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2,238 Posts
No worries, glad they helped! Plenty more to come, it's never ending :zzzz:
Bilbo's Scrapyard Spec Eunos
101 - 120 of 143 Posts
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2,238 Posts
Got snap rings for my birthday, the DanST ones. They match the trumpet bolt hole spacing perfectly, but I measured the outer of my ITBs with a tape measure lol, I had the OD as 46mm, but it was actually 48mm with a set of calipers my mate used. Luckily he's a machinist, so he took them to work and machine them out to 48.03mm for me, very very snug fit! I need to trim the edges of the trumpet flanges as they touch, but test fitting they're going to go on lovely:
I got to work with the FloFlex bushes, used a torch on the housings for each bush until the outer part of the rubber boiled and started coming out the sides, smashed them with a bar and a lump hammer, was fairly simple:
Bushes on 3 corners of the car are now done and reinstalled on the car. Getting the new bushes in was ok as they're 2 piece, the inserts were a bit fiddly, I pressed a couple just to seat them better, but most I just put in by hand and tapped in or used a big C clamp. Bloody grease everywhere, it was disgracefully messy hahaha.
Arms I cleaned with Gunk and then jetwashed, painted with Hydrate80 rust converter, and then sprayed with black underseal/stonechip. The bush holes/housings I used a rag and some thinners to get the old rubber out so they were nice and clean.
Got them fitted, some of the outer washers for the bushes were a real pain to fit into the subframe mountings as they just pop out. Did some filing on the mounts, bit of levering here and there, and all in (on 3 corners). New upper front ball joints as well. Also new Genuine Mazda alignment bolts all round.
A mate of mine bought a 4.67 diff ring and pinion, but then swapped his mk2 for an E36, so I bought it off him:
This is going to be spicy!
Got the gearbox off for the replacement one, clutch and flywheel are also removed:
Rear main seal was bad, so I'm glad I bought a new one! I went with the £30 Genuine Mazda one, because it's such a pig to get to, may as well just do it right. The £6 aftermarket one was a bit cheap in comparison haha.
I should have just pulled the engine, this was not fun:
New flywheel as well from a certain someone on here:
4kg vs 8.1kg, big difference! Also bought a new gearbox rear seal for the new box, and I've got new shift boot and stuff for the shifter. Should all be going back in tomorrow, I also bought the upgraded 40% stiffer rubber engine mounts from MX5Parts.
Paint is booked in for the first weekend of May, it's really getting there now!
I got to work with the FloFlex bushes, used a torch on the housings for each bush until the outer part of the rubber boiled and started coming out the sides, smashed them with a bar and a lump hammer, was fairly simple:
Bushes on 3 corners of the car are now done and reinstalled on the car. Getting the new bushes in was ok as they're 2 piece, the inserts were a bit fiddly, I pressed a couple just to seat them better, but most I just put in by hand and tapped in or used a big C clamp. Bloody grease everywhere, it was disgracefully messy hahaha.
Arms I cleaned with Gunk and then jetwashed, painted with Hydrate80 rust converter, and then sprayed with black underseal/stonechip. The bush holes/housings I used a rag and some thinners to get the old rubber out so they were nice and clean.
Got them fitted, some of the outer washers for the bushes were a real pain to fit into the subframe mountings as they just pop out. Did some filing on the mounts, bit of levering here and there, and all in (on 3 corners). New upper front ball joints as well. Also new Genuine Mazda alignment bolts all round.
A mate of mine bought a 4.67 diff ring and pinion, but then swapped his mk2 for an E36, so I bought it off him:
This is going to be spicy!
Got the gearbox off for the replacement one, clutch and flywheel are also removed:
Rear main seal was bad, so I'm glad I bought a new one! I went with the £30 Genuine Mazda one, because it's such a pig to get to, may as well just do it right. The £6 aftermarket one was a bit cheap in comparison haha.
I should have just pulled the engine, this was not fun:
New flywheel as well from a certain someone on here:
4kg vs 8.1kg, big difference! Also bought a new gearbox rear seal for the new box, and I've got new shift boot and stuff for the shifter. Should all be going back in tomorrow, I also bought the upgraded 40% stiffer rubber engine mounts from MX5Parts.
Paint is booked in for the first weekend of May, it's really getting there now!
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5,255 Posts
Nice. I did see that flywheel and consider it actually but it went pretty quick , lol
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2,238 Posts
I didn't even know he had an ad up for it haha, I was just chatting to him and he said yeah got an unused 4kg one, and I was like SOLD!
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2,238 Posts
Yeah I will do. At this rate it is looking like I'll be able to do a comparison video between the current 4.2 and the 4.67 diff as well. I have an older video with the OE flywheel of a pull but it was mid tuning it so only 6k rev limit in place.
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2,238 Posts
Ok big update, some absolute sauce in this update.
Got the last corner of polybushes in:
Replacement box is in, with fresh rear seal:
New stiffer engine mounts, clutch, release bearing and the 4kg flywheel are in, car started up so I fitted the flywheel right at least haha. When refitting the box me and a mate spent a few minutes laying on the floor laughing at how low on the stands the car was, he couldn't believe I'd even managed to get the box out with it so low. Anyway we raised the car much higher and got it all done. He's got the big strength that I lack so he bench pressed the box while I wiggled stuff to get it to go on haha.
Coilovers were raised to max height:
Winched onto truck:
We set everything up, panel wiped, my mate got everything masked:
Primer went on well, high build stuff so has hidden most small imperfections beautifully:
Guide coat was sprayed over after, and we flatted the primer back with a good old wet sand:
Most stuff came out good:
But then we noticed a couple of paint lifts on the front bumper in the swage line, it was really ugly, I had prepped it quite well but just these fiddly little areas that looked so poor, so I used 240 in the swage line and a couple of other areas, up to 600 once the paint lifts were gone, and then he went for round 2 on the front bumper:
It worked beautifully, and came out so much better than the first attempt, well worth the effort.
Top coat went on (note, looks much more banana milkshake yellow in these initial photos due to the lighting in the booth):
We then riveted the overs and ducktail on top of the painted rear wings and boot. We wanted to get some paint under them for maximum protection.
Anyway here it is in natural light, still cream but much more of a white tone to it than inside:
Was still in bits so still looked a bit like a ropey shell, but as it's come back together it's really taking shape now:
Quite a bit left to do, but I'm slowly and carefully reassembling, refitting seals and stuff. New slave cylinder and braided clutch line was fitted last night, doing pads and brake bleed tonight, as well as fitting my spare black soft top. Coilovers have been lowered back down.
Various bits left to do, but it's come out so good! It's not concourse, but it was never meant to be. It's one colour and it looks a damn sight better than any driveway rattle can job most people do, so I'm over the moon with it. What a macheen.
Got the last corner of polybushes in:
Replacement box is in, with fresh rear seal:
New stiffer engine mounts, clutch, release bearing and the 4kg flywheel are in, car started up so I fitted the flywheel right at least haha. When refitting the box me and a mate spent a few minutes laying on the floor laughing at how low on the stands the car was, he couldn't believe I'd even managed to get the box out with it so low. Anyway we raised the car much higher and got it all done. He's got the big strength that I lack so he bench pressed the box while I wiggled stuff to get it to go on haha.
Coilovers were raised to max height:
Winched onto truck:
We set everything up, panel wiped, my mate got everything masked:
Primer went on well, high build stuff so has hidden most small imperfections beautifully:
Guide coat was sprayed over after, and we flatted the primer back with a good old wet sand:
Most stuff came out good:
But then we noticed a couple of paint lifts on the front bumper in the swage line, it was really ugly, I had prepped it quite well but just these fiddly little areas that looked so poor, so I used 240 in the swage line and a couple of other areas, up to 600 once the paint lifts were gone, and then he went for round 2 on the front bumper:
It worked beautifully, and came out so much better than the first attempt, well worth the effort.
Top coat went on (note, looks much more banana milkshake yellow in these initial photos due to the lighting in the booth):
We then riveted the overs and ducktail on top of the painted rear wings and boot. We wanted to get some paint under them for maximum protection.
Anyway here it is in natural light, still cream but much more of a white tone to it than inside:
Was still in bits so still looked a bit like a ropey shell, but as it's come back together it's really taking shape now:
Quite a bit left to do, but I'm slowly and carefully reassembling, refitting seals and stuff. New slave cylinder and braided clutch line was fitted last night, doing pads and brake bleed tonight, as well as fitting my spare black soft top. Coilovers have been lowered back down.
Various bits left to do, but it's come out so good! It's not concourse, but it was never meant to be. It's one colour and it looks a damn sight better than any driveway rattle can job most people do, so I'm over the moon with it. What a macheen.
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2,238 Posts
Thanks mate, and yeah it's been great watching it all come together, though very nerve-wracking re-fitting stuff and trying not to slip and gouge the paint haha.
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2,238 Posts
Got most of the rubber seals back on, and most other bits are back on now as well. Still need to re-fit the front lip and level out the coilovers, but overall it's now taking shape:
I finally got my hands on a red mohair for a good price. It's not mint, but it's good enough and no rips. A friend gave me some Autoglym hood cleaner and protector. So I gave it a clean yesterday, as it had some green moss/algae on it. Pretty good stuff, and if you leave it on longer it works even better:
The discoloured looking bits are just where it had dried in those areas, the colour isn't that patchy and faded at all once it's all dried out.
My mate has said he will take another go at the wing mirrors, as after the reacting issue I brought them back to the unit, lacquered them, and then sanded that back to use as a base. But the primer still reacted. Anyway I got annoyed with it and couldn't be bothered, so I went with some retro stainless mirrors from Autolink:
I'm not a fan of chrome stuff, but I quite like these. Absolutely awful wing mirrors to actually see with, but that sounds like someone else's problem when I merge into their lane. At least they'll look good doing it.
Anyway new Mintex M1144 front pads are in, brakes are bled (apart from right rear as the bleed nipple snapped, brilliant), braided clutch line is in as well as new slave, gearbox and turret oil is filled, shifter is back in, and the 90mm trumpets (that actually match the ports of the bodies!) are on and they sound absolutely incredible:
I need to go down a tyre size on the rear as the overfenders have obviously been removed and re-fitted, and now they're a bit tighter to the body, so I'm just going to drop the tyre down a size, as even with maxed out camber it wasn't clearing enough to even drive it around the estate. Fronts and rears all being done this week.
I finally got my hands on a red mohair for a good price. It's not mint, but it's good enough and no rips. A friend gave me some Autoglym hood cleaner and protector. So I gave it a clean yesterday, as it had some green moss/algae on it. Pretty good stuff, and if you leave it on longer it works even better:
The discoloured looking bits are just where it had dried in those areas, the colour isn't that patchy and faded at all once it's all dried out.
My mate has said he will take another go at the wing mirrors, as after the reacting issue I brought them back to the unit, lacquered them, and then sanded that back to use as a base. But the primer still reacted. Anyway I got annoyed with it and couldn't be bothered, so I went with some retro stainless mirrors from Autolink:
I'm not a fan of chrome stuff, but I quite like these. Absolutely awful wing mirrors to actually see with, but that sounds like someone else's problem when I merge into their lane. At least they'll look good doing it.
Anyway new Mintex M1144 front pads are in, brakes are bled (apart from right rear as the bleed nipple snapped, brilliant), braided clutch line is in as well as new slave, gearbox and turret oil is filled, shifter is back in, and the 90mm trumpets (that actually match the ports of the bodies!) are on and they sound absolutely incredible:
I need to go down a tyre size on the rear as the overfenders have obviously been removed and re-fitted, and now they're a bit tighter to the body, so I'm just going to drop the tyre down a size, as even with maxed out camber it wasn't clearing enough to even drive it around the estate. Fronts and rears all being done this week.
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2,238 Posts
That's a good idea actually, I didn't do that but somehow managed to barely damage a thing haha.
Thanks, I'm really happy with how the colour turned out.
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2,238 Posts
As I mentioned before, the re-fitted overfenders are just a little tight on the current tyres haha. So we maxed the camber out just to see if we could get them to fit well enough to do some test laps of the estate. Unfortunately not enough.
In terms of fitment these are absolutely on point haha:
However they're just so tight that it really isn't drivable, so I have bought 2 new tyres for the rear, dropping down a size, They should clear nicely. I have also got 2 TR1s for the front, as I was very impressed by their performance on my mate's mk2 for the price. Should have all 4 fitted this week.
In terms of fitment these are absolutely on point haha:
However they're just so tight that it really isn't drivable, so I have bought 2 new tyres for the rear, dropping down a size, They should clear nicely. I have also got 2 TR1s for the front, as I was very impressed by their performance on my mate's mk2 for the price. Should have all 4 fitted this week.
holy crap that is some serious fitment haha, yeah wouldn't want to drive it like that especially with fresh paint and bodywork
Also, I've got TR1's all round at the moment and agreed for the price they're not bad especially on a daily. what size are you getting?
Also, I've got TR1's all round at the moment and agreed for the price they're not bad especially on a daily. what size are you getting?
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2,238 Posts
Yeah it's a bit much, you can hear it rubbing just rolling it in and out of the unit haha. Hopefully the smaller tyre will let us pull some camber out as well.
So as I got my wheels as pairs, as is often the case with old Japanese wheels, they're a bit of a mish mash. The plan is ideally to get a full matching set of Advan A3As all round, in either 13 or 14". But until then the Volks on the front are 15x7 and will be running 195/45 TR1s, and the rears are 14x7 and will be running some random Tracmax 175/60, literally the cheapest tyre of that size on Camskill haha. Currently the rear is 185/60.
175 on a 7" wheel would normally look stretched, but due to the big profile they'll be absolutely fine. It won't be forever, hoping I can get a decent full set imported.
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2,238 Posts
So, it's out and about now! Been driving it for the past week, it's great. A few teething issues, some a little more serious haha, but overall not bad.
First I got the smaller profile rear tyres on so I could actually drive it, and got some TR1s on the front:
Got the mud guards fitted. These required a little trimming with the Dremel at the top on the inside as obviously my original arch has been cut back, and these sit very close to the tyre. It was worth doing though as they really improve the look from the back, it was look a bit odd with the relatively skinny tyre being mounted to fairly low offset wheels.
We cut the tip off of the exhaust to use in another part of the system for the V band section. The system always sat funny so the tip was going to cause issues with hitting the freshly painted bumper anyway. Exhaust is now V banded and has a flexi in to prevent the manifold from cracking as it did when my mate owned it. The cut off tip was obviously no good to drive with as it was going to melt the bumper and kill me with CO poisoning haha. So I found a 90 degree bend my mate had left over from an E36, cut it down and welded it onto the backbox silencer, got it sitting nicely, and then welded the hangers back on. It's a proper pea shooter which I think goes with the retro look.
Not the prettiest welding ever, but it feels good and strong, and it isn't blowing, so I'm happy with my efforts haha.
Took it to Retro Rides on Sunday, just in the car park area so not in the show, but it was a good run out apart from crazy traffic on way back due to a car somewhere setting on fire and big diversions. Very hot in the 5 with all the sound deadening/insulation and carpets removed haha.
As I said before, I pressed new upper ball joints into the arms. These pressed in nice and tight, but I thought I may as well add a couple of tacks on them just in case. Well I got excited to drive it and forgot. Unfortunately the worst did happen and the ball joint popped out, luckily the upper arm design is very good in that while it contacted the hub, the bent edges stopped it from moving anywhere and the car didn't collapse or try and kill me.
Me and a mate got the car in the air and jacked the upper arm up, inspected the ball joint, and all of the torn rubber was just the excess above the retaining wire ring that holds the main dust cover on, main dust cover still completely intact, ball joint seems perfectly healthy, so we pushed it back in, and I welded it up. I did tacks on opposing sides with breaks in between to avoid too much heat build up in the ball joint. Again it's not super pretty but it looks really strong, I've spoken to several mates who weld professionally and they seem happy that it is, if anything, complete and utter overkill. But better to be safe than sorry. Needless to say if the arms ever need new ball joints I will be replacing the entire arm now haha.
Finally got a couple of photos with my mate's AE86 that was the inspiration for my colour choice. Photos are very misleading as when his car is put nearer the camera it also looks more cream than mine, but they are identical in the right lighting!
Also I refitted my front lip, we managed to force it onto the bumper, we hadn't realised just how warped one side of the bumper was when prepping and painting. The hot weekend really helped make both the bumper and lip become a bit more flexible, and it's now secured on with self tappers and washers, again likely more than required, but I'd rather it stayed where it should be, so I'm happy.
Oh yeah and I refitted my front neons, I love neons.
First I got the smaller profile rear tyres on so I could actually drive it, and got some TR1s on the front:
Got the mud guards fitted. These required a little trimming with the Dremel at the top on the inside as obviously my original arch has been cut back, and these sit very close to the tyre. It was worth doing though as they really improve the look from the back, it was look a bit odd with the relatively skinny tyre being mounted to fairly low offset wheels.
We cut the tip off of the exhaust to use in another part of the system for the V band section. The system always sat funny so the tip was going to cause issues with hitting the freshly painted bumper anyway. Exhaust is now V banded and has a flexi in to prevent the manifold from cracking as it did when my mate owned it. The cut off tip was obviously no good to drive with as it was going to melt the bumper and kill me with CO poisoning haha. So I found a 90 degree bend my mate had left over from an E36, cut it down and welded it onto the backbox silencer, got it sitting nicely, and then welded the hangers back on. It's a proper pea shooter which I think goes with the retro look.
Not the prettiest welding ever, but it feels good and strong, and it isn't blowing, so I'm happy with my efforts haha.
Took it to Retro Rides on Sunday, just in the car park area so not in the show, but it was a good run out apart from crazy traffic on way back due to a car somewhere setting on fire and big diversions. Very hot in the 5 with all the sound deadening/insulation and carpets removed haha.
As I said before, I pressed new upper ball joints into the arms. These pressed in nice and tight, but I thought I may as well add a couple of tacks on them just in case. Well I got excited to drive it and forgot. Unfortunately the worst did happen and the ball joint popped out, luckily the upper arm design is very good in that while it contacted the hub, the bent edges stopped it from moving anywhere and the car didn't collapse or try and kill me.
Me and a mate got the car in the air and jacked the upper arm up, inspected the ball joint, and all of the torn rubber was just the excess above the retaining wire ring that holds the main dust cover on, main dust cover still completely intact, ball joint seems perfectly healthy, so we pushed it back in, and I welded it up. I did tacks on opposing sides with breaks in between to avoid too much heat build up in the ball joint. Again it's not super pretty but it looks really strong, I've spoken to several mates who weld professionally and they seem happy that it is, if anything, complete and utter overkill. But better to be safe than sorry. Needless to say if the arms ever need new ball joints I will be replacing the entire arm now haha.
Finally got a couple of photos with my mate's AE86 that was the inspiration for my colour choice. Photos are very misleading as when his car is put nearer the camera it also looks more cream than mine, but they are identical in the right lighting!
Also I refitted my front lip, we managed to force it onto the bumper, we hadn't realised just how warped one side of the bumper was when prepping and painting. The hot weekend really helped make both the bumper and lip become a bit more flexible, and it's now secured on with self tappers and washers, again likely more than required, but I'd rather it stayed where it should be, so I'm happy.
Oh yeah and I refitted my front neons, I love neons.
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