Winter hibernation repair projects

[Pops]

Car has been declared off the road since the end of August, has always been parked in the shed since, except for when it had to be left outside while the merc got its rust repair and spray job, and while I overhauled the brakes on a nct failure Seat and some work on a daughter in laws jetta.
Now the mx5 is back in its winter home it got a bit of a clean and polish

Had to boil wash the cover as it was covered in sawdust and various spills, daughter made it for me from a pair of sheets, proof that it's worth having a cover is that none of the spills or sawdust made it onto the car
.
All tucked up

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[Pops]

Now that it's put to bed I'm debating whether to repair the oil leaks or leave them alone as the minor ones are very minor but I do think there's a leak from the rear engine oil seal and one from the rear gearbox seal. The minor leak is from the left side of the cylinder head which just sweats along the side of the engine, the bigger leak from the rear seal means removing either the engine or the gearbox, as I don't have a lift or an engine crane I'm thinking of leaving them until they get worse, as it is I haven't needed to top up the oil level between changes so the leaks aren't too bad. When I got the car 4 years ago I replaced the cam sensor seal as it was peeing from there, also replaced both camshaft seals and the front main seal when I did the timing belt

[Queenie]

Fab car Pops. Some shine on it. It's so important to keep it covered and dry alright.

[Pops]

Thanks Queenie, it has to be said though that the phone camera seems to enhance the quality a fair bit

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[Pops]

So for the time being I decided to leave the oil leaks alone, instead I tackled what bugged me the most when driving it.
Suspension bushes, I have already replaced the front top wishbones with new Japan parts units which came complete with the bushes and ball joints, also I replaced the front lower wishbone bushes, they weren't genuine Mazda bushes but still seem to be good quality, I think they were ADS or Sidem bushes.
Rear bushes weren't available on any of the usual sites so I decided to get genuine Mazda bushes from the local main dealer (I forgot to bring some lube when I had to bend over when paying for them), I suppose the fact that the parts were available from the main dealer does justify the price.



Pics of the rear top wishbones, one of which my usual tyre centre insists is bent because they weren't able to do the alignment, I won't be going to them when it gets done after this work. Also the comparison between the new Bush and the poly Bush that I fitted about 5000 klms ago

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[Pops]

Two more pics of the top arms, I suppose the easy way out for the guy doing the alignment who hadn't a clue how to set up the mx5 even though I did give him the printed sequence was to say one was bent




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[Pops]

Rear lower, the two outer bushes look identical but have two different part numbers, impossible to tell the difference between them but I guess the forward one is more or less firm than the rearward one


Wishbones were wire brushed and treated to some direct to rust primer and some Hammerite black



Cut a spacer from some old conduit to get the gap between bushes correct, probably no need but it saved having to go back and forth to the car to make sure they were fully positioned


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[Pops]

All bushes fitted now




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[Pops]

Car has been sitting on platforms for over a week now waiting to get the tracking and camber set and even though all the bolts are only finger tight the car still sits too high, it's declared off the road so I don't want to take a chance driving it




Oil between the platform and plastic should make it easier for the wheels to move when setting up the alignment


Will use the string method to provisionally set the alignment and see how it drives before the nct in January

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[Steve]

nice work, really like the conduit idea.
Sitting high with loose bolts? Whats causing that do you think? They need to twist a bit more?

[Pops]

Hi Steve, it's always sat a bit high after being jacked up, it always went down after a drive though. Only thing I've thought of is that I did tighten the lower shock bolts and the antiroll bar drop links while it was jacked up, I'll be going back to it in the next few days hopefully. The plan then would be to loosen the shocks and drop links and do the geometry as best as I can using the strings

[Pops]

The latest delivery might delay progress for a while



I've another box chilling in the back hall so that I don't have to go to the shed too soon

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[Pops]

Looking at the pictures it shows I really need to do a tidy up

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[LORSEIW]

My God man - that’s the tidiest garage I have ever seen - reading your posts I kept loosing concentration due to GUILT and then you go and compound it by your last post - I give up !!

[Pops]

Ha Ha, I've been into cars since 1978 and it's only in the last 4 years I've had a shed, it's great to have but almost impossible to keep the crap from building up, hardest thing is to keep the garden equipment out of it