1996 NA MX-5 Build Thread

[stephen8512]

12/06/2017

Refreshing rear plastic windshield
I'll be looking to upgrade my soft top to a Robbins fabric soft top in Tan and a glass rear window but without the demisters (personal preference) in the near future but until then, my current plastic rear windshield has seen better days and was yellowing. Driving with the top up and trying to see who's behind you via the rear view mirror became next to impossible because the windshield was so hazy from the yellowing of the plastic that I couldn't make out much.

I bought a can of VuPlex plastic cleaner and polish for about $15.00 and decided to refresh my plastic windshield until I purchase the tan soft top to replace my current one. First you will need to clean the windshield to get rid of any dirt and then once it's a nice clean surface, you just spray the VuPlex, work it in with a microfibre cloth and wipe away. Results speak for themselves really. Cheap and easy.

Before. Notice the yellowing and hazing of the plastic.



Another angle of the yellowing and hazing.



VuPlex plastic cleaner and polish.



Clean the windshield first with some glass cleaner or soapy water and rag to lift all the dirt. Then apply the VuPlex. Spray liberally across the plastic. You will need to do this on the inside as well.



After. Clear plastic and no more yellow.



Another angle. No more yellow.



I can finally see what's behind me now when I have the top up.

[stephen8512]

24/06/2017

Reconditioned Power Window Tracks & Bushings
Almost every MX-5 will suffer from the "slow window travel" syndrome at some stage of its life. This is mainly due to the window tracks getting clogged with old gunk being accumulated from the atmosphere overtime and the roller bushings either not functioning as they should due to the excess buildup of gunk or quite simply they have been broken or disintegrated completely.

My MX-5 was showing signs of slow windows and I knew it was time that I took the doorcards off and have a closer inspection. I purchased a set of delrin door bushings because I knew that they were going to need replacing. I also got a tube of Shin-Etsu silicone grease, which is a genuine Honda part. The Shin-Etsu grease is a special type of grease that Honda supplied for people who bought the S2000 as it was mainly used for the convertible top seals and window seals. The grease keeps the seals supple and soft and it's been used by others in the MX-5 community on the window tracks with great success. The install was pretty straight forward and taking everything off wasn't too hard as there were a lot of how-to guides and tutorials both on the internet and YouTube.

When I did take it off though, the roller bushings weren't in too bad a condition compared to others I have seen on the internet. My driver side bushing was chipped a little bit but the passenger side was fine. The real problem was the window track. There was so much build up of crap in there that it took me over an hour just to thoroughly clean everything. After some time scraping off the gunk, the window tracks were clean and I applied a generous amount of Shin-Etsu grease on the tracks so that everything was well lubricated. Installed everything back and we have perfectly functioning power windows once again.

Take off the three bolts which hold the armrest against the doorcard.



Pop off the door card (there should be nine clips). Once you take it off, this is what you're presented with.



Both doorcards off.



Take off the three 8mm bolts holding the door handle.



Take these two 10mm bolts off next, which are the window stoppers.



Take off these three 10mm screws holding the window to the regulator.



Take off the remaining bolts and gently pull out the regulator with the track facing towards you.



Close up of the regulator. You can see some buildup of gunk at the top.



Both top rail tracks out of the door. Lots of residue which is slowing the bushing down and causing resistance. This means the motor in the regulator has added stress, more than usual to just get the window up. If this continues, it can lead to bigger problems.



Love this stuff. Ready to clean the window tracks.



Spray with the degreaser and let it sit for approximately 10 minutes.



Degreaser doing it's job.



Cleaning out the crap from the window tracks.



Nice clean tracks.



What's left from the original window bushing. The fact that it's still one piece and intact was surprising as I've seen others which have completely disintegrated.



Another closeup of the problem bushing.



Driver side bushing had a little bit chipped off, but overall it was still intact.



T30 torx screwdriver needed to replace the bushing.



Comparison of old bushing VS brand new delrin bushing.



New VS old.

[stephen8512]

...continued

New bushing installed.



You can see the bottom part of the window has approximately 21 years worth of dirt and dust accumulated. I couldn't re-install the window without giving it a clean.



Cleaned these up too. These are the mounts which attach to the regulator. Soaked them in hot water and soap and cleaned them up.



Nice and clean, ready to go.



Cleaned the regulator tracks as well.



Applying the Shin-Etsu grease to the window tracks. Be generous with the grease.



This eventually ended up being too much for these two tracks but I used the excess and greased up the passenger side track on the regulator.



Apply a little bit of the grease on the A-pillar rubber channel.



Gave the door a clean with hot soapy water to get rid of any dirt and dust before applying the plastic shield.



Plastic shield back on. Just need to put the doorcards back on and we're done.



Video of the faster power windows in action.

[stephen8512]

25/06/2017

Sunday morning drive through some B-roads, top down, gloves on, perfect clear blue skies, chasing an NSX...



Choices : Drive the NA or drive the NA?

[stephen8512]

02/07/2017

Crisp and sunny Sunday morning. Couple of photos taken by a friend of mine before going on a drive. I think the next free weekend I have, a full wash, clay, wax, polish and paint correction is in order...

[stephen8512]

19/07/2017

Practice shots on the Canon 50mm L lens...

[stephen8512]

05/08/2017

Driving through Old Pacific Highway. I love coming here on the weekends and tackling corner after corner on the blacktop. It gives me an escape and it's where you can just drive for the sheer love of driving. Not only that, you always see cool bikes and amazing cars on this road. This particular day there was a silver 240Z following me; a car which I intend to purchase as a new project hopefully sooner rather than later. It was a lot of fun going through the twisties with the 240Z right behind me.

Gorgeous blue skies, suns out, no clouds, top down, gloves on, music off...and just drive...

Many thanks to Q Stop Photography for these photos!
https://www.facebook.com/qstopphotography/

[stephen8512]

10/08/2016

Went on a drive with Dan in his supercharged NA6CE MX-5 to Lithgow via Bells Line of Road. Sydney's been having some amazing weather and I have been taking full advantage of this where and when I can!

Bells Line is a nice bit of road to drive but I never really had a destination. You can take this road and travel all the way to Bathurst and to Mount Panorama and the race track if you really wanted to but thats a good 2.5 hours. SO whenever I'd drive on Bells Line I'd normally make it to just before Mt Wilson and then turn around and go back. But this time, Dan's friend opened up a cafe in Lithgow so it was nice to drive the length of the road all the way there and then drive all the way back again. Top down, of course!







Pit stop on Bells Line of Road.



Stopped by at Mt Wilson before heading back.



This place looks better in Autumn as all the leaves are still on the trees and are bright red, but it still had a charm about it!

[stephen8512]

03/09/2017

Fujitsubo Legalis R catback. Can't wait to install this and to finally have a nice exhaust note on WOT!












SARD sports high flow catalytic converter. This will be mated to the catback.

[stephen8512]

03/09/2017

My engine bay has gone through a few changes since I've owned the MX-5. It started off from being a complete stock standard looking engine bay as it was a 100% factory original car, but as I've added things like intake pipes, strut bars etc over the years, the overall look changed with every mod.

Decided to get the intake pipe powder coated in the same textured black as my rocker cover and intake manifold. Initially I left the pipe polished because I thought it would go well with the strut brace and tie it all in but in hindsight I should have done it back then. It looks so much better.

Factory looking engine bay.



Polished intake pipe.



Engine bay as it currently stands.

[felixR]

All about that detail.

[stephen8512]

All about that detail.

Indeed!

[stephen8512]

09/06/2017

Fujitsubo Legalis-R Catback Exhaust + SARD Sports High Flow Catalytic Converter
Decided to install the catback and the high flow cat today. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be such a pain in the ass to get the old system off but it was. Upon further inspection, it seems like that the previous owner had put exhaust tape around the muffler tip and the exhaust pipe itself had a lot of rust. It was definitely time to upgrade. I tried to take photos along the way but I didn't take as many this time around.

Car jacked up, ready to take off the stock exhaust.



Rusted out pipes.



Exhaust finally out!



Close-up of the muffler. You can see someone had wrapped the tip in exhaust tape.



Stock cat. This thing absolutely refused to come off the exhaust. I was able to get it off from the manifold but it was being one stubborn pain in the ass.



OEM exhaust manifold. (Picture came out blurry)



SARD sports high flow catalytic converter ready to go!



In order for the OEM exhaust to come out, I needed to take off the rear bumper. This gave me a chance to give everything a thorough cleaning. I had previously given a good clean behind the rear garnish and realised how dirty it was.



After a good scrub it came out real nice!





There was a lot of caked up dirt accumulated over the years behind these black flaps. Happy to say that it's now all clean.





New exhaust on!











Video clip of OEM vs Fujitsubo catback exhaust.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the exhaust. When it is idling, it sounds pretty much exactly like the OEM exhaust, i.e quiet and non intrusive. When it is at wide open throttle, the sound from the exhaust is there but it's not overly or obnoxiously loud. At normal speeds it does not drone and is very comfortable.

I would recommend this exhaust if you're wanting a catback which mimics the factory exhaust in terms of sound and livability. If you're after noise, this isn't the exhaust for you as I can imagine a lot of people saying that this is too quiet for an aftermarket exhaust. For me however, it was exactly what I was looking for and couldn't be happier. I will record another video soon.

[stephen8512]

16/09/2017

As much as I like to tinker with and modify my car, I also like to make sure that my car is looking presentable too. I personally find that there's something therapeutic about cleaning and washing my car. I generally consider myself to be a clean person and I try to keep my cars the same way by giving them a wash at least once a month, vacuuming the interior, getting rid of any dirt, dust and grime and protecting/prolonging the paintwork.However, ever since I purchased the car back in 2015, it has never had a full detail. It has been washed, sure...but it was never given the full treatment. As a result, fine scratches and spider webbing had appeared on the paintwork which you can't tell from afar but can definitely tell when up close. It's these scratches and webbing which gives the paint a dull appearance. It was time to restore the paintwork and give it the detail that it needs.

I'm by no means a professional car detailer but I know enough to know what to do to help bring back the shine and depth to the paintwork, to remove the scratches as well as how to maintain the paintwork going forward. The steps I used were :

1) Rinse car down to remove as much dirt as possible before hand wash. Using a snowfoam lance would help but I decided to just rinse it down with water.

2) Use two bucket method to hand wash car with super soft lambs wool wash mitts and pH neutral shampoo.

3) After wash, cleanse the paintwork with a claybar to remove any surface contamination. This will lift and remove all the fine dirt on the paint and will result in a smooth glass-like finish.

4) Restore dull, faded or heavily swirled paint with a heavy cut polish, cutting pad and random orbital buffer. This was the boot lid for me.

5) Remove moderate swirls and oxidation with a medium cut polish, polishing pad and random orbital buffer. I used this for the rest of the car.

6) Enhance gloss and depth with finishing polish. finishing pad and random orbital buffer. This gives the paintwork that extra shine and a deeper gloss.

The next steps would have been to use a high grade carnauba wax like Swissvax and a paint sealant such as Gyeon MOHS+ but I didn't have either one of these products so I only got as far as polishing and I just finished it off with a quick detailer but I have to say, the paintwork really did come up amazing after all this. The wax and sealant would have topped it off.

Remember to always make sure the car is cool and preferably undercover/in shade before starting any washing or detailing. Never let a product dry on the car unless it states that it must on the label.
I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Rinse down the car with water to remove any loose dirt before hand wash.



Products I used. From left to right :
* Menzerna HC400 Heavy Cut Compound
* Menzerna PF2400 Medium Cut Polish
* Menzerna SF3500 Super Finish Polish
* Dodo Juice Ferrous Dueller Iron Remover
* Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild Maintenance Shampoo
* Dodo Juice Supernatural Shampoo
* Dodo Juice Gentle Grey Clay Bar
* Mint Clay Bar Lube
* Optimum Instant Detailer + Gloss Enhancer



Since I would be doing a full detail, I decided to use the Dodo Juice Supernational Shampoo. pH neutral and a highly concentrated shampoo. One pump for every 3 litres of water.



After the wash, I used the Dodo Juice Gentle Grey clay bar and the Mint clay bar lube to clay the car.



This is the result after one quarter panel. Remember to fold the clay bar to reveal a fresh surface of clay before moving on to a different panel.



This was the boot and rear of the car. Pretty hectic.



This was the door and rear panels.



This was the bonnet.



After a wash and clay, you can now see that there are some scratches and marks on the paint. This would be rectified with polish.



More scratches and marks needing attention.



Mask up the rubbers and black plastic trim on the car to prevent it from leaving stains from the polish. If they're not masked up, these can leave a white chalky residue from the polish.



Prepping the car for polish by masking up all the rubbers and black plastics.





My bootlid was particularly bad with all the fine swirls and scratches and spider webbing, so I used Menzerna HC400 heavy cut compound to remove them.



Use a correction buffing pad and put four 5c sized dabs on the pad. This was probably a little bit too much for my application. You can use less than the amount shown here and achieve the same result.



Spread the polish by first dabbing it onto the car with the buffer



Start with the lowest speed of the buffer and distribute the polish to the area. Go slow and make a few passes with the buffer before gradually increasing the speed until most of the polish has disappeared. Then wipe off the remainder of the polish off with a microfibre cloth.



The rest of the car wasn't as bad as my bootlid, so the whole car was then treated with Menzerna PF2400 medium cut polish.



Same as before. Using a medium cut foam pad, you only need a small amount on the pad. Distribute the polish by dabbing it on to the car with the buffer before turning it on.



The MX-5's never came with a clearcoat so unless your car has had a respray and a clearcoat was sprayed on, your pad will turn into the colour your car is when polishing. Keep this in mind and remember not to go too crazy with the buffer, otherwise you might fade the paint.



After a full once over with the medium cut polish, you can truly see the results and it's already looking 100x better. To enhance that gloss even further and to give the paint an extra layer of depth, I finished it off with Menzerna SF3500 super finish polish. Again, same principle. Use a finishing pad and the amount of polish shown should be enough for one door/panel.



Dab and distribute the polish on the area you'd like to work on.



Lowest speed first, then gradually build up the speed and work the polish in.



I also took the time to polish the lips on my wheels with this wheel polish I received from Barrel Bros when I had my wheels refurbished by them.



I gave my windows and windshield a clean too with Dodo Juice Clearly Menthol glass cleaner and a streak-free glass cleaning cloth.

[stephen8512]

It's really hard to tell but the photos do not do it justice. I didn't have good lighting to highlight just how well the car came up. After all that work, the car is definitely looking a million times better and the BRG paintwork is so much deeper now. Very pleased with the result. I'll take some better pictures soon.