nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Yeah I have wire brush attachments for my dremel, drill and angle grinder. For a quick going over the hand brush is fine. The real reason is my drill battery wasn't charged and the angle grinder is bloody noisy lol.
Good thing about the acid is it takes away a lot of that labour intensive work!
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boylers11
Member
Registered: 27th Jul 06
Location: Shropshire
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Ahh, fairy snuff. Are you getting them powder coated or painting them?
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Plan to use an anti rust costing then a few layers of underseal.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Been an expensive couple of weeks.
Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80
Bilt Hamber Epoxy Mastic
Bilt Hamber Dynax UB
Bilt Hamber Dynax S50
Wishbone bushes (uprated rubber)
Droplinks
Polybush front arb bushes
Polybush rear arb bushes
Track rod ends
Lower ball joints
Split pins for upper ball joints
Removed the charcoal canister which leaves a bit of extra space in the engine bay:
I then thought I'd try and find the source of a small oil leak. I think it's coming from the cam cover gasket and cam angle sensor. I've changed both the cam cover gasket and the CAS o-ring (common source of leaks on MX5s) since I've owned the car, but I have a feeling I didn't use a genuine Mazda gasket. I also think that since then I've had the cam cover off and didn't replace the gasket. I'll add it the shopping list so I may as well replace the CAS o-ring again for good measure.
I then cleaned the rear arch liners:
I gave the wishbones another quick going over then pressure washed them to blast off any dust.
I've also made a start on cleaning up the chassis rails. They have underseal covering the majority of the surfaces but the edges of them are rusted as the underseal has cracked. They are cleaner in the flesh than the photos let on. A lot of the orange is freshly ground rust dust. Pic of the wishbones too after washing them down.
Bought some proper general purpose sealant to try and get the tub ready for the acid bath.
The silicone sealant has done the job and the tub is sealed nicely.
Got a couple of wishbones in with a 20:1 mix of water and citric acid.
Also decided to scrub up the two rear inner arches to see if there was any rust lurking under the dirt. Just a couple of small spots that I'll treat but overall they're fine and are probably best left untouched. The body-coloured factory underseal (I think that's what it is) seems to be holding up well.
Renewed the insurance as well so maybe that'll be the motivation I need to get it running again.
Checked back to the wishbones today and gave them a quick scrub with a wire brush and a rinse:
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Got the next batch of wishbones soaking and the first two painted with Hydrate 80.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Bit more done today. Got a few rust patches in the boot from the battery tray rubbed down then gave them a couple of coats of Hydrate 80.
Finished grinding the driver's side chassis rail, cleaned it up and gave it some Hydrate 80. Also treated a few other spots.
Gave the wishbones a second coat too.
For the first time in a little while I feel like I've actually made some progress this weekend.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Not an exciting update, just a bit more of the same. Been away for a few days visiting family but set a few more bits soaking in a fresh acid bath before I left. Came back to a very discoloured solution so it has been doing its job nicely.
Had to be careful not to fully submerge the front upper wishbone as I don't want solution getting into the ball joint. It'll need a bit more work to fully clean up compared to some other bits. Just got two more wishbones to do. Still undecided what to do with all the nuts and bolts.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Rear ARB is too big to go in the acid so I've had to take a more traditional approach to cleaning it up. Cue an angle grinder with a heavy duty steel wire brush! It's cleaned it up with no problems, it just doesn't get into the pitting like the acid does.
I don't have a before photo but it was pretty orange and flaky!
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3CorsaMeal
Member
Registered: 11th Apr 02
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Do half at a time in the bath.
Or the Deox Gel that you brush on is just the citric acid and wall paper paste
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Can't really get much of it in the bath, the way it sits means that only the ends get in really. Not overly concerned though, the steel brush has done a pretty decent job. After a couple coats of Hydrate 80 it'll be fine.
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SteveoBC
Premium Member
Registered: 22nd Feb 07
Location: Bucks
User status: Offline
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just wondering....instead of acid bath, wouldnt have been quicker and better chance of removing any and all rust and old paint by having sand blasted?
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Quicker and easier, yes. But more expensive and you have the risk of particles being left behind and getting caught under the paint. Plus I was intrigued by the acid so wanted to give it a go to satisfy my curiosity.
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SteveoBC
Premium Member
Registered: 22nd Feb 07
Location: Bucks
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fair enough, i thought cost would be a defining factor
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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To be honest I didn't even look into how much it would cost to have them blasted. But the acid has only cost me £15 so thought it was worth a try.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Rear lower brace, rear ARB and a couple of wishbones painted in Hydrate 80 today.
Got a couple of other wishbones ready for painting tomorrow too.
I'll also set the last two wishbones soaking in a fresh batch of acid.
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Kev_GSI
Member
Registered: 9th Oct 04
Location: C:\Uk\Chester_North West
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Hydrate 80 tell me more. Take it you rub back where you see surface rust. Treat with H80 and then paint over it? Kind of like Krust but 10000x better
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Yeah it's a rust converter made by Bilt Hamber. You remove any loose rust, degrease the part, wash it and dry then use this. Blurb on the bottle says it kills and chemically converts rust and that it can be left unpainted but for long-term protection you should paint over it.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Bit more Hydrate 80 painting done today and last two wishbones set soaking in acid.
Also cleaned up the battery tray brackets for painting.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Got the final two wishbones painted in Hydrate 80. Feels like a small victory knowing the acid cleaning is done 
Bought a new stereo. I wanted something that'll look stock but still provide good functionality. Got an aux input on the rear and USB on the front.
Had some smoked sidelight units arrive too. Not 100% if I'll keep them or not. I love the clear lenses but not sure if the black fits in. Once the car's back on the road I'll make a judgement then.
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BeetleGav
Member
Registered: 27th Jun 10
Location: lancashire, nelson
User status: Offline
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The slight tint looks better than the really bright clear lenses. Makes them blend in without looking like it's just cheap black tint like the side reps people fit on corsa Bs
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Bought a cheap phone holder (I play all my music through my phone when I'm in the car).
Set about removing the clip on the rear and got some velcro stuck on it.
New aux cable and aerial adaptor for the new stereo.
Plan is to have the phone down by my leg. The velcro is surprisingly secure against the interior carpet. This photo is crap as I was using my phone to take the picture, so you can't see what it's like in place. Easy to skip a track without having to take my eyes or attention off the road and the phone doesn't get in the way of the gearstick like it would when it was in the tombstone cubby hole.
Bought some new screws for when I fit the replacement steering wheel. The steering wheel was sent to me with countersunk screws, but the boss lines up with non countersunk holes on the steering wheel. These holes are very close to the edge, so the heads of the screws would clash with it. So I've got some socket cap screws that fit nicely.
Finally I got the passenger side chassis rail ground back to good metal ready for some Hydrate 80. No before picture but it was pretty orange along the edges! Took quite a while to clean it up and I ended up looking like a coal miner despite wearing a mask and goggles.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Painted the passenger chassis rail with Hydrate 80:
Final 'large' component that needed derusting was the front arb. I'd been putting it off purely because it was fiddly to remove. Needed to drop the coolant so I could get the arb around one of the radiator hoses.
Ground it back to clean metal and gave it a quick wash:
Then painted up with Hydrate 80:
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djgritt
Premium Member
Registered: 1st Nov 07
Location: Dorset Drives: Focus ST / Hyundai i20N
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Good work. Getting there!
When do you expect to be back on the road in it again?
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Yeah slowly but surely. Most of the dirty work is done now. Just painting and reassembly left really.
Hopefully it'll be done in the next month or two.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Finished off grinding the last few bits of surface rust.
New boots for the upper ball joints to go on.
De-rusted and painted the front and rear arb brackets in Hydrate 80.
Started undersealing.
Still got two arches to go. Then I'll be on to painting up the wishbones etc.
MX5 Project Thread
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