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Thanks man. I"m not really that bummed about it. it really is a lot trickier than I thought it would be.

The car looks ok now with the rattle can satin black finish. I'm going to go over some final touches this weekend. It actually looks pretty good for a temporary solution. I'll post pics on Sunday.

Any updates, Wyt?

No not much. I peeled a lot of the vinyl off and just sanded and spray bombed it semi-gloss black. It looks....terrible but at least it's all the same color. Given the amount of rust i found I'm not heartbroken. I'll begin the search for a new body next year. Mechanically the car is 9/10. Got the winter wheels on, snapped a speed bleader off on Sunday so I'll be fixing that this weekend.

Other than the body it's all good.

Ahh welcome to my quest, the search for the perfect body... I get the feeling I'll need to move to a warmer country to find it.

marcdh wrote:Ahh welcome to my quest, the search for the perfect body...

Isn't everybody looking for "the perfect body" ?

WhiteFinish wrote:Isn't everybody looking for "the perfect body" ?

Hahahaha good call, 10 points

marcdh wrote:I get the feeling I'll need to move to a warmer country to find it.

I found a MINT one today at the wreckers haha... the only blemish on the body (beside shallow scratches & badly sunfaded paint) was a very small rust patch on the A-pillar, but far away enough from the windshield to be repairable without removing the glass, I think... Looks like you should come to sunny Australia!!

I can't see the cable being in danger of failure or anything of that sort. I am going to search for a shorter set which will serve though. When I do the fronts I will pop a wheel off the back and snap a shot for you.

I was re-reading your previous posts here about Jaydog's Wilwood setup. Interesting that after all my searching I finally had to come around to something similar. I'm still not planning on going as big as he did or using 2 piece rotos, but it has become clear that there is just no way to mount a 2 or 4 piston caliper without modifying the steering knuckle.

Did you manage to find a E-brake cable for those Miata brakes?

Actually I didn't ever get around to that. There are a few things that got neglected this summer as I worked on the body. I hope to be eble to get them done this winter.

omg lol

OMG what?

So I haven't made an update here for a long time. Haven't done much to the car for a while to be honest. But it's time for my annual spring madness whirlwind of fixing and what not so here it is.

I have been unhappy with the engine bay for a long time. It's not sexy. I see all you other guys with sexy engine bays and I'm jealous. And since the color change last year it's even less sexy...plus I have an oil leak and a broken heater hose quick connect.

This is what it looked like shortly after I started. I had done a bit of disassembly already and remembered to take a "before" picture. Note the lovely honey brown top end...(actually it's a little darker than I'd like. I'll probably do a little power flush when I get a minute)



...not sexy...so I decided to pretty up some of the frontline parts. Here's the valve cover and intake manifold...





After a few hours the engine is out and I have started cleaning the engine bay...



then operation "Color Change!!!" begins...



Another big reason for the engine coming out is to finally delete the ABS system. I busted a couple of wheel sensors a couple of years ago on another project and I'll be F$%#^ if I'm paying $179 each to replace them. So the ABS hasn't worked in a long time and I suspect that having the fluid passing through the ABS motor...which isn't spinning...is negatively affecting my braking performance. So I went to Pick n Pull and found a non-ABS GS and took the proportioning valve and all the hard lines. $48. I Spent hours today bench bleeding the brake master cylinder and bleeding the brakes. This is the worst part about working on the brake system...



It looks a lot better now. The entire bay is painted and the engine is back in. Just working out some gremlins and I'll have a couple of "after" pics tomorrow.

is that what the brake fluid did to your skin?????
glad i was wearing nitrate gloves i got from work then! (though i never would have touched as much fluid as you probably did

It's Agroscopic so it sucks all the moisture out of your skin. Not dangerous, just annoying.

The VC looks sexy and BTW you are not supposed to use DOT2 as an exfoliant, that is what Epsom salt is for... LOL that's is crazy I have never seen that happen.

if brake fluid strips paint i cant imagine it being good for your skin...
love the valve cover and that is a really clean intake.... i wish mine looked that nice... maybe ill do it when im in school