Gent has kindly informed me that you don’t put the rubber around the glass, and you do need to put it around the aperture, ensuring that you beat it within an inch of its life to make sure it reaches every part. Also appears to be a nightmare of a job).

Unfortunately I then realised the rubber doesn't cover as much of the frame as I thought, so I'll need to do a little light sanding around the window aperture to clean up some of my paint work as that area had been covered in masking tape. Hopefully it won't be a big job and I can get it done in a few hours.

I still have more sanding and polishing to do, but once the glass is back in I'll focus on getting the doors rehung and that will be an enormous step forward. I'm hoping that it will also transform the look of the car.

My neighbours will think all their Christmases and birthdays have come at the same time.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/31oc6w9yemyizu0/IMG_5698.JPG?dl=0

For those sharp eyed viewers, you are correct, I do have a plastic sheet stuffed in my sill, and it's the same on the other side too. I'll complete the sill once I've done the interior and installed the seat belt mounting brackets. There was already a hole under the metal plate that ran the length of the door so I fixed most of it, but left a hole for ease of access.

[R_D_Olivaw]

Last night I had a go at fitting the rear window. I knew it was going to be tricky and I wasn't disappointed. To cut a long story short, after a lot of huffing and puffing my neighbour and I managed to almost get it in, but the glass cut the rubber in two places and didn't sit properly, so we gave up.

A new rubber seal has been ordered and I'm now trying to find a friendly window fitter that will do a little job on the side. Failing that I'll tell Brian Gent that I think I've discovered a previously unknown Gilbern GT in the hope that he can be lured back to Hampshire.

Besides working out that I can't refit the windows I also discovered something else about the car which relates to its throaty exhaust note. To help you understand what I mean open the following link in a new tab by right mouse clicking on it and watch the video, and make sure the sounds is turned up on your PC.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8wiagrkhcksvp6d/MVI_1547.AVI?dl=0

If I had been a bit more observant/intelligent I would have worked this out a while back, but such is life. Over the past couple of years the car has been moved around on a trailer and on one of these journeys we managed to break the exhaust pipe just before one of the back boxes. The pipe was rusty so it was not big surprise; however, the car didn't get noticeably louder even with the broken pipe. At the time I thought it was odd but didn't give it much thought, until the other day as I was lying in bed thinking about what I was going to do next with it. That's when I had my eureka moment and the following day I took a broom handle and shoved it up the tail pipes on the car to confirm my thoughts. There are no baffles in my exhaust and the back boxes are just cosmetic! At least it won't take much to make the car a little quieter when I get around to buying a new exhaust!

Onwards and upwards, or backwards and down, depending on what I find next, which reminds me of another little surprise I found at the weekend. Having purchased some new boot hinges from Messr. Gent a couple of years back I decided to refit the boot and that didn't go to plan either. That's when I found out that one side of the car has more fiberglass than the other so I couldn't put the nut on the bolt. I don't recall noticing that when I took it off, but having checked the old hinges they were the same, so I'm guessing it must have been glued in place. I'll remove some fibreglass so I can refit it properly.

I can't wait to make the car water tight so I can:
1. Get my garage back as it's full of parts.
2. Start working on the inside of the car.

[Tony Hayward]

Ian

Don't grind away fibreglass, they are short studs into the hinges, you could remove them and make up longer ones-Araldite them into the hinges. I have replaced most of those studs on mine for similar reasons, plus the threads were a bit knackered.
Regards

Tony

[Gavin McArdle]

Hi Ian, your screen problems are why I have mentioned in articles and told anybody I speak to to test fit the screens before applying paint. Some screens never fitted well from new, sometimes it was because Gilberns used different suppliers other times it seems that the person who cut out the apertures had some days better than others!

[R_D_Olivaw]

Hi Tony,

I will try to be careful. I noticed that someone had already removed fibreglass from one side to enable the bolt to go on, but on the other side it looks like they fibreglassed the bolt into the body. I'll carefully remove it and re-enforce the area. If that doesn't work I'll look at modifying the hinges.

[R_D_Olivaw]

Hi Gavin,

I'm putting the original glass back in so it should fit, but you never know.

[JayeM]

I had exactly the same concern/problem when putting the rear screen back in my Mk3 - the glass really didn't seem the correct shape in the top left hand corner.
After a long chat with Brian, who compared pics of my screen with his stock ones, the screen looked fine. Brian also knew the car as the previous owner had collected it via Brian who knew it's history, and he reassured me that the screen had fitted in the car before the car was "restored", so it should go back ok.
The concern I had was that the unsupported roof line had distorted while the car was barn stored. I searched for pictures of the car from before the PO removed the screen, and interestingly it showed the screen bulging slightly on the top left hand corner, so I was determined to see if it would actually fit. I had a "new" rear screen rubber, but it felt way too hard to be flexible enough, so I ordered a new one from Brian. That was much more soft and flexible.
I fitted the rubber to the car, making sure it was fitted as deeply to the rim edge as I could, then two of us fitted the screen starting from the bottom and working up both sides using thin blunt nylon spatulas to ease the rubber round the glass. As we worked up, we found we needed a third person to keep pressure on the glass to stop it popping back out, and we ended up doing the whole rhs and top to work towards that awkward corner, but it did go in! It's important then go get the filler strip in place asap whie really leaning on the screen to keep it in place. I can still see a slight bulge, but rather than try to re-shape the roof I'm happy to live with it as that's how the car was made anyway!
So at least in my case, although it took a bit of grunt a new rubber and three pairs of hands, it did go back!
Hope that helps,
John

[Gavin McArdle]

My suggestion that screens should be test fitted before painting is because a lot of screens did not fit properly from new! I am not including MK3's in this as I do not have much experience with them. To start with screens have been sourced from different suppliers during manufacture, the rear screen in my car, an unheated one, was completely different shape to others. I was responsible for the manufacture of the present supply of rear screens. Since the cars manufacture the supply of original screen rubbers has stopped and we have had to source alternatives,
Most cars have a front lower corner on the offside which does not line up with the screen forcing the rubber to sit at an angle, this does not support the screen properly and over the years this angle increases allowing the screen to drop and fall away from the top offside corner and also the edge of the nearside. I have seen cars with a gap between rubber and bodywork above the driver that you could see through.
There are similar problems at the rear depending on the actual screen.
And yes an unsupported roof can sag over time, using a jack to raise the roof a little will help but this also draws the sides in.
My suggestion to test fit involves using 2 or 3 short strips of screen rubber to locate the lower edge and supporting the top in place with a length of wood or something secure. Then after centring the screen measure the gap all the way around (you need at least the width of the web in the rubber plus maybe couple of mm more) doing this also allows you to check if the screen and the flange on the bodyshell line up, most do not.
It is also a fact that some screens leaked from new and cars had to be returned and new different rubbers fitted.
Apertures were not cut by laser when new but by a bloke with a hacksaw blade!

[Tony Hayward]

Gavin, Ian and others
Just to add my two pennyworth (is that right?.

Recently (May 2020) I had a new front screen fitted, the previous one cracked when removed for painting in January.

My screen was supplied by the club in 2013, and had lain in the loft ever since!!

I measured the original screen (still in one piece) and obtained a seal much smaller than was originally fitted, because that seal (approx 35mm wide in total) forced the screen forward all round. I obtained it from Seals Direct, their reference WR67. This seal has a total width of 24mm and web of 7mm.
I chickened out of fitting it myself and paid someone. When fitted, after much grumbling, these gents said it wouldn't fit properly, but after shunting the screen sideways, it fitted perfectly. So it can be done!!!

The moral probably is to measure, if you can, and ensure that the seal has a web thckness just less than the space all round; as Gavin says, they are all different, so one size may not fit all.

Regards

Tony

[Gavin McArdle]

Hi, I forgot this yesterday, and have already posted it today but it appears to have disappeared, apologies if it comes up twice!
Ian, if you have original factory fitted screens they will be a different thickness to todays screens so the todays rubbers will not fit.
Original front screens were 6.0-6.5mm thick and rears 5.5-6mm thick. New screens are 5.0-maybe 5.5mm and rears 4.5-5.0mm. Screens have gradually got thinner over the years.
I used to keep a selection of rubbers and could supply according to screen thickness. I don't know if Brian is still able to do so as the supply of rubbers is getting more difficult.