MadaboutKitcars

Doors are off, rear lights removed, there are a few areas of the rear that need some minor body work, going to prep and prime the doors and bootlid tomorrow hopefully

So 99% of the paint is finished, all in I've done about 6l of paint, 3-4 coats, wet sanded between each coat will still need wet sanding/polishing to get rid of some orange peel but on the whole I'm happy with the colour choice

Trying to figure out where to stick the number plate, thinking of doing a vinyl one on the bonnet

Hi I must say your car is looking very nice.
I had the same dilemma with my car last June when I got it back from the paint shop, made some brackets to fit ridged number plate but plate was either too close to the ground or restricted the air flow to the radiator. In the end I went for the stick on plate

If low to the ground it could be hinged with the addition of light springs, so that it will easily yield and return if it touches the ground!

Even better, get the loading correct and pressure to the front will cause it to 'fold back' - even air pressure!

Thanks for the positive comments thought id take a break from wet sanding out in the cold, I've ordered some reflective vinyl, to experiment with the front number plate, (something to do when it gets to cold to work comfortably outside), I also had to redo the edge profile where the front meets the drivers door, as it wasn't as crisp as I'd like, I'm hoping I will only have to mix up one more mix of paint to touch up the few spots I got a little enthusiastic when wet sanding out some peel..

What did you use for wheel arches?

I I haven't fitted any arches, the kit is standard

I was wondering if anyone has fitted the oem mazda hard top seals to an mx250? I previously made seals, but I found they sealed well when closing the door with the window up but when closing the window independantly would always hear wind through a slight gap

Sounds like the seal needs some sort of lubricant to allow the window to go up easier?

Yes,I lubed/greased all the mechanism, just need to fabricate a new seal to seal nicely against the roof, I think I have a plan that may work, using some plastic angle to attach the knock on seal edging to

So I decided I wanted to make the dash cluster a little less "mazda", I found a site called jass performance, that make stainless/etched facial for the mx5 clocks, aat roughly 35 quid, excellent value for money, I also really fancied the independent glass gauge rings, however at 138 quid, they are a tad expensive,

NA"]https://www.jassperformance.com/shop/mazda-mx5/cockpit/Independent-Gauge-Rings-NA[/URL] gauge rings

Facia https://www.jassperformance.com/shop/mazda-mx5/cockpit/engraved-instrument-cluster-bezel-stainless-steel-na-mk1.html

Gauge rings https://www.jassperformance.com/shop/mazda-mx5/cockpit/Independent-Gauge-Rings-NA

Heres the standard mx5 clocks removed, with the perspex cover off

Facia fitted

Now this is where I luck out completely! I managed to source some glass guage faces from some old redundant equipment that's been scrapped nearby after an hour or so of hunting, I managed to find 2 x glass/stainless 95mm faces from some old pressure guages, I butchered some smaller pneumatic guages to get me some 45mm perspex faces with stainless surrounds, once cleaned up, I have created this!

Cleaned it up, put some slithers of red vinyl on the needles, fit some leds in place of the old green filament bulbs..... refit in car.... turn a few led bulbs round...... realise the rev meter is not reading zero.... take apart...[ repeat everything... refit..... test.... take picture..... post