Thursday 12 January 2017

Donor's having a breakdown !!!

So the breakdown begins.

Well as mentioned before, I need to collect my chassis at the end of January which set me into panic mode. The reason being that no matter how big a workshop you have it is never big enough and didn't really like the concept of chassis wall art !


So, how was I going to fit a chassis as well as a donor that had to be stripped in such a space? Answer, I wont !!


So the panic before Christmas was on to find a donor.
Low and behold the first add I saw was for a 2000 1.8 eunos 120000 miles £850 and 10 miles from me.


A text message confirmed it was still for sale.


So next day I was the new owner of an MX5 😊 for the sale price of £720 plus an additional set of wheels and tyres all nearly new, recent new discs and pads.


Had to take the doors off as once in the garage would have been too much messing around.








Performed the Christmas festivities on Christmas day and until now any available time has been spent stripping the donor to the bare bones. I’ve taken everything off, as I want to reuse as much as possible, what I don’t will resell or bin.


The saddest part of the break down, was that there was very little if any rot on the car, sills, wings etc as good as new. All panels were taken of with loving care with the hope of some resale value.  





I took the last bits of today and had to man handle the removal of engine and gearbox as supplier let me down on delivery of an engine hoist. ( it  wasn’t too bad after splitting them and with the aid of 4x2 timber,  chain and strong legs, shoulder together with a mate, the heart was removed ).















Sorry, but thought I had taken pictures of the bare bones, but in the panic I hadn't.

You may notice that one of the disc back plates is missing. It wasn't there when I removed it from the car. If found please return to owner ;)






Rear diff.
From what i've read,  if there is a flange where the prop bolts on, its an LSD

https://www.miata.net/garage/diffguide/








Body shell was removed by scrap dealer 10 mins later, lol ( I removed vin plate and chassis number).


I now have a workshop full of bits that need to be sorted and filed, so task tomorrow is to build some shelving which will enable me to see the workshop floor once more 😊.










Going to try and use the MX5 fuel pump and filler pipe. Found a fabricator online that's make custom tanks that accommodate it. Will keep you updated as to how that goes.



Filler pipe


Fuel Pump and sender unit




Panic over, and no longer have a deadline to be met, can sleep at night and start to enjoy the dream.

Refurbishment of parts is set to begin.......



3 comments:

  1. Holy cow, I've never seen a donor in such good condition. Almost a shame to pull it apart - great find!

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    1. Exactly what I was thinking as I was stripping it. Funny thing , as I was stripping it, I was taking everything off so gingerly as if I was going to reassemble it ! Lol. Well I must confirm that finding the best donor to strip really paid dividends as only sheared two bolts of no relevance. Tip, to anyone reading this prior to buying a donor. Try and find an Eunos model as they don't use road salt hence minimal rust ;).

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  2. Omg bro as an mx5 lover this bit was painful to read. That donor was peachy and for the price is hdve been tempted to buy it myself for a memory lane run about!!! 😢 But the universe was working for you the perfect car st the ideal time. A great start!

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