Well, thought it about time I did a bit of a catch up, lots been happening with the NC. Most of it on the oily bits.
Done a full service with Oil, Coolant, Transmission and Diff oil changes (even bought an oil syringe and 23mm socket for the diff).
Then started on the bodywork, nose cone and bonnet were in a very sad state with loads of chips and scrapes. 1200 & 2000 grit wet and dry then a machine polish (3 passes with Scholl S20 & S2) and here are the results
Then did the brake service and fitted EBC Green Stuff pads and fitted Bilstein 35mm lower suspension and some 2nd hand 17" wheels (need a refurb, but that’s on the list).
Then a full machine polish, need a few more passes, to correct where I’ve had to do some scrape repairs, but looking loads better.
Gave the wheels a new lease of life, but decided to go darker to go with the Stormy Blue Paint work. They’d taken a battering so happy with the results.
They even have a few coats of wheel wax on them, to keep that pesky brake dust at bay.
Decided to finally repair the damaged front wing. So from the above -
To during
To after! Not a perfect match but given how it looked before, I’m very pleased for a rattle can job
When I started rust-proofing the rear, I noticed my mate (same one that hacked the mirror with his chainsaw ) snapped the suspension bolt, when fitting the Bilstein’s
He admitted after I found it, that he cross threaded it and it snapped, before he took it to Mallory and thrashed it around there So I’ve now got a new project to remove that, re-tap and get a replacement
If anyone knows where I can get the bolt from., other than Mazda, I’d be grateful to know
That suspension bolt has haunted me for weeks, tried welding a nut to it, penetrating fluid and mole grips, all to no avail, so drilled and re-tapped it. Access is a pig and 1/2 the rear NS suspension has now had a refurb, my mate owes me a few beers.
Whilst painting the ARB I decided the front strut brace should get some TLC
Had an issue getting the rear lateral eccentric bolt out and finding the right part, but that’s all in another thread.
Most of the rust proofing is done now, just need to put it all together, get it alligned, fit the bluetooth (thanks to Wardy5) and finish the tonneau respray
It’s nothing special. I replaced mine with an Allen bolt. I have the replacement bolt I bought from Mazda kicking about. I’ll see if I can find it tomorrow and measure it up. It is just a standard metric thread, not the finer threads they use on some items.
Opps, now looks like you have sorted the suspension bolt. For others reading this that bolt can be accessed from the boot area. If you are very lucky like I was it can be taken out with just your fingers.
Thanks Beryl, Yeah the suspension bolt that goes up is a pig to get to on the nearside from the top, because of the fuel filler lines, and I didn’t fancy dismantling them when I was pretty sure it would be a drill and tap job anyway.
I took the bolt out of the offside and luckily had a good match in my jar of bolts that I always like to keep for such tasks. Standard M8 with taper tip. I’ll take a photo of the original before I put it all back together.
Needed to change the eccentric bolts to allow it to be alligned as we fitted new suspension, which turned into a bigger job than originally planned. But at least I’m doing it in my garage with electric heaters, LED lights and room to swing a cat, feel for you folks who do this stuff outside.
Next update
Finally got the suspension all back together, replaced all the eccentric bolts and replaced the drop links with the newly painted subtle ARB
2 hours and much proding later, all is good with some antibiotic gel for the irritation. Yes I was wearing safety glasses, but my mate then told me I need spoggles!
) snapped the suspension bolt, when fitting the Bilstein’s
So I’ve now got a new project to remove that, re-tap and get a replacement
ARB
