Dean S550 Build Thread

[Dean_S550]

Well I ended up buying this car in the end for a very reasonable price. I trusted the guy and I think my instincts were reliable. I have since checked the oil and other fluids more thoroughly which shows very slight discoloration but otherwise clean as though changed recently. Brake fluid was clean, coolant clean and airbox had a brand new bosch filter in it. I have been provided some independent receipts that he found that check out and he has offered to send any more as he finds them.

The underside appears very solid indeed, with little to zero rust on the actual chassis, arches or sills anywhere and mostly limited to control arms, subframe and brackets - surface only aside from the subframe support braces which I will change as I know they suffer the worst.

Car drives great and sticks very well, has a few minor jobs for me to tidy up but I’m happy to do them and will keep me busy. Some minor bodywork niggles which are small, and some minor pickling on the hard top cover, hard to spot, but I saw this on almost every car I looked at to some degree.

I will introduce myself and the car properly soon and document the changes as I make them. It’s been quite some time since I bothered with forums, but this seems to be quite an active community and I’m looking forward to contributing.

Will become a paid up member shortly

[Bullit2005]

Wow…congrats on your perseverance

[Dunno if it helps or if it’s just me but I pay my membership by annual DD which for me has been £36.00 the last 2 years. it never ceases to amaze me how the Club does this…perhaps because of the amount of volunteers in various roles and no I’m not on commission ]

Welcome Dean

[Dean_S550]

Thanks. I did look briefly at how to join/pay and will have another look later .

[Dean_S550]

Here is the car all cleaned up. I had already posted some pics in the ‘what have you done today’ thread but makes sense to out them here. I think it’s in great condition compared to others I saw but you can be the judges.

[Dean_S550]

[Dean_S550]

So so far I’ve done the following:

Removed wheels and arch liners and jet washed out, dried and refitted. No rust in arches at all, clean as a whistle.

Decontaminated and cleaned wheels.

Removed all dirt from behind skirts and cleaned sills back and front. Spotless.

Decontaminated and power washed underside. Dried and wiped everything over with protectant. No evident rust in arches or sills etc. No loose of flaky/bubbly underseal.

Changed all plugs, filters, fluids etc and detailed engine bay.

Fitted a stubby aerial. Wish it was a bit stubbier…

Removed boot carpet and trims and checked for any rust, none found. Thoroughly cleaned interior and conditioned leather seats. Lubricated all hinges with ptfe dry film spray including roof mech. Decontaminated all rubber seals and conditioned rubbers.

Replaced all interior and exterior auxiliary bulbs for led where applicable.

Restored headlights as they were badly clouded. Clayed, cut and polished car. Buffed out a few minor marks.

My future plans are to delete the ise pipe as I think they’re pointless, fit some wider wheels and tyres, tein coilover suspension, anti roll bars and upgraded brake discs and pads, check calipers and refurb if necessary but they seem good (and paint). Get a good alignment. Then set and good to go for some power upgrades in the future. Don’t think I’ll change much else about the way the car looks, I really rather like it.

Bad points:

Minor small dink on rear bumper and bottom of front bumper has caught a kerb at some point but is out of sight

Brake discs and pads OK but a bit rusty where its been stood

Couple of tiny dents that are going to be taken out pdr (fairly inexpensive)

2 small rubs on drivers seat

That’s about it really. I’m pretty over the moon with the car so far and have thoroughly enjoyed going over it and giving it a bit of tlc.

[Wardy5]

Great photos and looks to be in great order. You could turn this into your ‘Readers Rides’ thread

I wonder if we can get this thread moved there?

[Dean_S550]

I didn’t know you had a build thread section? That would be the best place yes of course .

As long as it doesn’t turn into the last one I did on a car - 23 pages long over a course of years . I may have gone a bit too far with that one…

[Dean_S550]

[Craigjackson1984]

Your car looks awesome. I wish I had the patience and skill to do all you do. Just one small point you mention the stubby aerial. Is yours one from mx5 parts? The moss Europe stubby is certainly stubbier and very popular.

[Dean_S550]

Thank you but a lot of it was just clean up, strip and rebuild. I can’t take credit for all of it as most parts were taken for powder coating or polishing etc so I just took it all apart and put it back together.

Yes the aerial I was expecting to be a bit ‘stubbier’ was an mx5 parts one (il motorsport) but may get a moss one at some point.

[bally3]

Did you get a good deal when you bought it

[Dean_S550]

I believe so yes. It’s a 1 owner car on a 2014 plate. 31k miles in very good order once I was done tidying it up. To put it this way - I looked at older cars with more miles in worse condition that were up for a few k more than what I got this for. But I was taking a risk.

[Dean_S550]

Removed the ISE sound tube and fabricated a small bracket and anti-vibration mount for the purge solenoid so any clicking doesn’t transfer to the body.

Before and after

Cut up the old number plate brick to make a blanking plate for the bulkhead.

Drilled the factory strut caps ready for when adjustable damping coilovers go on.

[Dean_S550]

Got these to fit once my suspension and wheels arrive, no sense doing it until I have everything

[MickAP]

Interested, did you get backing plates with the EBC pads?

[Dean_S550]

Ebc have a bonded on shim, so not a backing plate per se

[Dean_S550]

Here you go Mick. From memory I don’t think I’ve ever installed any additional shims or backers when the pads come like this. Just the usual pad goo where needed.

[MickAP]

That would make sense as any other plate wouldn’t really fit on those.
The Brembo pads I fitted this year had a backing that would accept the plates/shims but not supplied. I reused the old ones although one side were really ready for the bin, corroded.
Replacement plates only are highly priced for what they are from mx5parts

[Dean_S550]

Well apparently ebc recommend installing as is, or if using backing plates then remove the shim thats on there. According to their site using plates with these type pads can make them uneven or move independently causing noise.