It's been a pivotal moment in the build this weekend. In theory, before now, I could have reversed everything I've done and put the car back to its original MX5 specification.
BUT, this weekend, my friend Brian and I had a go at the rear wheel arches. I had tried (briefly) to turn them up, but it wasn't pretty and was hard work even to turn the lip up. So instead, we
- drilled the exixting spot welds
- cut out approx. 4cm from the outer wheelarch
- separated the cut outer panel piece
- cut 1-2 cm from the inner wheelarch
- rolled the inner wheelarch over the outer
- spot welded the two back together
This took the wheelarch up to be pretty much flush with the maximum height.
Previous test fits of the rear clamshell had shown that the ducts behind the rear wheel arch were fouling on the Mk2 bodywork and not allowing the kit to sit inboard enough.
To fix this we
- made a cut at the forward edge of the bodywork where the duct touched
- then knocked the panel inwards (because of the lip, this would not have been easy without the cut and we think it would have distorted quite a lot of the panel)
- then made a template and fabricated a small filler panel and welded in place.
So to date - work completed:-
- all mx5 parts not needed removed
- front and rear calipers and discs changed
- front chassis rails repaired and undersealed
- other areas of rust treated
- adjustable shocks and lowered springs fitted all round (ARB links were a nightmare and had to cut all four off and fit new ones)
- inner wing extenders cut, painted and trial fitted
- front wings cut and re-fitted
- roll bar painted and fitted
- clamshell de-waxed, seam lines sanded, also initial general sanding
- rear boot extender, parcel shelf and clamshell dry fitted. Much fettling to get to sit correctly / find issues
- rear wheel arches cut and r-welded
- indents for rear ducts cut and re-welded
Attention over the coming weeks will be on the mx5 boot, boot extender and rear parcel shelf. Generally need to sand, make tidy, route wires, fill gaps, paint etc.