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Author: Subject: Mick's MNR Mazda: Build Log
micksalt

posted on 5/8/15 at 04:03 PM Reply With Quote
DonorPack
DonorPack


Well, that was a lot of effort saved. Invited an MX-5 enthusiast round to help himself to a few of the parts for free, he took the lot and even gave me some cash for them. Even took a section of the chassis rails (middle section, the only good bit) for welding into a damaged part of his chassis and the wing that I thought I'd distorted too much to be of use. Much hassle saved compared to getting rid of it all through eBay

Just got to get rid of the scrap pile now and I'm sorted. The guy that popped round is bringing his industrial-grade hub puller sometime this week to get my rear hubs free of their drive-shafts.

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Rocket_Rabbit

posted on 11/8/15 at 04:13 PM Reply With Quote
A very nice read that! Keep it up matey!






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micksalt

posted on 14/8/15 at 05:17 PM Reply With Quote
Cheers Rocket_Rabbit

Hands up if anybody can guess what problem I've currently run into.

DriveshaftRemoval
DriveshaftRemoval


Annoyingly, the other driveshaft popped out with not much of a fight using a hub puller and impact wrench, and that was a little more corroded around the hub nut due to the absence of the dust cover. I'm going to need a new CV joint on the end of this driveshaft at the very least because I was walloping the hub nut so hard I stripped the threads. Oh well, can always buy these parts ready separated if I don't figure it out

By the way, Amazon are currently selling those Absaar chargers for just a shade over £20 delivered. If you can swap the 2-pin European plug for a 3-pin British plug, well worth getting.

[Edited on 14/8/2015 by micksalt]

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sdh2903

posted on 14/8/15 at 07:46 PM Reply With Quote
Mine was exactly the same. One side easy. One side a pig. Get it in a press and give it a tap. As long as you don't muller the hub (like I did:mad as you say the cv joints are easy to come by.
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micksalt

posted on 15/8/15 at 06:42 PM Reply With Quote
One of the advantages of working at a heritage railway, lots of people with years of experience of getting old metal to part. After consultation with a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, the prescribed course of action was described as "get it f-ing hot and then f-ing hit it". Even better, our resident expert at getting things hot then hitting it offered to do it whilst I was running the passenger service. Very pleased to see the two parts apart whilst driving past. Going to renew the bearing for sure, probably the hub too since he did get it "bloody hot". Glad I chose not to struggle on my own on this one.

[Edited on 15/8/2015 by micksalt]

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prawnabie

posted on 15/8/15 at 09:25 PM Reply With Quote
The rear bearings are fit once only as i found out!
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micksalt

posted on 15/8/15 at 09:29 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by prawnabie
The rear bearings are fit once only as i found out!


I thought so too, they tend to split between the inner and outer races when you attempt to remove them. I'm replacing bearings as a matter of course, but I think, given the trauma sustained by the hub under the action of the hub puller and the heat, I might replace that too. It was allowed to cool naturally, no quenching was involved, but since it's looking a bit blued, I'm not sure I want to take the risk that it has hardened and become brittle.

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prawnabie

posted on 15/8/15 at 09:49 PM Reply With Quote
I snapped and ear off the rear upright trying to press the flange out of the bearing, so I bought a second hand upright + flange. After changing the bearing in that I realised the flange was bent! (car it came off must of hand a smash). The new bearing just fell apart whilst trying to push the flange out again!
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micksalt

posted on 17/8/15 at 07:09 AM Reply With Quote
I've got myself booked in at MNR to pay my deposit on 12th September. I'm going to take the steering column, propshaft and front uprights with me for modification so I can pick the whole lot up in one go in November. Also going to take my Works-Bell boss to get welded on too.

I've decided that I'm keeping the build basic, with the intention to upgrade in the future. However, one thing that is very permanent is the roll cage. Is it worth forking out the extra for the T45 cage over the CDS? What sort of weight difference are we talking?

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micksalt

posted on 25/8/15 at 06:22 PM Reply With Quote
As a proportion of the build cost, the T45 cage isn't that much more, may as well.

Well, here's the heavy-duty jig used to separate the hub from the driveshaft, using the biggest oxy acetylene torch we could find:

BigJig
BigJig


And the happy outcome:

FinallySplit
FinallySplit


I had an evening of keeping clean last week, so I turned my attention to finally sorting the steering wheel padding. The prefabricated pad I ordered was the wrong shape, so back to my neoprene wrap. This time, I wrapped further around the wheel, cutting around the Rapfix to maximise the sticking surface. Having had some practice with the hot-melt glue gun, I was able to make a much neater job of securing the edges. Pleased to say, this one didn't peel back

PaddedWheel
PaddedWheel


IVAFriendly
IVAFriendly


And having subjected the hub and bearings to so much heat, it's sensible to replace. I stripped the hub, using a hammer and socket to drive the hub out, then using the part of the bearing that had stuck to the hub to use as a drift to knock the bearing assembly out, having to use an old PPF bolt as a drift to do the last bit (moving around the bearing as I went). As luck would have it, the old bearings were perfect to use as a support to drive the bushings out in the vice using a socket on the other side. I'll use a press for reassembly though, either bought or borrowed.

RearHubStrip
RearHubStrip


[Edited on 25/8/2015 by micksalt]

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micksalt

posted on 28/8/15 at 04:48 PM Reply With Quote
Well, a job I kept putting off has been done today; taking the scrap metal to be weighed in. All clear again behind the shed:

WeighingIn
WeighingIn


It took three trips in the Focus Estate, the interior has suffered a bit for it but at least I've disposed of it all responsibly. And how much was my 340 kg of MX-5 metal bits worth?

£13.60

Thanks China for having a recession at the same time as I could be bothered to weigh in

Anyway, fun jobs ahead, got to get myself some zinc-phosphate primer and I can start making things pretty. Pro-tip however, when you make a list of all the parts you wish to replace with new, don't ever add a 'cost' column, and certainly don't ever add them up. However, the donor came in massively under budget so all is well

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l5tuy

posted on 3/9/15 at 06:59 AM Reply With Quote
13 quid doesn;t sound like alot for that weight of steel, I was hoping to get good money for my shell, not anymore......

Stu

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micksalt

posted on 3/9/15 at 08:16 AM Reply With Quote
I think if you shop around, you can get up to £60 a tonne, but this place was convenient to say I had to make three trips.
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sdh2903

posted on 3/9/15 at 08:18 AM Reply With Quote
Yep scrap price Is on its arse. A mate collected my shell. 12 or so steel radiators and half a vauxhall nova and got 35 quid. The last donor o scrapped I got 100 and the guy came and collected it.

Mick, just to pass on a nugget of info, I ordered replacement outer cv joints due to damage when removing from the rear upright. There are a couple of variants for the 1.8 cars. Some have 22 internal splines some have 30. I've just had a right faff sending back 2 sets, finally got the right ones.

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micksalt

posted on 3/9/15 at 11:23 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
Mick, just to pass on a nugget of info, I ordered replacement outer cv joints due to damage when removing from the rear upright. There are a couple of variants for the 1.8 cars. Some have 22 internal splines some have 30. I've just had a right faff sending back 2 sets, finally got the right ones.


Cheers fella, I'm going to make things doubly complicated because I've ordered new hubs as well. I might wait until they arrive then count the splines before ordering the CV joints on the back of this information. It'll be the CV joints that have to fit the hubs because the hubs are coming all the way from the US of A.

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sdh2903

posted on 3/9/15 at 11:48 AM Reply With Quote
I'm intrigued which hubs you going for? From my now near expert knowledge on the subject. Most of the shafts have 26 splines in the hub. It's the splines on the end of the driveshaft that push into the CV that vary.
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micksalt

posted on 3/9/15 at 05:29 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
I'm intrigued which hubs you going for? From my now near expert knowledge on the subject. Most of the shafts have 26 splines in the hub. It's the splines on the end of the driveshaft that push into the CV that vary.


Ah, got you. No, nothing special about the hubs coming in from across the pond, just a third of the price of what I can get them here. I've got time on my side to wait for them to arrive, although I doubt the two year warranty would be much use if I had to send them back

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micksalt

posted on 11/9/15 at 07:25 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
Some have 22 internal splines some have 30.


I'm so glad you pointed this out, because I wouldn't have bothered checking, and realised halfway through the CV joint replacement with everything greased up. 22 splines on the end of my driveshaft, 30 in the CV joint. Doh!

May I ask where you got your 22-spline CV joint from? I can find 22-spline ones with ABS, but I need ones without ABS, unless the only difference is the actual ABS ring and either will fit?

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micksalt

posted on 11/9/15 at 08:49 PM Reply With Quote
CVJointOff
CVJointOff


Top tip, do this stage before ordering your CV joints and count your driveshaft splines. For those that have knackered the end of the CV joint getting it to part company with the hub, to get to this stage you just take off the driveshaft gaiter, hold the shaft in a vice and tap the CV joint off. It's held on by friction to a little C-clip on the driveshaft, a bit similar to what holds the other end in the diff.

Early start tomorrow, off up North to order my kit

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sdh2903

posted on 11/9/15 at 09:04 PM Reply With Quote
You not ordered yet?

Ask em while your there when mine will be ready hopefully I'm still on for the end of the month.

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micksalt

posted on 11/9/15 at 09:13 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
You not ordered yet?



Nope, wanted to make sure the garage was definitely clear of donor vehicle before I even considered it. Hopefully I can collect on November 14th after getting back from my honeymoon. I'll ask about yours.

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sdh2903

posted on 11/9/15 at 09:15 PM Reply With Quote
Nice wedding present!!
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micksalt

posted on 14/9/15 at 09:16 AM Reply With Quote
All ordered now, will upload the obligatory factory tour photos when I can get to my usual PC. Came in a smidgen cheaper than expected too because there were parts and services included that I thought I had to supply
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l5tuy

posted on 15/9/15 at 11:57 AM Reply With Quote
I ordered 3 weeks ago, spent last weekend stripping the mazda.

I'll post pics later.

Be interesting to follow similiar builds over the next few months.

Stu

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micksalt

posted on 15/9/15 at 04:28 PM Reply With Quote
Likewise, will be interesting to follow your build too. Let me know if I can be of any assistance to your MX-5 teardown.
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