Project NightFury

Finally got around to removing the nearside front suspension, at last, visually pleasing progress! Also got the final paint on the offside components.

Funnily enough, the nearside came apart so easily compared to every other corner! 2 hours from start to finish including moving the garage around and letting the dog out.

I’m in 2 minds now whether to refurbish the bilsteins or to replace with adjustable coilovers. I don’t want to spend too much here at the moment as it’ll be mainly on track. I suppose I’ve got some time to mull this one over yet.

I have a set of bilstein stickers to go on after paint, but the ones I can’t find is the warning labels in Japanese. If anyone can get hold of or link me to some, hit me up in the comments or email 👌

I took the hub unit to work today hoping to get chance to strip it down on my break. Bonus, no issues at work so the strip down commences. Everything seemed to come apart relatively easily, surprisingly easy infact.
Even the bearing came loose, well, split itself.
I did wonder why the rear bearing seemed to have more resistance than the front, now we know. So that’s more money to shell out, might as well do both sides I suppose.

Here are a few photos. Excuse the messy work bench, it’s tidy now, I swear 😜

From today I will focus back on the front end suspension and brake rebuild. I have noticed whilst under the car that there is an engine oil leak from the back of the engine. I will add this to my list of jobs, potentially looking at a new head gasket and instant gasket sealant?

I still need to order for the front:

• Front caliper rebuild kit
• 1.8 brake pads (I did the 1.8 brake upgrade years ago).
• Blue hammerite paint
• Paint for springs

Upper and lower front ball joints have been ordered, along with spring compressors and black hammerite paint. Still going to require a trip to halfords for Blue Hammerite at some point when I’m ready for it.

Tomorrow I hope to strip the nearside front suspension and Anti Roll Bar so I can take them to work on Monday and use my breaks to media blast and press out the bushes. That reminds me; I still need to find the wheel nut key so I can clean up the hubs and paint them….FOUND IT!

2020 had been a heck of a year, and throughout, all I could think about is “What do I need to do to finish the mx5 when I get chance”. I have a big, no, massive list of jobs, but I’m one of those people that starts something and moves onto something else to kill two birds with one stone as such. But in doing so it has opened a whole new can of worms. I was stripping and rebuilding the suspension (the rear of which I completed around , but to create a bit more working space in the garage I removed the front bumper, only to find damage to the crash panel on the drivers side… Oh joy. So I’ve decided after looking and researching through forums and images; that I’m going to make a tubular front crash bar and remove the slam panel all together. Doing this will create a massive amount of space behind the bumper which I’d like to use for turbo intake pipework/filter, as well as a little more space between the rad and intercooler. I’m going to drill the engine bay above the passenger wheel to route intercooler pipework to the front, and potentially look at revisiting a loom extension and tuck. I do however still need to get on with the suspension, which I suppose I ought to see as a priority….. No suspension No driving. Another thought I have just had whilst writing the list below: Subframe removable front brace for sump removal with engine in situ….. R&D dept’ is on it!