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Great work on the dials! Sorry for the lack of posts.. I've been busy at work+gathering turbo parts for the mx5 so not had a lot to report!
Can I ask where you got your front tombstone/oval indicators? I can't find any anywhere for a decent price! Also where did you get your hosing for the fuel filler lines?
So It has been a while since I was last on here providing updates and it looks like I have missed a few questions too in the process.
Unfortunately the year or for sure an 18 month window was not kind to me, after a few deaths, my wife have a number of car accidents, my redundancy combined with going self employeed was too much for my wife to take. At the beginning of summer just days after my last post the wife and seperated and very swiftly I am in the process of completing a painfully expensive divorce - just lucky we didn't have any kids!
Anyway having spent the summer having the privilege of negotiating with solicitors and trying to keep my business going in the right direction I have returned my attention over the last couple of weeks back to the car....
A quick flurry of activity to make it presentable...
An electrical check
The following day I got close... but not quite a cigar! Two pesky minors that I knew I would get but thought pop in and get a list to work through - did not expect to fly through everything else!
So there and then I rebooked the next test that gave me just the weekend and a few days. I ordered the parts - genuine Mazda Dust Boots and I tell you what so SOOOOOO much better than the cheap ones just slide on. A few hours of tarting around to start the final phase 1 of body shaping and tweaking on the rear and I even gave the parcel shelf a once over with filler and a bit of satin black...
That then left me to take it down for the first MOT slot of the day at 7:45am and BOOM! PASS! no advisories and all very happy.
Took it for a 35 mile drive and have a number of things I want to address but the news is the rear is solid just need wheel well covers and some insulation, perspex for the rear quarters and some bracing on the front lower valance so it doesn't shake at 85mph (if i were ever to want to drive it on a track of-course).
That's it for now - I will be back to answer the questions left by everyone hopefully tonight.
Thanks Paul, everything will be work out well. booked myself another America road trip for three and half weeks covering Xmas and NYE and a V8 Charger for the journey
. Mazdarazmataz - the number plate lights are repro Lucas L534 ones. there are plenty on ebay but rubbish quality on the chrome. I will have to look through my reciepts folder to find where I got those from. I think it was actually ebay to come to think of it. they have started pitting - and the car is garaged!
not much to report but as the weather this week has been so good I decided to remove the car from it's slumber and get some miles in and any problem solving before I dig deep over the coming months finishing off the body prep.
I have managed to cover over 200 miles and last night drove the 109 miles to Norfolk in her, other than an exhaust trim rattle there was nothing to report. These Mazdas are bullet proof! ���� did I just curse myself there? today I'll be driving to the coast and back to a friend's for a new so probably some testing miles ahead.
Another year has passed and nothing has been done on the car... however good news is the car went through and MOT yesterday despite not having been driven for over a year. The only thing that it failed on first time was a leaky shock absorber that I had missed when doing a check and a wire for the repeaters when I had put the front clam back on last year in haste meant the wires were the wrong side of the fender.
All in all though pleased to have had it done.
On the plus side the new lady friend is very encouraging as she saw the first episode of the BBC 2 programme about a road trip in Asia. Even suggested if the car is sorted let's do one in Europe... not to miss the blessing I will make haste whilst the sun shines and try and get it ready for a paint booth session soon.
So winter is coming and some of the major projects on the house have been completed including teaching myself to plumb properly using copper and solder and refitting the main bathroom having stripped it to stud walls.
My attention post next marathon will be back to the kit car... I know most of you would be even suprised to know a) I still have the car b) with a quick battery charge it starts first time still c) it has a new twin exit exhaust that will be frenched in. d) I have intentions to pick this up and get the build moving again!
So first thing is I have had a slight change in direction over the front and would like to create a flip front. There have been a number of these done already and not wanting to reinvent the wheel I wondered if anybody who has done this has a drawing I can work from as it's a first for me. Any suggestions?
I will spend this weekend purely going to skip mutiple times to see if I can find a car under the pile of crap I sat there on top.