DanM's Westfield Miata

[Anaximander]

OK Dan. Here in the States, we have a saying "No guts, no glory" from a former Air Force Major General back in the mid last century. I suspect that you are likely obsessing over the possible outcomes of the installation of the oil pump seal with some anaerobic sealant. I've have been holding my breath for days so you could have installed it in my mouth and the sealant would have cured already. We are all waiting to see what the leap of faith is going to produce on you ameliorating that oil leak. We all have our cumulative fingers crossed for you, in a mass, superstitious cult-like manner. Soooo, let us know how this critical hack works out. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Anaximander

[fastg]

Dan, have you still got the original oil pump, if so put in a new seal and install it. I think these upgraded oil pumps are solving a problem that does not exist. I have used and abused a few Miata's over the years, never changed the oil pump. Maybe if you had a high pressure turbo setup it might help, but otherwise I think it's just money in the vendors pocket. 

 

Just an idea

 

Graham 

[DanM]

This update is very heavy on the photos.  I wanted to visually capture the steps and techniques I used (right or wrong) to trim my bootbox for the RAC roll bar..  

 

First I installed the main bar and offered up the front edge of the bootbox to get a sense of how much to trim just to get around the bar.  With this measured I masked up the corners and drew a section to cut out.

 

Then I inserted the bootbox to measure how much more needed to be trimmed.

 

Slowly and carefully I removed small slivers of fiberglass until the box slide into position around the mounting brackets. 

 

In the picture you can also see where I marked out the approximate location of the stays as they pass through the bootbox.

 

Next, the stays.  With the approximate location of the stays marked I cut a slither through the bootbox edge (see dotted lines above, wide enough to pass a piece of string through.  I then attached the string to each of the mounting bolts to form a straight(ish) line between mounts.

 

As the bootbox was curved inside, I found it difficult to make a line with a ruler. So, I used a piece of painters tape to mark the general direction of the string.  With this in place I drilled some very small pilot holes and then cut the first line with the dremmel cutter.

 

This was then widened until it was wide enough to fit a piece of wood (in my case some 1in skirtingboard/baseboard trim) that I positioned between the mounting brackets. This made sure that I had something solid the measure from.

 

With a good reference point in place I taped the front side and drew a straight line parallel to the white edge 0.25 inch away, then drilled and cut.  I then used a compass to draw a parallel line on the other side. Then cut.

 

Once it was wide enough to fit the stay, I started to work on the top curve.  I roughly positioned the stay (slope angle only, it was no where near the bracket), marked around it and started to trim the curve.

 

Remove stay, small trim top, install stay, mark bottom, remove stay, small trim bottom...repeat, repeat, repeat.

 

Eventually, the stay would slot in to place.

 

 

I plan to get some rubber trim so there is still some edge sanding and smoothing to do, but as a first try I think it is ok.  Unfortunately there are some gel coat scratches so I welcome any tips on how to correct them.  The powder coat on both the rollbar and stays is shockingly thin so once everything has been cut I will repair and spray all of it with a fresh coat of paint.  Total time so far, probably 3-4 hours.  Now for the other side.

[Anaximander]

Dan, Good progress on the roll bar install. From what I understand, there are several substances used in powder coating and one of them creates a harder shell than another but the costs are higher. 

 

Have you heard back from the oil pump vendor? I am wondering if the suggestion from fastg to just use the original oil pump with a new seal and the anaerobic sealant might be the best way to go?

[Anaximander]

Dan, I suspect that things have been busy. How is your Miata-based se7en coming?

[DanM]

Hey @Anaximander, Extremely busy!!! My kids are now back at school and I just started a new a job, so the project has all but ground to a halt over the last couple of weeks.  Hoping to get some garage time this weekend. 🤞

[DanM]

Its been about 6 weeks since my last update. 

 

After a really productive end of summer, the kids went back to school and I started a new job. Since then I have not had much time to spare and my build has pretty much ground to a halt.   What little work I have done has been nothing but frustration and headache.

 

After successfully cutting the boot box I turned my attention to painting the roll bar, windscreen pillars and windscreen frame.  For the roll bar and stays I just needed a touch up after the scratches they received during the mock up.  For those I used the tried and tested Rustoleum all in one matt black.  

 

 

For the pillars and frame it wasn't so easy...I wanted to try and get a similar effect to the chrome kit look (that I had ordered, but not received), but finding 2 paints that would complement each other took a bit of trial and error.  Eventually, I settled on Rustoleum metallic finish and Dupli-color perfect match Ultra Silver metallic.

 

Masking up

 

Garden spray jig - I used garden shears wrapped plastic bags to hold the frame upright

 

First coat

 

Finished product

 

The spray paints

 

Before each coat I gave the surface a bit of a key, and once finished I gave everything a few of coats of clear gloss. At the time it felt good but unfortunately the clear coat seemed to dull the finish and for some reason just doesn't feel right even after a week of curing.  I feel like it will just scratch off.  I guess we'll find out once I start assembling it to the car.

[Anaximander]

Dan,

 

Take heart and if possible, try and enjoy the ride in terms of the build. When I was building my Stalker kit, there were times when I thought I would never complete the build and at times felt the reported "frustration and headache" that you have experienced. OTOH, when I was able to solve a problem that seemed almost out of my reach, the small victories kept me moving forward. It seems that most of my friends that have either built a car from a kit or rehabbed a antique car tell long tales of the frustrating moments when a seeming 1 hour job turns into 3 days of work and sometimes they have to let the project sit for a day or two before they ultimately overcome the hurdle of the moment. I think any of us who take on these projects experience those moments and a friend who is in the process of a second restoration has taken the attitude that at some point in time, he will have surmounted most of the hurdles and gets momentary periods of elation followed by periods of seeming despair for simple things that he overlooked. I think it is all part of the game and you are definitely in the game! Enjoy the experience as much as you can and when you get that first drive, I can assure you that at least some of the pain will evaporate.

[DanM]

Today I started fitting some of the painted parts.  Before installing the roll bar, I attached the third brake light that I ordered from Hella.  

 

 

I pulled the wire through the bar using the "fish" that I had threaded before paining.

 

Finally I bolted it into position.

 

Next were the pillars and screen.

 

Question: Has anyone tried taking the side mirrors apart and adjusted them.  Mine are horizontal when when they are in the furthest down position.

[DanM]

So, where to start......

 

As I thought, the top layers of pain on my pillars were not stable and when I removed the masking I used to protect the pillar when fitting the windscreen fillet, a few layers came off with it! 

 

 

The fillet itself was also a challenge to fit and required a lot of fettling on the sanding belt to get it to sit in place.

 

Eventually, I got there (sort of).  Next up are the wipers.

[MV8]

FWIW, the blue tape is good but it still needs to be pulled back on itself (as much as possible) to keep from lifting paint. (I've painted a few cars and helped at my high school buddies autobody shop over the years).

[DanM]

Thought I'd give a quick updated on my windscreen pillars. I decided to strip them back to bare aluminium and see if I can get a nice polished finish on them.  first, I soaked each pillars in hardware store paint stripper over night to get through the layers of paint that I had applied and the original powder coat that came with the pillars.  It was a very mucky process, but after 24 hours of soaking they went back to bare metal.

 

Once cleaned with soap and water, I started to wet sand the surface with 1000 grit sandpaper, followed by 2000 grit.

 

This is where I am so far, I think I will go finer before I apply the aluminium polish.

[toldfield]

I did that with a large propeller.   If you put a little dish detergent in the water the sandpaper will clog up less.  After the 2000 grit I used Simichrome polish.  It took a while.  It may be quicker to use the various grades of Nuvite polish.  I used corn starch to wipe off the black stuff from the polish, which makes a different mess.  Some use paint thinner for this.   

[DanM]

@toldfieldAwesome, thank you for the tips! I'll definitely try the dish soap in water. 

[DanM]

After another week of powder coat stripping and metal sanding I finally got the pillars and screen surround to stage where I am happy to put it on the car.

 

The screen frame took longer than the pillars. I think it was because I had used a different paint and also I didn't have a container big enough to soak it.  I got there eventually, but it wasn't a very enjoyable task.

 

 

Ready for sanding

 

Once stripped I started sanding with a couple of really fine sanding cloths.  I did consider using a dremel, but for some reason I wanted to feel and gauge the pressure I was using, so did it by hand.

 

 

Finally, I used some Mothers aluminium polish and microfiber towels to buff all the parts up to a shine.

 

 

Pillars

 

Frame - Now its on the car I will buff it up a bit more.

 

Not too shabby!

[kayentaskier]

Wow! Looks great

[DanM]

15 hours ago, kayentaskier said:

Wow! Looks great

Thank You, I'm really glad I took the time and effort to do it.  It came out much better than I could have imagined!!

[panamericano]

And you saved the weight of all that paint and/or chrome!  Even polished off a little metal.

[Anaximander]

Dan,

The precision work you have done on the screen frame and pillars has really paid dividends. Have you had a chance to figure out that oil pump issue yet? 

[DanM]

1 hour ago, Anaximander said:

Have you had a chance to figure out that oil pump issue yet? 

I fixed it up with the recommended sealant, but havent started it yet.  I want to figure out how to get the idle down before attempting again.  That'll be one of my holiday projects.  Also, the cold weather is here now so want to keep the garage doors closed as much a possible.