Month: April 2018

[QUOTE=Gammaboy;842980723]What’s the shifter trick on the heater box inlet/outlet?[/QUOTE]

An old guy who worked at a rad shop showed it to me ages ago. You get an adjustable shifter and find a reference diameter from somewhere else on the pipe:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429014852-37aab973-xl.jpg[/img]

Then you put it around the narrow section of the pipe end, and rotate it around on the pipe end to reshape it to round:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2018/04/29/20180429014746-4af2bab3-xl.jpg[/img]

Works a treat on softer metals like the heater core or various rad pipes.

Its a pretty neat trick, which i got to show a plumbing apprentice when he was replacing our home HWS. Was fiddling around with a special tool to reround it from the inside etc, and it kept getting jammed in the pipe. 30s with the shifter and all sorted.

So between lots of stressful family stuff this weekend I was very happy to have some garage time on the side to get some stuff done.

One of the reasons i got the MX5 was to muck around and do some stuff i have wanted to experiment with for a while, but too either chicken to do on the AE86 because of costs, or illegality for IPRA.

The first of these was mucking around with flocking. The old dash was pretty munted with several cracks and actually broke in half when i knocked it on the stand. Thats ok, because MX5 dashes are like $50 for a half decent NA one. So after i fibreglassed the bottom of it to hopefully minimise cracking, i got to work flocking.

I built this little electrostatic flocking gun from an electric fly swat that i had lying around.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2018/04/24/20180424232910-566de31a-xl.jpg[/img]

Not recommended TBH, it would have been better with a pressurised unit, but works well enough (although not for how much effort it was to make).

Nevertheless, it does a half decent job and the dash ended up like this:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429015031-2f68ee0b-me.jpg[/img]

You can see it looks a little lumpy occasionally though:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429014923-b9c93fdb-me.jpg[/img]

Still looks good in car:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013300-642a7877-xl.jpg[/img]

Also jammed an NB heater core in there that needed a little bit of reshaping of the outlets, but that was easy as with the old shifter trick

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013743-e1f7dac0-xl.jpg[/img]

Another thing i have been interested in recently is 3d printing, and given that this is the first build i have done since i built my 3D printer, i figured it was time to knock up some little plugs to seal up the AC box

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013515-481b44f8-xl.jpg[/img]

And also knocked up a mounting bracket for the washer bottle:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013203-08ca1246-xl.jpg[/img]

Realised afterwards when i was looking on Beavis’ site that it is very similar to what he has done for his setup. Turns out we think alike in engineering terms.

I then started looking around for other things to 3d print, and remembered that my rear valance has a big crack in it and a chunk taken out. So as a second attempt at transferring an irregular pattern to digital and then plastic i figured why not.
First bit is getting the shape:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013722-d8497bb7-xl.jpg[/img]

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013656-aa19d290-xl.jpg[/img]

Then scanned it in, processed the photo, then converted the image into a vector image, and finally extruded it in Fusion with a little flange lip for attachment. Giving

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013631-2cea9a6b-xl.jpg[/img]

Worked a treat.

Then i went to turn the car around in the garage and hit a snag. Went to put it into first and ripped the entire shifter knob off and tore a chunk of flesh out of my arm. Some previous owner had installed one of those shift knobs with a grub screw, and it had torn up all the thread.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013334-e5919af6-xl.jpg[/img]

They had then put the stock shifter back in with a hammer. I kind of already knew about this, which is why i had bought a new one already. But still a painful reminder of previous crappy mods.

So short shifter went in:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429013451-913ca02e-xl.jpg[/img]

Finally i turned the car around, and then got to work on pulling the water pump out and changing the timing belt

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429012702-13677d9b-xl.jpg[/img]

Had forgotten how annoying it can be working on road cars again, and with all of these fiddly little water hoses for random intake junk, its a pain in the bunghole
This one looks like some form of intake heater, wonder if i can delete it

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429012645-f774ff41-xl.jpg[/img]

While this one looks like an IACV

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/29/20180429012625-451331c5-xl.jpg[/img]

Probably need that one for the moment i guess.

Thats about it for this weekend, should be able to do most of the other stuff on the engine bay area this week or next weekend, but its going well.

Had a few moments this afternoon to pull the heater box out to put a new core into it. It wasnt leaking, but im bloody surprised it wasnt making my feet wet:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/24/20180424232528-a50ae79e-xl.jpg[/img]

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/24/20180424232606-42923554-xl.jpg[/img]

Has leaked and corroded so badly that the corrosion (cupric chloride and efflorescence) has actually sealed it up again. When i put the garden hose on it after coming out of the heater box it was leakier than an incontinent geriatric.

Thankfully i had already started lining up an NB unit which will drop in and make future core changes much easier.

I also added some lightness by gutting the aircon box:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/24/20180424232657-541126d8-xl.jpg[/img]

The heat exchanger is easily the heaviest part there, and just gutting it will make for a good weight saving.

Had a couple of hours tonight, so got the biggest thing out of the garage and into the car, the cage.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2018/04/22/20180422055042-8807c09d-xl.jpg[/img]

Pretty simple install once i got the bloody soft top out, which had a nice little tear down low under the rain rail on the driver’s side, so pretty sure its going to end up being binned.

Mostly fitted the carpet back in too, which will make it a bit nicer place to be in.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2018/04/22/20180422055014-e8e9505f-xl.jpg[/img]

Found that the heater box has leaked at some point, so im definitely going to change the core and hopefully getting an NB alloy unit to make it easier to work on.

Did a bunch of wiring tidying too, but who needs to see that…

Completely brain dead this afternoon, so i headed home early and did some work on the car. Pulled the old cracked dash out:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/19/20180419234827-7aa6aa33-xl.jpg[/img]

Massive pain in the arse, as you take the entire dash, reinforcement etc out as one piece. Sure makes for far fewer bolts, but its a pain. Will let me pull the carpet out and actually clean 25 years of crud off it. Just a pity that none of the aftermarket carpet people make one for the MX5, as having nice fresh carpet would be nice.

Also found that the shifter boot is pretty perished, so that will need to be replaced

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/19/20180419234853-497a6755-xl.jpg[/img]

Now to tidy up some wiring and stuff, and finish off the half arsed AC delete. Might replace the heater core too while I have the entire dash out, cant hurt.

Had a bit of time between the rain on Saturday arvo, so i fitted up the wheels (mainly to get them out of the garage)

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020815-d7b222be-xl.jpg[/img]

Need to let them settle a bit.

Then i started doing some general automotive archaeology:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020943-d08bfc38-xl.jpg[/img]

Spare chips and change under the seat.

Half a central locking system

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020905-35db270f-xl.jpg[/img]

Someone who actually cared about their car audio install:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020837-27430546-xl.jpg[/img]

And someone who didnt care about the concept of gaskets:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020708-d9e1bce4-xl.jpg[/img]

Finally the reason i bought Hella Supertones

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/14/20180414041823-d0fc0e89-xl.jpg[/img]

Air compressed truck horn thing that takes about 2-3s to charge before it makes any noise. Sure, its loud, but that soccermum in the people mover has already run over the bonnet by the time it makes any noise.

Then it started pouring again, so i shifted to cleaning the garage instead to bring it inside.

But got distracted, and mocked up this one:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020742-13447938-xl.jpg[/img]

Today i finished cleaning the garage up, so i could bring the car in, and then finished off a basic bracket for the mirror:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020618-08cac08d-xl.jpg[/img]

3mm Alu is a bit overkill for it though, so i might make it again out of something thinner. Also not sure on how i want to finish it, whether it is brushed or painted black, or even covered in carbon vinyl. Whichever option, it is already a damn sight better than the stock mirrors that drooped over every bump (drivers side), or folded up at 80km/h (passenger). Plus you can already see more out of them as they sit at a much better location.

Finally i pulled the rear garnish off to see if i can fix up the number plate bracket, and perhaps fix the cracked bit.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2018/04/15/20180415020645-289b8a78-xl.jpg[/img]

Now it is in the garage i will be able to do the cage and other bits without having to put the soft top up and down every 30s when the showers come over. Plus I figure I may as well just pull the dash out to fix that at the same time as rewiring a few bits and fixing the central locking. Its certainly a damn sight easier to do that than being contorted around to get up under the dash.

So this is what happens when you have a couple of months to accumulate parts before being able to start work on the car, pretty much 90% of the parts for the initial build have arrived.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2018/04/11/20180411041004-e2d85b9d-xx.jpg[/img]

Just waiting on time to be able to get stuck into it. Knocking off a few other little jobs to clear out stuff before getting into it, and hopefully can bottle up the 140L of barrel aged beers that is currently taking up floor space between kegs and the empty bottles that need to be filled.

But hopefully can get into it this weekend.

Until then, anyone able to pick the problem with this sucker?

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2018/04/11/20180411040853-86f4641b-la.jpg[/img]